Running & Jumping...kinda

Whew, a full first full week back at work after being off the electronic grid for my vacation.  I barely made a dent in the hundreds of emails I received during my absence, but I feel like I at least handled the most pressing issues.  For someone with such a Type A personality, it's hard for me to accept that I just can't get everything done.  I'm very good at prioritizing, but I'm not so good at accepting that the lower priority things just may not get done.  At any rate, my disposition at work was much improved by my time away at the beach.

Two long-awaited events happened this week.  Well actually, attempts at two long-awaited events occurred this week.  The first was running.  I'm about five months post arthroscopic hip surgery and was finally cleared by my Physical Therapist to make an attempt at running.  I'm using the term "running" quite loosely since what I was actually allowed to do was a jog/shuffle for a quarter mile.  Hey, I'll take what I can get!  The short little jog felt good, but I have a long way to go with lateral movements and just overall strength in the affected hip.  My PT begrudgingly gave me the OK to resume Airborne Ops.  Um, truth be told he only said OK because he knew I'd probably do it anyway.  Let me just interject at this point in the story that I have been a very compliant patient throughout my rehab; and those of you that have known me for any length of time would agree that the word compliant is not often used to describe me!  When in an Airborne unit, you are required to jump once a quarter in order to stay proficient.  I love to jump, so before my surgery I was trying to jump once a month when my work schedule would allow it.  If you go longer than 6 months without jumping however, you're required to go through refresher training and you start to lose jump pay (which is referred to as being a Pay Loss).  I had to chuckle out loud when I received an email from the command Air NCOIC (Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge of Airborne Operations) that stated "you must exit an aircraft by the end of the month."  Have I mentioned lately how much I love my job?! 

So, on Thursday, I went out to the drop zone and figured I'd see how I felt on pre-jump training and then make a decision if I was ready to jump or not.  Before every jump, we do sustainment training.  After final manifest has been done, everyone is assigned to a chalk or stick (line-up of personnel who will exit the aircraft on the same pass) and are checked for ID card, dog tags and combat helmet integrity.  From there, the five points of performance are reviewed.  We actually all repeat and physically mimic the movements for each:
1.  Proper exit, check body position and count.  Gravity always works but if you don't exit the aircraft correctly and maintain the proper body position, it can be a pretty violent, twisting and confusing ride down.  If you don't feel an opening shock after counting out 6 seconds, it's time to deploy the reserve parachute.  At this time we also review what to do if your static line doesn't deploy properly or your equipment gets hung up on the aircraft and you become a "towed jumper."
2.  Check canopy and immediately gain canopy control.  After the initial relief to feel the rate of your fall slowed by something opening over your head, you still have to look up at the chute and make sure that it fully deployed and doesn't have any malfunctions.  During this part of the sustainment training, we review several types of malfunctions and what to do for each.
3.  Keep a sharp lookout for other jumpers during your entire descent.  This sounds like a no-brainer, but you'd be surprised.  We follow each other out the aircraft at roughly one-second intervals which is enough space for us to gain control of our movements, but at varying body/equipment weights, everyone falls at different rates which can put folks on collision courses with each other if they aren't paying attention to the winds and maintaining situational awareness of the whereabouts of the other jumpers.
4.  Prepare to land.  This involves steering and proper body position. Although not as maneuverable as a free fall parachute, the round canopy chutes we use for static jumps do have some steerability.  Beyond the obvious avoidance of trees, power lines, ponds and various other obstacles, you need to be facing into the wind when you land to facilitate a safe landing.  As you get more experience, you're also trying to steer yourself to land as close to the equipment drop off point as you can to minimize the distance you have to hump all your gear in :-)
5.  Land.  Not having your feet and knees together and having your arms/hands too far away from your body when you hit the ground can result in broken bones or soft tissue damage.  We actually jump off a raised platform multiple times before every jump to practice PLFs (Parachute Landing Fundamentals) as a refresher.

After reviewing the 5 points of performance, we perform mockup training.  We go through emergency aircraft procedures and run through the jump sequence and exit inside of a wingless fuselage complete with jump seats, doors and a ramp.  Once mockup training is complete, you draw a parachute and reserve chute, then help each other rig up.  After you're rigged up, a Jump Master performs a JMPI on you (Jump Master Personnel Inspection) and you pretty much just hang out and wait for the aircraft to pick up your chalk.  Well, on Thursday we never actually made it to the point of drawing chutes because of a weather delay.  After the weather cleared up and much waiting, the aircraft never showed so we dispersed late in the afternoon without actually getting to exit an aircraft.  Anti-climactic; I know.  Although very disappointed that I didn't get to jump, hanging out in a big open field in relatively nice weather with like-minded individuals sharing stories and experiences isn't a  bad way to spend a day away from the office.

Sally and Karen at Joe's Crab Shack

Another highlight of my week was catching up with a friend from my USOC days.  Although I knew Sally as a resident wrestler back at the Olympic Training Center, we now both have taken career paths that put us in an Army uniform.  She was in town for some training and we managed to align our schedules long enough to have dinner together.  She looks great, seems happy and is still full of positive Sally spirit!!  So glad that we were able to connect and catch up- I hope our paths will cross again soon.

I have some work stuff to catch up on this weekend, but I'm planning on taking a leisurely pace to accomplish it.  Hope everyone else had a great week too.

Dominican Republic vacation wrap-up

Christi and Monica poolside

Monica and Christi were great travel partners for this luxury vacation!  Although the three of us spent most of our time together, it wasn't out of obligation.  I learned a long time ago that not only do you and your travel companions need to agree on the goal of the journey, you also have to genuinely enjoy each others' company.  With the objective of a relaxing, lounge around on the beach and at the pool kind of vacation already established before departure, it was pretty easy to all just hang out without feeling the need to entertain each other.  For the most part, we all got hungry around the same time (I'll explain my decreased appetite shortly) and seemed to synchronize our need to come in out of the sun.  I lucked out and picked up a really good book at the airport that carried me through the week of lounging in the sun while Christi came armed with several books and magazines. The relaxing powers of the sun on our skin actually made the presence of reading material trivial.  Unfortunately, if you chose the wrong section of the beach or the pool designated as the "party" pool for that day, your quiet lounging time of reading evaporated with the over-amplified voice of a party emcee.

Monica and Christi getting pedicures

Of course, one of the major draws of this vacation for my travel companions was the spa.  Included with our vacation package was $1500 of credits to be applied on various amenities throughout the resort.  This is the part where I get to my lack of enthusiasm about the all-inclusive vacation.  That $1500 is arbitrarily distributed amongst various activities. Only $300 could be applied toward the spa, the remaining $1200 could only go towards golf, four preselected "excursions" (which of course did not include scuba diving), or upgrades of wine.  Let me remind you at this point, that alcohol is included in the "all inclusive" package.  What that really means is that mediocre supermarket wine and liquors are included (ironically, everywhere but the night club!).  In order to have a nice bottle of wine with dinner (or drinks at the night club), you have to use the $1500 worth of credits.  As an example, a bottle of Yellow Tail Shiraz (a supermarket Australian brand wine) would set you back $100 of credits.  For those of you who don't pay much attention to wine brands, you can get a bottle of Yellow Tail Shiraz at your local grocery store in the U.S. for $15.  A nice enough wine, but certainly not a $100 bottle of wine.  Monica and Christi easily exceeded their $300 room limit for the spa (I donated my portion of the $300 to them).  We each got a free manicure, pedicure and back massage though since we were using the room of a "member", so yes, I had painted (neutral) toenails and fingernails for a couple of days!

Post dive celebratory Brahma beer :-)

Although not included, I opted for an activity of my own...a day of scuba diving!  Dressel Divers took a van load of folks from the Punta Cana resorts two hours southwest to the National Park.  From there we took a boat to Cacon dive site and enjoyed sightseeing the coral reef off the coast of Saona island at approx. 40 feet.  From there, we waited out our surface interval by hanging out and eating BBQ on the island.  As part of a protected National Park, the island is pristine and has no construction (other than a few thatched covered open structures).  After lunch settled, we did our second dive at El Penon, this time viewing the coral reefs from a depth of approx. 60 feet.  For both dives, the water temp was 78 degrees F with visibility ranging from 50 to 65 feet.  We saw moray eel, crabs, sting rays, various species of fish (lionfish, cherubfish) and different colors of brain and fan coral.  I'd love to post some photos for you, but the dive shop wouldn't let me purchase a disposable underwater camera before boarding the boat since there were videos of the dive made available for $80.  Note to self, don't forget to purchase your own underwater camera before you leave the States!  Oh, and that $9 bottle of sunscreen you didn't pack so you wouldn't have to check a bag at the airport now costs you $32 at the resort "store"!  Suddenly, that airline baggage fee is looking like a deal! 

Coastline of Saona Island

Lack of underwater photos notwithstanding, the day was a blast!  As a single diver in a sport where having a buddy is required, I've been paired up with quite the array of dive partners over the years.  I lucked out on this trip and paired up with a guy named Mike who also happened to be east coast Army (figure the odds!).  His wife opted for a full day at the spa, so he was more than happy to pair up with me for the underwater sightseeing.  He was a great dive buddy (i.e. safe, attentive and fun) and added to my enjoyment of the whole day.  I would post a pic of us together, but I forgot to ask him if he'd be OK with me posting a pic so I don't want to invade his privacy online.  

Dive cooler of Brahma beer, rum and coke!

After the last dive, lots of boats full of divers and snorkelers converged on a shallow sandbar area just off the coastline of the island to hang out and tell stories about all we'd seen.  Of course, the cooler full of beer, rum and coke added to the embellishment of those stories!  There's no doubt, the day of diving was one of the highlights of my vacation.

Let me back up and fill you in on something I mentioned in the first vacation post- my lack of appetite.  For those of you who know me, I am in a constant state of hunger.  Certainly not in a literal starving-to-death kind of way, but in a "yep, I could go for a snack right now" kind of way.  Before departing on this vacation, I had readied myself for the inevitable weight gain that was sure to come with having unlimited access to gourmet food for a week.  Well, just like with the mediocre alcohol, the lackluster array of ordinary tasting food did not entice my appetite.  This lack of exceptional food was probably my biggest disappointment of the trip.  The one shining standout however, was my birthday dinner at the Brazilian Steakhouse.

Birthday dinner at Brazilian Steakhouse

City sites

On the night before departing the resort, the one remaining restaurant for us to try was the Brazilian Steakhouse.  So, we got all dressed up and walked on over.  To our pleasant surprise, the food was quite good as was the service.  We mentioned to our server Luddy that we were celebrating my birthday and she took it upon herself to make it a memorable event.  Christi and Monica had somehow acquired a tiara for me to where for the occasion and Luddy produced a very chocolaty cake!  Before we knew it, a whole crew of performers came out and serenaded me with an unidentifiable, though quite melodious version of "Happy Birthday"! Since there was no candle on the cake, Luddy produced a lighter for me to blow out!!  At the end of the celebration, we were finally introduced to the elusive Dominican drink we'd heard about all week- Mama Juana!  It's made with rum that's been infused with sticks, leaves and roots of various trees and plants native to the Dominican Republic.  This rum is mixed with red wine, honey and various other ingredients based on the personal preference of the person mixing the drink.  The version we had was very smooth, which we were told was attributed to the dash of ammareto added to it.  


Lest I sound oblivious to the challenges being faced by the population on the island of Hispaniola, let me acknowledge what was on the back of my mind throughout this vacation.  The personal income of the two counties that cohabitate this island, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, have annual per capita incomes of $1300 and $8200 respectively.  It was only 2 years ago (to the date that I arrived in Dom Rep) that Haiti experienced a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that killed 220,000 people and injured another 300,000.  As of a few months ago, 6000 people have died of a cholera outbreak there and another 200,000+ have been infected.  This has, and is happening, roughly 300 miles from where we vacationed.  So however disappointed I may have been in the "all-inclusive" experience, I absolutely recognize that the world is not a fair place and that I have benefited immensely from that lack of fairness.  It is not "fair" that I was born in a country whose per capita income is roughly $40,000 instead of $1300.  It is not "fair" that I have access to clean drinking water 24/7.  It is not "fair" that I have ready access to drugs that keep me from contracting malaria when I vacation in countries whose preventive medicine standards pale in comparison to those of the country to which I was fortunate enough to be born.  So to avoid sounding like a spoiled princess disappointed in the amenities of my vacation, let me just state for the record that I fully recognize how fortunate I am to have the ability and means to take this type of vacation.  I immensely enjoyed the time I spent with Monica and Christi and felt the trip was well worth taking.  I'll probably just skip the "all-inclusive" part next time :-) 

Hope you enjoyed my wrap-up.  Not sure what's awaiting me over the next week or so, but I'll certainly try to find something interesting to share. 

Girls' Week Birthday Bash

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

I won't even apologize for taking more than a week to post again since I have the perfect excuse...I was out of the country!  For the first time in more years than I care to admit, I didn't touch a computer, cell phone or TV for seven glorious days.  For my birthday weekend, Monica and Christi accompanied me to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic for a girls' getaway.  Historically, I've been a backpacker type of traveler; I truly enjoy meeting other like-minded adventurous wanderers, learning the history of stops along my journey and especially dabbling in local cuisine and culinary customs.  As I get older however, I felt like it might be time to taste the life of a tourist in comparison to that of a traveler.  The difference between the two experiences is defined by logistics and, to some extent, mindset.  Though the differences are subtle, they can result in two completely different perspectives of the same event.  Other than traveling for business when I was with the USOC, the planning phase of my overseas travel typically consisted of booking a plane ticket with a rough idea of things I wanted to see and do during my time abroad.  No advance transportation, lodging or tours arranged; I'd really just wing it.  But this time, with the encouragement of my more "girlie" travel companions, I took the plunge and agreed to an all-inclusive resort experience where everything from transport from the airport to meals and drinks are arranged and paid for in advance.

Sunrise over beach and pool at Hard Rock Resort

There were certainly pros and cons to the "luxury" experience.  Since I'm still aglow with my bikini line suntan, I'll start off with the things I enjoyed.  As you can see from the beach pic, the scenery was spectacular.  This pic of the silhouetted palm trees between the beach and pool was taken at sunrise and captures the picturesque setting of the resort as a whole.  With 12 pools, there was always someplace to hang out if the wind was a little too breezy for the beach.  There were pools with swim up bars, pools with water parks for kids, pools dedicated to quiet for book lovers, pools with European sunbathing areas and even pools dedicated to spring break type antic, truly something for everyone.

View from room balcony

Our room was pretty decadent and included a two person whirlpool (which I referred to as my own private room pool!), fully stocked bar with fridge and an amazing view of the beach and pools right from the balcony.  With almost a dozen restaurants and delis, we only took advantage of the 24-hour room service a couple of times. Christi, however, did call room service to order scented pillows from the pillow menu :-)

Most days' temps were in the upper 70s/low 80s- perfect beach weather.  As non-gamblers, we just couldn't understand how anyone would trade in the beach/pool scene to sit in electronically lit rooms listening to bells and whistles and hoping that today was your day to be lucky (and not a fool).  To each his own I guess, so we decided to forgo our stint in the casino to make room for those lucky/foolish folks who felt the call to gambling. 

Sunrise squall

Most mornings, I'd awake before dawn and take in the sunrise.  One particular morning I walked down to the beach before dawn and witnessed an amazing storm roll through.  It only lasted for an hour or so, but the intensity of the squall was enough to keep everyone indoors for the duration.  I sat on a beach chair mesmerized by the gathering clouds and the advancing wall of rain.  By the time I could tear myself away from the unfolding scene, I had to run for cover to protect my camera from the downpour.  I've known all my life that of earth's elements, it's water that connects my soul to the world around me.  Chalk it up to being born and raised on a bayou, but there's no mountain or wooded area in the world, at least that I've encountered thus far, that is as life-affirming and awe-inspiring as that of moving water in nature.   It was a humbling sight to behold.

Christi, Monica and Karen at the beach

Now that I've introduced you to the scenery and benefits of the resort scene, the next post will be more about how we spent our days during the week.  I'll give you a hint:  I split off from Monica and Christi for a day for a chance to explore our differing tastes of vacation activities.  I'll also give you my wrap-up of the all-inclusive resort experience so stay tuned in you're interested!

A hobby revisited

Unfortunately, my travel down to Florida for a few days of meetings this last week produced little in the way of an interesting post.  Sitting in conference rooms, no matter how scenic the locale of the buildings, just doesn't lend itself to fascinating pics and stories.  So, in light of the lack of a noteworthy event in which to blog about, I will back up and bring you up to speed on a revisited hobby...photography.

Louisiana boiled crawfish

I think it was the Christmas of my 13th year when Santa left a brand spanking new Pentax K1000 35mm film camera for me under the tree.  For the next 20 years, that camera documented my travels around the world and ingrained in me an appreciation for composition.  Composition not only of a picture, but composition of my life.  That chunk of metal and glass lens embedded the concept of context within my brain and heart.  A boat on the water or food on a plate can be pretty dull.  But frame that boat on the water with a Louisiana bayou in the background or that food as a Greek peasant salad on a beach cafe table on the island of Crete, and you've got yourself a story and memorable experience.  So, after a digression to point-and-shoot cameras over the last few years, I've gone back to manually operated equipment.  I recently purchased a Cannon EOS 60D dSLR and am rediscovering the thrill of looking at life through the lens.  Yes, the compactness of the point-and-shoots prompted me to take more pics, but I had lost the pleasure of telling a story through a lens.

Oysters on the half shell

 
There's no denying, I love to take pictures of food!  The pics of boiled crawfish and raw oysters on the half shell are from my trip down home on the bayou during Christmas vacation last month.  Although my palate has been exposed to delicacies ranging from Peking duck in an acclaimed restaurant in Beijing, China to Nutella crepes from a street vendor under the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, the foods of my childhood remain at the top of my favorite foods list.  In my quest to explore my current home state however, I have been cognizant to explore more than just food as photographic material.  I've learned to be more attuned to the everyday sights I encounter.  This pic of cotton ready for picking in North Carolina depicts a scene I see regularly during my daily travels.

North Carolina cotton field

I hope that as this blog progresses, you'll see my photography skills mature and give shape to the stories I long to tell.  I challenge anyone reading this blog to look at your daily routine as a window to the unnoticed beauty around you.  No, the world is not always a beautiful place, but there is always beauty to be found in it.  So look around and discover what has gone unappreciated in your everyday life. 

I'm back!

The void generated from my hiatus from blogging has been nagging me since 2009 when I stepped down from my online presence. My desire to post is a hard thing to explain. Does it stem from conceit? I don't really feel like I think my life is better than anyone else's. Or is it braggart? I don't particularly think my life is something I need to boast about. Or perhaps it's the need to be popular? Not really, most of the people who read my last blog were already friends or family members. And most people either love me or hate me anyway! So what's the impetus? I guess it is just a sincere desire to stay in touch. I had joined Facebook thinking it would be an acceptable surrogate for the blog, but something was still missing. Facebook is great for staying connected superficially; you are constantly updated on what everyone is doing. What I have found lacking on FB however, is the insight on why a "friend" has posted that picture, quote or update. Perhaps I'm just not technologically savvy enough to understand how to navigate social media in a way to glean what I want from it. At any rate, I found that with a blog, I can go into detail about the pictures I post or the stories I want to tell that I just haven't been able to do elsewhere. Plus, blogging made me look at my life differently. I always had a camera with me and was on the lookout for what would comprise that week's post. Suddenly, my life was more interesting because I knew family and friends would check in to see what I was up to and I didn't want to disappoint them. OK, doing the blog didn't actually make my life more interesting, but it certainly changed my perspective so that it seemed more interesting and adventurous to me. Life really is all about perception, so I'd like to revisit my life through the perspective of a blogger again.

I'd like to say that I will post weekly, but I'll make no promises at this point. I've been out of the habit for so long that I'm not sure what I'll actually have time for. So if you're interested, please bear with me.

Here's to a fun and interesting 2012!