Stupid AWAC
Ding dong, the airshow’s over, the airshow’s over, the airshow’s over! Ding dong, the stupid airshow’s oveeeeeer!
Now that I’ve gotten that out of my system…
Man, I am so glad things are getting back to normal. The show went off without much drama, and the things that happened were minor. There were a few instances of pure hilarity that I’m under verbal contractual agreement with my lieutenant to not turn into comics as to not insult/embarrass anyone who may have been there and reads the site. It’s torture… Let’s just say that, at times, living next to Mexico provides brief periods of entertainment at other peoples’ expense. I’m laughing now just thinking about it. Hehe… I do want to say a quick thanks to everyone who was willing to spend $3 on a bottle of water, because I felt like a freaking genius for just bringing my own.
Anyway, today kicked off the start of round two, which is also the final round, of judging for the “Don’t Rip off my SAC” patch design contest. I haven’t put a deadline on it yet, but I will soon, so go over to the forums and vote for your favorite. The winners will both get a prize, which I now have in my possession.
This week was going to be “Bash on AAFES Week” after a five-day period full of decidedly annoying dealings with them, but I’m postponing that for now. That said, if you have a funny AAFES story, email it to me and maybe it will be made into a comic. Also, I pose a question: Are there any active-duty bases other than Laughlin that decided to close their only Shoppette/Class 6 at 8 p.m. on a Saturday? I guess they feel no one ever buys beer or snacks on Saturday evenings, but if I ever need some Hot Pockets and an oil filter at 9:50 p.m. on a Wednesday, I’m covered.
Starting tomorrow I’m going to try and start catching up on my emails. If you’ve sent me anything at all email-wise, including contributions to Chris’s memorial fund, since mid April, I’m going to try to answer you this week. No promises, as there are a ton of emails in my inbox, but I’m going to try my best. Also, I’ll be mailing out a lot of stuff this week. Let me know if you’re expecting something from me so I can include it in that trip to the P.O. I’ll probably go Friday, so let me know by Thursday what I owe you.
Hope everyone had a happy Mothers’ Day. My wife got a gift card to Bath and Body Works from our two dogs and cat, which I hope she spends on air fresheners because all three of them stink. Especially the cat. No one told me how bad cats stink before we got one. Oh my God. If you’re thinking of getting a cat, let me be the guy who warns you: they f***ing stink. However, cleaning her litter box has given me a practical use for my gas mask, which otherwise just sits in my mobility bag just waiting to torture me in the base’s next ORE.
One last note: I finally got to see Iron Man, which was awesome, but they managed to hit one of my biggest pet peeves. If you’re referring to an E-3 Sentry in the singular form, it’s still an AWACS, not an AWAC. For God’s sake, it’s an acronym. The S stands for “system.” To be accurate, you can’t really have an AWACS in orbit, you can have an E-3, which carries the Airborne Warning and Control System, or AWACS. I hope John Favreau loses sleep over his horrible continuity error. Other than that, the movie rocks. It’s nice to see the Air Force cooperating with Hollywood again. Then again, I’d be a little wary after “Iron Eagle” too…
-Farva




