2013 Recap and Summer in Abilene

2013 has been an exciting time, with a lot of travel, Air Force trips, and good career development.  Limited gaming time, and very little computer work though.

I now serve as an Aircraft Commander in the C-130J, a primary scheduler for my squadron, and a deployer-to-be once again.  Later this year, in true herc pilot fashion, I'll be saying adios to the U.S.A. once again for a while to do what we do where we do it.
I spent 2 months in Montgomery, AL, where I knocked out three classes towards my Theology masters degree, completed a leadership course, and played a good deal of Starcraft II.  The internet connection was so shoddy that I could not play Mechwarrior Online, which was a real shame for me.  In that time, I drifted so far back in the MWO scene that I am hesitant to pick it back up seriously.  And, while I have a lot to say about SCII, my playtime on that game has been 0.000 since returning to Abilene.

Now, as I begin to anticipate a long stint in another deployed location, I've started looking for some good hobbies I can bring with me to help me pass the time.  I have not upgraded my Macbook Pro since the last deployment, so that is somewhat restrictive if I want to get into something released recently.  After what seems like endless google searches for good MMOs that do not hinge on fast-twitch latency, I have decided that there is simply nothing out there that topples my old staple.  That being said, tonight I began downloading the client for WoW and, coincidentally, I resurrected this old blog.  I will also be posting randomly to the Born to Waddle blog as I aim to improve in the area of running and core fitness this summer and while deployed.

This blog was conceived as a catch-all for hobbies, leadership lessons, and career accomplishments.  So, I fully intend to capture the things I am learning as I fly, as I fire up an MMO once again, and as I practice leadership concepts in the best laboratory ever created (the military).

Here are my simple precepts:

1. God, family, others and me - those are my priorities in order
2. Fly safe, operate professionally, and always improve as a pilot, officer, and husband
3. Work hard and play hard, in that order
4. Play efficiently, work smarter not harder in games, and capture lessons learned
5. Be duplicatable in everything, whether it be dealing with airmen or leveling a character

Stay tuned for more updates on leveling my first character to cap in Mists, lessons learned as I try to improve processes in scheduling airlift operations, and trips and fun during my precious few months left at home.

July is already completely scheduled out, with a brief TDY to MS, some good family travel, a checkride, and a lot of deployment preparation.  One of my personal goals, with respect to the deployment and connectivity, is to consolidate all the equipment that I want to bring with me when we ship out.  I'll be thinking about routers, LAN equipment, wireless equipment, carrying cases, power options for 240V infrastructure, and good ideas for software that I'll want to have with me.  I'll be trying to set the laptop up for easy use and limited download requirements once I'm over there.  I'll be looking into good video communication options to use so I can talk to my wife.  It's certainly going to be an interesting time once again.

Thanks for reading the revived Priest and Pilot blog.