Purchasing plane ticket

I've been trying to figure out when the best time to purchase a plane ticket on orbitz.com is.

It's been quite a confusing process, purchasing a plane ticket has got to be one of the least straight forward things I have ever tried to acquire.

Each day brings slightly different pricing, and occasionally when I click on a price I want to explore it has disappeared.

Another very annoying thing is price disclosure. Orbitz seems to at least try, but some flights require the archaic method of mailing me the tickets on paper. This ends up adding about $30 to the total package. Not only does this make me mad when I have already settled on a price, but how does it benefit the airline? They now have to go through the work of mailing out a set of tickets, which is extra overhead, when they already have a better system in place; and they have to deal with tickets getting lost in the mail.

Also it is hard to shop around and compare prices on other ticket sites with the pricing changing so quickly, I might come back to my good deal only to find it gone.

getting ready for permanent duty.

Well in a couple of months I will be heading to my permanent duty station. Looking like Ft Drum though possibly Ft Lewis. I would much prefer Ft Lewis, Ft Drums snow doesn't sound super appealing, plus Ft Lewis is much closer to home.

AIT barracks are horrible, so I was looking at trying to figure out what my new home would look like. Here is a picture someone took of their room at Ft Drum:

Starting Classes

I have finally started classes in AIT for the MOS 25S.
So far we have crammed through basic electronics which I got 100% in.
Next we will be learning some of the more specialized equipment.

Internet Access

The laptop that my wife mailed me finally arrived with all the required amenities. I am slowly starting to catch up on my online activities again. I really missed having a computer and an online connection.

I am looking forward to being rejoined with my family during Christmas vacation.

After Basic

Well so far AIT has been mildly dissapointing. They are so overbooked with recruits that we are put on waiting lists for months.

I am able to talk to my wife each day on the cell phone which really helps. She has shipped me a laptop which should arrive in about a week which we should be able to do video chat on, that will be nice. We are hoping to have her move down here right after Christmas vacation.

Graduating Basic

Well basic was definitely an experience. Physically it wasn't too much of a challenge given my country upbringing; but I missed my family a lot and wasn't allowed hardly any contact with them. I am looking forward to AIT with apprehension, we'll see how much freedom I have, I'm hoping for the best and planning for the worst. I really miss computers and hope I have access to them both for programming and contacting my family.

I took this photo for my wife, it's not my standard uniform, but I really like having something I can go on a nice date in now.