hummer0328

Well, haven't really been to any airports outside of the US, but I have been to a few inside the US: Minneapolis, MN Dallas/Fort Worth O'Hare Chicago Charlotte, NC JFK DIA Denver Phoenix Out of those DIA in denver was by far the easiest to navigate. It has the simplest layout I've seen yet. This is due to good planning. They have thought ahead for future expansion. By land area it's the 3rd largest airport in the world (largest in US) at 53 sq miles and 10th busiest in the world (5th in US).

Actually, Elk and Caribou are two different animals. Caribou live here: Elk live here: Both are memers of the family Cervidae (deer), but they are 2 different species. I love Elk meat! It's one of my favorites. Never tried Caribou.

I did a little digging and found total energy received by the Earth from the Sun per year to be: 1.74x1017W take that times 10 billion years and you get your answer: 1.74x1027 The estimated worldwide power consumption of the human race in 2004 was 15TW or 1.5x1013. Now, I'm sure power consumption has increased since 2004 and the given figure was estimated to have a margin of error of 10% so this is an approx figure. 1.5x1013 watts / 1.74x1017 watts = <1/10,000

When a star goes supernova is releases more energy than the sun will in it's entire lifetime. In fact, it outshines every star in the galaxy combined. What I find interesting is the amount of solar energy that hits the earth. If we could harness just 1/10,000 of this energy we could power the entire world.

This is from a story on the-hobbit-movie.com: It looks like common sense has prevailed and Peter Jackson will be announced the director of The Hobbit movie within a few days. Also expect it to be announced that The Hobbit will be released as 2 movies, one in 2010 and the second part in 2011. I’ve already reported this info some time a go but it looks like finally being made official any time soon. What is new information is that MarketSaw (a site dedicated to the art of converting 2D movies into 3D) is reporting that The Hobbit movie is to be shot in 3D as well as 2D and will be re-released in 2012 in 3D AFTER the Lord Of The Rings trilogy has been converted to 3D and done the rounds again. This makes financial sense as New Line will want to cash in on the massive demand for all things Middle Earth following the release of The Hobbit movie. I've always been a big fan of Tolkien (even before the movies were ever announced) and am really excited about this! I think 2 movies makes sense. This way they won't have an excuse to leave anything out. The movies would have been made sooner, however, Peter Jackson felt he was getting stiffed by New Line on his salary for the 3 big hits (LOTR trilogy) he had made for them. They were the 2nd, 8th, &15th highest grossing movies of all time making a total of almost $3 billion at the worldwide box office. It's suppose to be officially announced any day now. Now it's only a 3 year wait to actually see the 1st movie.

I like 3D movies, but they have there place and The Hobbit isn't it. Peter Jackson hasn't officially been announced, but apparently 2 100% reliable sources have come forward saying that Jackson and New Line have finally reached an agreement. I think New Line's movie rights end sometime in 2010/2011, so the pressure is on to get the movie made. Here is another article posted on the-hobbit-movie.net about Tim Tolkien: The nephew of JRR Tolkien has spoken of his wish to see Peter Jackson at the helm of The Hobbit movie. “It would be complete madness for Peter Jackson not to be involved” Tim Tolkien told The Independent. The British newspaper also reported that Robert Shaye (NewLine bos and Lord Of The Rings producer) is said to be close to brokering a ceasefire with the aim of bringing Peter Jackson back on board. They quote Tim Tolkien as saying “This would be great news.” Not to mention that many of the LOTR actors said they will only act in the movie if Peter Jackson is director. Ian McKellen is officially quoted as saying he will play as Gandalf again Originally posted by: JoesocworkBTW, welcome back Hummer! I hope everything is going well in the Army!quote> Thanks. Everything is going great. Joining the Army was the best decision I've ever made!

I just finished this game and loved every second of it. The voice acting and cinematics are some of the best I've ever seen in a game. (none of the crappy emotionless voice acting from games like oblivion) The story draws you in from the very start. When I saw vids of the combat I thought it was going to be crappy, but I found the combat system to be great! (especially once you get your skill and biotics up) Level design is very immersive on the main missions, however, the side missions did become a bit repetitive. All in all this is a must have for any xbox 360 owner!

I just finished the game on Veteran. I must say that this is one of the best shooters I've played in years. There were a few parts that made me a little frustrated, like the last part of One Shot One Kill and No Fighting in the War Room. Has anyone beaten Mile High Club on veteran yet? I beat it on hardened the 1st time, but veteran seems almost impossible. I've come very close a couple of times (just a few feet) when I run out of time. Anyways, if anyone out there has been on the fence about whether or not to get this game, go for it. It's an awesome experience!

Just picked it up! I have to say I am pretty impressed. Wow! Although I noticed you send a lot of the game playing as a jarhead . I'm only a few missions in (playing on Veteran), but damn is it intense! Just wish it had co-op.

A couple buddies of mine have the PS3. Funny thing is that they always come knocking on my door to play my 360. There is nothing wrong with the PS3. It just needs a few more good games to come out on it.

Just picked it up. So far I'm pretty impressed. I think my 360 just turned into a Halo machine for the next few months.

Fire drills are a necessary evil. We had a fire in our barracks several months ago. It was the middle of the night and I was on CQ/guard duty at the time. Some stupid Air Force guys were smoking in thier rooms and had started the fire. It's about 2 am and suddenly we(me and the other soldier on duty) hear a faint alarm in the distance. We go into the courtyard to check it out and sure enough the fire alarm is going off in another section of the building across the courtyard. What was wierd was that the alarm wasn't going off on 1/2 the building. The sergeant on duty puts me in charge (i'm a squad leader anyways) to get everyone awake and to safety. So we spend the next 10 minutes running around, breathing in smoke, trying to wake everyone up and direct them out. Anyways the point is that fires do happen and you should be prepared just in case. 99% of the time it may be a drill, but that prepares you for the other 1% of the time when the danger is real.

I'm waiting at the Airport for my flight to my AIT (Advanced Individual Training/Tech School) in Pensecola, FL. I've already been waiting here for about 4 hours and have another 4 hours before my flight leaves. I was bored, so I thought I would write a little bit about my experiences the past 3 months in US Army Basic Combat Training. The night I left home I didn't get any sleep. I stayed up late talking to other people at the hotel and we were woken at 3 am to go to MEPS to swear in and officially enter active duty. After that was done we spent the rest of the day catching flights to Columbia, SC. Finally, after a few delays we arrived at the Columbia Airport. Awaiting us in the Terminal was an NCO to take us to Fort Jackson US Army Training Center. He started yelling at us right away apparently trying to get us ready for the wrath of Drill Sergeants. It was about midnight by now and we were all pretty tired. We got on a bus and spent the next 20 minutes in silence wondering what we had gotten ourselves into. I'll never forget stepping off that bus and getting my 1st taste of the military. I'll admit that I was pretty scared at this point. We had arrived at 120th Reception Battalion. My 1st week and a half was spent at Reception. This is where the Army inprocesses me, gives me shots, issues me clothing, and makes sure that I have everything I need to enter training. We weren't allowed to sleep until around 20 hours after arriving. Basically, I didn't sleep for 3 days straight. These were the longest 3 days of my life. My week and a half at Reception seemed to last closer to a month and a half. But before I knew it, it was time to ship off to Basic Training. Stepping off this bus was far worse. As soon as our feet hit the pavement there were teams of Drill Sergeants breathing and screaming down our necks. The key was to stay in the background and not get noticed. Thats how it went for the 1st few weeks. But when you have 4 Drill Sergeants assigned to a Platoon of 60 people they get to know everyone pretty quickly. After a while I just got used to being pushed around and yelled at constantly. It has become a way of life for me. The 1st big task at hand was Victory Tower. It is basically a series of climbing and rope obstacles that lead to a 50 repel. I loved it and would do it again in a heart beat. The following week we did the NBC Chamber. We went into a room filled with CS gas and had to take it off, say our names and SSN, and then recite the soldiers creed. I got about 1/2 way before my lungs and eyes lighted on fire (or at least it seemed like it) and tried my best not to go running out of the exit. CS gas is not fun! It hurts like heck and is way worse than tear gas or pepper spray. After a few gas attacks over the course of training I still hate the stuff but I'll still purposely walk into it just to feel the effects. The 1st 5 weeks were pretty boring and consisted mostly of classroom work. After that when we started BRM (Basic Rifleman Training) it ghot a more interesting. At 1st I loved to shoot with my M16A2. Finally, qualification week came and I managed a mere 24/40. A 23 is the minumum needed to qualify, but at least I qualified. Thats all I really cared about. Over the next few weeks it was just rifle range after rifle range. Night firing, convoy firing, situation control, US Weapons (.50 cal machine gun, M240Bravo, M240 SAW, AT-4 launcher, M203 M16A4 attachment grenade launcher, 2 live frag grenaides). One of the coolest things we did was Victory Forge. It is a 5 day field excersice made to simulate the invasion and occupation of a small country that has been taken over by terrorists. It started with a 15 km footmarch (almost 5 hours long) with a 35lbs ruck sack from our Barracks to the Victory Forge FOB (Forward Operating Base). During the course of the 5 days my platoon had to strategically take over a city armed by real people (extreme laser tag). We used tactical squad movements to come up to the city and then we stormed the city (strategically of course) kicking in doors, clearing rooms, and of course shooting the evil terrorists. It was a pretty busy 12 weeks. Normally, boot camp is 9 weeks long, but we spent extra time at reception and then shipped 2 weeks early to Basic Training. It was probably the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I hated every single second of it, but now that it's done I couldn't be more proud of myself and I would have to say that it was easily the best summer of my life. It really was the experience of a lifetime. I just graduated yesterday. My parents came to see me, so it was nice to get off base for a while and eat some real food for a change. I also bought a new laptop, which I am using to write this message. I just found out about the terrorists they stopped and only now have learned that you can't bring beverages on planes. It's amazing how much you can miss in only a few months. The 1st thing I did when I got to the airport was buy a national newspaper and see was has been happening in the world. I'm still in training (for my job) so I'll still be pretty busy, but I will try to visit ST when I get a chance. Pensecola is a Naval Base, so I should probably have it pretty easy and have decent living quarters. I'm excited to get thier and start this new phase in my training.

Originally posted by: Duke87 You know, it's a good thing people like you sign up to go fight our wars.. this way I don't have to! ...nah, even if I was drafted, I doubt they'd want me in the army. I'm too mental for combat or field work. Desk job for me then! So how long untill you get to go abroad and kill stuff?quote> I'll probably get receive my 1st duty station orders in a few months. My MI school is 6 months long. There are a group of people going to the same school here who are already a few months into the class and they just got their 1st duty station orders. Some are going to Hawaii, Colorado, and Germany. The only catch is the ones going to Germany and Hawaii will be deployed to Iraq. My room mate is going to Colorado and has been told he will spend the rest of his 4 years thier. I hope I get as lucky since all my family lives in the neighboring state of Wyoming. If I do go to Iraq I'll try to make the best of it. My job isn't combat arms, but in Iraq there are really no front lines so everyone is in danger. Thats were I use all the tactics I used in Basic to help save my life when sh** hits the fan. We pretty much are finished with in-processing here at Corry Station and are just killing time till school starts next Monday. One thing we will get a lot of is personal time. We wake up at 0430 and spend an hour in the morning doing PT (Physical Training) and then around 8 hours in class. We should usually be done around 1500 (3 PM) and are pretty much free for the rest of the day. It really beats Basic where you wake up at 0430 and are busy until 2000 (8 PM) with an hour of personal time until lights out at 2100 (9PM). Things I don't miss from Basic: -15 hour work days -6 1/2 day work weeks -eating MREs 3x a day in the field -3 minute group showers -3 minutes to eat -All my Drill Sergeants except DS White -not being able to listen to any other music than military marching cadences -BCGs: the eye glasses they made us where -not knowing whats going on in the world -waiting in line 1 hour to talk to my family for 5 minutes -the outstanding laundry service of Fort Jackson (hint of sarcasm) -fire ants -sand -and of course Fort Jackson itself!

Well, I arrived a couple days ago at Corry Naval Station - Pensecola, FL. The base is pretty small (about 1mile x 1mile). The base is solely a Military Inteligence school. It's cool because we live in the same building as Marines, Air Force, and Navy personel. I start classes next Monday. I'm suppose to get my Top Secret Security badges this week. I won't be able to talk about the school at all, so don't ask. Everyone here can't even talk about it with eachother outside of class. Our class building is surrounded by barbed wire fences and guards. It's pretty cool though. We get a lot of privilages back. I can have a cell phone and can go anywhere on base when not on duty during Phase 4 (Phase 1-3 were during basic) and when I get to Phase 5 I get all my electronics back and can go off-post during the weekends. When I get to Phase 5+ I can leave base anytime when not on duty and will get to live in the new Navy Barracks which I guess are really nice. Well, it's chow time at the Galley (I have to start using Navy terms now).

Well, I arrived a couple days ago at Corry Naval Station - Pensecola, FL. The base is pretty small (about 1mile x 1mile). The base is solely a Military Inteligence school. It's cool because we live in the same building as Marines, Air Force, and Navy personel. I start classes next Monday. I'm suppose to get my Top Secret Security badges this week. I won't be able to talk about the school at all, so don't ask. Everyone here can't even talk about it with eachother outside of class. Our class building is surrounded by barbed wire fences and guards. It's pretty cool though. We get a lot of privilages back. I can have a cell phone and can go anywhere on base when not on duty during Phase 4 (Phase 1-3 were during basic) and when I get to Phase 5 I get all my electronics back and can go off-post during the weekends. When I get to Phase 5+ I can leave base anytime when not on duty and will get to live in the new Navy Barracks which I guess are really nice. Well, it's chow time at the Galley (I have to start using Navy terms now).

Well, i'm back from 11 and 1/2 weeks Army Basic Combat Training. Just graduated today! Just bought a new Sony Vaio laptop. Tomorrow I have a flight to leave for AIT (technical job trainin) at Pensecola. I don't know how much free time I will have, but I'll try to visit back when I can.

Well guys, my time is up. Tomorrow at 4pm I leave to begin my enlistment as a Soldier in the US Army. It will probably be a good 6 months before I will be able to access a computer to come to ST again, so farewell.

Suddenly I feel a bit short! 5'7" at 140 lbs

It was a little more than a year ago that I made a post talking about how I had joined the Air Force. At the time I had to get a medical waiver for my eyes (i'm a bit too nearsided). A few weeks later I received the waiver. However, about a week later I got a call from my recruiter who told me that someone had screwed up with the waiver and I was actually denied. You can just about imagine how pissed off I was! I have been fighting it ever since. I have talked to my state senators (nothing they can really do to force the Air Force's hand). I have been fighting it for over a year and to no avail. Then about a few weeks ago I ran into an Army recruiter and I decided to finally give up on the Air Force. Because of the needs of the Army right now (under-recruitment vs the Air Forces being overmanned) I was easily able to obtain a waiver. I went down to MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) in Denver on Tuesday and signed up on yesterday. When I went to do job selection yesterday some pretty cool things came up that I qualified for. My MOS is: 98Y Military Inteligence - Signal Collector/Analyst. It does require a Top Secret security clearance, so the Miltary has authorized a $60,000 FBI background check on me. Basically, an FBI agents will go around trying to talk to and interviewing everyone I know. The only catch to this job is that it is a very limited position with very limited spots, so my only avaiable choice to obtain the spot is to ship out in 3 weeks (June 21). Even though I have been waiting for this for I long time, I'm pretty nervous, but just excited that I have been finally allowed to join the military and serve my country. So in 3 weeks I leave for Fort Jackson, South Carolina for 10 weeks of Basic Training. After that I will head to Pensacola, Florida for 6 months of training for my job. (both of my recruiters were pretty jealous when I told them that! )

Originally posted by: greedygregTake it from me, nobody screws up orders and paperwork like our Air Force! quote>lol! To bad I had to figure that out the hard way. 2 weeks till I ship and I still have the longest to do list! What makes it even harder is that my last day of my current job isn't till next Friday and I work around 60 hours a week. That is why I have taken today and tomorrow off because I have "the stomach flu". The closer my ship date gets the more nervous I become. I know the next 2 weeks are going to fly right by.

You can live in Wyoming where: 1. Anything not 5000 feet tall is considered a hill 2. The wind blows and blows and blows and then blows some more 3. The "Big City" has 50,000 people 4. You can see the Bighorn Mountains from Casper (a distance of 150 miles). 5. There is enough coal to supply the world for the next 100 years 6. A kid straight out of high school and no college can make $70,000 a year 7. There are 5 guns for every person

I live in Casper, Wyoming, USA Casper - Population: 50,000 Natrona County - Population: 67,000 Wyoming - Population: 500,000

During Microsoft's E3 Press Confrence today they officially announced Halo 3 along with a breathtaking trailer (or at least it was breathtaking in HD and surround sound). There have been many rumors over the past month that Bungie's next game would not be Halo 3. It was also rumored that it was to be a prequel to the original Halo and would be called Forerunner or Halo: Forerunner. Some even ventured to guess that Bungie was producing an MMO Halo (although they could still be making it concurrently with Halo 3. As usually happens, rumors hide a hint of truth. To quote the accompanying text found on Xbox Live, Halo 3 is about Earth under Convenant rule: "With its defensive forces, all but obliterated, Earth has fallen to the unstoppable might of the Convenant. These alien occupiers have discovered something beneath the ancient African sands - something incredible... something Forerunner." The Forerunners are an apparently extinct alien race that built huge artificial ringworlds called Halos, and the Halo games have focused on the mystery surrounding these strange objects. According to the trailer we should expect this new installment of Halo sometime in 2007, probably alongside the release of the Halo movie.

It is available on Live, but I have had to much trouble with the live servers right now. They just released 18 new trailers and 2 demos on live and I think there servers are a little swamped right now! I downloaded the HD trailer off of my GameSpot Complete account, but I think it is available on GameTrailers.com (there site is a little swamped right now so it might be slow!)