The sandbag is one of those tube-ish black nylon bags with handles on it in various places. On the inside are a few smaller nylon bags that are packed with sand. The entire thing weighs something over 45lbs and isn't very soft, just in case you were wondering. Anyways, I throw this guy on my shoulders and walk at a brisk pace about a half mile down the road from the barracks. I come across a massive parking lot that at the far corner has some workout connex's complete with pull up bars. I won't do any pull-ups today but just being around them is good enough. There's a group of what appear to be more senior soldiers on the other side of the connex doing some sort of music led workout. I stay on my side and enjoy the electronic music while I throw my sand bag repeatedly over my head as high as possible, blasting off from the faded asphalt in an attempt to send this bag to the moon. It, of course, goes roughly about 1/84,092,800th of the distance; That's a rough estimate based on me throwing it 15 feet skyward. I do this then some sit ups and more bag throws and then side raises, more bag throws and finish with a grueling 2-minute plank. One minute is too easy but it seems that every second after 60 is increasingly more difficult. I walk back doing a set of 10 lunges or air squats with my bag every minute as a timer on my watch goes off. It isn't fun, I sweat a little bit and am ready for water. I had placed a water bottle in my sand bag, but upon reaching the outside of the barracks building I threw my bag down (to rest a little before going up to the 3rd floor) and in the process busted my water bottle. I didn't actually know this until I picked up my bag, surprised to find it soaked. Classic.
Breakfast will now be more consistent. I have a sausage patty, a biscuit, a scoop of squared/hashed potatoes, two boiled eggs, a can (yes a can) of apple juice, and a bagel. This breakfast keeps gas to a minimum during class and the bagel I save for in class in case I get hungry or tired. I eat and video chat with my family. It is great to see them all every day but it's a little pain full to see them and not be able to really interact with them. The double edged sword of long distance communication. Not that it would be any better if I couldn't talk to them, it's just seeing them emphasizes the feeling of longing to be with them and interact with them physically.
Class really wasn't bad today. Learning all about waivers for enlisting into the Army. I am surprised that some of the criminal waivers can have such high level of crimes and still be potentially signed off on. In some cases the sheer amount of criminal activity can also be waived. Based off of different crimes, timelines, and circumstances, plenty of people are allowed in with a rap sheet. The Army looks at the whole person, the surrounding circumstances and generally will give applicants a chance to explain themselves. Should the reviewing authority for the waiver find that the explanation/story meets up with the court/arresting documents and it all seems reasonable the applicant was either charged wrongfully, has moved on in life, or learned from the events than the waiver can be signed and the applicant can continue to process into the US Army. Great stuff.
We take a 20 question quiz after lunch. I score an 85, and feel bad. The feedback was immediate as the quiz was taken in class on the laptops provided. After discussing this score with a few members of my class I don't feel so bad anymore. The review of the quiz reveals the class average was a 71. I really don't feel bad anymore.
After class I grab a to-go tray from the DFAC; beef bulgogi, (so they claim), rice and collard greens. I don't eat the collard greens because they made them spicy. One, I am not a fan of spicy collard greens. Two, I don't have any Tums to help with the heartburn that would follow eating such spicy collard greens. While eating I get to chat with my family again. My wife took some great pictures of my boys playing outside with some of their water toys. My boys LOVE to play outside. Once they are outside they never want to come back in. (Well, only very rarely, my oldest will ask to go back inside.) I view the pictures on a sharedrive we made to share with friends and family. It was one of the best ideas I've ever had, making that sharedrive. Instead of taking a picture and sending to one family member and then maybe another, all the while many other family members want the picture but they don't get one because I'm too lazy to group chat. The sharedrive allows me to invite only the people I want and I only have to upload the photo to the drive and once it's in there everyone on the list gets a nice little notification saying that I've added a cute picture of my boys. This allows all family members to smile with joy at the sight of my family simultaneously. Thanks google drive.
I take a little walk after dinner and meditate on some stairs about a half mile out. I also found a half a brick which I take back to the room with me. I like brick, leave me alone. I was also trying to locate a decent spot to put up my hammock for an evening relaxation but there really wasn't a good spot down the road I took. I'll just have to look tomorrow.
I was, for some reason, much more tired than I usually am by 2100 and just laid in bed, talking with my wife until I was really just wanting to sleep. I still have trouble sleeping and I don't find it until closer to midnight. Thankfully tomorrow is a holiday!