A Geek’s Think

It's Christmas Day, and I'm on leave back home in Arizona. Ain’t life grand? I’ve been here for just over a week now, and the contrast with military life has been nice. Especially the not getting up at 4:30 part.

I’ve especially enjoyed seeing my nearly 2-year-old nephew Adam. The last time I saw him he only spouted gibberish and couldn’t walk a step, but now he knows his alphabet and chases the cats all over the house. His fascination with life could make even the grumpiest Scrooge smile. I sure have missed him in the time I’ve been away.

It’s only two days from now that I’ll start the drive back to Virginia, and I’m not looking forward to leaving. I’ve had too much fun here with my family and friends (although my bank account may argue with me on that one… )

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see everyone I would have liked to see while here, but I’ve done pretty well. If I missed you, send me a note - I may not have known how to contact you. In any case, I hope you’re well and happy. I sure am.

Most of my friends out there are probably wondering where my Navy pictures are - and I don’t blame you. I haven’t taken too many since I joined, but here are a few teasers to keep you going.  Note: You can always check for my most recent photos by clicking the “View Latest Updates” link in my Photo Gallery.

Uniform Note: The all-white uniform is called “Service Dress Whites,” and is worn for formal occasions. The blue uniform is known as our “Utilities” and is what we wear for everyday work. We have several other uniforms, and I’ll eventually post pictures in those as well.

 

This picture was taken just last week when my good friend Mike Joner came into town for a visit.
Can you tell I’ve lost some weight?



These two pictures were taken with my good friend Bill Dussault. We went through boot camp together, and, being two of the oldest guys in the division, soon became friends. We also happen to both be Electronics Technicians and graduated from “A” School together - the picture of us in our Dress Whites was taken that day.

 

The couple I’m with here is Elder and Sister Redding, who were until recently missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints called to help out the sailors stationed in Great Lakes, Illinois - both those in boot camp and those in “A” School. They made a tremendous difference in the lives of countless sailors. I’ll be forever grateful to their influence in my life, especially during the trying times of boot camp.

–Tyler

Check out these new technologies with the potential to make life even easier for us technogeeks:

LED Projectors

Normal projectors use a really expensive light bulb to display images. While offering great image quality, they have the side effects of running really hot, requiring loud fans, and a bulb that needs to be replaced every thousand hours or so. At $300-500 per bulb, costs can soon bypass the original cost of the projector.

Enter the LED Projector. Using LED’s instead of standard bulbs for lighting removes all three of the above-mentioned issues - they’re cool running and long lasting. They’re also small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. All these benefits come with a price, however - less brightness. Every model announced thus far has a brightness of less than 100 lumens, with most outputting closer to 25 lumens. That’s not very bright, but their portability, price (less than $1000), and long life make them a powerful contender for my future spending. Check out the announced models from Mitsubishi , Toshiba, Sony, Samsung, and more.

Electronic Paper

Electronic Paper makes it possible to read from a computer without experiencing the eye strain normally associated with a computer monitor, which refreshes its image at least 60 times per second. It does this by displaying a constant image - no changes unless necessary. In that way, reading from ePaper is like reading from a book - easy on the eyes. Now imagine having a 1 GB flash memory card full of books or papers to read. Thousands of books in the palm of your hand with no eye strain? I say WOW. Pair this with Project Gutenberg and you can have more than 19,000 books at your fingertips. Plus, you’re saving trees as you go. Nice, eh?

This is just a quick note to let you know where I’m headed - I’ll write more later. I chose my orders from what was available a few days ago and here’s where I’ll be for the next 4 1/2 years of my life.  Note: A “C” School is a more specialized school than an “A” School - I’ll be learning to maintain and fix a specific set of equipment instead of a general class of systems.

• First, I go to Norfolk, VA for two “C” Schools lasting a total of 7 months
• Second, I’ll spend a month in Maryland for another “C” School
• Third, I’ll report to my final duty station at Naval Station Mayport, which is near Jacksonville, Florida

Today is a happy day. I just finished my last “A” School course this morning! The program took me about 7 weeks to complete, versus the 17 weeks I was told when I started, so I moved through it fairly quickly. So quickly, in fact, that I nearly broke the school’s speed record. I’ll graduate this Friday as a Distinguished Military Graduate, meaning that I did really well in school - I don’t know of any one else receiving the award during my stay here.

I don’t have my orders yet, so I don’t know where I’m going after this, but I’ll be sure to let you know when I find out.

–Tyler