"Why is my car smoking?...."

"...oh because it's on fire." Hmm yup, never in my life would I think that my car would ever catch fire, but Friday night, it indeed did. I was on my way to Lewisburg, PA for my drum corps show when I noticed the smoke coming from my car. I pulled off the road, noting that I had no brakes, and saw that my left rear tire was engulfed in flames. Pretty cool at first been then I realized I was about 4 hours from the closest person I knew, I was in Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton area. So luckily I had like a huge ass bottle of water with me and I put the fire out with that. I then called my roadside service and they towed me to a Volkswagon dealer in Scranton and I spent the night in a Howard Johnson hotel. Come morning, I walked back to the dealership only to find that they were closed for the weekend. So, I called my company again and told them to tow it to somewhere that was open, which happened to be a Pep-Boys. Pep-Boys told me that they would look at it but depending on what was wrong I still may be stuck in the area for a couple days. FUCKING AWESOME, but luckily they did indeed did have the parts I needed. It took them about 7 hours and $600 to fix all the damage. Well there goes a shitload of money that I really neeeded. So I go back back on the road at around 630ish, realizing that it was too late to make it to Lewisburg in time for the show, I just headed back up to Vermont. So yeah that's my story in a nutshell.

I think it's time for a newer car and one that won't keep breaking down.

Moving on...

Well so a lot has been happening since I’ve last updated some good and some not so good.

- Yulia and I aren’t together anymore

- I’ve moved off campus into my own place

- Summer AT is over with

- 2^nd session of classes has started

- Drum Corps season is still going strong

So yeah, Yulia and I aren’t together anymore. The night she came back she said that she didn’t have feelings for me anymore and that she would like to remain friends still. It’s kinda funny how girls always say that but always run and hide so that it’s impossible for that to occur. But it was odd because we still hung out over AT and it wasn’t too weird for me. I mean you figure the 3 ½ months we were together, 3 months of it she was away so it’s almost as if we weren’t ever really together. But as of right now, it looks like the whole “staying as friends” thing might actually pan out.

I moved off campus and I like it so far. It’s nice to have a place to call my own in a sense. I mean yeah I have to admit it is a mobile home and it looks shitty from the outside, but it’s really nice on the inside. My internet isn’t up yet because I’m still waiting for it from my parents. Not like I’ll be online more than I am now, because the only people I really talk to are the people in the contra line, but it’d be nice not having to use Jen’s computer all the time.

So another summer comes and another week of AT goes by. This was my first summer AT with the band and it was just as fun as the two spring AT’s I have done with my unit. These people are possibly the greatest group of folks I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. We had a bunch of concerts in all of these small towns all over Vermont, of course I don’t remember any of the names haha. But we were well received as we always are and that’s what makes my job so enjoyable.

The 2^nd session of classes started last week when I was on AT so I am now trying to play catch up and I am failing miserably. I’m trying to teach myself the stuff we’re learning now but I can’t because it all requires the knowledge of the 2 chapters of work I missed. So the test we had today was possibly the worst out of the 2 sessions combined. Oh, I got a B in the first session so I am hoping that I can get another one so I can raise my GPA. It’s pretty much the same people as the first session except we lost 2 people and gained two different ones. So the class is the same size, just a couple different people

The Brigadiers are driving on through the drum corps season. We have changed about 65% of the drill so we are still a little low on our score. But I think the main thing that is killing us now is our brass and percussion scores. We seem to be dragging ass out there but I have faith in us. This weekend is one of our home shows at Central Square High School. I have no idea where it is but it can’t be too far from the Middle School where we normally rehearse before the competitions start. Since I’ve had off this week from work I plan on heading out there early so that I can actually get some sleep before a full day of rehearsal.

After the show on Saturday night, I need to drive back to Vermont for an Air Force deployment gig that is scheduled for Sunday morning/afternoon. Also on Sunday is the ceremony where RSP officially hands Yulia back to the band after successfully completing all of her training. So it is yet another really long weekend for me with very little rest and a lot of driving.

Today, I sent in a request for some USMCR officer info. Figure I need to keep my options open for what exactly I want to do with my life. While actually commissioning in the USMCR is very remote, it is still a possibility.

Another thing that has been bothering me is that I find myself a bit depressed over the last couple of weeks. I know it has nothing to do with me breaking up with Yulia because it’s been happening since before she came back. I don’t know what It is exactly, maybe I don’t get out much, my life is too mundane, or what it is. But I do hope that I will be able to snap out of it pretty soon because I’m tired of it.

Well I should finish unpacking, clean up and do my homework. Later