They had to make a choice. Her tumor was inoperable and surgery wasn’t an option. She was far too sick for chemo and radiation. She was bleeding internally. She had an infection near the tumor and was on antibiotics – if it cleared the outlook was still grim. I watched them make the decision to end her suffering. They told the doctors to give her the medication required to stop the pain. There would be no going back.

Never in my life have I seen something so heartbreaking. It was the only choice they could make and it was the hardest decision I’ve ever seen anyone make.

Life is fragile and we never know when someone we love could be taken away from us.

In my lifetime I want to see a cure. Too many people I know have been affected by it: my father, my father-in-law, my grandmother, my co-workers, and my extended family.

I never want to see anyone suffer like that again. Cancer sucks.

Earlier this week I had to yell at an airman for disrespect. He thought we were peers. He was mistaken. He can’t speak to me however he wants and he must do as he is told. It doesn’t matter that I am in the same class as him – I outrank him and if I issue a lawful order he had better damn well do it.

I’ve got a three day weekend ahead and I haven’t yet figured out how to kill the time. We’ll see what I get into later.

We had our first (of many) block tests yesterday. I passed the test without problems but I couldn’t have done that without studying. One of the airmen in the class failed the test. He said that when we had the review prior to the test that he got confused. If you really know the material how do you get confused? I hope that he spends the time needed this weekend to really study the material. If he doesn’t he will be eliminated. When it comes to my health and safety I really don’t want to work with someone that didn’t take fundamentals seriously. Would you?

Why wouldn’t you simply put in the required time? I’m putting my time in – the standard for me is perfection. I’m doing my damnedest but I know if I had to I’ve still got a little more in me. I’ve got 48 hours prior to my first test and I’ve got 80% of the book memorized. I think I’ll manage this test with little difficulty.

Our training hasn’t been exactly easy – we’ve had a hard time staying awake and we’ve had a hard time staying in class as the schedule is designed. The homework, on the other hand, is a piece of cake. We’ve had an issue over the past two days that has pulled our instructor out of the class for extended periods of time. Earlier this afternoon one of our class members left. An airman decided that aircrew and subsequently the Air Force was not for him. He’ll be returning to parent as soon as the paperwork is processed. I don’t know what his reasons were but some people aren’t cut out for the military. I think that he was one of those people that simply knew that he couldn’t cut it. In the end, he saved uncle Sam a couple hundred thousand dollars by raising the white flag.

Minutes later the episode was over and I slowly began to recover and return to this world. I had experienced something that must have been delivered straight from Heaven.

Cut to two hours prior – here I sat in this room thinking about my dinner options. The chow hall is closed on the weekend so I’m forced to venture out and find something to eat. It’s not necessarily a bad thing – getting out of the room is a welcome change. In time I noticed an article that touted burgers that could rival or even beat those served by the famed In-and-Out. Curious I looked up the location on Google Maps and off I went.

There in the distance the sign beckoned me in.

The signage was spartan but something fantastic lurked within

The decor reminded me of a Jimmy Johns – there wasn’t much to it but you don’t really need much. After all, you’re there for the food, not the decor. I ordered, filled my soda cup, and sat down to wait. A few minutes later my number was called and my food was given to me in a brown paper bag. With great excitement I tore the bag in half to reach a massive burger wrapped in tinfoil and a giant pile of fries.

That right there is what we call a stroke burger - you're gonna have one by the time you're done

This burger was perfect – perfect. I can no longer eat at Red Robin. They don’t make burgers. What they serve cannot be compared. In-and-Out serves as a distant – yes, distant – second place in my opinion. This burger was fantastic.

Thats a whole lot of fries... and they're GOOD!!!

I ate no more than a third of the fries provided. Good god, that’s a massive pile of fries.

Overall – A++

I will be returning and I’ll never forget the angelic music – wow – that was a good burger.

I surf

and find things like this

and then I blog…. more activity in the past 24 hours than the last few months

At times I was bored of the scenery – miles upon miles of nothing. Notably eastern Oregon, northern Utah, and parts of New Mexico were the worst. There were times that I wanted to stop and other times I simply did. Our country is so diverse – it’s amazing. I know that there are parts that are far less amazing. I just hope to never live in those places.

Simply driving around this place has brought back long dormant memories. I saw the building that I lived in when I was just a trainee, the PT grounds that we all hated, and many of the other buildings we visited. It’s simply surreal.

I’m a day early so I’ve got some time to kill. I think I’ll be able to manage that.

I had to walk to the ATM this morning to grab some cash. I saw rainbows (brand new trainees that haven’t been issued uniforms) being yelled at, flights practicing marching skills, flights doing group runs complete with cadence, airmen being yelled at for sheer stupidity, and the next age group of Airmen ready to be molded and developed. It’s bizarre to see it again.

I’m really excited about school – less than 24 hours to go. I can’t wait.