The beginning of the end?

Plans never work out the way you intend them to.
This I have learned. Or at least learned to live with the fact.
"The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps."
-Proverbs 16:9
It's important to know, to trust in the One who does know where you're headed, or rather where He wants to guide you and how He wants to shape you. Too often I try to forge my own path to satisfy my desires. It seems to be a recurring theme here on this blog. Let me tell you the most recent ways it relates.

The Army vs. diabetes thing is not looking too good right now. I think it's still a matter of eating right and exercising, but I haven't exercised for the past three weeks at least, and have indulged in sweets and desserts way too much before coming back to school. Then, once I get here, all the food is starchy (as in potatoes and breads and pasta and stuffs, not pressed shirts. :-p) and thus loaded with carbs, which is what I need to be avoiding. So, I've checked my sugar a few times since arriving in Texas, and it's been lower each time, but all three were above my "acceptable" threshold, which has me a little concerned. However, I think that once I start running again and continuing to avoid breads and desserts for the most part (60 carbs is not much of a meal when you've got a heaping plate of pizza and pasta in front of you), I'll be back on the road to enlistment. Then comes a lab test in September or October, and that will most likely determine if I decide to pursue them any further.

Ok, enough of the Army. On to another area/era that's coming to a close in my life is my undergrad status. I hesitate to say my college life, because I'd love to stay in school, if it weren't for the school. Getting married is a very appealing option, but not for me at the moment. Maybe if no Army, definitely after Army. Army Army Army. Where was I again? Oh right, College. So this is the first day of classes for the last semester of my current college career. I graduate in December, and then it's world wide open. Oh boy.

Presently, I'm working at a local gym/recreational outreach center called, unsurprizingly, The ROC. I was hoping to work 16 hours a week in the evenings working on homework, but it looks like that's gonna get cut in half because there's another guy who was here before me that wants to work as well. Drats. So, not making as much as I wanted, but at least I have a guaranteed 8 hours each week. Also trying to get into the Network side of Network Services, but my roommate helped out over the summer and thus has higher priority now. Another closing door.

It's time to start looking at other options. I need to send out feelers all over to see if there's anyone (other than the Army) willing to hire me, and at a wage that will pay rent and other bills. Unless I live at home and get a government job, I'll need to find an apartment. I could live with a friend, but that may not be optimal. We shall see what develops, but I'd really rather not live at home, if only because that would require hauling ALL my stuff ALL the way back to Maryland, and I'm pretty sure it won't all fit in our van and my car. (YAY CAR!)

Not sure what else to put down, so I guess I'll sign off now. If you'd rather hear about something other than the Army or college or relationship whining, please tell me so. Then again, if that's the case, you probably stopped reading my blog long ago. :-p

Adios!
-Gilligan

Military Progress: Part Deux

So it appears that there may be more complications than I'd originally expected. Turns out my pee is too sweet, or in less crude terms, my initial urinalysis resulted in an abnormally high glucose count. This has resulted in me being sent to various doctors and getting multiple lab works done to make sure I'm not actually diabetic. It's looking like I'm probably pre-diabetic, but that should be remedied by better diet and more exercise. Ugh. But that is necessary anyway if I'm to be a healthy recruit. I've been given a blood-tester-thing to check my sugar every once in a while and have been using it fairly regularly. At least once a day or so. A good healthy reading should be below 100, or below 140 two hours after a meal. My total average has been between 95-105, but I've only gotten about 9 tests in, so we'll see what the latest lab test says. Also, I haven't always waited the full two hours, and have snuck some sweets in here and there, but I have been running almost every other day now.

All that to say, that if I am determined to be officially diabetic (Type II if so), I won't be able to pursue the Army and all of its benefits any longer. BUT if I'm only pre-diabetic (more likely), I'll be able to go ahead with those plans. This has become the only blocking factor for my Army thoughts, and if God doesn't want me in the Army He'll let me know. Of course, I think it's best to be healthy no matter what, both physically and spiritually, so I think I'll go read some Romans again, and do some homework.

Ta ta for now!
!! >> Gilligan

Military Investigation

No, they aren't investigating me, I'm looking into them. My oldest cousin Dave has decided he's going to join the Marines, which is awesome, and I'm happy for and proud of him. He invited me to a pool function (code for recruitee meet, where they run physical tests and give a little bit of instruction, punctuated by fun and games some weekends), and that got me thinking about joining once I've graduated from college. (I've got one semester left, no reason to quit now!) However, I'm interested in a girl, so that's a factor, but I've found out that being married in the military isn't so bad, and she's probably not too interested in me anyways. But even if I have to wait four more years for that chapter to unfold, God's looking out for me no matter what.

I figure being in the military would be a good experience for me, and would give me many benefits, including more self-discipline, self-respect, leadership and authority, as well as giving me a guaranteed job and practice of skills that I've been learning in school to do. (They do have IT in the military, believe it or not!) Well, the Marines will give me all of that, and they are quick to remind me of the "intangibles" that all Marines get, including teamwork, punctuality, leadership skills, and many more that I can't remember right now. But! The army is offering something that's a bit more attractive to me at this point in life: Elimination of debt.

I currently "own" a car and am making payments on that, and I have a cell phone that I pay to use every month, but that's pretty much it. Once I get out of college though, I'll need to pay off my loans, buy and furnish a house, (get married, maybe), and other large expenses that shock many fresh-out-of-college folks. With the Army, they will pay back up to $65,000 of my college loans, and depending on what MOS (Military Occupation Specialty) I choose, there is a small possibility I may get up to $40,000 in sign-up bonuses. (highly unlikely I'll get even $20,000, but it's something to keep in mind) The most important thing though, is the flexibility I have in choosing my MOS. When I sign up, I get to order the available jobs they have in preference, and they have the perfect job for me, an Information Technology Specialist (MOS 25B. Check out this Youtube video.) Now, if I choose to be an Officer, one of my top three has to be combat-related, but that's not too big of a deal for me.

I could also become a Data Communications Specialist in the Marines, but that's about the only job that's close enough to what I want, and since they are a smaller branch, it's less likely I'll be able to get it, and more likely I'll be thrust into the fit of battle. The Army's selection process is performance based, based on how well you do in Basic Training, and in either force I don't find out what MOS I'll get till the end, but if I do well in the Army, I get closer to first pick, as opposed to the Marines, who would pick it for me. Of course, my life is forfeit to whichever branch I'd choose, so choice is limited anyways. There are also Intelligence options, which would be cool and require me to get clearances even above Secret, some even Top Secret clearance.

Also, the Army's website is much more informative than the Marine's, which isn't a total killer, except I have to go to other sources to find out specifics on what's available and the processes behind the Marines. I suppose that's to help keep up the high, mysterious, and honored image that the Marines have, not that they need the website for that. I know that the Marines are tougher, and more unified, so I may consider them again, but after the Army. Which is another thing. The minimum required active duty in the Army is 3 years (again, depending on the MOS), and after that I can move to Inactive Reserves, get an approval to get out of the Army's Individual Ready Reserve (IRR), and enlist in the Marines. I may want to become a Commissioned Officer though, which would extend my stay in whichever branch, but they get paid at least half-again what I'd be making as an enlisted man, until I got into the Non-Commissioned Officer ranks. Anywho, it's a lot of information to take in, and not all of it is relevant to y'all, but I figured I'd be fairly thorough.

In the end, I'm leaning more towards the Army, mainly because of the possibilities, but also because of the financial benefits that the Marines don't offer. After that, I may look towards the Marines, but who knows, they might try and shove my time as "Ain't Ready (to be a) Marine Yet" down my throat, which would not be the most pleasant experience. I'll probably just become a civilian again. (IF I choose to go into the military in the first place! ;-p)