That's two down for the count

Time goes by so quickly, yet it drags on as well. It has now been almost two weeks since I left and a week and a half since I arrived here at Laughlin. I have now completed my first full week here at Laughlin and it all seems a blur. This is my life. No getting around it. But it doesn’t really feel like it. It is as if I were standing a thousand feet above and watching as Zach Kushner lives his life. It is as if each day is a lifetime in and of itself. This past week has been like so many in my past with its highs and its lows. I remember talking to mom and dad at different points during the past couple weeks and both of them saying that at some point the tides would turn here. At some point the highs would begin to outnumber the lows. At some point I would cross that line in space where I would begin to feel at home here. What I cannot believe is that I think I have crossed that line already. After wrestling day after day with the fact that this is where I am at, I had a moment a couple days ago where I could just feel like I was actually here. What got me to that point? Who knows.

I was given my “day job” this week. Want to know what it is? Are you excited? I know I was. The reason for my excitement is, well, understandable. Here was yet another unknown becoming known. Well, I have been assigned to the 84th Flying Training Squadron. I have been given the job of Executive officer. At least that is the title. In reality I am protecting America one diet coke and one Twix candy bar at a time. At the moment, my sole responsibility is ensure the snack room (or Zach’s Snack Shack) stays stocked on all those scrumptious goodies that keep our nations AF pilots full and satisfied. Other than that I sit at a desk and help out whenever someone needs a TV power cord to be found or an errand run. Though it is not exactly the most exciting job in the world, I have decided to make the most of it, and be the best snacko (snack officer) the 84th has ever had! If I am totally honest, it is rather disappointing, but I know that God will use it to His glory. Having this job should give me the opportunity to begin taking classes for an MA program or working on language learning via Rosetta Stone (which AF personnel have free access to). We will have to just wait and see.

Coupled with my duties as snacko, I have been voluntold for one other duty here. I am an escort. Now, despite Sarah Kushner’s snide remarks, this job is a respected position. I am a true American warrior. Ok, really, I sit in a truck for 4 hours and watch contracted workers do construction. So here is the deal. Whenever contractors come onto base they must be escorted to and from the work site by AF personnel. It’s the rule, and who better to do it then a bunch of 2LTs who graduated top of their class and are sitting around waiting to do the coolest job in the world? The answer that question is: there’s no one better than those 2LTs to do the job. It’s actually pretty chill. You drive back and forth a quarter of a mile a dozen times and other than that just sit and chat with the other guy who is with your or read a book. Not a bad job considering the pay….and the benefits. I mean, it gives me full health coverage! Not bad at all.
Despite the obvious sarcasm in some of the lines above, my time here is going really well over all. The people here are fantastic and I am slowly but surely making friends here. There is a winery down the road and tons of great BBQ and Mexican food. There is a state of the art gym, racket ball a plenty and one coffee shop. Each day I get to see T-6s, T-1s, and T-38s buzz around all day. And I get paid like a real adult. Pretty sweet gig. With the holidays coming upon us quickly this is a low key time here at Laughlin and it will undoubtedly pick up after the New Year. For those of you I will get to see in FL or CA in the next couple weeks, I can’t wait. For those of you I don’t, I will miss you. And for those of you who I owe a phone call to (I may or may not know who you are), give me a call, I’d love to chat! I love you all.