Of Presentations, Theatres and Visionaries (Part 1)

On Friday last, the 27th of the first month, I packed my weekend bag and made my way to the Hesby Oak Elementary School to meet the parents of a dear friend of mine, too make the trek down to Escondido. I would like to take this time to express both my disgust and acceptance of traffic in and around the L.A. Basin. I arrived at the agreed Rendez-Vous point at the agreed time. Mr. and Mrs. R, were in a word, delightful. I met their Son and Daughter, Bryce and Chloé, two years ago on a Italy trip organized via our online World Literature class, though Chloé was and still is my classmate. After making our way back onto the 101 and eventually the 405 headed south. Again, the L.A. Basin at 6:30 on a Friday night, is well, more a parking lot than anything else. Our Gypsy (the GPS) continually told us we were perpetually an hour away from our destination. By around 9:30, after 3 hours of traffic, and much great conversation, we arrived at our lodgings in Murrieta, at yet more dear friends of mine. The C's house an endearing family who loves me like a son. Their daughters, Ashley and Alyssa, are also classmates of mine. Incidentally, they too were on the afore mentioned trip to Italy. The rest of that evening was spent in song, music and catching up. 11:30 found me fast asleep. The last few hours of that sleep so precious was troubled however. Morning loomed, and as that new sun rose, so too did my anxiety.

Flirtations with Asphalt

Of the few but valuable gifts received for Christmas, I obtained a longboard. Not any longboard mind you, but the Robert August ii by Surf One, a Skate and Surf Company from my native SoCal. Upon my return to the Golden State, I was of course itching to take it out for a ride. My neighborhood, Sunset Hills, is true to the name and quite rich in paved slopes. After getting the basic hang of the steering, I decided to see just how fast I could go, to satisfy my curiosity for velocity.

The Board!

Those inclined towards boarding, and or physics are well acquainted with a phenomenon known as the "speed wobbles". It is defined by a certain frequency achieved by the wheels, which reverberates across the trucks or the axles, which subsequently shakes the board or chassis respectively.
 

Robert August

  For those you have ever been thrown off of a bike or a board or a trampoline, and have achieved flight for the briefest of moments. You know the thought process during the flight. Before the take off and during take off: "This is not going to End well". Midflight: This is gonna hurt really bad, I hope I don't die." This is also accompanied by the terror and panic of the imminent landing. And Finally the Grande Finale: The crash landing in which you hit the ground hard, tumble, roll and sustain injury.

Left Palm

  So after my first hands on experience with the speed wobbles and my first attempt at aeronautics in a long time I am left both palms scuffed up, left elbow slightly shredded, right knee cap with medium road rash. Head uninjured due to Helmet! (never not wearing a helmet again)

Right palm

    As I lay there bruised and bandaged, I am left wondering, which is more dangerous... flirting with girls, or asphalt...

On the Wing

"I woke up, fell out of bed, dragged a comb across my head" My last day in Switzerland and I was left feeling sentimental. At 10, a dear friend of mine came round to wish me well on my transatlantic journey. Darja, is in a word, one of the best friends in my village, arguably my best, dearest friend of the female persuasion in said village. After a lovely coffee and semi emotional good byes, I made my way to the Aeroport and met up with Caleb and Katlyn. After another coffee, (though I abhor the drink and stick to liquid Cacao) and yet another set of semi emotional good byes, write me's and the like, I passed through security in the wonderous world that is Zurich airport.
     I by the time i made it to Section E, where my flight was scheduled to depart, I was stricken with terror to find my flight was boarding and that gate 42E was yet a long way off. Que the mad dash towards the gate! I made it on time though and after passing through what seemed more like the gates at a derby than anything else I was down the skywalk and in a matter of minutes seated beside one Matthias S. a Biochemist living in San Diego but originally from the Bernese Oberland.
    The flight was uneventful and Matthias provided for a few brief yet engaging conversations about matters of our dear fatherland as well as SoCal. As for the route flown, we flew almost straight north to Bergen, Finland and then west across Iceland and Greenland. When we reached Calgary we turned left and flew along the Rockies until we arrived at long last in the City of Angels.

"I drive on her streets
'Cause she's my companion
I walk through her hills
'Cause she knows who I am
She sees my good deeds and
She kisses me windy"

The Eagle has landed!

You're in the Army now!

    On the 4th of January, in compliance with my orders, I "transferred" to the recruitment Center in Windisch. I was given a number card, a locker room coin, and a pen. We were then advised not to lose the pen as we would have to pay 2 Franks to replace it. After stowing our baggage, which consisted overnight things and sport clothes, we were assembled in the main area, and offered a small breakfast of Iced Tea and croissants. Thereafter we were instructed to assemble in the meeting hall and were seated by the numbers on our cards. The groups were then divided into groups of 32, four groups in total. My group, Group 4, had the Sport test first. I got 68 out of a possible 125. I am admittedly quite out of shape. 80 would have been outstanding, though if one would like to be a Grenadier or Scout, the minimum amount of required points are 90, which is very hard.
    The Sport test was followed by a battery of psychological and intelligence tests and a trip to the doctors for a check up. I surprised my self how well I did in the intelligence part and was reassured to find that the Swiss Army has deemed me mentally sound as well as in good physical health. The evening was spent with dinner, and deciding which job, (function) we would prefer in the army, as the next day we would have a one on one talk with the Lieutenant-Colonel about the matter. As for me, as long as I was not part of the Infantry, I didn't care. My preferred job would be among a mechanized unit. Then after dinner, we sat in the lobby and whiled away the hours before bed with casual conversations about all manner of topics.
   At 06:50 one of our leaders came into the room and boomed at the top of his voice! GOOD MORNING! GET UP! So up we got, stripped our beds, packed up all our gear and went down to breakfast. After breakfast we returned to the doctor to get some vaccinations and drawing of blood. Next, we received our combat boots and then ate lunch. Up next thing on the agenda: the one on one chat with Lieutenant Colonel Mathys. The moment of Truth. I was slightly nervous to be sure, but in the end, it turned out all right.
  The end results of this two day recruitment: I am in good physical health, in good psychological standing, as well as in good cognitive health. I will enter boot camp in the summer of 2014 and will do so as a Tank Grenadier Crewman. My tank will be the Combat Vehicle 90. On top of all this, I now own my very own combat boots!



Eagle, Out!

The Ratpack

Ah yes, the previously mentioned Ratpack. It all started around two years ago. Charlie had come over to my house to watch "Public Enemies" which had just come out on DVD. That October evening we decided to form a group of friends that would meet on a regular basis. Caleb and Joshua, brothers and friends of ours were the obvious choice. We only then really saw each other on Sunday's at church until the following summer when, for Charlie's 18th birthday we went and watched "Inception". Shortly thereafter we had a party at my place for my 18th birthday. We're always in search of a good laugh, we love watching movies, mixing drinks, drinking drinks, trying new things, cracking dumb jokes, laughing with and at each other. We are as good as brothers four.

Shake that bottle and make it POP!

Champagne Showers! New Years was one hell of a good time! Some of my best friends in Switzerland all came over to my house at around 7. We danced and sang and made merry! I achieved one of my goals of last year: Down a pint of beer in one go! The Earworm of the evening? LMFAO's Champagne showers, the album was incidentally given to me by the Ratpack for Christmas! Josh and I made Black and Tans, which is the Ratpack's official drink, at least beer drink. We played the Wii and then everyone slept over. The morning, though we slept till 12, heralded a slight hangover for me and Josh, but even better, a big batch of pancakes and bacon. In the afternoon our group made it way to the Thermal Baths in Schinznach concluding with dinner at Joshua and Caleb's house!


All in all, the best New Years Eve and New Years Day I've had in a while!