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!

Of Pints and Promises

Last night, I met up with an old friend, Simone her name. We had been planning this evening for over 2 years. We met at a local cafe and caught up. We hadn't taken the time to talk like this in what had seemed like ages. We had both changed so much since we first met. That time seems so long ago and yet it was merely two and a half years ago. From the cafe, we made our way to the local pub and met some friends! While there I bumped in to one of the bar tenders and fellow Firefighter. I owed him a pint from this summer when I didn't have the right change. So I promptly bought him a Pint of Heineken. There after, bought myself a Black and Tan and Simone a pint of Guinness.
We then wandered around town and caught up some more until it was time to go. We walked to the bus stop and we parted ways. It was an evening quite enjoyable, with a beautiful lady I am honored to call my friend.

Lo! The Eve of the New Year is upon us!