Lance (Crash) Carlson's Brain Musings

I am officially down to 24 days left in the Azores. On September 18th 2009 I jet off to the US for about a month of vacation and gathering my bearings before heading back across the Atlantic to Italy. I'm a little apprehensive about moving to Italy because I know the mission of the base there is a little more involved than "little Lajes". The stress that I came across here was from control freaks who didn't know when to take their hands off the reigns.

On the other hand I'm very excited about moving to Italy for a new adventure and lots and lots of bicycle riding. I already have a bicycle company picked out that I want to look at their models up close. Their stuff on the Internet is amazing. Of course there's a little price tag, but that's fine with me.

I remember arriving in the Azores in June 2008 wondering why I came here when I had everything I ever wanted in California. I still wonder why some days, but then there are days like yesterday that allowed me to be a kid again. Yesterday was possibly the last Sunday that I will be able to hear Pastor Art Nilsen preach here in the Azores. Pastor Art is a retired USAF member who stayed here on the island as the pastor of the Azorean Baptist Church. He and his family have adopted me and included me in many of their outings. Their kids have connected on many levels and in a way they are my little brothers and sisters. This Wednesday Pastor Art and his family will be heading to the US for a few weeks. They are not sure when they will be back, but they are hoping that they will see me before I jet off in 24 days. It was special to be able to have not just one family but almost every family in the church take me in as a member of their family. I was included in birthday parties, just parties in general, and all kinds of laughs. I will really miss the church family here on the island. It is like a huge light in such a dark island full of lost people.

If I did not have the Azorean Baptist Church I would have been a very unhappy man for my 15 months here in the Azores. I thank God that He gave me the desire to branch out and find real, meaningful worship, instead of settling for the chapel on base. It is because of the Azorean Baptist Church that I even have a desire to possibly come back to the Azores in a few years and have another go at an assignment. Maybe by then there will be people in position to make this a very smooth running place instead of the herky jerky state we were in most of the time.

In my last 24 days here I am going to be wrapping things up. In 2 weeks my house gets packed up and I hand the keys over to the landlord. Then I go and live on the base for a week and finish finalizing all the out-processing stuff. It will be a huge weight lifted from my shoulders when I am finally off the ground. It won't be without a tear or 2.

Written last week on my facebook page. Checking here to see if there is the same response...

How do I communicate to people that don't want to hear what I want to tell them? That crosses my mind every day. What I am talking about is Jesus Christ, and what He means to me. I see people stumbling around trying to get the meaning of life when it's staring them right in the face. How do I tell them? Especially when they know it all and don't think they need a relationship with Jesus. I guess because I've been around Christians my whole life I don't get it why people think drinking is fun along with drugs, prostitution, and just straight partying their life away.

On the other hand those same people probably don't get it when I find pure satisfaction in worshiping Jesus in church every Sunday through song, prayer, and fellowship. Throughout the week it is refreshing to step away from work in the evening and know that I can download all the frustration of the day on Jesus and He will be there to take it all in. There isn't always an overflowing feeling of peace, but just knowing that I'm not in this world alone is an amazing encouragement.

During days like today when nothing seemed to be going right I knew that the things being thrown my way were in a way being filtered through God's plan for my life. Nothing just happens. I know I have a choice in how I do things. I would like to say that I make the prudent choice all the time. However, I am human. Too many times I find myself looking at the easy way out of a tough situation. Sometimes I even find myself leaning toward not making any type of movement on a situation I have the power to help in. Why? Because I don't want the responsibility at the time. That's a dumb reason, and a showing of laziness on my part.

It is scaring me even now as I think this through that I have been doing some things half heartily lately. Part of me is saying that I can afford to do it because I won't see the full fruit of my labor over the past 13 months of being in a shop in the Azores. The other part of me is screaming that if I start to slack off then I will be falling into the trap of "shortitis". That is about the worst thing that I can allow to happen. I want to continue to work hard, but mentally I'm not there. The focus is turning from what I can do here in this shop in the Azores to prepping for my move to Italy in a couple months. Things are getting lost in the mix, which is a bad thing. Yet again I am only one human person. I'm not superman or anything close.

Superman, huh, that's like an anomaly with me. There is nothing super human about me. I'm about 3 fries short of a kids meal most of the time if you ask me. That's why I try so hard at everything I do. I know that if I don't put in 100% I won't be satisfied. Lately work has not been satisfying, which means not 100%. I would much rather be working on equipment than shooting out emails, making phone calls, writing reports, counseling people, and just being a menace to everybody out on the shop floor. The comfort in this is that it will pass and that God is completely in control of everything. I have to hit the bed. Thanks for reading if you read at all.

The following is from my Myspace Blog. It covers my first semi-organized bicycle ride in my life. To make it even more special it was my first time riding with Europeans that know a thing or two about bicycles. It was a blast. Especially considering I was holding back most of the ride. The adrenaline was going the whole ride. Enjoy...

Friday, May 29, 2009

Preparation for "The Ride"
Tomorrow just happens to be my first organized bicycle race. Maybe not really organized, but it's more than just jumping on the bike and riding somewhere on the island. The race is supposed to go from Angra to Biscoitos and back to Angra (just over 50 miles). There are a couple routes to get from Angra to Biscoitos. The way it sounds the route should be fairly familiar to me. Lots of climbs, and lots of false flat places.

The preparation started today when I took my bike to my riding buddy, David Kay, to get my rear wheel trued up. I tweeked it a couple weeks ago when I went over some speed bumps at 35 mph. About 4 spokes came loose and I didn't know it until I had finished the ride. Another aspect that could have contributed to it was a new bottom bracket (the part that the crank connects to). The new bottom bracket allowed me to have twice as much torque and I wasn't losing my stride due to messed up bearings. All that extra pressure on the back wheel could potentially cause some tweekage.

It took a grand total of 5 minutes to get the wheel figured out. It helped that David had an actual spoke wrench. I was clunking around with a huge adjustable wrench. In the process David pointed out that I need to campher (sp?) my brakes so the front of the pad hit before the back. Just added stopping power. Also found that my steering stem was a little loose. That took about 10 minutes for me to straighten out and get all tightened up. It's been loose for about a year and half. So I may have even more torque added to the back wheel. I won't have those lost millimeters of movement in the handlebars before the power is transferred through the frame to the wheel.

When I hit my house this afternoon/evening I immediately started thinking about food. Actually I started thinking about food around 1400 (2 p.m.). I love eating the night before a big ride. I threw on some pasta, with a little steak I had grilled earlier this week, some bread my neighbor gave me (Portuguese sweet bread), and some mixed veggies. The pasta says on the package that there are 4 servings, hah, took care of that with the steak mixed in. Was right tasty. I ate half the loaf of bread. Now I'm looking at maybe some ice cream or more bread.

In the morning I will have to get up with my alarm around 0530 and eat for 45 minutes straight. The menu is something like 3 eggs (fried), a bowl of oatmeal, a bowl cereal (some kind of regular cereal, don't know what I will have), a huge muffin (Otis Spunkmeyer), a banana and an apple. I will also have at least 3 cups of water before I leave the house.

For the ride I'm going to eat another banana before the ride starts and have about 6 granola bars stuffed in my pockets along with 70 ounces of water in my Camelback and another water bottle on my bike.

The forecast calls for rain. I have a rain jacket for riding, but it is also supposed to be in the mid-60s. That means it will be bearable in just a short sleeve jersey. Other stuff I'll be carrying, 2 tire tubes, a Gerber multi-tool, allen wrenches, my wallet, and car keys.

I don't plan on going all out until I'm warmed up, which will take about 10 miles to get everything figured out. According to the weather we will probably have a tailwind on the way out and a hefty headwind on the way back. It will be hard to take it easy on the way out. There is something about a tailwind that just makes your brain feel way too good and all the sudden you're doing 40 mph when you should be doing 25 mph. I don't know how many people will be riding. I also don't know what the proper riding etiquette is with a group. Do I cruise along and push the pace, sit in the pack, ride with my riding buddy, or leave everybody in the dust. I don't think I will have any trouble keeping up. I am slightly worried that I will get out in front and then take the wrong route and end up way behind. That would be embarrassing.

Anyway, it should be fun. I hope there isn't some sort of entry fee either. Because I forgot to get some Euro. I guess there's ATMs around the island. Just a whole lot easier to get to them on base. If I have to get up at 0530 then I need to be lights out at 2230 (10:30 p.m.). Shouldn't be a problem. Well, I'm going to go get some more food. Then kick back and relax. I won't be relaxed in the morning. I know I will have the jitters when I open my eyes. Love it when you get so excited about something that you can't sit still. Like a little kid waiting for Christmas.

Monday, June 01, 2009

Oh, yeah, I can ride up there with the professionals...
Well, almost. Saturday morning I went on an awesome 45 mile bicycle ride on the island. There were 2 Americans, me and my buddy David. The rest of the riders were Portuguese. The ride was complete with a police escort, and a support truck. Well, the truck had water and some snacks. That was about it in the way of support.

There were 3 very hardcore Portuguese riders. They had that typical gaunt look that makes professional bicycle riders look weak and unassuming. That is one of the worst underestimations ever. I think all of us in the group were sort of chomping at the bit to just take off and go all out. However, the organizers of the ride wanted us to keep our speed in check on the descents to avoid crashes and then on the flatter portions to just cruise a little. On the climbs is where everybody put 100% effort into riding.

I knew I was sort of fast, but I didn't know that I had the ability to stay up with the hardcore riders. For 40 of the 45 miles I stuck to the front like glue. I even paced the pack for about 30 minutes, just going my own speed and everybody was content to ride along on my wheel. That meant that I had found that sweet spot on the speed scale. Every rider has that speed that everything just seems to be easy.

About halfway into the ride we hit rain. That's when the organizers pulled up and decided to turnaround about 5 miles before the projected turn-around point. I was slightly disappointed because there were a couple climbs and downhill portions I was looking forward to. However, it would have been pouring rain and with 12 guys on bicycle going well over 30 mph is a recipe for not so good things. We stopped and most of the guys pulled on rain jackets and bundled up. To me it was kind of nice to get rain. It kept me cool and allowed me to go all out without getting overheated.

During the stopover the Portuguese guys passed around their version of power gel, which happens to be jam. There were little packets of jam that the guys sucked down. It was basically the same thing as power gel, lots of sugar and a little potassium. I downed a couple granola bars and some water. Then we jumped back on our bikes and started back around the island.

On the way back we had a nasty headwind. Nobody wanted to go crazy in the wind because it just isn't fun. For about 15 miles we rode in a tight pack breaking the wind for each other and dealing with rain and wet roads. There wasn't a lot of talking during that part of the ride. I think everybody was wishing he was somewhere else or that the roads would dry up a little. I found my mind wandering a lot. There are whole portions of the road that I don't remember on the ride back to our starting point. Other times when I ride that same route alone I remember everything I saw. Not Saturday. I guess it's because my concentration was on the guys around me.

There was one long climb in the ride. About 30 miles into the ride we hit a climb out of Cabo da Praia into San Sabastian. I thought I had a pretty good chance of going up the climb with the leaders. 3 guys took off and I struck out to catch them. They were only a few yards ahead of me when I started stomping on the pedals to catch them. However, every time I looked up they were a little farther away. Then within the course of 30 seconds they were gone. Talk about lowering the hammer. I jammed and jammed at my pedals willing my bike to go faster, but I never caught them. I realized about 5 minutes into climb that I was pulling two Portuguese riders along with me. Both of them were younger than me and having just as much "fun" going up the climb. When we finally reached the top we saw the 3 guys that took off gliding back in our direction. They had realized that they whipped us so the came back to show that they were good sports. One of the Portuguese guys in my chase group told me "my legs are stuck". That would probably mean he was all cramped up and couldn't move really well.

We stopped again to wait for everybody to make it up the climb. My buddy David wasn't the last person up the climb. He was so excited that he wasn't the last one up. A couple of the riders had taken up residence in the support truck. I didn't think we were going that fast. I guess I'm just that dude that has fun riding.

After the last stop we cruised through San Sabastian and then everything was almost all downhill into Angra, our starting/stopping point. The oldest guy on the ride was a wiley Portuguese dude who was screaming at us to "ride, ride, ride" during the last little climb before our last descent. I took that as "go, go, go" and go we went. We screamed up the little rise at 20 mph, which is pretty crazy considering we were going up a hill, and then down the other side at 40+ mph. We hung a left and went back up a little hill that gassed most of the guys right before our stopping point. I tried to continue on through the hill and kept on cranking it out. I caught up with the 2 guys that were way out front and momentarily pulled up just to see them shoot away again. That's when I realized I should just cruise the last few feet of the ride.

It was such a fun ride and all the Portuguese guys were very gracious in shaking the American's hands and politly thanking us for riding with them. I found out that the youngest guy on the ride was 18, just happened to be one of the guys I was leading up the last hard climb, and the oldest guy was 51. A couple guys wanted to take their picture with us, which was cool.

In August there is supposed to be a race here on the island. Something like the 15th of August. The plan is to ride again and maybe in August I will be able to let it all hang out and really go. That would be sweet. For now though, I am going to keep on riding as much as possible. If I ever get on a portion of ground that is flat for miles around then look out. I'll probably be flying along at 25 mph wondering why nobody can keep up. Ha, that would be a dream come true.

This Memorial Day 2009 I commemorate all that have gone before me to pave the way for this great country that I live in. America. That patriotic blood that runs deep in my veins and deeper every day. The love of my country is greater now than when I joined 12 years ago. Even though there are politics going in the wrong direction I am still and American. I am still answering my nations call to fight for freedom of all men.

I don't usually stand on my soap box and "preach" about America, but today I feel that I have a right since I am in the military. 12 years ago June 25th 1997 I joined the United States Air Force as an E-1 (Airman Basic). I was 3 weeks out of high school, scared out of my whits, but ready for whatever the world threw at me. Little did I know that 12 years later I would be a Technical Sergeant (E-6). I have been to South Korea, England, Germany, Spain, Portugal (Azores), Turkey, Cyprus, Kuwait, Italy, United Arab Emirites, and Qatar all to do my job and continue to show that America is the country that deserves to be fought for.

If you see somebody with a short cropped haircut, straight back, and a look in their eye of "been there done that" more than likely they are a veteran or active duty in the service. Please tell them "thank you". You don't know what it means to have a stranger come out of nowhere and shake your hand. It is humbling and sometimes embarrassing, but still it gets the message across. I fear that Americans are being lulled to sleep in their patriotic spirit. Please stay awake and please take a look at where the country is going and right the ship. It deserves to stay afloat.

The following is The Airman's Creed. It is still new to me since it has only been out for a couple years. I thought it was extremely cheesy at first. Still do sometimes, however, when you read it and put the words to heart they start to hit home. The Air Force has been looked down upon by the other services because we only put planes into the fight. They forget about the thousands of proffessionals that work on the aircraft and support equipment to get the planes to the fight. Personally I have a hard time thinking that somebody in an office job deserves the same respect as I do with a flightline job. Yet, if that office person wasn't there I would have a hard time getting my pay on time, or I would end up in the middle of some desert with no airfield but it has a toilet that needs fixing (I don't fix toilets I fix generators). So I guess the office people belong too. Please, please, please do not forget why America is America.

The Airman’s Creed
I am an American Airman.
I am a Warrior.
I have answered my Nation’s call.
I am an American Airman.
My mission is to Fly, Fight, and Win.
I am faithful to a Proud Heritage,
A Tradition of Honor,
And a Legacy of Valor.
I am an American Airman.
Guardian of Freedom and Justice,
My Nation’s Sword and Shield,
Its Sentry and Avenger.
I defend my Country with my Life.
I am an American Airman.
Wingman, Leader, Warrior.
I will never leave an Airman behind,
I will never falter,
And I will not fail.

I know I've been a bachelor ever since I graduated from high school (12 years). Except now I'm starting to see what the effect is on other people. When I tell people that I'm lucky if I make my bed once a week I get that weird look like I came from Mars. I was eating lunch with my Pastor and his family on Sunday and I mentioned that it is so much easier to get into bed when it isn't made. I got the glare of death from the pastor's wife. She is having a hard enough time getting her kids to make their beds.

There's other bad habits like drinking milk out of the carton, getting dressed in my kitchen so I can watch the water boil for the oatmeal, eating breakfast and dinner in my living room with my computer in my lap, playing music obnoxiously loud, parking my 2 bicycles in my kitchen (because that's where the most room is in my house), not washing the dishes until they are overflowing the sink, and leaving laundry in places where I won't forget it (the floor, my bed, or just right in front of the door).

Don't get me wrong I enjoy my bachelor life. Saturdays I can either go on a really long bike ride, help work at th CEF camp on the side of the island, sleep in (which never happens), or just be quiet and enjoy the day (which also never seems to happen).

Then there the days that I wish I had somebody to bounce ideas off. Or invite into my wallowing in the bad events of the day. Most of the "talking" I do now is through writing. I have found that writing is very effective at NOT getting the message out that I want to be presented. However, when I go back and read what I have written it astounds me at how deep I go. Other times I walk away shaking my head and laughing at how I can inject humor in thoughts that actually make a difference.

Well, this has been quite an exercise trying to write while talking to my brother on Skype. We've covered girls, job searching, guns, airplanes, Kansas, and now we're discussing the ins and outs of Calculus (no clue what I'm talking about in Calc except for what I remember from high school 12 years ago).

Riding a bicycle than sitting here writing. However, since I can't breathe through my nose without the chance of losing snot or worse swallowing snot I'm not out on the roads of Terceira today. I guess it has been a almost 2 months since I updated this blog. Hasn't been a great 2 months. I found out a lot about the people I work with. I also found out a lot about myself.

Work has been about as close to being in a prison as possible. I have been ordered to not work on equipment. Instead I am focusing on all kinds of paperwork, which is like torture to me. I am slowly getting to the bottom of the pile on the paperwork. Nothing happens fast when there is paperwork involved and I have to include two or three people in the process to actually get things accomplished. Since work has turned to being no fun I realized that I need a break from work. Wednesday the 25th of March I start one month of leave. It will be the first leave I've taken in almost a year. No wonder things started going bad at work. I was burning out and losing focus.

I plan on going to the States, namely California, for 3 weeks. I have been able to keep the California trip a secret from the most important group of people I will be seeing, the youth group from Cornerstone Church in Yuba City CA. Those kids hold a special place in my heart. From 2007 to mid-2008 I was finally able to act like a kid and not feel awkward. I still miss seeing the faces on Sunday nights and playing football in the church parking lot. After 9 months, actually closer to 10, I will catch a glimpse of those faces for a week.

The excitement of not having to think about work for a whole month has not registered yet. In the past when I have taken leave for extended periods of time I have worried about how the guys are going to get along without me. Now that I have actually handed the reins off and entrusted the work to be done by people under me I have less worries. At the same time I also have to be sure they know what they are doing before I jet off the island.

As I stated before I would really rather be riding a bicycle somewhere on the island. Right now I would be about 45 miles into a 60 mile ride. That means there would be about 5 more excruciating climbs to make it up before I reached home. It's those last few miles that hurt the most, yet they are also some of the sweetest miles. Your mind takes over and decides that a warm shower would feel a lot better than hurting muscles. The motivation turns from being able to brag about riding long distances to just being able to sit and not move for a few minutes.

My motivation for the rest of today is to be able to breathe normally and not blow my nose every 15 minutes. Gotta love head colds. Until next time I stop past here, goodbye...

January is done and February has started with a rush. The glory of being stationed overseas means that when the Super Bowl comes around you basically get a day off. That means that today was the first full work day of February. It felt like Monday with so many things going on that needed attention.

In the middle of it all was the fact that I'm here on an island in the middle of the Atlantic. The island is being pummeled by strong winds coming from the west. That huge ice/snow storm that just went through the Eastern US is kind of hitting us now. Lots of wind and rain. Just makes you want to curl up with a good book or a movie and watch the time go by.

Anyway, January brought more changes to life here on the island. I moved from Juncal, a neighborhood right outside the base (Lajes Field), to a small village in the hills called Alguava. The overall distance from the base is only 7 miles. However, it feels like 50 miles. There are few Americans that live out here, which is the way I like it. The cows outnumber the people and everybody gives a smile and a hearty "bom dia" (good morning) or "bom tar" (good afternoon). The reason behind the move was my house in Juncal was broken into twice between July and the end of December. I was tired of feeling like I could be broken into any day of the week.

That pretty much sums up my last few weeks. If I get my act together I may be going back to California for a couple weeks around Easter to go on a service trip with the youth group I used to be a leader of in Yuba City CA. It remains to be seen if I can get everything lined up in time to go.

Well, it has been a year since I wrote in this blog. I've been blogging all over myspace so this site kind of went to the back burner. It is refreshing though to go back and read the entries I made in the summer of 2007 when I was deployed to the Middle East and the difference in the writing when I returned.

My last entry said that I was slated to move. The move took place on June 4th of 2008 when I picked up my roots and set them down on the island of Terceira in the Azores. Life from Jan. 2008 until May 2008 was probably one of the sweetest times of my life. All the relationships I was able to forge with the kids in the youth group of the church I went to in California was awesome. It felt great to be a kid every Sunday night. In the process I made that impact that only I could have made on kids half my age.

Little did I know that it would be so hard to leave California and Cornerstone church in Yuba City CA. In the past the only people that have shed a couple tears have been my mom and some older women in the churches I have attended in the past. This time though, there were junior high kids not being ashamed at all about their tears that they were shedding. Still chokes me up.

Anyway, life in the Azores is much different from California. The whole concept of island life is much slower than anything I have experienced. In a way I have been lulled into relaxation. However, I snap out of it when it comes to Saturday mornings and I jump on my bicycle and go riding for 50 miles all over the island. I am finally in a hilly place where I can do those nasty climbs that suck everything out of you just to go flying down the other side at 50 mph.

In 3 weeks I will be at my halfway point of my 15 month tour. I still feel like the new guy who doesn't know what's going on. Then again, I'm running a whole shop with 5 Portuguese civilians and 6 Americans working for me. I guess I should kind of know what's going on.

After the Azores I get a few weeks of a break in September/October and then I head to Italy for a few years. The thing I'm really excited about in Italy is all the bicycle riding that I can do. Along with the possibility of actually riding with some semi-professional riders and seeing the Tour of Italy and the Tour de France. Of course I left California the year before the largest bike race in Cali ever. Lance Armstrong will be starting Stage 5 of the Tour of California 10 miles from my parent's house. Kind of bummed I won't be able to be there to see that spectacle. Ok, not that I've sort of caught up on the last year I'm off to see what I can scrape together for dinner. Thinking pizza or burritos. Pizza takes longer than the burritos, but pizza sounds awesome right now.

I see it's been close to 6 months since I added an entry here. Time has been going along at Mach 3. So much has happened that I would be writing for a couple hours just trying to get past the introduction. It has been exciting to see how much God has stretched me past all the limits I had set up. Just when I thought I was going to reach the max of giving my time to God all the sudden there were a few more hours to give and enjoy working for Him.

Just when I thought I was going to have a normal year without going off to another country I got another surprise/blessing from God. In June 2008 I will be moving to the Azores for 15 months to be assigned at Lajes Field. I found out 2 weeks ago and I've been in the clouds since then. I know that it is totally a God thing for me to go to the Azores. For one I've never heard of anybody leaving the particular base I'm at (Beale AFB CA) for any place other than Alaska, Korea, or Japan. I've already been to Alaska (don't exactly want to go back) and Korea (same thing, don't want to go there), so going to Europe, or at least in the general region, was a huge surprise.

I also know that my time here was used by God to touch hundreds of people. The people at my church have already been telling me how much they are going to miss me when I move. I wish I could take them along on the trip and parade them around the Azores. There are going to be lots of emails and blogging to let people in on what I get to experience. I'm off to catch some sleep.

Today marks day 113 since I have been gone from the normal life I led in the US. In another week I will be thrust back into the US. The overwhelming feelings of relief are starting to make their way into my body as I can finally not worry about work over here and start looking forward to being home. This marks the end of my 3rd deployment to the Middle East in the last 3 years. It hasn't been an easy deployment by any means. I learned a lot about generators and how to deal with people that just get on your nerves and never stop.

The most rewarding time was today at the end of my shift at noon with all the guys from both shifts present the flight chief made sure he let the rest of the guys know that I set a standard for how work should be done. It was humbling to be put in the forfront for what I do, my job. It wasn't only me that was receiving the praise but the 2 other men I am leaving with were also commended for their efforts.

I am going to miss my co-workers and all the rides in the van on the way to work and on the way back to our living area. There were some interesting times of chucking water bottles back and forth, hitting speed bumps at 40 mph, and taking roundabouts as fast as you can go without flipping the van. All of this was done with vigor and life that you wouldn't expect after working like a madman for 12 hours in the Middle East desert on a black top tarmac that is notorious for being 150 degrees by 10 a.m.

I will not miss having to work on the same generators day in and day out. Whenever I thought I had everything fixed something else broke. Hardly any of the problems had any relation to the previous problem. Some of the problems never really went away, it was like they went on a sabbatical or something. When the problem came back it was bigger and caused more headches. The best problems were when you got sparks and that ripping sound as electricity pours through places it shouldn't be. I remember one time getting enough sparks that I actually felt the embers falling on my head. That was pretty exciting and heart stopping. When you get 3 phase 400 hertz 115 volts AC going from metal to metal in the open you may want to do something other than just stand there with your mouth open. Other problems I had was air conditioners coming in all the time. Fortunately there was another guy that liked working on them so I didn't have to go and investigate every time. It was really refreshing to get one working and let it run for about 15 minutes and stand right in front of the air output and get 45 degree air coming at you hard enough to push you backward when the ambient air temp is close to 110 degrees. It is a shock to the system to get that much of a difference.

I need to go now and get some rest. I am going to be resting a lot over the next few weeks. There are a few hours of sleep I need to catch up on.