Category: Military

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Blogging Career Holidays Military

Honoring My Fellow Veterans

It’s the 11TH day of the 11TH month – Veterans Day here in the U.S.A.

I’ve been employed by the United States Air Force for the past 39 years – going back to when I first signed on the dotted line of the delayed enlistment program near the start of my senior year in high school. I was hesitant in joining the military way back then, but it all turned out just right, and it’s become my career – both military and civilian. I’m looking forward to retirement within the next few months.

To my fellow Veterans – this is our day. From one Veteran to all of you – I thank you for serving your nation, so that we may be free indeed.

Veterans – Get the help that you need at VA.GOV.

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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1980s Blogging Career Driving Geography Military Music Radio Travel

London To Fairford England

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. It was exactly 38 years ago tomorrow morning – the 10TH of November back in 1985 – that I arrived in a foreign country solo for the first time in my life – as a young 18-year-old.

It was a cold Sunday morning at London’s Heathrow Airport, and I had flown all night from Washington Dulles Airport. Of course I lost 5 hours overnight with the time difference.

I made my way to the British Rail station at the airport. I took that to Reading – where I got off the train. Oops. I wasn’t supposed to get off there. I got confused. I ended-up waiting at that station until the next train arrived. That didn’t take very long. I got on it, and I continued on to Swindon. At the Swindon station I hired a cab to take me to my new home and workplace – RAF Fairford – about 13 miles away.

The cab driver was nice and friendly. He welcomed me to the U.K., and he turned up the radio for us to listen to. I think we were listening to GWR. An eerie song came on that I had never heard before. It was Talking Heads with “Road To Nowhere”. How appropriate for that song to play on the radio as this young 18-year-old teenager was being driven on the left along narrow and curvy farmland roads from Swindon to RAF Fairford.

That was the start of my 2-year and 1-week adventure in the south of England as an 18, 19, and 20-year-old. I got to see a lot of England, Scotland, Wales, France, Belgium, and Netherlands. I wish I had seen more of the European continent, but I’m grateful for the areas that I did get to experience while I was over there.

I’ve attended about 150 concerts and live events in my life (100 since 2000), and the first 17 all occurred during those 2 years in England.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll return home stateside – just like I did exactly 36 years ago. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Career Driving Geography History Military Nature Travel

Retirement 2024

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. A couple of Mondays ago I finally did it. I revealed to my closest coworkers and friends my official retirement date. It will be “Leap Day” – 29 February 2024 – a great day to remember for the rest of my life. I’ll actually be reducing my 40-hour-per-week work schedule down to 16 hours per week with the start of the new year. I plan to take (“burn-off”) my remaining annual leave on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and that will give me 4-day weekends in January and February to end my nearly 39-year USAF military and civilian career.

This December will essentially be my final month of full-time work, as I gradually transition into long-awaited retirement. I’ve been dreaming of December 2023 for many years now, and it’s almost here. It’s when I reach my MRA (“minimum retirement age”).

Starting on April 01ST 2024 – the day after Easter Sunday – I’ll begin my 3,000+ mile post-retirement road-trip to and from North Texas. I’ll be visiting family over there – and friends along the way. I’ll also be visiting roadside attractions and historical museums between here and there. I know when the trip starts – but the end of the trip is open. I’ll be retired, so I can spend as much time as I feel like on the road and away from home. It will be my vacation of a lifetime.

Fun Fact: I will be in the Dallas Texas area for the 100% total solar eclipse on April 08TH 2024 at 1:40 PM CDT. Daytime becomes nighttime for 4 minutes !

I’ve often stated that planning a vacation is a lot of fun for me, but once it’s all planned out – now I have to actually do it. I’ve planned many vacations that I never went on. Normally I meticulously plan out a vacation weeks and even months in advance – to the hour – for each day of the trip. That won’t happen for this trip. I probably won’t even know where I’ll be stopping for each night (at a hotel) until it actually happens. It’ll be dependent on the people and the places that I visit during each day. I may drive 50 miles in a single day – or 100 – or 250 – or 500. OK – probably not 500. There’s no rush during this trip. I don’t want to miss cool people or interesting places along the way.

Next #TravelThursday – it won’t happen in September for the first time since January. I’ll explain. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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1990s Blogging Career Driving Geography Home Military Travel Weather

From Melbourne To MacDill

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. In last week’s edition I wrote about my hectic 6-months right after Hurricane Andrew destroyed Homestead Florida. That’s when I was driving back-and-forth between Fairfax County Virginia and Prince Georges County Maryland (Andrews AFB) along the Capital Beltway and also through Washington D.C. I put a lot of miles on my red 1989 Geo Spectrum sedan back then, but I was not yet done.

I drove / moved to Melbourne Florida in March 1993 – just a few days before “The Storm Of The Century” swept through the U.S. Eastern Seaboard bringing hurricane-force winds, sub-freezing temperatures, and even snow to North and Central Florida.

5 months later in August 1993 I was offered a job on the opposite coast over in Tampa at MacDill AFB. I accepted, but I kept my home in Melbourne. I ended-up living in a hotel (paid for by the USAF) in Tampa, working on-base during the week, and taking I-4 and U.S. 192 back to Melbourne on most Friday afternoons – returning back to Tampa on Sunday afternoons.

That was about a 140-mile drive in each direction, and it took anywhere from 2½ to 3 hours. That was also back when I freely drove on Interstates and high-speed expressways. (I don’t do that anymore.) That was also when far less people lived along the U.S. 192 corridor from Melbourne through St. Cloud and Kissimmee to Walt Disney World. Back in 1993 into 1994 St. Cloud had a population of about 15,000. Now it’s over 65,000. Kissimmee is up from about 35,000 to over 80,000. That’s a lot of traffic along U.S. 192 these days. It wasn’t too bad back in 1993.

That back-and-forth commute between Melbourne and MacDill lasted about 7 months until March 1994 – when I moved back to Homestead Florida. For a short period of time I thought that I would live in Melbourne for the rest of my life. But then when I got the job at MacDill AFB I thought that I would eventually move to Tampa full-time and live there for the rest of my life. Then I moved back to Homestead for the next 29 years.

Now I have my longtime Homestead home – and my new Sebring home. And I have a commute of about 185 miles that I do several times per month. I haven’t gotten tired of it yet. I enjoy the scenic and mostly rural drive. I enjoy seeing my church family and even some of my coworkers at my longtime workplace in Homestead. But I especially look forward to the return trip back north again to my new home and pre-retirement life and times in Sebring. I plan to live there for the rest of my life – less than 2 hours away from both Melbourne and Tampa.

Next #TravelThursday we’ll check-out Weeki Wachee Springs. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp