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Happy Armed Forces Week

Happy-Armed-Forces-Day

It’s Thursday May 13TH 2021, and National Military Appreciation Month continues with Armed Forces Week (all this week), and that culminates this Saturday with Armed Forces Day. Unlike Memorial Day (this year on May 31ST) and Veterans Day (November 11TH) this is an opportunity for us to honor everyone who currently serves within our military.

I’m a few weeks away from celebrating my 36TH anniversary within the United States Air Force. I actually committed to 4 years of active duty service about a month into my Senior year in high school in 1984. 6 days after graduating from high school in June 1985 I was on my way to Lackland AFB in San Antonio Texas for 6½ weeks of Basic Military Training.

I’ve been living in or near Homestead Florida since the end of 1987, so that’s 33 out of my 36 years in the Air Force. I work at Homestead ARB (formerly AFB prior to Hurricane Andrew). During the 19 months immediately after Hurricane Andrew – as the city and the base was being cleaned-up and rebuilt – I served at Andrews AFB Maryland and MacDill AFB in Tampa Florida.

My 36 years in the Air Force includes 28 years as a civilian. Prior to that I served 8 years on active duty and 6 years as a reservist (overlapping with the early years of my civil service).

Up until about the age of 16 I was supposed to go to college after high school and emerge with a degree in either Meteorology or Communications (radio and television). That didn’t happen, but here I am 36 years into an Air Force career at 54 years old. The Air Force determined that I was great at math, so they made me an analyst / statistician.

In the Air Force I’ve had some great years, some good years, some bad years, and some horrible years. There’s an entire 13-year era that was the worst of my career (and life). Thankfully I’ve followed that up with the best 14-year era of my career (and life) – where I am now. I’m ending this career on a high, and I’ve got about 2½ more years to go before I retire and move away from here.

To all of my fellow military service members – whether you are currently on active duty, a reservist, a civil servant, or a contractor working alongside all of the above – I thank you for all that you do with each new duty day.

All rights reserved (c) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

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1990s Blogging Career Home Military Music Radio Travel

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1991

Every Friday I post the Top 5 of one of my classic hit music charts based on personal preference and influenced by radio airplay from either 15, 25, 30, or 35 years ago this weekend (rotating each week).

It’s the 3RD Friday of the month, so I go back 30 years ago. Here it is – for the week ending Sunday April 21ST 1991:

  1. “Here We Go (Let’s Rock & Roll)” – C + C Music Factory Presents Freedom Williams & Zelma Davis
  2. “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)” – C + C Music Factory Ft. Freedom Williams
  3. “I Touch Myself” – The Divinyls
  4. “Voices That Care” – Voices That Care
  5. “Joyride” – Roxette

Written by David Foster, David’s future (and now ex) wife Linda Thompson, and Peter Cetera – this charity single for Operation Desert Storm warriors was released a few days after I left Al Kharj AB Saudi Arabia and returned home stateside. It was a hit at Top 40 and Hot Adult Contemporary radio during the Spring of 1991. I bought the cassette single during my rest and recuperation leave up in Northern Virginia (my home-of-record before I joined the United States Air Force). I wore out that cassette by playing it over and over again over the next several years. I still have it today. I’d love to buy the original version digitally, but it’s not commercially available today. The song always made me feel good, and it reminds me of a totally different U.S.A. that existed 30 years ago that we really haven’t experienced since.

Next Friday on RETRO I’ll go back 35 years ago to April 1986.

It’s halftime my friends. I’ll be back on Sunday and Monday with 2 more blog posts for this weekend. Enjoy your Saturday. Thanks for going RETRO with me !

All rights reserved (c) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

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Blogging Career Computers Driving Home Life Military Money Music Travel

Fun With Numbers

A few days ago (this past Monday) I did not get in my car and drive it for the first time in over 5 weeks. I ended a 37-day streak of driving that started on Saturday March 06TH and ended on Sunday April 11TH. During those 37 days I drove 609 miles – an average of about 16½ miles per day. The 37 days surpassed a 28-day streak this past November and December. It’s the longest streak since a 41-day streak in January and February 2020 just before the start of the global pandemic.

How do I know all of this ? I record my odometer’s starting and ending mileage each day on an Excel spreadsheet. I do it for fun. I’ve been doing it for over 6 years. I work with Excel spreadsheets all day long in my professional career, and I play with them and learn from them off-work at home on my computer. What I learn at home I apply at work. There’s very little time available at work to learn how to do something new on a spreadsheet, so I get smart at home. I have a bunch of unique spreadsheets that I use at home that keep track of the day-to-day operations of my life. I collect the data, and I analyze the data. I perfect the analysis expertise as well – because – that’s also part of my professional career. I analyze historical data in order to make wise and efficient financial decisions to successfully support the mission. I’ve been an Analyst for the USAF for the past 36 years.

Oh – one last thing – you know that music chart that I present every Monday here on my blog ? It’s been fueled by an Excel spreadsheet for the past 25½ years !

All rights reserved (c) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

Categories
1990s Blogging Career Driving Home Military Music Radio Travel

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1991

Every Friday I post the Top 5 of one of my classic hit music charts based on personal preference and influenced by radio airplay from either 15, 25, 30, or 35 years ago this weekend (rotating each week).

It’s the 3RD Friday of the month, so I go back 30 years ago. Here it is – for the week ending Sunday March 17TH 1991:

  1. “One More Try” – Timmy T
  2. “Waiting For That Day” – George Michael
  3. “Joyride” – Roxette
  4. “Baby Baby” – Amy Grant
  5. “More Than Ever” – Nelson

Exactly 30 years ago this weekend I was at home – my teenage childhood home in McLean Virginia (just outside of Washington D.C.)

On the weekend prior I departed the pink desert sands of Al Kharj AB Saudi Arabia with some of my fellow Operations Desert Shield / Desert Storm airmen. We lifted-off from the runway in Saudi at 0326L on Saturday March 09TH 1991. After 7 hours and 7 minutes in the air we landed at Torrejon AB Spain (near Madrid). It was a longer-than-expected nearly 5½-hour stop before we took-off again for our stateside destination at Dover AFB Delaware. We touched-down there at 1656L (21½ hours after leaving Saudi). A bus transported us to Philadelphia where we spent the night at a hotel near the airport. We flew out (commercial) the next morning – Sunday March 10TH 1991 – arriving back in Miami at 1001L.

We returned to Homestead AFB with no fanfare at all, and the next morning I was back at my workplace office. I met my new supervisor. He replaced my previous supervisor who was “reassigned”. He told me to take up to 30 days of “R & R” (rest and recuperation) as a returning war veteran. That Wednesday March 13TH 1991 I was on-the-road northward heading towards the Washington D.C. area. I spent the night in South Carolina, and the next afternoon I arrived at my childhood home 1,096 miles from the base. I stayed there for the next 2 weeks enjoying family time.

I was sent to war as punishment by my supervisor at the time (end of 1990). I didn’t do anything wrong. She just hated me. She had issues with guys that looked like me. An investigation occurred while I was at war, and she was relieved of her duties. The war (and post-war) was the start of the best (and final) 26 months of my entire Active Duty Air Force career.

(I still work for the USAF today as a Federal Civilian – at now Homestead ARB.)

Next Friday on RETRO I’ll go back 35 years ago to March 1986 – towards the end of my first year working for the USAF.

It’s halftime my friends. I’ll be back on Sunday and Monday with 2 more blog posts for this weekend. Enjoy your Saturday. Thanks for going RETRO with me !

All rights reserved (c) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries