Category: Military

My Flickr Photostream

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date January 16, 2020

Happy Thursday my friends. It’s the start of a 5-blog-post holiday weekend here at #CountUp. As is always the case – weekends start on Thursdays !

2019 was a great year for one of my other longtime social media platforms – Flickr – where I store all of my treasured photos online – many for public viewing. It was my most active year (as far as uploading new photos) since 2015, and it was the first year since 2015 that I uploaded at least 10 photos per month for all 12 months.

I plan to do it again in 2020. I’m off to a good start so far with 27 photos uploaded this month (as of last night). I’m currently uploading (and captioning) the best photos of my recent Christmas Eve trip to Okeechobee Florida. I’ve currently got 21 out of 52 photos up now, and I’ll probably put up another 20 over the next few weeks. (Generally out of every 5 photos taken on any given trip – 3 to 4 make it onto my Flickr Photostream for all to see.)

Here’s a photo that is not yet up on my Flickr site:

That’s one of several military static displays located at Veterans Park in the heart of Okeechobee Florida where U.S. 98, U.S. 441, and Florida State Road 70 converge.

My Flickr Photostream – http://www.flickr.com/photos/cmday6567

You can follow me over there, or you can simply view my last 5 photos uploaded here at revchrismday.com. (They appear over on the right-hand side of the blog.)

Career Holidays Military Travel

Honoring My Fellow Veterans

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date November 11, 2019

It’s Veterans Day here in the U.S.A.

This past weekend marked the 34TH anniversary that the United States Air Force shipped me off to a foreign country solo for the first time in my life. As an 18½-year-old I flew from Washington Dulles Airport nonstop to London Heathrow Airport. It was an overnight flight from November 09TH into November 10TH of 1985. From there I took British Rail westward to Swindon, and then from there I hired a cab up to RAF Fairford – my home for the next 2 years. (It was my first permanent duty station.)

I’ve been a member of the United States Air Force for the past 35 years now – 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. I’d do it all over again.

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

Tags Veterans

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Weekend Kickoff Mini-Thoughts

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date October 10, 2019

Let’s try this again – a rapid-fire session of thoughts on my mind right this minute:

It’s been awhile since I last did this.
In fact it’s been since Thursday August 01ST 2019.
I’m not sure that some of you “get this” feature.
If you’ve been following my blogs for the past 12 years then you “get this”.
For those that don’t “get this” no worries – just follow along.
Last night was our last sunset at 7 PM or after here until next March.
It’s getting darker earlier, and I like that.
In a little over 3 weeks we return to Standard Time.
I prefer Standard Time over Daylight Saving Time.
I wish we stayed on Standard Time all year long.
Most people don’t know what Daylight Saving Time is.
Pretty soon we’ll start getting cooler here in South Florida.
By “cooler” I mean the 60s in the morning instead of the 70s.
We’re still a good month away from feeling some 50s.
Our 5-month rainy season is almost over.
It’s been a below average rainy season.
I enjoy our 7-month dry season from October to May.
I hope to begin my dry season weekend fitness walks soon.
I hope to do much better than I did last dry season.
It’s Columbus Day Weekend here in the U.S.
I adore 3-day holiday weekends.
Maybe I’ll go for a walk in the park this Saturday morning.
I mostly plan to continue writing my next sermon this weekend.
It’s on God’s “Kindness & Love”.
I have another sermon that I’m working on titled “Ways & Memes”.
I’ll be stepping completely out of my comfort zone for that one.
There’s a few movies that I hope to see on HBO On Demand this weekend.
One of them is that World War 1 movie, “They Shall Not Grow Old”.
I’m really looking forward to a quiet and productive weekend at home.
Tomorrow on the blog my RETRO series continues with 15 years ago.
My new blog posts go LIVE at 3 AM U.S. East Coast time aside from Sunday.
I blog 4 times per weekend on Thursdays, Fridays, Sundays, and Mondays.
I don’t blog on Saturdays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays.
If I were to add a 5TH day of blogging then I’d add Tuesdays.
But I have no plans to do that anytime soon.
Programming Alert: The 50TH GMA Dove Awards are coming soon.
The show occurs LIVE in Nashville next Tuesday October 15TH.
It airs on TBN the following Sunday October 20TH at 8 PM EDT.
I’ll be live-tweeting during the entire telecast !
Join me that night on Twitter @ChrisMDay as I talk God’s music.
The next morning I’ll reveal my brand new Top 10 music chart.
Well those are my rapid-fire one-line thoughts for now.
Enjoy your weekend and this 10TH day of the 10TH month.

1980s Career Food Health History Life Military Travel

Chanute AFB Illinois

I’m coming up on the 34TH Anniversary of my graduation from USAF BMT. That stands for United States Air Force Basic Military Training. I was stationed at Lackland AFB in San Antonio Texas from June 13TH 1985 (early in the morning – like right after Midnight) to July 29TH 1985 (at dawn). It was the roughest and toughest 46 days / 6½ weeks of my life at that point. (I had just turned 18.)

On July 29TH 1985 (a Monday) I boarded a plane (with others) from San Antonio Texas to Champaign County Illinois. I got food poisoning on the plane. That was when full hot meals were still served on airplanes. After landing we were transported from the airport to Chanute Air Force Base (near Rantoul Illinois). Everyone else was taken to their respective squadrons for in-processing. I was taken to the Base Hospital where I spent a couple of days and nights recuperating.

On the 3RD day I rose again – out of my hospital bed fully recovered, and I was released to my squadron. I moved-in to my dormitory room – my home for the next 3 months. School started soon for me. I would soon learn how to be an Aircraft Maintenance Systems Analyst (think “Statistician”). I was in a class of 4.

Today – 34 years later – I am an Analyst / Statistician, and I work for the United States Air Force.