Christmas in Key West

I was hoping to be able to stay one more week and spend Christmas in Minnesota with my family, but on instead I'll be working in Key West over the holidays. A group of my friends and family were able to meet for a late lunch at the Cheesecake Factory on Saturday before I left. Everyone was excited about being on my blog so here's a few pictures. From left to right, my mom and dad, Jess (on the right) and me, Katie and Renee, and the Julies.




When I arrived on Sunday afternoon it was raining pretty heavily. Since then the temperature has been around 75 degrees with partly cloudy skies. I'm staying in the Doubletree Grand Key Resort which is pretty nice. No kitchen like what I had in Las Vegas, but everything else is better and I do have a small refrigerator and a microwave.

After arriving, I found out that my work schedule would be 5:00 am to 1:30 pm with Tuesday and Wednesday off. Good thing I stayed up all night on Saturday and was tired enough to go to bed by 8:30. I wasn't the planning on pulling an all-nighter, but Katie surprised me with a very generous Christmas present. She gave me an iPod Nano so I stayed up and loaded songs onto iTunes eliminating the need to bring CDs.

I intended to get up early today so I wouldn't get to far off schedule, but it was 8:30 by the time I rolled out of bed. Hopefully I can do a little better tomorrow morning. This afternoon I took the hotel shuttle downtown and walked around Duval Street. There are a lot souvenir shops, restaurants and bars in that area. I took a few pictures of Christmas decorations in the area and I also included a photo of Key West from the plane just before we landed. I have a few more pictures to share, but I'm just going to put them on Snapfish since Blogger is extremely slow right now. Merry Christmas! I'll be thinking all of you, especially over this next week.

Locks of Love Donation

I've been talking about it for awhile so I finally took the plunge today. Now just to clarify (since Renee gets easily confused), by "plunge" I mean that I got my hair cut. I don't want anyone spreading rumors about me getting married or anything else like that.

I leave for Key West this Sunday and my co-workers wanted to see me with short hair before I left so I thought no time like the present. I do have to admit that the hair stylist chopped a little more off then I expected, but everyone says it looks good and I'm sure I'll get used to it. If you disagree, it's probably best to keep that to yourself. I did manage to get Saturday off so I hope to see some of you then. To everyone else, you should think about taking a vacation to Key West. Below I've posted a before and after picture of my hair donation.

7th Annual Cookie Baking

Those of you who also know Tracy may have already heard about our cookie baking day, but I'll give you the lowdown too just in case. If nothing else, Renee would like another picture published. She's trying to get her modeling career going.

I can hardly believe this was our 7th year getting together to make Christmas cookies. The group includes Tracy, Katie, Rita, Renee and myself, all Gustie alumni. This time we made the old standbys; except for me. Rita and I both like to try new recipes, but the last couple years she has stuck with the popular hazelnut shortbread cookies. Sometimes my new recipes work out well and sometimes they leave something to be desired, but either way I enjoy spending the day with friends.

Here's a picture of the crew. Renee, Tracy, and Rita are on the couch and Katie (on the right) and I (on the left with the scraggly hair) are on the floor. I've already passed out some of the cookies to friends and family. They're a big hit as usual.

Going to Key West

I just received orders for my next deployment. I'm leaving Sunday, 12/17 for Key West. Tyler and company are long gone, but maybe I'll have to take a tour of the house while I'm there. Seems like I'm being sent to the old Real World places so I guess that means that I'll be going to Denver after Key West. I don't have any other information except that I'll tenatively be there until 2/28/07. That, of course, is subject to change. I was hoping to stay in Minnesota through Christmas, but I knew that would be a long shot. Maybe we can arrange for an early get-together.

Joey...Oh yeah, the rest of you too.

Well, I've been home for two weeks now so I figured I better post an update. My first week home I had to work in the baggage area at the Humphrey Terminal. It was a little strange to be back especially since I hadn't kept in touch with most of my co-workers. They all had the same questions so I felt a little bit like a broken record talking about my stay in Vegas. I had to go through some recertification training for the x-ray machines since they don't have that type in Vegas and we always have to retrain after being away for long periods of time. I felt a little useless trying to work in baggage while completing that training, but I'm all caught up now.

My vacation started on Saturday, 10/28 and I've been enjoying my time off. I've been able to catch up with quite a few friends and family. I have to admit to spending a disproportionate (some might say excessive) amount of time at Tom and Jess's home. They are the parents of my adorable nephew Joey. I can't get enough of the little guy. He's so cute. Here are a couple pictures I took of him during my first week back in Minnesota. The first one is Joey in his bouncy chair with a big smile and the next one was taken towards the end of his baby class as he was starting to get worn out.



On Sunday, 10/28, Joey was baptized at Swedlanda in Hector, MN. That's where my siblings and I grew up and also where my dad serves as the pastor. It was great to see everyone from Hector and several other relatives that were able to make the trip. All of my immediate family was there which was the first time we were all together in quite a while. My aunt Char and her daughter Justine also made it and they both somehow escaped all the pictures I took so if anyone has one, please send it to me. Of course, the Madsens were there as well as the Rabes (Joey's sponsors) and many others. The picture below was taken during the baptism ceremony.



The next big event was Halloween so of course I went over to Tom and Jess's house to see Joey and Lucy's costumes. Joey didn't seem to mind, but Lucy was less than impressed with her Superman outfit. She seemed a little more content after we finished taking pictures and Jess let her chew a few fingers off of Superman's hand. The other picture is one of my favorites of Joey because he looks like he's had enough of all the paparazzi. I just tell him that I need to make up for lost time and Tom and Jess haven't changed their locks yet so I guess I haven't crossed the line.



My vacation is over now, but I'll be working here at the Minneapolis airport until I get sent to the next place. (No idea when or where that will be by the way.) In the meantime, I still haven't seen a lot of you so let me know if you have some free time. Thanks to Katie, Rita, Renee, Julie, Jess, and Joey for the belated birthday dinner. Here's hoping we get together again soon. If anyone wants to see more pictures of Joey and didn't get my email to Snapfish, just let me know and I'll send it to you.

I'm being released!

My sentence in the desert is finally (and officially) coming to an end. I received my itinerary yesterday. I arrive in Minnesota at 2:29 PM on Sunday, October 22nd on Northwest Airlines (Flight #784). That's right...in 3 days or 74 1/2 hours or 4470 minutes or 268,200 seconds! I'm so excited to see everyone!

If you think 4 days is short notice, here's Randy's story. Yesterday on 10/18 at 1:00 AM, Randy checked his email and had no itinerary. After waking up around 9:30 AM, he checked again and was scheduled to leave in just 6 hours. He called me so I helped him pack up his stuff. We had enough time for lunch then off to the airport. I had to drop him off since I'm the only designated driver left at our hotel and a few others needed to get to work. I'm assuming he made it to his flight on time. He didn't call me back so that's a good sign. It was pretty exciting. Randy, if you're reading this, everyone at A/B checkpoint says goodbye and they wish they could have seen you before you left. One person in particular seemed pretty irritated that you left on such short notice. I won't name any names, but I bet you can guess who I'm taking about. That's all the news for now. See you soon!

Coming home soon...I think

It's the middle of October already so I guess that means it's time for my biweekly update. The biggest news around here is about the new NSFers coming to Las Vegas and the old ones leaving. As I mentioned before, LAS is suppose to be the new NSF training headquarters. I heard anywhere from 140 to 200 were scheduled to come on October 8th. I'm not sure how many actually made it since they are staying in a different hotel and work various shifts, but I have seen some around.

Now that they're here and settling in, those of us who have been in Vegas for several months are being sent home. About 20 or so left yesterday (Sunday). I was hoping to be in that group, but it looks like they just selected the first half of the alphabet. The rumor is that the rest of us will be leaving next Sunday. I really, really hope it's true, but you can't believe anything around here until you see it in writing. It's apparently against policy to give advanced notice so I'm just waiting and hoping to get out of here soon. It's an odd feeling. I keep thinking I should pack up some things, but I don't even know for sure if I'll be going anywhere.

Once I get home, I don't know how long I'll be there before being sent to my next deployment. I also don't know where I'll be sent although I've heard that Colorado, Florida, and Alaska are common winter deployments. Except for the week of vacation that I requested, I'll be working at MSP until then. I have know idea what schedule I'll be on. I'm pretty much at my managers' mercy. I just hope they don't put me on the a.m. schedule. I wasn't much of a morning person before and I'm much worse now. It's not unusual for me to stay up until 4:00 or 5:00 and sleep until noon.

On a completely different note, I just wanted to clear up any confusion from my last posting. I'm not dating Mike or Randy. We are just friends that enjoy a lot of the same things (i.e. hiking and other outdoor activities as opposed to gambling and clubbing). Randy is the guy pictured with me in the desert. I added a picture of all of below. It's from Mike's birthday in August. From left to right, that's Randy, me, and Mike.

That's about I'll the news I have for now. I'll try to get in touch with everyone when I'm home, but I might need some help. Don't be afraid to give me a call if you don't hear from me. I know that my time in Minnesota is going to fly by. Can't wait to see all of you soon even though I'm sure I'll be freezing after spending the summer in the desert!

Here, Renee. Hope you're happy.

Hey all! How's everyone? I'm still in Vegas, but doing pretty good otherwise. My stay here was extended for the 4th time until the end of October. Thankfully, my vacation request for October 28th -November 4th was approved so I'll be coming back to Minnesota for that time. I'm hoping that they leave me home for awhile so I have a little more time to catch up with friends and family. I miss all of you and I know a week will pass very quickly.

I talked to Renee yesterday and she voiced her disappointment with my blog. She says I don't update it enough. Of course, I haven't seen her blog yet but that fact aside I think I'm doing pretty good. Honestly, I don't have much new to add. You've all probably heard about the new changes at the checkpoint. If not, here's a quick summary...limited amounts of liquid are once again allowed. Ah, ah, ah...don't get too excited. The regulations are pretty strict. Each passenger is allowed one 1 quart sealable plastic bag (i.e. Ziploc, etc.) filled with containers of liquids 3 oz. or less. Warning: TSA has to enforce very specific guidelines on these liquids so please save my coworkers and me the headaches and put questionable items in your checked bag. The containers must be 3 oz. or less (meaning a half -full 6 oz. container is not allowed). The plastic bag should be the disposable type, not a vinyl cosmetic bag, and must close comfortably. Baby food and medication in reasonable quantities is allowed and does not have to be in a plastic bag. "Liquids" includes creams, gels, and lotions. And finally, just because TSA didn't take it away in (enter any location), doesn't mean that TSA won't take it away this time. To save everyone a lot of time, keep all liquids outside of your carry-on luggage until after you've passed through security. For more information and updates, go to www.tsa.gov.

Okay, enough about work. In other news, I revisited Mt. Charleston and felt cold for the first time in a long time. I went on a hike with Mike and by the time we met up with Randy in the lodge, it was 42 degrees. The average temp. here is still in mid-80s to low 90s so cool weather not generated by an air conditioner felt great. I included some pictures below. They're my last with Mike at least until we meet again. He went home to Stryker, Ohio on 9/30 for a 3 week vacation. Needless to say, I'm very jealous and he loves to rub it in. That's all I got for now. Here's hoping the next 3 weeks pass very, very quickly.

Katie's Whirlwind Visit to Vegas

I finally got a visitor from Minnesota to come for a short vacation. Katie came for 4 days last week and we crammed as much of Vegas into that time as we could. I only had 2 of those days off so Katie was on her own part of the time, but I think she had a good time anyway.

Saturday, Katie was on her own. I think she spent most of the time trying to get her sleep schedule turned around. Then on Sunday we went to the Hoover Dam and changed rooms. Even though it was tight corners in the old room, I wanted to tough it out because I spent quite a bit of time cleaning it. We were making it work until the TV broke and that was the definite deal breaker. So on Sunday we went to church (Gustie alum Kevin Bergstrom's isn't an intern there anymore), then we got a rental car (didn't even scratch it), went out for brunch, visited the Hoover Dam, moved to a new room and went grocery shopping. I also burned my thumb on a very hot PopTart. It blistered. I think I should sue since I'm not winning any money on the slots.

On Monday we slept in then went to the Strip to see the lions at MGM and some other nearby casinos. After a late lunch, we went to Red Rock which I've been wanting to see for sometime. It's a national conservation area which is suppose it be particularly beautiful at sunrise and sunset. After the sun went down, we made it to the Rio just in time for there buffet where we stuffed ourselves. Then onto the Stratosphere followed by the famous Welcome to Las Vegas sign and Hard Rock Cafe for some souvenirs.

I had to go back to work on Tuesday, but Katie spent some time on the Strip and even survived the bus trip back to the hotel. Our last night we ordered pizza and played Shanghai rummy with some friends. It was great. Some details had to be left out of course. You know what they say, "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." See what all you Minnesota home bodies are missing? Just kidding. I'm still hoping to come home for a minimum of a week at the end of October. I won't find out if my vacation is approved until about a week beforehand. Miss ya all! Hope you enjoy the pictures below.

Extended stay in Las Vegas, again

Well, as most of you have already heard, I'll be in Vegas at least until the end of September. The newest big news with the NSF (National Screening Force) is that the training headquarters are being moved from Baltimore to Las Vegas. That's good news for Las Vegas, bad news for me. I'm hoping to make a stop at home before being sent elsewhere, but that is yet to be determined. Since I am familiar with our online payroll system, the NSF has decided to keep me around for a while longer. I personally was ready to move on to greener pastures a month ago. Now after being extended twice, I'm just hoping that they don't extend my stay in the casino desert any longer than they already have.

It's been several weeks since I've added anything to my blog, but not much has changed here. It's still dry and hot. I did get out of the hotel last Sunday for a little fun. I went to the Hoover Dam with Mike, a coworker, and his wife Jane. It was cool to see, but the best part was going down to Lake Mead, the only body of water anywhere near Las Vegas. At Lake Mead, we rented a jet ski for a couple hours and had a blast. It was my 1st time on a jet ski and it was a lot of fun. Jane and I rode it over to the Hoover Dam and jumped off for a quick swim just so we could say that we swam there. It's cool to swim in water that's said to be 500 feet deep. (I couldn't say for sure since I couldn't quite make it to the bottom.) I was also fun to see the carp and stripe bass swarming around the dock by the rental boats. There is no fishing in that location for good reason. All you need for bait is a bag of ready made popcorn and the carp go nuts. See pictures below. Hope all is well in Minnesota and hope to see you soon!

Some Pictures from the Strip...

I sent DANNY GLOVER for additional screening!

I finally had my 1st encounter with a non-athlete star that I recognized. Late last night, I was standing at the walk through metal detector when Danny Glover walked up to my lane. I had to ask him to remove his shoes but he said he had to go through additional screening anyway. Sure enough, he walked in and alarmed. Looks like he has a hip or knee replacement. Who knew?

Danny Glover is best known for being Mel Gibson's co-star in Lethal Weapon. I've never watched those movies, but I definitely knew who he was. It was pretty cool. Everyone stopped and stared.

HERE'S JOEY!

Grandpa Charlie passed on this picture of Jess and Joey. (See more details under "It's a Boy.") I spoke with Jess last Monday. It sounds like everyone's healthy, short on sleep, and trying to adjust to some sort of routine.

I asked my supervisor if he had any idea of what I could except after this deployment. He said it all depends on where/if they need help, but there is about an 85% chance that I'll go back to Minnesota for 2 to 6 weeks after Vegas. I guess September typically is a slow month. So I'm hoping to come home and see everyone, especially my new nephew. There is still a chance that I'll go straight from Vegas to another deployment. I probably won't know until the end of August. Keep in touch! I want to know what's going on in Minnesota too.

How do you do this?

I just bought a digital camera and I'm still learning how use a blog so chances are that this isn't going to work. Tracy, do you know of any way to attach slideshows or albums? Looks like I can only attach individual picts for now. Here's some of my favorites...or not.

I'm not having any luck with individual pictures either. Anyone know what I'm doing wrong? Does it have something to do with the file type? The picts I took are TIF. The picture of Joey that my dad took is JPEG and I didn't have any trouble attaching it.

If you know how to convert my picture files to JPEG, please leave a comment. Burman, Dad...I'm counting on you.

Well, I got a few picts to load. The 1st one is the view from my hotel room. It's about 2 miles east of the strip. Next are picts of my bed, kitchen, and bathroom. So maybe it's not a luxury suite on the strip, but it's good enough for me.

TSA employees have travel days from hell, too.

Hey everyone,

I made it back to Vegas on Saturday afternoon. It was another eventful trip. As I mentioned before, we were waiting in DC while the NSF HQ and our travel agent made arrangements to return us to wherever we came from. So we had free time to catch up on training, travel around DC, relax in the hotel, etc. By Thursday, it seemed like about half of the NSF had their travel orders. The other half got them on Friday...except me. No itinerary, no deployment orders, no nothing. I mentioned this to a couple of my team leads late Friday morning, but they just shrugged it off and said to check later that night. I helped with a training class on our payroll system until 5:00 pm then I went into DC to do a little more site seeing. When I got back to my hotel, I checked my email...STILL NOTHING!

By this time I'm getting a little nervous because everyone I've talked to has their orders. It was late so instead of calling, I sent out an email to all our team leads asking for help. I wasn't sleeping well and decided to get up and do something. Checked my email obsessively, 6:00 am still nothing. Went down stairs to the fitness center expecting one of the leads to call me as soon as they got my email. 7:30 I am exhausted from workout, still no word. Back up to my room, nothing in my email. 8:00 Went down to the lobby hoping to find someone who knows something. One NSF leaving for the airport to catch his flight gavw me the number for our travel agent. I called it and got transferred to an emergency number because they are closed on the weekends. They can't search by name and they repeatedly asked me for my flight information (departure time, flight number, etc.), which of course I didn't know. 8:30 a team lead called me and gave me the travel agent number. Too late, already tried that. He said he'd call me back. 8:45 called back wanted to know when the others going to Vegas were leaving. I made several calls to find out then called the Area Coordinator. He wanted to get me on one of their flights. He said he'd call back.

Meanwhile I started packing, still didn't know when I'd be leaving. Decided to wait on showering because I couldn't afford to miss a call. 10:05 am team lead called to see if I'm ready to go. Tells me my flight departs at 12:40. I tell him I need some time. I hop in the shower. 10:15 team lead calls again to see if I want I ride. I tell him I'm not ready and I'll try to catch the hotel shuttle at 10:30. Run around like a mad woman. Get downstairs by 10:30 shuttles still there but I need to check out of my room. There are two people in front of me and one lady behind the desk in no particular hurry. @!#$&%! 10:35 shuttle leaves, next shuttle isn't until 11:00.

Shuttle leaves hotel late then drops others off first. 11:40 finally arrive at airport. Fortunately, there is no line. I have 1 hour layover in Chicago where I have to change airlines. Kiss my bags goodbye, get in line for security. Additional screening for me because my ticket was purchased last minute. 12:00 through security, 10 minutes until boarding. Buy lunch, board.

1:50 pm arrive in Chicago, my bags were checked through but still have to figure out where my gate is and see if I can get my boarding pass at the gate. It's a hike to a shuttle that brings me to the correct concourse. Find the gate, ask if I can check in. Gate agent says I have go out of security to the ticket counter. It's now about 2:00 pm. My flight boards in 20 minutes. She sees the panicked expression on my face and says she was just joking. Tee hee...not very funny.

Surprisingly enough my bags and I reunited in Las Vegas without incident. (Sigh of relief) Can't believe I made it back. Start to think I should kept my mouth shut and spent another day in DC.

It's a Boy!

Just a quick note to congratulate Tom and Jess on the birth of their baby this afternoon. His name is Joseph Charles born at 3:07 P.M. central time, 20 1/2" long, and weighing 7 lbs. 12 oz. The only other detail I know is that he has brown hair. Jess promised to send me a picture after they get settled so I'll attach that later.

Hurry Up and Wait

I'm not sure how far the word spread of my whereabouts over the past week. Here's an update...

On Saturday (7/22), I was in Las Vegas sleeping in my hotel room when I got a call from my supervisor at 8:30 am asking me if I'd be able to get my passport and go to Washington, DC immediately. I told him my passport was at my home in Minnesota and he said to pack quickly because I was going to get it. I had almost convinced myself that this was a weird dream when someone started banging on my door. To make a long story short(er), I called Katie and asked her to start looking for my passport (not an easy task, trust me), my supervisor went online to make a reservation for me from Las Vegas to Washington, DC via Minneapolis and I frantically started shoving my belongings into my suitcases. Two hours later, I was at the LAS airport paying for the ticket for my 12:00 pm flight (not the cheapest way to travel in case you were wondering). Katie came through for me once again and met me at the MSP airport with my passport. Jess and Renee also came to see me. My layover was only 1 1/2 hrs., but it was nice to see them even for such a short time.

At this time I had very little information. I knew that a group of NSF was sent to DC the day before (Friday, 7/21) and that they were planning on being sent on to Turkey. I was told that my group would probably be going to Germany or Cypress. The purpose of all this was to help expedite and assist in the screening of evacuees from Lebanon. I arrived at Reagan Int'l in Washington, DC at 10:15 (Saturday 7/22). The number I was given to contact upon my arrival was not working so I took the hotel shuttle. It was about 11:15 by the time I got there. No room ready, no information on who to contact. I got a couple hours of sleep then went to the lobby to see if I could find anyone and ran into a group of NSF. They told me that there would be a meeting at 1:00 pm. Anxious for details, I went to the meeting and didn't get much information. The group that came on Friday (7/21) was sent to Cypress instead of Turkey. We were on hold for the time being. Be patient and be able to get back to the hotel in 45 minutes if needed.

The next day (Monday 7/24), we had another short meeting. Chances of going abroad seemed to be dwindling. Maybe we would be sent to one of five airports here in the U.S. that the evacuees would be flying into. Be patient and be ready.

Tuesday (7/25) still no news except that we had to move to a different hotel because the one we were in couldn't accommodate all of us. Another group of about 20 from around the nation joined us in the waiting game.

Wednesday (7/26) another short meeting. We weren't going anywhere. In the next couple days, the first group that went to Cypress should be returning. On Saturday (7/29), we will most likely be sent back to our previous deployments (that's Las Vegas for me). Between now and then we are to make sure all our administrative paperwork is in order and work on our online training courses.

Can't say I'm not disappointed. I was hoping for a chance to go to Germany, but to put a positive spin on things...at least I got out of Vegas for a week. Don't worry, Mom. I would never move there. I'm burned out on Vegas, literally. 115 degrees is pretty hot, even if it is a dry heat.

Okay, okay...I'll do it!

After pressure from friends, especially Tracy, I've decided to give in and start a blog. This could be a mistake for several reasons. Namely, I don't know what I'm doing and I've never been very good about keeping a journal. I thought about getting someone else to do this for me. I even asked Renee, but she didn't take the bait so I guess I better give it a go.

As most people reading this already know, I signed up to travel the U.S. for a year with TSA (Transportation Security Administration). That's airport security for those who don't know, not the armed officers but the ones taking your lighters and making you remove your shoes. Some think I'm nuts since, as a member of the NSF (National Screening Force), I often travel on short notice for an undetermined about of time and I don't have any say in where I travel to. I like it, most of the time. I've always liked to travel, I like change, and I'm single so for those reasons this is a great opportunity to see the country. My only serious regret so far is the fact that I will miss the birth of my first nephew or niece (Should be any day now!). My sister and I are close so that's hard, but we still talk often and she promised to send pictures.

Of course I also miss everyone else in Minnesota. Hopefully, this blog will make it easier to keep in touch and post photos. Next item I plan to spend my money on is a digital camera. I don't want bore anyone so I think I'll sign off for today. I'll try to write again soon. MISS YOU!