Brandon made it safely to NTC!!!

Well, I am safely here at the Naval Training Center in Great Lakes, Ill. It's pretty sweet, actually. I am in A-School all over again but so far it's MUCH better than the first time around... my day getting here and getting checked in was pretty crappy and took HOURS... I arrived in Chicago at 6PM but wasn't done and checked into my room until aroun 10PM... but my room is basically just a hotel room... VERY TYPICAL of a Motel 6 type of room, it's my own room, my own bathroom, a TV with VCR/DVD, a phone, LOTS OF DRESSERS AND STORAGE, and even high-speed internet IN MY ROOM!!! It's pretty nice! It's quite a walk from my room to the schoolhouse though, about 15min. But they have 2 gyms here on base and one of them has an indoor pool which is basically only about 1 block from my room... the galley (cafeteria) is just as close, too. The base is HUGE and that's not going to be fun b/c I don't have a car, but oh well... anyways, I guess this "red carpet treatment" is due me after the many months of horrible living conditions on the ship!

Anyways, after I got settled I called Heather on our cell phones for about an hour until she got too sleepy to stay awake... :) We have free cell-to-cell unlimited minutes, and I just know that's going to pay for itself these next few months! ;)