UPDATE: I will need to be in Pensacola, FL for school no later than June 8th. I plan on moving out of my apartment by May 30th, and leaving Washington permanently on June 3rd.

Recently, I had the opportunity to fly Richard Branson’s latest airline venture, Virgin America. VA is a competitive low-cost-carrier that refuses to skimp on service. From the moment you check in, you’re presented with a very uncommon experience in the world of modern domestic air travel. You are greeted by smiling agents, and the counters are clean, modern, and feature fresh flowers. The appearance continues to the gate where the podium is again clean and modern, and also adorned with fresh flowers.

For this trip, I splurged the $238 to get First Class (Coach was $83). I was not disappointed. The Los Angeles-Seattle flight was 2.5 hours long and I was looking forward to the advertised 55 inches of legroom (by comparison, United offers 48 inches in its domestic First Class A320 aircraft) and expected a complimentary snack. Well, it turned out to be more than a snack. The food choice was a chicken dish or a Portabella Ravioli. I chose the Ravioli. First, they served the appetizer (which I did not expect!) it consisted of three chilled tapas-style selections: A marinated portabella mushroom, Yakisoba, and a spicy beef dish. I also opted for a Bloody Mary to drink.

After that, I was served a hot french roll with butter. Shortly after that, the entree was served. five large ravioli. It should be noted that the service included a metal knife (very rare in a post-9/11 industry) and ceramic dishes and glassware)

Also, Virgin offers an amazing array of entertainment options nclusing 25 channels of live sattelite TV, roughly 30 movies on-demand, a 3000-song music library, games, and lots more in their aircraft-wide RED entertainment system.

After the entree, we were offered dessert… to make the hard descision of which dessert to try, they let you choose all three. This flight had a Pecan Flan, Chocolate Mousse, and Strawberries.

I think I’ve found a new airline to fly. Virgin America offers a level of service that is absolutely unmatched in the US Domestic air market. Prices are also lower than the major carriers, which makes the choice a no-brainer when you’re in a VA market. Currently, VA services Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, Washington DC and New York, with future service announced for Chicago.

Shit. So, for those of you patiently awaiting word of when I’ll be going to school… Please keep holding… I have been told that they have no seats open for the rest of the fiscal year (which for Gov’t purposes is Oct-Sep) so I likely won’t know until October. The only exception is the off chance that there is a cancellation, or if the Magical Mystery Quota People open up a seat.

Until then, I’m stuck here, still.

Background: A month ago, (to cover up unsightly screw holes in my front bumper) I purchased a customized, european-style vanity plate for the front of my car (I wanted something unique instead of the typical vanity blanks).

Well, the base up here in Bangor has had no issues whatsoever with it… but the one time I have to go to Bremerton, the gate guard hassles me… first he says I can’t have two license plates, I explain the front one is a vanity plate and the back one is the legal Michigan plate (this is obvious when one realizes the front plate has the same digits as the rear).

Then he starts spewing bullshit that I’m not allowed to have vanity plates on federal installations, I tell him I work for the Region Commander and know this is a false statement, then he tells me I can’t have a foreign plate on base, which I tell him not only is he still wrong, but it’s not even a valid foreign plate, and I had bought it legally through an online distributor.

Then he told me since I’m in Washington, I need to have two plates, to which I told him Michigan doesn’t issue a second plate, and furthermore allows vanity plates to be on the front of the vehicle, so I am within law for my state of registration (to which he says I still have to follow Washington laws… WTF?)

So he tells me to pull over to the side, and I wait ten minutes before he comes again and says “I just called Michigan and they said you can’t have a foreign plate in conjunction with a state plate…” First of all, I reminded him it WASN’T a foreign plate, it’s considered a VANITY plate, and secondly, (which I didn’t tell him) I was about to waive the bullshit flag, as how does he have the resources to contact the state of Michigan and retrieve all that information within 10 minutes?

So he said if I had any complaints to talk to his lieutenant (keep in mind this is some overweight, overpaid civilian doing a job that should belong to a proper Master-At-Arms) and I reply that his lieutenant can speak to My boss, the Admiral, the REGION COMMANDER…. he stumbled through something and gave me his badge and I took down his name…

So later, I actually called Bremerton’s security and got some person identifying himself as Lt. such-and-such (is this the same Lt.?) who, after I explained this situation (that “happened to a person in my command”) he said regarding that, that the gate guards must follow the Washington Revised Uniform Traffic Code, and in regards to out-of-state vehicles, follow the laws of said state. Imagine that, it all goes down to my state’s law, of which this gate guard now seems to be an expert in).

Tomorrow, I’m taking this info to the Command Master Chief (the highest-ranked enlisted person for the entire Region) and discuss filing a complaint. There is no reason I should have endured that level of harassment and embarassment from an employee who is, by definition, there to serve and protect me.

Oh, forgot two REALLY good quotes he said… “So if I run the plate on the front, will anything come up?” WTF? I just told you it was a custom vanity plate and wasn’t valid, of course nothing will come up, and why in the hell would you run the front plate anyways, the rear plates (of ANY State) are the only ones carrying the registration tabs you’d be running (I actually said that, minus the WTF).

…And the best quote of the incident (to the response of mine stating “…Michigan doesn’t require nor issue a front plate”) he said “Then that makes the plate on the back of your vehicle the vanity plate”.

Boy, am I glad these guys are there keeping our military safe from the likes of myself!

Not even I am immune to manufacturing defects. The infamous “Red Ring of Death” has occurred on my beloved Xbox 360™. Luckily, this issue has prompted a 3-year parts and labor warranty for this problem, and Microsoft is sending a mailer out so I can send the console in for repair.

Well, it’s official! I have been approved to convert to the Navy’s CTN rating, one of the Navy’s newest ratings, dealing with network security. The rating was established in FY 2004, however, it was originally made available for other CT’s to cross over to until FY 2007 when it was opened up to all other Navy ratings to crossover to as well as new applicants through recruiting stations. The “A” school is new as well, having only been established in October 2007.

Still to come, I should know within a week when I will be able to secure a seat at the “A” school.

UPDATE: I have to call the “A” school detailers sometime in the middle of next week, since they have to file a request to actually get me a seat. No word on when a possible date may be, though I predict sometime between now and the second coming of Buddha.

FINALLY we get some good HD Channels! Wave Broadband (my cable provider) has finally given us:

Discovery Channel HD
Science Channel HD
Animal Planet HD
TLC HD
Travel Channel HD
TBS HD
CW/KSTW 11 HD
KONG HD (NBC/KING 5’s local independent channel)

And in the “Digital, but not High Def” area:
KING 5 Weather Plus
Create TV (a PBS digital subchannel)
Retro Television Network (a subchannel of CBS/KIRO 7)
and V-Me (a spanish subchannel of PBS)

I can now actually say that we have a very good HD lineup here for a cable provider (DirecTV still trumps them) that gives us a new total of 27 High Definition channels to choose from!

So, here’s the status: This morning I had a phone interview for my new rating, they just wanted to review some information and stuff. Things are looking good and I’ve been told a recommendation has been forwarded!

Well, the paperwork gets sent out Monday, and I’ve been told they’re looking to fill a spot for an April class, if I hurry. I may be leaving Washington sooner than I thought!

We received the paperwork from Navy Personnel Command today on my sub disqual. Now, the paperwork for my conversion is being drafted, and by week’s end, should be on its way back to NPC for the conversion. I may have a class date to report by early March!