Today in the Technology course that I am taking in order to obtain my certification to teach in the state of Florida, I learned how to create a blog. While it was not my life's aspiration, I am somewhat proud of the fact that I can now tell my wife that I have my own blog. She has been blogging now for about three years and is quite proud of all that she has written. Her blog covers a lot of the things my family has done over the course of the last 20 years as we have wandered across the globe in the Navy. I am biased but I think it is good.

In June of this year I retired from the Navy and got a job in my hometown of Fort White, Florida. Although I grew up in Ft White, it has been 26 years since I have lived and worked in North Florida so the transition has been a bit of a shock for both myself and my family. This is not simply due to the change in location but my abrupt (though I had been planning it for years) departure from the military and transition to teaching 8th grade mathematics. After slogging through the first three months in 8th grade math . . . I miss the military. I miss the intensity, the camaraderie, and the challenges that that life held. I also miss the perks which are not what you might think. The perks are . . . respect. . . work ethic . . . courage . . . quality . . . all of the things they make movies about still exist in daily life in the military. I miss them.