There are less than 33 days until my Tech School graduation. It has been a pretty intense ride. We began with 105 students and at last count, we have 77. We have lost folks due to academic underperformance, injuries sustained during training, and/or disciplinary problems. All in all, it has turned out to be tougher than I expected.

In 3 out of 4 written tests, my scores have been 95, 100 and 100. This coming Tuesday, will be our fourth and final written test. I qualified Expert on the M4 carbine and the M9 pistol. There are numerous other "Performance Check" evaluations that I have taken and pass. These range from responding to domestic disturbances, utilizing weapon retention techniques, handcuffing (both standing and prone), performing a function check after assembly of the M4 carbine, and many others. These evaluations are required components of the course, but are graded pass or fail.

The instructors are very knowledgeable and extremely dedicated. I have made great friends with the other 14 TDYs in my team (temporary duty students - usually NCOs and other prior service personnel) that like myself, are attending class by direction of our parent unit. The majority of the class is composed of younger students (non-prior service a.k.a. pipeline) that go through Basic Training and straight into Tech School without having been assign to a unit yet.

At the beginning of April, I bought a Nokia N800 Internet tablet. Inspired by the awesome OS 2007 loaded on the N800, I went ahead and upgraded my old Nokia 770 with OS 2006. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of time on my hands right now to code for this great platform. Needless to say, I have loaded mono and Gtk# on both tablet units and installed and configured my two little apps that I use to help me while on field military operations. My express thanks go to Paolo Molaro and Everaldo Canuto for their work on the mono ports for the Nokia Internet Tablet.

CNN has invited me for an interview that may air on May 28, 2007 (Maria's birthday). My appearance will be part of a Memorial Day program they are preparing. I thank C.J. Adams-Collier, Rino Amenta, Jackson Harper, Jay and Kristina, Dan Garvin, Matt Gutierrez, Gabriel Landivar, Joe Manich and many others for their words of support and encouragement this past March 20.