Bachelors, Masters, and Doctoral Degrees in Geocaching

I'll be using this post to check our requirements and see what we qualify for.  The Bachelors Degree is 7 hours from home from us... but since we are at least a couple of years away from earning the degrees, travel to the graduation ceremonies is the least of our concerns. 

https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC5CRR1_bachelors-degree-in-geocaching-challenge-cache

This is a really interesting geocaching challenge cache series.  There may be other versions, the series I refer to here is located in Ohio.  Each of the three degrees has a cache page with the "course requirements" to earn the degree.  Once completed, you receive a certificate with your geocaching name.  "Each degree recipient is eligible to receive an e-mailed diploma certifying his/her accomplishment. The President of the University will contact you for an e-mail address to which the diploma may be mailed."

This cache owner not only put in some serious thought, and work, to create this series, but what dedication to maintain it at this level!  These are challenge caches, all located at the posted coordinates, but you cannot log them until you complete all of the requirements.  The final caches appear to be pretty easy terrain rather quick finds.  The work is in earning the right to find them.

"You have hard work ahead of you to graduate, but you will learn about geocaching by following our curriculum, have a lot of fun, and meet many other students who will become lifelong friends. When you finish and become an alum, you will hopefully look back fondly on your time at good old "U of G"!

Listed in the "Bachelor's Degree Course Catalog" below are the courses offered by the University of Geocaching. For each course, you will find the number of credits earned by completing that course and the requirements for completing the course.

In order to earn your bachelor's degree, you must earn at least 50 credits. When you have completed at least 50 credits, you may attend graduation (sign the log and claim your find). As part of your graduation requirements, you must fill out your final transcript. Please list in your cache log: your total credits earned, the courses you completed (including credits for each course), your qualification for each course, and how your qualification may be verified for each course (please see my "Note" logs on 9/13/2014 for an example of how to log this challenge cache). Your geocaching profile at geocaching.com and either the output from the GSAK macro "FindStatsGen" or your Project Geocaching profile contain enough pieces of information to verify all of the course requirements. You may also verify your requirements in another manner if you like."

Bachelors Degree
https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC5CRR1_bachelors-degree-in-geocaching-challenge-cache

Bachelor's Degree Course Catalog (Course - Credits - Requirements)

Chronos I.B - 5 credits - Find geocaches on at least 100 days of the year (these do not have to all be in the same calendar year)
Chronos II.B - 2 credits - Find geocaches that were placed on at least 100 days of the year (these do not have to all be in the same calendar year)
Chronos III.B - 5 credits - Find geocaches on at least 31 consecutive days
Chronos IV.B - 2 credits - Find at least 50 geocaches during one calendar day
Chronos V.B - 3 credits - Find at least 500 geocaches during one calendar year

General Geocaching I.B - 5 credits - Find at least 1,000 geocaches
General Geocaching II.B - 5 credits - Find at least 10 geocaches of each size (micro, small, regular, large, not chosen, virtual, and other)
General Geocaching III.B - 2 credits - Earn at least 10 geocaching souvenirs
General Geocaching IV.B - 2 credits - Move or discover at least 50 trackables

Geography I.B - 5 credits - Find a geocache in at least 2 countries
Geography II.B - 5 credits - Find a geocache in at least 5 U.S. states
Geography III.B - 5 credits - Find a geocache in at least 1 Canadian province
Geography IV.B - 3 credits - Find a geocache in at least 50 U.S. counties
Geography V.B - 2 credits - Find a geocache at least 100 miles from home
Geography VI.B - 2 credits - Find a geocache at an elevation of at least 1,000 feet

History I.B - 3 credits - Find at least 1 geocache that was placed in the year 2000
History II.B - 5 credits - Find at least 1 geocache that was placed in every month of every year starting with January of 2002

Matrix I.B - 5 credits - Find a geocache in at least 41 spots in the difficulty/terrain matrix
Matrix II.B - 4 credits - Find at least 10 high-difficulty geocaches (4-, 4.5-, and 5-star difficulty ratings)
Matrix III.B - 4 credits - Find at least 10 high-terrain geocaches (4-, 4.5-, and 5-star terrain ratings)

Non-Traditional Geocaching I.B - 1 credit - Find at least 100 Mystery/Puzzle/Unknown geocaches
Non-Traditional Geocaching II.B - 1 credit - Find at least 10 Multi-caches
Non-Traditional Geocaching III.B - 1 credit - Find at least 10 Letterbox Hybrid geocaches
Non-Traditional Geocaching IV.B - 1 credit - Find at least 10 Earthcaches
Non-Traditional Geocaching V.B - 1 credit - Find at least 10 Virtual geocaches
Non-Traditional Geocaching VI.B - 1 credit - Find at least 10 NGS Benchmarks
Non-Traditional Geocaching VII.B - 1 credit - Attend at least 10 Events (does not include CITO, Mega-Events, or Giga-Events)
Non-Traditional Geocaching VIII.B - 1 credit - Attend at least 1 CITO (Cache In Trash Out) event
Non-Traditional Geocaching IX.B - 1 credit - Find at least 1 Webcam geocache
Non-Traditional Geocaching X.B - 1 credit - Find at least 1 Wherigo geocache
Non-Traditional Geocaching XI.B - 4 credits - Find/Attend at least 1 "unusual" geocache/event (Mega-Event, Giga-Event, Project A.P.E, GPS Adventure Maze Exhibit, Geocaching Block Party, or Geocaching HQ)

Masters Degree
https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC5CRR2_masters-degree-in-geocaching-challenge-cache

Like the Bachelors Degree, The Masters requires you to earn 50 credits

Master's Degree Course Catalog (Course - Credits - Requirements)

Chronos I.M - 5 credits - Find geocaches on at least 365 days of the year (these do not have to all be in the same calendar year)
Chronos II.M - 2 credits - Find geocaches that were placed on at least 365 days of the year (these do not have to all be in the same calendar year)
Chronos III.M - 5 credits - Find geocaches on at least 100 consecutive days
Chronos IV.M - 2 credits - Find at least 100 geocaches during one calendar day
Chronos V.M - 3 credits - Find at least 1,000 geocaches during one calendar year

General Geocaching I.M - 5 credits - Find at least 5,000 geocaches
General Geocaching II.M - 5 credits - Find at least 50 geocaches of each size (micro, small, regular, large, not chosen, virtual, and other)
General Geocaching III.M - 2 credits - Earn at least 50 geocaching souvenirs
General Geocaching IV.M - 2 credits - Move or discover at least 500 trackables

Geography I.M - 5 credits - Find a geocache in at least 5 countries
Geography II.M - 5 credits - Find a geocache in at least 20 U.S. states
Geography III.M - 5 credits - Find a geocache in at least 5 Canadian provinces
Geography IV.M - 3 credits - Find a geocache in at least 200 U.S. counties
Geography V.M - 2 credits - Find a geocache at least 500 miles from home
Geography VI.M - 2 credits - Find a geocache at an elevation of at least 5,000 feet

History I.M - 3 credits - Find at least 5 geocaches that were placed in the year 2000
History II.M - 5 credits - Find at least 1 geocache that was placed in every month of every year starting with January of 2001

Matrix I.M - 5 credits - Find a geocache in at least 61 spots in the difficulty/terrain matrix
Matrix II.M - 4 credits - Find at least 50 high-difficulty geocaches (4-, 4.5-, and 5-star difficulty ratings)
Matrix III.M - 4 credits - Find at least 50 high-terrain geocaches (4-, 4.5-, and 5-star terrain ratings)

Non-Traditional Geocaching I.M - 1 credit - Find at least 500 Mystery/Puzzle/Unknown geocaches
Non-Traditional Geocaching II.M - 1 credit - Find at least 50 Multi-caches
Non-Traditional Geocaching III.M - 1 credit - Find at least 50 Letterbox Hybrid geocaches
Non-Traditional Geocaching IV.M - 1 credit - Find at least 50 Earthcaches
Non-Traditional Geocaching V.M - 1 credit - Find at least 50 Virtual geocaches
Non-Traditional Geocaching VI.M - 1 credit - Find at least 50 NGS Benchmarks
Non-Traditional Geocaching VII.M - 1 credit - Attend at least 50 Events (does not include CITO, Mega-Events, or Giga-Events)
Non-Traditional Geocaching VIII.M - 1 credit - Attend at least 5 CITO (Cache In Trash Out) events
Non-Traditional Geocaching IX.M - 1 credit - Find at least 5 Webcam geocaches
Non-Traditional Geocaching X.M - 1 credit - Find at least 5 Wherigo geocaches
Non-Traditional Geocaching XI.M - 4 credits - Find/Attend at least 5 "unusual" geocaches/events (Mega-Event, Giga-Event, Project A.P.E, GPS Adventure Maze Exhibit, Geocaching Block Party, or Geocaching HQ)

Doctoral Degree In Geocaching
https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC5CRR3_doctoral-degree-in-geocaching-challenge-cache

Doctoral Degree Course Catalog (Course - Credits - Requirements)

Chronos I.D - 5 credits - Find geocaches on at least 366 days of the year (these do not have to all be in the same calendar year)
Chronos II.D - 2 credits - Find geocaches that were placed on at least 366 days of the year (these do not have to all be in the same calendar year)
Chronos III.D - 5 credits - Find geocaches on at least 365 consecutive days
Chronos IV.D - 2 credits - Find at least 200 geocaches during one calendar day
Chronos V.D - 3 credits - Find at least 2,000 geocaches during one calendar year

General Geocaching I.D - 5 credits - Find at least 10,000 geocaches
General Geocaching II.D - 5 credits - Find at least 100 geocaches of each size (micro, small, regular, large, not chosen, virtual, and other)
General Geocaching III.D - 2 credits - Earn at least 100 geocaching souvenirs
General Geocaching IV.D - 2 credits - Move or discover at least 1,000 trackables

Geography I.D - 5 credits - Find a geocache in at least 10 countries
Geography II.D - 5 credits - Find a geocache in at least 40 U.S. states
Geography III.D - 5 credits - Find a geocache in at least 10 Canadian provinces
Geography IV.D - 3 credits - Find a geocache in at least 400 U.S. counties
Geography V.D - 2 credits - Find a geocache at least 1,000 miles from home
Geography VI.D - 2 credits - Find a geocache at an elevation of at least 10,000 feet

History I.D - 3 credits - Find at least 10 geocaches that were placed in the year 2000
History II.D - 5 credits - Find at least 1 geocache that was placed in every month of every year starting with May of 2000

Matrix I.D - 5 credits - Find a geocache in at least 81 spots in the difficulty/terrain matrix
Matrix II.D - 4 credits - Find at least 100 high-difficulty geocaches (4-, 4.5-, and 5-star difficulty ratings)
Matrix III.D - 4 credits - Find at least 100 high-terrain geocaches (4-, 4.5-, and 5-star terrain ratings)

Non-Traditional Geocaching I.D - 1 credit - Find at least 1,000 Mystery/Puzzle/Unknown geocaches
Non-Traditional Geocaching II.D - 1 credit - Find at least 100 Multi-caches
Non-Traditional Geocaching III.D - 1 credit - Find at least 100 Letterbox Hybrid geocaches
Non-Traditional Geocaching IV.D - 1 credit - Find at least 100 Earthcaches
Non-Traditional Geocaching V.D - 1 credit - Find at least 100 Virtual geocaches
Non-Traditional Geocaching VI.D - 1 credit - Find at least 100 NGS Benchmarks
Non-Traditional Geocaching VII.D - 1 credit - Attend at least 100 Events (does not include CITO, Mega-Events, or Giga-Events)
Non-Traditional Geocaching VIII.D - 1 credit - Attend at least 10 CITO (Cache In Trash Out) events
Non-Traditional Geocaching IX.D - 1 credit - Find at least 10 Webcam geocaches
Non-Traditional Geocaching X.D - 1 credit - Find at least 10 Wherigo geocaches
Non-Traditional Geocaching XI.D - 4 credits - Find/Attend at least 10 "unusual" geocaches/events (Mega-Event, Giga-Event, Project A.P.E, GPS Adventure Maze Exhibit, Geocaching Block Party, or Geocaching HQ)


=================================================================

Other Geocaching Degrees:

PHD In Geocaching (Kansas USA)
https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC441J5_p-h-d-in-geocaching-degree-challenge?guid=d4e49575-6c91-4419-8f04-c3504ccafc47

PHD In Geocaching - (Maryland USA)
https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC4XZ7N_p-h-d-degree-in-geocaching-challenge?guid=23f74164-7c3a-4d07-b755-a5caf7b4c58d

PHD In Geocaching (New Jersey USA)
https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC44Y02_p-h-d-in-geocaching-degree-challenge-nj-edition?guid=9ead11d4-e4a3-465c-98f7-5bf86626f1bc

Windows Snipping Tool - Replaces "print screen"

Have you seen the new "Snipping Tool" in Windows 10?  It's REALLY handy.  Now instead of hitting the print screen button, opening a graphics program, pasting the image, then cropping it and saving it, this tool does it all in a few less clicks.

It's found under Windows Accessories in your start menu.  I dragged it to the right and created a new tile for it, as you can see above.  You could also drag it down as a short cut in the bottom toolbar.

To use it, click on the app, and a little tiny box pops up.  Select the part of the screen you want to crop, then name your save.

That's it.  SUPER quick.

There's a more in depth tutorial here - 
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/13776/windows-use-snipping-tool-to-capture-screenshots

=======================

https://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/2019/05/tech-tips.html

Using Google My Maps to Plan a Trip

When our kids were little, we once passed a sign for a waterfall and our youngest piped up with "well there's another hour added to our trip".  LOL!  I do love to stop and see everything along the way on our trips. To balance out my need to stop at every interesting sight, with my husbands need to actually get where we are going, we plan ahead with My Maps.

It's a google app, separate from google maps, named My Maps.  This is the most awesome app ever. (I may say that about several apps.  Many of them made by google actually.  But I always really mean it.)

You can create as many maps as you want.  You can add many layers to each map.  You can add routes to maps, to show distances between locations.  You can color code locations, use different icons for different locations...  You can share your maps.  So when I create a map for a trip we are taking, I share it with my husband.  We can both then use the map to navigate to the locations.

You can go to  https://www.google.com/mymap and you can download an app for your phone.  The two sync, of course, this IS google after all.  :-)  

It's really just awesome.

Here are a few of my public maps, to give you some ideas:

Pa Road Trips - 
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1QvfavMSj4P7G80ZmXGDWKMAYrAI&usp=sharing

Columbia County Pa Covered Bridge Tour
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1vP180EhBv9P9MmhITmlpticZ7iE&usp=sharing

The Pine Creek Rail Trail
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1WBfhFICiTKJZ62lAM-jUrefCsJU&usp=sharing

Where to see the Elk Near Benezette Pa - 
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1wvcY5EEx3ti5E8nNJpyKgU853hA&usp=sharing



Other Uses - 
My maps is also great for mapping out genealogy.  I've traced where our ancestors have fought in the civil war, and some of their properties, etc, along with homesteads, graves and places to visit.

It's also useful for geocaching.  Have you ever solved a BUNCH of geoart puzzles and then were not sure how to tackle them in a logical order?  Plug all the coordinates into mymaps and it's easy to plan your route.  :-)

And We Are Bottle Feeding Babies... Goats that is!

Meet Tom & Gerry.  Three times a day I lean out the back door and holler "bottles!" and they come running up the back porch.. so they might think their name is bottles.  LOL!

Tom is an orphan.  One of our nannies gave birth to him, and then a stillborn baby after him.  We moved her up beside the house just to keep an eye on her, and less than two days later she was dead.  We do not know why.  She didn't have any signs of being ill.  

So Tom lives in the pen beside the house currently, all by himself.  Although he has lots of visitors.  

And he can squeeze through the fencing still, so he often can be found playing in the back yard with the triplets.

Patty had triplets this year.  Just to be sure they were all getting enough to eat, we moved them back to the pen in the back yard, the "calf pen".  I'm glad we did.  We came home from church one Sunday to find one of the babies beside the backyard pond, being guarded by Jet (one of our big dogs).  She was soaking wet.  We assume she fell in the shallow pond and got back out..  but after we dried her off, it was obvious she was not getting enough to eat, so she gets a bottle 3x a day along with Tom.

Being carried in for a feeding during the Blizzard of 2017

One Of These Things Is Not Like The Other

Dan sent me this photo this morning, with a note that all is well with the babies in the front pasture. Lol! Yes, that IS a chicken

Week One Without Home Internet

To Recap – Limitless, our internet provider, went bankrupt.  Windstream, our other option out here, has lines running to the farm that are so old and degraded that the signal barely gets here – the service is barely more than dial up, at High Speed prices.  We’re hopeful that River Valley Internets new tower will reach the farm, but it’s not turned on yet..  so rather than buy into one of the ridiculously overpriced, limited, options like exceed or hughes net (and we aren’t actually sure that either of those would work at the farm anyway…) we’re going to see how hard it is to live without internet at the farm. 

We have 25% of our phone data left, with 13 days left.  However, our daughter heads back to college, where she has constant unlimited wifi, tomorrow, so that will help.  (Our youngest is in air force basic training for 8 weeks – with no access to his phone - that is helping too.)

A quick look at my data usage shows that I’ve used 1.08gb on google chrome, .87gb on facebook, and .46gb with my phone as a mobile hotspot.

So my biggest issue is adjusting to not reading every article google now shows me.  I’ve habitually clicked on the links and read those stories without thinking about data usage, because before I was always on wifi.  Many of them are pure time wasters anyway.  The same goes for facebook – the majority of my usage there is clicking on links and reading stories people posted..  more time wasting that I really should work on eliminating anyway.

Meg has been downloading Netflix shows when we are on wifi, and watching them here at home with no wifi – it’s worked really well for her.  We haven’t tried casting to the big tv yet, she watches tv on her phone while she’s working on other things.  Currently we have so many shows on our dvr, there hasn’t been any need for us to look for more tv options.  But we might download the new lemony snickett movie when out on wifi today, just to see how it works casting to the big tv.

Tips For "Surviving" Without Home Wifi - 

http://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/2017/01/tips-for-surviving-without-home-internet.html

Tips For “Surviving” Without Home Internet

Update - 4/20/17 - We still have no options for internet here.  BUT, thankfully, Verizon now offers unlimited data!!  I use my phone as a hotspot, as described below, and it works wonderfully.  It's faster than the internet we've had here in the past too.  The only thing we have not yet figured out is how to get Netflix on the big tv in the living room..  but we haven't really had time or inclination to work to hard at that, at this point.  

1. Use your phone as a hotspot.  I was impressed by how easy it is to connect my laptop using my phone.  Just remember to plug your phone in, it will drain your battery fairly fast.  On my phone (Samsung Note 5, Verizon Network) I simply chose “Mobile Hotspot” from the drop down menu, and followed the instructions.  After the key was added to my laptop, for future use all I had to do was click on the mobile hotspot button and my laptop automatically connected, as it does to any other saved wifi hotspot. 

https://www.verizonwireless.com/archive/mobile-living/tech-smarts/how-to-use-your-smartphone-as-a-mobile-hotspot/

2.      2. Know where the local free Wifi is.  For me, in Watsontown PA, I’m finding our local libraries, and The Well (At Christ Wesleyan Church) to be the best options so far.  But my moms house is also an option I took advantage of this week. Panera & Sheetz also have free wifi.  Our local Sheetz (Lewisburg) was sooooooooo slow, I left and went to the library instead.  This map may help, but it did not show our local libraries, so it's not a full list - 

https://wifispc.com/articles/free-wi-fi-near-me.html

        3. Download Netflix while on wifi.  This is a new option – you can download Netflix shows while on wifi, to watch when you do not have wifi.  This is also going to be great for long flights and while traveling in general… (Link to how to use Netflix on wifi)

             Update to the latest version of Netflix in the iTunes or Google Play app store.

 It needs to be a version that was launched on or after November 30, 2016.

Open Netflix on the device you wish to store content on.

Tap the menu button on the top-left side of the Netflix application.

Tap “Available for Download” in the list on the left side of the screen.

If it’s a movie or TV show, look for the download button.

( It’s a small arrow facing down to a flat line. Tap that.)

Once you have movies and TV shows downloaded, you’ll be able to access and stream them even when you don’t have a connection. 

  

        4. Keep a to do list for when on Wifi.  When I am on wifi, I don’t want to waste too much time.  So I keep a list of what I need to do.  Updates are pretty automatic, but I do check my phone to make sure I don’t have to authorize any updates before they occur.  I have my phone photos set to back up on google photos when I’m on wifi, so that happens automatically too.  But I need to be reminded to download new books to my phone, check the latest shutterfly deals, upload photos, etc.  I keep an entire folder on my laptop for when I am on wifi.  It has subfolders for blog posts I’ve written and will post when online, for photos I want to upload to facebook, and a notepad to do list of things I want to research and download while online.

5.      

      5..Use spotify.  Yes, it costs, but it also saves a lot for our family.  We can download our playlists to play offline.  Our data usage dropped significantly with the family subscription to spotify. https://www.spotify.com/us/download/other/

6.       6. Use an offline newsreader.  I'm currently trying Pocket - it has an app for android and an extension for chrome https://getpocket.com/a/queue/

7.       7. Make sure of facebooks “Saved Articles” feature.  Rather than reading every article that sparks your interest, save them for later.  Then when online, open the articles you have saved and save them to an offline newsreader.

8.      

My biggest inconvenience so far is my limited access to ancestry.com.  I’m not truly limited, I can use my phone as a hotspot – but I feel like I should limit that.  At a time of year when I usually spend a LOT of time on genealogy, this feels like a huge inconvenience, yet it’s probably a blessing in disguise.  I’m planning out trips to genealogy libraries in our area, most of which have free wifi, and I plan to make my rounds.  I can spend a day using both the wifi, and all of the resources in their libraries, for a little gas money and usually a $5 a day fee – and it will get me out to libraries I haven’t visited in awhile, where hopefully I will find more resources.

Timeline - What We Experienced When While Our Son Was At Air Force Basic Training

 Week 0 & Week 1

Our youngest is off at basic training at Lackland Air Force Base.  This is our second son to go through this, but 4 years later, we’re finding this journey just a little bit different..  so if you are reading this a few years later, there many be many more changes.  This is a time line, as we experienced it in 2017.

Our son was set to swear in on January 3^rd 2017, so he was required to appear and sign in at the hotel near MEPS by 5pm on January 2^nd.  This first week is Week 0 of training.

January 2^nd

4:45 drop Matt at Hotel.  He signed in, took his bag to his room, and attended a briefing.  We went to a nearby park and took a walk.

5:45pm – roughly – Matt called to say he was free until 10pm.  We picked him up and went to the mall, where he made a build a bear with his voice recorded in it, for his fiancé for while he is away.  We went out to dinner at Chick Fil A, then went to Applebee’s for dessert, where the guys could watch the football game.

9:40 – we dropped Matt back at the hotel and said our goodbyes, not sure how much we’d be able to see him/hug him the next day.

January 3^rd

We arrived at MEPS at 8:30am, as instructed, for Matt to swear in at 9am.  There were sooooooo many people that day, that they ended up splitting the group in half, so Matt actually swore in much later.  We sat for quite awhile before Matt joined us.   The red cross provided snacks and coffee in the cafeteria. This was a long morning of sitting and waiting.  We’d sit with Matt for awhile, then he’d be called to a briefing, he’d come back to us for a minute, then have to leave us again…  finally he swore in:

After he swore in, they had to wait for the van to come back from shuttling the first group to the airport, so we got some more time with him.  We were all kicked out of the cafeteria at lunch time, lunch was served only to those who were enlisting.  Matt was getting on the shuttle immediately after lunch, so he came out to the lobby and said goodbye to us, then went to lunch and we headed out.

Later in the day, when he had a layover between flights, we received a few texts.  When he landed in San Antonio, he sent another text telling us he had no time to call, but that he was there safely.

January 4^th

We received a very quick phone call letting us know he arrived safely, and giving his his address.  He was not able to chat, just to give us his address.

I joined the Air Force Wing Moms private group for his flt.

January 6^th

I created a basket for our hall with books of stamps, envelopes, return address labels, and labels with Matt’s new address that can be quickly affixed to any envelope.  There are also a stack of self addressed stamped envelopes to add to some of his letters, to make it quicker and easier for him to write home.  I write to Matt every single day, and send a SASE at least once a week.

I also have a folder on my computer labeled “Letters to Matt” where I save random jokes and things from the internet that I think will make him laugh.  I print them off periodically to add to his letters.

==================================================================

January 9^{th   -} Week One

(less than a week after he arrived in Texas)

We received a post card in the mail with his address at BMT

AF Wingmoms list of what Week One may be like for our trainees - 

http://afwm.org/life-during-bmt/wot/wot1/

January 11th - 

In the Wingmoms Group, a moderator posted this schedule of what our sons days may be like - 

So this is how a Typical Day in BMT for your loved ones is going to be for the next 7.5 weeks – there really is no typical day in the Air Force BMT, however here is a breakdown of how a day might proceed.

0445 Reveille 0500 Downstairs in formation. Get ready for PC (Physical Conditioning)/ exercise.
0500 to 0600 PC...This will alternate. One day you run, the next day you do aerobic exercise.
0600 to 0615 Breakfast 
0630 to 0745 Dorm setup
0745 to 0800- formation to march to class
0800 to 1130 Drilling, classes, records checks, shots, uniforms issue, etc.
1130 to 1230 Lunch/ Canteen sanitation/ dorm check
1300 to1700 Classroom/dorm instruction
1700 to1800 Dinner/ Mail call
1900 to 2045 Set up the dorm for night time/ pick up and drop off dry cleaning. Fold laundry and clip strings/ shower and set up night displays/ Dust downs and details
2100 Lights out (bedtime)

January 12^th

For todays letter, I copied and pasted 5 pages of commentary from a sports website, recapping the play off games and speculating on the outcome of the upcoming play off games.  Next to his family, and his dog, I’m pretty sure football is what he’s missing most.  5 pages is TOO THICK to send –  in my opinion - but with some careful formatting changes, and printing on both sides of the paper, I had it down to 3 pages which made a normal sized letter.  Others from Matt’s flight have received papers about graduation, but we have not received anything since the post card with his address.  Mail is typically about a day slower for us than everyone else – we’re fairly rural in a rural community.  For the first week,  I take Matt’s letters directly to a post office to be mailed, because I know he will get them quicker. 

January 14th 

Another member of the wingmoms group for our sons flight received her first letter today.

Party Games For Large Groups

We love cards and board games, but when our crew gets together, there are just too many of us for most board games, which often only allow 6 players. Before the holidays this year, I went on a search for some games we could play when there are 9, 10, or 15 of us.

https://www.agirlandagluegun.com/2020/10/whats-in-the-box-fun-group-game.html

Partners In Pen

(View a YouTube Video Of This Game)

Items Needed: A bag full of random objects, a paper, a pen and a bunch of friends.

Take the tablet and pen out of  the bag.  Add  random objects from around the house to the bag—you’ll want 2-3 items per a team.

Hand one of the partners the tablet  and a pen and hand the bag full of random objects to the other partner.

Now ask the player with the bag to describe 2-3 objects, one at a time,  without naming them or telling what is it used for while the other partner tries to draw the object. 

Then flip to a new page in the tablet, pass the bag and tablet to the next team, and repeat., with them choosing different items from the bag.

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Likes & Dislikes

Items Needed: Index Cards, Pens

Ask everyone to write down 5 of their likes and 5 of their dislikes on index cards. Help the younger ones by writing for them.

At mealtime when everyone is gathered together, read the cards one at a time and have everyone try to guess which relative the information belongs to.

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React and Act

Pass out sheets of paper and pens to the players. Have each person write an event. Tell them to be creative! Examples of events can include:

• Being surprised by a large, aggressive bear in the woods
• You just won the lottery
• You have just been proposed for marriage with an engagement ring
• You just got fired by an incompetent boss
• Making the game winning pass to win the Superbowl
• You just fell in love

Once everyone writes an event, fold the paper once and place it into the bag. Divide the group into two teams.

Ask one person on each team to randomly select an event from the bag. Instruct them to react to this event, without explicitly giving away what the event is. Choose a time limit (usually 30 seconds to a minute works well) and when you say “Go!”, have all five people to simultaneously react to their event using exaggerated gestures, facial expressions, and their voice.

For example, the person who has just won the lottery could raise his or her arms and scream excitedly, jumping up and down. The person who has just confronted a bear might make a terrified look, shake in fear, and call for help. And so on. Each of the five actors can interact with each other, but they must stay “in character” and continue reacting and acting based upon what their sheet said.

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Saran Wrap Candy Ball Game

(See this game in a YouTube video)

Items needed - Saran wrap, tape, candy, two dice.

This is one we've played here, and it was a lot of fun!  It's really great for large groups of teens.  I found the game on this site, when looking for an activity for all of the cousins to play one Christmas.  

She specifies not to use plain saran wrap, but that's what I had, so that is what I used, and it worked great.

The game is simple.  Before hand, wrap candy in saran wrap, one piece at a time, making one large ball with layers of candy in saran wrap.

Have everyone sit in a large circle on the floor. give the first person the ball of candy, and the person to their left two dice.  When you say "go", the person with the ball tries to unwrap as much of it as possible, while the person with the dice rolls until they get doubles.  As soon as they get doubles, the ball moves to them, and the dice to their left, and you repeat around the circle.  You must stop unwrapping as soon as doubles are rolled.