ASVAB - General Science

(Originally Posted on 2013/03/17 at indianajane87.wordpress.com/)

I’m a visual/hands-on learner.  So while reading through the General Science section of the ASVAB For Dummies (AFD) book, I decided to look up the charts about what I was reading about.  There is way too much to memorize in the subject that even though I hope to do well so that I can get a MOS that I would enjoy, I’m not all that worried.  I’m hoping a lot of it comes back to me when taking the test.  And if not, then I’ll be making a lot of educated guesses!

Types of Clouds

Layers of the Earth

Animal Cell

Plant Cell

Scientific Method

Classification of a Grizzly bear using Linnaeus’s System of Classification

Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species = King Phillip Came Over For Great Spaghetti

According to the AFD book, you need to know these three units of measurement (hooray for the metric system):meter (m) is the unit of length, liter (L) is the unit of volume, and gram (g) is the unit of mass.

I know I learned how to convert temperatures from one scale to another but I saw the formulas and barely recognized them.  Another thing the AFD book says to commit to memory. So here you go:

To convert from Celsius to Fahrenheit:

F= 9/5C + 32

To convert from Fahrenheit to Celsius:

C= 5/9(F-32)

And I’m really hoping there’s nothing on the Kelvin scale but here it is anyway:

K= C + 273.15

To go from kelvins to Celsius, subtract 273.15 from the kelvin temperature.  (I don’t think I’ll be memorizing this before Tuesday!)

I should be able to make educated guesses on a  lot of the other parts of this subtest.  A lot has to do with vocab and root words.  And a lot of it is common knowledge.  There’s also a lot more to this chapter in the AFD book but this is what I felt I needed to see visually.

Credits for Images:

Layers of the Earth, Animal Cell, and Types of Clouds

Plant Cell

Scientific Method

System of Classification

Workout Log (7)

(Originally Posted on 2013/03/17 at indianajane87.wordpress.com)

For today’s workout I decided to go ahead and do another PT test.  C thinks I should start doing it once a week to see how I improve.  I’ll probably aim to do that since it will force me to run 2 miles more often than what I’ve been doing.  To pass the pt test, I need to get at least a 60 in each section giving me a score of 180.  But even though today’s score came out to be 189, since I failed the sit ups, I still failed the overall test.  Didn’t know that before but good to know.

I improved my push up score by two since the last time (28).  My sit ups decreased at 44 (I really need to just do sit ups every day).  And for my 2 mile run, I went to the track instead of running through the neighborhood.  I liked it because I was able to zone out and not worry about hills or crossing streets.  I’m glad that my run did improve (mostly because I didn’t have to deal with the incline and hills that I have to deal with on my normal route.  I lost track of how many laps I completed and went a little over 2 miles.  I completed my 2 mile at 19:28.  That’s 3 minutes off from the last test!

The rest of the day I’ll spend studying for the ASVAB.  I take it on Tuesday so I’m hoping that I’m as prepared as I can possibly be.  Wish me luck!  I’m not completely sure what MOS I want but once I know my scores, I should have a better idea as to what jobs I qualify for and taking time to learn about the ones that interest me the most.

Workout Log (6) & Recruiting Station

(Originally Posted on 2013/03/11 at indianajane87.wordpress.com)

This morning I used the Rittr Labs apps to workout.

Push up sets: 11, 11, 13, 11, 11, 9 = 66

Sit up sets: 28, 26, 29, 28, 28, 26 = 165

Squat sets: 24, 23, 27, 24, 23, 19 = 140

Today I made my way down to the recruiting station to continue the paperwork process.  Turned in my “homework” of pre-screening questions to SSGT H and we went over it a bit.  I still need to track down my medical documents in case the Indianapolis MEPS did not send the local MEPS here my old, expired documents (which still could be helpful in terms of having records of the hospital where I had my ACL surgery done).

I had my height and weight recorded.  Apparently the standards are much more lenient pre-shipping than post-BCT.  At 150 lbs, I’m within the height weight limits for my age.  That’s fine and dandy, but I still plan on losing weight before shipping so I can guarantee I make weight and because I think I could really benefit from a little weight loss.  I also had my fingerprints taken.  That was new to me.  When I went through the process in 2008, the only time I did the fingerprints was at MEPS.  Apparently this is something new as of 3-4 years ago.

While SSGT H was recording my height and weight into the computer, he was talking out loud.  ”Height, five four.”  For some reason in my head, I was thinking, “That’s not right.  I’m 64 inches, not 54 inches.”  So I said something.  He just kind of looked at me for a second and then said, “Are you sure you’re going to do well on the test?”  God I hope so!  I told him I’d just let him do his job and then we both laughed.  At least he has a sense of humor.  I’m scheduled to take the ASVAB Tuesday the 19th.  I have to be at the recruiting station by 0730.  Which means I have to leave my house no later than 0630.  Should be a fun day… but at least I don’t have to go all the way to the MEPS (4-5 hrs from here) to take the ASVAB.  It’s only about 45 minutes from the recruiting station.  Guess who will be going to bed really early on the 18th…

Four Day In Vegas

(Originally Posted on 2013/03/11 at indianajane87.wordpress.com)

This weekend my husband and I drove up to Las Vegas for three of the four days he had off.  Wednesday consisted of me packing my bag (and partly his since he didn’t finish before leaving for work), cleaning up the house a bit, taking Luna for a walk and then dropping her off at the kennel on post before C came home and then we were off around 1600.

It was windy on Wednesday.  So much so that even Luna noticed on our walk.  She kept looking up at me as if to say, “Why are we out here in this?”  Once we made it home from the walk, I got her ready and put her in the car.  Easy enough to do since she loves going places.  Once there, she was not having it.  The lady started to lead her into the back where the kennels are and she avoided the door the best she could.

We arrived in Vegas around 1900.  Not too much excitement there.  We found a lounge to sit at, ordered drinks and found food before calling it a night around 2000 or 2100.  Thursday I had my spa appointment.  I had a body treatment called Goddess of the Sun Ritual followed by a Swedish massage at the South Point spa.  I wish I could do that every day.  Or at the very least once a month.  It was amazing.  And I would have stuck around the spa area to soak in the hot tub or just relax in the lounge but we had a reservation at Maggiano’s with C’s dad and stepmom.

Friday we headed out into town and went to Bass Pro Shop where I found a hip quiver for my arrows (I dabble in archery) and a large Whisker Biscuit (arrow rest) since the small and medium that I have are too small for my arrows, no thanks to the guy at the PSE Archery Pro Shop in Arizona who told me the small would work.  We also went to an outdoor mall where we found a new squeaky stuffed toy for Luna.  I also found a shop that brought me back to that spa feeling that I had the day before.  It’s a little place called Sweet Bubble Bath Confections.  I got a pomegranate peach sugar scrub.  I can’t wait to try it out.  Smells so good!  And the soaps there are way too freaking cute.  Some are shaped like cupcakes and popsicle bars.

Saturday was an incredibly long day.  It didn’t help that the night before we stayed up until about midnight to see Oz in the casino theater.  We woke up at 0600 and left the hotel at 0700.  We made it back on post just in time to pick up Luna from the kennel before 1000 when we were supposed to get her otherwise they would charge us for the full day.  We took some time to relax before heading out to see Gary Sinise and the Lt Dan Band.  That was pretty fun.  They had come before but I had the day wrong and missed them.  And the last time they were supposed to come out last year, Gary was in a car accident and had to cancel.  It was actually a fun show.  I didn’t get any pictures from this since it was after 2100 and my phone probably wouldn’t have gotten very clear shots anyway.

So that’s my weekend in a nutshell.  Didn’t get to go to the Welcome to Las Vegas sign and get my picture in front of it.  I’ve been there a number of times and never gone to do it.  Next time I’m over there, it’s a must.

Workout Log (5)

(Originally Posted on 2013/03/05 at indianajane87.wordpress.com)

Today I did the first PT test I’ve done since December of last year.  It can easily be summed up in one word:  FAILED.  But that’s okay.  I still need to run consistently and do more sit ups. But I have at least advanced with my push ups.  I’m not expecting much since I have yet to still find my workout groove and do everything consistently.

My push ups went from 19 on 2012DEC30 to 26 today.  That gives me a score of 72.  I increased by two since the last test to 50 on the sit ups.  A score of 60.  And my run was once again terrible.  I came in at 22:28; one second more than last time.  That’s a score of 31.  Kind of bummed there wasn’t even any improvement there but I’m honestly not surprised.  My total score is a failing 163.

This is the first workout since Thursday February 28.  Yesterday I spent about the whole day cleaning the house.  From about 9am when C left for work til about 1730 to finally sit down and study.  And I mean cleaning the house.  Used the Bissell carpet cleaner to shampoo the carpets.  Everything was going great for the first half of the living room.  Until the vacuum decided to leak the cleaner into a puddle on the carpet while I was waiting for the first half to dry a bit before moving the furniture onto it to finish the second half.  Now there’s two puddle marks that I need to figure out how I’m going to get out.  Cleaned the baseboards in the living room and half-bath.  Cleaned that as well.  Thoroughly.  I think this counts as a workout in itself.

Walked Luna for about 2 miles on two short walks.  The first time was only to the mailbox to drop off a birthday card I should have put in the mail yesterday.  The second walk was a little over 1.5 miles in a huge square.  Figured she deserved a walk since we’re leaving her home alone while we go to a Hail & Fairwell tonight.

So since this post is already fairly random, I’ll go ahead and put this in.  I recently found a recipe for whey protein pancakes.  Sounds unusual but they turned out pretty good.  I followed the Apple Strawberry Blueberry Protein Pancakes recipe but used chocolate whey  protein powder instead, omitted the blueberries since we didn’t have any, and substituted the coconut flour for almond flour.  I think the next time I make them, I’ll use the blender to insure the apple is fully blended into the mix.

And to wrap this post up (rambled on long enough), today marks my husband and my (legal ceremony) 2 year anniversary.  And he definitely surprised me with flowers and chocolate covered strawberries.  I think a girl could get used to this.  But it gets better.  We have a trip coming up that I’ll post about once we’re back from it.

New Month, New Instagram Account

(Originally Posted on 2013/03/01 at http://indianajane87.wordpress.com)

Today I didn’t do much of anything.  It’s the last day of rotation so I’ll have my husband back soon (probably not until after midnight, though).  I was able to keep the back door open since the weather was so nice.  Took Luna for a 2 mile walk after 1700 and it was still quite warm.  It was a nice leisurely walk, so doesn’t really count as a workout.  Burned about 143 calories.

I should have done sit ups and maybe push ups.  But I’m fairly tired now.  I should probably come up with an actual plan so I know what I’ll be doing from day to day.  Early last year, I was doing the workouts in Jamie Eason’s LiveFit plan.  I wasn’t following the food plan, just the exercises.  It was fun at first.  Maybe I’ll start going back to the gym and give this a try.  I think I had issues because I was working out with girls that were well below my strength/endurance level and they didn’t have the same goals as I did.

Decided to start an Instagram account to document my journey further.  Feel free to follow me there.  Each quote picture has the corresponding blog post linked to it.  Hopefully I’ll have pictures that are more interesting than just quotes.  Like a picture of me swearing in!  A girl can dream.

Workout Log (4)

(Originally Posted on 2013/02/28 at indianajane87.wordpress.com)

Today is already a better day than yesterday.  Got my workout in before noon.  I’ll likely add updates later to this post if I take Luna for a long walk and/or if I do the Rittr Labs app for sit ups.  My arms are pretty spent from the presses and past push up workouts to even consider push ups.  It’s an awesome 61° outside right now with it supposed to be getting up to 66°.  Friday, Saturday and Sunday are supposed to be 74°, 73° and 75°, respectively!

So for today, I did squats, press, and dead lifts.

SQ – Warm Up : 2(45# x 5), 50# x 5, 65# x 3, 90# x 2, Working Set : 3(100# x 5) 

PR - Warm Up : 5(45# x 5), Working Set : 3(50# x 5)

DL – Warm Up : 2(65# x 5), 95# x 3, 110# x 2, Working Set : 3(130# x 5)

Hopefully that’s not confusing.  Sets(Pounds x Reps).

Update: Took Luna for a walk.  We went 6.01 miles.  It took us a little under 2 hours to complete, including potty stops, stops to smell everything, and stops to try and find the lizard that ran away.  Burned a little over 500 calories on this walk.

 I was feeling pretty good at the end of the walk.  Up until I got to my door to find an envelope pushed into the door from housing.  I guess my neighbors, whom I’ve never met, complained to housing about Luna barking.  I’ve done what I can to prevent it but lately she refuses to come in (around 1830-1930) because there’s other dogs down the street barking.  The last few days I’ve been putting her bark collar on, as well.  But apparently she’ll have to wear that from the moment she wakes up to the moment she goes to sleep.  Poor Luna.  I guess I’m annoyed because they could have just as easily come by and talked to me directly.  Or left a note.  But no, now we have a “record.”

I might call housing tomorrow to find out at the very least when the complaint was made since she hasn’t barked today, and barely barked the last couple days due to the collar.  I highly doubt they’d tell me who made the complaint…  After I join, we’ll be living off post.  At least where at all possible.  Because with us both being in, if we lived on post, they’d take both of our BAH.  I’ve enjoyed living on post up until lately.  I guess I’m just anxious to get out of here and on with my life.  So maybe the small things are bothering me a bit more than they should.