Long Overdue

It's been a while, and I have a lot to report. I've joined a small group of people online who subtitle Japanese anime in english for english-speaking fans (such as myself). I'm serving as an editor for the scripts that the translators produce. At work, I just got a raise and became a full company employee instead of a private contractor, so I get more money and less of it goes to income tax.

As for Marines-related news, I'm in much better shape than I was when I started working out 14 weeks ago. Here are graphs of my progress with pushups and situps, which I've been working on pretty hard. On the graphs, the bluish "Max" colums are how many I actually did that week, the maroon "PFT" column indicates how many reps I did all at once, in the same style that the Physical Fitness Test for the Marines would require. And finally, the cream "Target" column is 3 times the PFT column, and I use it to calculate how many I should aim to fit in the "Max" column for the following week. The pushup PFT number I'm aiming for is 50, and for situps is 100, which I achieved this past week!

I've also been working on my pullups, but they're harder to gauge the progress of. I've been practicing my running, and actually managed to run a set distance at a rate of 10 minutes per mile, and I've gone a maximum distance of 2.15 miles. This may seem like a lot or a little, depending on how well you know me, but I consider it a pretty big accomplishment with a whoooooole lot of improvment ahead of me. My goal is 20 full pullups in a row from a dead hang, and to run 3 miles in 20 minutes. These are lofty goals, but they're standard scores for Marines entering training, and they're reachable for me within the next few months if I work hard.

I've also been visiting the local shooting range every week. When I first went, I was happy to hit the human-sized silhouette target at 21 feet. With a lot of practice and instruction, I've gotten to where I can put 10 shots inside a space the size of my hand, as you can see here. The 9's on the left and right are about 6 inches apart. I'm still pulling down and to the left a little, but I'm working on correcting that. I've also been practicing with my new rifle, which I'm getting better with. I'll try to get some pictures of my rifle targets soon.

And finally, because I know you all just love looking at me (and who could blame you!), I decided to get my mom to take some pictures of me in my new suit that I purchased for the sole purpose of being an usher at my friend's wedding next month. The safe pictures can be found here. If you like guns, you may want to check out the more dangerous gallery here, but don't say I didn't warn you. Ok, back to training! More to come soon.

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