To all my family and friends,
I wish you all the merriest of Christmas' and the happiest of all New Years.
On the work front...life was good! As always, another busy year for Dream!!! January provided me with the last trip to the carrier for a few years. It is nice to be more senior and have some leadership opportunities teaching the new guys some tricks. As the assistant operations officer, I had an impact on where the squadron went as far as training and day-to-day operations. It was a busy, but rewarding job. More of the same during the last trip to Fallon, NV for a while, too. I applied to the Navy Test Pilot school, but was not accepted, so it was a pleasant relief to be assigned to VMFAT-101 in San Diego...flying out of Miramar. This is the training squadron in which I learned to fly the F/A-18. Now I am teaching other to fly the Hornet!!! So far it has been an incredible experience--the hardest part was shifting my mindset from the advanced tactics I was working with in the fleet back to thinking about the basics. Fortunately, we get to practice some more advanced flights with the students as they progress through the syllabus. I did an airshow in Torrance, CA-- it was fun to answer all the silly questions people ask at airshows! My collateral duty "ground job" is once again the informations systems guy. I am in charge of all the computers and the network management for the whole squadron. This has proven to be the most time consuming job so far, but somewhere where I can make some significant improvements to the way the squadron is run...
Recreationally...of course it was an packed year! I raced several enduros on the motorcycle throughout the year. Each time getting a little better. Best finish was a third in my class. I'm really looking forward to 2001 to improving my riding skills! Having my motorcycle stolen before a race recently will certainly assist me in the quest for better performance. I pick up the new KTM 400 MXC before Christmas!!!
Sailing was also very active for me this past year. While I missed Key West, I was able to attend the Farr 40 World Championships and sail with an Australian Crew. These guys were great sailors and we did pretty well. Greetings to all the boys from down under!!! I did some training with another Farr 40 in November in Miami. I'm looking forward to sailing with them again soon! Started sailing with crew out of San Diego on a boat named Infringer...great fun to sail with and hangout with!
June provided me with a move to San Diego. While I liked living in Lemoore the past few years, San Diego provides so many more opportunities to do the things I love! My best friend, Tom, moved to San Diego, too, and we are renting a house near Jack Murphy stadium. Rigs has a big yard to play in, but there isn't a garage for Kyle to play in... We've made some fun trips to LA, Disneyland, and Long Beach! Thanksgiving was spent with my parents in Lowell and my brother, Kevin, his wife, Michelle, and son Zachary. Phoenix is the destination for Christmas...with Mom and Dad and Pam, Glenn, Zack, and Bev.
I look forward to enjoying another year and continuing and renewing friendships. Until then, take care and keep in touch.
Kyle
