From Michael

Only 2 more weeks to go for Mike. He will be graduating from Recruit Training (Boot Camp) on October 24th. We were able to speak to him on the phone on Saturday. We could hardly hear him as he had lost his voice. He had been given a nasal spray flu vaccine, which had given him the flu. Even though he was over the symptoms of chills and fever, sore throat, etc, he still hadn't regained his voice. He also told us that A school won't start until January, so after he gets to Pensacola on October 24th, he'll have 49 days to wait to start school. He said they will give him jobs to do on base to pass the time. Hey, he's getting paid, that's all that matters, right?

In one of Michael's letters, he said that there are still some of the kids in his group that haven't learned to listen and shut up. Because of their constant chatter, the entire group has been getting punished. Mike says he just listens, does what he's told and when he's told. Unfortunately, the whole group suffers from the disrespect of others. That's very frustrating for him, but he is looking forward to the end of Boot Camp, when he will be away from those kids. The bad thing is there are kids like that everywhere, so he'll probably still run into this problem.

Regardless of the hard times, he says he's really enjoying the Navy so far and can't wait to get into his actual job and start learning for that. We can't wait to see him in 11 more days.