The Long Wait

So, as I write, I'm sitting in transient housing, just waiting. We have basically given control to our replacements, and thank goodness for that. My replacements are good guys, and really squared away. It's almost too bad I can't spend a little more time with those guys, but I'm ready to go home. I'm ready to go back to my own friends.

So we've got a couple of days now where we need to check in with them once a day to answer questions, but for the most part, we're free to wander around base as we please. The biggest downside is that transient housing is not close to anything, and all of our vehicles have been turned in. If you're going anywhere, you're either taking the packed, hot, smelly buses, or walking in the 120°F weather. And every location has different rules. To enter the DFAC (dining facility), Army personnel must have a weapon and no one can bring in any bags of any kind. At the PX, they don't care about weapons, but no bags. If you're going to the gym, you can take a bag and go through a quick search, but people prefer not to take weapons to their workouts. At the pool, bags are fine, but weapons are not allowed because they can't be stored or guarded. Oh, and if we don't want to take our weapon somewhere, that means someone else is obligated to keep track of it. All of this combines to be very inconvenient.

On the bright side, we only have to survive for a few more days of this, and then we're off to Kuwait! See everyone soon!

Wrapping Up

Well, here we are, at the last few weeks of the tour. Our replacements are expected in at any time, and we couldn't be happier. With light at then end of the tunnel, tempers are flaring up a bit. People are not holding their opinions in check as much. I don't suppose I should have expected anything else, but it's a little sad to see. All I can say is, the sooner we wrap this show up, the better.

We have a couple of days left in our CHU's before we head to transient housing. Transient housing means we're back to living out of bags in 20-man tents. Oh yeah, and we can't take our satellite internet system with us, so I'll have to give that up. I'm not looking forward to the living arrangements, but if we're leaving, I can survive that way for a few weeks. That's one thing I've learned in the Army; a person can survive any bad situation for a fixed amount of time. Running? Not fun, but we only have to do it for 16 minutes at a time (during a PT test, that is). Basic combat training? Hard, but it only lasts 9 weeks. Deployments? In the current state of warfare, they last for a fixed time, then you go home for a while. Every hard situation relaxes at some point. And it's a philosophy that I can certainly apply in the civilian world.

I've begun the search for a new civilian job. I will probably have an opportunity to go back to driving the Buff Bus, but I'd like to try and find something else. I'm going to try and find an IT or programming job, either on campus or around Boulder. I have a few connections, here and there. I won't be unemployed, but I can't say for sure that the new job will be a good situation. Most of the job listings for campus that I've looked at so far are advertising about 10 hours a week, which is not going to meet my needs. We'll see what happens.

The next couple of weeks are looking very busy! See you all soon!