Fall Fashions For The Stylish Soldier

The Army has a new uniform on it's way, to be distributed out to the bulk of the regular Army in October. But oddly enough, we have received word that for our deployment, rather than getting the desert BDU uniform, we will get the new uniform before 95% of the regular army will get it.

No new word from anyone about deployment. I'm just living life normally, don't really want to let it bug me. What else do you do? Next week for work, I travel to Kearney, Nebraska and take over from Monday thru Friday for our night driver out there who is taking vacation. I get to stay in a nice little three star hotel, internet access, full workout facilities with pool and sauna, a restaurant, etc. It will probably take me a couple of days to figure out where all the little towns are, because even though I mapped them out and printed them off on Yahoo maps, some of businesses didn't even show up.

But, I'm getting paid well for this, so I'm happy about that. Do not be surprised if you are reading this about a month from now and I've gotten another job though, my body takes quite a beating working with windshields and the job overall is just terrible (even though I choose not to really talk about it much on here heheh). Hopefully someone has that job testing easy chairs for 50 bucks an hour??? One can only dream : )

Current Lyrical Ramblings
You clean out your room, and under your bed
Lay a picture long forgotten
With a hand to your head, you sigh out loud
As the memory rushes over - and buries you
- Cry In The Sun, Better Than Ezra

The Big Sandbox

I was excused from my Army National Guard drill on the 9th and 10th of this month in order to spend time with belly, and to make up for that missed drill I was to attend a recruiting function at Camp Ashland on Saturday the 16th, where I would be the NCOIC (non commissioned officer in charge) of equipment, in this case, a station (much like a booth at the fair) at which high schoolers/potential guard members could look at our M915 A3 semi truck and trailer and I'd answer questions about them.

On Friday night, I got home to a frantic answering machine message from my unit, telling me to call "immediately" upon receiving the message. I didn't like the sound of that, and sure enough, upon calling, received notice that we had been put on activation alert for possible deployment to the 'Sandbox'. Now, not sure if I need to explain what 'Sandbox' means, it's basically one of a number of places, all in the middle east. In our specific case, it means one of two places basically, and most likely one place... Iraq.

I made a few phone calls to let some people know what was going on, belly's parents, my parents, a few service providers (cable television/internet, cell phone, credit card companies) checking on what I'll need to do when my deployment begins. I don't want to be stuck at the last minute realizing that I've got things I should have had done months before, I procrastinate enough as it is heh heh.

So the day after the call I was at Camp Ashland running our station, answering questions about the truck and our mission, "this is the primary transportation vehicle in the United States military, 450 horsepower, 1450 lb feet of torquer, 100 gallons of fuel at roughly 3 miles per gallon" etc, etc. I started to notice that every officer of the rank of Major or higher seemed to be making a beeline for our station and pretty much asking the same question and making the same comments.

"So, I hear you got the call last night?" or "Yes, I'm sure you will do just fine, the 189th Transportation has made one hell of a name for itself." That sort of stuff. What this tells me is that there are people above us who know a lot more about it than we do at unit level, so I would say, it's about a 99% sure thing that we are going to be over in Iraq.

When you ask? Train up is likely to start in mid to late July or early August. Probably 'in country' (Iraq) sometime nearing the end of September to early October. So, with this in mind, belly and I have moved the wedding plans up by one year. If something were to happen to either of us, I want everything to be financially and legally secure, and this is really the best thing for us right now. It certainly shakes up the time table for belly's parents, but hopefully not too badly.

I was trying to work out the pay scale for what I will earn while over there, and I can't seem to pinpoint exact numbers, except to say that it's going to be over $50,000. That won't be too bad. I also look at this differently than I'm sure a lot of guys in my unit would... I have 15 years in and I've never been overseas, and although it's not a real 'wish' of mine to be in Iraq, it is a goal of mine to get overseas time while in the military, and my time will start running short in a few years. This also gives me the opportunity to give something back to the Army, to my country.

Also, if I do have to go, I want to go with the ones who got me here. Our unit is ex infantry, as infantry we were one of the best trained Army National Guard units and it showed whenever we went head to head against the regular Army. We didn't win every battle but even if we lost (rarely) we inflicted a lot of damage on those we faced. That's why I find it quite funny when ignorant people say "Oh... National Guard" as though we are substandard to the regular Army. Oh, I'm sorry, you fucking ignorant douchebag, we are required to not only be proficient within our military jobs, but also to have regular civilian full time jobs on top of that. This isn't the National Guard of the 1970's, regardless of what the uneducated might think.

But anyways, lemme get off the soap box on that one. I've got a lot of work to do in the next three months, and quite honestly a logistical nightmare in terms of what to do with all of our stuff while belly is at training and I'm deployed. But I'm not too worried. It's all going to go just fine, a few rough edges I'm sure, but nothing belly and I and our families won't be able to work through.

Current Lyrical Ramblings
You had alot to say. You had alot of nothing to say. Come down.
Get off your fuckin cross. We need the fuckin space to nail the next fool martyr.
- Eulogy, Tool

Giving The Machine The Finger!!!

At work we have a large machine that is basically a hydraulic press with a steel frame built around it, like a box, called a cardboard press, which puts out bails of cardboard. We call it simply the "bailer" for short.

On the front of the bailer is a door that you normally shut when you fill it full of cardboard boxes, so you can press it. This door has two 40 lb weights as counterbalances, each connected to a chain that runs over a sprocket. Now, a lot of the time we basically break the rules and leave it open, and sometimes, a piece of cardboard will catch on the bottom of the open door and lift it up higher than it's supposed to go and knock one of the counterbalance chains off it's sprocket.

When this happens, I'm the one who ends up fixing it, because our assistant manager is a chode, he's supposed to be the maintenance guy but he's about as useful as a fork to eat cereal with. All I need to repair the door is a large screwdriver, which I wedge underneath of the chain, lift it up, use my other hand to position the chain on the sprocket, then slide the screwdriver out letting the counterweight pull the chain up and over the sprocket where it belongs.

Well, because I am so infinitely wise, I figured I could repairing this problem a couple of days ago without using the screwdriver. Everything went as to plan at first, I got the chain pulled up, using my hand to hold up the end with the weight on it, and my other hand instead of a screwdriver to align the chain to the sprocket, but as I went to slowly release the weight it slid in my hand, and the chain pinched the glove on my other hand and pulled my middle finger up and through between the chain and the sprocket.

Uhm, OUCH!! *hopping on one foot*

I jumped down (you are about 8 feet in the air when you are repairing this thing) and it didn't seem too bad, but then the shock sort of wore off, and as I was trying to tug that glove off, the pain started in like a large nail being pounded into my finger. I got the glove off and blood was squirting from the end of my finger, I just wrapped it into my shirt and sort of doubled over, I was sort of in that semi coherent state of "arggggggh, how bad is this going to be" and trying to fight crying out from the pain.

Of course my dingleberry assistant manager is out of the office asking "what's wrong, what happened?" and of course I can't answer because it hurts too much to talk. After about 2 minutes I pulled my finger out of my shirt where I had been squeezing the hell out of it, and saw the damage. As it ran through the sprocket, a tooth punched right through the middle of the nail, and that is where blood was now slowly oozing from. The nail was cracked near the edge where another tooth had clipped it. All in all, painful, but lucky even so. had it caught my hand further in it could have broken the finger or worse, might have lost my insulting digit!!

So here I sit with a blackened fingernail. It won't build up pressure because of the hole already busted through the nail, so that part is good, no need to have to drill a hole for relief. The nail is going to be about half dead though, so it's likely I won't lose the nail completely. Anyways, a really bone headed move on my part, I tried to save myself the 30 seconds to walk to the tool cabinet and get that screwdriver and instead gave the machine the finger, damn near completely. And the machine damn near took it!!

Current Lyrical Ramblings
Can you feel it crush you, does it seem to bring the worst in you out?
There's no running away from these things that hold you down.
Do they complicate you, because they make you feel like this?
Of all the colors that you've shined, this is surely not your best.
- Colors, Crossfade

Belly's Time On Leave

We had sooooo much stuff planned out that first day, and for the most part we got to it.

New phone, new coverage plan: went to Alltel, wanted to bitch smack the woman we talked to. "Well, you don't have extended coverage and this phone is out of warranty." Yah, despite the fact that I had to get a new phone only one month before for the SAME problem this one had. Let me just tell you right now, do not EVER EVER EVER buy a Motorola cell phone, they are junk, they are shit, they will not charge. I was stupid enough to purchase the T720, a monumental turd of a phone whose most amazing feature was the ability to have KEY LAG, as stupid as that sounds, on a phone... you push in the number, press dial, send, lift to your ear... waiting, waiting, error recording, then you look, and 'oh, well, one number didn't register.' Along with the completely ignorant charging system that ALWAYS fails, same as it did on the Talkabout, but oh when I bought this one I was assured that they had fixed all of that.

I was getting really ticked, "So basically what you are telling me is that I have a phone that is just over a month old, that is just like brand new, I've never abused it, or anything, it will not charge, and you expect me to pay my monthly bill for the next 8 months without a phone to use???" To this the saleslady didn't have a good response, BECAUSE OF COURSE HER REASONING WAS RIDICULOUS!! So she told us she had to call her manager in some meeting and let us know. In the meantime, we headed out to...

Price engagement rings: so off to the mall we went, Helzbergs, where I learned about the 4 C's of diamonds, clarity, cut, carats, and uh... cash consumption? Hehehe, actually, it was fun, and I'm glad I waited for belly to be home so we could look together, because I would have been really lost as to what exactly she wanted. We ended up looking all over though, there was a lot in our price range, so I was happy about that. We decided not to be too drastic and not buy the ring on the same day we look. While we were at the mall, the Alltel lady called us back and told us it was sorted out, so we headed back over there...

Of course, I had to redo my calling plan to get a new phone, a 40 dollar LG that so far has been 100 times better than that piece of shit Motorola. We also got our calling plan switched over to the National Freedom plan, so that belly and I can talk for free in most areas of the United States. We pay about 20 bucks more a month but it's worth it. Then, after a couple days, when we got home, come to find out the freaking lady screwed me over, she tossed in a car charger that I never asked for, and the phone itself was supposed to be 99 cents, so the 40 dollar charge was not for the phone but for that stupid adapter that I can get for 10 bucks at Walmart. That charger is going back to Alltel, damn, it never ends!! RIPOFF!!

Get my name added to her bank account: We went and got this taken care of, because of some issues that came up while she was away, and I realized I had no way to fix the problem without her approving me to be able to do so. Thankfully I was able to work with them to at least deposit money into the account.

Purchased a lap top for belly to use at MOS school: I didn't realize she actually wanted to buy one this very day, I was under the impression that we were just going to be looking, browsing, but that was okay, I figure if we have to be apart for 8 months or so, that the purchase makes sense, as long as she takes care to protect it and keep it safe and sound, and I'm sure she will. So we came home with a new laptop.

Let's see, some other things... we set up an appointment to get our engagement photos taken, at Walmart of all places, because to be quite honest, they have a really good photo center. We were also going to go test drive an SRT4 *evil grin* but we didn't get a chance : ( The time will come though, oh yes, I will have that car!!

There was more to that day, but those were the big things. Wow, I couldn't believe HOW MUCH CHOCOLATE we had in our house. Talk about completely ridiculous!! Is it blasphemy for me to say that I was actually sick of chocolate? Probably not, for the simple fact that I'm not a female, if I were that might be a horrific statement to make. I mean, we had a TWO POUND CHOCOLATE RABBIT on our table!! Oh, he's gone now, but only after getting my blood chocolate level to maybe .5% or so. Certainly high enough that I shouldn't operate heavy machinery. I think today, the only chocolate left is the dark chocolate bunny in the fridge. He will likely be wrapped up and frozen for belly when she gets home from healing up at Parris Island.

I had to go back to work on Wednesday, Yahhhhhhhh!!! Okay, not really exciting, in fact, quite annoying, but soon... oh yes, I walk away from that place!! Belly got a lot of rest, and that's really what I wanted. It was so wonderful to be able to call home and have her pickup and just hear her voice, I can't believe how much something so apparently miniscule such as that is anything but when you don't have the opportunity. We ate like pigs the entire week, ordered pizza and like 8 movies one day (GEESH, that was a LOT of movies, my silly baby).

Oh, the engagement ring... we found one at Zales, and belly immediately knew it was the one, I could see it in her eyes when she looked at it, so we made arrangements to have it sized, then I picked it up two days later on Thursday.

On the way back home from Zales, I said I wanted to drive up and see the lake, something we normally would do by just walking up there, but with her hip being hurt, I didn't want to do that. Of course, I had a plan with going there, but as we got to the lake, there was a big family picnic and they were on the dock with the gazeebo, which was unfortunate. So we walked down the path around the lake till we got to the first bench, and I got down on one knee and proposed there, and she did not say yes... okay, she said "OF COURSE I WILL" quite forcefully : )

I am so blessed. I sometimes wonder what this woman sees in me, how did I get so tremendously fortunate to wind up with someone this amazing? I used to always wonder how people knew when someone was "the one", and I figured maybe they just settled for someone or something. I now know what the feeling is like. It's a combination, your best friend, someone who enhances every aspect of your life, the first person you want to say good morning to, the person you want to whisper goodnight to every night, to share your life with. Anyways, I guess I'm just trying to say I'm so happy, and so thankful with where my life is at today.

Sunday came far too quickly for us. We had to be at the airport by 7:30, so off we went. Belly used her crutches, so I carried her stuff with her, I got a pass to enter the boarding gate with her. I didn't want to let her go as I hugged her, not knowing just how long she would have to be at Parris Island recovering, not knowing if she would immediately have to go to Marine Combat Training afterwards, or even if she would be able to come home before her MOS school starts. I just knew that I wanted to save that moment, holding her close. Of course the time came to let her go get on the plane. I felt so down on the way home, but all the same, still so proud of my sweety, for everything she has done. It won't be long and we'll be back together again.

Current Lyrical Ramblings: "All along I have wanted you, I pray tonite that you want me to. All along there was no one else, I've been waiting here, all by myself." - All Along, Blessed Union Of Souls

Day Six - 04Apr05

This was the big drive day!! We got out on the road at about 8, reasonably early for once. Okay, not early, but still... there was no real plan to see anything or visit anywhere, so the basic plan was to drive drive drive. We didn't stop for lunch anywhere because we had our snacks, so we munched on this and that, drank Pepsi, drank grape juice, ate a little chocolate. Oh, and wow, does grape juice ever stain!! I didn't realize it was really THAT bad.

We actually had some quiet time while driving today, I don't know if it was because we really didn't have anything to say, or if it was because we were getting fatigued from the trip and were just content as we rode along, listening to CD after CD on the radio, happy to be together again. Belly drove about 300 miles of the trip, till about St. Louis then I drove again. We got to Columbia, Missouri and stopped at a steak restaurant and had a really good meal, then back to our odyssey.

When we got back to our place in Omaha at about 10 at night, we took only the basic stuff we needed inside and left everything else in the truck, and pretty much crashed right away. The kitties were so happy to see belly, especially MiMow strangely enough, I thought it would be Tyler but he seems so content rather than excited. If this seems like a short post, well, we just didn't do a whole lot. Driving driving driving. I'll tell you this much, it's nice to have a navigator looking over the map instead of me trying to do it while driving. We didn't screw up and go the wrong way at any time on the way back haha. It was really nice to be back home.

Day Five - 03Apr05

OKAY!! We are going to be on the road by 6 in the morning!!! Well, we got up and were downstairs around 9. Hey, do not judge us, it was the end of Daylight Savings Time that has knocked us off our schedule okay??? So after some continental breakfast, and cleaning the truck, we headed over to Walmart to replenish the cooler with some goodies for the trip home.

I told belly to buy whatever she wanted to snack on, because she had just spent the last 90 days unable to do that. I'm thinking cookies and Doritos, and she buys something else *grumble*. Of course, on the way home as I'm munching on mozzarella string cheese and garlic Triscuits, I realize her choices were better than what I wanted. I'm so willing to just stick with what I know and like sometimes, that I forego trying other things. Having someone in your life who expands your horizons, even with something as simple as buying snacks, is really wonderful. I have been with people who so completely lose themselves in my life that I never get a clear picture of their likes and dislikes, or who they really are, and relationships like that can never work. They end up being clingy and desperate and all around depressing for everyone involved.

Thankfully I don't have to deal with that now, I'm with someone who has her own life, her own favorite activities, foods, music, television shows, etc. I believe that in a relationship you mesh with one another, that certain things you both enjoy bring you closer, but the things you don't realize you might like, that your other half finds enjoyable, enhance your relationship and make life more interesting and rewarding. This is without a doubt a better relationship than being with anyone who would act as though they are intrigued by your thoughts and your ideals when in fact they are disgusted by them, and in the process they try and become someone they think you would be attracted to rather than just being themselves, which is deceitful, and ends up destroying the relationship because they are no longer the person you ever thought you loved.

People like that end up blaming others for their problems, they take the bad things that happen in their own lives and project them fully onto other people, with this assumed intellectual superiority that does not allow them to either admit fault, nor to apologize for their actions. What is hard is I find myself feeling bad for people like that, because I do believe everyone deserves to be happy, just as belly and I are. I think the difference now is that I no longer dwell on other people's problems like I did before, and it's like a breath of fresh air. As we loaded up our truck and got back on the road for the trip home, belly put the pillow on my lap and laid down across the front seat, the sunlight shining through the back window as we headed out west on on Interstate 16, I looked down and realized just how lucky I am, and that there is no where else I would rather be in the world than where I was at that very moment, and just how much I had missed her.

So there we were, with our string cheese, Triscuits, oatmeal raisin bars, grape juice, Pepsi, etc... on our way to Fort Benning, where I went to basic training in the summer of 1990, some 15 years ago. I wanted to take belly there to give her some idea of what I went through when I was at basic training. When we got to Macon, GA, we headed west on Highway 80, a road that winds through the backwoods of Georgia. It was a pretty drive, although confusing at times. I probably wasted about a half hour to 45 minutes just trying to find the right direction INTO Fort Benning, not realizing that it's actually south of Columbus, GA. So at about 3:30 or so we rolled through the gates of Ft. Benning, and headed over to the National Infantry Museum.

As we walked around inside, checking out the exhibits, it was an amazing feeling. Here I was, at the very post where I had trained to do exactly what these men had done for so many years, to protect our country, believing in something bigger than themselves, and I am a part of that brotherhood, that tradition, the 'blue cord' of the 11B, Infantry. It's really hard to describe the emotions... pride for the accomplishments of those who came before you, sorrow and appreciation for those who's blood fell on the soil of so many foreign lands to accomplish the mission, to protect each other, to protect one's country. To be there and see that with belly, herself newly part of another proud organization with it's own amazing traditions, it is a point in time I will never forget.

Unfortunately, we were only able to spend about 40 minutes in the museum before they closed. Afterwards we walked around outside and looked at the armored personnel carriers, artillery pieces, and tanks on the lawn in front of the museum. Then we got back into the truck, and using a map of Benning we got in the museum, tried to find Sand Hill, where I spent my three months of basic training. Now, despite my spending 3 months here, it had been 15 years before, and also, being at basic training you don't really get to see WHERE you are, in terms of being able to find your way around post, save for about one section, about a half square mile you spend the majority of your time in. Now certainly you leave that area, but usually on foot, marching in a long ranger file on the side of the road. So it probably was another 15 minutes of driving around before we came across something I recognized: the Sand Hill Post Xchange.

As belly and I went inside to do a little shopping, it was amazing how the memories came back, the barber shop, the arcade gallery we were not allowed in, the long lines of young men waiting to purchase only the essential items allowed by their Drill Sergeants. I did have to laugh about one thing though. On Sand Hill, you are lucky if you see maybe half a dozen females your entire time at basic training, because only men are allowed to do infantry school, which is basically all Sand Hill is. So as belly and I walked in the door, I caught one private out of the corner of my eye elbowing the private next to him and saying "WOW" and pointing at belly. I started laughing and belly wondered what for, so I had to explain why the soldiers she would see around here might act rather oddly. Of course, I am always pointing at her and going WOW so I didn't see what the big deal was : )

I purchased a couple of Ft. Benning tshirts, one for myself and one for my buddy midas, then we got some dog tag silencers and a dog tag chain for belly, and headed out to try and find the battalion I trained at. Further down the road we came across the Sand Hill clothing exchange and I decided to buy a watch, one of the really cheapy 20 dollar timex military watches with the cloth band. I have been meaning to get one for some time, but they are hard to find on the civilian side.

At this point I had a rough idea of where we were at, as we drove past the medical building where I went to sick call twice, and then I saw the fitness track and realized I was there, the 1st Battalion, 50th Infantry. As we drove up I saw a few changes, the big hill behind the building where we used to have to run up and down, doing pushups on the way down and situps on the way up at the blast of a whistle, had been cut about halfway down and there were buildings there now, along with quite a few more trees. As we drove up and parked in the lot, I thought about getting out and showing belly around some, but a Drill Sergeant had a platoon out about 25 meters to the front and he stood staring at us with his hands on his hips, 'round brown' pulled way down, looking all menacing, haha, so we just headed out on our way.

We tried to get up to Harmony Church but every road was blocked off. I wanted to show belly some of the places where I had trained up there, like first aid and map reading and what not, the really old barracks from World War I. When we got to the front gate on our way out of Ft. Benning the guard told us that the buildings at Harmony Church had been razed to the ground. That was sad to hear, because of the history of those buildings. The guard said that they had left a couple to renovate back to the same shape they were in around 1918 or so. I would have liked to have seen them one more time. I would like to have just had more time to look around, someday...

So once again, out on the road we went. This time up I-185, to bypass Atlanta. We were both pretty tired by this point in time, it had already been a long day of driving. It was about 10 p.m. when we got into Chattanooga, Tennessee. My sister had wondered if I would want to stay the night there but I figured we would get a hotel instead. We did stop in and visit with her and her husband for about an hour or so. It was nice to be able to see them twice over a 5 day period like that. My nieces were especially rambunctious, they are growing up so fast. I hope they can all come to our wedding, I would love to have one of them as a flower girl, that would really be nice.

After our visit we headed back down Lookout Mountain and tried to find somewhere to eat at 11 at night. We passed by a Taco Bell on our way to Wendy's. This ended up being a mistake. We got to the menu board. "Hi, welcome to Wendy's, can I take your order?" So we gave her our order. "One moment please". Waiting... "Can you repeat that?" We repeat the order. About literally a 3 minute wait. "Hi, welcome to Wendy's, can I take your order?" Ever seen a Dodge truck laying down rubber in a Wendy's parking lot late at night? If you haven't, you would have had your opportunity right there as I showed my disapproval of the idiot lady taking our order and we headed on out to Taco Bell.

Then we stayed in a hotel just off the interstate, ate our cheap meal, and enjoyed more time together. Oddly enough, it was the best hotel room I had the entire time and the cheapest. It's hard to catch up on 90 days apart, it seemed like neither one of us ever did stay quiet the entire time, we talked and talked and talked some more, it was nice. After awhile though, we were both pretty tired and fell right asleep.

Day 4 - 02Apr05

FINALLY, a long wonderful night of blissful sleep. I don't know what my deal was, but for probably a week leading up to the trip and the first couple of nights I spent in South Carolina I had the most difficult time trying to sleep. I'm guessing I just really missed the one I love, and that longing to be nearer to her again was messing up my sleep cycle.

It was really odd though, more so for her I'm sure. For me it was waking up in the middle of the night and being mildly disoriented, and then remembering where I am at, and that the most amazing young woman is asleep beside me. For her though, it was waking up completely perplexed, thinking she is still in the squad bay, and wondering "Why the hell is one of the girls in my bed with me????" Haha, I had to laugh when she told me that in the morning. I remember what that was like though, you wake up and think you are still there, and then finally about 4 days after you leave you are able to wake up and know right away you are no longer at boot camp. She woke up about a dozen times, usually startled, enough so that it would wake me up, and I would whisper to her and then hear her sigh deeply and sink back into bed, as though being there with me was some sort of comfort zone for her. That made me smile.

We were both awake around 0800 and we laid in bed and talked for probably an hour. I think Belly felt weird just lying in bed, considering she was used to getting up 4 hours or more earlier on a regular basis, but oddly enough I was the one who was awake more from about 0600 on, I just kept looking at her and smiling, I was so happy.

After some freshening up, we headed down at 0915 to have ourselves the good ole' continental breakfast. When we got to the lobby, there was this guy putting all the muffins and waffle batter and milk, etc, into the fridge. I was like "uh, excuse me, isn't this supposed to be open till 10??" and he laughed and reminded us that the night before was the end of Daylight Savings Time. DUH!!! I had completely forgotten. The man was nice enough to let us have whatever we wanted, and also some others who came down and found out the same way that we did that we had lost an hour the night before.

With that in mind we got ready with a sense of urgency because we had plans to spend the whole day in Savannah being tourists. I called the front desk and reserved the room for one more might so we could really check the city out, then we both threw on comfortable shoes, jeans, and tshirts, then jumped into the truck and headed back towards Savannah.

Now, two things about driving in Savannah: 1) the streets are in no way made for a vehicle the size of Belly's truck. In fact, although some of them were two lane streets, there was no way I would have been able to squeeze past parked cars without creeping into the left lane, so I had to be really careful while navigating my way around. 2) the other drivers in Savannah, tourists or not, were the rudest drivers I think I have ever seen!! I don't know what would possess someone to be so fantastically stupid that they would actually SPEED UP and cut us off with their Volkswagon that weighs less than 1/3 of what our 3 and a half ton truck weighs, and this would happen AFTER I was already making my lane change.

They would pretty much swerve around me in the same lane, and if I didn't stop the lane change I would have hit them. At one stop light it was everything within my power not to drag the skinny little punk ass out of his car and introduce him intimately to the pavement. EVERYONE seemed to be a stupid driver, I was wondering for a moment if I was actually in Lincoln, Nebraska again!!

Because it was still quite early, we were able to find a quaint little parking spot in one of the beautiful city squares, RIGHT in front of the building where Belly once lived. We didn't ever get to go inside of the building, and I probably should have asked one of the current students to give us a little tour so I could share more of Belly's art school experience, but with so much other stuff to do I never got around to it.

It was rather brisk and cool, compare to the other days I had spent in South Carolina, but we figured it would warm up later in the day, as we headed off hand in hand walking along the old city, checking out the sights. Belly showed me a cute little house that she used to hang out at, two gay guys rented it and they would throw really fun parties. Then we came upon a bar, Six Pence, where she used to eat nachos and drink beer. They were not open yet, so we continued our tour. We visited her favorite art store, a quaint little corner shop with everything from colored pencils to model airplanes. Then we visited with the sales lady in a fancy jewely store for about 15 minutes, about the history of Savannah, it was quite entertaining.

There was an international foods festival going on, and we walked all around thru the booths, but we didn't buy anything because neither one of us had cash, only our check cards haha. After festivaling for a bit, we headed down to the river front area. I always tend to look at things and wonder about what went on throughout history at this location, it's like you can almost feel the energy from so many years of constant activity in the area. The stairs down to the river were steep and very narrow, typical of the design in that era. You had to be polite and stand to the side and slither by if you met someone coming up as you were going down. Thankfully we didn't meet anyone too large, or it might have been disastrous heh.

By this time it was probably about 11:30, and the wind was really coming in cold off of the river. We went to a little restaurant called "Bernie's" and ordered up some corn fritters, nachos, and a couple of beers. We sat and sipped our beers and ate our appetizers slowly, it was really nice. The nachos were really good, not quite as good as Old Chicago's but then, are there any nachos that good? I think not, but these did the job.

We headed back out on the river front and checked out a really big candy shop, inside they were making their own caramel, taffy, Italian ice cream, there were all sorts of interesting candies. The whole place smelled like one big ole' bag of brown sugar. After leaving the candy store we realized that our choice of clothing for the day was sadly inadequate and we went in search of sweat shirts. After about 3 stores (cool stores, other than not having what we were looking for) we finally found a couple of sweatshirts, and the extra clothing made us a little more comfortable.

Under one of the hotels there was a Ben & Jerrys, and wow we had to have that, so I got money from the ATM and we enjoyed some chocolate ice cream bliss. Unfortunately, I had a big ole' waffle cone and the wind was blowing so damn hard that it was actually blowing my dribbling ice cream all over my hands and pants. That was pretty frustrating, so much so that I finally gave up and threw the cone away.

The wind was really getting cold coming off the river at this point, so we headed back up into the old city squares again and started walking around. We checked out a few art galleries, a silver smith shop, a cat shop, and then sat down for awhile because I was tired, yes, ME, not her haha. She made fun of me for that, oh well heh. We decided to head back towards the truck, it was mid afternoon by this time, and Belly wanted to grab the blanket because later on in the evening we were going to ride the Haunted House horse drawn buggy tour.

We went back to the Six Pence bar and had a couple of drinks and some dessert, and visited with one another for a couple of hours, then we headed out to find out where our horse tour would be starting from. Upon finding the starting point, we headed into a rustic little underground bar called the Bar Bar, and played pool and drank beer for about an hour. It was a really nice place, and we were basically the only ones there. Belly won EVERY stinking game though, because I kept fouling up, I would get like down to the eight ball and scratch and lose, it was really quite annoying, but it was still a lot of fun!!

Then as the day was winding down, it was off to ride our Haunted House tour. Interestingly enough, the driver of the carriage was originally from Nebraska, and we freaked her out because in 4 years on the job she had never had anyone from Nebraska take her tour, it seemed like that made her day. The tour was pretty cool, I liked the actual historical explanations about the old buildings even more than the tales of ghosts that live within. The tour was about 45 minutes long, and thank God we brought a blanket because it was unseasonably cold, and so cuddling under the blanket for ghost stories was really necessary haha.

After the tour we went back to the Bar Bar and had a couple more drinks, watched a little NCAA basketball, then we headed for the truck and started back to the hotel. Along the way we stopped first at the ghetto McDonalds and decided it looked really dirty so we headed up the road to the pothead college student McDonalds, where they didn't even acknowledge us at the drive thru for like 5 minutes and then they couldn't figure out how to work their credit card machine so we had to go to an ATM for more cash!!

Finally, with the precious fries Belly so desired in hand, we got back to the hotel, another late night of talking to one another, and drifting off to sleep... blissful.

Day Three - 01Apr05

WOOOO!! Today is Graduation Day!! The culmination of three months of hard work for my sweetheart! I woke up at 4 in the morning and prepared my class A dress uniform. I have one thing to say, if you have cats, the sticky lint roller becomes a best friends for times like this. I must have run that thing up and down my uniform some 20 times as I got ready, all the while standing on a large garbage bag that I had put on the floor in the bathroom area to avoid getting my socks wet heh heh, what a dump. In case I have never mentioned it, I HATE the beret, it's a hat made by the devil to torment anyone who tries to wear it correctly. And to make matters worse, I brought my garrison beret instead of my dress beret so I had to spend extra time to make it look presentable. I didn't have polish for my brass, but that's okay, being the old soldier that I am (HAH, old) I know many of the tricks of the trade, so out came the toothpaste to shine everything up with.

All in all I was quite satisfied with how the uniform turned out. I brought the linty roller along with me and we checked out of that crap hole of a hotel, and away to graduation at Parris Island we went!! I was the very first person in the parking lot at just before 0600, so I ended up getting out and walking around the parade stands, taking in the sights, smells, and sounds of early morning Parris Island yet again. The bleachers were covered with early morning dew, so I didn't sit down on them. As people started slowly rolling in for the 0900 graduation ceremony, I became "Mr. Information" for a variety of them, as I was the only one around in uniform. I would guess most of them didn't even realize I was in the Army heh heh. Thankfully, I knew the answers to most of their questions, although "Where can I purchase some coffee" caught me off guard and I was unable to provide any help for that person.

Thankfully someone brought out a bunch of paper towels and I got to wipe down the seats where Belly's family and I would be sitting. Then I had an idea... I crossed the black rope, yes, I did it!! I BROKE THE RULES, and I wiped off the seats where the 'broke marines' would be sitting. Oddly enough, I think being in uniform kept anyone from asking what I was doing, and I wasn't about to let my lil' Marine get a wet ass!!

Belly's parents and brother showed up at about 7:45, that was good because the stands filled up VERY fast. At about 8:30 Belly and the injured recruits showed up, I was glad I wiped the seat down because they would have had some really damp behinds, the other seats were still quite soaked. A little before the ceremony started, the husband of the Parris Island Commander (yes, the commander is a female) came over to the 'broke marines' (I still hate that term) and gave a really rousing speech, about not getting down on yourself for not being out marching, that the focus should never be what one does NOT get to do, but on what one has done, and what one WANTS to do in the future. It was a very good speech, and I think it really helped out the graduating Marines who were unable to march with their fellow graduates.

I couldn't believe how many people showed up for the actual graduation in comparison with family day the day before. People were sitting in the aisles and on the steps and down in front of us on the sidewalk, it was really quite amazing. About 5 minutes before the ceremony started, a disheveled woman, about 5'5" tall, probably around 50 years old, showed up, with a large bag in one hand and a Greyhound bus ticket stub in the other. Seeing me in uniform, she made a beeline for me, and quite emotionally asked where she could find her son. She didn't know what platoon he was in right offhand, so I searched through the different platoon numbers with her till she figured it out. She was so thankful, and I have to admit it impressed me as much as anything else I saw there, as she headed off to sit in the family area of her son's platoon, that someone would endure so much to see their child graduate.

As the ceremony started, I found it difficult to sit at attention, as a person should do when wearing your military dress uniform. I would look over to Belly though, and the other recruits, who, despite injury, sat perfectly still, eyes front, back straight, hands on their knees, holding perfect military bearing. I was able to stick with it for awhile but then my butt just started to hurt heh heh. I tell you what, blue jeans have like 100 times more cushion than dress pants do, OUCH!! The ceremony was quite nice, the graduating platoons did marched by the assembled dignitaries and did an 'eyes right' as everyone cheered for their corresponding platoons. The Parris Island Marine Corp Band was really great (although, I have to admit, the Texas A&M Band has them beat by just a smidgen heh heh).

Nearing the end of the ceremony my behind had been reduced to an irritated set of buns, but I was still so happy when they handed the Marine pin to my recruit, oops, correction, to my Marine, as I watched my lil' PFC put her pin on her hat!! I was just beaming with pride, as was her family. As the ceremony ended, we were able to get a few photos together, you can see some on her site, at www.mink.com, then Belly was whisked away to sign some paperwork, because after her 10 days of leave, she had to report right back again to Parris Island, on 'graduation hold' due to injury. Before you can move on to your next duty station, you have to be cleared medically by the Parris Island medical staff.

This took about an hour to complete, then we headed back to her platoon bay, took a couple pictures with her Senior Drill Instructor, then headed to the base Travel Agency to see if they could get a good deal on a plane ticket for Belly to fly from Omaha back down to Parris Island once her leave was up. They were unable to match the price her father got online, so we bought the ticket online instead. This little venture must have taken about 2 hours to complete, but it was important because it had to be done before she could go on leave from Parris Island, to prove she had arrangements set up to get back. Unfortunately the person who needed this paperwork proof was gone until 1 p.m. and it was only like 10 in the morning, so we went off base to get something to eat.

At this point Belly's parents headed to their hotel while we went back on base to put her stuff into a locker at the FBMP Platoon housing, where she would be staying when she returned, and to give the paperwork to the desk sergeant on duty at the time. It was about 2 in the afternoon, and yikes, we found out the paperwork was supposed to have been brought to the sergeant BY 1, not after 1. So needless to say, the Sergeant was not very happy with us, but she didn't go off all that much. Belly couldn't go on leave wearing her dress uniform so she went and got changed and then we headed off the island, much to her relief (well, for the time being, away from the island.) I probably should have changed on the men's floor, but I thought I would wait, ended up changing at a gas station a little ways down the road, haha, I just wanted to get some 'civies' on, to be more comfortable.

We headed off to Savannah and I got to see some of the places that Belly hung out at when she was at the Savannah Art School years ago. Her dorm was more like a bed and breakfast, at least looking from the outside. We saw a few little bars and places she frequented, then we decided to get a room at a hotel, and it was here that I got a little lesson in travel and correct procedures to follow when planning a trip. A lot of times, you can't get a hotel the night you arrive somewhere, fraNk never thought he would have to deal with this... unfortunately, I was wrong. The entire city was booked solid.

We went and met with her parents at their hotel. Belly's mother very graciously offered to let us stay on the fold out couch in their hotel room, but I really hoped Belly and I could find a place to stay to get a little time to ourselves and also give her family their space too. I think her father was thinking the same thing, the way he was rattling away at the keyboard looking for a hotel room for us. I really can't be thankful enough for his help, actually for her entire family and how wonderful they are.

Her father was lucky (or should I say skilled) enough to find us a place just up the road about 8 miles. Before going though, we all went out to a nice little mexican restaurant, where Belly and I proceeded to order two margaritas that were FAR too big for our appetites haha. Afterwards, we all headed back to their hotel, where we said our goodbyes to her family, hopped in the truck, and took off for our own room.

After checking in, I think we laid beside one another and talked for about 2 hours, about all sorts of stuff, it was so wonderful just listening to her relate her experiences, and how they corresponded with my own 'adventures' at infantry basic training at Fort Benning, 15 years before. We were both so tired, as I ran a hand down her back I was like "WOW", to which she responded "HUH?" I think your hands hold a specific memory of what someone feels like, and it was amazing how much muscle she had built up in the three months at boot camp. Belly has always been relatively fit, but this was different. Little ribbons of muscle along her shoulders and down her back, all interconnecting. Two ridges of muscle along her spine that were quite a bit more defined than before. And quite the defined calf muscles too, none of it overwhelming or manly, but my Marine was just that, a lil' packed bundle of 'devil dog' power, yet still feminine. Again, proud doesn't seem enough of a word to express one's feelings.

I think that's about all I really remember from that day, considering that I pretty much passed out at that point. What an amazing day it was though, to see Belly get the recognition she had earned for three months of dedication, commitment, and hard work. Belly is now a full fledged Marine.

Day Two - 31Mar05

1 a.m. - huge crack of thunder shakes my sister's house, rattling the windows, the lightning making the outdoors look like one big camera flashbulb. I was jolted awake by this, and there was no way I was going back to sleep as the storm continued its noisy onslaught. So I decided that 2 hours of sleep was going to have to be enough for the time being, and I got back out on the road again.

The rain was relatively light as I got back on I-24, then after a couple of miles onto I-75 South towards Atlanta. It was black dark, and once again, mostly just me and semi trucks out on the road that early, although as I got closer to Atlanta there were more POV's. I have heard horror stories about Atlanta traffic, but thankfully, at around 3 in the morning, it's not all that bad at all heh heh. As I got to the outskirts of Atlanta on the south though, the rain picked up, at first just a little, then suddenly, the deluge was on!!

Even with the windshield wipers on full blast I was having trouble seeing the road. Thankfully there wasn't much traffic, so that was one less concern. I kept the cruise set at about 77 mph (7 over), but there were times even I had to slow down because I could feel the truck starting to lose grip on the road and hydroplane some. That was blowing my mind, I don't ever think I've had that happen before. It rained like this for a good portion of the trip towards Macon, Georgia. I was happy to see it let up as I got onto I-16 East towards Savannah.

I was so excited at this point. It was probably about 4:30 in the morning and it was really feeling like I was on the final stretch to Parris Island. They certainly have a strange way of doing road work in Georgia though. Certainly nothing compares to the idiotic ignorance of Nebraska road work, but I have to wonder why you would do work on interstate exits, like 5 or 6 in a row, and do it in such a way that, if a person exits, they can't get back onto the interstate because the 'on ramp' is under construction. I was down to about 20 miles left in the tank when I finally came across an exit I would be able to get back on from if I left the interstate.

After fueling up, I was once again back out on the road. It was a little before 6 at this point. Scent is the strongest link to memory. This is true, because as I drove along, I had the windows cracked, and the smell of damp Georgia pine, something I had not smelled in 15 years, took me back to my days at Ft. Benning, summer of 1990. I kept thinking about things that I had not thought about in so long, road marches, field training exercises, etc. As the sun slowly began to rise in the east, the red dirt, thick wooded areas, the pine needle covered forest floors, etc, all served as a reminder of my three months of basic training. It's amazing the memories that you haven't thought of in years and years that suddenly rush back when triggered by smell.

I started to see a few more military tagged POV's on my way down I-16 at this point, a few waved, I waved back, I guess the tag on the truck and also my 'rear security' probably caught their attention. I got on I-95 North and crossed over into South Carolina. At this point I had been on the road for more than 26 hours, with a 2 hour break at my sister's place, but oddly enough I was not tired at all. I was really excited and couldn't wait to get to Parris Island.

Now, the route Yahoo maps gave me to take to Parris Island was a complete disaster, because South Carolina doesn't seem to see a reason for labeling 'connecting roads', and Yahoo gave a weird route that traveled along a couple paved and windy roads through the backwoods, till I got to Highway 170, then finally I was able to orientate myself to my maps both from Yahoo and my U.S. atlas, and get back on track.

The map showed a bridge, but the word 'bridge' doesn't exactly do it justice. I crossed a small bridge to start with, over the Chechessee River. I then started over a larger bridge, I wasn't exactly paying attention to where I was because I was trying to look at the map and the road at the same time. Okay, to set this up a bit, understand that I have only seen the ocean one time in my life, at age 2, when my mother dipped me into the Pacific during a family trip out west. So when I looked up and off to my right, down the Broad River into Port Royal Sound, I was like "HOLY @*(*@#$!!" You see a lot of pictures of the ocean but it just doesn't compare to the three dimensional reality of the magnificence when you see it in person. I'm sure people around me were wondering why I was staring, mouth open, but hey, I'm a Midwestern boy, so the ocean isn't something I'm used to seeing.

Then, there it was, the gate to Parris Island. I was able to get on using my ID card of course, so there was no problem there. It's interesting how you know when you are on a military installation. Immediately you notice meticulous care of all landscaping, no trash anywhere, people out jogging in PT uniforms, etc. It was about 7:15 or so at this point, there was light fog in the marshy areas of the post. The connecting roads between the high ground at Parris Island are built up on berms. I thought it was interesting that, even on an island damn near in the ocean itself, there are still Deer Crossing signs to warn you of those incessant pests that tend to get suicidal around cars.

I drove around for about 20 minutes, I guess deep inside you hope you might have some lucky chance to get a glimpse of the person you are there to see, but I didn't even know where her battalion was at, so that would have been tough, I just hoped maybe she would see me driving around : ) I went to the fitness center, took my bag up to the men's locker room, and showered and changed. That was nice, I felt quite nasty after such a long trip. Then I drove over to the parade grounds where the graduation would be held, and walked around for a little bit, visited with some of the other parents/family of those Marine recruits who would become actual Marines in a mere 24 hours.

I met a retired navy veteran whose daughter was in the same platoon as Belly, Plt. 4009. He and I decided to head over to the visitor's center and looked at a lot of the Marine historical items they had there. The unofficial mascot of the Corps is the English bulldog, and they had him at the visitor's center, I got to pet him for a little bit. Interestingly enough, he didn't bite me even though I'm an Army soldier heh heh.

Then the navy guy and I took an hour long bus tour around the base. It was really interesting, the guide was a Marine Drill Instructor, and he was really informative. It was nice to get a look at a lot of the different areas of Parris Island, to see where Belly had trained, and think about how it may have been for her. Near the end of the tour the DI asked if anyone was in the Army, of course I raised my hand. This was a mistake. He went into a story about how the Marines had to build a special obstacle course for Army soldiers who would visit Parris Island because the Army couldn't seem to do the Marine obstacle course. At this point we rounded a corner and he pointed out a play pen outside of a day care center. Yes, hah hah, it was quite funny, I had to admit that.

At the end of the tour I got off the bus, said goodbye to the Navy vet, and headed over to the Base Exchange. I bought a couple of Marine car decals for Belly to put on the truck, and then scooted back to the parade grounds to try and get decent seats and meet up with Belly's parents and brother for the ceremony. After finding them, we tried to figure out just where Belly would be sitting. On the Parris Island website, someone had told me that if I was shrewed enough, I might be able to sit nearly right beside her. I found a Drill Instructor and asked him where the 'broke marines' would be seated at, and he pointed out a roped off area. I was glad I asked because of the two roped off areas, I had picked the wrong one. I waved her family down and they came and sat down and we waited.

The stands filled up fairly quickly, we visited with quite a few people. It's amazing how many family members of these new Marines are also either current or former members of the military, be it Air Force, Army, Navy, and Marines. We visited with a lot of them while we waited for the ceremony to begin. Way off in the distance you could see the seven platoons that would be graduating, lining up to prepare for the family day ceremony. They had to stand out there in the sun for about an hour before it began. About a half hour after we sat down, around the corner came our Marine recruit, hobbling along. When she looked up and saw me sitting there, I could tell she was thinking "how the..." and I smiled and gave a little wave. Even though she couldn't acknowledge me, she did anyway, a very slight grin, yep, I saw it. Then she and the other injured recruits sat on the bench to my left, sitting up very straight, hands on their knees, looking straight ahead.

I was so excited, she looked so polished and proper in her dress uniform. I was so incredibly proud. I had driven 1300 miles, and I think this very moment, to see her in her uniform, so close to fulfilling this incredibly arduous goal she set for herself, was the best, certainly the most proud, moment that I had during the entire time. It was so hard to be apart from her for those 3 months, but when everything comes together, you feel your heart leap in your chest and you catch your breath, and it's everything within your power just to hold your bearing and not break down, the emotions are just overwhelming.

By this time her father and brother were taking pictures and video of everything, which was really great, because we'll always have something to remember it by. As I looked at her dad, and how proud he was, it reminded me of when I came home from basic training and how my dad reacted, that look in his eyes, that dignified smile. I know that meant a lot to Belly too. The ceremony was sort of a blur, a long blur, I tried to pay attention but I really wanted it to be over with so I could finally talk to my baby again.

Finally they released the recruits to their families. I opened up the black rope because I didn't want to wait, and gave Belly a long hug... I was so happy, and proud, I can't say enough how proud I was. Then hugs from the family, and we all walked and talked and mingled our way back to our vehicles.

For family day, the recruits are locked down, they have 'liberty' to go wherever they want on Parris Island, but they can't leave the base. So her dad went to get us some food while we all headed over to the BX and did some more shopping. Then when her dad got back, we all ate and hung out and talked for about 2 hours. By this time I was really starting to feel it, I was so tired from the trip and everything was beginning to overwhelm me. I started to feel bad because I know I get grumpy when I'm like that. I knew though that I would be able to sleep later so I was going to stick it out for another couple of hours!!

We headed back over to the platoon barracks, where Belly had lived the last 3 months. I walked around, looking at everything, trying to imagine what it was like. I do have to say, that having 60 some girls all in one room would have to be tough sometimes, having 4 sisters in one room for a half hour at dinner was bad enough for me, I can't imagine 3 months with 60!! Belly slept on the top bunk, her bed was all made up perfectly, I didn't bounce a quarter on it, but I'm sure it would have passed the test.

All during this time I just kept looking at her, as she talked to me, her family, her fellow recruits, and thinking about how proud I was, and how I just wanted to take her in my arms and squeeze her, and hold her forever, like some crazy abominable snowman on the Bugs Bunny show heh. "Hold her and squeeze her and keep her for my very own!!" It was nearly 19:00 at this point so we had to say our goodbyes and head out, it was hard but I knew that in just over 12 hours we would get to be together again!

Things got sort of anti climatic as I headed into Beaufort to my hotel room. All that build up, and although everything lived up to what I figured it would be like, as I sat alone again in the truck heading off the base, I had to let out a deeeeeep breath and keep my composure. The traffic headed off base, obviously, was terrible. To make things even worse, there was an accident just outside of the base, so traffic was backed up for about 30 minutes before we could get going again. At this point, I put on a Pink Floyd cd, turned it up, and settled in. Pink Floyd is so wonderfully soothing, it's amazing I didn't fall asleep while creeping ahead in the traffic.

Finally thing started moving again and I got to the Days Inn where I was staying. Now, I want to let EVERYONE know, do not EVER EVER stay at the Days Inn in Beaufort near Parris Island. I had read the warnings on the Parris Island web site, but I was not prepared for what I found. Let me also give you a little background about my accommodations experience while on trips. Our family rarely ever left Nebraska, we would visit other family members and stay with them when we would go on vacation, so I never knew that you really have to book up hotel rooms 2 weeks AT LEAST in advance if you expect to get a decent room. So me, being dumb, I waited till about a week before and all that was left was the Days Inn.

Now, if knew then what I know now, I would have gone even an hour away to stay in a decent hotel. When I walked into my room, the first thing that hit me was this odor that smelled like dog urine. Then I put my bags down on the bed and in every corner was dirty cobwebs and along the bottom of the floorboard on the north wall next to the door there was actually MOLD! I paid 100 bucks for this room mind you, so I tried to call the front desk and ask them what the deal was, no answer. So I walked up front, and there were 2 people there, and I asked why they did not answer the phone, and they said 'oh we were much too busy'. Uh, you always answer the phone regardless of how busy you are. I inquired about another room and I was told they were booked solid. It appeared I wasn't the only person irritated with the condition of their 'shanty' because there were others also complaining.

It looked like it would do no good to bitch so I just headed back to my crap room and turned on the air conditioner. Now, the air conditioner sounded like a jet engine at takeoff while someone throws wrenches into it. I just started laughing at this point, because what else do you do?? I kicked off my shoes and used the bathroom, then when I walked out and was washing my hands, I realized my socks were soaked. Under the sink, the carpeting was wet clear thu with what smelled like, yep, dog piss. Again, I laughed, I've stayed in worse conditions in a tent in the Army, but certainly I wasn't paying 100 bucks a night for it.

I called and talked to Belly's family for a bit, they were staying at a nice place by the airport (her father is amazing when it comes to planning and details, if I can be merely half as adept at those things as he is, I'll be successful in the future when getting ready for trips). Belly's mother told me it might rain, so I sent out to a local store and purchased an umbrella. Then I saw a Chinese restaurant and picked up some sweet and sour chicken and crab rangoon also.

Then I went back to my stinky, loud, wet room, turned on some sports, and ate my Chinese food. Certainly the living conditions weren't the best, but I was looking forward to the following day, and at least the bed appeared to be safe to sleep in. I drifted off to sleep at about 2300 or so, to the Clint Eastwood pale rider movie.

Day One - 30Mar05

I found myself wide awake at about 3:15 in the morning, looked at the alarm clock, then laid back down, face down in the pillow, to try and get my last hour and a half or so of sleep before I would embark on my little trip. Alas, my excitement was just too much. After laying there till about 3:45, I said screw it, and got out of bed. I got everything loaded up into the truck, the cooler, the suitcases, the atlas, a bunch of CD's I had picked out for the trip, my class A Army dress uniform, etc, etc. I was out on the road with a full tank of gas at 4:15, taking the short trip on I-80 east into Iowa, then onto I-29 south.

Gas mileage in a 4.7-liter, V8, 235-horsepower engine, pushing a 6600 lb. truck, is not really all that great. 122 miles into the trip, and I'm getting 13.6 miles per gallon. Yes, quite the OUCH heh heh. Traffic on I-29 south was almost non existent. Just a lot of big trucks, mine included, traveling down the road. 243 miles in, going east of Kansas City on I-70, the sun came up over the horizon, blinding as hell, thank goodness for sunglasses!!

First fuel stop: 297 miles at 08:30 a.m. 21.9 gallons of gas for $46.01 at a BP gas station. OMG, close call to a disaster, I got out, started fueling up the truck, and when I went to get back in, somehow the doors were locked!! The keys were inside the truck, I was freaking out. I figured, oh shit, here we go, this is going to be costly, both in time and money!! But I went around the other side of the truck and it was unlocked, I have no real idea how that happened, but I was sure thankful that I had averted what seemed like a pretty sure disaster. Took a quick bathroom break and then out on the road again I went.

Did a really stupid thing in east St. Louis. I completely missed my exit to get onto I-64 east into Illinois, so I had to get off the interstate in a pretty seedy area of St. Louis (ALL of East St. Louis is seedy, that's an understatement). Luckily I found my way back on pretty quick. I imagine that at 10:30 or so in the morning there aren't too many people out waiting to car jack you, that's lucky, because I had no f'ing clue where I was at. Cost of this stupid mistake = 10 minutes.

538 miles into the trip, middle of Illinois. Singing along with the radio "Oooh, moonchild, things are going to get easier" when I realize that all the time I've thought those were the words, when in reality I think it's just "Ohh oooh child..." Yes, my lyrical ignorance knows no boundaries!!

570 miles into the trip. MY HEAD IS OFFICIALLY UP MY ASS!! I completely missed my exit to get off of I-57 South and get onto I-24 East, well, actually I got onto I-24 East, thought I made a wrong turn, crossed back over thru an emergency access road onto the other side, got back onto I-57 South, then realized 20 minutes later that I had actually been going the right way before I turned around, AAARRGGGG!!! (remember my statement bout not looking at the map closely enough?) Anyways, I figured that I could cross over from to I-24 from this little town called Cairo, Kentucky, looked like it wouldn't take more than about 20 minutes on Highway 60, but oh how WRONG I was!!

First off, the BP gas station in Cairo f'ing ripped me off when I went to get gas. Belly's truck only holds like 21 gallons of gas and I still had about an eighth of a tank left in it, and the lady charged me for 24.9 gallons of gas. I was like "Uhm, excuse me, but you just overcharged me for gas, my truck doesn't hold that much gas even when the tank is empty."

The reply? "That's how much you put into your truck, if you have a problem with it, you can talk to the sheriff!!" Yes, well, needless to say I didn't try and argue the situation over about 10 dollars, although I HATE BEING RIPPED OFF!! So I got out on this little highway to quick make it over to I-24 and make up for my mistake!!

Yes, well, there is nothing QUICK about Highway 60 from Cairo to Paducah. It appears that someone threw down a bundle of yarn and then paved it, because it was curvy and nasty and there was nowhere to pass, and I was behind a garbage truck going 35 mph in a 55 mph zone the WHOLE way, with a patrol car behind me the entire way!! I don't know if it was the sheriff, but I sure as hell wasn't going to take any chances.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAANYWAYS, an hour and a half after making my wrong turn, I finally was back on I-24 going south again. Cost of this stupid mistake? One hour.

The rest of the first day I spent traveling through Tennessee. I stopped off in Clarksville and made a quick call to say hello to a friend, who wasn't home, but I left a message about what a pleasant place Clarksville seemed to be (well, as best as I could see from a convenience store by the interstate heh). I hit Nashville just after rush hour, and wow, let me tell you, that was a bit of a mistake. Thankfully it was about 65 degrees and I had the windows down and the radio blaring, and I enjoyed myself even though I went for about 5 miles at about 10 mph. I-24 sped up again and headed into the rolling hills and mountains of Tennessee, a truly beautiful part of the trip.

I do have to ask one question though. Who in their right mind sells tobacco, alcohol, and fireworks at a convenience store? Hell, there was even one that had a work boot store inside. Am I to guess that from time to time you see some guy fueling up his pickup in overalls with his new work boots on, smoking a Marlboro, drunk off his ass from drinking Jack Daniels, all while lighting off a few roman candles, maybe a couple of bottle rockets? To be honest, I would not have been surprised had I seen an explosion behind me after passing one of these places (there are a bunch of them in Tennessee). Luckily that never happened, but why do I have a distinct feeling it probably has before?

Anyways, rolled into my sister's place in Chattanooga at about 9'ish that night. Now, this was a bit of an adventure, my sister lives WAY up on this place called Lookout Mountain. I drove all over that freaking place looking for it before I gave up and called her and her husband. I didn't end up being too far off. I got to see my two little nieces, Elizabeth and Sara, and wow are they getting older. Sara was very shy for oh, about 30 seconds, then LET THE SCREAMING AND CARRYING ON BEGIN, wow, talk about being just like her mommy, that girl is head strong and stubborn.

It was at this point that I realized my cell phone was pretty much completely screwed up, I couldn't get it to charge at all using either the car charger or the house charger. So rather then spend some quality time with my little nieces, I was trying to fix that damn phone. Lost time = one hour, and two destroyed chargers in the process. Talk about being REALLY pissed off. A word to the wise, NEVER EVER BUY A MOTOROLA PHONE, EVER, not if you value the ability to CHARGE your cell phone up.

I ended up getting to sleep in the guest room at about 11 p.m. Plans were to be up at 4 and back out on the road again. As is usually the case, man makes plans, and God laughs.

Back To My Blog

Okay folks, I have spent the last 3 months hanging out at Belly's Blog (This Mink), trying to keep things updated, letting everyone know what she is up to. Now that she is back however, I'm going to be really hammering away on my blog again. The first thing I'll tell you all is about my trip, from Omaha, Nebraska to Parris Island, South Carolina.

Preparations

Getting ready for a trip of this particular length (around 3000 miles) is quite an undertaking. First off I spent a long time trying to save up enough money to insure I'd have enough to handle everything, from the hotel room to gas money, you know, the usual stuff. I changed the oil/filter and the air filter, checked the air pressure in all the tires, checked the transmission fluid, added in some Mopar ATF+4 fluid into the power steering reservoir (YIKES, 8 FREAKING DOLLARS A QUART???).

I also spent about 2 hours cleaning the truck from top to bottom. The trailer hitch ball looked a little rusty so I spray painted it yellow and added a smiley face and a camo kevlar helmet, he would be my rear security on the trip. I borrowed a United States atlas and a large igloo cooler from my parents. In the cooler I put 2 bags of ice, (5) bottles of Pepsi, (6) bottles of grape juice, (5) sandwiches (each with turkey, ham, pastrami, miracle whip, mustard, and a slice of American cheese all on Rotella's Italian bread), and a big ziplock bag filled with carrots and cauliflower. My plan was to avoid eating fast food or convenience store food on my trip down, and also to stop only every 300 miles or so (when I needed to fuel up).

The night before the trip I got everything packed up. Unfortunately, I was unable to talk to Belly for more than 30 seconds on her Liberty Sunday, so I didn't really get a chance to finalize anything I would be bringing along that she needed, nor did I get a chance to set up any plans for what she might want to do while I was there. I did not really care though, all I cared about was making my way down there to see my baby again. I spent about a half hour going over the atlas and mapping out my route. As you will see, it wasn't enough time.

I set the clock for 4:40 a.m. then went to bed around 10 p.m.

Better Late Than Never???

I got this in the mail last week:

Dear Mt Dew Consumer:

Approximately a year ago you participated in the MT Dew NFL Caps for Caps Instant Win Offer and requested a San Fransisco 49ers cap.

Due the the popularity of the program were were unable to secure enough caps for certain teams. As you may have guessed, the San Fransisco 49ers was one of them. Therefore, we are sending you three alternative caps. We hope these caps are acceptable and we apologize for any inconvenience we may have caused you.

Thank you for your patience in waiting for the NFL cap and we hope you continue to participate in other programs sponsored by Pepsi Cola Company.

Sincerely,

Consumer Relations

I sent in my two matching PEPSI (not Dew) caps in November... of 2003!! So this took them about a year and 2 months to resolve haha. Anyways, I got myself a Pittsburgh Steelers cap, a Seattle Seahawks cap, and a Tampa Bay Buccaneers hat. I'm not a fan of any of those teams, but free hats are nice. Oh, if you are a fan and you wish to purchase one of my amazing hats, I'll sell each for 100 dollars, just contact me, haha!!

The Pain Of The Journey Pays Off!

I have tried to remain true during the last two years to working out regularly, but admittedly, it has been hard. I have an exhausting job, and trying to balance everything else out while already tired, well, I got a little behind. I'd basically settled in around 195 to 205 lbs during that time also, spending a small amount of time above 205 and also a little time below 195, never more than 5 lbs either way.

During this time I've had strange chest pains, pretty much a constant annoying thing. Doctors thought it was heart burn, a strained rib muscle, or other things, but it still hasn't really been narrowed down. For whatever reason, it was actually a real struggle to run, and I've never had to deal with that before.

As Belly headed off for boot camp, I decided it was time to make an effort also on my part to get back into excellent shape, so I decided I would tone down to 178 lbs. That was on January 3rd, I weighed 204 lbs that day. Now I'm at 184 lbs. Not a bad job for one month's work, if I do say so myself. However, I am finding this last 6 lbs is going to be the hard part.

I've really cut back what I've been eating, big time. I usually have some cereal for breakfast, all I ever drank anyway, even before, was skim milk, I absolutely cannot stand any other type of 'city milk' as I call it. My lunch is usually a turkey breast sandwich, or a small portion of leftovers from the night before. At dinner I try and eat a sensible and light portion of food.

I have been working out every night also. I go three times a week to the base gym, run 3.5 miles, bike for 20 minutes, do a bunch of situp and pushups, and sit in the sauna for 10 minutes. I'm going to be upgrading that workout now to include curls, pullups, shoulder press, and other things. The other 4 days at home I do my pushups and situps, but I'm also upgrading that with bicycle crunches, curls, and other things.

Tonite, for the first time, I really noticed a significant increase in my ability to hold a fast pace while I'm running. For so long now I haven't been able to run fast at all and it was so incredibly frustrating. I'm used to being able to basically 'ride a breeze' so to speak, to run so fast it looks like I'm not even trying, and to be slowed way down, for whatever reason, has been hard for me to take.

I don't know if it's the situps and pushups getting my muscles all back into shape, the weight loss, the running itself, or a combination of everything, I just know it feels great to kick the afterburners in and jet around that track like I used to. I'll probably reach my goal weight around valentine's day, an unfortunate day to spend alone, but I'm not really alone at all, even if I am physically, she's with me in spirit, and I'm with her.

I'll tell you this much though, when I reach 178 lbs, I will go with midas to the American Steak Buffet and CHOW down, because I deserve it, sure I'll gain 5 lbs right away, but I can work that back down, I'm a good month and a half ahead of schedule!! I'll need something to work at for the next 45 days till I see my baby!!

M&M's To Soothe The Savage Beast

My best friend's son is 3 years old. For whatever reason, from when he was a little older than 12 months, he began running and screaming whenever I would come to visit. Now, I know I'm one ugly dude, but honestly, I didn't think I was all that scary, you know?

Well, this past summer, I devised a plan to try and change that. I would bring M&M's over every time I would visit. I would stop by while making my lincoln delivery run, say "HELLO" and that I had M&M's and then after awhile he started showing his face, and running off. Then he would come and sheepishly get them, say thank you, and run off.

Finally he actually began looking forward to me coming by and dropping off those M&M's. He'd run out smiling and ask if I had brought him any. I suppose I'm locked into a $1 gift every time I go see my friend, but hell it's worth it. Besides, if I have feel the need to make a career change, I'm well on my way to becoming a powerful lobbyist!!

I spent the night at my buddy's place on Saturday night, and his kid was glued to me pretty much the entire night till he went to bed. I had to keep making him a monster truck on GTA San Andreas so he could drive it around. Nothing like a screaming 3 year old driving a monster truck around on a video game, it was crazy haha.

In other news, I haven't talked much about work, I might as well lay out my plans. I'm going to quit during the first week of April. I would put in my two weeks now and do anything, even telemarketing, because of how bad it has gotten there, but I need to make it to April so I can use my vacation time to go see belly graduate from boot camp, then the day I get back, new job on the line or not, I'm putting in my two weeks (it is likely I'll have another job in line by then though).

We have had this guy working there for about 3 months now, his name is Ryan. Oh, and this is his real name, not that he would find this journal, but even if he does, I really don't give a fuck. He was one of those guys that, when he was hired, you look at sort of funny and think 'hmm, this guy is interesting' but not in a good way. About a week after he started, belly had parked her truck in front of the building to pick me up, blocking one of the doors. Obviously she wouldn't know that she was blocking the door, and Ryan says "who is that bitch, is she stupid or something?"

One of the other guys I work with says "Hey man, that's his girlfriend (referring to me) and that is not cool at all" Ryan apologizes and I just told him to be more careful when just winging out insults at people he doesn't know. Yah, well, there is some advice he certainly has not taken.

He has damn near gotten into fights with 4 different people, and no one likes him. He is always sent out to take one of the morning runs, and one of the afternoon runs, because the manager can't stand him and doesn't want him around. Ryan is a pessimistic, lethargic, ignorant 'know it all'. There is no topic that he leaves alone, if you bring up a conversation with anyone else in the building, and he is within earshot, he will be sure to tell you that 1) you are wrong, and 2) bring up the most depressingly irritating reasons for why you are wrong, without any substantiating evidence to prove his point.

His mouth is constantly writing checks that his ass can't cash. He argues with customers during deliveries. He's anything BUT a team player. Twice I have gotten into arguments with him, he does not respect anyone, goes out of his way to make sure everyone knows his opinion about seniority, that there is 'no such thing' and that regardless of if he has only worked there a short time, we are 'all equals on the same team.'

Whatever bozo, sure, we are a team, you are the water boy, bottom of the totem pole, and the shit jobs are the jobs the new guy does. Of course, he fails to see it that way, and whenever he's stuck doing something he doesn't like, he ends up doing shoddy work at best and at worst, vindictive things that actually hurt productivity and create more problems for everyone.

Allegedly, the assistant manager said that he likes having Ryan around because Ryan "stirs things up" and that it's a good thing because "angry people work harder". I find this really hard to believe, and if it's true, it's just another example of the complete ignorance I deal with on a daily basis at this company. Everytime I think I've reached my limit, there is another variable added to an already completely fucked up equation to further exasperate me.

Making it till April is now going to be the most arduous task. I really don't know if I CAN make it. To be honest, had Friday been my last day, I would have introduced Ryan's face to the concrete floor of that warehouse and not blinked an eye about it, that's how fired up I was about his attitude, lack of respect, and professionalism. I may still end up kicking his idiot ass before too long.

Well, hopefully I can make it thru, that's all I'm going to really say.

Smart Enough To Vote??

It's odd to me, here it is now, months after the election, and still we are hearing about 'voter controversy'. This time, it was certain people bitching because they feel their vote was not represented. In nearly all cases this was because of something called 'undervoting', where the person doing the voting pushes the wrong button or circles the wrong candidate.

Uhm, HELLO??? That is your own damn fault. Geesh, do we need an IQ test just to figure out who gets to vote?? Why do we have to have something called a 'controversy' and in some extreme liberal media instances even have it called 'voter fraud' because you have certain people who are so stupid they can't even pick the right candidate they wanted to vote for. That is no one's fault but their own.

I guess this is just another instance of what will eventually bring this country down, the inability to take responsibility for one's own actions. The United States will never be defeated by an outside force. It won't have to happen. In this country, it's ALWAYS someone else's fault, and with a goofy ignorant and self serving judicial system such as ours continuing to dictate that this type of thinking is perfectly fine, then sadly, yes, it's only a matter of time before our country falls from within.

Tonite's Gourmet Meal = Le Maca Roni En' Cheez

Tonite, I shall be enjoying a delicious helping of macaroni and cheese. My side dish, anyone care to guess? Oh my, did you get it right? Well, it is BEETS!! DELICIOUS BEETS!! I shall sit down to my mac and cheese and enjoy my time. "How are you doing, you luscious little noodles dripping with succulent cheese?" "Oh we are most fine, please devour us with the utmost respect!!" "Oh, I intend to, along with Sir Beets over here on the other side of the plate, and please, don't forget to give your regards to Lady Black Cherry Koolaid, mmkay?"

Have I lost my mind? Perhaps. I'm alone you know, so that gives me the right to make mac and cheese. Belly is not a big mac and cheese fan. Oh she humors me, she eats it when I make it, mostly because I think it's just easier to eat something even if you don't much care for it rather than go to all the work to make something else (which she will do at times also). Now she will most likely tell me that I'm insane, that she adores mac and cheese, but I say NO, I know better!! CHUTZPAH says I!!

I spend a lot of time wondering what belly is doing at boot camp. I have written her pretty much every day she's been gone thus far. I got her address last night and I drove towntown quick to mail letters from the main post office that closes at 8 p.m. I hope to hear from her soon, I'm so anxious to know how everything is going, to find out if she did well on her first physical fitness testing she did.

She'll get ten days off in April, I'll be driving down to get her. We are going to take a little trip thru Georgia and see some of the sites, including Savannah, where she went to school. We have ten days to spend together, I'll probably take two days off to drive down, and 2 or 3 days off during the next week to drive back. I love long trips, the only thing that makes them better is her.

Little Tid Bits Of Whatever

Missing: 600 dollars worth of DVDs and CDs.
From Where: Not sure, presumeably the pickup
When: again, not sure, sometime during a week long period from the 17th to the 25th of December.

I put all my DVDs, all of them (I don't have many, about 20), and 30 or so of my newest CDs, in a disk booklet to take with me on my annual training in october. When I got back it was just convenient to keep them in there, without my car working, when I borrow the pickup I take them with me. Well, I took them to work with me on a Saturday in December, and that's the last place I remember having them. I can remember switching out a cd on the way home, I took the truck to wash it, filled it with fuel, and then drove to the apartment.

We were so busy over the next week getting ready for belly to leave that I didn't notice they were missing, I just kept thinking they were in the truck everytime I would go to get a CD and "oh yah, not in the apartment".

As Murphy's Law would dictate, I realized they were missing at 4 in the morning the Monday following Christmas, and I got up figuring I would find them in the living room, them looked in the truck, tore the apartment apart, checked the truck again, searched the apartment until I had to go to work, then spent a miserable day at work realizing I was out half a grand in entertainment.

Another thing that stunk just as bad is that because I'm a control freak about my property, so I couldn't go back to bed when I realized they were missing, and that caused friction between belly and I, so I finally went to bed at about 6 or so, even though I didn't sleep, I felt a little better just putting my arms around her.

I think what was most miserable, and still is irritating me now, is that I haven't a clue what happened. If I walked outside and found the window busted out on the pickup and my stuff missing, then I get mad, shake my fist, maybe yell a little unmentionable stuff, but at least I KNOW that yes, some bastard stole my stuff.

But this, this stinks... without knowing, I find myself speculating what is going to happen. I'll go spend a chunk of money and replace some or all of my stuff and then find it all somewhere, or I wait and never have my cds and dvds I enjoy. Ah, the dilema!! I miss my Crossfade CD, listening to Creed, CCR greatest hits, watching Aqua Teen Hunger Force, etc, etc. I keep thinking to myself that I hope some poor bastard that had a horrible christmas found them, so at least he was happy. I had a great Christmas, just being able to spend it with such a wonderful woman.

I think I'm going to check Homer's Music used cd section, I know I'll be able to replace a good portion of my cds with used ones, but there are a couple of compilation cds that I really love that were made for me, and I'll never be able to replace those.

Anyways, enough about that, if I dwell on it my brain starts to boil. Today I picked up some hours from a coworker so I CAN have a little extra overtime money. I stayed up till 4 in the morning after napping earlier, but weekend hours at work are pretty laid back, so even though I was tired, I was okay, pretty boring hours at work, during which I wrote my sweety a letter.

I've spent the rest of the day watching football and snoozing off and on in the ole' easy chair. Something about me: I would rather watch the WORST football game than the best game in any other sport, I just flat out LOVE football. Especially college football, but in this case, I'm settling for NFL playoffs.

-4 F this morning, very cold. Too cold to go work on my car. I am going to perhaps try tomorrow if it does get to 39 F. That's still cold but at least you can handle that. 4 below though is crazy 'fingers falling off' cold, because when you work on engines, gloves are a no no.

I called a few old friends today. Visited a little with Alfonzo, Andy, and Mark. I sometimes wish it was easier to remain closer with them, but Alfonzo is starting his new music studio up, and well, Andy and Mark are married now, and it's so hard to stay close with friends you really care about when they have a family. I will always work to remain close with the friends I have, because I have so few close friends, I am not one of those people with a hundred 'surface' friends, I have maybe a dozen people I call close friends, some I don't get to talk to as much as I'd like.

I'm going to finish working out now, and make something to eat. I have not eaten out ALL WEEK, since having mexican with belly in des moines!!

Quiet Around The Pad

Belly has been gone now since monday. It is strangely silent around the apartment, certainly the cats are still doing their thing, but take for instance now, I don't hear the usual hustle and bustle coming from the bathroom as she is getting ready for work.

I've lived by myself one other time, in 1995, for one month. I hated it. This will be for three months but I don't think it's going to be as bad. Yes, I'm certainly going to miss belly but I'm going to make the best of the time I have, to get my car repaired and get some other things taken care of.

In other news, there is 14" of snow on the ground, outside of course. I do enjoy having this pickup in terms of getting around. I never got stuck in my car last year, in weather just as bad, but driving my car in this weather is like performing surgery, one slip up and I'm done. Driving the truck in this weather is more like being at an amusement park, get in, buckle up, and hang on, because the four wheel drive lets you get away with just about anything. Now this doesn't mean I'm driving all crazy, even if I do kick the tail end out on turns once in awhile.

Yesterday was 'one of those days' pretty much all day, where nothing seems to go correctly. Took me like 10 minutes to find my wallet in the morning, so I barely made it to work on time. Took a delivery in one of our 'wonderful' Sprinter delivery vans, and got stuck, on FLAT ground, in about 2 inches of snow. Those vans drive really well when you are actually MOVING, the auto traction control keeps the wheels from slipping, but God help you if you end up having to stop. I spent 20 minutes trying to rock my way out and ended up moving only about 50 feet. Finally some guy came along and pushed me out with his tow truck. I had wet feet for the rest of the day though, that always sucks.

We have a guy at work who was hired on about a month ago who has to be the biggest whiner I have ever heard. There is nothing that he doesn't complain about, and he's a pessimistic know it all, too. It doesn't matter what the subject is, if I'm talking about my own mother, he'd have something negative to say about it to try to prove me wrong. No one likes him. He was supposed to be doing one particular job yesterday, and after one hour he comes over to me and says "ready to switch?." I looked at him with a questioning look on my face and said "uhm, no, I'm doing this right now" and he heads off having a little pity party.

He then argues with another guy about it, and finally our manager tells him to get his work done and quit trying to pass it off on other people. What worries me is that this guy is the type of guy who will do things just to be vindictive, in this case, the items he was putting away all need to be in specific order, and I fear he would put them all out of line just to be spiteful.

Anyways, I forgot to take a part with me on one delivery, but luckily it turned out the guy didn't need the part, so that was about the only good thing that happened all day. I figured I'd go work out then last night, like belly and I always did twice a week, so I drove the half hour thru still shitty weather to get on base to the rec center, and 'what the fuck' the rec center was closed.

That was sure nice of them, three days after a big snowfall and those lazy asses still don't have the place shoveled out, cleaned up, and open. Uhm, I worked ALL THREE DAYS and they are STILL not open? That's worse than your usual government workers, that is for sure. So after an angry cookie on the ice in the pickup, it was a 30 minute drive back home, where I did my anaerobic workout like I've been doing all the rest of the week.

I get home, and I had left the gas fireplace on by mistake in the morning, so it was 98 degrees in the apartment, literally, 98 degrees on the thermostat, down the hall. In the kitchen there was chocolate dripping down the front of the refrigerator from a chocolate bar that I didn't even know was up there. The cats sure didn't seem to mind, they were laying on their backs in the living room just soaking it up. Anyways, I cleaned everything up and had myself some chicken, scalloped potatoes, and green beans for dinner.

Oh, one more thing wasn't too bad about yesterday: that melted chocolate bar didn't end up being too bad, after I'd tossed it in the freezer for about an hour, haha. Oh well, here's hoping that today goes better.