Finale

First of all, I am back in the United States.  Yay.

Unfortunately, the return trip home has been awful.  My arranged flight from Kabul to Kandahar went flawlessly.  It was a quick ride on an Australian C-130, and it worked fine.  Unfortunately, the living conditions in Kandahar were pretty terrible.  We had to sleep on cots, with no linens or warm things, on sand.  The tent sides were made of canvas, and it felt like the ceiling or walls were going to rip off in the wind.  We also didn't have anything to do, so we spend about 2 hours in the dining facility at each meal, just to kill time.  We froze to death at night and were quite uncomfortable.  But surely everything would be better from here, right?

Wrong.  We, of course, had to travel in the middle of the night.  I don't know why the Navy chooses these flights, but they always seem to take off at 0200 in the morning, which means we have to be up all night long.  Anyway, after they changed the departure time twice, we ended up getting picked up from the tent at 2315.  A pretty late start to the travels, I'd say.  But we eventually took a C-17 to Kuwait.  It was about a 4.5 hour ride, if I recall correctly.  Very uncomfortable, as we were still wearing our body armor.  It was also pretty drafty and cold.

When we got to Kuwait, we grabbed a quick breakfast at the DFAC, but then had to get on buses to drive 2 hours to our camp.  We were at Camp Virginia in October, but this time we were at Camp Arifjan.  The conditions again didn't fail to disappoint.  We were in a tent again, but at least we had mattresses I guess.  Still with the flapping of canvas sides and tops though.  We thought the conditions would be better on the way out, as a morale thing.  But we were wrong.

We were in Kuwait for way too long.  We had about a day's worth of activities that we crammed into 5.  Oh wait, the plane broke, so we got a whole extra glorious day in Kuwait out of it.  Fantastic.  I read my Kindle for many hours of each day.  I also found the pool and spent a couple hours there one day.  No one else seemed that interested in the pool, and it wasn't much fun to go by myself.  But there was waaaay too much sitting around.  I was actually much more stressed at the end of it than at the beginning.

But after the 23 hour delay, we did leave the camp at around 1830.  This is of course, after being awake at 0600 that morning by the obnoxious reveille that plays on the loud speaker.  But we went from there to the Customs office, and we had all of our bags pre-screened.  Then we hung out there for a while, and then got on the buses for our 2 hour ride back to the airport.  At the airport, there was more requisite standing around for no apparent reason, and we seemed to collect many more people that were taking our flight with us.

Flying from Kuwait to Germany was 5 hours 30 minutes.  It was pre-dawn, so it was mostly dark.  The plane was pretty quiet, and I think I dozed off a couple times.  Still not great sleep.

In Germany, we picked up even more people.  Including families with small crying kids.  Luckily, they weren't seated near me.  But the sun had risen, and the plane was pretty light for the 8 hour flight from Germany to BWI.  I didn't sleep on that leg, much as I tried.  But we landed, and I had a wonderful greeting from Emili.  I had a Monster before landing, so I hope I appeared to be awake!

At home, the cats were very curious, but then it was eventually evident that they remembered me, which was nice.  Except Hobbes, but we hadn't met yet.  That relationship will just take time.  Ella was the most affectionate, which was pretty cute.  But I had my Chipotle and Coldstone meal, and it was wonderful.

The next day, we slept in a bit, had breakfast at Miss Shirley's, and packed up some stuff for me.  We drove down to Richmond and visited with Mom, Dad, and Lauren.  There was another little fellow there, though I don't remember his name.  John maybe?  A foster infant.  But we all tried Krispy Kreme S'mores, which were great, and had pasta a la caprice for dinner.  It was good to visit, though I've not yet been able to unwind.

After dinner, Emili and I went our separate ways.  She headed back to Baltimore to take care of the cat circus, and I went to Norfolk for checking in stuff.  Unfortunately, it was a terrible day to drive because it rained so much.  Probably not the best conditions for someone who hasn't been driving for the last 8 months.  But we each made it to our respective locations.  Unfortunately for me, the theme continued, leaving me with much crappier accommodations now than on the way out in September.  I am currently in the enlisted barracks.  And this is my room.  There are two beds in here, I had to put the linens on the bed myself, there are no towels, or anything like that.  Oh yes, and my room shares a bathroom with the room next door.  Just how I wanted to live when I got home.  Seriously, the conditions in Kabul were better.

Today I got through NMPS in 45 minutes for the out-processing.  That's great news, except now I'm trying to figure out things at the ECRC, which is where I am technically attached on paper.  And we've been going back and forth today because they don't want to write me TAD orders to the Academy.  Which means they would have me waste my time living here for a month, showing up at 9:30am each day and then doing nothing else.  What the hell is the point of that?  I have a couple emails from the Naval Academy to people here asking for me, so hopefully that will help.  But I don't have any solid information yet.

So I am tired, stressed, cranky, and quite irritable.  I feel like I, and others like me, are not appreciated by the Navy at all.  And I wish at least 1 person here would use their brain!  So I am home, but not at all home.

Day 224

Today was so so. My very last full day in Kabul, so that's kind of
nice I guess. I'm going to miss a lot of the people here, because we
were all in the suck together.

I first woke up and had breakfast with Senator John Kerry. He looked
about the same as 2004, but I've definitely lost hair! I got another
picture with him, though it was on my phone and not as good. Still,
it was cool to say hi again.

Then I had time to kill, since Sundays are sleep-in days. So I
watched the first half of The Man in the Iron Mask. I've seen it
before, but it's still a good story. Then I went to the office for a
bit, worked out the Fitrep issues, grabbed a lunch, and checked out of
a few places. I had to turn in my bullets today :(

But then I came back, finished the movie, watched some Star Trek, and
then it was time to head to Eggers for the bananas foster french
toast! Actually, I brought my hard drive, and me and 3 of the mission
commanders watched The Last Samurai on their tv in their office. We
paused in the middle to get french toast. But then we had popcorn, so
it was a complete movie night (though very early!) But it was good to
see some of the PSD guys before I left too. Completely unplanned, but
I ended up having a sort of leadership chat with the Army SFC in
charge. I disagreed with a method that was used (micromanagement),
and I let him know. I was polite, but if he keeps that up, he'll be
hated by everyone (that doesn't already hate him). So yeah. A
generally interesting night.

Oh, and I made an impulse Ka-Bar purchase. But I checked our flight
for tomorrow, and we are booked. So things look good for us to make
it to our first destination and get to the brief on time. After that,
it depends on how organized the Navy is down in Kandahar. But we're
leaving here early, so I should pack up and get some rest. Good
night.

Day 223

Another day of sheer boredom. I did a couple checkout things, but
then sat around the room most of the day. I hooked up a new router
for my old roommates, I bought a scorpion in plastic, and I watched
Star Treks, and Hudson Hawk. Extremely boring day.

But only one more full day in Kabul, so that's a good thing. Now if
only the return home was simple. Good night.

Day 222

Another day about done. I ended up having a wonderful sleep in the
dvq room here. It was quiet, dry, comfortable. Fantastic. Lonely,
but comfortable. I should only have about 9 lonely days left now?
Something like that.

I got up and played in the dodgeball tournament. We did better than
last time, but still didn't win the whole thing. Unfortunately for
the guys on the opposing teams, I tended to hit people in the crotch
by accident. One time, the guy was just standing at the back because
he was already out. He should have been paying attention! Oops.

Then I went and got a boxed lunch and brought it back to COL Millner's
office to eat. After that, I mailed a box home, and also a patch that
someone wanted from a trip a while back. Better late than never? I
think I've now mailed all that I'm going to. Tomorrow I will try to
consolidate my stuff and pack more efficiently.

Then I watched the PSD enlisted guys play volleyball for a while, and
at the end the officers jumped in and played too. It was fun, but
never as good as I'm hoping for. The afternoon saw me clean my 9mm,
and watch Sherlock Holmes. Nothing too exciting here. Just killing
time, really. Maybe tomorrow I'll hit another couple things on the
checkout list. Good night.

Day 221

Another boring day, for the most part. I did a couple checkout steps,
which took all of about 10 minutes of the day. Then I was pretty much
a bum all day.

I managed to ship off another big black box, but I only got 56 pounds
in it this time. But hopefully that makes it home too, since it has
nice things like my new suit in it. I then went back to the room and
just packed for most of the morning. Doug and I went to Eggers for
lunch, and we got burgers, soft cookies, and real ice cream. It was
delicious! But then we came back and I went to the office to check on
my Fitrep. COL Millner was basically done, so I just checked for
typos and grammar, and then I signed it. I think I need to carry a
copy with me, but we're unsure of who gets the original. So we'll
figure that out soon.

After lunch, I continued to pack and consolidate. Then I slowly moved
my bags over to the DVQs. I have a room here until it's time to
leave. So that was about my day. Time to have a nice comfortable
sleep now! Good night!

Day 220

Today was ehhh. The first day without a job. I am going to make a
terrible retiree someday. I went to the office early-ish, so I could
use my computers for a bit. Then I went around and did some checking
out steps on the checklist.

I got in an argument with one of the new Chair Force officers today.
She, for some reason unknown, is pushing extremely hard for me to turn
in my blackberry now, even though we don't leave until Monday. She
thinks the new Action Officers are crippled in their job because they
don't have blackberries. Which is false. They are crippled because
they haven't asked for more help yet. So we are disagreeing at the
moment, and possession being 9/10 the law, I still have my phone.

After lunch, I played 2.5 hours of volleyball, and it was lots of fun.
I definitely worked up a sweat, and I did pretty well. I have some
brush burns to prove it too! I also did a standing back flip on the
court, and it was much higher than even I expected. So I still got
it!

Throughout the afternoon, and continuing this evening, I watched The
Living Daylights. I know it's Timothy Dalton, but it's still among my
favored James Bond movies. I think I must just like classical music.

That's about it for now. I've been working on packing and
consolidating and whatnot. I think I'll still end up traveling
heavier than I had hoped, but it'll be ok. At least I get to dump a
bunch of it in Kuwait. Good night.

Day 218-219

I am exhausted, and that's after an exploration of energy drinks over
the past couple days.

My Distinguished Visitor was General Martin Dempsey, the Chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff. If anyone is unfamiliar with his position,
he is the highest ranked military person in the United States. So
he's kind of a big deal.

I had a good program lined up for him, and things went well enough.
The only bad thing was that he tended to go very late into the
evening. For the first evening, he went an hour and a half longer
than the hour we had scheduled for the meeting! So we spent a very
long time waiting for him to be done. And last night, he was invited
to late tea with the Afghan Minister of Defence, so it was another
late evening. For the last couple days, I've been getting up at 5am
and getting into bed around 1am. And last night I didn't even make it
back to my base! I slept at Camp Eggers.

But he seems like a nice guy, pretty down to earth. And today at the
plane, we took a group photo with him. However, the best part was
that he wanted an individual picture of me with him, as well as Sam
with him (she was the personal security mission commander for this
visit). So I was pretty happy about that! Of course, the picture was
taken by his photographer, and I have no idea how I'll ever see that
picture. But I'll cross my fingers.

As for energy drinks, I discovered that I like Monster drinks. The
first day I had one at lunch, and I felt pretty wired! The second day
I had a Monster after lunch, but then needed a Mountain Dew around 8
or 9pm too. This morning I drank something called a Pitbull with my
breakfast. It's been rough, but I'm glad it's done.

And so now I'm done. I thought I'd be much happier about being done,
but I'm mostly sad. Don't get me wrong, I'm very excited to come
home, but I completely lack a purpose right now. I don't exactly know
what I should do. The other crappy part is that people are moving
into my desk, and because I was out most of the last few days with the
visit, she's nearly completed her transition. I'm going to get in
there tomorrow so I can have some computer time, but it's ridiculous.
I've been forced out of my own desk! And the other new Action
Officers are trying to get me to turn in my Blackberry now, so they
can have it signed out to them. I won't turn it in until I am going
to the airport, because this is really the only way to contact me
since I don't have a desk anymore. They can suck it up or go fly a
kite. Not in the mood.

Well, I think I'm going to crawl into my sleeping bag with some tv
shows or the Kindle. After about a week, I finally made it through
the first chapter of the first Harry Potter book. Hopefully I can
pick up the pace at some point. Tomorrow will probably be a day to
shop, pack, take care of some checkout stuff. All easy things. Good
night.