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.

Day 217

Lots to say, too late to say it. More to follow in a couple days...

Day 216

An interesting day, with lots of good, mixed with bad.

I basically started off my day taking a trip with an advance agent and
the PSD teams down to a location where my DV will be visiting for a
few hours. It's a pretty secure place, which is a good start. I was
picked, along with 3 other people, to jump in a truck and drive to the
top of a mountain. So that was pretty crazy. The roads were muddy
and not so good, but we make it up there. The views were pretty
amazing, though my phone camera didn't do it justice.

Then we came down, talked a little more, and then had lunch there.
They made gyros, and it was delicious! It was almost like a normal
food! Very tasty. And on the way out, our point of contact grabbed
me an entire box of Clif bars. So that was pretty cool! Now I have
some snacks for the trip back.

After that, we drove back, which was pretty uneventful. I then walked
people over to the Embassy to talk about our arrival and departure
with the DV. Nothing was too unexpected, and it'll be even easier
than originally planned. Then I came back to the office.

I had to talk to this woman (note that I did not use the word lady).
There is an entity that is trying to insert itself into our itinerary,
and assert themselves as the experts on how to do this certain backup
movement. I got an earful because I was pushing back against her
recommendations. But I don't think she realizes that I'm going home
quite shortly. Anyhow, I argued back, and it wasn't very pretty for
either of us by the end. But I think she's still upset because she
lost the helicopter argument with me. Long story, but I won, suffice
it to say. And I am pretty sure I'm going to win this one too, which
probably ticks her off. So that was the bad part of my day.

The good news is that most everything else is lined up and ready to
go. So I don't anticipate any show stopping changes at this point.
I'm crossing my fingers at least. So that's it for today. I got 2
letters from Grandma today, which was nice. One of them had been
returned to sender for some reason. But I enjoyed reading it all the
same! I'm going to settle in with some Harry Potter on my Kindle now.
Good night.

Day 215

Another day of my life I'll never get back. Ok, so it wasn't that
bad, but it wasn't that great either.

My day did start of on a funny note though. I woke up and realized
that the two key errands I needed to take care of yesterday slipped my
mind. I needed to pick up my laundry, and I needed to buy a bar of
soap. So a shower early wouldn't have been very productive. I ended
up watching a couple episodes of Star Trek: DS9 to kill time and then
I went out. I got the laundry with no issue, but then I had to hunt
to find a store that was open at 9am on a Friday (Afghan day off).
Eventually I found some, so that was good. Then I came back to shower
and change.

I had some advance agents arrive today, so I went over to Camp Eggers
to go over plans with them. It was pretty productive, if not a little
confusing. And we're using a ridiculous amount of manpower and
vehicles for this visit. I thought my last one was bad with the head
of NATO! But at least the days go by, and the visit will start soon.
Hopefully I can survive unscathed!

After that I got some dinner at Eggers, which was a pretty decent
hamburger, jello, and cookies. Nothing like eating healthy! But
tonight was also Navy Night. I didn't really know what that meant, so
I went over to check it out. Apparently, it means a clubbing scene.
Extremely loud music, dark room with strobe lights, glow sticks, etc.
I am not in college anymore, and I didn't enjoy that when I was in
college either! I was pretty much a stick in the mud, and I left
early. I guess I just don't understand the charm of having to yell at
the top of your lungs to say hello to someone you can barely see. Oh
well.

But I'm back in my room, ready for bed. I am going out tomorrow to
recon a location, which should be a good trip. Plus, I arranged
helicopters to meet us there, so I get to check those out. Don't
think they'll let me fly it, but you never know! Good night!

Day 214

A very wet day, all things considered. I came into work today, and
made some changes to the itinerary. Then I made some more changes,
followed by more changes. I feel like nothing very real comes from
what we do here, but at least it'll be over soon.

I showed up for the volleyball tournament tonight, but it was
postponed for a week. I think the ceiling in the gym was leaking, and
wet basketball courts are not a good recipe for volleyball. I hope I
don't have any conflicts when they've rescheduled, a week from today.

I'm just blah. I need to get home and achieve a balance of normal
again. Counting down in days now....

Day 213

Another day down. I made some good refinements to my itinerary, and I
got some guidance late tonight. So things are mostly coming together.

I am finally starting to look forward to the end of the time here. I
have started shipping things home, taking my stuff out of the desk so
the next person can move in, and I picked up a check-out sheet. I'm
mostly day dreaming about being back in the states, and all the fun
things I want to do. And while I would expect a dog to have an
excited reaction to seeing his owner after a long separation, I have
no idea if the cats will react to me at all. But I suppose we'll see
soon enough!

Not too much else to report. I'm nearing the end of Dracula, and it's
getting pretty tense. I hope Mina will be ok, but I'm a bit
pessimistic at this point. Lucy didn't fare so well. Off to read!
Good night.

Day 212

Another day down. This morning was pretty uneventful, just the basic
catching up on the work from emails that arrived in the night. Around
lunchtime, I went and got the new guy from his room and we all went to
lunch. After that, I started the check-in process with him. Because
he didn't send me his orders in advance, he will be waiting around for
a room for a while like I did. But that's ok, he'll manage.

This evening we had our farewell. I got 3 medals, and there was much
rejoicing. Afghanistan Campaign Medal, NATO Medal, and Joint Service
Commendation Medal. So that was neat. I don't really like being the
center of attention, so my remarks were quite short. I told everyone
to bring me their pets in 4 years.

One more day down. Good night.

Day 211

An uneventful day, which was good. I don't really recall what I did
in the morning, except that it must not have been that exciting. I
took a nap at my desk after lunch (non-intentional), and then I read
Dracula for a while.

We received a new Action Officer tonight, a Marine named Capt Ho. So
I got him dinner, a badge, and put him in a room. I'm sure there will
be lots of questions coming from him tomorrow. There is such a
nightmare of paperwork to check in, it's ridiculous. So I'll be
trying to navigate those waters while also planning a big visit. I'll
manage somehow.

I also volunteered an hour of my time tonight to talk to the newer
Action Officers about air stuff. I know all the systems for arranging
air travel for people, so I broke it down as simply as I could, and
they all took notes. It'll take them some time to learn, but it'll
come. Hopefully some of what I said sinks in soon. But they were all
thankful, so that was nice.

Tomorrow is my farewell, along with some other guys. I don't want to
stand up in front of people, but hopefully it'll be short. I think
we're just doing some pizzas in the garden, so that's good. Small is
good. Well, I'm going to read for a bit until I fall asleep. Good
night.

Day 210

I woke up this morning, and I thought I'd be pretty productive. I
skyped, showered, got ready for the day. Then I watched the movie
Meet Joe Black, and I thought it was a pretty decent movie.

After that, I carried my first Gorilla Box to the post office to mail
home. As it turns out, I managed to get 60 pounds of crap in it, and
the shipping was $46. Not too bad, all things considered. It was a
heavy box. One more to pack up at some point.

I had a nice lunch with a PAO friend, Abby. She's going away in about
a week, so it was a sort of farewell. She's the tallest girl I've
ever seen. Her life will be complicated when she goes home, as a
divorce is pending.

Oh yes, AND WE WERE UNDER ATTACK MOST OF THE DAY. From our office, we
heard automatic gun fire, numerous explosions, etc. We actually took
an RPG to the wall closest to us. The whole ground and building
shook, and it was pretty tense. I think we also took a mortar round
too. There were so many explosions...

The base support group was making food deliveries to offices, so we
ended up getting food around 8:45pm, so we were pretty starving. But
now we have the all clear, so we can go back to our rooms, provided we
wear our body armor and helmets. Hopefully tomorrow is less eventful.
Good night.

Day 209

Another day down. And a fairly uneventful one at that.

I went to work, and was the first one there. I had hot chocolate, and
snacked on jelly beans all morning. There are some very creative
flavors out there! II worked on my itinerary for my last visit, but I
had a hard time getting in touch with people. Eventually I got
answers, but not necessarily the ones I wanted. The good news is that
anyone military will work around this guy's schedule.

I only have about 2 weeks left, so please don't ship any care packages
out here. There would be a chance of missing me as I head home.

I want to thank Dee for the wonderful Krispy Kreme donuts! They
survived the trip pretty well, but they didn't survive me (smile).
They were delicious. I was very surprised to get them, and it was an
awesome package. Thank you!

I'm currently sorting through boxes, and I'm going to try to ship a
bunch of stuff home. Hopefully I can eventually leave Kuwait with
only a backpack and a bag of clothes. So we will see.

I think I'm going to crawl into bed and read for a while. Good night.

Day 208

Another day down. I started the day by going into the office pretty
early. Today is normally a sleep-in day, but it was my turn to
retrieve the Afghan cleaners and escort them into our building so they
could clean. They were quite noisy, so it made it difficult to watch
The Jackal. Oh well.

Then I went and played in the dodgeball tournament. We didn't win,
nor get second. But..... we got 6th! Ha ha. Same place as last
time, but at least there were 8 teams in it this time. We did better
than before, but it still wasn't that great.

Then I changed and went with Pam over to Eggers. They have a Bazaar
on Fridays too, and I'd never been. I found a nice gold tie that
might go with my suit, so I bought it for 5 dollars. It doesn't seem
like a super high quality, but this is Afghanistan after all.

My laser I ordered is out for delivery in Baltimore, after being out
for delivery in Chicago yesterday. So that's a step in the right
direction I think.

What else? I am working on a pretty high level visit now, and
hopefully it will go smoothly. A few moving parts, but I'm sure it
will be fine.

Well, a normal day tomorrow, so I'm going to get some sleep. Good night.

Day 207

Another day down. My important visitor today was the head of NATO,
Mr. Anders Fogh Rasmussen. Pretty high level DV if you ask me. I
think it went alright, with the exception of the two cars we broke
today. We crashed one of them into another of ours, and the first is
not drivable at the moment. The other car's transmission sounded like
it was going to fall on the ground. So they need some work.

They wore me out today, but I'm glad it's over. They may even be in
Brussels soon too. So now I have one more looming visit. I think
once I get through that one, I'll have about a week to do the checkout
stuff and finish packing. Only about 17 more days until I leave this
place, and about 24 until I land in Baltimore!

The link below is my attempt to post pictures from the King's Palace,
and across the way, the Queen's Palace. They both looked wonderful
until the 80's when the Soviets destroyed them. Now they are ruins,
and you can see the destruction. It's pretty interesting, and I was
lucky to get the chance to see them in person.

https://plus.google.com/photos/116642578319244436674/albums/5730435980866608961

I think that's it for today. I'm playing dodgeball tomorrow morning,
so wish me luck!

Day 206

Unfortunately, I had a visit arrive late last night, and I forgot to
post to the blog. All is well, and hopefully he'll be out of my hair
shortly. More to come later...

Day 205

Another day, and it felt like it was just full of meetings the whole
time. I have quite a headache now, and I had to take a giant
Ibuprofen.

I started trying to pack up some of my stuff at the desk, but I'm a
pretty awful packer. So I'm sure I'll eventually get it back to the
room, but it wasn't in a condition to transport tonight.

Well, I'm going to sleep now. Good night.