Saturday, October 30, 2004
There and Back Again, Chapter 8
Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends. We're glad you could attend. Come inside! Come inside!
Thursday, 21 October
I've been back for a little over 48 hours now. I just finished spell checking and editing all of the above. I was getting ready to put this on my computer and post it when the internet went into one of it's "hiccoughs" that we get here. I was going to do this part when I posted it on line, but I realize that there really is too much I didn't tell, and it would be better to do it here and now.
The helicopter took off on time (that would be the second, not the first, scheduled time). I landed here on Danger about 8 PM at the landing zone nearest where I work. (About a mile or so from where I live)
Let me back up for a second. To get on this flight, I had to be weighed, with all of my luggage and gear. I weigh about 170 pounds at the moment. With all of my gear and luggage, I weighed 300 pounds when I stepped on the scale for this flight. Do the math.
Back to where I was. I landed on Danger. I'm about a quarter mile from where I work, and about a mile from where I live. No one on this post knows that I am coming in. So, I have no ride, and I have 130 pounds of stuff to get from where I am to where I live. The only thing I have to get me from where I am to where I need to be is the old SLE's (Shoe Leather Express). It's a Monday night. Should be a slow night at work, and there should be several people and vehicles there that can give me a ride. All I have to do is get myself and all of my stuff from here to where I work, and one of the main roads on post goes from here to there. I should be able to hitch a ride. The uniform here is just the desert camouflage uniform, weapon and helmet. Surely, someone will see a soldier with all of this gear (full vest, weapon, full rucksack, and briefcase) have pity and stop to offer a ride. Right? .... Wrong.
I, finally, get to the MWR Palace where I work. There is a sign in front saying the facility is closed for a conference. Fine. We have had those before. In the past that has just meant for sure that we have a full staff on hand, not the abbreviated night shift we normally have. This is not a normal circumstance. All of the military staff has had the last two days off, is off tonight, and the only staff on hand is the KBR portion of the staff.
Okay, fine. The vehicle that was mine when I left should be in the back. If the keys are in it, I will take it, go check with my boss that it is okay that I keep it overnight, and take it back to where I stay. I get back to the staff parking area, and, sure enough, the bus is there with the keys in it. ... And it has a flat.
Remember me saying in my last bit about waiting for the other shoe to drop? It was at this point that I really heard it thud.
I sit down on the back steps, and contemplate my next move. I really don't want to have to walk a mile or so with all of this gear. It's about 90 degrees. Wearing the armoured vest makes it feel about 10 degrees hotter than it is, and the helmet adds about 5 to that. The way the rucksack sits on my shoulders over the vest feels like it is trying to pull my shoulder blades together behind me, and it makes my arms go to sleep if I wear it like this too long.
At this point, a guy walks out of the back door of the building. (The back door leads into the kitchen) It's one of the guys that I know that works at the chow hall. They have been brought here to cater dinner for this conference. He's one of those guys that I have been nice to when I didn't have to be. It turns out there is food left over from dinner (kebabs, lobster, prime rib). He offers me a plate. I'm, as one of my former soldiers used to say, "hungry as a hostage", at this point. So, I don't refuse.
While I am eating dinner, several of the KBR staff, all of my friends left on the KBR staff, in fact, walk by. They are glad to see that I made it back safe, and say so. I ask, and they say it will be no problem to run me down to the band's building. Just to let them know when I am ready to go.
So, about 9 PM Monday night, I arrived back where I started. Safe and sound, if a bit smelly.
It's been an adventure. But, one that I am grateful for. The few days home have done wonders for my outlook. With knowing that we are well into the downhill side of this deployment, and that I get to head back to Germany in late November for some much needed R&R, this trip has recharged me to finish this deployment out.
Thursday, 21 October
I've been back for a little over 48 hours now. I just finished spell checking and editing all of the above. I was getting ready to put this on my computer and post it when the internet went into one of it's "hiccoughs" that we get here. I was going to do this part when I posted it on line, but I realize that there really is too much I didn't tell, and it would be better to do it here and now.
The helicopter took off on time (that would be the second, not the first, scheduled time). I landed here on Danger about 8 PM at the landing zone nearest where I work. (About a mile or so from where I live)
Let me back up for a second. To get on this flight, I had to be weighed, with all of my luggage and gear. I weigh about 170 pounds at the moment. With all of my gear and luggage, I weighed 300 pounds when I stepped on the scale for this flight. Do the math.
Back to where I was. I landed on Danger. I'm about a quarter mile from where I work, and about a mile from where I live. No one on this post knows that I am coming in. So, I have no ride, and I have 130 pounds of stuff to get from where I am to where I live. The only thing I have to get me from where I am to where I need to be is the old SLE's (Shoe Leather Express). It's a Monday night. Should be a slow night at work, and there should be several people and vehicles there that can give me a ride. All I have to do is get myself and all of my stuff from here to where I work, and one of the main roads on post goes from here to there. I should be able to hitch a ride. The uniform here is just the desert camouflage uniform, weapon and helmet. Surely, someone will see a soldier with all of this gear (full vest, weapon, full rucksack, and briefcase) have pity and stop to offer a ride. Right? .... Wrong.
I, finally, get to the MWR Palace where I work. There is a sign in front saying the facility is closed for a conference. Fine. We have had those before. In the past that has just meant for sure that we have a full staff on hand, not the abbreviated night shift we normally have. This is not a normal circumstance. All of the military staff has had the last two days off, is off tonight, and the only staff on hand is the KBR portion of the staff.
Okay, fine. The vehicle that was mine when I left should be in the back. If the keys are in it, I will take it, go check with my boss that it is okay that I keep it overnight, and take it back to where I stay. I get back to the staff parking area, and, sure enough, the bus is there with the keys in it. ... And it has a flat.
Remember me saying in my last bit about waiting for the other shoe to drop? It was at this point that I really heard it thud.
I sit down on the back steps, and contemplate my next move. I really don't want to have to walk a mile or so with all of this gear. It's about 90 degrees. Wearing the armoured vest makes it feel about 10 degrees hotter than it is, and the helmet adds about 5 to that. The way the rucksack sits on my shoulders over the vest feels like it is trying to pull my shoulder blades together behind me, and it makes my arms go to sleep if I wear it like this too long.
At this point, a guy walks out of the back door of the building. (The back door leads into the kitchen) It's one of the guys that I know that works at the chow hall. They have been brought here to cater dinner for this conference. He's one of those guys that I have been nice to when I didn't have to be. It turns out there is food left over from dinner (kebabs, lobster, prime rib). He offers me a plate. I'm, as one of my former soldiers used to say, "hungry as a hostage", at this point. So, I don't refuse.
While I am eating dinner, several of the KBR staff, all of my friends left on the KBR staff, in fact, walk by. They are glad to see that I made it back safe, and say so. I ask, and they say it will be no problem to run me down to the band's building. Just to let them know when I am ready to go.
So, about 9 PM Monday night, I arrived back where I started. Safe and sound, if a bit smelly.
It's been an adventure. But, one that I am grateful for. The few days home have done wonders for my outlook. With knowing that we are well into the downhill side of this deployment, and that I get to head back to Germany in late November for some much needed R&R, this trip has recharged me to finish this deployment out.
