Saturday, April 18, 2009

Yet another birthday away from home.

Well, I just turned the big 4 0. It was a rather uneventful day, thank goodness. It was just another day at work. I had so much to do that the day went by in a flash. Just the way I like it, out here. It was just brought to my attention that we only have about 6 months left before we pack it up and go home.

They are telling us that we should be out of here in the first or second week of November. (That is the latest estimate). Truth be told, we have had several people say several things and no one will know the truth until it actually happens. All I know is that my orders say I am here until 4 Jan 2010. That is the day I am looking at being sent home. If it happens sooner then so be it. I am not going through the emotional roller coaster of using the November date and then being let down.

Today, I lost my first battle. Those signs I put up in the showers did not deter the culprit. It happened again on the evening of the 17th. So, the curtains were promptly removed from the showers on the 18th. It seems that some Lieutenant had a fit and went to the I G complaining how traumatic it is for soldiers to not have private showers. The end result was that Base Ops., my bosses, gave in and asked me to put the curtains back up. Apparently the health risk is outweighed by the "trauma" of no privacy.

Other than that it has been a rather productive week. I finished building the new water point. We are going to take all the palletized cases of water off the pallets and putting them into the new structure which is set up for it. It is going to clean up that area of the camp a little bit. Make it look a little better so as to have a little more aesthetic appeal.

Today’s project is to build a Gazebo for the back corner of the camp. That is where the Marines reside. Their Major and I worked a deal where if I build them a smoking area, I can have the left over lumber for the other projects that need it. There are several projects in the camp that need to be done and I hope to get them all done before my time here is up. Hopefully we can leave this camp in better shape than when we got it. At least that is my plan. One can only hope.

I still have not heard word on the Language school. The SGM has not been here for a week or so. He has been visiting the different outposts that we have soldiers assigned. He truly cares about his troops and their well being. That is why I do not mind signing another 5 year contract if he gets me into the language school in Monterrey, California. I know that if I do sign up for another 5 years, I will be working for him for most of it.

Well, it is time to go build that Gazebo. I will write again soon.

No comments:

Post a Comment