Back to Work

Well, I have returned from my vacation with DD and Buddah. We had a blast. We spent 10 days in Ireland travelling all around to see the sites and cities. Some of the highlights we experienced were the Ring of Kerry near Killarny, the Blarney Castle, the 5-star hotel we splurged on in Athleon and some of our Bed and Breakfasts we stayed in. We had a great time just being together on the road. Watch out for the road signs in Ireland if you go...there aren't any! We got lost a few times off the main highway. Once we arrived back in Italy from Dublin, my brother Stubb and his wife came to visit. We picked them up from the airport, dragged their jet-lagged carcasses outside and put them in my vehicle and drove them to Germany to a resort. They really were tired, but had a great time. We drove back after several days there and showed them around Italy for a while and as I went back to work, they went to Rome and visited all the sites. We really enjoyed them being here and I was especially happy since I will be going camping for a long time in the near future and wouldn't of had the opportunity to see them anytime soon.

Since coming back to work, I have only had 107 episodes of rage and anger...in 3 days. We went on vacation knowing that we would have a lot of work to do when we came back, but there are 500 gagillion tasks to complete and only so many days in the week. I have been poked, prodded, felt-up, yelled at, had ink explode on me, shot up with vaccines, ran over and flicked. That was just the first day back!

Then of course, there comes the request for lists!

"Need a list of those Soldiers who received the Flu shot from the bow-legged, blonde crew-cut, male nurse in room 7 by COB!"

My favorite request throughout this process was, "Need a list of Soldiers who are storing their cars and don't want them damaged." Who thinks these up?

We currently are engaged in ten thousand different tasks that have no end, so I will cut this short. Once we roll-out, the madness of this place will end and new madness will begin.

"Need a list of all Soldiers who don't like dust or loud noises!"

The Homecoming

Coming home from an event such as ours requires a huge level of participation on all parts. The transportation geeks need to ensure our wheels are there. The personnel folks need to make sure they know where everyone is at all times. The shooters need to have bags and baggage ready to go. The guys who stay behind need to sort trash and bullets, take down tents and so on. In my workspace, coming home doesn't quite happen that way. I'll explain...imagine a group of 20 people all in a circle facing each other. When the gun goes off, they all run toward the middle of the circle at full speed. That is how we do it here...(cue the circus music after the dustcloud).

The trip home for us was uneventful. For some, it was business as usual. One of the trailers attached to a bus caught on fire after the wheel had fallen off. Another bus broke down and tried to cross-load with another bus until the "Po-Po" showed up angry and made them get off the freeway. Another guy was locked in the bathroom on the bus as the bus sped down the freeway and the looming chance of the "blue poo juice" splashing on the guy become more real with each bump. But everyone made it home warm and dry and full of McDonalds.

We returned to work today only to find about a gagillion tasks lined up for us to do in time to go on vacation...in 24 hours. If you need me around midnight tonight, call my office. I'll be here ensuring those lists (yes those list) get accomplished.

"Need a list of the Soldiers who put regular gas in their diesel cars before you go home tonight!"

But at least we are home. I walked in the house to find everything in exact order. DD did a great job of readying things for me to come home. But...I only got to spend about 9 hours there before I came back to work. She is awesome and took it very well that all her hard work had been for nothing (I still can't hear out of my left ear from her joy.)

Home. Doesn't look a thing like Andersonville!