Well, it's not like I've been posting as regularly as I like recently, but surely you must admit my beautiful girlfriend deserves my time more than the internet. Right? Right. Especially given that I'm only going to be in Tampa for a few more days.
That's right, Smitty is deploying to go fight the war on terror from someplace other than a drab 60-year-old office building in Tampa. The new location is a temporary one, and I'll be home sometime in early December.
Most of my readers probably know the location already. Please keep it to yourselves in the comments, and for the rest of you, it's in Africa. Here's the thing: because the location has entered the wireless age, I'll be able to use my laptop in the coffee shop/cantina they have there for a half hour at a go. That means that perhaps as often as every day, I'll be able to send a few personal emails and update the blog, without using government computers on the government's time! How awesome is that?
Of course, having said that it will probably turn out that they've figured out some way to block Blogspot from the wireless servers, or something. I don't know for sure and, to be honest, won't until I get out there. But if something goes awry I'll find a way to let you all know about it, and perhaps even to move the blog to a new location, if only temporarily.
The thing is, I don't want to draw the military censors' attention to the blog; other people have had great blogs while in Iraq and elsewhere, but just the same I'd prefer to keep it all anonymous and genteel. Obviously I plan to make updates about what it is we're doing over there and so forth, but the less specific I am about locations and such the better, so let's all agree to let my generalities remain general as much as possible, okay? Okay. See, that was easy.
As for me, I'm leaving next week, so I'll be here a few more days before anything too exciting happens. There are so many little wee errands to run and things to take care of before I go... it's kept me busy. For example, today I cancelled my telephone and cable, put a hold on my cell phone, submitted a forwarding address for my mail (I'm sending it all home to Mom and Dad for a while in case anything really exciting like an overdue bill shows up in it), and changed the subscription addresses for the magazines I get (might as well get something to read in the mail over there, right?). I also picked up my uniforms with all the right patches and stuff on them (they're in the wash with some fabric softener now so they won't be so awfully scratchy and uncomfortable), two thumbdrives, earphones, and a few brown UnderArmour shirts (it's a mite hot out there and cotton just doesn't cut it).
Tomorrow I have a doctor's appointment, I'm applying for my absentee ballots, and about a dozen other things on my list that have slipped my mind at the moment (that's why I made a list). It's tough; there are very few really big things I have to do (getting my orders and flight over there being the main ones, and those are already done), but there are so many small ones (setting up an automatic deduction for my home equity line of credit, for example) that it's easy for things to fall through the cracks. I started making the list last Thursday, but I'm still adding things to it even today, as I think of them. My goal is to be done with everything except packing by Sunday, and then to have the whole day Sunday to pack. And then I'll have a few days of blissful relaxation before I depart. How nice!
And the betting is now open on whether or not I'll actually meet that goal...
2 comments:
Yeah you and I both are trying to get things done. It's being pretty aggravating. I want uninterrupted service, but it may not happen. Power and water. I got very basic telephone so that I could get DSL, but DSL isn't working right now. They are sending a technician to look at it and I need to be there for his visit. If the SL falls through I'm canceling the telephone and using cable Internet. Oh and I have to be at the house with a television for the cable technician to activate the service. Since I have but one television it puts a damper on uninterupted service. You would think the cable man could bring his own monitor.
I quite sincerely hope there is, at the very least, a '4' preceding my age before any sort of moving ever takes place on my part again. Nods firmly. I have canceled and recontracted two common services in the last 2 weeks, without going anywhere at all, and it was still a hassle. Meh. I also need a new and improved exterminator. I'm feeling very hostile toward the animal and insect population right now, so my ethical standards are dropping quickly. Bazookas, for example, would not hurt my feelings. The dry wall maybe, but not my feelings.
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