Day 30

From now on, my day ends when your workday is about 3/4 done so my posts will be up a lot earlier in the day. If subscribed via e-mail, you'll continue to get the posts just after midnight each night.

SO....I've done it so far. I still haven't slept since Sunday at 7am EST...about 30 hours.  But, I'm heading there very soon. The goal today was to stay up all day, then crash hard tonight so I can shift to the new timezone.

I ended Day 29 with us heading out on the buses to our temporary home. After 400+ seabags were offloaded the 767, we went on a 75min busride in the middle of the night, under police escort. Our bus was jam-packed...like sardines in a sardine can and it wasn't the lap of luxury. It was a city bus...hard seats, no room, and horrible suspension. Anyway, we eventually got to the camp and had our in-brief by the officer in charge around 4am. Good 'ol PowerPoint about the do's and don'ts of this entire region of Oz. Things like no alcohol, no sex, no spreading of religion...all no-no's under General Oder #1B. He also gave us a quick overview/tutorial of the base, a brief on the creatures who like to invade our stuff (lizard, scorpions), and what all is found here. Things like Taco Bell, Starbucks, Green Beans Coffee, Mickey D's...all here. Not what you expect...exactly...but close. The Starbucks resembles most closely a normal Starbucks back in the States. Afterwards, all of those seabags had to be offloaded from the semi outside, waiting for us. I got over there first, swung those doors open wide, and started heaving those big muthas out one at a time. Within minutes, we had a big chain to remove each and every bag. Drenched in sweat at the end, I quickly found my bags (because I spray-painted them) and took them inside our "tent." Our living quarters here are glorified half-moon-shaped tents with wooden floors. Open bay barracks with racks on each side...just like at my last stop where I spent 3 weeks. After making my rack with some sheets from home, I headed on out into the sand.  By this time, it was only 5:30am or so, so nothing was open but I scoured the land, taking pictures of some things and also of placards on the front of shops stating their hours for quick reference later.  I had breakfast then basically just wandered around till things opened.

Here, you can purchase WiFi for only $12 for the week. I found the place to buy it and then quickly picked up an Espresso Chai Iced Latte at Green Beans Coffee Shop. They have one of the wireless internet routers right there so I camped out for a bit and did some catch-up on e-mails and uploaded a bunch of pics. What a great drink that was!  Sooooo good! After a few hours, I took my computer back to the tent on the other side of the base then trucked my tail end back to the dining facility yet again...this time for lunch. I am really going to make a conscious effort to eat well and shed some pounds. If the dining facilities are going to be like this at my final destination, I am blessed. This one is the best I've seen and has countless options. I had a grilled chicken breast, a very healthy salad, a banana, and a cup of cranberry juice.

After lunch, I made my way to Starbucks but not for the coffee...for the WiFi. Back in Kansas, most likely the girls were stirring and getting ready for school. "This would be a perfect time for FaceTime, I thought." Sure enough, I got them. Amazing, too, is that being several thousand miles away, the connection was flawless, smooth, and picture/audio excellent. It was so great to see them again and talk to them. Truth be told...it was Dorothy that I just HAD to see. She was scrambling to get the kids off to school and in parallel, get herself ready for work. Everyone was doing well. Afterwards, Skype came in handy to talk to my dad and my youngest brother's family. Once I got everyone up to speed, my eyes were really beginning to get heavy.  Plus, all these walks in the 100F heat (but only 14% humidity) were gettin' to me. But, this is the point, after all, for this stop on the Yellow Brick Road. The point is to adjust to the climate and the new timezone prior to our final destination in Oz.

So here I am, evening colors were just sounded outside, and I can barely type this anymore. I'm going to head off to grab some dinner then off to bed I go. I am totally exhausted and my rack and sheets from home are calling my name.  Did I mention it was hot, blowing sand everywhere, and nothing but that for as far as the eye can see? NADA!!!

Good day, everyone. Make this week a great one!  I'm dedicated to do so myself.