Well, I did it. I stayed awake for 29 hours in my attempt to transition into a new timezone. I crashed hard...really hard before 8pm. Foolish for me, though, I didn't cover up or anything and I wore shorts. It may get down to the 80s for the low overnight here and 105F during the day, but our double-insulated "tents" are very well air-conditioned. It was around 2:30am when I got up, held a flashlight in my mouth and dug out the sleeping bag I was issued about 3 weeks ago. After that, I slept like a baby. I ended up with about 8-9 hours. But, it takes more than just one day to transition. Today, I was dragging hard. It hit 106F at the peak so that didn't help. By the way, clouds don't exist here. It is hot, blazing sun...always. Thank goodness there is virtually no humidity.
After breakfast, it was time for our brief to cover all things pay/benefit related. As far as my deployment is concerned, the "ticker" started the moment I stepped off the plane from Germany. Since I don't ever discuss future dates/movements here on this blog, I'll just say that in my orders to deploy, it is very specific to how many days this is...better known as "Boots on Ground" days. How nice of the pilot to circle until 12:03am the other night. Had he landed before midnight, I would've gained a day. Oh well..no biggee. After the very good brief and a presentation like none other from the Senior Chief, we headed on out. I wish all Senior Chiefs were like this one. He was clearly proud to be a sailor and took great pride in that. I loved it. He also said it's time to drop the "Hooah!!!" that we all picked up at our last stop since it's an Army thing and stick to the Navy's "Hooyah!" No "Hoorah", either. That's the Marines. Who knows what the Air Force says. I prefer "Aye, aye!!" We had one more brief but to be honest, it was a waste of time. I don't even remember the topic. I think I was dreaming of Dorothy or something. :-)
For the rest of the day, I just relaxed. I did find a new tool for my iPhone called MyFitnessPal. I want to start tracking everything I eat and use this deployment to lose weight and get in good shape. My passion is running so that'll be incorporated, too. It's hard to believe that only 2 years ago next month, I ran and finished my first 100 mile race. Then, 8 weeks later I did it again and 10 weeks later, I did it a 3rd time. Since then, I've gotten out of shape, gained weight, and despise looking at myself in the mirror, knowing where I was such a short time ago. The good thing is that I know I can do it. I just need to erase the bad habits that I've adopted and create yet again the good ones. This app let's you enter everything you eat and tracks it by calorie content, carbs, fat, and protein. It gives you goals based on your personal inputs. I've never actually tracked what I eat so closely but I will tell you that where I was on calories early on in the day impacted what I ate at dinner. Having something visual like this is a good way to hold me accountable. If I can make this a habit...eating right, it'll become routine and I will lose weight, I will feel better, and Dorothy will be happier when I return to Kansas. I only have ____ months to get it done! Here's the link if you'd like to check it out. Consider this a little sidenote to my deployment journal.
I also spent some time at the USO today and got online...clearly the highest speed internet anywhere on this base. For those who like gaming, there were plenty of PlayStations and XBOX's to go around. Later on, the USO sponsored a Comedy Tour of 3 women who are traveling around many different military installations and performing for the troops. 2 out of the 3 women were hilarious and 1 was downright awful! Still, a good night to laugh. Even the moon was out high overhead.
That's really about it for today. I did get to see my family via FaceTime again this afternoon as they headed out to work and school as well as my parents. Technology is certainly a wonderful thing.
For those wondering if I'm ever going to actually work...yes. Yes, I am. My traveling will soon end and I'll be working 10-16 hour days for the warfighter. My job will encompass being within the supply chain. Whether it's boots or a whole vehicle, I will be the local advocate/trainer/helper to make sure those troops have what they need. That is my mission.
Goodnight, everyone.
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