Long day. 13 hour day. Not too bad of one, though. I woke up to photos of Tin Man's experience at the Apple Store...grinning as far as her young face would let her. She was so thrilled with all of it. To rub it in extra deep, they all had some Outback Steakhouse afterwards. Yea, I know how bad Aussie Cheese Fries and Bloomin' Onions are calorie-wise...but after being gone now for nearly 2 months, that sounded SO good! I was happy to see everyone had such a great night.
Today bounced between productive meetings and shopping for Camel Hair blankets. I picked up 4 in total today. The first was bound for home and I got that shipped. The other 3 were for friends who sent me some funds and I picked them up and shipped them. The blanket is the natural camel color and made here in Oz...handmade. They're soft and the perfect blanket to curl up on the couch with a hot chocolate during the frigid "Kansas" winter.
In the meetings, I'm beginning to get some backbone as I learn the inner workings of everything and who the key players are. Almost always, I'm in a room with people who all out-rank me but I bring to the table the powerful logistics arm and the power to get things into theater faster than other means...or at all. Mostly, I sit quietly, taking notes, but at times will offer up my help or guidance to resolve an issue...and those issues are many. Oz is an extremely difficult place to have a war. With no seaports, logistics are a nightmare. Looting, archaic road systems, mountains...and days and days of travel to get stuff here. That's the reason much comes here via air and why my base is so integral to this war. We are THE hub of logistics in Oz. So much is happening here, 24 hours a day. I think that's one reason we get very little VIPs. Many political leaders who visit this country often skip this base because of the impact it would have...the disruption in operations. So, as these leaders make the headlines, you'll rarely see my base below the headline as the location. Fine by me! It would be nice for Toby Keith or the Zac Brown Band to stop by, though. :-)
The day ended simply..with a long bus ride to my side of the airstrip and a hot piece of homemade pizza and a 1/2 cup or so of mixed veggies. Today was another low calorie day. No running, that's for sure. No time for it. Perhaps tomorrow night. I have a 5pm conference call but I'm done after that.
Many thanks to Gina back home who sent me a care package...received today! A funny card and several small packages of pistachios sat on top. My dad would be so jealous! More Clif Bars, more Starbucks Iced Via, and a bunch of other goodies. I will never run out of Clif Bars! :-) Thanks, Gina!
Time to wind down, shower up, and hit the sack. Wiped out tonight. I hear there were some awesome storms back home this morning. I'll admit...I'm a bit envious. I haven't seen a drop of precipitation in over a month.
Goodnight, everyone.
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