Day 94

94.1...Armed Forces Radio...the ONLY station in this country. Yes, the ONLY one. It's run by Army guys a few buildings from mine. They broadcast throughout the country. Basically, they play everything and every genre. I actually won an old DVD from them a few weeks back for answering a question on their Facebook page. Pretty cool folks over there. That's about all 94 drummed up in my head tonight.

Today? Crud. That's putting it nicely. It just started bad and stayed that way. It was one thing after another. It started with flights being canceled for that lady who threw up on herself the day before followed by another surprise arrival we knew nothing about. The bad thing about being at a central air hub is that everyone passes through and often, we have to drop everything we're doing to cater to them. They need the help and we're "happy" to provide the service but it wrecks the routine which often involves meetings and deadlines. After driving 15mph around this 8 mile perimeter base in lots of traffic, I finally made it into the office, only to dive into meetings. As the day progressed, conflicts arose with other personnel that I share the uniform with but honestly, I don't have the desire to write the details here. Let's just say I was greatly disappointed in this person and if only I had one more rank on my chest...  If only...

As the day wore on, other issues very high up on the food chain were rising quickly and although I wasn't directly involved, others in my office were so the stress level and volume just kept increasing with everyone. Then the east coast folks showed up to work and they starting shooting off their problems at me. I wish I could just pluck each one of them out of their cubicle and transport them here for one week. I think they'd see things a lot differently and be a LOT easier to work with. People who have never set foot in this country simply don't get it...even though they directly impact operations here. It amazes me how many people try to manage the war from their cozy armchair Stateside...especially if they've never left that chair to set foot in the sand.  It is days like this where I just want to throw my hands in the air and disappear for days on end. Unfortunately, there really isn't anywhere to disappear to. Eventually as the night approached 8pm, we slammed the door behind us and got the heck out of the there. It was Mongolian BBQ night at one of the dining facilities so we headed on down. After a 1/2 hour wait, we chose our ingredients and watched it get grilled. For me? Noodles covered with grilled shrimp, mushrooms, chicken, onions, green peppers, soy sauce, and teriyaki sauce. Honestly...it was the bomb. Very good. Afterwards, we headed on back, cranked up some tunes on the way back and called it a night. Now...just sitting here watching "The Fighter" on the Armed Forces Network yet again.

We all have a bad day. Today was just one of mine. I don't expect anyone to understand and don't care to explain it or drum it up ever again. Tomorrow is a new day and this day will just get flushed right where it needs to. There were also other compounding things from back home that added to it all that made my blood boil but honestly, anonymous or not, I'm not writing about it. Some things are for me and me alone. Nothing regarding Dorothy and my girls...they are doing great...so no worries there. One thing about home is that I need to really start thinking about going there and how I'll communicate with people. I really think saying less or nothing to the majority will be best. The thought that people will understand the stories or be able to relate is far-fetched at best. No fault of theirs, though. Before I came here, there's no way I'd understand no matter how many ways it could be explained...I just wouldn't comprehend unless I was actually here. Anyway...I could ramble on forever.  Best to just say...

Goodnight, everyone.