Tick tock...almost another nice, round number dead ahead! Day 160: I like the sound of that. You know what, though? That's a heck of a long time to be away from home! To think...if I were doing a year like almost all Army over here, I wouldn't even be halfway yet. Ugh... I really can't imagine doing a year over here. I'll take my shorter time and go home. Sound good? Good.
Things kept rolling along today and the day went pretty quick. As lunch approached, I took the long walk towards the flight-line where the Air Force gym is. They were doing packet pickup today for the Air Force Marathon this Saturday. Back in Dayton, OH at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, this marathon is taking place but we're one of the locations where an official "Deployed Location" event is taking place. So, I stopped by and for just a few moments, I forgot I was in Afghanistan...kinda felt like home as I picked up my bib number (#2021, by the way) and my tech tee. I have to say..NICE tech tees! They are dark red, New Balance tech tees and have the marathon graphic on back. Also hanging on the table were the finishers' medals. They aren't nearly as big as the ones in Dayton but they are still a heavy, 1/4" thick medal. Definitely worth running 26.2 miles for! As I walked out of the tent... BAM!! I realized I was still in Afghanistan. Dangit!
For the rest of the day, I stayed pretty busy and got a call from the States, believe it or not. A fellow trail runner who is in the Air Force happened to be near a military line and had saved my direct line. She totally surprised me and made my day! "Thanks, Ripper!" Afterwards, I wrapped up some more work and then found out that two more job postings went up within the agency I work for back home and they are both near my home. So, I updated my resume and applied for both. One way or the other, I plan on getting promoted! The clock was approaching 7pm so I headed back to my room via the shuttle. It is very windy tonight but different was the temperature. It was an easy 10 degree drop and felt quite good.
Well, that's about a wrap for today. I'm going to admit...I am starting to feel "short," as they say. My deployment is approaching 80% complete which will be a huge landmark. I am also crossing over into the second half of September which is getting towards October 1st...my last full month on deployment! So many milestones, I feel like I'm hitting them nearly every day! For example: tomorrow is Day 160, Saturday is the marathon, Sunday is a the beginning of a new calendar week, Monday is another new work week...and they just keep on coming. It is TOTALLY a mind game, I kid you not. I've talked about this with others and I'm not alone. I may sound more upbeat lately but so much of that is the mental trickery that we have to subject ourselves to. It does NOT help to remind yourself that you're in Afghanistan. Distractions, distractions, distractions! Heck, I'm even helping plan a January trail race and handling all of the registration and website stuff. I love it...I really do.
OK, time to check out for the night. I'm going to fall asleep tonight thinking about Dorothy. I want to do something adventurous with her in the near future...something like a multi-day expedition in Canada, or out west, or maybe just a multi-day hike along the Appalachian Trail. Whatever it is, I want it to be just us, the trail, and nothing else. I'm looking forward to falling asleep tonight....
Goodnight, everyone.
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