So, today went well - as expected. We reviewed many topics I had been trained on formally 20 years ago and new topics to me as well. The staff here is very professional and compassionate. We routinely hear after each briefing a "thank you for volunteering" or a "you are the reason why we are here, and we appreciate what you are doing." This entire experience is nothing short of amazing, for me at least, and I know that May 2012 is a long way off. However, right now it feels good to be where I am at and doing what I am volunteering to do soon.
Free chicken wings somewhere down the road right now. I am more interested in relaxing, resting, taking it easy, regaining complete composure (is this even possible), revitalizing, and generally going slow. The hotel hot tub is sounding almost, not quite but almost, as good as Mexican food does. Well, guess what? A Mexican restaurant just so happens to be a hop, skip, and a jump from my hotel!
Tomorrow we ship our excess baggage to our "down range (modern)" or "in country (1960s-1970s)" in-processing locations. We are allowed to ship an incredible quantity (roughly 125-lbs) and are limited to less than what one would normally fly with on commercial air for a weeklong vacation or trip. The latter relates to heat restrictions (think Arizona early 1990s and high-heat aircraft groundings) during our overseas portion of travel from the USA to the Middle East. Since I arrived with one 55-lb suitcase and one should bag, I will repack certain of my issued military gear and civilian gear to accommodate these restrictions.
We will also fill our day tomorrow with other unique and interesting training guaranteed to produce a well-prepared civilian for the rigors of extended deployments to the Middle East. Hooah!
It goes without saying from now until next May 2012, I miss my wife and son, and parents, siblings, family, extended family, friends, pets, etc. tremendously. I love you, Kimberly and Kaesen.
Good night and good day.
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