September 28 (Day 353)

Well, another big break between posts. My platoon’s replacements arrived in Shindand this past Monday, and we got right to work. We spent Monday through Thursday training the new platoon on their duties and responsibilities, gave them an overview of operations, and did a little tour of the base along with introducing them to points of contact. It has definitely been busy the last few days.

I also started packing my things and shipping boxes home. I sent several boxes home a couple of weeks ago; now that we were getting closer to redeploying, I sent the rest of my goodies, some last Sunday and the rest yesterday (ended up spending over $300 total!). I am now down to what I will be taking with me. I am still stuck with my ruck sack and assault pack (a small backpack). I am using the ruck to carry my computer back to Kandahar, and will then need to use it to house my IOTV (improved outer tactical vest), since we won’t be wearing it on the civilian aircraft we will use to get back to the states.

I am currently in the state of trying to figure out what to do with my time. I am no longer “employed” since the new platoon has taken over the post office, and our showtime for our flight is not for another 9+ hours. With all my “stuff” mailed off, it is difficult to find things to do. I do have my computer with some movies on it, but I am saving those for my actual travels. I will be on the road for a little over a week. Other than the actual flying portions, I have a feeling time is going to go slow. I just need to keep my eyes on the goal of getting home.

Speaking of home, I don’t have one to go back to yet. I need to figure out some temporary living arrangement, likely a hotel (my renters have not yet found a place to which to move). I am not looking forward to that; I just want to get back and get the moving-in out of the way, rather than having to put it off. I will have to get my car out of storage. I hope it at least starts up so I can take it to the shop for a tune-up. My motorcycle is also “stored” but at a bike shop, so it will be usable right away; depending on the weather, I might be able to use it. I also do not know how work is going to fit in. Will we get a couple of days to recuperate, or go straight into reintegration training? We’ll see I guess. There are just a lot of unknowns at this point, that I am a bit apprehensive.

Well, not much else for now. Since I don’t have access to vacation pictures, I will put off those discussions until I am back in the states.

September 12 (Day 337) Part 2

From top: 1-2) breakfast at Paris B&B; 3) Luxembourg American Cemetery gate; 4-5) cemetery memorial; 6) cemetery flowers; 7) GEN Patton's grave marker; 8) unknown American Soldier marker; 9) entrance to German cemetery; 10-11) markers in German cemetery; 12) pathway from German cemetery to parking lot; 13) church steeple in Gernsheim; 14) gelato shop in Gernsheim

September 12 (Day 337)

Things have been a little crazy at work, hence no updates for quite some time; it seems that is always the excuse! J We are prepping for our redeployment - putting together a training schedule for our replacements, having them assign their personnel to certain FOBs once in theater, downsizing my room and mailing things back home, among other tasks. I had to do my last COR audit and inventory as well. We are adding cash payments to our operations, which meant we had to get change, then divide it among the FOBs and split it with certain percentages at each location in stamp stock versus cash. We are still working out that last part.

Our replacements are due to get here within the week, so time is really getting short. I am trying to either mail items home, throw away some, or leave things for the incoming LT. The plan is to have everything fit in my ruck sack. Essentially, I will need to live out of it for a few weeks, a couple here, then on to KAF, Manas, and then HOME!!!

I have had to deal with some real drama recently as well, with…interpersonal differences amongst the troops and between military and civilian. I don’t know if it was just nerves, stress, or what, but it was resolved in a matter of speaking, with shifting of personnel on both sides. I was really hoping to coast once I returned from R&R, but it seems I have done most of my work since I returned.

I continue to volunteer at the USO, but I will likely stop shortly. It will be nice to sleep in a little during my last few days, plus with all the training I’ll be conducting. Not that it will be overly busy, but more so than usual. I am actually hitting 645 hours today. Speaking of which, I need to follow up on a couple of volunteer medals that were submitted.  My Soldiers are really big on what they will earn from this deployment, as far as awards. Of course, there is the end of tour award, a Commendation Medal for pretty much everyone. There are also the Afghanistan Campaign and NATO ISAF medals, as well as an overseas ribbon. Most of the Soldiers will more than double what they have since they are “new” to the Army. They are pretty excited. I remember the feeling when I received my first post-basic training awards. There was a real sense of accomplishment, and of course excitement.

We are now into the voting season, so pushing ballots is a big deal, especially processing them correctly. If things are not done right, we are talking the Constitution, which means Congress would get involved. Not something I want to mess with! Of all my responsibility since I arrived in Afghanistan, this is the most weighty, and most concerning. Even though I don’t actually process them (that is the contractor’s job), I have to know how to do it. I am going to ensure that I am aware of every ballot that comes through my APO.

How about an entry about my R&R trip? Sounds good to me. This is the fun part. Before we left Paris, we had one last great breakfast at the B&B; pictures are in part 2. I really would like to get my hands on the cereal available there. It was granola with slivers of chocolate. Unlike most chocolate cereals we get in the states, the chocolate didn’t melt and turn the milk, well, chocolaty. It stayed whole. I really liked it. On July 10, my parents and I drove (or rather Dad did!) toward Germany from Paris. We planned on going through Luxembourg in order to stop by the American Cemetery there. As usual, driving through the European countryside was pleasant, though a little overcast. Once we arrived at the cemetery, it started to drizzle, but we still took several minutes to walk the grounds, which like the cemetery in Normandy, was somber but quite beautiful. The area is well-kept. For anyone who doesn’t know, GEN Patton is interred here. His grave is a simple affair, and his marker is separate from the others. When you look at his marker, the cemetery memorial is in the background. The memorial itself is quite nice as well. It is bold yet simple. A couple of pics are included in part 2. It started raining pretty hard after about 10-15 minutes, so we rushed to the car. I would like to have stayed a little longer, but I at least had the experience. The amazing thing was the rain didn’t last long, and wasn’t expansive. After leaving this cemetery, Mom and Dad thought it would be nice to stop by a nearby German cemetery. Although the grounds are nice (at least nowadays) there is a sharp contrast to the American cemetery. You can see this in the pictures. I noticed one thing in common though, and that is markers for the unknown or not found. In this, humanity it seems, is linked. In this cemetery, I felt sadness for those lost, just as in the American one.

Once we finished visiting the German cemetery, we continued on to Gernsheim, Germany and our next B&B. Gernsheim is south of Frankfurt, about midway to Heidelberg, right along the Rhein river. After we arrived at the B&B, we were led through the garage and down some stairs. I think we all had a weird feeling about the set-up. However, our accommodations were quite nice. We had the entire lower floor, with a HUGE bathroom and even a sauna (for a price of course) in a sort of “foyer”. There were two bedrooms. There was a second set of stairs that led to the house proper. The young couple who ran the B&B were quite nice, and had two young children, the daughter Sophie the B&B’s namesake. We settled in, arriving later than our hosts were expecting. Some sort of communication snafu I presume. This was probably caused by our stop in Trier for lunch. There was construction around the exit to Trier, and we were going by the GPS, and the two weren’t playing along. Anyway, we made it into town, managed to find “old town,” park, and find a restaurant. The place was called Crocodil; I’m not sure why. I ended up getting fish, which was the entire fish. Not that I mind, it was just funny, since my mother joked that was probably going to be the case when I placed my order.  Back to Gernsheim. After setting in, we drove down the main street into the little town for dessert. It was a little difficult, as the map we had had small writing, and the side streets were narrow, sometimes missed. I think we just settled on turning down one of the side streets and we got lucky. We found a gelato shop. I love gelato. After dessert, we walked around the near block, narrow, brick streets, and neat buildings. We then headed back to the B&B and settled in for the night.

Well, that was it for the 10^th.

Until next time…

August 26 (Day 320) Part 3

From the top: 1) view of Ecole Militaire from the Eiffel Tower lower level; 2) line of people waiting for elevator at Eiffel Tower; 3) Statue of Liberty from Eiffel Tower lower level; 4) view of Sacre Coeur from Eiffel Tower; 5) Statue of Liberty from upper level of Eiffel Tower; 6) looking up side of Eiffel Tower from upper level; 7) Dad with Eiffel Tower in background; 8-9) Bentley and Ferrari on Avenue d'Ilena; 10) Arc de Triomphe; 11) view of roundabout traffic from top of Arc de Triomphe; 12) view of Eiffel Tower from Arc de Triomphe; 13) underneath Arc de Triomphe arch; 14) Arc de Triomphe eternal flame; 15-16) older Peugeots at dealership; 17) futuristic Peugeot; 18) Notre Dame Cathedral exterior; 19-20) Notre Dame Cathedral interior; 21-22) planes overflying Notre Dame

August 26 (Day 320) Part 2

While Dad and I were wandering the Champs-Elysees, we decided to grab some food. We stopped at a place called Quick Hamburger. I know I had noticed one of these joints in our earlier misadventures in Paris, and it seemed well-visited. Given all the “fine” dining we had experienced thus far in Europe, and the fact that I had not had a real hamburger since deploying, this was a treat. The line wasn’t too long, so getting our orders in didn’t take much time; although the language barrier came into play. I am not a fan of your garden variety lettuce that usually comes on a hamburger or sandwich. I prefer the more potent varieties like spinach or romaine. So, I asked for no lettuce on my hamburger, and the employee didn’t understand what I meant, although she spoke English fairly well. To make this short, once we figured out they call lettuce, “salad”, we were good. There was a seating area down some stairs, which was convenient because that is also where the restrooms were located. Remember the whole paying for the privilege to use the restroom? Well, as a customer, you could use theirs for free, so we took advantage.

After eating, we caught the metro to the Notre Dame Cathedral. What a wonderful building and church; the architecture, reliefs, and stained glass! As with most things we saw, the scale was enormous. There must have been some sort of “keeping up with the Jones’” mentality back then (although we still have it today!). Of course, there was a line to get inside, which we originally thought might be a paid event, or would take too long to get through, but we decided on checking it out. Good call! It was free of course, but the line didn’t take long at all. Additionally, the interior was amazing. I think this was the only church I went in, but did not make to the top portion. When I was outside, I saw people along the upper reaches on some sort of long balcony, but I didn’t find the entrance. Evidently, it may have been on the side of the church, rather from inside like all the others. I will be sure to rectify this next time.

Afterwards, Dad and I just took a rest outside in the square facing the church. While we were there, we heard, and then saw, planes going overhead. There were several varieties of aircraft over the next 15-20 minutes or so. We managed to get some stills and even a couple of videos. Evidently, this was in preparation for the French National Day (what some call Bastille Day due to the storming of the Bastille prison in 1789, which eventually led to the celebration) on the 14^th of July. I am sure that would have been a party had we stuck around!

That was the end of July 9, and our time in France. Next comes Luxembourg and Germany!

Until next time…

August 26 (Day 320)

What can I say? I am a slacker. It has been way too long since I have put anything on my blog. I think I am just preoccupied by my time in Afghanistan winding down. There are a lot of “last-minute” items to take care of. I am still working on getting everything I can (equipment, supplies, etc…) for the upcoming post office move before my replacement gets here in a few weeks. The actual move likely won’t happen until January, but I would like for the new LT to just be able to move, rather than having to plan.

With the holiday season fast approaching, I am also planning the holiday mail movement plan. Since there will be a lot more mail to process, the current procedures will be inadequate, as are the supplies. I am working on getting more mail pallets to accommodate the increased volume, as well as have a flight schedule in place to move the additional mail. I also need to bring several 20’ containers from one of my other locations back to Shindand. That will likely be the toughest piece, since there are fewer convoys nowadays.

My Battalion Commander came through on a visit this week. This was his first time in my area of operations (AO). Since my team, as well as finance, fall directly under him, tours (actually more of a rundown of duties) of both areas were conducted. We (the finance detachment Commander and I) also took him by a couple of the units we work with here in our daily operations, especially as it pertains to mail movement. We also splurged on lunch and went to the Italian compound and had pizza. I hadn’t been there since last November if that is any indication of how long since I have had any break from the food norm! The compound is on the same side as my ID card section, so we stopped there for a few minutes as well, and then it was off to the new post office site, just as a point of interest. The Commander was planning on heading to my other two APOs, and I assume he made it, since I have not heard otherwise. Three of my Soldiers were also provided with the Commander’s challenge coin.

We only have about 3 weeks until our replacements get here! I have attempted to fill in the new LT with all the training they can get done stateside, which will save them a lot of time and hassle doing it here. Of course, they are busy with their pre-deployment agendas, but hopefully they will be able to get some of it done. From the looks of it, they are bringing more people than I did! This is overkill from my perspective, as I don’t know what they are going to do with all those personnel.  At least they have more NCOs, which will definitely come in handy.

So, on July 8, it was father and son time. Unfortunately, Mom was not feeling well, so she missed out on the second day in Paris. Our first stop was again, the Eiffel Tower. Unfortunately, the line was even longer than the previous day, so no ride to the top. That meant settling for walking the stairs, and leaving us two options, the lower level or…the other lower level! Either way, it was a good walk and fairly high off the ground. The first level was around 320 steps up, and the second was an additional 360. Even from the higher level, one was quite a distance from the top. I think maybe a 1/3 of the way up or so? Let me tell you, even then it was still quite a ways up. I had to look at the stairs as I was climbing or I would get this vertigo-ish feeling. Once I made it up, I was fine; it’s just the going up part that gets me. I still look forward to going to the top the next time, though. The views were awesome, even from the lower reaches, from where I got some pictures, including the “other” Statue of Liberty. You will have to look closely at this picture, as the statue is quite a ways from the tower.

We next went to the Arc de Triomphe. We walked up the Avenue d’Ilena after crossing the Seine. It wasn’t too far, just 7-8 blocks. We did see a couple of nice rides on the way, a Ferrari and a Bentley. Some pics in part 3 (when I get them posted, as I still have to label the pictures!). Once at the roundabout with the Arc in the center, we had to find how people actually got to it. No way were we going to brave the unpredictable driving on 6+ lanes of traffic (as I alluded to in an earlier post, this place was nuts). We found the tunnel leading to the Arc. There were two places to go, one being the base of the Arc at ground level, where you could walk underneath it for one. This was free and no line. The other option was to stand in line, pay a small fee, but that allowed you to go to the top of the Arc. Of course, we did both! The architecture of the Arc is beautiful, and it is larger than I had anticipated.  The eternal flame for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is also very nice.

Our final stop was Notre Dame Cathedral on the Ile de la Cite. This was too far to walk the entire way, but we did walk a little of the Champs-Elysees. As one might imagine, the avenue is lined with upscale shops that most could hardly afford to shop in. I was tempted to stop by Swarovski and buy something nice, but realized I am a mere mortal, and probably would not have been allowed in the store! We did stop inside a Peugeot dealership, and saw a few neat cars (pics in part 3).

To be continued…

August 13 (Day 307) Part 2

From the top: 1-2) Code of Hammurabi in the Louvre; 3) me and Dad in the Jardin de Tuileries outside the Louvre; 4-5) Eiffel Tower; 6) under Louvre pyramid; 7-9) Jardin de Tuileries; 10) Mona Lisa; 11-12) rooms in the Louvre; 13) my favorite painting at the Louvre!

August 13 (Day 307)

Yes, it has been a minute since I posted. Although work hasn’t been overwhelming, there were still some items to concentrate on. It is getting down to the wire, so to speak, of heading home. There are some housecleaning activities to take care of. I had to update my evaluation support form (used by my rater to write up my evaluation), track some equipment, work on a mail movement plan for the holidays (it will definitely increase!), among others. So, my time seemed to fly by and my attention was focused elsewhere. Anyways…

My Soldiers and I are decidedly looking forward to returning home; to the extent that is what we think about most days. We talk about what we will do first, or the first restaurant we’ll go to, who we will see, etc… I am not sure what will happen when I first get back, as my house is being rented. I may not be able to move right in, but rather lounge at a hotel and be forced to eat out every day. You probably think that sounds good to me right now, since I have been stuck with the dining hall for almost a year. Honestly, though, I’d prefer to just cook at the house.

I have been checking out the Lexus homepage, keeping tabs on the new ES 350 I plan on purchasing after getting home. It sure is a nice looking car. I figure it is time to trade up to something nicer (and a bit bigger!) than my current Accent. I do like my current car, don’t get me wrong. Well, how about an entry on my Europe trip?

We dropped Nicole at the airport in the morning of July 8. She had to get back home and prepare to move across the country. I know she was disappointed to leave without being able to spend more time in Paris. I am sure she will return there soon to correct that discrepancy. We actually returned to our B&B right after. There was a metro station about a block away, providing a much more relaxing way to get downtown. We got downtown to experience our first “real” excursion to Paris. As usual, the weather kept threatening, a bit cool, but mostly it stayed overcast, with the rain held at bay.

Our first stop was the Eiffel Tower. It is definitely a sight! One doesn’t get a full grasp of its size from pictures. When we got to the base, we found a very long line. It turned out that only one of the elevators was operating, versus four that are possible. Each “leg” has its own elevator, labeled for the four cardinal directions to which they faced. We stayed in line for about an hour, and only made it about half-way to the ticket counter. We would then have to get in line for the actual elevator. The decision was made to call it quits and try again the next day. It was something of a disappointment, since Mom and I had planned on going all the way to the top (Mom ended up not feeling well the next day).

Not to be swayed by the failure, we took a leisurely stroll to the Louvre. Talk about another eye-popping experience. Again, pictures and words fail to truly describe this landmark. Getting in didn’t take much time, so that was nice. After getting maps of the museum, I made my short list of items to see (since there was no way to see even a miniscule percentage in the time we planned on staying). My first stop was the Code of Hammurabi. Since I majored in Criminal Justice for my Bachelor’s, it seemed very appropriate, being one of the earliest written law codes in existence. Also, since Babylon is significant in the Bible, it made it that much more interesting. Of course, I had to find it first! There are three main wings, with several floors each, and I found out it was more complicated than just going room to room in some areas. I actually thought I might not find it, when I literally stumbled upon it. This version is on a stele as opposed to a clay tablet for example. It is an impressive specimen, standing over seven feet tall. You can see some pics in part 2 for today.

My second visit was, of course, to the Mona Lisa. Not surprisingly, it is housed in a different wing of the Louvre than the Code, so I had to backtrack quite a bit to the central area of the museum, then on to my second adventure. On my first trip through this area, I bypassed many paintings, not taking too much time to look. After locating the Mona Lisa (and walking through the Egyptian section), I took more time. The paintings are quite nice, and some are huge! I can’t imagine the kind of talent it takes to “see” what you want to paint in its entirety, yet only working on a small section, and having it come out, all in scale. The Mona Lisa itself is quite small. One imagines it as a larger than life depiction from what we see in movies and the like. The room housing the painting is fairly small with only a couple of other paintings. I think it used to be by itself. Anyway, the room was packed, and there was an actual line to get in to get close. I bypassed that option, and took a picture on zoom.

My third excursion was through the Egyptian Antiquities section. This was mostly a visual trip, since all the notations were in French. This aspect was quite disappointing. I would have liked to get more information on the objects, but since I am not fluent in the language… There was still a lot to see, just not as big an impact without more knowledge.

I met up with Mom and Dad after my carousing, as they had a different agenda. By this point it was time to eat. There was what looked to be a nice, albeit, highly priced restaurant in the central “mall,” but we opted for a sandwich shop (remember, subs are highly portable and seem to be a favorite of the French). This was also the first time I had an Orangina. It was pretty good. I don’t have sodas much anymore, but this was a nice treat. I blame Mom!

I found it interesting that there is not only a metro station under the Louvre, but a full-blown shopping center. This was in addition to the requisite souvenir shops. Of course, you have to walk through the shopping area to get to the metro; coincidence? We did spend a few minutes looking around, but I knew I wasn’t buying anything!

Since I was in Paris, I decided to try to determine where the Hard Rock Café was. I collect their guitar pins, so wanted to add to my collection. I asked the information center at the Louvre, but the best the person could tell me was a metro stop. Once I got to the metro, I found out it wasn’t the name of the stop, but rather the name of the street where the metro stopped. It took some work to figure that out. Since Mom and Dad had no reason to go to the HRC, they went back to the B&B, while I went on a solo adventure. As it turns out, the metro in Paris is a lot like the one in D.C. I managed to get to the correct spot without too much hassle, but locating the actual HRC was a trite more difficult. I was told one could see the shop from the station, but that wasn’t exactly true. That meant a 50/50 chance of direction, and I didn’t know how far I might have to go. I went the wrong way (of course!) first, and walked several blocks. Once I got to a certain point, which happened to be the Indiana Café (in Paris?), I turned around to try the other direction. I went several blocks past my start point in the opposite direction and still ended up peering to see the small guitar sign signifying the entrance. I had thought it would have been easier to see; most of the other downtown locations I have been had. At least I got my guitar pins, able to catch the metro back to the B&B, which was a lot easier since I was simply backtracking.

More next time…

August 5 (Day 299) Part 2

From the top: 1) creperie dinner restaurant; 2-4) baked goods in Le Vesinet; 5-9) various vendor options in Le Vesinet market; 10-11) sweets in Le Vesinet; 12) my dinner crepe; 13-15) Palace of Versailles and gardens