May 27 (Day 229)

Not much exciting going on, so just a quick note.

Well, another week has expired, one more closer to R&R and to going home. It is another Sunday at the USO; the pace had picked up since a new unit came in a couple of weeks ago, but now is settling down for the most part. Many people go for internet in their rooms, even though it costs mucho dinero; to each their own.

Work is work; still having issues at FOB Stone regarding picking the new rules. I won’t get into any more details, but suffice to say it took up a good portion of my time this past week. My biggest chore is to complete my leave packet for R&R. Since I am taking my down time outside of the US (OCONUS), there are additional briefings etc… I have to complete. There is an online class on SERE (survive, evade, resist and escape) that I am supposed to do. The problem is it won’t load properly. I have spent hours attempting it. I don’t know what I am going to do about that.

I am recuperating from a back injury sustained on the 15^th. I was kneeling on the ground packing my bags for travel back to Shindand when the bookshelf behind me fell on my back. Went to the clinic; there is no pressure pain, just while I am moving, especially bending movements. The thought is that I have a bruised rib. I was given some meds and a directive to take it easy. You’d think relaxing would be easy, but I prefer to work out at the gym; and I can’t go running, so I will be in poor shape come next physical fitness test.

I am having a meeting with the APO leadership in about an hour to discuss our upcoming move. Yes, the APO is changing locations, and earlier than we originally were told (July vs. Sept/Oct.). So, we have to go over the details of how to make it happen without (hopefully) having to shut down operations. I have some ideas to make everything better; it ought to be an interesting day.

Well, that’s all for now. Until next time…

May 20 (Day 222)

Things have been busy at work. It is likely a result of my being out of the office for several days last weekend. Had a lot of catching up to do, answering emails, doing reports, etc… I went to FOB Stone partially as a follow-up to my platoon sergeant’s visit, but primarily to perform a contractor audit. I just observed the general order of things the first day, but the next two I really got into the audit, annotating the discrepancies. The new contractor site lead had been trying to fix a lot of problems that existed from the previous supervisor. Previously, customers essentially ran the post office, coming and going as they pleased, walking directly from the front of the post office to the back operations area (and vice versa), picking up their individual mail. These are all no-go’s, and of course everyone was complaining about the changes (or rather corrections) being put in place. There were elements not associated with the post office that thought they made the rules! Believe me, I put a stop to that.

I’ll explain something, so you get the idea of how mail distribution works. Individuals from a unit are designated by their commander to be mail clerks. These personnel pick up the entire unit’s mail from the APO and then stage it from their own unit mail room. Think of the APO as the Walmart distribution center, and individual Walmarts as unit mail rooms. Anyway, previously mail clerks could come by the APO anytime during the day to get their unit mail; this is called mail call. The APO was shooting themselves in the foot. They had to be available at all times to escort (and I use that term loosely) the mail clerk through the operations area. When the site lead shortened this by a single hour, you’d have thought it was the end of the world! He is now shortening it to a four-hour block (from the previous 7), so we will see how that pans out. I told him he should do one hour, which is what Shindand does, and we are a much larger operation.  We get it done too.

So that was my extended weekend. Also, the morning I was packing up to return to Shindand a bookshelf fell down onto my back. There was no real light, just a sliver though boarded up windows. I saw a change in the shadows and heard something move, and bam. OUCH!! It wasn’t the sturdiest piece of “furniture” (or necessarily very heavy) but nothing had happened in the previous several days, so I was caught unawares. I am still store; I actually went to sick call yesterday to get it looked at. It is always a good thing have it annotated with the medical folks in case something more serious comes of it later. Anyway, I have 800mg Motrin on an 8-hour cycle for a few days, then to as needed, along with no physical activity. I’ll go back to the clinic if it doesn’t get better.

While at Stone, I put money down on an Afghan rug. It is a nice one, and I figured this is one of those ‘once in a lifetime’ things. Besides, I have a lot of hardwood at my house, so a good rug will make a nice addition. I just need to remember to head up to Stone again and pay it off!

I ordered some new shoes for my upcoming trip as well as some new underclothing and socks, all of which came in this week. I will be putting in my leave form in about a week, the first step toward the whole R&R process. My next goal is in sight – the end of June when I get on the first of several planes to go to Europe.

And on that note, until next time…

May 10 (Day 212)

Hey, it’s me Stumpy, writing from my short chair. Another week (or so!) has passed, and let me tell you it has been a less than stellar one! For starters, I and my platoon sergeant are trying to work out some problems at one of my outlying FOBs. Evidently, things were being allowed to happen that were a no-go. My platoon sergeant went there to try and get things ironed out between my Soldier stationed there and the contractor. I am heading there in a few days myself to get a close-up. I also will have to do an audit of the contractor, so I will end up staying for a few days.

On the positive side, I have managed (with help from some friends) to get a couple of the projects at the post office completed. Our “boardwalk” was replaced, making for a safer work environment, and I had the locals build me a staircase to access the top of our 20’ containers. The plan is to stack some containers so ground space is cleared out. I have one more project I’d like to complete pretty quickly, and that is to enclose the front of the post office, where we have a small porch area with mailing forms. We may end up doing that ourselves; it just entails framing for plywood, and also frame out a door.

GO, SPURS, GO! I was able to watch game four; it was so exciting to watch my home team play. Now it’s on to round two, their opponents to be decided. The consensus in my office is that the Heat is taking the championship. They say the only team that has even a chance of beating them is OKC. If the Spurs can’t win, I just hope the Lakers lose. To make that happen, Denver has their work cut out for them.

Anyways, that is all for now. Until next time….