Day 42 - 7 October 2012

Well, I managed to get up this morning around 0600 to talk to Meagan and the kiddos. Last night was a crazy night in the tent. I bundled up before bed in my long underwear and sleep shirt, crawled under my sleeping bag, and was sleeping somber...until around 0200. I woke up burning up, as someone decided it was too cold and turned on the heat. Fair enough; so, I stripped down to my t-shirt and shorts. Woke up this morning FREEZING, as someone decided it was too hot...

Taylor was excited to tell me about his popcorn adventures. He has reached enough sales for the Super Soaker AND Day Camp, so he's pretty happy! At the same time, so are we...especially since they raised the amount the boys have to sell for Day Camp. I told Meagan, when I found out how much the goals were, that it seemed crazy. It was hard enough for us to hit $600 last year and they raised it to $750 this year. That's a bit crazy for a kid to sell, but I think they set it higher to encourage the boys. I don't know for sure. What I do know is that Taylor made his goals!

Went into the office today to work on the system I'm here to troubleshoot. It's up on a nice 40 foot tower, so I told the guys back in the States that I was not going to venture up there at night. I thought I'd take a pic to share with them, but figured why not share it here! It's a pretty big drop from the platform this thing is on to the ground below, hence the reason I did not want to go in the dark!

Went to the DFAC for lunch. I had the Mexican food from the main line: burrito, enchilada, rice, chicken empanada, and a chicken quesadilla. I ate with one of the guys from the shop here. He was actually one of my students in Florida earlier this year. We had a nice little chat, so that was good. I felt bad for ditching him for lunch yesterday; but, he wanted to go later and I was hungry THEN!

After lunch, I was just in chill mode. My job here is done and I am just waiting for my flight. I went over to look at the vendors with they guy I had lunch with. The "movie store" was quite impressive, for knock-off movies. Most of the movies are DVD copies and they are dirt cheap...$1 per disc. They have a Disney chest of 130 movies...CRAZINESS!

I did manage to make it over to the MWR and start working on my travel pay stuff, which was finally loaded on Friday. I got everything loaded in and set up my payments, so all of my entitlements should be flowing by the end of the month...we shall see!

Went back to the tent for a while and just chilled for a little while. I finished my post from yesterday, since I finally had a chance to catch up. I got everything packed up, for the most part, except the bottom sheet on the mattress. I'll pack that up after dinner when I'm ready to go catch my flight.

Went into dinner and saw this guy blowing up over the mountains. A nice little fall thunderstorm. I am actually a bit surprised to see it, as it's fairly cool here. However, given the heating over the mountains, it's not impossible. Shortly after the sun goes down, this thing will dissipate rather quickly. I took the picture with all of the colors after dinner, as the sun was going down. It was actually a very cool sight!

Dinner wasn't too bad. I had the Yankee pot roast, which was actually very, very good! The only complaint I had: they only gave me ONE biscuit! Otherwise, it was a very good meal! :)

Made my flight and made it back! I talked to one of the guys at the office for a bit. He and I are supporting each other for the next two weeks, at least. We are not eating any refined sugar. So, that means a lot of my goodies are of limits. I did good the last two days...only one soda (diet, so no sugar) and NO junk food...we'll see how long it lasts!

Speaking of...I heard I had mail waiting for me. It was the next edition of care packages from the 131st Training Flight...taking care of me! Unfortunately, it is chock full of stuff I can't eat until next Friday; including a HUGE box of oatmeal cream pies. So, I have something to look forward to!

Alright...back at the room and ready to crash! I need to get some rest so I can get up and talk to the family in the morning. 0500 comes way to early!!! Night all...God bless!