Monday, March 30, 2009

It's Not Really Now, It's Then






















I’m writing this on Word and then transferring to my blog so that the events are not tied to specific dates.

We were very slow at the USO for a couple of days: no marines, two persons from air force who are attached to navy and just one army battalion in camp. Lots of time to clean up, organize, read and I even left early one evening. (Thank you Mike-E.)

It is pouring rain right now, the most since I’ve been here for the longest amount of time. Hopefully the water will settle the sand and wash away some of the dust. I hope it slows long enough for me to get to the DFac for lunch. I’ve gotten this far in life without missing a meal; don’t want to start now.

We had a party for the British contingency the other evening. I don’t know why, because there’s nothing special going on with them, but for some reason Joe decided to host a bar-b-que. We set up the grill, pulled out the food, invited 10 people and 40 showed up, which is exactly how it was supposed to happen. We had hot dogs, steak, hamburgers, chips, Monsters and soda. (Monsters are the big deal around here. They keep people awake when they don’t have time or inclination to sleep.) Games we played included Frisbee, Halo and annoy the USO employees. There was a lot of laughing in English and American. I didn’t bring my camera but Danni and Rick took lots of pictures, some of which I hope they delete, others of which I hope they will send to me so that I can share on my blog. I’m supposed to go somewhere with the Brits this week because they have a “no travel” day which coincides with my day off. Whatever they’re doing, I’m doing it with them. Gerry, Rick, Keith, Danni and Patch are like family.

Hatfield picked up two bottles of Old Spice shower soap for me the last time he was at Buhering. I so hope that I don’t forget these in the shower. I still miss my Ax.

I was talking to one guy a couple of days ago. He told me the things in life he loves the most are his wife, the Baby Jesus, Texas and the USO. He said he used to include the [Dallas] Cowboys and the Army on his list, but now it’s just down to those four: his wife, Baby Jesus, Texas and the USO. That was another day knowing exactly why I’m here.

I found Joe and Eddie on-line and a bunch of other fabulous music too. Unfortunately I cannot download. When I try, I get a notice that says the items are unavailable to me because I’m not in the USA. How the f=== does Amazon know where I am?

Leslie Jenkins sent me a box of newspapers, mostly Press Telegram. Makes me homesick. It’s good to see that the Fosters, Chief Batts, the Lowenthals and Evan Braude are all doing fine without me. Can’t wait to read “ Seen at the Scene” for the KY&L Long Beach Grand Prix party.

Life is extremely good and I am very happy here, but I do miss my sweet kids (and their significant others), sister, buddies, friends, co-workers, jobs, you and life in Long Beach a lot.

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