iraqistan

Back to Germany, to formally return to work at 0600 tomorrow after roughly four and a half months in the United States. My apartment smells like rotting mayonnaise and I think my landlord shut off my heat and then went on vacation. It is about 30 degrees cooler out here, and the spiders have developed clever traps in their rebellion against my stalled weekly cleanings.

I called the company to let them know I was back and stupidly called during lunch. If there is one thing the military takes seriously, it is lunch. 1130 to 1300 there is no chance of finding a human being near a phone, and if someone finds himself near a communication device of sorts, they steadfastly ignore it. We learn that at Basic, I think. I called anyway, and my commander answered, which implies that he is in fact a machine. Since he has taken up marathon running recently, I already knew he wasn’t quite human, so I was only moderately surprised when he answered. I told him I was back and he seemed most pleased, which I found to be a strange reaction, and then he told me that most of the senior non-commissioned officers were at an exercise and would be back Monday. He then mentioned that I should probably head up to see everyone Monday so they can figure out what they are doing with me. Naturally, he gave me no hints. I think they enjoy making me squirm.

Meanwhile, the doctors forgot to make my follow-up appointments, one of my Soldiers is about to be homeless because his barracks are condemned and housing gave away his new room while he was at a course, and I think my warrant officer has discovered a rather frightening combination of alcohol and arrows in some fashion, all among other things.

If I said it was good to be back, I would have to seriously consider my mental state. And work doesn’t even start until tomorrow.