Remiss II

forgive me, friends, for i have erred. it has been three weeks since my last legitimate post. i have no excuse (one of my five basic responses); i have settled fairly well into my new position, and now i'm just doing my job and counting off the days. sundays my fellow involuntolds and i gather for cigars, near beer, and poker, and mark the close of another week with a jo "retention" meeting. nearly every office has gre, gmat, or lsat prep books stacked conspicuously next to the classified computer and body armor. one fellow already took his mcat in between training stints back in the states. what does this portend, i wonder? perhaps it merely means some of us did the fuzzy math: 1) 10% of the navy on the ground here by april, 2) no realistic end in sight, unless iran is our exit strategy, 3) every 10 years 100% of the navy will have been cycled through (yes, this is somewhat fallacious--but not entirely), 5) we are all somewhere between 6 and 10 years in to a potentially 20 year career, 6) once having proven competence (or at least mediocrity), be prepared for more duties and assignments.

nobody wants to come back here.

speaking of which: jolly roger has returned safely home. yet another submariner back where he belongs, in the deciduous forests of the north american coastline. also, welcome home to a certain air force captain, who, once she pins on O-4, will be forever known to me as major wood... have a safe move to alaska!

i owe very special thanks to the following people:
to my 'rents, for managing to get the first care package here (although they only beat nelms... by one day--go nelms...!). i am now happily in possession of my cozy afghan! really, this is a huge jump in my quality of life. i mean, not only does it match the carpet scraps i bought, but it's something familiar to--literally--cling to in the scary dark of night. it was also made by my grandmother when i graduated high school, and has followed me through every step of my naval career. and, hey, (yes, i find starting sentences with conjunctions to be abhorrent, and, yes, i just did it myself) afghans are the perfect bedclothe, keeping one warm, and yet allowing some room for air circulation (which, when one has been eating indian food, is at times very necessary)!
to my dear friends nemily, for nearly beating my 'rents in the postal race. i want to point out particularly that they sent a body wash that has desert minerals for exfoliation--you know, so i can wash off the sand with more, uh, sand. good one, kids. i also appreciate the laser pointer for distracting the jackals while i draw a weapon, though i haven't seen jackals since victory base complex. oh! which reminds me... nearly the first words out of my unit's cmc's mouth were, "do not [frak] with the jackals! they will [frak] back!" ah, the desert. finally, i have to acknowledge the batteries:foreign deployment::lucky strikes:prison analogy... brilliant!
to my wonderful english department... for who needs a chain of command that gives a shit, or even remotely pretends to give a shit, or even just calls one to say "goodbye! see you in a year! you need anything, say, career-wise?" when one has such amazing friends, colleagues, and mentors. by the way, who sent the slinky? i damn near had a gigglefit. and i definitely appreciate the humour of your reading selections, particularly paradise lost, the pilgrim's progress, and waiting for godot. i am so looking forward to returning to the fold.
to that certain air force captain, who, once she pins on O-4, will be forever known to me as major wood... thank you for the gloves! oh, and the humvee armour! let's pencil in that salmon fishing for next june, hey?

oh, and based on the amount of tuna i now have in my minifridge, my personal mercury content in going to go through the roof! i love heavy metal.

pip pip cheerio!