Reaching end of tunnel, seeing what may possibly be light
And yea, the heavens did open, and the gods of the Army did smile through the dust which coated everything — yea, even the eyelashes — and the perpetual Despair did then mostly vanish.
Because, you see, I am going home EARLY.
Due to the fact that I haven’t used any of my accrued leave (except for my October R&R) and to the pleasant moving-up of my Official Last Day In The Army WOOO!, my terminal leave is scheduled to begin May 24. That means that I have to be stateside several days prior in order to do reintegration training (where I will presumably be taught how to function as a reborn civilian who says “okay” instead of “Roger” and who does not have an entire brain portion devoted to the proper assembly/disassembly/general usage of an M16A2 semiautomatic rifle), turn in all the gear I’ve been issued over the past six years (including that which I am thoroughly unable to find, because when was the last time anyone needed an entrenching tool? 2003? Thank you), and wave a sad goodbye to my medical insurance.
I’ll be winging my way home in roughly three weeks. More to follow!
… except, one more thing — I seem to be attempting to quit smoking. How this happened, I am not entirely sure, but please wish me luck nonetheless, and maybe yell at me if you happen to see me dragging lustily on an American Spirit and mumbling something about it’s all natural so it’s good for me etc.
Oh, and the fucking Notify List has shat itself, so, um, any suggestions? For my technology skills, they do suck.
on April 8, 2008 on 10:46 pm
Ooh, that is very, very wonderful news!! Good luck with the smoking - you’ll be glad you quit. Be sure to substitute something healthy like….uh…doughnuts…instead!! Can’t help you with the notify list. I set up my blog surfer to keep up with WP folks and Google Reader for everyone else. If you write, they will find you.
on April 8, 2008 on 11:07 pm
I know fuck all about notify lists but Yay on the sort of maybe giving up smoking and YAY (the same, but louder) on you going home at last! s x
on April 8, 2008 on 11:21 pm
I am whispering whoohoo so that I don’t tempt the Fates.
on April 8, 2008 on 11:28 pm
I’m so glad you’re updating again! I’m cautiously yaying your return!
on April 9, 2008 on 12:13 am
How did I miss that last entry? Don’t want you to think I don’t wuv you. Sorry for the boo-boo. But yay for the early release. And if you can survive 6 years of the army, you can give up smoking, goddammit. Keep going kiddo! Even if you have to hump warplanes.
on April 9, 2008 on 12:56 am
I am crossing my fingers that ALL woo-able things go off without a hitch.
on April 9, 2008 on 1:02 am
Goodie goodie. Now I gedda folla you ovah heeya. I luvs yer writin’. Ahem…Congrats on the early leave. The nightmare is coming to an end. Seriously, you deserve a medal just for all the Army bullshit you’ve been slinging these past years.
on April 9, 2008 on 2:50 am
Dude, don’t bother with notifylist and such. Anyone who’s reading you on wordpress should have yer blog on a feed reader or just use old fashioned bookmarks.
on April 9, 2008 on 3:02 am
Oh, yay for May 24!!! And you can give up smoking…you put up with the Army and Stop Loss, for heavens sake!! This will be a piece of cake!!! Good luck!
I miss your notify list, but will probably live without it.
on April 9, 2008 on 4:19 pm
Yay! So glad to hear you’re coming home soon. Is it too soon to ask what life will have in store for you after the Army? Oh, and good luck with quitting smoking.
on April 9, 2008 on 4:45 pm
Good news about the homecoming. Good luck with quitting smoking.
About the notify list, you could always do what I did. I set up a seperate email account for my notify, made up a ‘list’ and who ever wanted to join the list sent me an email and I added them in. Then whenever I post a new entry to my blog I send out an email using the list instead of addresses and voila, all taken care of. Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy.
on April 9, 2008 on 5:39 pm
“Terminal Leave” is one godawful name for it, but whatever … a rose is a rose. And part of the “how to function as a reborn citizen” training will surely be about what’s been going on stateside. I mean if you don’t know everything about P. Hilton and B. Spears, you might not be allowed back in.
on April 10, 2008 on 11:02 pm
if you are still smoking when we meet up this year (hopefully), I will guilt-trip you , bore you, and generally harrass the living shit out of you, until you give up. Promise.