Settling in, again

I have been back for a couple of days. The weather here has been rather cold, accompanied by some rain, though this morning there are clear blue skies. I was admiring the austere beauty of the mountains, dusted with snow.

I have begun working in the same workspace with my colleagues, which was a departure from my previous state. The conditions are better, this will help me through the next six months. Many of the folks, mostly junior officers, have moved on. It is amazing how quickly personnel switched out in this context.

For the first time, I had lunch with many of my colleagues yesterday. It was rib day at the BBQ DFAC. A thrill, of course. Generally it was a pleasant affair, however, I still contend that dining with those whom you work can be a bore. There is a vein of bitchiness that I am not too fond of in my work group. Keeping a professional distance will be difficult.

I was vaccinated for H1N1 yesterday. This was compulsory.

Thanks to the positive home influences, I have been able to enjoy my double packets of Emergen-C. A care package that I had sent myself from Florida contained skin lotion, Emergen-C and some greens replacement powder. The spirulina enhanced powder is tasty, it reminds my of Schav, a sour green soup that I used to chug when I was in high school. Acquired taste.

I remember the morning that I sent that package to myself from beautiful Long Boat Key (Sarasota) Florida. I was in my uniform, on my way to the airport, but I needed to catch breakfast and the post office on the way. An older white affluent resort neighborhood, Sarasota has a lot of patriotic residents. There was a lot of "thank you for your service" as I was standing in line at the post office. And because this older generation just says what they want, one man beheld me in my ACUs and said "look at you in your little outfit!" Thanks, Bub. It was well intentioned. But when people did say their thank you's, it made me twinge with a bit of emotion. It was difficult leaving the U.S. to willfully go back to Afghanistan for another six months.