How Did I Get Here?

Quote of the Day: “When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading.”

Getting better and maybe tomorrow I can actually run.

Or at least get down a set of steps without looking like I’m escaping a retirement home.

In an attempt to appear normal and actually get something done, I went to TMO today to set up the shipment of my own stuff that the Marine Corps is going to send to me when I’m in Saudi Arabia.

All I have to do is set aside what I want to take, make sure it’s less than 1000 pounds, and they will hire a company to come in, pack it up, and send it to me.

I actually rate 4000 pounds but if I want it to be considered an “express shipment” which, when translated means “if you want to see it before your 90th birthday,” I need to keep it under half a ton.

So here’s the plan: since I’m using most of the stuff up until I’m going to leave, I will wait to have them come in until after I leave. Carrie can sign it off and while I’m training in Virginia, they can get my stuff over there by, hopefully, mid-July.

That’s the plan.

Plans normally fail the second they get out of the chute.

But it’s all I got for now. And I have to figure out what I’m going to take with me and what I’m going to have them ship to me.

I know I’ll want my own pillow. You always need your own pillow. And as long as we are on the whole sleeping thing, I will have to have my running shirt quilt and my sound machine. I mean, come on.

Since my quarters will be fully furnished, I won’t need much household goods. But I will be taking my red bowl which has got me through all my deployments and time away from my family. It’s a cereal bowl, a soup bowl, and even a water bowl for hot shaving water at TBS when the water never got hot enough.

On the computer front, I’m taking the family laptop or as my son calls it, HIS laptop.

Tough noogies, you get Dellzilla for a year.

I will have them ship the keyboard and mouse setup when they TMO my stuff but I also need to buy two webcams and set them up before I go so I can video chat with my family.

Other than that, I haven’t given it much thought about what I will want. The good thing is if I forget something, I can have Carrie send it to me although that will be on our own dime.

And there is always buying stuff on the Net but the time lag would be the only drawback there.

Obviously, books will be the bulk of my shipment. I need to figure out which ones I’m going to take because I got a feeling I will be a very well-read man over there. A very bored but well-read man.

Free Advice for Today: “Get involved with Habitat For Humanity and help build housing for the poor. Call 1-800-HABITAT.”