Typical Day

The alarm goes off at about 0530 - 0600. I get up and put my socks on before I slide out of my top bunk. I hate the days that I forget to take them up with me the night before. I put my socks on in bed because my back is too stiff first thing in the morning to bend over. There is no place to sit in my room. One of my roommates has a chair but it always has stuff stacked on it.

Using a clamp on desk lamp attached to my bunk I get dressed in front of my doorless wall locker. The light bulb is a 220 volt 60 watt job. It puts out about 1 candle power since we have 110 power at NKC. Usually at least one of my room mates is still in bed at this time so I  keep it as quite as possible. I usually fail though as being a long armed galoot I usually tag a wall locker with my elbow or hand.

By the time I am dressed I am loose enough to bend over to slip on and tie my boots. It still hurts to do this but I gotta get it done so I can hit the latrine. Being almost 50 my bladder isn't as pliable as it used to be.

The walk  to the latrine is a short but chilly one. Most time there is at least one other person already at the sinks and maybe one showering after PT. I do not shower in the morning -  just shave and brush my teeth. The traffic is too high and the water and outside temprature is too cold. I choose to shower at night after work.

I return my toiletries to the room befor heading to the chow hall. It opens at 0600. Again, the walk there is a short one. I try to eat a light meal and watch a little TV on the plasma TVs they have set up in there. They show a command channel Powerpoint Slide Show with pertinent info we should all know, zzzzzzz. One of the other TVs has AFN Europe and one TV usually has Al Jazeera. Typically there is no sound on any of them.

I try to be out of there by 0700 or a little before. If it is a laundry day I will return to my room and get my dirty laundry for turn-in at 0700. After that I go to my workstation. I begin the day there and stay most of the time until 2130 or 2200. Later if mission dictates. I grab lunch and dinner, of course, during the day. I take about 30 minutes for those meals.

My offical work day as set by USFOR-A is a total of 11 hours. I  work 8 regular hours and do 3 hours overtime per day, 7 days a week. I certainly am in the office a lot longer than that. I only record additional overtime if I am actively engaged in doing something. The office is just the only place to hang out.

The first thing I do when I get back to my room is go take a shower. I then climb into bed where I read, post to my blog or write my son a letter.  As I write this I realize it is 2332 hours on 22 NOV 10. Time to quit for the day.