Tuesday, January 08, 2008
'We gotta get out of this place...."
I'm trying desperately to tie up the million loose ends, tasks, jobs, and emails so I can get out of here. It's hard to drop all of this work and just walk away.
Yet, I still managed to have a good day yesterday. I had a chance to eat breakfast at the Embassy because I was traveling in the morning. When I hit the street and started walking, a Marine pulled up and asked if I needed a lift. We ended up having breakfast at the Embassy together and talking about the Marines, the Air Force, and home. Nice guy. I wish I could have told my Dad about it. He's an old crusty Marine. Matter of fact my youngest brother should be finishing up Marine Corps basic training soon. I come from a long line of Marines. Go figure. Anyways, it was a good breakfast, and a good conversation. I've never met a Marine I didn't like.
After breakfast I made it to the place where I was supposed to catch a ride down south, but after an hour and a half of waiting, the ride was cancelled. Oh well, back to work.
The rest of the day went pretty slow, but around 8pm a friend came into my office and handed me a cigar. He's the president of our Baghdad Cigar Aficionado Club, and he came to rescue me from my overflowing to-do list. We went back into a place we call the Pirates Cove out here, and there were a few Army and Navy personnel, as well as an Albanian Officer and some retired guys. I spent the next two hours sitting in the freezing cold around a warm bonfire and good friends, smoking a great cigar and having an even greater conversation. I kept thinking to myself I was really going to miss this place. It's not the location that makes the deployment, it's the people, and I've worked with the best since coming out here in July.
It was a good day.
posted by El Capitan at 1:32 PM
2 Comments:
Coffeypot said...
That is one of the down sides to being in the military. You are always leaving or being left by some very good men. But I am glad you are coming home, Major T. I guess then I'll have to call you just T or Tony. Well, done!
6:13 PM Only $19.95 said...
My favorite part of deploying is enjoying, truly enjoying, my fellow military members....
6:18 AM