Voluntold - (Korea) Day 309

The new ROK uniforms...I can't believe they went to a beret!

Work call this morning was at 0800. We were voluntold to participate in a ceremony. The worst part was that the ceremony was for something downright retarded. The name of our battalion is changing from STB-K to HHB. Big freaking deal! They have to have a stupid ceremony for it. Anyways you can tell how much I actually cared to be a part of this momentous occasion. We had to stand in formation and go through a rehearsal which consisted of us standing in formation moving a couple times from parade rest to attention and so forth. We then were released to stand around the field for about an hour and a half before the actual ceremony started. Once the ceremony started it took about a half hour to finish. What a joke…I really can't believe they had a ceremony for this. Anyway…on with the day.

I headed to the office and checked my email and such. I came across something that literally turned my world upside-down. Unfortunately I can't speak much of it right now until I speak with my wife first, but I can tell you my jaw dropped and I walked around in disbelief all day.

I did a little IMO stuff such as take a laptop to be imaged to the help desk. It would not boot from my netboot cd, so I was unable to re-image myself. The helpdesk will have to use alternative methods. I also pushed through the secure network access paperwork for PV2 Charlie. All the required documents have been collected and sent off. We'll see how long it takes to get him setup.

I headed to lunch with Special K and SPC Roy. On the way out to the car I saw who I thought was SPC Roy bent over tying his boots. The last name was the same, the body type was the same, so I stopped and waited for him to finish…only to find a LTC come up looking at me with a puzzled look…wondering why I was standing there hanging out with him. I'm really glad I didn't give him a "good game" slap on the butt or anything. That would have been a disaster. SPC Roy said he was watching me in his car wondering what the heck I was doing…anyway we all left and ate at the food court.

Once back I had to drive our NCOIC and PV2 Charlie to CIF so he could get all his gear issued to him finally. We then headed back and I helped PV2 Charlie unload everything into his room. Back at the office we cleaned up and everyone left except me, I stayed back with Special K to help him study for the board. About 15 minutes later our NCOIC comes in and says to recall everyone. Evidently there was a meeting missed on the events calendar and we have to setup for it tonight. Once everyone was back we all had to hear about it for a bit. I guess there was a mess up last week when we were on the tour and now this one. Pretty soon we'll start getting into some serious trouble when things like this happen. Unfortunately the possibility is high now with two new people training. SPC Mick and the KATUSAs stayed back to setup for the meeting because PV2 Charlie and I had to make sure to come in on time tomorrow for the normal Wednesday morning meeting.

Once back in my room I hung out for a while, we were supposed to have an inspection…but nobody reminded our NCOIC…on purpose…lol. I ate dinner and watched a Hawaii Five-0. I worked on a Windows 7 SkillPort, then watched some more TV shows….NCIS & NCIS LA. I love that the new seasons have all started! My roommate wanted to order chicken, so I ended up going in on it with him and we had a late night snack as well. Hopefully I'll get to work out tomorrow…I just hope we get to leave work on time and there are no room inspections.

Status of my move: I don’t want to talk about it right now....

ROK SCJS - Day 113

Our sergeant presenting the ROK SCJS soldier with a plaque on his last day of work.

Work call is at 0730, I get up with plenty of time…but I find just moving is very difficult. I take a shower and shave, but I then have to lay down for a bit to rest. My head hurts, my throat is sore, my chest is sore, I've coughed so much I may be getting the abs of steel, my skin hurts, and I just feel fatigued. I'm not sure how I'm going to make it through the day today.

I get to work and luckily there is not much going on, I head to the control room and just sit and watch a little NBA. The lights are out and I just sit back and relax for a few hours. When I make it down to a computer in the office later on I find out that the exchange server is down. Without email not a lot can get done around here. I hear one of the officers yell "how can we fight a war without email?" LOL.

I took off with SPC Roy a little before lunch to order a plaque for a ROK SCJS soldier. (The ROK SCJS is our counterpart on the ROK side. We actually have connecting offices and interact with them quite a bit). We then stopped by the PX so I could restock on cough drops and other drugs. I got one for chest congestion and coughing, hoping it will help. Maybe in combination with my DayQuil and airborne they can work some magic. I also picked up some Korean ramen at the shoppette for my lunch. I figured soup would be a good choice. I didn't eat breakfast this morning or even dinner last night. In fact I haven't been eating much of anything since I've been sick.

My coughs are getting so violent they are starting to hurt. I'm half expecting blood or perhaps actual pieces of my lungs to start flying out of my mouth as I'm coughing. I almost threw up a few times after coughing so much….Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I have diarrhea too. If I'm still feeling this way tomorrow I'm going to have to go to sick call.

I headed back to work and helped setup a meeting, then had to rest for a while once again. I then went with SPC Roy to pick up his car from the shop and help him return the rental car. He kept asking me if I was OK enough to drive…I assured him I could do it (It's only a mile or so). After we finished we were able to pick up the finished plaque we ordered earlier in the day. We headed back to the office and I did a couple more SkillPorts (2 more down…one more before the end of the week)

We all had to stay after 1700 for an awards ceremony for the SCJS ROK soldier. This guy is a pretty cool guy who is always helpful. His two years is finally up and he will be leaving the army. He was given an award and a special plaque just to say thanks for his two years of great service.

When I got back to my room I laid down for an hour or so. My roommate came home and asked if I wanted some medicine. At this point I would have taken anything and when he handed me a little baggy with some Korean writing on it filled with about 7 different kinds of pills I took it and ate them all. I then laid back down and went to sleep again around 2000.