A Wee Bit O' Garbage - (Germany) Day 468

Where most of our platoon is today...a picture I took while we were paintballing 

the other day. The paintball course is next to the range where we qualify with our rifle

This morning we formed up for PT at Campbell gym in civilian clothes. There were only 6 of us total because everyone else was headed to the range and then the gas chamber. I think they were planning to do a run off post, but instead the platoon sergeant had everyone just do their own thing in the gym. I had a great workout with the weight machines.

I headed into my office and checked my email. I got a call from the AIC supervisor (the garbage man) because my number is the only one he has saved in his phone. He asked if I could check and see if anyone is coming out today, but said he did almost everything yesterday…only the TMPs would need to be dispatched and about 6 garbage cans checked on the two outer posts. I told him I'd take care of it. The chaplain is out on leave and I didn't have anything better to do.

First I spent some time doing schoolwork and then went around and took down the paintball flyers. I stopped by the ComSec office to check on the status of my leave request…our CAM said she would check on it. I then headed out early for lunch at about 1100 and stopped by guest lodging to reserve a room for when we final out of housing. Interestingly enough, the guy there said I have to email the request…they don't do reservations in person. So I'll do that tomorrow, again...I'd like to try and get as much done as possible before I go on leave.

I had lunch at my house, changed into civilians, then headed over to the AIC office and drove one of the TMPs to the dispatch office. I turned in the paperwork for both TMPs and received new paperwork, so they are good to go for a couple more weeks. I filled it up with gas, then changed out 3 garbage cans on this particular post. I then drove over to the shopping center and changed out 4 more cans. I drove back to the AIC office and unloaded all the trash and then drove the other TMP to fill it up. I finished up about 1500 and called it a day and went home.

Garbage Man (Reprise) - (Germany) Day 453

This morning for PT we formed up at Campbell gym in civilian clothes. Those not on profile headed off post for a run, while those of us on profile stayed in the gym to workout. I rode the stationary bike for a pretty good cardio workout.

I headed into work and shortly after arriving, I got a call asking if I could do the post cleanup detail today. I checked with the chaplain and he said there was nothing pressing for me today. He doesn't like having me gone the entire day for post cleanup, but because the rest of the company is doing training…it only left me.

I thought I was done playing garbage man…I thought wrong. I had planned on doing some stuff to prepare for out-processing today, but I'll have to put that off until tomorrow. I headed home and changed into civilian clothes. Nothing worse than carrying around a garbage bag and worrying about saluting or taking my hat on or off. I worked with a guy from the dental clinic that I've done post cleanup with a few times before. This time he showed up and didn't have any rank on. It turns out he got into some sort of trouble and was demoted to E-1. He is also getting chaptered out of the army. I didn't press to find out exactly what was going on, because he was still in a little shock about the whole ordeal and didn't seem like he wanted to talk about it too much.

So we did our garbage cleanup around post, I had lunch with my wife and bought lunch for the dental soldier with me (his bank accounts are currently frozen because of whatever trouble he got in). We finished up early at about 1300 and I headed home for the rest of the day.

The longer I'm here the more I dislike the army. While I really don't mind helping out the chaplain, I have a lot of time where I'm doing nothing…which is similar to my job working in the ComSec office. I also actually don't mind pretending to be a garbage man. I get to wear civilian clothes and I get done early and go home. The army just doesn't use it's resources very well. If it were a business, it would have gone out of business a long time ago. I was trained to do a particular job for the army. I actually came in with many years of experience to do this particular job. I have a number of certifications in the field of this job. I graduated at the top of my AIT class for this job. I broke the schoolhouse record when getting my security+ certification for this job. Then the entire time I've been in the army, I don't do the job. It happens to soldiers all the freakin' time. An entire half of the ComSec office (the maintenance side) has been shut down for half a year. They do not do anymore maintenance on ComSec equipment at all, so the soldiers just sit around watching YouTube all day. It would be the equivalent of a large hospital spending a large amount of money recruiting experienced surgeons only to have them sit around and do nothing, or perhaps teach classes on construction management (something totally different than what they are hired for). I really can't wait to get back into normal life as a civilian.

Garbage Day - (Germany) Day 432

This morning I arrived to PT at Campbell gym only to find out that there was a miscommunication and I do not have a PT test this morning. That was only for SPC JayZ who has to do one as a prerequisite to WLC. The normal folks went for a run off post in civilian clothes, while the profiles worked out in the gym. I rode the stationary bicycle and had a moderate workout. I didn't bring my headphones because I thought I was going to be taking a PT test…so I just couldn't get motivated on my bike.
It's Monday and that means garbage day. I met up with the supervisor and went over everything he wanted done. I started out by myself, but after about a half hour PFC Ski from the ComSec office showed up and joined me. With his help we were able to get quite a bit done pretty quickly. I had lunch with my wife and then finished up the regular garbage detail. Special duties today included taking down some advertising that some locals put up on the outside of one of the post fences (not allowed), and driving around the modified golf cart doing a police call around some fields. We finished up around 1430 and I headed home to rest a bit. I got a call from my medboard liaison here and she told me I will be heading to Ft. Lewis and will report on July 9th. This is good news and relieves a lot of stress from my shoulders. I will now be able to see my kids, my family and my friends back at home while I'm going through the medboard process.

I picked up my wife from work and then headed into town to meet up with a classmate from high school. It's crazy, but a person from my small town high school now lives and works in Heidelberg. We met up for dinner and chatted about how he ended up here…pretty crazy.

White Monday - (Germany) Day 425

This morning PT was at the middle school track here on PHV, but during the night it snowed and ruined the leaders plans of running around this morning. After everyone arrived, the platoon sergeant told everyone to head to the gym and do their own workout. I headed over, hopped on a stationary bike, and proceeded to do my cardio while watching some college hoop on the TV.

Work this morning was garbage as usual for my Mondays. A slight twist came when the supervisor called me and said he was sick. I had to drive to his house to get the key to his office in order to get the keys to the TMPs. I think he caught the same thing my wife has had. A guy from the dental office was there to help and we did our usual thing…play garbage man for the day. I had lunch with my wife and then later on right when I was about to finish for the day, I got a call from the WTU (Warrior Transition Unit) briefer here in Heidelberg. She wants me and my wife to come by tomorrow for a briefing. I heard this is the one where we request an actual WTU location. I'm sure we'll get a lot more information as well. I would just like to know a date that we'll be leaving so I can plan accordingly.

Flying Solo - (Germany) Day 419

This morning we had PT in the Campbell gym. I participated as much as my profile would allow. We did the standard army PRT drills along with push-up and sit-up drills. I then headed home and got ready for my day as a garbage man once again. Even though it's a Tuesday, it's still the first work day of the week (because of the holiday weekend) and this means that it's garbage day for me. I arrived and chatted with the supervisor for a bit while we were waiting for the other person to show up. After a few emails and calls we found out there will not be anyone else, I'll be flying solo on today's garbage journey. That is fine with me, I took off in one of the flatbed TMPs and started my rounds changing out all the garbage cans. Not a glamorous job, but I get to wear civilian clothes and it passes the time.

I ate lunch with my wife at the food court and then started checking around the post for bulk trash. The city comes each Monday to pick up stuff, but people are constantly putting out bulk items. They just leave them by the curb and wait for someone to pick them up…that someone is me if the city doesn't come and do it. It's amazing what people throw away…we really are a "throw away" society now. People are moving and just want to get rid of stuff. I ended up having to get the supervisor to help me out a bit on the last load because the stuff was just too big for just me to handle…stuff like couches, tables and big chairs…all in perfectly good condition. There are other things too that drive me nuts, like people that just don't want to walk all the way to the garbage or recycle area for their building and instead just lay it all out at the end of their building for "someone" to come and magically pick it up.

I then drove the little golf cart around with a long "pincher" I used to pick up random garbage that people leave everywhere. I always thought that a military base would have the cleanest people of any neighborhood, but I've long since thrown that crazy thought from my head. Military families are messy and just throw their garbage all over the place…they know someone will be around to pick up after them eventually. It makes me sick.

I finished up around 1500 and took it easy at home until it was time to pick up my wife. I also ended up getting a call from the medboard folks, they sent me an email last Friday and need me to respond to it. I let them know because of the holiday I haven't been in the office. Also because I'm a garbage man today, I will not be checking my email. I assured them I'll have it done first thing tomorrow. I want it done as soon as possible as well, I want this ball rolling.

A Hard Day's Work - (Germany) Day 411

This morning we had PT at the middle school track on PHV. It was 27 degrees outside, and it felt even colder with the icy wind blowing. Even though we had our full winter PT uniform on, the cold wind cut like a chainsaw through butter. Standing in formation I couldn't stop shaking. This is just too cold to do PT outside. They had planned on doing 60/120s on the track, but there was still too much snow and ice. Plan B was to just run around the streets of PHV, while those of us on profile headed to the gym. I can't complain about that, I felt sorry for everyone else. The platoon sergeant said I've been on profile too long and they need to hurry up and fix me. I let him know I'm heading to the neurologist tomorrow and I'll have more information. Sometimes you can't just flip a switch and make everything OK…I wish it were that simple. My hope is that they will just release me from the army, nothing they have done or tried has helped with my symptoms.  As for today…I rode my stationary bike for my cardio workout in the warm gym with my iPhone playing music into my ears.

Today is Monday…and that means I'm a garbage man again. The difference is that I wore civilian clothes to the job, which was more comfortable and less stressful. I didn't have to stay on the lookout to make sure I don't miss a salute, I can wear my hat anywhere I want, and I can talk or text on the phone if needed while I'm on the move…not like I needed to do that, but I could if I wanted to. The day went pretty normal at first, me and another worker from the dentist office went around and changed all the garbage bags around post. I had lunch with my wife at the food court, then we headed back and picked up some of the bulk items that were left out. We then took the golf cart out for a spin to pick up any trash we saw just laying around. This part was actually pretty fun, because I drove the cart like I drive any golf cart…fast and wild.

The surprise came when we found out that we had to pick up all the bags of recyclable material and other various bags of garbage that were left out in officer housing. It seems that the city will not be by for a while to pick up their garbage and they were afraid the birds may start getting into the bags and spreading the garbage. We ended up taking four large truck loads…loading them and unloading them. It sucked and I ended up pretty tired by the end of the day. My back is sore and I'm ready to lay down and crash…but I had to do a few important things first like pick up my wife, eat dinner, do schoolwork. Another day is over and I'm one day closer to getting out.

Garbage Trio - (Germany) Day 404

This morning I took my wife to work, then headed to my shift as garbage man. To my surprise there were three of us. There was a person from the dental office as usual, but there is also another woman who is getting kicked out of the army. So she is now doing the AIC detail (post cleanup…garbage man) on a daily basis. This made cleanup go very fast, the other two took the truck and I took the modified golf cart. They hit all the major garbage cans and the big stuff, and I hit all the playgrounds and also just drove around looking for miscellaneous trash along the roads. I was surprised how many little playgrounds there are here on PHV. You get a different view when driving the golf cart around behind buildings and such, I ran into at least 3 playgrounds that I didn't even know existed. There wasn't too much garbage around because it's still pretty cold for kiddos to be playing around, but there were plenty of little bags full of dog poop in the garbage cans…people still have to walk their dogs around.

I finished up about 1130 and then met my wife for lunch after changing into civilian clothes. The supervisor said from now on I can just wear civilian clothes every Monday when I'm pretending to be a garbage man. This is nice because I can wear hats that cover my ears to keep them warm, I can also dress comfortably and I don't have to worry about saluting officers…I can just do my job. I headed home after lunch and did schoolwork. The supervisor said he'd call me if he needed anything else done.

After some schoolwork after a quick nap, I started coordinating this weekend with some folks from work. We want to check out the carnival festivities in Köln. While chatting with SGT Mex he said our CAM is still waiting on all my mandatory online training…I told him I was picking up garbage all day. I wish they would actually give me some time once I actually have access to a computer. I also heard that my orders are already in, so I'll have to swing by there tomorrow and pick them up. I should then have a time frame of when I'll be moving to Wiesbaden…then I can kind of plan out my summer.

Ho Hum - (Germany) Day 397

This morning I headed into my office and started the usual…sitting in my chair and reading from my iPad. I usually do this until the chaplain comes in and then we discuss any plans that he has for me. As I was sitting there reading away I got a call from my boss at about 0900 and tells me I have AIC detail today…post cleanup (sanitation engineer…garbage man). At first I was a little annoyed, not because I have to play garbage man for a day but because the report time is 0900 and I am just now getting told. So I lock up and head off to my house. I head home first because I need to change into my older uniform and add my army issued "long johns" underneath. It's still a little cold out there and I want to be as comfortable as possible.

I arrived to the AIC detail and met up with the other guy from a different unit that was there to help. We drove a little golf cart that has a miniature truck bed in the back to check out the various garbage cans around post. One of our special missions today was to get the ice out of several garbage cans located near the single soldier barracks. A number of these garbage cans had little or no garbage, but they did have a bunch of water that had frozen into a big block of ice at the bottom of the bag. We had to dump out the block of ice and replace the bag in those. We also had to walk around several areas and pick up garbage that people just throw out. You would think that people on an army base would be cleaner, but I think it's the opposite. People just throw trash anywhere because they know someone will be around to pick up after them.

We had to dispatch both TMPs as well, so we took one to the dispatch center shortly before lunch. Dispatching a TMP just involves taking in the paperwork that is filled out each time a person drives it into the TMP office. The TMP office checks your TMP license and then prints off new paperwork for you to keep in the vehicle. Once this was done I met up with my wife for lunch at the food court.

After lunch we took the other TMP and dispatched it as well. We then finished up another "special mission" which was to take a couple boxes of FOUO (For Official Use Only) paperwork from an office. We transported it to a big locked dumpster used only for this paperwork. This paperwork can't be thrown away and needs to be destroyed…I guess this particular office doesn't own a shredder. When we got back we had to pick up a little more garbage in an area we missed earlier…more cleaning up after messy people…whatever.

The day actually lasted quite a while, by the time we finished it was almost 1600…normal quitting time. One of the perks of doing the AIC detail is that we just go home afterwards, but that wasn't much of a perk today. I picked up my wife from work and we headed home after swinging by the commissary. I have a feeling that I can't really shake lately. A while ago I was very frustrated almost everyday and it seemed that all the stupid little things would always get to me. Then the whole incident with the command and my blog all came up and I was stressed out beyond belief every single day. Now I'm to the point where I don't care. I don't seem to have much emotion at all about anything that's going on. It's a strange feeling…and I'm not sure what to do about it…or even if I should worry about it at all.

Sanitation Engineer - (Germany) Day 383

This morning I headed into my office and started reading my school textbook, but after about 15 minutes one of the local nationals that works in the same building came in and told me I had to come to the conference room. It was one of the contractor's birthday and they had brought in breakfast. I wasn't hungry because I just ate, but they wouldn't take no for an answer. So I sat there, ate, and chatted with them for a while. Actually it turned out to be for about an hour before I headed back to my office to continue my schoolwork. I just finished reading the chapter when my boss called and told me I had AIC detail. This was a little late notice, but I wasn't too worried. I called the AIC office and told them I am on my way.

I headed home and changed. It was snowing out, so I wanted to make sure I was dressed appropriately since I was going to be out in it playing "garbage man" for the day. I put on the army issued long johns, my older "dirty" boots, and my rain jacket. Once I was ready to brave the elements, I headed out and met up with my helper, an E-2 that works in the dental clinic. I've actually done AIC detail with him once before. We took the modified golf cart out first. This little golf cart has a miniature truck bed in the back where we can put garbage bags we pick up, it can also drive all over the place…so we are able to get up right next to each garbage can to see if it needs to be changed.

We finished up and then dumped the bags we accumulated into the large dumpster. We then took one of the larger TMP trucks and had to go around the officer's quarters and pick up all their old Christmas trees that were laying out. We filled up the entire bed of the truck with old Christmas trees and headed back to the recycling center to drop them off. I have to remind you that the recycling center here on post has huge bins for pretty much everything you can imagine from freezers to plastics and of course wood…where all the old trees ended up.

We then headed over to another small post "Patton Barracks" and checked the few garbage cans there as well as the shopping center located just a couple of minutes away. We broke for lunch where I met my wife in the food court. After this we dispatched the TMPs and headed home, we were done for the day…or so I thought. It was about 1400 when the guy in charge of AIC called my cell phone. It turns out that for some reason some folks at the very edge of post put out a bunch of garbage bags and lined them up right outside of their garbage bin. Why they didn't put them inside, I have no idea. Since it's an eyesore, the AIC boss asked if I could take the TMP and take care of them. Since I had already changed out of my uniform, he said I could just do it in civilian clothes. No problem…15 minutes later everything was taken care of and I was actually done for the day.