CIP Inspection - (Germany) Day 224

PT this morning was a run off post in civilian clothes for the normal guys and cardio workout in the gym for those of us on profile. I used the stationary bicycle for my workout…a good cardio workout with no impact. Speaking of PT…SGT Mex is back on the overweight club. He did pass his last test as I mentioned last week, but the first sergeant thought it was too much of a drop since their last measurement. So the first sergeant wanted to verify it last Friday and by that time I guess SGT Mex had gained a little of his width back. So he's back on the 2-a-day workouts and still flagged while on the program….bummer.

Work started off normal enough. My boss and his boss left for his promotion board. I had to attend a meeting with the platoon sergeant since I was the last person left in our section. I heard all about the various things coming up this week as well as all the paperwork that needs to get done. I'm shocked that everything is not digital…they still do so much by paperwork, even when some of the stuff is available digitally.

The inspector came for the CIP Inspection that we had been trying to prepare for all last week. I really didn't deal with him much other than saying "hi" when he came in. He spent the entire time in the vault with our CAM, and my boss once he came back from his promotion board. He is methodically going through all of our paperwork checking to make sure everything perfectly matches up to how it should be. I hear he'll be doing the same thing tomorrow and then checking out some of our accounts on Wednesday.

I then checked my email and surfed the web a bit. I also had to get all the paperwork together to submit my pass request for the end of the month, we're planning to head to England for the Labor Day 4-Day weekend. I think I had to submit a total of 6 items! I still get mad, but mostly I just shake my head at all the red tape and BS that has to be done to do anything.

I took lunch in my car, then had physical therapy afterwards…which is always nice. I was also told that I had to see the optometrist by my platoon sergeant. He said I was due for an "IME", but couldn't tell me what exactly what an "IME" was. I headed over to the optometrist, but they had no idea what I was talking about which didn't surprise me one bit. I headed back and told my platoon sergeant that I tried.

The rest of the day was surfing the web a bit and then cleaning up. We then inventoried a safe and left a little after 1700. Not much to mention about the evening other than we enjoyed some quality family time together which I cherish.

Another Day Same O'l BS - (Germany) Day 170

An odd sign I saw while driving in Heidelberg. Not sure what

it's promoting other than a standing 69???

This morning's PT was muscle failure. We went to the gym because there was a light rain coming down. The guy leading PT had everyone doing all kinds of crazy things like crab walks, bear walks, fireman carry...etc. The problem was that those of us on profile couldn't just go do our own PT such as riding a bicycle and getting a real workout. Instead we did whatever exercises we could. It turned out we did a lot of walking back and forth across the gym…pretty lame. I did try a few things and ended up tweaking my back…I'll be paying for that the rest of the day.

Work started at 0900 as usual and there were not enough open computers, so I ended up sitting in a chair staring at the wall drinking my coffee. At least when I'm at a computer I can read the news or do something to pass the time. Drinking coffee and looking at a wall just plain sucks…well I guess it could be worse, I could be staring at a wall without drinking coffee.

I finally jumped on a computer when SPC JayZ went out for a smoke break. That helped pass the time until I was called back into the vault to help check a spreadsheet. I had to verify all the information was the same on the computer as on the print out. By the time I was finished…it was lunch time. Time to get out of the office, eat in my car, listen to music, read my book, then take a nap. My new highlight of every day at the office.

After lunch we had new folders to move all our customer's paperwork to. Each of our customers has a folder and each folder has several tabs with various information all kept in a certain order. We had to transfer all the paper to new folders with new cover sheets. This is my job…my job as a 25B Information Technology Specialist. I don't even need a computer to work in this office.

I had to submit more paperwork for my pass request. I had to submit a copy of my current MedPros status. This shows a red or green light for all your medical conditions. I also had to submit my weekend checklist for this weekend. Some more paperwork that makes us feel like we're getting babysat. I have been using a generic phrase in the past just stating that I'll be spending time with my lovely wife in the greater Heidelberg area. Now I changed it to an even more generic statement saying I'll be spending time with my lovely wife within a 150 mile radius. You see, we have to stay within a 150 mile radius, or else we have to put in a pass. I have no idea yet what we'll be doing, so I figure this will cover it. I think I'll keep that as my statement from now on. We also had to have one of the NCOs come out and do an inspection of our cars because it's a 4 day weekend. They go down a checklist making sure your lights work, your flashers, and various other items. I'm 38 years old. I can handle checking my own car and if I end up having something wrong…it's on me. I can take responsibility for it. Instead we get treated like kids…and I just have to play the game and go along with it.

We left for the day after cleaning up. I picked up my wife and headed home for some quality time with my honey girl.

A Day of Frustration - (Germany) Day 169

This morning's PT was muscle failure in the gym. Those of us on profile did whatever exercises we could, and I can say that I was able to get a decent workout. Lots of squats and lunges, I'm sure my legs will be sore tomorrow!

This morning I didn't head to work, instead I headed to my basic motorcycle riding course. This course is required before I can get my motorcycle license here in Germany. I found where the class was located easy enough at the army airfield, and started talking to the contractor that runs the class. After a bit of conversation I found out that I could not take the class because I do not have a temporary motorcycle license yet. I was so pissed off I couldn't even see straight. I have been trying to schedule this class which is offered once a month for a few months now, but there is always something going on at work to make it so I can't go. This was the month..finally. I was told that I needed to attend this class and then take the completion certificate to the licensing office on post to get my motorcycle endorsement. We went in the office and made a call to the licensing office and they backed up the contractor and said I have to get the temporary license first. Now realize that I would have been driving their motorcycle on a closed course (the airfield) without going on any roads. Why do I need any license at all? The civilian working in the office agreed with me and said he's going to work to change that, but it doesn't do me any good at the moment. The contractor said he thinks the army doesn't like motorcycle riders and they try to put up as many road blocks as possible.

I headed to the licensing office and found out that I have to take one of their motorcycle safety courses and pass a written test before I can get my temporary license…and the kicker…they only offer the course once a month. It turns out that I can't attend this month's course on the 21st because of a work conflict (of course). So I was told to call in July to see when they are going to have that class. I was steaming mad at this point…I headed back home and changed into my uniform, then headed to work.

Once at work I submitted all the paperwork that is needed to go on pass. I've mentioned this earlier, just a bunch of red tape to get through in order to go on pass. I then took my lunch in my car…listened to some music, read my book and took a nap. Once back at work (and still in a bad mood), I found out that since on one of my passes I plan to drive, that I have to submit a trip plan. WTF? I'm not a 16 year old who has no clue how to drive around. It just seems that the army wants to play big brother a bit too much. Why do they need to know all this information? I'm a grown ass man and can take care of myself. If I want to go somewhere just let me tell you where I'm going and know that I'll have my cell phone on me. None of this extra paperwork solves any real issues.

So I have to go online to fill out this trip evaluation form and I'm getting more pissed off at each question that is asked. What time are you leaving? What kind of vehicle are you driving? A car…how many doors does it have? 4. What size of four door car is it that you drive? WTF? At this point I just want to punch the computer. How old are you? What sex are you? Shouldn't all this information be in your giant database? Shouldn't this all be on file when I log in? Will you be wearing a seatbelt? How long do you plan to sleep before your trip? Will you be drinking alcohol before your trip? I am going to go postal and just start destroying everything! I hate all the babysitting that is done in the army. Oh yes…later on this week we'll have to have our cars inspected by an NCO because I guess they can't trust us to check our own cars. Today it just all came to a head and I let it get to me. I used to think that when I get out of the army that I would want to work at a government job, but now I'm thinking I want to get as far away from this stupidity as possible.

As far as work goes, we received a box full of ComSec crap. Old paper based material that we will never give to anyone and it will sit in our safe until it's expiration date comes up, then we will destroy it. Since we had to put it in the safe, we had to take a full inventory of the safe because it was opened. Wouldn't you know that on the very first item I put a check mark on the wrong date…so after inventory was complete I had to type up a memorandum for record stating that this particular box was an accident. Paperwork is very important for ComSec and everything has to be perfect. It just wasn't my day.

I headed home and was going to relax, but I had to get together a vest, canteen, canteen cover and my beret to bring in tomorrow. Unfortunately I could not find my beret. Just the perfect end to a crappy day.

Electronics Mart - (Korea) Day 344

Unfortunately I couldn't get my iPhone out of my pocket fast enough to take a photo
of this. While at the electronics market there were two guys in business suits
riding together in an electric wheelchair...pretty funny!

Work call this morning was at 0700. We setup for a meeting in our conference room, but the meeting ended up getting pushed back an hour. We ended up coming in early for nothing, but no big deal. I was able to check my email and get a mocha from Starbucks, then watch a little TV. I then went to an awards ceremony with our NCOIC who actually came in from leave to attend the ceremony. One of her previous soldiers actually helped save the lives of people on a white water rafting trip while off duty. I wanted to go to show my support for this young man who did a pretty brave thing all in the middle of the rapids. I'm glad he and a couple others all received awards for this.

After the ceremony I headed to the company with my NCOIC to check on the status of my orders. The company hadn't heard anything, so a specialist came with us to battalion to check it out. When we checked it out in person I heard the same thing I've heard with every email…they are still waiting. My NCOIC stressed the importance of getting the orders and they said they would send through an email with the request. I'm still not holding my breath…nothing moves fast in the army.

After that I went to my room for lunch and video chat with my wife. When I headed back to the office I met up with my NCOIC and our new KATUSA. We all headed to the electronics market which is pretty close to IPark Mall which is not too far from the post. It is basically a few big buildings that are just full of various vendors selling electronics. Our NCOIC was trying to see if she could find a place that would fix her iMac. It looked like she threw it off the roof of her building! One guy we talked to with the help of our KATUSA translating looked at her computer and said "There is no answer for that" LOL. I tried finding a FireWire 800 cable so I could transfer the data from her iMac to her laptop, but even that was hard to find. I was able to find FireWire 400 to 800, but no 800 to 800 which is a little strange. We didn't look at a lot of places, so I may head back there over the 4-day weekend.

By the time we got back it was time to leave work, so I just headed to my room and took a nap. I then watched Hawaii Five-0 and did some schoolwork before heading to the gym. I arrived there at 1930 and it was still busy. They installed new mirrors all along the wall and I guess everyone wanted to look at themselves. It's a little frustrated trying to get a good workout when all the normal equipment I  use is taken. I was able to use alternative equipment and still get a decent workout. Maybe if I go late next time I'll start at 2000.

When I got back I watched an episode of Chuck before turning in.

Early Off - (Korea) Day 339

Fall is in the air...my walk back to work after my lunch break.
I think most of the trees in Seoul are located on Yongsan Army Garrison!

So today I woke up at 0430, shaved and put on my uniform…ready for room inspection at 0500. Our room was inspected by a female SFC this time. I stood and held the door open (because you can't have the door closed when there is a female in the room) while she walked around and told my roommate all the stuff that was dirty. She left and that was it. I don't even know what she was pointing at and I don't really care…just glad it didn't last too long.

Work call was 0630 this morning, we had to setup for a KUB in our conference room. Once finished setting up, I headed to Starbucks for a mocha, but I mixed it up a little with actual breakfast and got biscuits & gravy from the American Eatery in the food court. Ironically the American Eatery is run completely by Koreans just like every other shop in the food court.

Once back at work I ate up in the conference control room while watching TV. When it came time for the meeting to start I stayed there and flipped slides. Once it was finished we cleaned up and immediately setup for another meeting in our conference room. This time SPC Mick ran the computer and I hung out just in case somebody needed something. When the meeting was over we cleaned up and then headed out for lunch.

I went to my room as usual and video chatted with my wife. Back at the office I just watched some TV until 1400 when I drove our new KATUSA to the housing office. He needed to fill out some paperwork for his pending move to our barracks since he's still in the temporary barracks. Once our old KATUSA leaves, he's going to take his room.

When we got back it wasn't too long before our NCOIC called us down and told us to clean up and head out early. We left a little after 1500 which was pretty cool. I went to my room and changed for the gym, but decided to go eat first. I ran into PV2 Charlie and our new KATUSA and we all headed to the food court and shared a pizza. I then bought everyone some ice cream for dessert. I picked up some items from the PX and the shoppette before heading back to my room. In order to miss the gym rush hour I decided to watch an episode of Falling Skies, then do some schoolwork before heading to the gym. Once back I watched an NCIS: LA.

Status of my PCS move: I sent an email this morning to S1 asking for the status of my orders. I received a reply stating that "since my DEROS is in November, they will look into it for me". Well no crap I'm leaving in November, I've been trying to get everything in order for months now. The army moves at a snails pace. I also learned that the lady who is working on my packet is leaving and was told who is replacing her. This can either be a good thing or a bad thing, I guess time will tell.

More Frustration - (Korea) Day 318

Work call this morning was at 0645, we setup for a KUB in our conference room. After setup, I headed to Starbucks to get some coffee and a bagel for breakfast. I forgot to bring in my granola nut mix….grrrr. I guess I just wasn't quite awake when I left my room. When I got back to the office I had my breakfast and watched a little TV until the meeting started. After that I headed to my office and checked my email.

Once the meeting was over we cleaned up and then I worked with people in our office on getting them through the email pre-migration checklist. I then headed to my room for lunch and a little video chat. Unfortunately I got called back into the office before my lunch break was over, so it cut our video chat time a little short.

Back at the office I had to setup our conference room for an unexpected meeting. Donald Rumsfeld (the former secretary of defense under George W. Bush) was on post for a book signing and he had a little question and answer session with some of the officers in our building. I don't know too much about the guy, but I thought it was nice he stopped at the door and took time to shake my hand before heading in the conference room.

I then took our new KATUSA and PV2 Charlie to try and get a security card in order to access the secret conference room. What a nightmare! We've been trying to get them access for a couple weeks now and have been given the run-around. This time was no different, when I went down armed with memos for their badges I was told they don't have anything to do with it anymore. If anyone did help out from their office before, they were just being nice. I was a little frustrated and found myself called into the LTC's office along with one of their workers. I had to listen to this guy go on and on about how things have changed blah blah blah. The guy would not stop talking and all I could do was say "yes sir" and "no sir". What's worse is we left the place not knowing where to even go from this point on. Our NCOIC made some calls and now we have plans to go to another shop tomorrow. What a pain in the neck. When I got mine it was such a piece of cake.

By this point I'm already pretty frustrated and I had to head over to the company to drop off my levy packet. My NCOIC thought it would be a good idea if I turned in the actual paperwork as well as her email. This way we can make sure the documents don't just sit in someone's email box. Great…I thought the process was started, but it turns out I may still be at square one with this issue. On my way over to the company I ran into SPC Roy who wanted to take a look at my packet. He found a number of errors and offered to help. He does this kind of stuff all the time, but when I was gathering all my stuff together he was on leave. He straightened me out and told me all the extra forms I needed before turning in the packet. I'm thankful for his help, but I'm frustrated beyond belief at how little anyone is told here on how to do anything. I had no idea of all the different forms I needed in order for the packet not to get sent back for various reasons. The company only told me the bare minimum. One of the forms I needed was a leave form and it had to get signed and approved by my NCOIC. With any leave form you need to add your LES, PT Card, and Weapons card. I was able to get everything needed and ready to go by 1600, but by then everyone at the company is gone. I will have to turn it in tomorrow morning.

We cleaned up and everyone left around 1645. I stayed back for about an hour helping Special K study for the promotion board. By the time I got back to my room it was a little too late to work out. I did my schoolwork instead and then watched a Vampire Diaries and a CSI Miami. An end to a very frustrating day. I'm just so pissed that things can't be normal and easy in the army. Why do they have to make things difficult? How hard would it be to have things documented? There should be a clear concise procedure in order to get access cards to this place. Even more amazing is the issues with the levy packet. Why isn't there a website or a checklist somewhere that all soldiers must do at certain times before they leave. Instead we are left to fend for ourselves finding out little scraps of information from whoever will give it. We then have to try and find out what is good information and what is bad information. It's all pretty stupid!

Which leaves me to the status of my PCS: I'll turn in my "real" final packet tomorrow to the company and then who knows. I'm going to try and forget about it for a while after that. It's just too stressful.

Charlie - (Korea) Day 291

In my office SPC Mick takes a nap. He says his helmet makes a good pillow. This
is what happens when we have to come into work early...LOL!

Work call this morning was at 0630, which means we did not attend the company Friday PT that our NCOIC said we are going to do from now on starting last week….lol. We haven't done one yet, but "next Friday we will for sure!" Suits me fine, I think I get a better work out on my own. We had to open our conference room and turn the system on for a meeting that was going to go on all day long.

Once everything was good to go, I headed over to Starbucks to get a coffee. Whenever I have to go in early, I don't have time to brew my own. I then worked on some SkillPorts for a while and then had our colonel sign my new year's TA request, now my tuition assistance (TA) will recharge in October. I'm glad I got started on it right away, I was able to exhaust my entire fund for the year. I know a lot of people that always plan on taking classes while they are in the army, but just never start. By my calculations I should be done in about a year and some change. After my current class though I'm going to be studying for a new certification.

I just registered for a Windows 7 computing environment class. The class is being offered the last week of October. We have to finish up some SkillPorts relating to the class before then and after the class we will get a voucher to take the certification exam. So I'll be turning my attention to this after my current class is over on Tuesday. I can't pass up a free certification!

I spent some time trying to get through all the red tape that goes along with getting access to the network. SPC Mick's account expired for some reason and I've been in touch with the network folks trying to get his account back online. Turns out they thought his DEROS (the time he's leaving Korea) was up and expired his account. I sent them his paperwork, but since it was on an old form they wouldn't accept it..WTF? I had to get a new form filled out and then routed to a number of people in our office for approval. Each person such as a supervisor, the security admin, the Information Awareness Officer, and so on each have to receive the document electronically from me and digitally sign it. I repeat the process over and over until it has all the correct digital signatures on it and then send it to the network folks. I get a reply back saying they don't see the guy who signed as the security officer as "the security officer" in their system.

So…I'm getting a little pissed at this point. His stupid account should not have been turned off in the first place! I send the memo that states that this particular person is indeed our security officer. They reply back and state that I shouldn't send anything with social security numbers via email. I'm about to go nuts at this point. I take a black sharpie and mark out their social security numbers and then email it back to them. I'm then told the system they use to upload such memos to is down, but they will turn on SPC Mick's access through tomorrow night, then they are hoping to be able to upload the document and turn his account on for good. I can't believe all the crap, the red tape, the BS that has to go on just to get one simple thing done here.

I head to lunch and video chat with my wife in my room, then head back to the office and do some more SkillPorts. I call 1RC to check on our new guy and I'm informed that he's ready to be picked up. So me and our NCOIC take the car and head to 1RC. He has a pretty whacked name, so our NCOIC just says "I'm looking for…." and starts to just spell it out. Turns out he's a 25C, so I'll just call him PV2 Charlie. We pick him up and load his bags in the car. We take him to the company and grab the in-processing paperwork for the company. They tell us where the new housing office is located and we head off to find this building. We drive all over the place and end up going back to the company to get better directions. Finally we find it and it's actually in The Young Hawaiian's barracks. We were looking for a separate building. It turns out our barracks are full, so they set him up in newly remodeled barracks near 1RC. The specialist that set him up had us follow her in her car to the his barracks…only a small problem, she didn't know where they were. We drove around in circles for a while until she stopped and called her boss and then also asked some directions. Our NCOIC wasn't too thrilled. Finally we found the barracks. They have some pros and cons. He has a smaller room, but he has it all to himself. Everything is nice and new, but he has a community bathroom and showers. He can either stay there, or move to our barracks next week sometime when there are some openings. I think even with the community bathroom I would seriously consider staying there. A room to myself sounds very good!

We brought PV2 Charlie back to the office and introduced him to the few that were there and then I took him back to his room and dropped him off shortly before 1700 with instructions to have a safe weekend and show up at 0700 on Monday.

I headed to my room to find out that the maintenance guys came to look at the lights, but were unable to fix them. This doesn't surprise me at all because they are freakin' morons! I guess "The Light Guy" is down at CP Tango today and might be able to come and fix our lights this Tuesday. So I get to live in the dark until then.

I then headed to the PX for some supplies. I'm starting to feel sick. Whatever my NCOIC had this week, I'm starting to feel it. I was coughing last night before bed. I do not want to get sick! I picked up some Vitamin C, some NyQuil and some Excedrin. I ran into a guy that went to AIT with and we chatted in the aisle for about a half hour catching up. He's come a long way from that first day in our A+ class, he thought everything was magic…now he's actually fixing computers!

I headed to the food court, ate dinner, went to my room and did some schoolwork before watching some Breaking Bad and then taking some NyQuil before going to sleep.

A ROK soldier from our sister office in our conference control room taking a nap.

IT Kind of Day - (Korea) Day 290

Work call this morning was at 0830. We setup for a KUB in the top secret conference room and then I actually did some IT work. It was the first time I've felt like an IT guy for a while! SPC Mick's network account for some reason expired and I had to start the process to get his account back online with the help desk. Talk about a lot of red tape, what a pain in the butt. I then imaged a laptop in the office, ran updates on it and configured it. She Captain is going to move desks and start using it because she's having some issues with her computer…it's next on my list to image. I then had to put in another help desk ticket to have some items fixed in active directory that I don't have permission to. All in all it was probably the most time I've spent doing IT work all in one day.

Before lunch I had to drive our air force major to CIF so he could turn in all his equipment. He'll be leaving soon and this is part of his out-processing. Surprisingly it didn't take too long. Once we got back I headed to lunch in my room and video chatted with my wife for a bit

After lunch I did some more inventorying of equipment for our NCOIC, then I did a SkillPort. I also found out some depressing news:

"There are NO Waivers at this time with the STB-K…as the BN as a whole is over-strength with SPC" -From our First Sergeant

My NCOIC was checking into getting a waiver for me, so I could get promoted to Specialist in October. The earliest a PFC can get promoted is with 18 months time in service with a waiver. Unfortunately it has more to do with staffing levels, than the actual merits of the person trying to get the promotion and our battalion (STB-K - Special Troops Battalion - Korea) has too many specialists at the moment. So it looks like I'll remain a PFC for another 6 months and change until it happens automatically at the 2 year mark. It's still a bit of a bummer. When I first joined I just assumed I would get the waiver and the promotion at 18 months. I knew I wouldn't be getting into trouble and I am a good worker, but such is life…we move on.

We left at 1700 after cleaning up the office. Our NCOIC wasn't in the office today because she was sick, so there was no chance of us leaving early for PT. By the time I got back to my room I had lost my motivation to work out. I've still been battling headaches every day and I figured I would just rest up tonight. My roommate said the maintenance guys called him and he'll be dropping off his keys with them tomorrow so they can come fix our lights. It won't seem like we live in a cave anymore.

I did my schoolwork…I'm in the last week of this class! I then started season 3 of Breaking Bad and did a couple SkillPorts.

Frustration - (Korea) Day 277

Work call was at 0830. We setup for a meeting in the top secret conference room. We had one other meeting scheduled for the day, but it was cancelled. I went to my office and did the usual for a bit, check my email and start a SkillPort. I then gathered up my Levy paperwork and headed off to the company. I had a couple of questions on how to fill out one of the forms. I was about 10 steps from the company when I got a call. There was an emergency…our new captain didn't know how to make a distribution group in Outlook. OMG! I had to head straight back to the office and help her out.

Once that was done, I headed back to the company, which in turn sent me to our battalion S1 shop. It's frustrating because I first asked my NCOIC who then sent me to the company, who is now sending me to the S1 shop. It just seems as though nobody knows anything here. S1 was able to help me out…that is after I had to fill out the form over again. I had filled it out in blue ink, which is a "no go" I guess. A sergeant saw it and said "I hate to be an asshole, but that has to be filled out in black ink…we're not the air force!". I was already just a little frustrated, this didn't help…but I did it and then talked to a girl about the form. She filled out part of it and stamped it. I can now send the form for my wife's doctor to finish filling out.

I had a question about shipping my car to Germany, but I guess the person who deals with that was out of the office…so I have to come back after lunch. Speaking of lunch, when I got back to our office we got a call from our NCOIC asking where everyone was. We were all supposed to be a The Navy Club, but the only problem was that nobody told us. We all headed up there and had a little goodbye lunch/ceremony for our IMO in admin. She is leaving and received a PCS award as well as a big plaque. She is a good person and will be missed.

We then headed to our conference room for another ceremony. This ceremony was to hand out the Certificate of Achievements for our participation in the exercise. My NCOIC said she was going to try and get me and Special K Army Achievement Medals, because we did a lot of extra work…I guess that didn't work out. They used this opportunity to also recognize everyone who had birthdays. There were five of us and we all received cards. They also bought an ice cream cake which was a nice touch!

After the little party, I headed back to our S1 shop. I had them add my Certificate of Achievement to my ERB and also asked about my car being shipped to Germany. I was basically told that because I don't have one here in Korea and because I don't have one in storage, I can't have it moved right away. I will have to arrive in Germany and then put in the paperwork there. Sometimes I think the army can be pretty retarded. By this time I was totally fed up with all the paperwork and just the army in general. I headed back to my office and finished up the SkillPort I started.

We then headed down to clean up the office and found out the general scheduled a meeting on Monday. Monday is a holiday and everyone has it off. In fact it's actually a 4 day weekend because of this holiday. Why would someone schedule a meeting on a holiday. What is the purpose of a holiday if we have to work on it? I had already scheduled a trip with PFC Pickle on Monday and because of this I didn't have to come in, but everyone else does. They were all promised a compensation day off later on, but that is hard to believe…I've been promised that a lot for the times I've had to come in. I haven't seen any compensation yet. I don't trust half the things I hear from people in the army. I felt guilty for a second about not having to come in, but then I quickly pushed that guilt aside. I was already frustrated and this just pushed that frustration over the top. I headed to my room and changed, then went to The Point and took out my frustration on the weights.

I then did schoolwork and watched a TV show before going to bed. I'm going to enjoy my 4 day weekend now…all 4 days of it!

Pizza Day - (Korea) Day 200

SPC Kim and I were here cheering on SPC Mick who was leading a pack during
this morning's PT test. Unfortunately they do not close the road, so you do have
to dodge the occasional car (or bus) every now and then.

Work call this morning was 0500 (for all of us except SPC Mick, he had a PT test). We setup for the meeting in the top secret conference room. After that we left to go cheer SPC Mick on while doing his PT test. When we took our PT test it was quite a bit different. It was a special PT test for just the four of us taking it at the time. This was the normal company PT test, so there were a number of folks there to take the test. Everything was normal until the running portion. There were a ton of people with permanent profiles, so they didn't have to run. They had to walk instead…lol. They had to walk a certain amount in a certain time…pretty stupid. These were all the folks I see around post and wonder how they can pass their PT test, now I know how…just get a permanent profile.

On the opposite side of the spectrum I was so impressed with our master sergeant from our admin office. She maxed out her push-ups and sit-ups and got a 97 on her run. She's 50 years old and scored a 297! I couldn't believe it. I think my jaw dropped when I found out she did 50 push-ups! As for SPC Mick, he passed everything. He actually ended up with the same score that I got during my last test…a 224. It's decent, but I guess we both need a little work. Our new NCOIC said she wants everyone to score a 300 by our next PT test…and she was serious…lol. She just needs to solve the issue with scheduling PT and working around a lot of the crazy meetings we always seem to have.

Special K and I headed to Starbucks afterward to pick up some coffee and a bagel. We then headed back to the office and cleaned up from the early morning meeting before sitting down for a few and enjoying our coffee and breakfast. We then setup for a KUB in our conference room. This KUB was a little different than most because it consisted of a bunch of old US Korean war veterans.

Special K and I headed over to the S1 shop to get our ERBs updated. I had them add the total number of credit hours that were figured out from my transcript yesterday at the education center. I also had them add the Korean Defense Service Medal to mine. Now that I've served in Korea I can have that added, when I wear my dress uniform I'll have three ribbons to put on there. I guess I should go purchase the ribbon so I'll have it now.

We then took the office car and ran a couple errands before going to Pizza School off post to order 8 pizzas for our Friday pizza and movie ritual we have started. Our office, admin and supply all came to our conference room and Special K put in a movie called "The Tournament". The movie was OK, it's about a deadly tournament that takes place in a city between a number of assassins where the winner is the last one left alive. They are being watched at all times and people bet on the winner. There is a lot of blood and guts…just mindless entertainment. Surprisingly we weren't interrupted and we were able to watch the entire movie.

After the movie I went to our admin office to keep learning how to get someone setup in all the systems. I'm trying to get our new NCOIC all setup on our secret network. I figured I would learn better if I actually do it instead of watching someone do it. It's quite a process to get anything done. Lots of paperwork that needs to be signed by many individuals, when it's all finished we can submit it all to have the account actually setup.

We then cleaned up from a conference that was setup earlier in the secret conference room. I accidentally mistook CPT Hooah!'s almost empty can of Monster as trash and threw it away. He was looking all over for it and then finally asked us if we saw it…LOL. We then cleaned up the office and our NCOIC gave us the safety brief for the weekend. She also tells us she wants to have a "sit down" with each of us at some point next week. I wonder what that will involve???

I headed to my room and ate dinner (a microwaved pot pie) and then did my schoolwork before settling in for the night watching a few TV shows. I decided not to go out or do anything tonight since it's been a long day, I just want to get a good night's rest. I'm looking forward to the weekend!!!!

Weekend Wrap-Up (4-Day) - (Korea) Days 180-183

Looking up at part of Lotte World. There are a number of levels, the bottom has an
ice skating rink. On the very top there are "hot air balloons" where you can ride
around and see everything from the top down.

Saturday: I slept in until about 0900 and then did my weekly load of laundry and video chatted with my wife and kids. I also called my dad to make sure he was OK after all the tornadoes hit. I heard on the news that some touched down in Arkansas as well. He said the closest one was about 3 miles away from him and that everything has been fairly well for now. I also checked my LES and found that my separate rations finally went through. Paperwork that should have taken a week or two ended up taking 6 months. It also took me going back to the company on 4 separate occasions. Luckily I had backup copies of all the documents. I also sent numerous emails to the guy who I turned everything into the second time at our company. Finally I will not have money taken out of my check anymore, and I received back pay for the last 6 months. What a pain in the butt!!

I did some schoolwork until I got a call from the young hawaiian asking if I wanted to go to lunch at the KATUSA Snack Bar. We headed there and had a pretty good lunch (love that place…good food and it's cheap). We then walked to Itaewon and I did a little shopping. I was looking for souvenirs for family back home. I wish I had more cash, I could have spent a lot! There are so many odd shops and street vendors out selling pretty much everything you can think of and plenty of stuff you would never think of.

I then headed back to my room and started doing more homework. After a while SPC Roy came over and we went swimming. Unfortunately the hot tub was out of order, so it was only the pool with no relaxing ending. We then came back to the room to change and headed off to the Main Post Club here on post to eat dinner, have a few beers and play some pool. Pool wasn't cutting it and SPC Roy needed to scratch his ping pong itch. We headed over to the Moyer Rec Center and played ping pong for a while.

Once I got back to my room it was time for more schoolwork…will it ever end??? When I finished I watched "Bloodsport". It's a great old Jean-Claude Van Damme action movie that I hadn't seen in some time. It's about a guy who participates in the Kumite which is a full contact mixed martial arts tournament. (Kind of like an early version of the UFC, but with no rules). Ironically the bad guy in the movie is a South Korean. I also forgot the movie is based on the life story of an actual guy named Frank Dux. Pretty impressive!

The entrance to Itaewon. The place looks so different during the day!

A performance of dancers in Itaewon. I guess during the summer they
always have something going on here.

Sunday: I woke up around 0900 again and made a pit stop at Starbucks before heading to PFC Pickle's room to watch the UFC. So glad they play them for free here on AFN. It was a pretty good show with the main event of Rampage vs. Hamill. I've always been a Rampage fan after seeing him as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter. He cracks me up. He put on a good fight and beat up Hamill.

I headed back to my room and video chatted with my wife for a while before starting schoolwork once again. I then headed to the gym to work out. PFC Pickle and the young hawaiian met me there. We were going to play basketball, but they had setup the court for volleyball use…grrrrr. We decided to lift weights instead. While lifting weights a guy was in there who I in-processed with when I arrived here in Korea. He said he already found out where he'll be heading and ironically it's Ft. Lewis which is about 30 minutes from my hometown. I wonder when I'll find out where I'm going. I was told not to even ask until July 1st. I guess time will tell.

The young hawaiian wanted to go see The Hangover 2, so we all ate dinner and met up to head off post to the iPark Mall. Unfortunately when we arrived we found out it wasn't playing. I thought the young hawaiian had checked, but he just assumed it was playing. SPC Roy actually met up with us at the theatre and said "Plan B" was to go drink. So we headed to a nearby restaurant and ate some chicken and drank soju. We then headed to Itaewon only to find out my favorite bar (The Rock and Roll Bar) is closed on Sundays. We ended up in a very poor excuse of a bar called "Spy Basement". We were the only ones there and the waitress was very old, she couldn't get any of our drinks right. What's funny is two of us were only drinking beers. We played a few games of pool before heading to another bar where we had another couple of beers before calling it a night. PFC Pickle stayed the night in my room using my roommate's bed since he was gone for the weekend.

This is one bar in Itaewon that I do not want to visit...
although it may make for some interesting photos.

SPC Roy on the left and the young hawaiian on the right playing pool in "The Spy Basement"

Sometimes the bathrooms in Korea are fully functional, but they lack privacy.

Sometimes the bathrooms don't want you to put the toilet paper in the bowl...
then it gets a little stinky!

Monday: I woke up about 0830 and started to get ready. PFC Pickle and I then headed to the food court for lunch and headed our separate ways. SPC Roy rented a car and picked me up. We then headed to the office to pick up our KATUSA and SPC Mick who had to go in to turn everything on for a ROK meeting in our conference room. (This is the meeting that pissed me off a few days ago when I found out we had to come in on our days off…I get to go in tomorrow). We headed off to a theme park in the middle of Seoul called "Lotte World". The theme park is about half inside and half outside. It has a couple roller coasters, some water rides, some big drop rides as well as a number of other smaller rides. It kind of rips off Disney in a few areas…their main castle looks very similar to Disneyland's Cinderella Castle. All in all we had a good time. SPC Roy brought his young son and I helped him watch him which was fine because I had a bit of nausea. I believe this was caused by riding in the back seat on the way in (motion sickness), or too much soju last night. It was probably the combination of the two. I went on a few rides, but was happy just people watching and checking everything out…am I getting old??

When we left we headed to a Thai restaurant…that was until SPC Mick spotted a TGIF. I thought we should eat anything except American food while here, but SPC Mick was pretty excited about it. It turned out to be pretty good, and I was able to get some ice cream over a warm brownie so I can't complain. We then headed back and dropped off SPC Roy's baby. Once we were baby free we headed to have some more drinks. I actually didn't want to drink at all after last night, but I was out voted. We drank a huge pitcher of beer and or course there was more chicken ordered. (SPC Roy tells me Koreans do not drink unless they eat as well).

I got home late, but stayed up a while…..I had plenty of schoolwork waiting for me.

The trolly in Lotte World. Just like any other theme park, there are a number
of employees dressed up.

Looking down at part of the inside portion of Lotte World from the "hot air balloon " ride

Outside with me posing in front of the castle centerpiece.

Tuesday: I woke up around 0900 and video chatted with my wife. I was planning on going into work at 1000, but got a call from SPC Mick telling me I didn't need to go in until noon. I video chatted a while longer. It is my second anniversary today (well in the states, since I'm a day ahead it was actually yesterday for me). 2 anniversaries and I haven't seen my wife yet. I'm hoping the third time is a charm and I get to spend it with her.

I headed to work and opened the conference room up, then turned on the system. The meeting didn't actually start until 1300, so I actually sat around watching TV for an hour waiting for the ROKs to arrive. I could have come in around 1245 and had time to spare. Once they arrive and were good to go, I took off. I headed back to my room and had lunch while video chatting with my wife some more.

I headed to the PX and then to get a haircut, but the place was packed. Everyone decided they needed a haircut today. I left, I don't have time to sit around for that. The rest of the week they will always be at least one or two people just waiting to cut your hair as soon as you walk in the door. I headed back to my room and did some schoolwork.

SPC Roy came by and we went to the gym to play basketball. The gym was packed, so we decided to go to the bigger gym "Collier Field House". This gym is much bigger with the main court and side hoops as well. The only problem is that it's located across the post, so if I don't have a ride I never go there. We started shooting around and about a half hour later the young hawaiian came in with one of his co-workers. We ended up playing 2-on-2. They beat us pretty bad the first game. SPC Roy didn't want to play again, but I told him we needed to beat them! I got on fire and from then on it was over. I lit it up and there was nothing the young hawaiian could do to stop me. We beat them 11-2 (one point per basket). Of course we had to play one more game as a tie breaker and we beat them again pretty bad. It gave everyone a good workout and we left happy because we kicked some butt.

We celebrated by going to Pizza School and grabbing some pizza and eating in my room...an end to a pretty eventful weekend.

Vanishing Act - (Korea) Day 162

A pretty crappy photo (because I took it of the monitor in our control room) of the
ceremony for our colonel. Check out those flags...and how shiny the glass on the head
table is! Our control room is actually behind the screens in the background.

Work call this morning was at 0830, we setup for an awards ceremony for our colonel in our conference room. I arrived first and started the cleanup and setup of the conference room. I vacuumed and windexed the glass on the head table. I then moved all the flags to the center of the room and turned on the a/v system. By the time I finished that, SPC Mick was setting up the name tags for the seat reservations. The flags never stay straight so we have to rip pieces of paper towels and stuff them in the base to get them to all line up, it's a pain in the butt. When we finished I watched a little basketball until shortly before the ceremony when we had to head out to call stand by. Once that was finished I went back to watching the NBA playoffs.

I went to lunch with SPC Roy who wanted a salad. He's in the process of trying to lose weight and pass his PT test. So we went to the Dragon Hill Lodge and ate at their Mexican restaurant there. He had a salad and I had the lunch buffet. It was decent, but let me just say that Korean's can't do Mexican food very well. I'm really craving some good Mexican food.

After lunch our sergeant, Special K and I all headed over to STB-K (Special Troops Battalion - Korea…yes I'm special). This is where we go to get any paperwork updated. It has all the "S" shops for our battalion. We headed to S1 where our sergeant got a copy of his orders, Special K and I both had our ERB updated. We both had a number of correspondence hours from before 2011 that are not showing up on our ERB. We also gave them our certificates we received from the training exercise to have them add it as well. Each certificate is worth 5 promotion points with a maximum of 20 points. I'll get another one for the August exercise too. I then headed over to our company just for kicks to check on my separate rations. This is something that was put in as soon as I arrived here and it seems my packet has vanished in thin air. The specialist I asked about it said he was going to battalion at 1500 and would check on it. He made copies of all my paperwork and said that he’d get back to me via email by 1600 for sure. (Never heard from him again the rest of the day)

When we got back I watched some more NBA playoffs. Can I say holycow!!! The Oklahoma City vs Memphis game had 3 overtimes which was just crazy! I then did some real work and updated the events calendar, then worked on some SkillPort. Before I knew it, it was 1640 so I headed down to clean up the office and leave.

Once back in my barracks, I ate a small dinner and watched a TV show. I then checked in with school which is all I do on Tuesdays (gotta have a break once a week). I then watched a movie called Centurion. I had actually never heard of it before, but I borrowed it form my sergeant to check it out. It turned out to be pretty good. It reminded me of "The Eagle" which I watched in the theatre here on post. It's about the trouble the roman army had expanding into northern England. I thought "Centurion" was actually better than the "The Eagle" though. A small band of roman soldiers get stuck behind enemy lines after their ninth legion gets decimated. They try to make it back only to be hunted down by the enemy. Lots of blood and gore in the fight scenes. There is also something hot about chicks wielding swords and chopping people's heads off.

Overheard Quote: "Stickshifts and balls everywhere" (Special K describing working in our office which is all male)

Bad Mood - (Korea) Day 149

A statue in front of the 8th army building. Not sure what he is pointing at

Work call this morning was at 0800. I don't mind 0800 or 0830 because it gives me time to get up early and video chat with my wife. When I arrived to the office we setup for a couple of KUB meetings. One in our conference room and one in the top secret conference room. This had us a little busy at first since they overlapped. We did a little planning yesterday before we left and setup as much as possible in our conference room.

After flipping slides for a while in our conference room I had SPC Mick take over and I went down to our office to get the car and take off to get my passport. When looking for the keys I found out that Special K was driving our colonel around, but would be back shortly. I updated the events calendar and then started looking for my beret. WTF? I couldn't find it anywhere and I can't go outside without it on. After looking around the office and going back and forth to the conference room control room I finally found it. Sometimes it can be hard to see things during conferences because we turn off the lights in the control room for better projection on the screens.

I headed out to the US Embassy on post with all the documents I needed. I had my photos, my money order, my application,  a copy of my birth certificate and copies of the court documents for my name change. When I arrived I was told that I can't use copies. I told them all of the original paperwork was in storage, they didn't really care so I left empty handed. Looks like I will not be traveling to any other country while I'm here other than the US. This really pissed me off to no end. I'm so tired of nothing ever seeming to work out. It seems every time I try and have any paperwork processed in the army, there is always roadblocks or the paperwork simply vanishes. I'm so sick and tired of it. This wasn't necessarily the army, but it is just the same as I've been dealing with since joining. I have no faith in any paperwork the army has in it's possession. Each soldier is encouraged to make an "I love me" book. This book is used by the soldier for the sole purpose of keeping originals and copies of every single important document that they ever come across in the army. This is done because all too often paperwork gets lost. It's pretty sad that is the case. Anyway, let's move on…

Me and Special K headed off to check out a framing shop located in Iteawon (which looks so different in the day). They are cheaper than the one we use on post, but they are slower as well. (Our office also puts together a number of awards and such and frames are always being ordered). In this case like most of the time the frames were needed right away. We ended up getting them from the arts and crafts store on post which would have them all ready tomorrow after lunch.

Speaking of lunch we met up with SPC Roy and ate at the food court. We got caught up on all the gossip and then headed back to work. We cleaned up the conference rooms, then I did a little SkillPort before watching a little NBA. We then got ready to head over to the 8th army building to setup for a conference there. Before we headed out CPT Hooah! looks at SPC Mick and states "you're going to get that fade before Monday right?". He was talking about getting the hair cut shorter on the sides and have it fade up to the longer hair. The first time he mentioned this I thought he was joking because like me SPC Mick shaves his head once a month. Currently it's still pretty short, but I guess not short enough for CPT Hooah!. That means I'm going to have to cut my hair every two weeks so he doesn't say anything to me. Just another annoyance to deal with.

We made it over to the conference room and had everything setup, then minutes before the meeting they want to move people around. Then they want to add people and remove others. WTF? We come over with pre-printed labels, it's not like I can shit one out for them. Sometimes people can be so stupid. We headed back and our sergeant gathered us all together go go over the schedule. I guess we are going to do some weapons training tomorrow to get ready for the range which is scheduled for next week. Also our PT test has been rescheduled for May 12th. That will be good because once I get both of those done, I can put in for leave.

After work I headed to my room and had some trail mix for dinner. I may be turning into a squirrel. I watched some TV shows and then logged on to do some schoolwork only to find out that my new class doesn't start until next week…cool I get a little vacation.

Itaewon in the day looks much different

In the 8th army building...You are not the exception!!

mom

The title of this one suits the writing. Sounds like you are getting just a little frustrating. Sorry, wish I could help. This one also was a pain copying. Had to copy and paste most of it and could not print any of the pictures except the top one of the statue. The top one always seems to print fine. love you

Thursday, April 28, 2011 - 02:10 AM

Brandon

So much for trying to be creative.

Thursday, April 28, 2011 - 10:04 PM

Honor Guard - (Korea) Day 107

Just a photo I took of my desk and office area in the conference control room.

Work call this morning was at 0830 (normal time) and I actually went in at 0830 which was nice. I had a good sleep and actually felt pretty good before going to work. I had a chance to video chat with my wife for a bit which is always nice. We've been trying to figure out how to use the Patriot Express (Space-A Travel from Seattle to Korea) so she can come over with the kids for free and visit. It's been nothing except a very frustrating experience. There is an official memo from USFK that states that soldiers that are unaccompanied in Korea can have their family come once a year via the Patriot Express. The problem is that nobody seems to know what I need to do in order to make this happen. Everyone I talk to has no idea, or they make something up…or pass me off to another person who doesn't have any answers. I feel like pulling my hair out.

I went to work today and found out that the honor guard is doing a post-wide exercise. All the bridges over "shit creek" which I have to cross were guarded by soldiers in full battle rattle…no crossing. I had to walk around the block just to get to work. They also shut down all the gates except for two. It caused massive backups outside the gates and made SPC Roy and Special K's commute last 1 1/2 hours instead of 20 minutes or so. They randomly selected cars to search and people to search when they were coming in. There were Humvees everywhere and even sandbags setup with big machine guns posted. I had to show my ID just to get to work.

When I did get to work there wasn't a whole lot to do, so I started SkillPort again. Later on we went to the TMP and "checked out" our car for another week. We then played basketball again for lunch. This time we had a few more people from the office and our sister office come play. We played three on three. I was still pretty sore from yesterday and by the time we finished I thought I was going to die. My legs were like jello and my entire body was sore. It was a great workout, but I'm not sure if I can do this everyday.

After basketball I went back to my room with SPC Roy and took a shower, then we left and had lunch. We then went to our battalion headquarters and updated some paperwork we received an email about. I went to try and pick up my packet for BAS which I was told was denied. There is no sign of it. Sometimes I think the army just tries to make everything so difficult when it comes to getting money or a benefit so people just give up. My sergeant is going to go with me to the finance office tomorrow with the copies of all my BAS paperwork and try and get everything straightened out. There is still a small chance that I may get it, but I'm not holding my breath. I'm sure when we get there, they will tell us we need another paper signed by 5 different colonels and a general before they can do anything.

We then cleaned up from the one meeting that we had today. It was in the top secret conference room and while we were waiting for an escort, we chatted with the honor guard on duty at the desk. I hear they get in trouble all the time. SPC Roy asked if they had live rounds yet for the exercise and he said no. Then I heard the story about why they are not allowed to use live rounds anymore. I guess one of the guards was playing around with his pistol and accidentally shot himself in his foot. If that wasn't bad enough, he then shot himself in his leg. WTF? Since then there have been no live rounds given to the honor guard. I guess there are a ton of other crazy stories that these guys do, but I think this one tops them all.

After cleanup of the conference room we did a deep cleaning of the office…vacuum, dust everything etc. When we finished it was time to go. I swung by the PX and picked up a few supplies, then headed to my room to do a little schoolwork and then relax and watch a movie. Tonight's movie….The Road Warrior. The sequel to Mad Max which I watched the other day. It's an old movie, but still pretty good. It's definitely better than Mad Max. It has Mel Gibson again driving his muscle car in the future where fuel is hard to come by and he has to scavenge to survive. Lots of fast cars plus some blood and guts. Still a pretty good flick after all these years.

Finally Friday - (Korea) Day 87

An odd sign on the way to CP Tango...I guess they don't like electric cars here in Korea

Work call this morning was at 0700. We didn't setup for a meeting like we have been the last few days. This morning we just made sure all the augmentees were ready and then headed out a little earlier than normal. We left in two groups again, but were told we can't use the bus lane. When we arrived to the freeway and saw how bad traffic was we immediately got a call on our walkie-talkie stating that we would indeed be using the bus lane. The traffic in Korea is just crazy. It's so busy all the time and if we didn't use the bus lane, then it would have taken us hours to get to CP Tango. Our convoy made it to the bus lane which is the only lane that really moves. We had four vans in our group and this trip went without any issues.

When we arrived at CP Tango the augmentees practiced driving down the tunnels into the mountain and simulated a pickup or drop off. Once our sergeant was satisfied we headed off to K-16 for lunch. After lunch we headed back to the office. SPC Roy and I took our office car to the TMP to have it "checked-out" to us again for the week. This time he had me do everything to make sure I could do it all. It's basically just gassing it up, washing it, then having an inspector sign off on it. After that we get a new weeks worth of paperwork and we're good to go. SPC Roy was in a hurry and was hounding me the entire time while I was driving. He's Korean and has driven too long in Korea I think. He wanted me to speed on post, run red lights, honk my horn. He was going nuts!

When we got back to the office the MPs were all over the parking lot towing cars and putting boots on cars that were all illegally parked. Some folks are going to be in for a surprise because people have been parking all over the place. I then headed over to the company with my financial paperwork because I'm still getting charged for food. When I got there I found out that my separate rations was being denied. This is paperwork that has been going back and forth since I got here and now I guess they are not allowing hardly any to go through. This really sucks because if they would have done it right in the first place I would have almost an extra $300 a month, now I'm just screwed. Because of the hours of my job I hardly have time to make it to the DFAC to eat. In fact I've only eaten there once since I arrived here and that was back when I was in reception.

I headed back to the office to clean up and pack up supplies for the exercise. I got back to the barracks after 1800, so no video chatting with my wife…grrrr. Then later on I get a call telling me I may have to work on Sunday WTF? I'm beginning not to care for this exercise too much. At least I get to sleep in now...well after I do some school work.

Lost in the Shuffle - (Korea) Day 64

A random photo outside of my barracks. 
The smoking area (the smoke pit) has a Korean theme to it.

I got up for PT this morning. Nobody could tell me where we were forming up at once again, so I had to guess. I got up at 0500 and got ready giving me plenty of time to shave and get dressed, then figure out where formation was going to be. When I looked outside the barracks I saw a car idling, this made me think that the formation would be outside the barracks. There are usually about 4 or 5 cars that arrive to the formation (I think they are sergeants who drive from off post or something). I waited inside the barracks for a while until I had to go out in the cold and form up. We formed up and because of the Korean holiday for lunar new year all the KATUSAs (and ROK army) have most of the week off. They make up about 95% of our formation. After we formed up, the sergeant in charge dismissed us and said we could do our own PT. I went to my room and took a nice long hot shower. I could have slept in, there wasn't even anyone from my office there.

Work call this morning was at 0800. I had to flip slides and such for the meeting. After it was over we cleaned up and that was all that was on the schedule for the day. I was able to finish a SkillPort and some schoolwork. I also spent a long time with my sergeant at our company. Paperwork had been turned in back in December to get me on separate rations so meal deductions wouldn't be taken out of my paycheck. Because of our schedules we can't make it to the DFAC a lot of times. What a mess! It took the HR worker at the front desk (who was actually very helpful) a lot of research and phone calls to finance to see what was going on. Turns out everything was approved and sent to finance, but they sent it back to the wrong company…and there it sat, and would have sat forever I guess. The whole while I still get meals deducted from my paycheck for the DFAC that I don't use. It's almost $300, so I wanted to get this taken care of. I'll find out more tomorrow on the status of it, I can't believe what a mess this place is with paperwork. One the plus side I have copies now of all my paperwork, so the process should get put through soon. I've learned when you find something wrong with your financials or your paperwork, it's up to you to follow through and keep after it until it gets resolved. (I did check on this last month when I saw it taken out of my paycheck, but was told it should be fixed by the next paycheck…things don't fix themselves I guess)

Had to go to a CQ briefing at the company. I have CQ this Friday. I’m not too excited about that. I have a 24 hour shift starting at 0900 on Friday morning until 0900 the following Saturday. We were basically told to make sure we are at the CQ desk and to keep the place clean. Shouldn’t be too hard since all the KATUSAs are gone for the holiday.

After work I came back to the barracks and video chatted with my wife for a bit, then watched some shows. I was so tired I kept falling asleep in my chair. I hope it doesn't ruin my sleep tonight.