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.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Monday, February 18, 2013
Weekend Wrap-Up (President's Day) - (Germany) Day 415 - 418
Normally I break the weekend down each day, but I think I may start doing just an actual "wrap-up" for each weekend. This was a four day weekend and my wife's cousin and her daughter came to visit us from England. They flew in on Friday and we had a great time visiting with them. My wife's cousin has lived in Germany at various points in her life. She had her middle school years here while living with her parents who where stationed here in the army. Her husband is in the air force (currently deployed) and they were stationed in Germany again. Since her cousin has seen a lot of Germany already, there wasn't anywhere special she wanted to see…except Patch Barracks down near Stuttgart. She wanted to see her old stomping grounds where she spent some of her childhood. We made the drive Saturday and when we arrived she said it was like stepping back in time…not much has changed on the post at all. She got out at a few places and took some photos telling us stories the entire time.
We then headed to downtown Stuttgart and I accompanied the girls while they checked out all the shopping. Stuttgart has quite a bit of shopping with many big name stores. I took advantage of grabbing an iTunes gift card while I was out on the local economy. Since I've lived here for a while, I hear a lot of German music on the radio. I want to buy it on iTunes, but a lot of it is not available in the US Store. With a German iTunes gift card, I was able to create a German apple ID and then fund the account with Euros from the gift card. After that I was able to download the music I've been wanting. It's a bit of a pain, but I now have two accounts that I can use to purchase from both the US and German iTunes store. Once the songs are downloaded they play seamlessly on my iPhone and AppleTV.
The rest of the weekend was a lot of hanging out and visiting. The girls went out and got their hair cut and just had a great time being able to hang out all weekend long. Unfortunately both my wife's cousin and her daughter started getting sick during the final part of their stay. This cut short some plans to check out some sites, but I think all in all everyone enjoyed themselves. It was nice spending time with family.
Driving on the autobahn...fog and snow today
Whenever there is a wreck on the autobahn, backups (stau) can be extremely
long and take forever to get going again...when you gotta go, you gotta go!
We finally found out what was causing the long backup on the autobahn!
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Another Day…Another Sergeant's Time Training - (Germany) Day 414
This morning we did not have PT, we met up at the PHV bowling alley at 0730, then took two cars to Mannheim for sergeant's time training. There were a number of people at the range, so we only had 7 total for this training. When we arrived at Mannheim they had one person there to attend the training. Shortly after getting setup, three people showed up from our company in Landstuhl (about an hour and a half away from Mannheim). The training was typical army training, the people that were in charge of the various subjects were told at the last minute yesterday that they had to come up with some training for today on selected subjects. So these folks threw together some PowerPoint slides and we sat and watched each of them speed through their training. I don't think anyone wanted to be there and was really just a waste of time. We had the training just for the fact that we can say we did training today.
We arrived back at PHV in time to eat lunch, so I had lunch at my house and expected to get a ride from one of the other guy's in the ComSec office (SPC Squirrel…because he moves and acts like a squirrel). As I was waiting in front of my building I get a call from SPC Squirrel saying he's going to be a bit late…his dog just ate 6 chocolate cupcakes. I wait and wait, then call him back after about a half hour. It turns out he ended up going to the vet and asked SGT Steroids to give me a ride, but he never showed up. I ended up calling my wife and had her leave work and come give me a ride in. I showed up an hour later than I had planned, but no big deal…none of it was my fault.
In my office I finished up some tasks for the chaplain (emails and some research), then did a little schoolwork. I contacted housing in Wiesbaden to get that process started. Even though I'm now on permanent profile and I should be going through the medboard process at some point, it may take quite a while. So right now I have to plan as though nothing has changed, but it would turn out to be pretty stupid and expensive for the army to move me to Wiesbaden only to turn around and move me again back home.
My wife came and was able to hang out in my office for the last half hour or so before I left. It's a four day weekend now and I haven't had a safety brief or a POV inspection. I feel like I can go buck wild crazy…LOL.
We arrived back at PHV in time to eat lunch, so I had lunch at my house and expected to get a ride from one of the other guy's in the ComSec office (SPC Squirrel…because he moves and acts like a squirrel). As I was waiting in front of my building I get a call from SPC Squirrel saying he's going to be a bit late…his dog just ate 6 chocolate cupcakes. I wait and wait, then call him back after about a half hour. It turns out he ended up going to the vet and asked SGT Steroids to give me a ride, but he never showed up. I ended up calling my wife and had her leave work and come give me a ride in. I showed up an hour later than I had planned, but no big deal…none of it was my fault.
In my office I finished up some tasks for the chaplain (emails and some research), then did a little schoolwork. I contacted housing in Wiesbaden to get that process started. Even though I'm now on permanent profile and I should be going through the medboard process at some point, it may take quite a while. So right now I have to plan as though nothing has changed, but it would turn out to be pretty stupid and expensive for the army to move me to Wiesbaden only to turn around and move me again back home.
My wife came and was able to hang out in my office for the last half hour or so before I left. It's a four day weekend now and I haven't had a safety brief or a POV inspection. I feel like I can go buck wild crazy…LOL.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
A Lotta Training - (Germany) Day 413
This morning's PT was a little strange, I asked SGT Mex last night what was going on for PT this morning and he told me it was in the gym at Campbell in civilian clothes. I arrived and nobody else from my platoon ever showed up. I suspect they formed up outside close to the gate for an off post run, but I wasn't going to go around looking for them. An NCO told me to be in the gym and I have my phone, so I just stayed in the gym and did a cardio workout on the stationary bike. I'm using "workout" loosely, because all I was doing was slowly peddling and wasting time. I am still trying to get over a cold and just didn't have the energy this morning.
I headed into work for only a short time, enough time to check my email and that is pretty much it. I then turned around and picked my wife back up from her office. We both have to attend some mandatory training that is being held in the PHV theatre. The training was TARP (Threat Awareness and Reporting Program) and is a yearly requirement for both of our jobs. A special agent lead the PowerPoint presentation, but the training had issues from the beginning. The guy's microphone kept going out, so he finally gave up trying to use it. His voice was going out by the end of the hour long presentation. There were also some videos as part of the presentation, but nobody could hear the sound from the tiny little speakers they brought. This caused the special agent to just give us a little explanation of what was going on while skipping through the videos. The basics were to look out for potential bad people and report them to authorities…it could save lives. Now I can check this off as one of the mandatory training modules I need to complete.
I took my wife back to work, then headed back home for lunch. After lunch I headed into my office where I started up on the rest of the mandatory training that I have left to do…everything from sexual harassment to ethics. I was able to finish what I think is all of the modules and email all my certificates to my boss and our CAM. I'm sure they'll let me know if I'm missing anything. I did a few things for the chaplain and then called it a day.
I headed into work for only a short time, enough time to check my email and that is pretty much it. I then turned around and picked my wife back up from her office. We both have to attend some mandatory training that is being held in the PHV theatre. The training was TARP (Threat Awareness and Reporting Program) and is a yearly requirement for both of our jobs. A special agent lead the PowerPoint presentation, but the training had issues from the beginning. The guy's microphone kept going out, so he finally gave up trying to use it. His voice was going out by the end of the hour long presentation. There were also some videos as part of the presentation, but nobody could hear the sound from the tiny little speakers they brought. This caused the special agent to just give us a little explanation of what was going on while skipping through the videos. The basics were to look out for potential bad people and report them to authorities…it could save lives. Now I can check this off as one of the mandatory training modules I need to complete.
I took my wife back to work, then headed back home for lunch. After lunch I headed into my office where I started up on the rest of the mandatory training that I have left to do…everything from sexual harassment to ethics. I was able to finish what I think is all of the modules and email all my certificates to my boss and our CAM. I'm sure they'll let me know if I'm missing anything. I did a few things for the chaplain and then called it a day.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
It's Permanent - (Germany) Day 412
This morning's PT was at the gym on Campbell, those not on profile did circuit drills while those of us on profile went to the gym and worked out on our own. I got a good workout doing my normal routine of weights. The only bummer about having PT at Campbell is that it makes the rest of the morning a bit rushed.
I headed into my office and had time to finish up one of the mandatory online training modules, but when I tried to do another I found out that I needed an upgraded version of flash in order to do it. So I put in a help desk request and perhaps I'll be able to do it tomorrow. The chaplain had me work on another flyer and after that it was about time for lunch, so I headed home.
After lunch I headed to the Landstuhl hospital for my neurology appointment. I arrived and saw my doctor, the appointment was a follow-up and all we did was talk about how everything was going. By the end of the conversation we both agreed that after almost a year of being on temporary profile and trying a number of options, nothing has improved. So she changed my profile to permanent and it has a PULHES (a scoring system used by the military to rate a physical profile) score with multiple 3s. A 3 means I have some medical conditions that require significant limitations. This will trigger a medboard at some point, the doctor could not tell me how fast it would happen because it really varies. The good news is that I do not need to go get my profile renewed all the time and I will not have to do anything that will aggravate my neck/head. I guess we'll see where this takes me. Glad to have this first step done and over with.
I headed home and picked up my wife from work. I finished my schoolwork and spent the evening hanging out with my wife.
I headed into my office and had time to finish up one of the mandatory online training modules, but when I tried to do another I found out that I needed an upgraded version of flash in order to do it. So I put in a help desk request and perhaps I'll be able to do it tomorrow. The chaplain had me work on another flyer and after that it was about time for lunch, so I headed home.
After lunch I headed to the Landstuhl hospital for my neurology appointment. I arrived and saw my doctor, the appointment was a follow-up and all we did was talk about how everything was going. By the end of the conversation we both agreed that after almost a year of being on temporary profile and trying a number of options, nothing has improved. So she changed my profile to permanent and it has a PULHES (a scoring system used by the military to rate a physical profile) score with multiple 3s. A 3 means I have some medical conditions that require significant limitations. This will trigger a medboard at some point, the doctor could not tell me how fast it would happen because it really varies. The good news is that I do not need to go get my profile renewed all the time and I will not have to do anything that will aggravate my neck/head. I guess we'll see where this takes me. Glad to have this first step done and over with.
I headed home and picked up my wife from work. I finished my schoolwork and spent the evening hanging out with my wife.
Monday, February 11, 2013
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.
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.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Weekend Wrap-Up (Carnival in Köln) - (Germany) Day 409-410
Carnival in Köln...a ton of people dressed up and a lot of fun!
Saturday: This morning we met up with our CAM and SGT Mex at 0700 in the morning, well we were supposed to meet at 0700…we ended up getting there around 0710. We had to swing by the ATM and also didn't quite get out of the house as early as planned. This was not a big issue because it took our CAM and her mom a bit longer to get ready as well. We all piled in her truck for the trip. First stop…the gas station, then we ended up heading back to our CAM's house because they forgot to turn off the coffee pot! D'oh! I don't think we ended up leaving until about 0830…LOL.
We are heading to check out the carnival festival in Köln. They really celebrate all week, with different events going on each day. Unfortunately because we actually have to work on the weekdays, we couldn't check any of the other stuff out. We wanted to leave early so there would be no issues with traffic or finding a parking spot downtown. Upon arrival, we headed downtown and right away we saw numerous people in costume. It seems Saturday is just a day to walk around the town in costume and party. It was pretty cool people watching and checking out the occasional procession of folks in costume. We grabbed lunch from a vendor…I can't ever pass up a good bratwurst with mustard. There were groups all dressed the same and playing music as they went along, sort of like a marching band. I'm not sure exactly what was going on, but we followed a few of them and ended up in a square. At this point the place was packed and if you bought a glass for 5 euro, you could drink all the beer you wanted…what a deal! There was a lot of music and people everywhere! It was a pretty cool experience.
A full day of walking around the city and taking in the sites and the people left us pretty tired. We tried to see the chocolate museum, but it was closed for renovations. We had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, kind of funny to travel to a German city, participate in their festival, only to have American food. It just sounded good to everyone though, and it was nice to get off our feet for a while. We took our time, ate, drank, and socialized. We ended up heading home at around 1930. A good day all in all.
Sunday: We enjoyed what has started to become our typical Sunday…sleep in, stay home, do laundry, watch a lot of TV shows or movies. We were able to chat with family and friends back home. It is nice to take a day on the weekend and just do nothing, especially when you do so much the day before.
A few more pictures of our day trip to Carnival in Köln:
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