FIN (The End)

This is my final post on this site for a long time. I will return to Athens, Georgia in September and begin my new life after the divorce. I will keep in touch with most of you through email and phone calls and hope you will do the same.

I would like to thank everyone who read along and gave me positive feedback and encouraging words. I am grateful to have such good friends and supportive family.

Love,
fevgpuvr

Budget cuts again

Well gang. I just received email that my coworker is coming home as well. We started with two guys and then there were none. He will train a military replacement before returning home. I am not sure what he will do about his taxes. He may not have the luxury of hanging out in another country for a few months. I have asked him about his plans but have not heard back from him yet. This is a really poor way to run a war.

Greetings from Canada, eh?

Hello all. I have arrived in Canada safely. I went to a bar to night and played pool with my cousin and her fiance. We had a good time. Tomorrow I will have to get serious about my school work and writing, but it was nice to enjoy a "night out". I received word from my company that they have granted the unpaid leave request and that I still may have a job in 4 months. I will call tomorrow to discuss potential placement with the division manager. More to follow on that later.

My personal items had been held up in US Customs until yesterday. They finally arrived in at home (according to FedEx). I will call tomorrow to confirm.

I hope all of you are doing well. I am happy to be surrounded by family, but I still miss communicating with friends. Don't be strangers. Send me an email from time to time to let me know how you are doing.

Canada bound!

I am on my way to Canada. I have been tired all week and determined that I could not do the drive in 15 hours straight. I have driven 6 hours today, leaving 9 for tomorrow. So far so good.

Home at Last

I have made it home safely. I am very tired. 39 hours traveling, 52 hours without sleeping in a bed or showering. Good night.

Half way there

In Frankfort. On my way to Jax. See you soon.

Bon voyage

This is last post for a few days. I am leaving Iraq soon and I will be in the air or in airports for two days. I will try to remember to post a couple of times before I reach Canada, but I hope to be relaxing and having a good time.

While I look forward to seeing friends and family soon, I regret the circumstances under which we will be reunited. This mission was important to me and I feel cheated that I am leaving it "Mission Not Accomplished". It is not my choice. If the bean counters back home have trimmed the spending, there is nothing I can do about it.

See you in a few days. Pray for good pilots, clear weather and no administrative problems.

Pain in the @$$

Trying to get out of here is tricky. Trying to ship 3 duffle bags and a Tough Box full of personal items home is painful. I drove over to another company on a neighboring post that will allow us to ship FedEx. Apparently Customs has found a few illegal items in recent shipments from Iraq and has cracked down. I have to unpack all of my stuff and re-pack it while making a detailed, itemized list that includes serial numbers on electronic equipment like digital cameras. It took me hours to compress all of my things into those bags. Wasted. I have to play the game. If the list is incomplete or inaccurate, they will return it to Iraq. That would be a problem.

Other than the shipping issue, I have the final pieces in place to get home. I am counting the hours. Literally. Knowing that you are leaving in a few days seems worse than when I thought it would be months away. I still have some coursework to keep me busy, but I am having trouble focusing on school right now. I had better get back to work on the complete inventory of my personal belongings.