Time to Shave

Espresso 'stache

Bare lip, circa June 2013.

In 36 hours I will go from the left picture to the one on the right, sans webbing behind my back.

Before going to sleep last night, I cleaned my dorm room, preparing for one of the last few outprocessing steps I needed to do: get an NCO to verify that I did not destroy my room, leave personal effects behind or somehow pack the bunk beds into my suitcase (it's happened before).

Dettol: kills 99% of the germs, 60% of the time.

Dettol wipes are everywhere here and last night they cleaned the dusty surfaces in my room.  My inspector said he just wants to make sure my room was in order and won't perform a white glove test.  However, he was wearing white gloves when he said this, so I decided to clean like my mustache depended on it.

While here, I carried my Oakley backpack with me everywhere (you never know when you'll need ibuprofen in the shower).  Primarily I toted my notebook and my papers, business papers, but I also took it downtown, to the gym and to the DFAC.  Here's a list of the most and least useful items I carried with me.

Most useful:
- Generic leatherman: opened cans of tuna, opened packages, cut paracord, used pliers to pull metal wire out from under cabinet (no idea what it was doing there, but I have a lower risk of tetanus now)
- Camera: Found our camera we bought in December 2006 and used it to take pictures everywhere (in case you haven't noticed).
- Notebook: Pen and paper go with me everywhere.  I wrote down items to buy (leatherman), funny things I observed (Keep Off Grass sign in the desert) and anything else.

Least useful/never used:
- Holster: never issued a weapon nor had a need for one.
- Water bottle: My BPA-free steel water bottle sat in my luggage since day one since the bottles of Rayyan are everywhere

Pretty much what happens every time you open a bottle.

- Swimsuit: Pool hours and my work/sleep hours never met on a Venn diagram.  I did lose weight, so if I wanted to lose sleep I could have tested the "lost weight vs. gained mustache attractiveness index" theory that has been on my back burner since 2006.

I finished reading Stephen King's From A Buick 8 this afternoon and now am clear with the library.  After reading it, I could gather the connection to his Dark Tower series of books, but on its own, the story was flat.  The idea was good (monster car eats people!!!), but the implementation was ho-hum (...and then it died.  The end.).  If nothing else, I read 230 pages in about four hours.

So after I had my room inspected, I ate dinner with Sam and then was treated to wings and wine (sounds like a hipster happy hour thing) at the Fox.  Sam arrived at the DFAC an hour later than planned, having found out just how comfortable body pillows can be.

Don't ask about the honeymoon.

No coffee tonight, just some Earl Grey, so I am ready for bed.  Tomorrow I will hand in my keys to the Cadillac and get to the airport.   Thanks for comin' out.