Life its own self

[aadler]

 
Nothing like working two days, taking a day off, and returning to work with the knowledge that the weekend is right around the corner.

I didn’t go up on the hill, the night of the 4th, to watch the base fireworks display from the optimum vantage point, but that doesn’t mean I missed it; there were probably people watching in Havana, it was visible for a long way. It wasn’t the best fireworks show I’ve ever seen, but it didn’t miss it by much, and I especially liked the part where all the whistles and explosions came from things that weren’t aimed at me.

Meanwhile, I continue with my routine. I got such good results with the fence-line run that I’m now looking to do five miles each Saturday and Sunday. (I just don’t have the time during the week, though I manage a two-mile run most days.) There’s also the matter of television. In Iraq and Afghanistan, that wasn’t an issue: we got no television, period. Here, though, we’re hooked into the Armed Forces Network, which carries commercial programs on some of its stations, though not on the same schedule as Stateside networks. I’m currently seeing re-casts of Lost, Smallville, Veronica Mars, and Ugly Betty, and just this week I was exposed to Prison Break for the first time. I have no plans to join new fandoms (not that any of those programs are exactly new), but there definitely is enough to hold my interest.

Recently I laid out the cash to get a wireless card for my laptop. It hasn’t done me any good. I’ve followed the installation instructions, it detects the MWR network (Morale, Welfare & Recreation) made available to us here, no passwords are required … but I keep getting messages that the network cable is disconnected, and I can’t figure out where to begin on fixing the problem. For the present, then, I’ll have to continue making periodic trips to the liberty center with a flash drive.

“Queen’s Gambit” may reach 10,000 words this weekend, and I still haven’t gotten anywhere close to the serious action, or even the main events. I may have to go in when I’m finished and do some systematic cutting. That’s never been necessary before, but the way the narrative keeps expanding is, frankly, a bit alarming. I originally expected it to run 30,000 to 35,000 words; now, I don’t even want to guess at the upper limit.

I finished my rum last night, and I won’t be replacing it any time soon. The last bottle carried me for awhile, but before that I’d been moving through the stuff a bit too expeditiously. Time, I think, to back off somewhat and fuel my endeavors with Diet Pepsi. I truly believe I don’t have a problem here, and the idea is to avoid developing one.

Theoretically, I’m at the halfway mark of this tour. I’m fine with it. I suspect, however, that when the time comes for me to return home, I’ll be more than ready for it.

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/opalescence_/]

I had all my days mixed up this week. Tuesday felt like Friday. Wednesday night felt like Sunday, to the point where I looked for America's Funniest Home Videos on TV at 7. And then Thursday morning felt like Monday.

Do you like Lost at all? It's hard to understand if you haven't seen it from Day 1. I enjoy it.

Sounds like a good idea about enjoying diet Pepsi now. There is an alcoholism gene running around in my family and I tend to avoid drinking because of that, especially if I'm down (not saying you are). It's just smart thinking, even if you don't know about the tendency in the family.

Stay safe.

[aadler]

I enjoy Lost quite a bit, though partway through Season 2 I noticed that they were giving answers to the various mysteries ve-e-ery slowly, and raising new mysteries in the meantime, so that there were never any definitive answers. When I heard that the show’s producers were planning to wrap it up with Season 4, I was glad: that meant they really do intend to resolve all the different questions and issues, and that the show will end before (most) people get tired of being strung along.

Insofar as the matter of alcohol consumption, several members of my family have shown a tendency toward alcohol abuse — short of alcoholism, but still a matter of concern — so I try to monitor my own behavior. My most recent decision had to do with long-term intake; I never drank enough to show any level of intoxication, but when I realized how much I was going through in the course of a week, I wondered how my liver was dealing with such a consistent load. Caution seemed the way to go.