Checking back in

[aadler]

9:15PM Central Afghan Time

Had to be away for awhile; I got sent to support a limited operation in Gereshk, and when a lieutenant colonel decided that his presence back at KAF was more important than waiting for things to finish up, the choppers left without me and four other men. The task force at Gereshk put us up overnight, so I didn’t suffer any discomfort, but it did put me temporarily out of touch.

We weren’t expecting to be able to return for awhile — scheduling air transport can be tricky — but staged all our gear at the opcen just in case. Good move: I was suddenly told, “Let’s go!”, and just like that we were running to get on board a pair of Blackhawks we hadn’t even known were coming in. I wound up in the “wind seat”: there’s a spot in the back of a Blackhawk, the right rear seat facing forward, that catches all the turbulence from the rotor wash, and that’s no fun at all. I couldn’t open my eyes, I had to hold my nose closed to prevent the blast from slamming up my nostrils and causing a nosebleed, and the wind kept trying to pull the helmet off my head, straps notwithstanding. At the first refueling stop, another man pulled his backpack over into the wind seat and I took the center rear-facing seat, and everything was fine after that.

It’s now expected that we’ll be back in the States around May 7, with a week or so of out-processing. So we’re now below the six-week mark remaining in-country.

I finished the editing on my most recent Buffyfic, and I expect to be posting it tomorrow. Now I need to begin determining which story I’ll attempt in my time remaining. I’ve learned to be wary of starting something before I have a good feel for it inside my head, and right now nothing quite feels ready to be addressed.

Prompted by liz_marcs’ LJ, I checked a remix (“the Ballad of Charles Whitman”) of her story “Revelations”. I was impressed and surprised by the quality. “Revelations” was one of Liz’ first, and she herself said it was far from being her best, so the amount of improvement is understandable, but the final product really was impressive. The next time a remix challenge or program or whatever comes up, I’ll definitely look into becoming part of it. It seems unlikely that I’d have as much luck as Liz did — whoever tackled hers was just plain good — but it could be interesting either way.

Luck and best wishes to everybody enjoying life at home.