Day the 12th at Fort McCoy

[aadler]

 

Today was my second sick call visit. It took nearly four hours, partly because I was passed from clinic to clinic and partly because I had to keep gulping water forever to convince my bladder it had enough to produce a specimen. In the end, the issue turned out to be ordinary kidney stones. I had dismissed the idea because there’d been no pain, but then I passed a couple of flakes while providing the specimen, still without pain. I was given a five-day cycle of Cipro, either in case of or because of an accompanying infection, and strongly advised to consult my own physician when I return home.

We finished our primary course of instruction, and went through a practice exam to give us a sense of how the final test should be addressed. Then we finished the class day by watching an instructional film on tactics and motivation: Rambo, the most recent Stallone outing as the one-man war machine.

Tomorrow we test, and the next day we’re scheduled for a five-mile run for morning PT. The day after that … well, I don’t know precisely what’s on for that one, but it will be our last full day here. Friday we get our certificates and leave.

After class, I and three other soldiers drove into one of the two nearby towns, my first time off-post since I arrived. Our head instructor had proscribed alcohol this evening, so with my Italian dinner I drank Pepsi. Nice diversion, and I liked the food, but honestly? Not really worth the trouble of repeating.

Because of the testing, there’s no PT tomorrow, so we’ll get to sleep in until the unheard-of hour of 6:30 AM. By time we’re so inured to the schedule that’s held till now, some people genuinely wondered how they would manage to stay in bed that long. Personally, I suspect I’ll find a way.

Susan has been inspecting various potential retirement locations. We’re still some distance from that, but now is a good time to be planning for it. I’ve leaned toward Costa Rica, but she has some information about Belize she wants me to look at. I suspect that Belize is smaller than our current state of residence, but it sounds intriguingly exotic. I like looking forward to new ventures with her. We haven’t shared enough of that.

Okay. Close now. In the parlance of my current vocation, “Three and a wake-up.” I’m short, baby.

And after that I’ll be home.