For the past few days I've been doing Extra Duty as I mentioned in my earlier post. The whole "walk around and do dumb stuff until they get sick of you" thing was no joke. Recently, myself and my cohort in crime, Mathes, were charged with the task of stacking sandbags around a Sergeant Rice's office. Apparently he wanted it to be "shrapnel proof" in case Indirect Fire landed right outside the building. (Indirect Fire: Ordnance fired at the base or at vehicles from a location not visible at the target site.) We got about halfway up the wall before our arms felt like lead jelly. We have yet to finish it, but when we do, hopefully Sgt Rice won't find anything wrong with his new FORT.
People that know me are aware that I like to climb things. The only thing we have around here that's stable enough to climb are the Hesco Barriers. It's been very windy and said wind tore down part of the shade area for the social location in the center of our "tent city". One of the Extra Duty tasks was to fix it. Naturally, I realized there would be much climbing and rope work involved so I opted to take on the challenge. Mathes is a short guy, and while he's usually very chipper during the day, Extra Duty makes him a sourpuss and hard to work with at times. This challenge was for me alone. I grabbed my gloves, a flashlight and my knife and went out to start up on my job. Two hours later, the solar shades were looking better than they ever had. I was admiring my work this morning as First Sergeant walked by. I greeted him respectfully and as he looked around he asked, "Did you and Mathes fix this?" I shook my head and replied, "Not Mathes, First Sergeant. Just me." He nodded, looked around some more, "Good work, Tolleson." and continued on.
I think I was glowing I was smiling so big.
The Gun Trucks were supposed to roll out the last two nights, but each time the mission was scrubbed due to the wind and haze. Last night we were literally at the gate, when we got a mass-call on the radio saying that the mission had been canceled yet again, and that we were supposed to turn around and head back to the staging area. If we don't go soon, I'm going to be working a bit of "overtime" this weekend...
Doing rather well for myself. Haven't gotten into any serious trouble at all. Which is a first for me. Wish me luck on the rest of the week...
Next entry will probably be after this weekend. Just a heads up.
The Playlist:
Cold - Breaking Benjamin
Iris - Goo Goo Dolls
No Such Thing - John Mayer
Pistol Grip Pump - Rage Against the Machine
.45 - Shinedown
Fear of a Blank Planet - Porcupine Tree
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