“Back in the Saddle Again”

Oops… I think my age is showing! Oh well, I’ve tried to hide it too long, it’s time to admit I’m not in my 30’s anymore. DON’T expect me to admit to anything more than that though!

So, on with the show: Here I am in Victory. My lead picked me up at BIAP when I arrived on Thursday, we got back to Victory, got me into a trailer (yep… right away!) close to the palace and just across from the DFAC. I was told to take Friday off and start work Saturday. So far no roommate.

Saturday I worked a full 12 hour day. I had asked one of my friends to sign me up for Jackal Wireless and I got an email from them saying to come pick up my SU. (Subscriber Unit)

Sunday I worked all day then a friend came to see me and welcome me back, we talked a lot and listened to music, it was so good to see him. He took my SU with him when he left and is going to mount it on a pole. He said he will put it up for me when he has time.

Tuesday March 11th was the first day I was able to actually walk the entire distance from the palace to the trailer without having to stop to rest or stretch… it wasn’t the last time, it was just the first time.

Wednesday morning I got to see another friend that I have been communicating with. We were both happy to have run into each other, I gave him a big hug and we talked for a little while. Hopefully I’ll be able to see him again soon.

Thursday March 13^th… RAIN!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Please don’t be a trend… just a few sprinkles will be OK, but not a few days. YUCK. But it wasn’t bad after all, just maybe a half day of light rain that made things wet, and a little muddy, not terrible and not slippery if you were being careful (and you can believe I was being careful!)

My lead left for his vacation to Dublin after spending the weekend getting me re-acquainted with the shop. Then I got word that we were to have NO more overtime at all… So I will go back to my trailer today after my co-worker gets here because I have to ask her to work tomorrow, then we can follow a regular schedule after that. Hopefully she will be all right with that. Well… maybe it wasn’t such a good idea. I had to call the site lead and tell him that since we are short handed here at the moment, until the guys finish school and get here, and until our shop lead gets back, we will still have a couple days of overtime. He understood after I explained to him what our schedule was like right now and agreed to approve just those few more days.

My friend came back over to hook up my internet Monday morning, but nothing we did would make it work. I’ll have to get in touch with Jackal and see what they say.

I have to go shopping at the PX to get some stuff I need that I forgot to get till now. There are certain things that you always want to have in your trailer when you don’t have access to things you normally have in your home. Since we don’t have a sink, I like to have “Wet Ones” with aloe, to help keep my face and hands clean and sometimes I’ll wipe my arms and legs to help keep them moisturized and cool. Oh yeah, since I had my knees replaced, it is sort of hard to stand in the shower to shave my legs, and the Wet Ones are great for that too. They have the aloe in them and I just wipe an area and zip a razor over it and it works like using shaving cream and water. Then a nice quick clean up with another towelette and throw away the razor. I will use the cheap razors for that. My Venus is too expensive to be using the blades just once and throwing them out. My daughter got me that razor while I was out here before. It is the best I have ever used. Now if you think that was too much information I’m sorry, but I’m living in a different world out here and if anyone is looking at following, this might be something to help out.

I did quite well working 9 days in a row. Well… until Friday, the walk home was a little painful. So Saturday I started using my cane as a little extra support and it made such a world of difference that I am still using it all the time. Sometimes I just carry it under my arm, other times I use it, but try not to lean on it much, except for balance. But then there are times, especially with steps that I really depend on it. Everyone has been wonderful. Some people ask me why I am using a cane, what happened to me? Others just open doors for me or smile big and say hello.

So now, here it is, I just started my fourth week back at work and I’m back in the groove. Mostly. It was sort of nice to come back to find that I had been talked about a lot while I was gone, but that it was all good things (they say), and I was put in charge while our lead was gone on vacation. Nothing like getting an ego boost after leaving home feeling lost and alone. I’ve seen a lot of people I know. One of the girls I am close to just got back from her vacation and she brings me lunch when we are both working, if she doesn’t one of the guys I work with will bring me food. And someone we used to work with when I first got here keeps insisting he must come pick me up after work to give me a ride to my trailer. It isn’t really far, and I can walk it, but I love the option to ride, and I have started keeping up a pretty good schedule of working out and stretching in my room to help with balance and strength.. So if you think I’m being a pansy… well... go ahead and think it. I am not worried. I will continue healing and working and handling the things I need to handle. And my home-front will continue to support me and keep me in line.