So yea this one is more an update of what has been going on because I have been so busy with work and the internet looks to be numbered. So how has this last month been spent? Well as you may see cause I have thought this over too, it really isn't that much. The time efficiency/usage is wasted so often it is rather sad. Let's see here, I believe the first week we took care of tents. Oh yea, we started working from 0730 until about 1900 or later (7pm) and as the working progressed the hours grew. So the deal with the tents we'd pull them out, count them and put them back, day 1. Then we'd start to clean them and put them back again, day 2. Really repetitive work like that, it was a very mentally stimulating week *yawn*. I believe I actually calculated the total man-hours we spent on actually cleaning the tents and it worked out to somewhere around 20 hours per tent. I was not irked about that figure until I was sent to do a tent solo and cleaned it all in about 4 hours. Why it took so much more time? Well that is a fine example of Army efficiency.
The following week we spent washing trucks, the Humvees as civilians call them, and 5 ton trucks, those are basically big flatbed trucks. We had to clean them to get all the dirt off for Custom's guys to okay them for our sterile yard, part of the whole unit move process. What did I learn from that experience? Well pressure washers are really fun but after 4 days straight of using them, they are no longer fun. I also noticed that if there were more appropriate or adequate cleaning areas for each vehicle it would likely have taken half the time we spent on the trucks. That and it is not very easy to punch hole into a HMMWV without a hammer. That was a fun part though, punching holes in the trucks for drainage.
The following week was all about milvans; think really big storage containers the size of a CONEX. This was one of the best parts. We had to pull the stuff out of storage and clean it. Then we would load it into the milvan to make sure it all fits. The next day we'd unload it, lay it out to be checked, and then we'd reload the milvan. There is something about repetitive lifting that made this event somewhat fun. I felt lazy not going to the gym after truck washing but after a day of milvans I felt like I had been to the gym. It is a nice feeling to get work done and feel tired from it; a part of me actually thinks I did something constructive.
The final week and weekend we worked all the way through was the most trying period. Aside from starting at 0630 and going until about 2000 or later it was more truck washing. We were really confused at first cause the Customs people had to re-inspect the vehicles before they were sent to port. We ended up spending 3 really intense days re-washing every vehicle we had. Apparently grease now counted as dirt so we had to keep rewashing the vehicles until they passed. The best part was the standard for a passing vehicles' cleanliness really depended on how the inspector felt. It was really frustrating.
So now we are at the end of the hard part. The next 4 months or more will be spent mowing grass, painting buildings and other important tasks like that. Looking back on the crazy schedule that we had I don't entirely regret it. I did get to test my mental resolve of being motivated. The conversations I had while moving the things and just working together side beside my friends were at times very encouraging and fulfilling. I don't know what is honestly going to happen to me in the coming months. The paperwork for the units that I would have the potential to do something really significant has been submitted but word on the street is that is getting disregarded, more or less. I don't want to really disclose what I have heard as far as "word on the street" accuracy about my recent future. To me it really means nothing substantiated until I have orders in hand. I suppose the best way to say my recent future is that if it takes the course as it is currently foreseen I probably won't be coming home for Christmas...I would much appreciate your prayers that I am able to go to Heidelberg.
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