My sentence in the desert is finally (and officially) coming to an end. I received my itinerary yesterday. I arrive in Minnesota at 2:29 PM on Sunday, October 22nd on Northwest Airlines (Flight #784). That's right...in 3 days or 74 1/2 hours or 4470 minutes or 268,200 seconds! I'm so excited to see everyone!
If you think 4 days is short notice, here's Randy's story. Yesterday on 10/18 at 1:00 AM, Randy checked his email and had no itinerary. After waking up around 9:30 AM, he checked again and was scheduled to leave in just 6 hours. He called me so I helped him pack up his stuff. We had enough time for lunch then off to the airport. I had to drop him off since I'm the only designated driver left at our hotel and a few others needed to get to work. I'm assuming he made it to his flight on time. He didn't call me back so that's a good sign. It was pretty exciting. Randy, if you're reading this, everyone at A/B checkpoint says goodbye and they wish they could have seen you before you left. One person in particular seemed pretty irritated that you left on such short notice. I won't name any names, but I bet you can guess who I'm taking about. That's all the news for now. See you soon!
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Monday, October 16, 2006
Coming home soon...I think
It's the middle of October already so I guess that means it's time for my biweekly update. The biggest news around here is about the new NSFers coming to Las Vegas and the old ones leaving. As I mentioned before, LAS is suppose to be the new NSF training headquarters. I heard anywhere from 140 to 200 were scheduled to come on October 8th. I'm not sure how many actually made it since they are staying in a different hotel and work various shifts, but I have seen some around.
Now that they're here and settling in, those of us who have been in Vegas for several months are being sent home. About 20 or so left yesterday (Sunday). I was hoping to be in that group, but it looks like they just selected the first half of the alphabet. The rumor is that the rest of us will be leaving next Sunday. I really, really hope it's true, but you can't believe anything around here until you see it in writing. It's apparently against policy to give advanced notice so I'm just waiting and hoping to get out of here soon. It's an odd feeling. I keep thinking I should pack up some things, but I don't even know for sure if I'll be going anywhere.
Once I get home, I don't know how long I'll be there before being sent to my next deployment. I also don't know where I'll be sent although I've heard that Colorado, Florida, and Alaska are common winter deployments. Except for the week of vacation that I requested, I'll be working at MSP until then. I have know idea what schedule I'll be on. I'm pretty much at my managers' mercy. I just hope they don't put me on the a.m. schedule. I wasn't much of a morning person before and I'm much worse now. It's not unusual for me to stay up until 4:00 or 5:00 and sleep until noon.
On a completely different note, I just wanted to clear up any confusion from my last posting. I'm not dating Mike or Randy. We are just friends that enjoy a lot of the same things (i.e. hiking and other outdoor activities as opposed to gambling and clubbing). Randy is the guy pictured with me in the desert. I added a picture of all of below. It's from Mike's birthday in August. From left to right, that's Randy, me, and Mike.
That's about I'll the news I have for now. I'll try to get in touch with everyone when I'm home, but I might need some help. Don't be afraid to give me a call if you don't hear from me. I know that my time in Minnesota is going to fly by. Can't wait to see all of you soon even though I'm sure I'll be freezing after spending the summer in the desert!
Now that they're here and settling in, those of us who have been in Vegas for several months are being sent home. About 20 or so left yesterday (Sunday). I was hoping to be in that group, but it looks like they just selected the first half of the alphabet. The rumor is that the rest of us will be leaving next Sunday. I really, really hope it's true, but you can't believe anything around here until you see it in writing. It's apparently against policy to give advanced notice so I'm just waiting and hoping to get out of here soon. It's an odd feeling. I keep thinking I should pack up some things, but I don't even know for sure if I'll be going anywhere.
Once I get home, I don't know how long I'll be there before being sent to my next deployment. I also don't know where I'll be sent although I've heard that Colorado, Florida, and Alaska are common winter deployments. Except for the week of vacation that I requested, I'll be working at MSP until then. I have know idea what schedule I'll be on. I'm pretty much at my managers' mercy. I just hope they don't put me on the a.m. schedule. I wasn't much of a morning person before and I'm much worse now. It's not unusual for me to stay up until 4:00 or 5:00 and sleep until noon.
On a completely different note, I just wanted to clear up any confusion from my last posting. I'm not dating Mike or Randy. We are just friends that enjoy a lot of the same things (i.e. hiking and other outdoor activities as opposed to gambling and clubbing). Randy is the guy pictured with me in the desert. I added a picture of all of below. It's from Mike's birthday in August. From left to right, that's Randy, me, and Mike.
That's about I'll the news I have for now. I'll try to get in touch with everyone when I'm home, but I might need some help. Don't be afraid to give me a call if you don't hear from me. I know that my time in Minnesota is going to fly by. Can't wait to see all of you soon even though I'm sure I'll be freezing after spending the summer in the desert!
Monday, October 02, 2006
Here, Renee. Hope you're happy.
Hey all! How's everyone? I'm still in Vegas, but doing pretty good otherwise. My stay here was extended for the 4th time until the end of October. Thankfully, my vacation request for October 28th -November 4th was approved so I'll be coming back to Minnesota for that time. I'm hoping that they leave me home for awhile so I have a little more time to catch up with friends and family. I miss all of you and I know a week will pass very quickly.
I talked to Renee yesterday and she voiced her disappointment with my blog. She says I don't update it enough. Of course, I haven't seen her blog yet but that fact aside I think I'm doing pretty good. Honestly, I don't have much new to add. You've all probably heard about the new changes at the checkpoint. If not, here's a quick summary...limited amounts of liquid are once again allowed. Ah, ah, ah...don't get too excited. The regulations are pretty strict. Each passenger is allowed one 1 quart sealable plastic bag (i.e. Ziploc, etc.) filled with containers of liquids 3 oz. or less. Warning: TSA has to enforce very specific guidelines on these liquids so please save my coworkers and me the headaches and put questionable items in your checked bag. The containers must be 3 oz. or less (meaning a half -full 6 oz. container is not allowed). The plastic bag should be the disposable type, not a vinyl cosmetic bag, and must close comfortably. Baby food and medication in reasonable quantities is allowed and does not have to be in a plastic bag. "Liquids" includes creams, gels, and lotions. And finally, just because TSA didn't take it away in (enter any location), doesn't mean that TSA won't take it away this time. To save everyone a lot of time, keep all liquids outside of your carry-on luggage until after you've passed through security. For more information and updates, go to www.tsa.gov.
Okay, enough about work. In other news, I revisited Mt. Charleston and felt cold for the first time in a long time. I went on a hike with Mike and by the time we met up with Randy in the lodge, it was 42 degrees. The average temp. here is still in mid-80s to low 90s so cool weather not generated by an air conditioner felt great. I included some pictures below. They're my last with Mike at least until we meet again. He went home to Stryker, Ohio on 9/30 for a 3 week vacation. Needless to say, I'm very jealous and he loves to rub it in. That's all I got for now. Here's hoping the next 3 weeks pass very, very quickly.
I talked to Renee yesterday and she voiced her disappointment with my blog. She says I don't update it enough. Of course, I haven't seen her blog yet but that fact aside I think I'm doing pretty good. Honestly, I don't have much new to add. You've all probably heard about the new changes at the checkpoint. If not, here's a quick summary...limited amounts of liquid are once again allowed. Ah, ah, ah...don't get too excited. The regulations are pretty strict. Each passenger is allowed one 1 quart sealable plastic bag (i.e. Ziploc, etc.) filled with containers of liquids 3 oz. or less. Warning: TSA has to enforce very specific guidelines on these liquids so please save my coworkers and me the headaches and put questionable items in your checked bag. The containers must be 3 oz. or less (meaning a half -full 6 oz. container is not allowed). The plastic bag should be the disposable type, not a vinyl cosmetic bag, and must close comfortably. Baby food and medication in reasonable quantities is allowed and does not have to be in a plastic bag. "Liquids" includes creams, gels, and lotions. And finally, just because TSA didn't take it away in (enter any location), doesn't mean that TSA won't take it away this time. To save everyone a lot of time, keep all liquids outside of your carry-on luggage until after you've passed through security. For more information and updates, go to www.tsa.gov.
Okay, enough about work. In other news, I revisited Mt. Charleston and felt cold for the first time in a long time. I went on a hike with Mike and by the time we met up with Randy in the lodge, it was 42 degrees. The average temp. here is still in mid-80s to low 90s so cool weather not generated by an air conditioner felt great. I included some pictures below. They're my last with Mike at least until we meet again. He went home to Stryker, Ohio on 9/30 for a 3 week vacation. Needless to say, I'm very jealous and he loves to rub it in. That's all I got for now. Here's hoping the next 3 weeks pass very, very quickly.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
