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!