Settling in

Today was much cooler than normal. If it got above 90 degrees, I'd be surprised. We've had dust storms for a couple of days, so that's absorbed much of the radiant heat.  I stayed indoors almost all of the daylight hours, though, so I could have missed a warm spike.

This morning, I got a pass to sleep in to recover from my jet lag. Boy did I need it. I went to bed at some time after 22:00, and I didn't get up for good until 09:45 (though I did have to wake up for my usual 03:30 dash to the urinal). I missed breakfast, so I took a shower and planned to get lunch at 11:00, only to find out the DFAC (dining facility) doesn't open for lunch until 11:30. So I got a "grab-n-go" sandwich and caught the shuttle bus to the office.

I found out today that we have 7-day work weeks. At first, I was irritated by the prospect of never having a day off for 6 months. Then I contemplated what I would do with free time over here, and decided 'not much'. I also noticed that--since it is very much like any office job I've had in my career--it doesn't feel like I'm deployed when I'm at work, so the 7-day thing seems fine to me now.

We had a late day at work because we're hosting a conference tomorrow, and that's interrupting the usual work on Friday, so we stayed late to cover that base. Dinner @ 20:00, now I'm settling in for the night. Between dinner and now, I re-arranged my furniture to my liking. However, the two wall closets are made of that cheap press board with a veneer finish, and they are both falling apart. Therefore, I can't put my stuff in them until I get the billeting office to repair or replace them. And since it's not a critical request, that could be days. So, I'll be living out of my duffel bag for a while. At least the floor plan suits me, and my Monk-ish nature is somewhat mollified.

Time to check in with Julie, then get some shut-eye.