The Trip

I'm finally done with my three days of travelling. So much fun. Really.

The drive itself wasn't that bad - good weather, little traffic. It was the stopping that was the problem. I had bad luck getting a hotel - I'd wanted to stop around 8ish so when I started looking around, I really couldn't find anything in the first place and kept waiting for signs for good places to stay. I finally checked into a room at 9:20.

The next day, I stopped at a gas station with a drive-through car wash because I wanted my car to actually pass the joint inspection. After purchasing a car wash at the pump, entering the code and waiting for the gate to raise for a minute, I finally went into the actual place to find out that it wasn't working that day. I drove up and down the road to see if there were any other places to take the car (Car Detailing for $25!) before deciding to take my chances. The car passed - my issues with the car pertained to the fact that my orders had me going to the headquarters of my command (I'm assuming that's the same thing as a division since apparently group and brigade are - to quote one instructor, "there's the right way, there's the Army way, and there's the Germany way") but my specific company is actually located in a different area of Germany. It all worked out but I was a little nervous/ambivalent about leaving the country so I was slightly on edge and in a bad mood anyway.

I have also decided that I'm cursed when it comes to bathrooms and airports. Somehow I always pick the stall with the messed up sensor - which, hey, I know how to flush a toilet so that really wouldn't be an issue except that I get the sensors that flush the toilet as soon as you sit down. That happened to me twice on Monday (and once in Dallas on my way to Seattle back in the day so it really appears to be a theme). Honestly though, why do they need sensors on toilets? Were there that many people that couldn't flush? Is it hygiene? It can't be money because those things have to waste more water than a regular toilet with all the sensors misreading any type of movement (you walked by the toilet - must mean you used it).

The flight was overnight which actually has helped with the jet lag so far. It probably would have helped even more if I had slept during the in-flight entertainment but I finally had a chance to watch Volver! I've only mentioned it in, what, two other blog entries? I liked it. It's a good thing I watched it, too - I saw a schedule for the movie theater here, and it's rather depressing. The funny thing is that the crappy movies, like Norbit, The Cleaner and The Messengers are going to be showing this month while apparently people had to wait till now for a chance to see The Good Shepherd. Actually, I'm not sure how the rotation works because some of films had descriptions like premiere or 2nd screening (the movies switch out daily although some show repeatedly in a month ) but still, I have the impression that there's less of a delay for bad movies.

Well, time to go back to the finance office - my travel voucher is going to be so extensive that the clerk went on lunch in the middle of it. When we were filling out finance as a group, the representative came in and said, "8 months TDY enroute? Just sit tight and we'll take care of you later." I can't wait to see how much money I get!