Pendleton

I'm two weeks into this fielding. Everything is going fine. The area is nice. I described it to my Mom on the phone as a cross between Santa Fe and western Kansas. Rolling (very!) wheat fields, that have been harvested recently, and rolling valleys. A patchwork of washed out colors. Mountains all around. Did I mention the rolling hills? I am mostly done with my parts, only a few details left. The CSSAMO (tactical computer folks) here in Oregon were in my class, and a Sargent came back this week to help me and learn more how I build the system. He did a lot of the work. Those guys are in charge of keeping track of the equipment, and everything is labeled within an inch of it's life. This place will be one of the more ship-shape units when we leave next week.

Our trip to Ft. Lewis in the Seattle, WA area for next month was pulled, so this is the last scheduled fielding for this team. The new budget starts soon, so we are waiting to see what it brings. Everyone is saying 'this happens every year' but some (most) are a bit anxious. My hike again gives me some stability. I have been planning to leave here in a year and a half anyway, so while it would put a bit of a crimp in my plans to have the job disappear, it wouldn't be the end of the world.

Reconsidering that I'll be home in September is not all bad. The weather has cooled, so I should be able to get outside and work some on my yard. I should be able to get into sorting and getting rid of stuff. I should also be able to get out and hike some. I had planned on hiking a lot in October, my favorite month. So, in September I'll do some close hikes, and by October I'll maybe go over to North Georgia and hike some. Oh, and maybe I'll actually sew some of the hammock stuff that's been laying around.

There were some issues with the neighbors who moved back a few weeks ago. As I was leaving at 4am on Monday for my flight out I came across a 'body' in the driveway. Luckily the housemate was there, so I called him and he came down and investigated while I called 911. It was the young male (17 yo or so?) who had gotten drunk and passed out in the driveway, on the first day of school... This is pushing me to really reconsider selling the house. Now that the cat is gone, I really don't need a house and yard to take care of (ok, so the housemate does most of that now...), except that I don't have a clear vision of what I want to do instead. Once I figure that out, I'm on my way.