%&$(^&$*!!!

I've been at the same base for over 10 years now. As the son of a military member, this is just wrong. As an active duty member of the military, it's wrong. But it seemed that it wasn't going to change, so I decided to give the situation a little nudge. I volunteered for a 1-year remote assignment to South Korea (that means without my wife and sons). The way this works is that by volunteering, I get to choose where I get to go. Obviously, there are limitations; they've got to be able to find a job for me and whatnot, but I get some good consideration.

I get the assignment to Korea, I get a follow-on assignment to Denver, just like I asked. Sweet! Three days ago, I get the news: they can't send me to Denver anymore. They won't find a place for my wife to work nearby. I'm told that there are two places they can send me/us in that timeframe. Langley (where we are now), or Beale (a similar but worse assignment in the middle of nowhere, CA).

I'm livid and depressed at the same time. We've complained to a couple of our higher-ups, but chances are, there's nothing they can do. My dream assignment evaporated into the ether. I was going to have great mission, most of my family very close, and a beautiful new area; now I'll have the same thing I've had for TEN YEARS.

What did I volunteer for?

Good Times

Yesterday, I got to spend time with my dad, my brother, and their wives. I think it was the best time I've had in a long time. Even telling my brother to stop trying to get my son arrested was fun. We didn't have time to do much. Waited a couple hours for food; toured the USS Constellation in Baltimore Harbor; then it was time to run home. But still, when you only see family once every few years, those visits - however fleeting - are precious. I think perhaps the neatest moments for me were when the 3 of us sat in our own little bubble of existence geeking out with each other about cameras and the trouble that YouTube and Firefox seem to have with each other. (Can you believe Kevin didn't know that this video existed?)