The Midnight Hour

The wife and I have spent the last nine days in and around Huntsville, Alabama, visiting family and friends. Tomorrow brings our trip to a close and takes us back to sunny San Diego County. Actually, people tell me that Los Angeles and San Diego received snow while we were gone. I’m going to have to see some proof to believe that one. I’d say this has been our best holiday trip so far out of the four. Here’s a brief synopsis of each trip so far:

1. Holidays 2003. Had just graduated OCS. Walked around at a modified position of attention and debated whether I had to refer to my father-in-law (a retired Chief Warrant Officer) by his previous military rank. Visited at least four different locations between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and ate dinner 4-5 times. Received a lot of questions about when I would have to go to Iraq–had no answers. Went on a Carribbean cruise with the wife. Got seasick…very seasick. Wondered if that whole maritime part of being a Marine was a good idea. Dreaded deploying on a MEU (e.g. a boat). Moved to Virginia for TBS.
2. Holidays 2004. Had just arrived at my unit after TBS (basic officer training) and MOS school (SIGINT officer training). Was slightly more relaxed. Visited at least four different locations between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and ate dinner 4-5 times. Answered a lot of questions about when I would go to Iraq. Replied that estimated deployment date was August 2005. (date got pushed back)
3. Holidays 2005. Had been working up for deployment for several months and had just been promoted to first lieutenant. Was very relaxed. Visited at least four different locations between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and ate dinner 4-5 times. Answered a lot of questions about when I would go to Iraq–February 2006. Received a lot of advice to “keep my head down” and “be safe” while in Iraq.

4. Holidays 2006. Had just returned from Iraq in the summer. Decided to visit in early January and avoid the Christmas requirement of visiting 12 zip codes in 48 hours. Ha! [Lord Helmet in Space Balls] Fooled you!!! [/Lord Helmet in Space Balls]. Was so relaxed that a guy gave me the bird on Highway 231 and I laughed that he took life so seriously. Attended a job “pre-interview” for employment after the end of my Marine Corps contract with favorable results. Decided to build a house. Drove home builders crazy with requests to network the house with CAT5e ethernet cable with non-favorable results. Apparently I am a cutting-edge, Star Trek, technology nut for wanting ethernet ports alongside my cable outlets. Awakened early on eight of ten vacation days, but accomplished the most of any visit, by far.

I hope the trip home tomorrow goes better than the trip to Alabama nine days ago. We fly Delta, so we always have to go through Atlanta. Atlanta was having a myriad of problems on January 4th, not the least of which was our plane…which broke down in Jacksonville, Florida before reaching us. We spent seven hours there.

Among Atlanta’s other problems was a lady who missed her connection flight by three minutes and vented by exclaiming “Delta can go to hell!” Then she wept. I felt just a tinge of sadness for her, as I was in a similar boat, but also theorized that she’s probably a real beating to her husband during football season, so maybe it was deserved. Who am I to judge?

The Atlanta airport was also sporting its usual dookie-brown tinted smoking rooms. They looked as glorious and inviting as ever. If I have to spend seven hours in Atlanta on the return trip I may just wander into one and try to choke myself out and end it all. Wish me luck. I don’t want to die.