The Time Has Come

Greeting All,

The time has come for me to pack my bags and return to the greatest place in the world...the USA.

My replacement, a USMC LtCol CH-46 pilot from the Left Coast, arrived as scheduled last Saturday, 24 Oct. This past week has been really busy with shuttling him around to all the places he needed to go to get checked-in. We are still not done but will be shortly. When not getting situated with the command, we have been conducting a turnover of duties IOT (in order to) ensure he is as best prepared to take over when I leave. I'm sure I will overlook something but he will figure it out as I have.

This next week will also prove to be hectic. I have to check out of my parent command and will have to travel to Djibouti to do that. Great....the last place in the world I wanted to go to again. I will leave Germany on Wed night and arrive in Africa on Thurs morning. I will leave DJ Saturday in the early evening and will have to endure an itinerary that spans 30 hours arriving in NC on Sun, 8 Nov, at 7:30 pm (1930 for you savy readers who use the 24 hour clock). If you prefer Zulu or GMT, that's 1530 Zulu (after daylight saving, which is tomorrow).

Jodi, my beautiful wife, has been far busier then me. This past Wednesday, Jodi got the keys to our new home. She has been busting her butt getting everything packed so our things could be transferred to the new place right away. If anyone has moved their entire household recently, you know what a big job this is. Between Jodi and I have move a combined 5 times in last couple of years. It will be good to settle down for a long while. We are luck enough to have friends and relatives who volunteered to help us out with the move. Our thanks goes out to Tim and Susan O'L, and Jarod and Sarah F.

As Jodi and I walk throught life together, we will always return to this place. A house that we will make a home of for ourselves and our children. We have plans to visit each state over the years but we will always come back to our home port in Sneads Ferry, NC. We hope that we will be honored with a visit from all our friends and family.

Once I get back to NC, I will have to report back to the command that I detached from and start inprocessing. Thankfully, Veterans' Day is Wed, 11 Nov. We will have off from Tues afternoon until we report to work on Fri morning. That will give me a few days to adjust to Eastern Standard Time. Please take the time on Wed to reconnect with those who have served this great nation and thank them for the role they played in that endeavour. In most cases, these people are our neighbors, relatives, and friends.

As soon as I get back, I will have to dust off my Dress Blue uniform as I will be escorting my bride to the Marine Corps Ball on base. The birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps is 1o Nov and this year, we turn 234 years old. Happy birthday in advance to all the U.S. Marines out there especially my Uncle Ed, a former U.S. Marine and Vietnam veteran. Semper Fidelis.

Well, that is about it for now. I am very happy at the thought of getting back to life in the states. I will not be posting next week as I will be traveling but will update everyone the following week.

Until then.........

Michael

One weekend to go.

Hello All,

Well, it is another cool, rainy weekend in Bavaria. Seems like it has been this way for the last 3 weeks, for the most part.

Not much to report. This is my last solo weekend in Germany. My replacement is scheduled to arrive this upcoming Friday morning. We will have about a week and a half to conduct a good turnover and then I am headed back to NC. The people I work for back at II Marine Expedionary Force (II MEF) are eagar to have me back which is good and bad. It is nice to be valued but I know that there is a ton of stuff that will be sitting on my desk when I get back. Guess the vacation is over and it is back to the daily grind.

Unfortunately, I will have to pass through Djibouti one last time to check out with my parent command. I am not sure why but it seemed pretty important to the admin people I spoke with. I was hoping to never go back but this will only be for 30 hours or so. I hope the city garbage dump nearby is not on fire like it has been every other time I have been there.

I was going to go to Zurich yesterday but after having conduct some internet research, there wasn't much I was interested in seeing and it is about 4 hours away. A long way to go to see one of the costliest cities in the world. I imagine a $15 cup of coffee in Zurich probably tastes about the same as $1.75 cup of coffee in Sneads Ferry, NC.

I can say that the one thing I wish I could have seen but will not is the Alps during the winter time. I think back to my trip to Hitler's "Eagles Nest" and can tell you that the Alps are spectacular. My be the Marine replacing me will get out there and share some snapshots.

Anyhow, I am stunned that I will be leaving soon. Being away for so long certainly sucks. But in another sense, I can't believe how fast the time has went by.

I took a trip out to a French military PX a few months ago and bought a bottle of inexpensive French wine which I had no intention of taking back with me so I decided to uncork it yesterday. It was a bottle of Chateau Saint Bonnet (2003) and is a combination of 50% cabernet sauvignon and 50% merlot. It is really very good and at $5 USD, represented a great value.

I used it to wash down a big hunk of cheese my boss shared with me. He has a friend who went down to a farm in Switzerland and performed 4 hours of labor to get a discount on cheees the farmer produces. This fella must have bought a lot of cheese because he was asking people he knew it they wanted to buy any from him. COL M, my immediate supervisor, bought 2 "wheels" of cheese (those are the big, bulk cheese things you see in the higher end grocery stores and are covered in wax).

The one wheel was really big. It must have weighed 25 lbs. It was 14 or 15 inches in diameter and 4 inches high. It is really good and pretty cool that it is straight from the farm. You just don't hear about that kind of stuff in the US.

I was going to go to a "Cabbage Festival" in one of the nearby communities today but never made it. All the roads my navigation system routed me through were closed for the festival and I could not figure out where to park. Oh well, it was drizziling a bit and kind of chilly anyways. Germans sure do like their festivals though. Now I will never know how much cabbage I could have eaten.

This is my second last weekend in Germany. Almost home.

Michael

Does anyone know........

that today is Columbus Day?

Nobody has the day off (expect employees of the Federal Government including the post office), the stock market is open, and the banks and schools aren't even closed. We keep adding federal holidays. Do we ever take any off the plate?

This will offend my Italian and Spanish readers, but, should we really be celebrating the fact that some European guy "discovered" a place where people have lived for hundreds of years. All he "discovered" is that someone got there before him.

Leif Ericsson and the Vikings made it to North America nearly 500 years before Columbus. And, we can remember human beings were in the Americas over 13,000 years before Columbus.

Columbus never landed in the present-day United States other than Puerto Rico. He sailed around in the Caribbean and on the coast of Central and South America some, but he never visited the contiguous 48 states.

At any rate, I have the day off. In fact, this is a 4 day holiday for us. Friday was a bust as I worked most of it. Due to operational commitments and GO/FO support requirements (GO/FO is pronounced "go-foe" which is short for General Officer/Flag Officer. Flag Officer is like a General Officer but it is the term used in the US Navy and US Coast Guard (didn't want to diss my friend Tim O by leaving that out).

I don't have any commitments today other then dinner with these two visiting Rear Admirals (Lower Half) later on today. No big deal as I had no plans otherwise. I have 10 days until my replacement show up and then 10 days of turnover. After that, it is back to the US.

Honestly, I am a little worn out of doing/seeing things without my wife so it is just as well that the last two long weekends have included work related requirements. At this point, I am just keeping my head down and charging ahead towards the finish line.

/

It is cool and rainy here as it has been for the last couple of weeks and summer have given way to fall. I have included a few snapshots I took over the last few weeks. Stuttgart is in a valley and the shots I took are of the city from an elevated position. Stuttgart has a number of wineries and you can see the vineyards on the hillside. Also included is a snapshot of some of the very tasty beer I have been drinking.

/

Remember, you can double click on the pictures for an expanded photo.

Hope all is well with everyone and I will be back in the states soon!

Michael

Even More of Nothing

Hello All, I am sitting here watch episodes of "The Office" on DVD and thought I would update my blog.

Fall is in full swing in Bavaria. The leaves are falling off the trees and those brave enough to wear sandals in the summer are now back to wearing proper leather shoes. The women who never wore sandals are now sporting fashionable boots. The handful of people who broke out the shorts are now back in jeans or trousers (thankfully).

Octoberfest is also in full swing in Munich and most major cities in the US. Little known is that Octoberfest originated in Munich to commerate the wedding anniversary of Crown Prince Ludwig (later King Ludwig I) and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen and that is the only place in Germany that Octoberfest is celebrated.

I walk around downtown in the pedestrian area on Saturdays and have noticed that people are wearing jackets when it is really not that cold out. I'm still in a short sleeved collared shirt or t-shirt. Maybe they are taking them for a test drive for when it really get cold.

I don't get it. It had to be really pretty warm out before I saw sandals and shorts come out but as the weather turns a little cooler, people are not hesitating to reach for the leather jacket. I wonder if Jodi will drive her Vespa when it snows outside.

It is an unusual feeling walking around downtown. If you have ever been "in" your environment but not "part" of it, that is how I feel. Have you ever seen "The Matrix" (the first one, not all the crappy ones that followed)? Do you remember the scene when Neo was on the ship and undergoing his initial training? Do you remember the part when he was inserted in the busy city scene when he on a NYC style sidewalk with lots of pedestrians? That is how I feel. Everyone was going on about there lives and I was the outsider looking in. I am "in" my enviroment but not "part" of it. I, however, do not turn around to look at the woman in the red dress. I am to preoccupied with thoughts of my beautiful wife, Jodi (spoiler alert: the woman in the red dress is really an agent).

Now I know how the illegals in the US feel. Did you know that "Big Mac" in a German McDonalds is still pronounced "Big Mac"? In the same vein, enchilada , is pronounced "enchilada" both in Mexico and the US. Neat, huh? Chicken is "polo" in Spanish, though. That is a good thing to remember for readers planning to travel to Spanish speaking nations. Interestingly (at least to me), is that nachos are rarely eaten in Mexico. I love nachos.

When all else fails, you can do what I do when ordering. It is kind of a "pointy-talky" thing where you point at what you want and keep saying it in English because if you say it enough, they will somehow learn English in the next 30 seconds and know exactly what you want. When in doubt, order the first entree listed on the menu and send it back if you don't like it. Repeat with items 2-14. Just kidding, I have never done that.

Well, at any rate, my time is coming to a close here and I will be happy to get back to the US. There are, however, several things I will miss about Germany.

1. Driving, most people do not do unpredictable things while driving and most follow the rules. This leads to very orderly driving with a spirt of "everyone is going somewhere and coopertation on the roads will permit everyone to get where they are going in a the most timely manner".

2. Go as fast as you want, ok, that is only in very limited areas but cool none the less.

3. Beer, it is better here then in the US and ok to drink it in place of water.

4. Shoes, people here wear proper shoes and belts and dress well.

5. Cars, lots of neat cars here you can't get in the US, also a lack of truck based vehicles.

6. History, old here goes back to the 1100s, in the US, 1700s.

7. Community spirit, even in the big cities, there is a sense of community. I don't get that vibe in most places in the US. Sneads Ferry, NC, is like that though.

8. Collective mentality, it is more important to be a good member of society then to enjoy your indiviual freedom to do whatever the hell you want.

9. Fitness, seems more important here and spans generations.

10. Bakeries, people like fresh bread and buy it at bakeries. I like the big outdoor mkts, too.

11. Recycling, expected here, an after thought in the US. Really, how hard is it to put glass, paper, and cans in one bin and everything else in another?

12. Safety, It's just safer here. Per capita world wide stats: a. Murder: US ranked 24th, Germany 49th, b. Rape: US 9th, Germany 24th, c. Robbery: US 11th, Germany 24th.

That's not to say I don't love America, cause I do. For every 1 thing I like about Germany, I can think of 5 things I like about America. However, if we had more of items 7, 8, and 12, that would be great.

Well, that is about it. One week closer to going home. My replacement should be here in a couple of weeks. Great news for sure.

Michael