It Was a Very Bad Day

It started when I drove onto base that evening to pick up Tim.
I rolled down my window and waited for the police checker to take my card, but he just stood there. Finally, I looked at him.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yes. Are you okay?” I asked.
“You just seemed a little nervous when you drove up.” He turned to the military police standing behind him. “Didn’t she look nervous to you?”
The MP looked at me and nodded.
“Have you never been on a military base before?” he asked.
“I’ve been on lots of times,” I replied. “My husband goes to school here.”
I started to get worried. Perhaps I had some horrible face-mal-forming disease and was unaware.
“Why, do I look okay?” I asked.
“Fine,” he answered. “Are you nervous because of your rejection sticker?” He pointed to our state inspection sticker in the middle of our windshield.
“No.” I answered. Why should I be?
“Can you tell me when it expires?” he asked.
“The handwriting is too sloppy,” I told him.
He checked, and informed me that it had expired. Then he told me that he would let me go without a ticket.
How heartwarming.

As I waited for Tim, I decided to drive around Camp Barrett and see what there was to see. Camp Barrett could charge admission for people to come and tour some of the craters in their parking lots. But then they had to go and fill them in for the changing of command ceremony. I guess they lost too many lieutenants in the holes.

For a while I parked by the base kitchen. Men in white astronaut suits stood around the entrance looking in. I wondered what was going on inside, and why they had to wear head to toe protection. Can the food really be that bad?

Then a guy walked by talking to himself and holding a box in his hand. He looked upset. I wonder if he had PTSD.

I continued around the loop behind the buildings, and someone honked at me for turning into their lane. I guess they thought it was their turn.

I made my way to the front of the buildings, and saw a line of lieutenants crossing the road in front of me. I thought about plowing through, but changed my mind. Instead, I sat there, hoping the poison in my eyes communicated my displeasure. Then I saw him. A lieutenant walking by looked at me with a HUGE smile and waved. It was my Tim!!!

It was a very good day!

Waiting on “the word”
I spend a lot of time on base waiting for Tim to be cleared to leave. Sometimes it gets dark before he “gets the word.” I enjoy watching the indigenous woodland creatures. Pizza delivery cars roam the base from 1700 to 1900, and after they leave, the deer come out. You wouldn’t think the deer would want to live somewhere where every man was armed, but they do. It just goes to show you how friendly the Marines are to nature. In fact, I saw a bumper sticker that informed me that “and on the eighth day, God created the Marines.”