من بسیار ترشرو هستم

I am very grumpy. Why? Because we got kicked out of our office. Not only did we get kicked out, but it was a subversive, turned hostile take-over. The folks at ANATC (the ANA training advisers on Darulaman) were out of electricity for the last few weeks. So Deputy said they could come in and use our computers. He was totally doing them a favor and being nice. Well, Greedy McGreedson (the LTC in charge of ANATC) decided that we at COIN have waaaay too much space. So he was going to take some. And by some he meant most all. So we're going from 5 and a half offices down to two and a half offices.

I probably shouldn't whine too much, because my office was actually an upgrade. Now I'm in a secure space. Away from Warrant Blackout. But the point still stands. We were usurped. And I don't like it.

And to add insult to injury, someone was on my computer today. MY computer! I don't care if I was out on convoy. It's still MY desk, and MY stuff, including MY computer. And someone used it. How could I tell? I deliberately locked it before I left on convoy today. And sure enough, I come back and I'm logged out. Someone reset the computer in order to log me off. The nerve.

Which brings me to another point. Obviously Dinosaur isn't doing a good enough job guarding my desk. This isn't his first slip-up either. He lost positive control of the Master Key a couple weeks ago. I had the whole Desk Zoo on lockdown over that. Luckily the Key was returned. But Dinosaur's duty was augmented with extra watches, just to be sure. I know Tiger is there now, and he was here today for the Great Computer Heist, but it was his first day on the job, so I'm willing to cut him some slack. Hopefully Koala can get everything squared away. He does have a fair vantage point from his guard post on Giraffe's neck.

I'm not crazy and I probably don't have PTSD. I do have a constant ringing in my right ear. Which doesn't help my sour mood much, but probably isn't the reason I'm justified in anthropomorphizing the toy animals on my desk.

Convoy today went well. No major issues. Just some storms. They were probably black. Maybe a dark grey-ish color. Either way, there were some colors involved and they weren't happy ones.

My new thing to pass time is to see how many uniform regulations I can skirt around, or blatantly flaunt, before someone says something to me. I've still got my ANZAC Day pin on the back of my cover. The only time someone said something was actually on ANZAC day (about three weeks ago), and I told them it was in "memorial of all our foreign brothers that died. Lest we forget." That shut them up quickly. I also refuse to stop wearing my earrings despite some snide comment from some Senior Chief in Eggers. And I'm wearing my "Dont Tread on Me" patch instead of my American Flag on my combat shirt. My latest discovery is that I'm allowed to wear an Army issued scarf during "inclement weather" - which is broad enough to include just about any weather here in Afghanistan. I printed out the instruction just to show people that want to get snarky with me.

"Don't worry, though. I'm here 'til the end."

- x -