Which brings me to the main part of today's blog - the good news / bad news part about having a departure date. The good news is obvious I hope; in less than 60 days I'll be back home! The bad news is right this minute, there is a guy I have never met who is going through the first day of training to begin his time out here. I can tell you (actually I did at the time if you go back to my first posts for this blog) that his life stinks right now. Not only is he at the start of ten months away from his family, but that first week in particular is so poorly done that it is nothing but a week of frustration. Even all these many days and months removed, those of us here in Iraq still remark on what a crappy program the Navy put together to begin the whole IA process. Later on the training will thankfully improve but that first week is a CWT (Complete Waste of Time - flashback from that first entry). So, while I am selfishly very happy that someone is coming out to relieve me, I am also sad that someone still has to come out here and continue to endure the same things I've been through for the past 200 some-odd days.
Cheers, Pearl
P.S. But in 40 days he will still be my new best friend when we begin our turnover!
