Friends

I went by to visit Toonces (of the Gritty Kitty Blog fame) the other day. I had found out by reading her blog she was here on VBC but it is such a large facility that often people you know might be here but if they don't live or work nearby, you never see them. Turns out she works right next door to one of my subordinate units on the other side of the base from me.

It was great seeing her again! We'd last parted ways in August as wide-eyed newbie EWOs heading off to the great unknown, and now, we are seasoned old-timers, sharing stories and frustrations and lessons learned from our time here. She's doing well and seems to be enjoying her job here as much as I do. If you were wondering about her extended absence from cyberspace, she's a victim of Army blog filtering (see one of my previous rants on that subject) and has had to develop a round about way of posting through e-mails to her mom. But, she's back up and online so please visit her site.

Many of the Navy guys I worked with when I first arrived are rotating back home soon. Like I said in reference to Toonces, my group of EWOs are about the be the "old guys" with all of the experience and knowledge. However, the guys who are going home in time for Christmas have taught us well and I'm sure that we'll be able to pass along the same level of instruction to the nuggets. While at the beginning these tours look so very long, once you're in the churn, it is sometimes surprising just how quickly time goes by.

Cheers, Pearl