FINALLY, A ROUTINE AND SOME MOTIVATION!

Play drumroll.... tan tan tan ta tan!)

I'm back.

Not only am I posting again, I also changed the look of the blog, so if anybody were to "accidentally" type the blog's address, they will see the new colors, and maybe that'll force them to read what I have to say!

I sincerely apologize for not posting in so long (well, actually, not really. I'm not sorry, AT ALL) but I've been busy (lazy) and really stressed out (again, lazy). So.... here's a quick and short update of what's happened since I last posted:

I went on mid-tour leave (for those not familiar with the concept, it's pretty simple, you HAVE to take 2 weeks of vacation during the time you're deployed, it's not an option). Yes, I know it sounds crazy to go on leave after only 4 months of being in country, but like most things in the Army, it wasn't my choice. I was originally scheduled for March (the last month available), but due to some changes in personnel (I'll go into detail on that in a bit) I was forced to "choose" a different month. So it came down to how much of an asshole I could be, because everybody else in the Company had already picked the months they wanted to take leave on. My question was: Do I want to screw somebody out of their leave? Well, being the nice person and good leader that I attempt to be, I decided to take it early, which just happened to work out, since my parents' 40th anniversary was in August.

Sooooo, the time off was QUITE nice. The "two weeks" basically turned into a month away from my base, for which honestly, I can't really complain. Since my base is really small and there isn't a daily flight out of here, I had to take the Monday flight to a much bigger base still in Iraq. Well, this "base" is HUGE. It is so big that there are bus lines that run 24/7 to move people from one place to another. To put it in perspective, my base has a 20ft trailer that serves as a PX (where we buy candy, junk food, hygiene items, etc). Camp Adder (the one I spent 5 days in, while waiting for my flight out of Iraq) has 2 PX's, one that is almost as big as the ones in the States, a Pizza Hut, Burger King, Taco Bell, 2 Pizza restaurants, barber shops, and the list keeps going, and going. The point I'm trying to make is that those 5 days I spent there felt like a vacation already (compared to how I live in my current base). From Camp Adder, I flew to Kuwait, where I spent another 3 days waiting for a flight, and then... I finally made my way to Venezuela (which only took 5 more flights and 2 more days). I'll write a post later on about the trip itself, but basically it was 2 weeks of pure relaxation and rest. On the way back, it took me 7 more days to get to my base. I left GarryOwen on 27July and got back on 28August. Not bad, eh?

Getting back into a rhythm was pretty hard. We changed Company Commanders while I was gone, which for me, it means paperwork, paperwork, and then... some paperwork. Aside from that, I wasn't going to be a Platoon Leader anymore. I was changing duty positions and getting ready to be the Company Executive Officer (that's the personnel change I was referring to earlier in the post), which meant training on new things. A new lieutenant was scheduled to arrive to the Company at the same time I got back, so I was in charge of training him so he could take over my Platoon. Basically, instead of a smooth transition where I train the new LT, he takes over, and then I train for my new job, it all happened at once. I was training the new LT, still going on missions, helping train some Iraqi Army Engineers, and also learning how the supply system for the Company works, as well as all the maintenance issues that come up every week.

Needless to say, I dont think I've ever been so stressed out. I can remember weeks in college where I thought the world was going to crash down on me, or days at ranger school where I didn't think I could make it, and they dont even come close to the first 2 weeks after I got back from leave. It was that bad. I think I got like 12-15 hours of sleep just the first week alone, and something similar the next week. Good news is that it's pretty much over. The new LT took over my Platoon, signed for all the property I was responsible for, and now I don't go on missions as much. As the XO for the Company, I'm responsible for the Supply and Maintenance system for everything the Company has. It can be stressing at times, but with a good filing system and good time management, you can foresee a lot of the issues and prevent some of the headaches.

Oh, I also got promoted, so it's 1st Lieutenant Pazos now. I'm pretty excited, got a new job, a challenging and very different job, but I'm looking forward to it. Being the Pazos that I am, I love me a good challenge, baby!

Even though I dont have "troops" under my command anymore, please feel free to send stuff in mass quantities like before. I will still hand it down to the guys. I'm sure they'll appreciate it. By the way, my new Commander is from Puerto Rico and is an avid dominoes player. I'm his new teammate and we have domino nights once a week, where we form 4 teams, 2 tables, and play a little tournament. The rules are a bit different, but heck... it's still dominoes!

Titi: I hope your Antonio fix has been re-stocked. If not, feel free to complain, and I'll make sure to post a longer one next time. Love you!

By the way, this is my first post with my new Macbook Pro. I absolutely love this computer. The extra 300-400 bucks you pay for it compared to a PC is worth every single penny!

Well, that's all I got for now. Should've kept you reading for a good 2-3 minutes! Hope all is well back home and I will be seeing you all sooner than later!

Un abrazo,

Antonio

Quick picture. That's me with my Driver and my Gunner right before my last mission as a Platoon Leader. It's guys like these that make me proud to serve my country.

Oh, and Happy Birthday to Marco! Titi and I had a little argument. She says you're turning 27, I say 26. Which one is it?