Insane posting person, that's me

Yesterday I had my first day on base as an official person.

It's technically the middle of the night, at 4:34AM, but I'm awake and my brain's turned on. Since I don't feeling like journaling with paper, y'all are getting the benefit of my brain tortuosity.

Yesterday morning, I rode onto base with Bernie McMichaels, who's the person in charge of assisting with the relocation of new contracted civilian hires and Ying, the new PA from Houston. After being signed into base, we headed for various offices completing tasks, meeting lots of people, who were all very nice. I truly got a good feeling being on the base and chatting with the mix of Americans and Germans who keep it running.

After walking to various offices and buildings in the crisp fall sunshine, (there's frost on the cars in the morning) I ended up with a military ID card to get off and on base, an APO address, a bank account which allows me to get US dollars or Euros without a fee and also pay bills automatically in either currency, leads on auto purchasing and housing and a feeling for the base layout in general.

Splitting the day in half was a trip to the cafeteria, where for $4.25, you pick up a tray and silverware and point at the food you'd like to eat, then deposit the tray for someone else to do the dishes. My dream come true. Just like my days in the dorms. I think I'll be eating there every day.

We left for home a little early, as Bernie needed to stop at the bank, then the three of us had coffee and an apple cake in the bakery in town.

Yesterday, I'd decided that I might need to relocate to a hotel with more occupants. Although the owners here are nice, I rarely see anyone. It's so quiet- like living in a library. The room is nice, but I'm quite tempted to move down the street to a smaller pink room in the Gasthof Hammer, which is warm inside and bustling with Germans and Americans. It just feels more homey. Knowing myself as a person who honestly likes people, (even moreso when I've first arrived in a country or when traveling) I think I'd transition better in the company of other folks in my same shoes. Just visiting there yesterday for a short time resulted in an invitation to go to Stuttgart on Saturday with some guys from Alabama.

God knows I need someone else to talk to, or I'll be posting ten times a day! :)