Dateline: above the garage in Portsmouth RI, 16 June 2005
One month to go and most of the big furniture is wrapped tighter than a drum and packed tighter than sardines in that POD in the driveway. It returns to the mothership in Providence tomorrow morning. Another arrives at the end of my final substantive editing process on BFA at the end of the month. That one will get packed far less intensely: bunch of rougher items (this one was almost all the antique furniture) and boxes galore. POD three will be the supplies for our 6-month camping experience in an apartment.
I have survived the process and am very pleased with the results. When I first spied the POD in the driveway Saturday after getting back from CENTCOM's special ops symposium, I was quite fearful it wouldn't hold enough. It does look small from the outside, but those 4 by 4 by 8 feet high sections are great with the dividing beams and the tie-down eyes that I used to great effect. It was very easy to pack, lying right in the driveway. We spent plenty on really nice packing stuff (bubble wrap, 8 restaurant-size rolls of wrap and high-end padded blankets), and I used it generously throughout. The high-end dolly/hand truck was worth every penny.
It's weird to have the house so diminished so early, but it feels great. We won't touch any of that stuff again until the new house is ready.
Other than that, day was mostly about getting haircuts for everyone save eldest daughter. I got friend Bradd to get me one final day visitor's pass to base, so me and the kids all got one last haircut with our beloved Ruth, to whom we were all sorry to bid farewell. But we snapped a nice photo of her holding Vonne Mei, and there were many hugs before we got into the car.
Weird to be on base one last time. Right now it is the big graduation week events. Always a lot of fun. But this year I spend those days at the Army War College and Central Command's special ops symposium, and that shift alone tells you where the work has taken me in the last year.
Tonight, some good Glenfiddich. This weekend, some offline time with the family. I will clock back in on Monday.
Two aggregate article posts:
■ Our enemies, our solutions (part 1)