well, where to start …I got some new pipes on Black Betty — now she actually sounds like a real bike, and looks like a custom chopper… I LOVE it ..I have been able to go riding only a few times, but those few times were great … cruising around Pisa is just awesome and ALL the locals stare at it–either because it’s too noisy and bothers them, or because they appreciate the awesomeness of pure American power…either way it turns heads…I also tested for promotion last week… I feel pretty good about it, but I won’t know anything for sure until June–that’s when the results come out and the time of official announcement of the selected promotees …now, if I did make it, that will mean some big changes for my future…to accept the new stripe I will have to extend my enlistment so I have 2 years of retainability from the promotion date…that also means I will have more than 12 months left in the Air Force when it comes time for me to leave Italy…which means they will give me an assignment, most likely to the US…that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I was planning my whole future around the fact that I would be stationed here until I retired…that also means a few more months till I can head to my island and live the easy life…in other news, I got word from headquarters that I am slotted to head back to Afghanistan–Kabul this time…it doesn’t seem like very long ago that I was leaving Bargram, but by the time I actually go it will have been over 18 months since I departed the trash pile that is Bagram Air Base…I am totally not looking forward to going back, but it’s my job and that’s what we do…this time will be with an Air Force unit and I will be working in vehicle maintenance with a very small chance that I would ever head outside the wire…that’s a good thing…I enjoyed it while I was doing it, but it’s not something I long to do again…although, I am still waiting on clarification of the position–if I get promoted I might not be able to fill the slot…it is for a wrench turner, not a superintendent …we’ll see about that one…oh yeah, I also got to witness and help clean up the destruction that a flood causes…my buddy Jeff lives in a group of government leased houses…there are 7 homes in a sort of townhouse set-up …well, this is where we BBQ, drink, play Rock Band and generally hang out on the weekends…a few weeks ago we had a torrential downpour and the streets of Livorno were totally flooded…cars stuck and stalled all over the place …well, all seven of these houses have a below-ground-level garage and basement…all seven completely flooded…Jeff called me Friday afternoon when he opened his garage and found his motorcycle, 4-wheeler, and small dirt bike under water … well, the 4-wheeler was actually floating because of the oversized tires…he asked if he could use our shop-vac from the shop… I told him to go ahead and grab it, but it was useless…a shop-vac is meant to clean up small spills, not empty a swimming pool…all of the families ended up going to the base to spend the night because the flooding knocked out all the electricity and there was no running water…Sat morning Jeff called to see if I could come over in the Jeep and help carry out the massive amounts of garbage that used to be books, pictures, documents, keepsakes, and other random items that people keep in their garage or basements…I headed over pronto…it was unreal…there were contractors from the base with large water trucks sucking up the 3-5 feet of water that was sitting in everyone’s house …when I got to Jeff’s the place was a wreck…everything was completely soaked and most of it ruined…it was terrible to see his wife going thru old wedding photos, pics of grandma that had passed away, certificates of whatever, kids toys and baby clothes–all going into the large black trash bags…I brought over a case of Corona and a case of Bud Light Lime–Jeff had been looking for it so I thought that would be a nice surprise for him …Jeff didn’t seem too upset about the whole thing … he just popped open a beer and said “what are ya gonna do?” …and we started cleaning …in these houses there are 4 Air Force and 3 Army families … thru the day a whole bunch of people showed up to help out with cleaning and organizing and trash gathering…of all the people, there were only 3 Army people that showed up–one was complaining about it being his day off, and another was bitching because he thought he was gonna miss the movie on base that evening…I could not believe what I saw…there were about 25-30 AF people and 3 Army guys–complaining about being there…it was a true sign of how the AF takes care of their people…all the AF guys, including myself, helped out all 7 families and we did everything we could to get the families back into a livable house…I spent all day and night there, and worked my ass off…I felt really sorry for everyone involved…it took all those people about a week to get their houses back to normal…it was nice to be back in Jeff’s basement drinking and playing Rock Band last night …I even got to sleep on my futon down there…I have also been out snowboarding a few times this month…the mountain was super icy last time we went .. it was a beautiful clear sunny day, but it was so cold that even the powder in the treed areas was frozen solid … that makes for a bad day if you fall a couple times …and I did fall a couple times .. it hurt…it hurt bad …it’s like falling on straight concrete, but cold, so it hurts even more…but, we did have a great time …we made it over to parts of the mountain we had never experienced…that place is HUGE …miles and miles of trails…we spent about 7 hours there and still didn’t hit all the open trails…I didn’t come away with any disabling injuries, but I felt it for the next few days …anyhoo…things are better in the work arena…we are back on regular work shifts, and the shop is nice and clean…we are actually starting to get more vehicles out than in…the bosses are happy and they are pretty much leaving us alone…we also got a couple guys back from the desert and they will all be back in the shop working next week…that should help us get those trucks fixed…some other great info — mom, dad, bro and niece all got plane tickets to come see me in June…that is awesome… we are planning a trip to the Shetland Islands in Scotland since that’s where my mom’s relatives are from…that should be a great trip… I can pick up some awesome Glen Scotch while I’m there too…it’s gonna be a busy summer, but I am looking forward to it…on to my fanancial dilemma—I tried to order something on line and got an email that my card had been declined…then I tried to use it to buy something on base…declined again…I go to the ATM–declined…so I called my bank to find out that my card had been cut-off, canceled, put on hold, etc…the reason being someone stole a credit card processing machine from either WalMart or Target and everyone who had used that store in the past year had their cards cancelled…I guess the machine keeps every card number in it’s memory and can be accessed to use those card numbers…crazy…so, my card was sent to AK’s house and she emailed me to let me know she forwarded it that same day…not that I am hurting without the card, but it does make things a little more difficult…now I have to cash a check at the BX, take $$ to the bank and convert it into Euro…just a hassle that the whole debit card is there to aleviate…I guess I should have the card early in the week…well, I guess that’s about all for now…I am gonna hit the sack early tonight so I can go out and cruise Black Betty all day tomorrow…the weather today was awesome and tomorrow should be the same…I love you and miss you all… talk to you soon
OOL
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