Things I don't Remember

"There were jokes that didn't land, disco dancing neighbors, they were born in mashed potatoes.... how the hell'd we get here..."

"Let me go on like a blister in the sun..."

Man!
This adventure is awesome in a lot of ways. Not every bit of it is so cool, but hell, I never expected to just have fun the whole time I was here.

"Day, after day, I will walk... and I will play.... but the day after today, I will stop and I will start...."

I've rediscovered a lot of music I hadn't listened to in awhile. I've met some cool people, and some not so cool people. I've learned some cool things about science. Not that I could explain most of it, but hell it's still cool. I've grown, and continue to.

You maybe saying, James you keep saying one day you hate it, the next you love it, but what's it really like there?

Well it's like this.

The social structure, as I've said before, is much like high school meets summer camp. Not especially great in concert.
There are these special rules, on a count of this being a US Government facility, and also one of the largest travel hubs on the continent. I know that sounds funny, but not 5 miles away is New Zealand's Scott Base, also I've met Aussies, Kiwis, Italians, Irishmen, Polish peoples, and other non-Americans here. Some are living on base, some at Scott base, some are just passing through. The best thing about my job, as far as the experience of it all, is that it puts me in a unique position to meet literally everyone on base. I don't necessarily get to have in depth conversation with each and every person, but I have had short conversations with many of them, probably the vast majority. I have learned several drinking games just through conversation as well. Take, for example the Kiwi tradition of "Where you from?" which I learned about by wearing my APBC "I'm from Asheville, where the hell you from?" shirt out to the bar, Southern Exposer. Basically, if you say, "'ey where you from?" to a Kiwi, they must cheers you, finish their drink, and then tell you where they are from. They aren't allowed to return the favor. My personal favorite game I was told of, but am very afraid to play, is the Ferris Bueller game. It consists of watching the movie of the same name and drinking whenever the main characters name is said.... recipe for disaster, that is.

The long and the short of it is that this place isn't like anywhere or anything else you could ever experience.  The beer is all a year since it's on can sell by date, looks putrid when poured into a glass, and has gotten worse as the season wears on. I've stopped drinking it entirely. When I was still smoking, the American Spirits were stale and easily broken when attempting to ash, while the Marlboro's and Camel's were only on the cusp of being stale, but all of them were cheap. The chips and candy and most of the food we prepare in the galley is also well past its sell by date, and in some cases its use by date. But it still gets used. The fruit is often beginning to mold. But at the same time, I would wager that there have been almost no food poisoning cases here. That in and of itself makes me more than raise an eyebrow to the FDA and it's policy on expiration dates. There are also rigidly enforced recycling and trash sorting rules, which makes me see just how wasteful Americans are, because it all gets shipped back to the states, every bit of it. From used condoms and rotten food, to tattered cloth, to aluminum cans, to glass, to non-recyclable material.

Anyhow, I'm hungry and it's breakfast time (dinner for me), so I'm off!