I've gotten a lot of inquiries about what things are like over here for me now that I'm at a semi-permanent location. And I say semi because there's still a possibility that I may move again, but hopefully I'll know soon enough. I want to start getting mail! Plus I'm thinking that I'll need some warmer clothes pretty soon. The nights are already getting cool. Of course comparing that to days, 80 could feel cool. I was walking with the other dispatcher here, Juli, to a few places today and she glanced up at a thermometer and said, "No wonder it feels warm." It was 120. Yep. Comfy. And for some reason, we thought it wise to walk back to the station quickly. Where was the logic in that?
So where to start? I arrived, uneventfully, by helo. It was a neat ride. Just under an hour or so. I got a bit of a nap. Having a kevlar helmet on really helped cushion the movement and noise. Of course there was a brief moment where I dreamed that I was in a washing machine, but it was quick. The process for checking in here was even less impressive than at the other places. Plus I was tired & getting a bit on the irritable side. Being shuffled like cattle can do that to a person. After a short wait, the assistant chief & one of the firefighters came to pick me and my luggage up and take me to my home. And a pretty home it is.
My room is a shared room, pretty good sized right now but the more people move in there, the smaller it'll get. The beds are solid as rocks. I'm okay with that with one little exception. The edges can actually bruise us if we happen to hit 'em wrong. No bed should cause bruises. At least not the mattress! But it's better than a cot! Better than a lot of things.
Things will be very odd for a while. At least compared to what I thought I'd be doing. That's totally okay though. I'm up for whatever they throw my way. I'm on an adventure (any references to Candy Mountain are intentional) and that's a part of it. See, I thought I was coming over here to dispatch. That was the job title & description. Only there is no dispatch center so I get to help make one. Juli has a lot of dispatching experience, as do I, and we're both smart little cookies, so we can really make good things happen. Besides, we get along well. No egos, just a good plan. It's cool. The guys here are great too. All have been very kind and welcoming. I feel like I just got adopted into a very fun family. They even got me to play soccer with 'em. Good times.
As far as the daily routine, we have roll call at 0730, do whatever work they need for us to do, find some work for us to do, then have our time. We have a bit of a walk to the DFAC, the PX, most of the Camp. We have showers that are a bit away (not bad at all, just not down the hall), a real bathroom near the showers, and port-o-potties outside the station. None of this is a big deal now, but in a few months, I'm already sure I'll have a few miserable moments. Times when I'd rather suffer than go outside in the middle of the night (the middle of the cold) to use the bathroom. When I'd rather have to get my sheets washed an extra time than shower and have to walk in the cold all the way back to the station... I'm sure it'll get brutal but I knew that when I signed up, right? No complaining. I'll just have to try to find a way to get sympathy out of you all.
The Camp here is pretty cool. It's a nice set-up but it's all close enough that it feels small without being cramped. It is definitely a desert though! These dust devils I've seen are downright tornadoes! They're neat to see when they're just starting to form. Very cool. I'm going to try to get some good pictures of that too. I want to go camera happy out there! Actually, I really want to go sit at the air field for a while and just watch. I could do that for hours! Really, there isn't much to do here, but that's okay. We can always find something.
What else? People have asked about my schedule. When the department is up & running, we'll likely be doing two during the day, one at night. The dispatch center is in the station and all parties live here so we should get meal/bathroom breaks. I hope so because there really isn't much to cook around here.
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