get out of the oven!

did somebody forget how hot and sticky it is in israel during summer? i'm dying here, people!

friday morning was grand - depressing, but nice in spite of the knowledge that i was leaving. woke up slowly, packed, and then we all went to the market to organize sushi. *excellent* sushi. the nice drive round parts of montreal i hadn't yet seen also went down well.

then we were off to the airport, for another tearful farewell (my aunt's good at that), and then i was rushed through to my plane to toronto (with a promise from the check-in counter that my luggage would go straight to tel aviv).

the first flight was alright, and in toronto i walked straight through to the shuttle to my next flight. i didn't see border control anywhere, so i guess i'm officially still in canada.

unfortunately, i had an hour to wait, and not only is the building non-smoking, but OUTSIDE TOO. the building is situated in the middle of all the runways... DAMMIT! so i bought a couple of magazines, munched some m&m's, and eventually we boarded.

a harsh, 12 hour reminder that aeroplane seats are designed for people without legs. not only was the kid behind me playing with his seatbelt the entire flight (enough clicking will get on your nerves), but the little girl in front kept holding down the button and bouncing back and forth. i went bananas, and nobody could stop her from doing it.

so yeah, that was a pretty sucky flight. i hear my mom's was worse, but that doesn't make me feel better. i think i slept about half an hour or so. i spent a lot of the waking hours hating myself for returning to uniform.

i discovered, to my complete and utter surprise, really, that my luggage is still in canada. notice the use of present tense. i hopped on the train (and luckily didn't get caught - i used my soldier's id for a free ride) and went to the base. aside from picking up my keys, and going for lunch with the kid (although after two weeks of good food, i couldn't bring myself to eat any of that crap), and some milling around and appreciating the beautiful bums the girls sport here, i waited two hours to speak to my commander. who managed to sneak out when i wasn't looking.

disappointed, i caught the bus home. my stuff's all there, which DID surprise me, and i showered and read myself to sleep.

aside from an hour or two in the late evening, when i spoke to my mom to hear about the horrors of her trip (and it really was horrific), i slept soundly until 3am.

AAARGH! and i'd slept too much, so i just lay in bed reading until my alarm went off. i shaved, and hurried off to the base (forgetting my shoes, so i'm stuck in uniform at work, which SUCKS), pretty much straight to work. oh, and i made a neat 9 month calendar (the amount of time i have left), with each month a picture of the appropriate phase in a foetus' development.

the work today (and i'll be continuing tomorrow) was extremely frustrating. my commander was in meetings the entire day, i literally didn't get two seconds to talk to him. i cleared out my 150+ new emails, sewed on one of my new ranks, and other than that had a particularly boring day.

i came straight to work, and have been in the thick of it since i got here. did some conniving with yogi. conniving is always fun. can't talk about it yet. sorry. and i have actually gotten a lot of work done. and eaten a good hamburger; i was desperate for food - i'm still not craving mess-hall trash.

considering the fact that the following thoughts consumed me for most of my trip, i've decided to jot them down:

i live in the future. i always have. it's why i dress the way i do, i why i plan do the things i haven't shut up about (IRL). so i'm constantly thinking about my possibilities, specifically from my release date next year.

1) i sign on 3 extra years, assuming that they make me an offer i can't refuse (and can't talk about, sorry)

2) i stay on at work a couple of months, to make starting money and enjoy a bit of summer out of uniform

3) i return to sa for a couple of months - i need minor surgery, and i'm not doing it when alone in israel

4a) i go off to japan, to seek work in vr / aerospace, and if i'm unsuccessful then just to have a holiday there and spend time with hido

4b) i go to the states, where i join SxS in building an empire (with me primarily focused on vr)

4c) i go to canada, to work in gaming / aerospace (they have some good places to start) or to do research in mcgill university (have contact, will travel).

so that's about it at the moment. not to mention much thoughts about starting a family; but those are just arbitrary.

right, i'm off.