in sickness and in health

i had a nothing day yesterday. i didn't do anything, and i didn't have to.

i felt like crap, i started feeling really ill on the bus to work, and after an hour and a half of not doing anything but watching the walls bleed i decided it was time to call it a night. i haven't felt that bad in a long time.

i'm NOT the frikkin' maid: i wanted to eat something before going to bed, and there wasn't any clean cutlery or crockery in the apartment. everything was in the sink, covered in grotesque bits of food from two days prior, and i was PISSED that i had to wash the things i needed. i've had enough stupid shit like that to deal with with previous flatmates, and that's one of the things i LOATHE.

anyway, i watched the first episode of dinosaurs (the mighty megalosaurus), and fell asleep around 20.30.

...

i woke up at 07.30, feeling slightly better but still a little woozy. i had a muesli breakfast (with mango! nice!), i got all my gear together, and the kid and i took a taxi (with quite the talkative and rather amusing driver) to the base, and the day began with a branch ceremony. i don't have a clue what was discussed, but the munchies provided were good and we had fun making candles for hanukkah. it was a good way to waste a few hours.

i skipped lunch because i was so stressed about organizing the farewell ceremony. i got some help from the mongoose and the kid's shag, but it wasn't until an hour before that i finally sent out the invitations, and even then i didn't invite everyone i wanted to. it's really difficult to go through lists of people whose names you don't know, when the list names themselves don't provide a clue as to which branch / section they're referring to.

it's a good thing the mongoose and i put together a quick poster for my previous SC: not only did he rock up, but he provided a whole lot of cakes that his wife had baked for me.

wow :O

we started on time, which turned out to be problematic because i'd thought to myself that if too many people came we'd move outside... too many people came, and a lot simply stood outside or went away :(
[kinda like my promotion, only it's a more meaningful ceremony]

anyway, the people who made speeches made really touching ones. by the time it got to my turn, i was so touched that none of the things i'd prepared to say were readily available - i turned mute and just mumbled some random things and thank yous.

but i came out alright with the gifts.

my branch commander didn't read hers out loud (that's more or less the tradition): she just got up and hugged me. (a beautiful plaque saying thank you for the support and being an excellent example)

my team leader just looked at his plaque, and got this huge grin on his face. (similar plaque, with his name and "an officer and a gentleman" - he's definitely both)

everyone's jaws dropped when i produced my SC's, including his: he'd actually used the phrase in his speech, so my work was done ^_^ (a stunning trophy with an F16 saying "mission accomplished" in english and hebrew)

so there were lots of goodbyes, even though i'm still going to be on base for another week, and my section stayed on after everyone had left to chat a bit and present me with something: i opened the wrapping and the box was labelled: "FISHER - SPACE PEN".

that's just awesome. it's become a part of my uniform, and the joke was that i'm just gonna have to go into space to see if it really works ;)

we cleaned up, and i went and sat with freshmeat over coffee (i learned that fireman is working in the same company as sammy, i told sammy to send my regards :P), before returning to my section to clear out a few emails (i got TONS of email apologies from people who couldn't make it, and many just to say goodbye and wish me luck), and chat with the team before heading off to work.

i have to say i've still got some of the speeches going through my head - there're many things that i regret that i didn't say, but it really was moving and i really am going to miss these guys. i can only hope that i'll meet people like these on my next base.