rewash mandatory

*breathes out deeply*

today began *horribly*. we discovered a leaky faucet, had serious issues with our washing machine when we tried to run the load on a quick cycle, and i left too late. in addition to leaving late, and getting to the stop a little after all the buses had gone past, i hurriedly hopped into a taxi and we hit a freak traffic jam in the wrong direction.

aside from the expense, when i realized that it would be faster to run (and that if i didn't run i'd miss my train) i launched into a sprint all the way to the station. i need to emphasize that it was so hot and humid this morning that the airflow out of the vents in the car was bright white.

about a minute from the station entry i began feeling faint. "not here," i told myself, "keep on going". on the way down the stairs my sat-phone's belt clip hooked the drawstring of some poor woman's trousers, and fortunately she managed to stop me just in time because otherwise i would've taken them with me :S

the guys i was meeting with managed to convince the train team to hold the doors, and i entered, exhausted, sweaty, faint, and with my heart rate so high i thought it would simply fail. i continued to feel awful, on the verge of fainting, until we arrived on the base. i'm really grateful that they forced me to rehydrate and made sure we sat in the air-conditioned sections of the train and the following buses.

the morning was spent arbitrarily in an air-conditioned tent, some guy asked me to look after his rifle and disappeared... it took about two hours to find him, i was getting worried that i'd have to take the damn thing home with me. i find it amusing that even after all this time, carrying a weapon feels natural and relinquishing it awkward.

after lunch, the first real beef meal the army's provided me in ages, i made my way to the clinic to sit and chat with the doctor. he referred me to a neurologist, so now i have an emergency appointment for the end of next month. gotta love the army.

the rest of the afternoon i spent going crazy trying to organize the guard schedule. we're grossly undermanned and half the group are conditional, so i have to make the best of an impossible situation.

i really, really need to get in the shower. our landlord just left after inspecting the leak, and i can finally get clean again.