faring well part i

[this post divided into two parts retroactively]

[i just realized that for anyone who doesn't follow me outside of this blog, it's not clear that the reduction numbers my days in the service to... umm... *counts fingers*... four.]

wednesday:

i returned my sat-phone; i was horrified by the girl's response to my being released: "with your rank, isn't that a bit of a shame?"
my automatic response could have been nastier, but not by much: "you know, some people have aspirations in life".

on my way back to base i ran into a girl i did the officer's prep course with, and from laughing about the psalm attack (she's religious) we got to talking about god. we didn't stop talking until we hit the medical base and went our separate ways :)

i made it in time for lunch, which saw vyomanaut and one of the hobbits arguing over cultural contamination; globalization is leading us to a point where we may become what we once were: a single people.

after giving the hobbit hell for demonstrating a tremendous ability to talk in circles and not allow anything in, the discussion group split up and the conversation on our side of it led me to an inspiring thought: if two people have seen god, then they must love each other. if one of them doesn't, then he hasn't. because a man who has seen god will understand that everyone's gods are real.

speaking of gods: i apologize to the caffeine deities for having to throw out cold coffee :(

i spent a good while breaking my head over a nasty code tangle, not in particularly good shape nose-wise... so much so that i had to take a break to sleep a bit (not enough oxygen coming through), and i slept the sleep of the dead in a quiet corner for a while.

i returned to my office for a serious push, making good headway before entering the unit commander's office for our final talk. i must admit to being caught a little off guard by his appreciation of my efforts and his understanding of my general condition, even though i've mentioned before how highly i think of him. it did my little heart good to know that he didn't miss much over the course of the past three months.

he was surprised to hear my answer when he asked what i'm planning on doing after my release: "that sounds like a bit much, don't you think?"
"naaah, i don't really sleep very much."

he informed me that i won't be doing reserve duty in the unit - now i'm hoping that i won't be doing it at all, but i think that's a bit much to ask for :P

i began the revised knowledge transfer a few minutes after i got out of his office, and we continued that until it was time to go.

i got home a bit later than usual, and was pleased to discover that the printing shop i use is now open until late - i'd been worried that i wouldn't be able to finish the gift for the unit on time. after a false start (printing stickers on the wrong side), and against all odds (one of the workers didn't believe i'd be able to place the sticker inside the mug without resorting to weird tricks), i managed to get it done right and i was ready to go :)

i got home in time to hang out laundry and catch the bus to the tmuna theatre for michal geva's peformance. i think there must've been about ten to fifteen people there, which made for a very intimate evening. i guess that makes it worse that towards the end, as usual, i couldn't keep my eyes open. i think i'm allergic to sit-down shows. my eyes hurt.

i have to say that the performance was superb :)

...

needless to say, i slept well after that. i woke up early enough that i could waste my first half an hour going through photos from new year's taken by a mutual friend of mine and chc's (the capetonian hippie chick from monday); i'd made ready everything that needed to be and rolled out quite satisifed with my morning.

right until we hit the highway, when i suddenly realized that i'd left the gift at home.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

my SC advised me to just let it go, and to bring it in on sunday. bummer, though.

i made the final fix to my project, closing the version before heading to a meeting concerning the side-project that i worked on (the one that forced perl down my throat). i was glad to see that the project is gaining momentum, and just as happy to gobble up the sorbet/fruit-salad combo that our section chef brought in for the participants :)

the new girl, the strange one, brought me a parting gift. i didn't have the heart to tell her that that's not the way things are done - the card was really sweet, and i found the gesture touching.

first news of the day: my papers are in, and i have been formally accepted for the next year's academic studies ^_^
*and* the cost for the completion courses is the same as an undergrad - i was worried it would be master's prices :P

i worked a little on my speech, then we all went for lunch before hitting the store. nystire was supposed to pay for about a quarter of the stuff, but insisted on going halves - for which i'm quite grateful. between the two of us we organized a pretty serious dessert tray :)

i organized the cd burner to begin the version transfer, and was extremely satisfied to receive one of the new ones. it worked first time, allowed me to burn to a cd instead of a dvd, didn't cause any cyclic errors... nice!

while we were setting up for my farewell, the base's communication officer walked through the corridor - i literally chased him down to hand him a form that he needs to deal with in order for me to get out, because he's practically impossible to get hold of. DONE!

the farewell went really well. my SC and a couple of others had really good things to say about me, and they even went so far as to demonstrate that all of my efforts to contaminate them with an argumentative mentality and care for the environment were not completely in vain ^_^

then my speech. i scribbled my notes as follows:
i say this all because it's important to me, even though i know most of you will forget in two seconds anyway.

choosing battles -> it's too easy to simply stop fighting and get used to "there's nothing to be done" - that's just wrong

in general, our attitude needs to change. "if you didn't ruffle any feathers, chances are you didn't make a difference". we need to fix things, in the army and out

"if you are not fall, you are not make snowboard"
you might not succeed if you try, but you definitely fail if you don't.

caring for your environment and those around you is caring for yourself.

[here i got one of the others to translate "we must all fear evil men"]

i thank [my unit] for the opportunity to serve my country properly (my last employers replaced me with a monkey, here they let me replace myself with a program) and enter the world of aerospace.

i'm now beyond ready to continue on my grandiose mission, and i have to thank you all for a challenging and satisfying escort.

the end of my service was hard on me, but i don't regret fighting to sign on. i wish you all success; keep our lead, because we don't have anywhere else to go.

i didn't stick to them 100%, but i was told my a couple of people that it came across well enough and i can't ask for more than that.

[continued...]