DAY 23 / DEC 21

DAY 23 / DEC 21

            I woke up and checked to see if the blackout had yet passed, but it was still on-going.  I grabbed a quick shower and got dressed.  I met up with my counterpart at the office and we went over some inventory schedules and general RIP tasks.  With all of my work for the day out of the way, I set about to kill time until lunch � which I did successfully.

            After lunch I checked again on the blackout � still going on.  I was beginning to feel bad for not being able to call my wife and let her know why I couldn�t call, but what could I do?  I killed time until about 1530 when decided to check again on the blackout � which was over!  I walked quickly to the computer where I knew I could fire off an email and then to the ATT center because I knew that the MWR phones would be packed.  The ATT center was ALSO packed, but after a minute or two, I was able to use a phone and let my wife know everything was ok.

            I had felt bad because I knew that she would be worrying about me when I didn�t call.  But, I had nothing to worry about, she is a very capable woman and knew that I was ok even though I hadn�t called and she suspected that it was a blackout situation.  I never should have worried about her, she can take care of herself.  It�s really nice and makes my time here a lot easier knowing that my wife and family and fully capable of taking care of themselves without for periods of time.  I never doubted her ability and have always been proud of how she takes care of things.  And once again, I was not disappointed.  I gave her the quick run-down of what happened and then had to rush off to a meeting (that ended up being postponed, but isn�t that how it always goes?).

            *** A note on blackouts ***

            Blackouts are by their very nature bad things, and bad news.  It means someone has been hurt or killed.  But, if you are expecting a call from someone and don�t get it, you really don�t have to worry because in the case of a blackout, no news is good news.  If you don�t get your usual call, AND no one in green uniforms comes walking up to your door, you�re ok, you�re Soldier is ok and is just unable to call for the time being.  Nothing to worry about, they will call when they can.