Calmed.

I've finally got my internet connection in my apartment.  Comcast has has a bit of a problem that finally seems "fixed".  Anyway, it's nice to be back online again although honestly I'm not home long enough to do much more than check my email briefly at the end of the day while I'm watching news and getting ready for bed. 

Work has calmed down a bit over these last couple of days.  Or maybe it's just me that has calmed down.  I can't go into too much detail because there's no need.  Plus, my work requires security clearances so rather than wonder where the boundary of sensitive/non-sensitive stuff is I've just adopted an approach that it's better to just keep it all to myself. 

But managing what I manage, in the environment I manage it, is like being the pilot for an $80 million airplane that's still being built while it's already in the air.  And every once in a while there's an excitement storm where someone in a position of authority starts to worry that either (a) we're not headed in the right direction or (b) we're going to crash.  What I do is not for the faint of heart...

Add to that the fact this is all military.  This isn't like corporate America - it's got a culture all its own.  It's its own unique reality.  If you've been in the military you'll know what I mean, and I really don't have a problem with it.  But it sure is interesting.   More than once I've looked around the room and smiled at it all. 

It's kind of interesting when you're sitting in a briefing and the person talking takes out a wad of chewing tobacco, puts it into his mouth, and starts spitting into a soda bottle, and nobody stops to think twice about it.  Sara - the only other woman at this level in the program - gets a look on her face and looks at me...it's priceless.  Having her to bounce things off  of is a saving grace - it's all I can do to keep from laughing out loud sometimes.

That said - I'll be headed out of town for the long Memorial Day weekend.  One particular dear friend (guess who) and I are leaving tomorrow for the long weekend.  There will be a pool, a nice hotel, and some other low-key relaxing things to keep us entertained.  We've both earned it.

I'm also zeroing in on the dates to fly out to Phoenix, load up my "stuff" into a Ryder truck, and then do theacross-country drive back.  As usual, I'll stop in to see my son and my mom along the way.  I'm tentatively targeting the time around July 4 since I get extra time off anyways.  We'll see.

I uploaded a couple more recent photos to my SnapLog (link here).  I wish the photos did the scenes justice....

Oh....and there's apparently an article in Sports Illustrated about Trans athletes (link here).  They mention me, and I supposed that's a good thing.  I'll agree with the writers in that it can be a complicated subject.  But, as with other aspects of every-day life, you'll see it happening more and more.....