Giornale d’Italia
Giornali d’Italia Uno
England to Italy and beyond…
17 Jun 02
A lot has happened since I wrote last. As you know, I’ve been reassigned from England to Italy, and rolled out on the 3rd of June. The plan was to head to Spain for a couple weeks en route to driving to Italy. Not everything went to plan.
On the morning of the 3rd, I went up to Mildenhall to say my final farewells, and tie up some loose ends. By afternoon, I was on the road to Portsmouth, in southern England, where I had a rendezvous with the P&O Ferry to Bilbao Spain the next morning. [stopped at the home of Charles Dickens]
14 Aug 02
Skipping forward a bit, then we’ll go back; it’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to write, so I’ll just give a few brief stints on what’s been happening.
Haven’t much in the luck department lately, but it’s been interesting. First off, on my drive down from England (while in Spain), my car was broken into and my nice clothes and a briefcase were stolen. Never the end of the world. But, a) I had to cancel my entire trip through Spain, since I didn’t have a rear window, and drive straight to my next station, and b) inside the briefcase were my military records! All of them! Eh, it’s working out now, but it was a pain when I first got here.
Next, our small base has problems with electricity, since the wiring was established in like 1950. So during the hottest months of the year (temps reaching over 100), there was no A/C. In addition, I’ve got one of the hotter rooms to work in, since the windows face directly into the morning sun. As a result, I had to buy 3 fans to TRY and stay cool, but my poor feet would sweat so much, I’d get blisters! That’s been taken care of, now that I have a portable A/C unit.
Then, trying to find a place to live out here is crazy, especially during the summer months. This area is considered a resort place, since it’s right near a huge lake. Because of that, the homeowners and apartment landlords typically make tons of money off the tourists by renting weekly to them. That means they wouldn’t make too much off our monthly rent. So, I spent 2 months in a hotel trying to find a place. When my cousin Steve came out, we had to make a make-shift bed in the room.
After that, we finally found a place, but at the time, it was still under construction. But the landlord promised everything would be ready by the time we moved in on the 7th of August. (Side note: in most Italian homes, you don’t get ANYTHING in the house. You literally need to purchase your own light fixtures for the ceilings, provide your own appliances (washer, dryer, fridge, stove, etc) and even install your own kitchen sink!) That said, our military Furniture office offers loaner appliances and furniture during your tour, and will come in to install them for you. Only catch is, you need to ensure your power and gas are running so they can test everything. Back to landlord item 1, assurance that everything would ready. Well, it wasn’t. The gas lines weren’t installed. The power meters weren’t installed and running. The only utility we had was water (and obviously no hot water). So I had to cancel my appliances appointment waiting for the landlord to get things complete. When we asked about the electricity (which would power the gas too), he’d say it would be ready “domami”, which means tomorrow. After that, every day seemed to lead to domani, but it never arrived. Not until 7 days later! That was yesterday. Problem now, the Italian holiday season is in August, and getting ANYTHING done is near impossible, and especially this Thursday and Friday, when EVERYONE in the country has the days off. So, now I need to wait until next Friday to have my stuff delivered. But, at least we have TV.
Well, on the good news side, Steve and I have taken a couple trips already. First, we went to Venezia (Venice) with Brad (from Aviano) for a tour of the city of water. The next weekend we headed up to Austria for a beer fest (with the Wolfmeister).
Last weekend we (again with the Wolfmeister) went to Switzerland, just because it was only about 2 hours drive from home. Talk about beautiful mountain ranges!! But sheesh, what a drive! We took the back roads up there to save on Autostrada tolls, but found that these back roads went through the mountains… this involved tons of hairpin turns, road that you couldn’t drive more than 30 MPH on, and even single lane roads, with 2 way traffic! That 2-hour trip turned out to be 8 hours! But the views from the top (2650 meters) were awesome! And talk about COLD! Glad we brought sweaters! On the way home the next day, we found an autostrada and cruised for home. I’ll tell more about the details of the trips later though…
On the work end, I got notified that I made Technical Sergeant! I should sew on sometime next year. Yesterday, I received the Air Force Commendation Medal for my tour at RAF Mildenhall. Woohoo… more points for the next test to Master Sergeant!
That’s about all I have time to jot down for now. Hope to write more in the next Giornale. See ya soon.
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Giornali d’Italia Due
“All Over and Nowhere”
15 August – 3 October 2002
16 September
It’s been a roller coaster since Day One here, some fantastic times and other times that make me question my choice in assignments. My cousin is (“was” at the time of writing) still here, who has been a great companion, especially during the trials of “landlord wars”. He heads out next week for home, and I know I’ll wish I was on the plane too.
As you may remember from the last chapter, I was having a world of difficulties getting stuff done at the house. Since then, I’ve got electricity and gas, but there’s still a lot to be done to get the place truly habitable. Here’s my little piss-list:
· Need a shower in the upstairs bathroom
· Need a toilet seat in the downstairs bathroom
· Phone line still not installed (awaiting some kind of town approval thing)
· The basement is so humid, that all fabric type items get mold spores
· The heaters in the basement are not yet installed
· The landlord said he’d drill a hole so I can have a dryer vent; not done yet
· A front lawn would be nice
· Moving the scaffolding poles from my driveway would be nice too
· Why am I paying rent again?
· Oh, and the kitchen sink still isn’t installed. Steve and I washed dishes on the shower floor yesterday
· Oh yeah, and no mailbox yet either…
I’m getting nowhere on this. And I’ll tell ya a little story about how painting of the house works later. That’s another fun issue.
But, on the up side, Steve and I went down to Rome to visit with the family on the Labor Day weekend. Maurizio took us to see the Coliseum and some old church grounds. We also went to Moncisterna to visit the old house. Ran into the entire “old” family: Romania, Gino, Anita, Pietro, Americo and even the wife of my great-great uncle, who will be turning 100 in January!!
This was written on the night of close out
Giornale
30 September 2002
It’s 19:54 on Monday night. I’m at the LG building waiting patiently for funding to come down for End of Year. As you know, in my line of work, this is the busiest time of the year, where we all scramble to collect up any residual funding that is left over from the bigger squadrons. As of midnight tonight, we go into Fiscal year 2003. So all money needs to be spent tonight.
In the meantime, I figured I have time to write a bit in the journal, so here’s the latest and greatest since the last “Giornale”.
Let’s see, last thing I mentioned was the trip to Switzerland and the beginning of the problems with the new place. Here’s the update; which first, good stuff or bad… hmmmm…
Let’s begin with the house. Remember I told you that “domani” means tomorrow. Well, Stephen and I realized this isn’t true. After being told domani so many times, we realized it really means “lick my nuts”. This makes total sense when you think about it. “When are we getting electricity?” “Domani!” It just fits.
Anyway, we finally got electricity and gas. The Housing office came over at the end of the week and installed the inside lights and the medicine cabinets, and dropped off the stove and wall units. When they hooked up the upstairs medicine cabinet, they found out that there was a power short up there. If you turned on the lights to the cabinet, all the power in the house went out. Domani! Also, these guys were not allowed to hook up the outside lights, so I have a bunch of cables dangling from above the doorways and in the garage.
The basement is extremely humid, and it started creating mold spores on my fabric items, like my recliner. It also rusted out my snowboard edges and my bike chain and derailers. I cannot use my basement now, so it’s totally useless.
It’s starting to get cold at night in the mountains, so I turn on the heat to warm the place up, only to find out that the landlord had not tested the lines yet. The hot water tank just hissed and gurgled, and shot out a blast of steam before shutting itself down. The plumber was supposed to come over today at 5PM, and my friend was at the house waiting. The neighbors told him that the plumber already came out at 3PM, fixed everyone’s place in the complex…. Except mine, since I wasn’t there at 3PM. Grrrrrrrr… (3 October insert): It’s been so cold now, that I’ve been wearing thermals to bed. I don’t even want to get out of bed because I know it will be cold…
The front yard has not been seeded yet with grass. It’s just a bunch of mud and clay at the moment with occasional weeds growing here and there. I asked the Housing Lady if he planned to put in grass, and she’s trying to tell me it’s my responsibility. I don’t think so! If they are not installing grass, the weeds can grow for the entire time I’m there… I ain’t touchin’ shit! (3 October insert): Housing just told me that the grass was not in the contract, so they didn’t need to seed it. Is it just me, or does this sound like the stupidest thing ya ever heard?!
The painters that painted the place before I came in did a horrible job. They got paint splattered all over the floors and on the tile trim. I am supposed to pay for the paint job as part of the contract signing, but supposedly, that’s for the paint job when I move out. If that’s the case, I’m gonna go ALL OUT on the walls with some new fandangled paint job that Van Gogh would be proud of. Let them paint over THAT!
Also on the list of things to do, I am missing the toilet seat in the downstairs bathroom, so it’s really only a urinal for men. The bath upstairs is missing the shower, so I need to shower downstairs. The door to the downstairs bathroom doesn’t open and close properly. The list goes on…
The house is now deemed as “Hell”.
“Why not move out”, you ask? Because it would cost more than the lawyer fees for beating my landlord with a shovel (as Steve wanted so bad to do when we had no electricity), though I am looking into having him pay for the move if I do need to move out!
On the good side… Steve and I continued the adventures on the weekends. We went to Austria for the annual beer festival in Vallach. We met up with the Wolfmeister and went to his brother’s house in Udine. There, we met up with his brother’s friends and all drove up to Austria. We didn’t get there until around 10PM, but that’s when the party was starting. We wound up drinkin’ and partyin’ until 3AM. Steve and I went back to the Jeep to crash out, and Wolf decided to stay and party some more. The next morning, we thought Wolf would have come back, but there was no sign of him. We went looking around town, but no luck. His brother and friends went driving around on the hunt, but nothing. Finally, as we were giving up around noon, and planned to leave him behind to find a train back to Udine, he comes strolling up the road. “Hey guys!” Yeah, Hey my ass! Anyway, long story on that, but we had fun!
The next weekend we planned to go back to that town for the “sex festival”, but everyone’s plans overlapped, so we just headed to the lake.
For Memorial Day weekend, Steve and I went down to Rome to visit with the family there. We took the train down, which was about 6 hours, and arrived about midnight on Thursday night. Maurizio was there waiting for us, and looked a bit different with his new beard. Anyway, over the weekend, we saw the Coliseum and several ancient sites, visited the old house in Moncisterna, checked in with Massimo and family in Arpino, and spent some time talking to the older generation. Here’s a message I sent to my Uncle Tom (Steve’s dad) shortly after leaving Rome:
The day after we called you, I was out “talking” to Romanina, while everyone else was sleeping, and after a little while, Pietro stopped by. Shortly thereafter, in comes Gino and Anita, and finally Americo arrives! It was really kewl having the whole “gang” there! Stephen came down when he realized there was more than just me and Romanina downstairs, and I introduced him to everyone; “Questo e il figlio di Tom”. During our listening session, Gino got the idea of taking Stephen and me out to get some Figs. Odd little fruits those are. But when we got back, just about everyone had taken off. No pictures that time. I planned to get a close up of everyone so I could update the “online” family tree, but I’ll need to try next time.
We also went downtown and visited briefly with Massimo, while Cristof and Daniela went to Church. His wife is still as beautiful as always, and the kids are getting big. Martina is 13 now, and gorgeous! They say she’s the Brittany Spears of Arpino. hehe
In January, the eldest, Pasqua, will be turning 100!! I guess they’re planning a big party. Should be kewl.
Yes, Steve is with Cristof this week, and I’m still deciding whether to go back to pick him up (via train), or to just have him ride back. It’s a long way for only a day to stay. We were thinking of going skydiving in a town just south of Rimini, but we may need to postpone that until after Sept is over.
Well, it turned out that Steve came back on his own that weekend, and we went down to Desenzano for dinner, followed by a trip to the Lido’s club for the evening’s entertainment. And we didn’t end up going skydiving that weekend either. Still working on that, if I can manage to push Steve ONTO the plane. HAHA
Wolf took some time off work in anticipation of his friend’s arrival from Australia, but he never arrived. He didn’t want to cancel his leave, and with some minor persuasion from Steve, they managed to come up with a trip to Amsterdam. It ended up being too difficult to book a flight, so instead they drove out to Slovenia. In the meantime, I worked and slept and cleaned up the house a bit. (Very little). Steve returned later in the week with some good stories of his adventure.
Next weekend we visited Riva Del Garda and a few other places around the lake. Nothing too special.
After that, we headed up the following weekend to Austria (Innsbruck), went pubcrawling (between 2 pubs) and shtuff like that until about 2 or 3AM. We ended up staying the night in the Jeep, because we couldn’t find a Youth Hostel. The next morning, while Steve was still crashed out in the back, I started driving (this was about 6:30AM), nowhere in particular, until I looked at the map and saw that Germany wasn’t far away. Around 8, Steve woke up as we were pulling into a Service Station. “Where are we?” “Germany!” “No, seriously, where are we…?” We were about 5 miles outside Munich (Munchen), but that’s about as close as we got. As many times as we drove around trying to find a way to town center, we might as well have driven to France! It took us over an hour to realize we weren’t getting anywhere, and after eating at McDonalds, we figured we should leave. That’s until we realized now that we couldn’t get out either! Eventually, we ended up in the center of town (not really where we wanted to be any more, but that’s how things always seem to work). So, we decided to walk, in a straight line, so as not to loose the car, until we were satisfied we had “seen” Munich. Less than an hour later, we were in the Jeep again, and heading down to Garmish.
Garmish is a small town that has 2 military resorts there, as well as an Outdoor Rec center for setting up activities in the Summer and Winter. We got there right at the end of the summer season. It rained a bit, but we managed to have a good time. We checked out the Stine shops and went out for some beer and live music. We crashed out at one of the military hotels, and the next morning, I went out to get some info on biking and hiking trails in the mountains. When I returned, Steve was still asleep, so I told him to wake up while I went to get some grub from McyD’s. After we checked out, we went around to check out some more shops before heading back to Hell.
The next weekend, we had a choice of France, Poland or a return to Germany for Oktoberfest. By this time, Steve already had his tickets back to Canada, so anything was kewl. Poland was a bit far away, and we didn’t see anything in France worth a visit (aside from Paris, but that was quite a drive), so we opted for Germany. We got reservations at a different hotel near Garmish, in Oberrammagau (O-town), and planned to take a bus up to Munich for the Oktoberfest weekend. We called up Wolf to see if he was coming out, and he said he was, but not until Saturday morning. So we spent Thursday night eating in Garmish at Pizza Hut, where we met some folks from California (whom we ended up hangin’ out with most of the night). They invited us for a beer schnops at a small local hotel, and we followed on to the Irish Pub. We enjoyed the rain on Friday morning, as we checked out Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest near Salzburg at the Austrian boarder. Not what I expected from the Nest, as it was only a teahouse, but supposedly, Hilter had many diplomatic meetings there. The real treat out there was the hike into the mountains. The view was spectacular, with heights above 6,000 feet!! The Nest had a view of most of the other mountain ranges, plus a glimpse of a lake in the middle of the Alps. It was a nice hike too, rigorous and steep in places, and sometimes extremely slippery from the earlier rains, but it was worth it for the views we had.
That night, when we were returning to the hotel in O-town, I tried to find a fuel station to gas-up, since I was almost on “E”. Problem was, the only stations that took the American coupons were ESSOs, and there were none in site. I stopped a couple times to throw in €5 – €10, but that’s only a gallon or two. The only place I knew for sure that had an ESSO station was in Garmish. So, after we got back to the hotel and changed, we drove down to Garmish for dinner and to fuel up. But, it was kinda late (10PM), so of course, THIS gas station was closed. I had to put in a little more gas to get back to the hotel, and planned to come down first thing in the morning. Driving back to the hotel, I somehow missed my exit, and wound up driving another 10 miles past the hotel, and ended up slightly below the “E” line by the time I got to the hotel. I was scared. I hate the fuel issues out here! And the Jeep is kinda heavy to push too. Anyway, next day, we waited for Wolf to call to say he was on his way… waiting … waiting … nada. Around noon, we decide to head out to check out O-town and Wolf calls. “Hey guys, I was in Garmish, but somehow got turned around and now I’m back in Italy!” Uggg…. So as he was on his way back, with corrected directions, Steve and I browsed through O-town.
O-town is a quaint village, hallmarked by its handcrafted woodwork shops. We spent a good 3 hours checking out the different shops. Steve found himself a nice card box (dual sided, storing 2 decks of cards) and some gifts for his family. I found (but regretfully didn’t procure) a wonderfully done marionette, well crafted with excellent details, the puppet was an old man (possibly a wizard), with long eyebrows and a well wrinkled face. The details on the hands and the movements of the joints were unreal (or too real!) And you could see in the eyes that he almost looked back at you. Kinda scary, but kewl none-the-less. My justification, had I bought him, was that since Steve was ditching me, leaving me to fend for myself in Hell, I’d need a companion for when I finally went crazy. (Then again, I think most of you know me well enough to know that I already AM crazy). Anyway, I managed to stop by several times to check “him” out, and the young ladies (cute I might add) at the counter thought it was amusing.
Around 3 or so, we ventured back to the hotel and waited for Wolf to call. We were supposed to have left for Munich at 8 that morning, but it was now getting late. As we pulled into the parking lot, up next to me pulls in Wolf! He looked pissed, as he had been driving (on this 3-4 hour trek) since 5AM. You can do the math. Anyhow, we headed down to the train station to book some tickets, but the dang machine wouldn’t accept anything we did, and the train was leaving in like 2 minutes. There was no teller, and no help in sight, and by the time I got through all the transactions, the train was already on it’s way. Doah! We gave up, and instead went to the Irish Pub, BS’d for a few hours, played cards (so-to-speak) and mingled with the locals a bit.
Next day, we slowly made our way home, stopping in Innsbruck for a couple hours and later, back at Ghedi for a quick email check, before heading home.
On Tuesday, I drove Steve up to the airport in Milan. With the hassles of traffic I had going to pick him up (over 4 hours in a morning rush), I figured if we left an hour earlier, we should be right on time for his 10:45 flight (with 2-3 hour precheck in), so we left at 4AM. Well, there wasn’t one damned person on the road, hardly, and we ended up making it there in just over an hour and half. So, we went to try to check in, but the flights to Canada weren’t starting until 0730. I had them check Steve’s ticket to ensure the change in time took place, and she said everything was fine. So, after a hunt for food, and an attempt at sleep on the couch/chairs, we finally saw the window open and rushed over to get his ticket taken care of. We knew there would be a fine for changing the dates on the tickets, but figured we could get everything straightened out here. Not quite. Oh, I’m sorry, but you need to go to the Alitalia payment counter to pay this fee. It’s right down the hall over there… Woulda been nice if the other lady told us about this when we were waiting. Anyway, we went over to the counter and explained the situation. It was 0745, and she looked light a deer caught in the headlights. She finally said she needed to call the AirCanada office. After a couple rings, she hung up and stated that they would not be in their office until quarter after 0800, so please have a seat and come back up then. Waiting, we finally went back up, but got a different lady this time. After re-explaining, she told us now that no one goes to work normally until 0900. Now Steve was getting really worked up. We asked if they could call to make sure, but she ‘knew’ that they would not be in until that time, and again asked us to wait. While waiting, my friend Chief called me up and let me know all the new things going on. Meantime, Steve gets back in line, anticipating the 0900 window of opportunity, and again gets a new lady to assist him. She calls the office, but no one was in yet. She could “sense” Steve’s frustration, and held on to his ticket and let him know that she would continue to call and let him know when she got through. Around 0920, she finally gets through, informs Steve of the fee, he pays it, gets the corrected ticket, and we’re finally on our way back to check in. No more bumps after that. We said our farewells at the gate, and Steve was off for home… sweet home… (lucky bastard).
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Giornali d’Italia Tre
From Ring Bearer to Paul Bearer
15 August – 3 October 2002
This tale begins before my venture home, from where we left off in Italy, shortly after Stephen’s departure.
Although I continued to explore the Bavarian region of southern Germany, I began to also scope-out more close-to-home areas, such as Mantova and Verona. I’ve still yet to visit Brescia, though this is the largest of the local cities. I did manage to get up to Germany for Munich’s famous Oktoberfest. A bit late, but did make it. Ya see, most European celebrations don’t begin normally until after 9 or 10 PM, and then the party would continue through to 4 or 5 in the morning. Not in this case. The festivities began at 9 or 10 AM, and finished by 11PM, right around the time we finally arrived after several train attempts and a lack of beer. Though the main area celebration was over, downtown Munich continued on, so we ended up in one of the local bars having a liter mug of beer, watching hot chicks dance on the tables and talked with some Italians, also up for the shindig.
Anyway, back in the States… (22 Oct – 13 Nov)
The purpose of this trip was intended to be only for my friend’s wedding. It turned into a traveling nightmare, though I did get to see a lot of friends and family that I hadn’t seen in quite some time. My buddy, Matt (from Kunsan) asked me to be the best man in his wedding, set for 26 October 2002. The early logistics of the journey were hopeful and the planning stages showed a low cost, high reward trip. Later though, as I talked to more and more people, I found myself making plans not only on the East Coast, but as far west as Texas! Here’s the journey in it’s entirety.
Leaving from Milan on the 22nd, my friend Wolf drove me to the airport, where I had a departure time of 12:00. The flight was direct, going into Washington Dulles Airport near D.C. (keep this in mind for later). From there, arriving at about half past three, I hired a rental car, and drove over to meet up with cousins Matt and Laurie and kids. They emailed some good news to me that they were having a third child, a boy, with a delivery date of about early January. His expected name: Daniel Rea! So, of course, I had to visit early on, and pay my respects. We had a great visit, though short as always. Nicolas and Thomas wore me out early with a new game in basketball, followed by a pizza dinner, and a little television and conversation with Matt and Laurie. The discussion wandered from time-to-time to the D.C. area sniper, still on the loose, but were able to also talk on good topics, like the family in Rome and the upcoming holidays. After the long day of traveling though, I found myself unable to keep my eyes open, and soon found my way upstairs to my bed and was out before my head hit the pillow.
The next morning, Matt had gone out for his morning run, and I had taken my shower before the rest of the family was up and about. Then the kids came down and told me what was going to happen for the day, and Matt came back in and we talked for a bit more over breakfast. Matt left for work, and Laurie saw the kids off before I had to leave myself. The trip up to Boston should have been (as explained by my friend Matt) only a six hour drive. I took the scenic and less city-bound route, opting instead for a crossing through Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusetts. Autumn prevailed, as I drove through some of the most colorful, picturesque views of central Penn and NY, crawling north, then east towards Mass. Having lived a couple years overseas, and several months in Italy, I rarely paid attention to my speed, but was soon to discover that the police in the States do care what speed you travel on their roads. I was pulled over in New York for going 93 in a 65. Granted that wasn’t the top speed I had achieved, but it was still enough to render a “reckless driving” ticket. The officer asked if I was trying to set a new record, but I explained that I had come over from Italy, where it wasn’t uncommon to travel at speeds exceeding 110 MPH. He asked if I was active duty, and I said yes. He returned to his vehicle to write me up, but when he came back, he said he’d given me a break, and only wrote me up for not wearing a seatbelt (though I was wearing one), and told me to SLOW DOWN! So the remainder of the trip to Boston was at posted speeds (+/- 5-10MPH), and I finally arrived where Matt had told me to meet him… 10 hours later!! What a trip!
Matt came out to meet me at the local pharmacy store, and returned to his place where I finally met his fiancée, Anita. Her mom and dad are both originally from India, and she’s lived in the Boston area for quite some time, with a brief stint in New York City. She’d worked with Aerosmith and other bands as an assistant for many years. After dinner, we all talked for several hours, before I was finally released to my bedchambers just after midnight. The next morning began the rigorous duties of the best man, as we went to the base to get last minute uniform needs, followed by a stop at the alterations shop (mysteriously my uniform shrunk, coincidentally in the midsection area … has nothing to do with all the European beer… no… not at all). We made a stop at the finance office (on da tird floor) to meet up with a friend I met in Ireland: Eamon O’dea (sounds Irish enough, huh?). He took us out to lunch at the Boston Market, followed by a tour of his Pimp Pad in the trailer park. (Don’t laugh; this guy has saved, over the past 2 years, over $37,000!) Afterwards, we went back to the house and prepared the items needing transport to the hotel where the reception would take place, then relaxed over some Halloween pumpkin carving.
On the pre-wedding day/night, Matt’s family arrived and I met his mom and her boyfriend, his brother and his grandmother. I had to go back to the base to pick up my altered uniform, and then back to the house to meet one of Anita’s friends, who was going to help bring some trees and a mirror to the reception hall. I waited at the house for a while for him to show, and finally talked to him on the phone, where he said he was stuck in traffic and would be a bit late. Now, we had plans to meet by 4PM at the hotel, where we’d follow Matt to his soon-to-be brother-in-law’s home. But as time ticked on, and no friend, I called Matt to let him know we’d be late. He got in touch with the guy and told me that somehow, he’d missed the turn off and ended up in Connecticut! I would have been worried, except that Conn was only a 20-mile drive south. Finally, we got everything in his truck, and made our way to the hotel, dropped off the stuff and headed straight over to “the mansion”. We had the pre-rehearsal dinner there, where the meal for the evening was traditional Indian cuisine. I hadn’t had Indian since leaving England, so this was a real treat! Matt’s family hadn’t had it before, so they kept asking me what was good, etc. After dinner, we headed over to the church for the practice run, practiced positioning, where the parents would light candles, and laid the plans out for the saber arches. Of course, none of the saber team was there, so that task was set for minutes before the wedding. Shortly after rehearsal, it was time for the evening out. Matt requested that we didn’t have a bachelor party, so instead we all went out to the theater and saw “The Ring”. We ended up at a ritzy style movie theater with leather, stadium style seats, with small, individual tables, and dinner served during the movie! This was a scary movie, one to rival even “The Blair Witch Project” (“that’s pure fear!”). I kid you not, I’ve never been to a movie where 6 grown adults are cowering in their chairs, waiting to see (or not see in Matt’s case, as his eyes were covered), what would happen next! Eventually, after the film, we all made our ways home, and crashed around midnight.
The fun of the next day was at hand, as we made our last minute fixer-uppers, such as ironing the uniforms, getting together whatever clothes we’d need for the night after the wedding, and waiting for the limo to arrive. The limo, as should be expected, was late, and it was raining out as well… good start, huh? We went over to the hotel to meet the other Groomsmen, and headed over to the church. The church itself was exactly what I’d envisioned a New England style church to look like. White and tall, though not large on the outer girth, it sat beautifully in the midst of colorful trees. Ahhh! had it not been raining. Inside the church, the groomsmen took their lead and began seating guests as they arrived. Matt and I went to the back room where we waited for the bride to arrive. As we waited, the saber team slowly trickled in, and with Matt’s guidance, I was able to get them up to speed as to their duties. The last one arrived a minute before the bride, and I was able to get the gist to him before he had to run out to be seated. The wedding had commenced, and went off without a flaw. Being the best man, I still had several jobs to accomplish. As ring bearer, I had to ensure they were in the hands of the Justice of the Peace at the prescribed time. Then, Matt asked me to read a Navajo wedding poem. Following the traditional “I do’s”, the cue for the saber team was given, and I had to move from my standing to the main aisle way, where one of the other team members had my saber ready for me. Coming down the aisle, I stopped the bride and groom, and welcomed Anita into the United States Air Force, and gave her a good whack on the tush, as they were sent down the aisle to the car waiting outside. Afterwards, some church-side pictures were taken before everyone hopped in the stretch Ford Explorer limo and headed to the hotel for the reception.
The hotel was awesome, with glinting mirrors for windows visible from the expressway as we turned up the road to the main entrance. Once in the hotel, more bride and groom pics were taken, followed by (finally) the reception party. During the party, some of the bride’s maids went out and decorated the car and the bride-groom suite, while the rest of us helped Matt and Anita celebrate their new union in the party hall. During my toast, I explained where Matt and I met, and how his friendship helped make the tour great, and that Anita had herself a great friend as well as husband. (AWE… isn’t that sweet… yeah, now SHADDAP!)
After everyone left, Matt and Anita, the groom’s men, a couple of maids and Matt’s brother and sister went down for some drinks and to bullsh*t for a while. Everyone was exhausted though, and soon trickled back to their rooms for some well deserved sleep. Remind me to keep my wedding simple!
Next morning, I got up shortly after 8, which was pretty early since no one was meeting until 11 (for a final breakfast at the hotel). I lounged in the room a bit, watching my normally deprived T.V., when around 9, Matt knocks on the door with a clever plan. “Let’s bring the gifts back to the house before brunch so we have one less thing to do later.” Sounded good, but I wasn’t really ready to head out yet and asked if I had time to grab a shower. “Nah, you’ll have plenty of time when we get back… come on.” OK, so I went downstairs helping haul a large load of presents to the main lobby. I stood by with the cart as Matt went to get the car. When he came back, he looked a bit perturbed. He said, “damn you guys, you wrote all over the car!” Of course, isn’t that what is supposed to happen for the wedding couple? He agreed, but then pointed out that he and I would be driving all the way back to his apartment with “Just Married” written on the back window, with hearts everywhere… Oh, yeah…that. So, we ended up speeding down the highway, passing cars, as I waved in my excitement of “our” new marriage. Matt was not amused. We even had a cop come up behind us, and, Matt thinking he’d be in trouble, slowed down and moved over a lane. The cops continued on, but as they passed, simply shook their heads when they saw us. Ahhhhh… the excitement. We finally made it home with little embarrassment, and dropped off the gifts. Matt quickly swapped vehicles for his truck, and I grabbed my rental, and we both sped back to the hotel. The traffic was heavy on the return and we were beginning to run late. Sure enough, when we got back, it was 5 after 11, and Matt’s mom and dad were waiting in the lobby. We apologized for being late, though only a few minutes… they said, “what do ya mean, ‘late’? It’s only 10 o’clock. Didn’t you remember to set your clocks back for daylight savings time?” Hmmmm … now there’s a concept. So, I had time for my shower, and we all met up for brunch at the ‘real’ eleven o’clock.
Following the last goodbyes with Matt and Anita’s families, we headed back to their apartment to finish unpacking their gear. Eager to let the newlyweds get on with their proper honeymoon, I headed out shortly after. The ride down to Virginia was going to be long, and I wasn’t able to reach either Sean or Mama Pat. This should be good. The ride down was boring for the most part, though I did get to see a lot of cityscapes from the road. I went through Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Delaware, Maryland, DC and finally into Virginia, after almost another 10 hours. I finally managed to get ahold of John, but didn’t think I’d be in until after 11PM. He said that Mama Pat was down at the cabin, and if I wanted to catch her, it was the same distance from Richmond as Hampton was. So, I called them up and asked if it’d be OK to arrive so late. “No problem, though we may be asleep when you get here. Just let yourself in, and you know where the beds are.” They were workin’ volunteer time for the local rescue squad and were on a 24-hour swift. When I got there, to my surprise (at 1AM!), Mama was still up (or had just gotten up), and was waiting for me downstairs. We went up, had a cup of tea and talked for over an hour before Paul got up too, and we all talked for another good couple hours. Finally though, all being tired, we headed back to sleep for the rest of the morning (well, until 7 anyway).
When I woke up, the house was quiet. Turns out, they had got a call around 6 and had to respond. They said it would be about 3 hours, so I went ahead and showered and got ready for them to get back. I planned to read while they were gone, but soon after I was done getting ready, they were coming in the door. Mama wasted no time headin’ for the stove to make up some biscuits, eggs and others of her great fixins. I asked her if she was tired, but she said she was better off staying awake for a while. She’s got some energy! It wasn’t far into the meal that they got another call. They were starting to get ready and responded to the call, so I figured I’d start the book again. But before they ran out, they asked if I wanted to ride along! Heck ya! So we sped off to the station, where they had their ambulance waiting, and quickly headed for the call location. Report said it was an older man with breathing problems. We went in the general direction of the call, but in the area, they just got addresses, so no one really knew what they were yet. We finally found the house, and Pat and Paul were on it. I tagged along to see if I could help at all, carry stuff and what not. They were great, and knew what they were talkin’ about too. Paul had been training on this (on the side) for over 20 years, and Mama Pat had begun while I was still working at Langley, around the time her son John became interested, too. Anyway, we made it to the hospital, everyone did what they needed to, and we were back on the road home before long. We all relaxed for a while, and Mama figured it was time to start some of the steak she was plannin’ to grill and got the fire going. We talked some more, watched some television, checked out Paul’s pictures from China, when, again, another call came over the speakers. Pat had to put out the fire (and was disappointed she didn’t get to make dinner over the grill), and again got ready to head out. They asked again if I wanted to go; of course! This trip was about the same, and I got to help a little more in the back and with the wheel bed. Took about as long (about 3 hours), before we were back at the cabin. I still planned to visit Hampton and see Sean and John, though the night was creeping on and Pat still wanted to make dinner. After not getting in touch with Sean, and realizing that by the time I got back to Hampton, and visited with John, it’d be well after 2AM before I got some sleep. And I had an early flight the next morning out of D.C. I had to drive to, also! So, after very little debate, I wound up staying at the cabin, and settled in for the night.
Next morning, I was up by 3AM, since I needed to be up to the airport before 9 to drop off the rental and make it to my check in. I said good-bye and thanked Pat and Paul, and headed out to the car, packed it back up and road off to the country roads of North Carolina and Virginia, cruising up I95 towards Richmond, then up to DC and finally the airport. Everything went smooth, and I was in the air and on my way to Kansas City.
After a brief connection in St Louis, I landed in Kansas City around 3PM. I headed over to the rental agency, picked up my Mustang (which all they had left was a convertible, darn the luck!) and road off to Whiteman to visit with an old friend from the Kunsan days. Gina met me at the main gate, and we went over to her place where Sean (her youngest son) was waiting on us at the door. I finally got to meet her husband Ben, who I’ve heard a lot about, and Kevin (her oldest son) got home from school shortly after. We had some pizza, corn on the cob, chicken wings and salad for dinner and went to check out a haunted house after. Then we checked out a couple videos (“Death to Smoochy” and “Windtalkers”) that we watched that night. Gina and I got caught up on new stuff and around midnight or so hit the sack. Sean was nice enough to give up his bunk.
Next day was the longest drive yet; down to Abilene, Texas. From Whiteman, the drive was through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and finally Texas. I know I mentioned earlier of going through 8 States in about 10 hours, but this was through some big-ass states! And took near 12 hours (or more) to get down. Finally around 9PM I got to the town of Eastland where I had to hunt a bit to find the Sloan’s place. The Sloan’s are the family I lived with in Omaha, and have known most of my time in the Air Force. It had been over 2 years since I saw them last, when they still lived in Nebraska. It was great to see them all again, though I hardly recognized any of the kids when I finally came up to the door. Michael had a bunch of friends over playing some video games, though I couldn’t from the start pick out which one was him. After standing there feeling stupid, like I should know who’s who, finally Dustin and Jeremiah came out and gave me a hug, then Mike finally stood up so I could tell it was him. Connie came out from the back and I gave her a huge hug. Joanie was still at school, and Felix (Connie’s husband) was TDY for a couple weeks.
After Joanie got home, we all talked for a while and just got caught up on a lot of things.
For Halloween, I took Dustin and Jeremiah around trick-or-treating. The temp was just warm enough to put the top down and kids enjoyed literally jumping in and out of the car to go from house to house.
Mike and I went into Fort Worth and Dallas to check out the sites and visit a couple bars.
In Omaha, I met up with Bruce at his new place around 10PM. I was a LONG drive from Dallas. He and Decka stayed up for a while, and we talked and got caught up on things.
Continue with Eastland TX, then to Dallas to visit with Michael, then the drive to Omaha and back to KC, the flight to Marquette, the sudden email from George, and the visit to Detroit and back, then the final trip home.
Once in the U.P., mom was there at the airport waiting for me.
While I was checking my emails, I received one from my friend George asking where I was and what my phone number was. As I continued to read, I was floored to hear that his father had just passed away the day before. I called him to see how he was doing, and he told me about what happened and when the funeral was. He said he knew I wouldn’t be able to come out from Italy for this, but just wanted me to know. I felt like a heel for not saying I was just up north, and later, I knew I had to go down. The next morning I got on the internet and found a flight down that left in the afternoon. When I finally got there, and after a short fiasco trying to get a rental car, I finally made it to funeral home about an hour before they closed up. Mamma was very surprised to see me, as we had just talked last night and she thought I was in Italy. They’ve always been like a second family to me, and I let her know that I couldn’t have ‘not been there’, and admitted too, that I was only coming from up-state. After paying my respects to “Ba” (the word for father in Greek), and talked for a while with George, I told him I’d be back after I tried to find a place to stay for the night.
My first thought was to go to mama Pam’s and see if her and Joe were home. Sure enough, they were not only there, but they said it was no problem to stay (what mom’s are for, right? 🙂 ) I let them know that I’d be headin’ back to visit more with George and his family, but I’d be back later in the evening. Tristan (Joe’s son), was courteous enough to offer me his room, even changed out the sheets and cleared a place in his closet so I could hang up my uniform and get changed. Joe had just bought a new Ford Focus (a supped up model with a topped up engine), and asked if I wanted to take it for a spin. What? Me say no?! And the kids wanted to head out too, so the three of us (me and Joe’s 2 sons) went for a little joyride down the interstate. I had that thing up to 104 before I realized, again, that I’m not in Italy; and anyway, the exit for Scheonner was just ahead.
I headed back to see George, and after a short debate, I talked him into heading out with me. I assured his girlfriend, Anita that I was only going to drop off the car, and come right back with George, and we split back to Pam and Joe’s place. We made a pit stop at a fast food place, and stopped also to put in some gas, before we arrived back at their house. The kids went inside, and I talked George into coming in for a minute, since he hadn’t talked to Pam and Joe in ages. Well, the minute turned (as always) into 2 or 3 hours. When we left again, George knew he was in for shit from Anita, as we headed back to his place. Sure enough, Anita was leaving Malvina street getting ready to turn on 12-mile when we pulled around the corner. I stopped and let George out so he could talk, and then drove back to his place for a bit. When I saw that the “conversation” was over, I went back to pick him up. Yeah… he got chewed out for leaving her alone, but things ended later on a better note. Anyway, George and I went to bullshit for a while at his place, talking a bit about his dad, and then on some other topics, before we realized the time. I left so he could have some time for sleep, since the next morning, we’d be at the church and cemetery to bury his father.
In the morning, I adorned again my uniform, which was at first only brought for the happy occasion of my friend’s wedding, but now was being worn for this sorrowful event. After I said good-bye and thanks again for letting me crash out, I left Pam and Joe’s to meet George at his place so I could follow him to the church. I had never been inside a Greek-Orthodox church before, and I was breathless at it’s beauty inside. Similar to the Bulgarian churches I saw in Sofia and Burgas, the church walls were covered in paintings of religious events and figures, and the ceiling raised a couple stories up. The service was just as breath-taking, with the priests singing incantations, and waving incense containers to wish a peaceful parting for George’s father. After the service, and due to a short notice cancellation, George asked me to be one of the pallbearers. There were six of us, and we carried/wheeled the casket to the funeral car waiting outside. We all then followed in our respective cars to the cemetery. Once there, the priest asked each pallbearer to place a hand on the casket in a solemn remembrance gesture, followed by all the people who were there for the funeral to do the same.
Following the burial, everyone was invited to a gathering at Ba’s social club for the funeral reception. I was only able to stay a few minutes, as I had to fly back to the U.P. in an hour. I left George and family, and made my way back to the airport, and eventually back up to mom’s place later that afternoon. In the morning, I’d be on another plane heading back to Italy, so we called it an early evening and went to bed around 9 or 10.
Back in Italy, exhausted and ragged from all the traveling, I searched for Wolf so we could get back as soon as possible. The airport, large as it was, made it difficult to find him. And because it had been over 3 weeks since I had last charged my phone, it was dead. I tried to plug it in, but the battery was shot, so I continued to look around, and finally saw him outside down the road a bit. Cruising home, he caught me up on what had been happening at the base and around town, and when I finally got home, I was quick to unload the car, head up to my bed and fall fast asleep…
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Giornali d’Italia Quattro
Thanksgiving 2002–England revisited
NOTES:
Ate fishy pasta, had some wine; Plane was late, had some beer, on the plane, had more wine, Stansted at 12PM, Darren, Tina and Collin picked us up; whiskey and Guinness at Collin’s; bed on old pull out couch. Tea, run into town with Darren’s car, Mill closed ’til 10. No one up, another cup of tea, saw the new tenants in my old place (Americans). Saw Vicky and kids briefly, then off to London. Hostel, pubs; closed early, Wolf pissed. Next day, Stonehenge (beer), then to Cardiff youth hostel and Nickelback concert. After, the hunt for more beer, Chinese restaurant, lost Wolf again, back to hostel, Wolf appears. Next day, up to Birmingham, visit with Sean, Sue, Steve and Sean. Punching contest, music, motorcycle video, Beer at pub until 2. Darren needs to be back for nan’s party. Drive fast to Norfolk. Darren gets into party clothes, we drop him off and head over to Vicky and Paul’s for an evening BS and drink. Head to the base to check on rooms; none available. Head to club, then sleep in car, drive to airport, sleep some more, oversleep, missed plane, next at 1:30, wait all day in airport, finally back in Milan, drive home, dinner and a beer, then back to Hell.
(Yeah, maybe someday I’ll remember to retype these notes…)
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Giornali d’Italia Cinque
Put yourself in Czech
2003 Feb 15-17
The last excursion I went on with Brad Riffle, prior to his deployment, was the trip with him and Steve to Venice. He just returned a few weeks ago, and we finally coordinated something to head out on the President’s Day weekend. We tossed around the idea of going up to Germany, or having him come out this way to party in DZ, but then he threw me a curveball. “Dan, what about Prague?”
“Prague?” I thought to myself. I had to try to remember which country Prague was even in. For some reason, I pictured Slovenia (which was part right, since Slovenia was once part of this country), and since that wasn’t too far a drive from Aviano, I was all for it. Then he suggested we take a train over. Hey, even better, since we wouldn’t need to drive there and back. Soon it changed to a plane, when he told me it was a 16-hour train ride. That peaked the question of where the heck this place was. Czeching the map (all pun intended), I found it just west of Germany and north of Austria in the Czech Republic. Kewl! New country!!
I asked Brad if he’d mind me inviting some folks along, and he just needed a number of people. Ford and Wilburn both had school, so at the end of the day, it would be me, Brad and Wolfinger. Brad took care of the travel arrangements, and even swung a great deal on a 4-star hotel in city center. On Friday after work, I drove out to Aviano to meet up with Wolf – who was already there on an Aviano Run – and Brad who was still working. That evening, after a trip to Sherlock’s for beer and fries, we went out to the Cal Bar, which is the local “American hangout”.
Eventually, we made it back to Brad’s place to crash out, and the next morning, we hopped on the computer to “Czech” out the Prague places-to-go and see. Of course, top on the list were the clubs and titty joints, but we also got some background on the St Charles bridge and the Prague castle. Around 10, after everyone had showered and gotten ready, we made our way down to the Venice airport where we had a customary beer and relaxed for a bit while waiting for our check-in gate to open. Soon enough though, we were on the plane and on our way to new lands.
On arrival, we took a shuttle bus to our hotel, settled in our lightly packed bags, and hiked out to find something to eat. Our hotel was about 5 or 6 blocks from the main action, and the evening was quite brisk. It was snowing lightly and there was enough of a breeze to send a chill to the bones. We all had to wear long johns just to keep warm.
We found a nice restaurant/bar just across from the “Blue Roof” opera house, and across the river from the Prague castle. Starting the evening right, we had some of Czech’s own Pilsner beer, followed by some traditional meals (I had the goulash with potatoes). In my endeavor to collect various beer glasses, I acquired a Pils pint glass before we left. We then made our way to the main attractions: the clubs. We walked past the St Charles bridge, which gave way to a few great night-time shots of it and the castle. Then we hit the Old Square, where we saw a couple old gothic churches and clock towers. We found an Irish Pub near the church, and didn’t use much arm twisting to talk Brad and Wolf into having a pint of Cafferies with me. Eventually we found a club called “ROXY – EXPERIMENTAL SPACE”. Ahhh, a night at the Roxy. As with most European clubs, nothing really gets started until around 11 at night, and since we were there about quarter after 10, we had some choice seats in an otherwise empty hall. Beer was afoot, and soon the clubbers were trickling in. The trickle turned into a flood, and soon the place was packed. I had never seen so many hot women in one place.
(I’ll leave the rest of the night up to your imagination)
The next morning, we got up in time for the free breakfast, and bought some all day transport passes from the front counter. We broke out for Prague’s smaller version of the Eiffel tower, located on the opposite side of the river bank. At the bottom of the hill on which the tower was stationed, we hooked up with the tram and rode up to the top of the hill. Going up the tower was a massive array of spiraling stairs (where the hell is the elevator?!) and we grudged our way to the top. The work was well worth it, as we had an awesome panoramic view of Prague. The sights included an aerial view of the river and St Charles bridge; the domed, highly baroque St.Nicholas’ Cathedral (Chram sv. Mikulase); and of course Prague castle, which includes St. Vitus’ Cathedral (Katedrala sv. Vita) with its brilliant stained-glass windows, the Romanesque St. George’s Basilica (Bazilika sv. Jiri), the row of tiny former craftsmen’s houses called the Golden Lane (Zlata Ulicka), several small exhibitions, and many government offices, including that of President Vaclav Havel.
For dinner, we found a restaurant called “7 Angels”, where we had more traditional meals. This time, I had a delicious roast rabbit entrée with garlic, buttered cream spinach and dumplings, along with a bowl of potato soup (unreal!), and a shopska salad. This was by far, the best “traditional” meal I’ve had to date.
After dinner, we decided to see a local play, and opted for the Black Light Theatre’s Image Pantomime. I broke out the map and found where we needed to go, and after making a pitstop at the Irish pub, since we were in that neck of the woods, and in time found the theatre. Not many people there, which seemed odd, only to find out that only in March, the theatre does not play on Sundays. DOAH! She suggested that we check out the cinema and gave us a schedule. So, again after a few beers in another bar, we went out to see “Pán prstenû: Dvê vêze” (“Lord of the Rings – The Two Towers”), followed by a tram ride to nowhere. Literally.
We got on the number 53 heading in the general direction of the hotel, so we could drop off our gear and head to the elusive “Club K5”, but the train bypassed our location, and we ended up somewhere in south Prague. Then the tram just stopped. The conductor signaled that we needed to get off, and after exiting, we looked around and had no idea where to go from here. Wolf suggested going for a beer, but we opted first to establish where we were, so we tried to look around for signs that lead to somewhere on our small map, but were unsuccessful. Then, about 15 minutes later, a different conductor arrived, got on the train and waved us in. The tram was heading back the way it came, so we gladly got onboard. It was getting damn cold!! Thank God for gloves!
This time we exited on a road just up from our hotel and hiked the rest of the distance, stopping at a casino bar for a few beers before reaching our hotel.
Where to eat
Where to stay
Where to club
What to do
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Giornali d’Italia Sei
Home Sweet Home
2 April 03
2 April 03 (I intentionally waited until today to write this, so you wouldn’t think it was an April Fools joke…)
So my house is continuing to live up to its reputation as the place from Hell… Monday I got off from work and headed home. My neighbor’s kid was outside checkin’ something and asked if I smelled anything… “no”? But as I got closer to my place, I did pick up a hint of something… I went inside, but didn’t smell anything in there, until I went to the basement, and WHOOSH, huge smell of GAS! So, the gas company was called, the fire department came out and my gas and electric were turned off (for safety reasons), as well as my 2 neighbors, as they had been affected as well. After digging up the front yard (not that there was a yard to speak of), they found the cause from a loose pipe connection. This, I think, was caused when the landlord was digging up the yard to start getting grass planted. So, we called the landlord, who in turn called the plumber (he also did the gas piping), and later, the carabinieri (cops) were called to assess things. Around 1AM, we finally were told not to stay in the houses, and that hotel rooms would be provided. “Great… and I need to get up at 5AM to go to Aviano!” So, needless to say, whenever I’m allowed to go back, all my food in the fridge will be spoiled, and the gas leak completed depleted my gas tank (of 500 liters!), all of which the landlord is paying for. In addition, he’s paying for the hotel and all our food we eat there too. Things just keep getting better, all the time… and to think, if my mom had stayed here for just a couple more days, either her or my brother coulda gotten blown up by smokin’ next to leak. And then the Air Force would think it was Osama Bin Laden or something, and my landlord would agree, so he wouldn’t be responsible… Hmmmm….
The hotel room I got was tiny, and had a small, unmade bed, no towels in the bathroom, and, as I would find out, a non-working wakeup call. I set it for 5AM so I could be on the road by 5:45… Five O’clock came, and went, and eight o’clock came – I looked up and figured, “well, the sun has been coming up early lately”, and went back to sleep. At 8:40 I woke up again and said, “no, something ain’t right” and checked the clock and pissed myself… 🙂 So, I was late getting to Aviano, and had to rush my jobs there before coming back here only to end up working more, until 10PM. When I got home, it was still off limits, so I grabbed some more clothes, my razor and my phone charger and headed back to the hotel….
So that’s this weeks fun – what are YOU up to?!
Ciao for now
Dan
16 April 03
Well, I’m back in my house, as of last Saturday. The Friday before, I went back to the house to get some more clothes, and the landlord asked me if I’d be staying at the hotel?
I said, "Of course, why?"
"Why don't you stay in the house?"
"Because, maybe, there's no gas or electric?!"
"Oh, it's all fixed now..."So we go in to try everything out. The lights come back on – well of course, since THEY turned them off… the stove worked a bit – good sign of gas. But when they tried to turn on the water heater, it would come on for a second, then shut off. The pilot light wasn’t lighting… So, back to the hotel I went. I know that we’re expensive to keep in the hotel, and we’re not being easy on it either – I think between me and my neighbors, we musta spent over €5,000 in the few days we were there… easily. My neighbors informed me, too, that the landlord is not planning to reimburse us for the lost gas or for our food in the fridges. Hmmmm… I don’t remember this gas leak being MY fault…
But now the fire department had hacked off saying that everything was “ok” now. Granted the front yard had mountains of mud from where the tractors, there were shoe prints all over my house, and my driveway was gone, but at least I was home… the landlord had disconnected the main tubes from the gas tanks in the front yard and reconnected to miniature versions (similar to BBQ gas grill tanks) that were placed just outside the front doors, in a small ditch that’s now part of our front “lawns”. On Monday night, my neighbors asked if they could swap tanks with me, since they went through a lot of gas (there’s 9 people living there). I said sure, and they disconnected one of the 2 tanks and reconnected their empty one. Supposedly, the landlord was bringing more bottles in the morning. Well, that didn’t happen. The next morning at 6AM, I awoke to a fairly cold house, and went down for my shower only to see an infamous red light on the water boiler, indicated no gas was coming in. Again without the hot water – this is really getting annoying… A bit ticked off, I went outside and saw that there were some new tanks, but at the end of the driveway. I had to figure a way to get the tanks from the driveway to the sidewalk, down the stairs, and into the ditch, without lifting the tank (hence further destroying my back). I managed a good rolling technique, but made some noise in the process. My neighbor, Agnello, came out and yelled at me (not for waking him up, but for not asking him for help!). I was really pissed at this point and didn’t even bother to translate into Italian what I was thinking. He got the idea… Anyway, the 2 of us figured out how to hook up this contraption and get some gas flowing back in the house. Agnello had me come over to his house and his wife made up some coffee. I was already late for work, but decided I could use the cool-down time. I called in and told my boss of my plight and said I’d be in around 8…
Also in this process, the landlord decided to use my garage area for storage of his metal spikes and wheelbarrows. I let it ride for a few days, but finally got fed up and chucked everything into the mud behind the house. It wasn't easy, and the spikes were heavy, but it was well worth the stress relief anyway. Yesterday, he finally got the mountains on the front yard returned to normal plainlands. Still looks like sh*t, but at least it's level. Then my phone stops working a few days ago too, so now I'm trying to get that fixed. Have I mentioned the joys?!On the good notes, I met some good folks at the hotel we stayed at, and found some new hiking trails behind the hotel. Plus, I can say I’ve learned a lot more about houses (and how they are supposed to be, and not supposed to be made). Some things a tenant should never need to know:
How to operate a gas tank unit
Directional flow of the gas line
Where the telephone line intersects the house and the street
Water pressure and it’s affect on your hot water heater
Landlords – how to identify bad ones
Painting – do’s and don’ts
Landlords 2 – how to kill them without leaving traces of evidence
How to create your bathroom decor’ – from scratch
Installing kitchen cabinets and you
Plumbing and drainage systems
Landlords 3 – using the newly turned over land in your front yard as his final resting place
I think you get the picture… all great information, but I’d rather learn this stuff with a new house, not a rental. In any case, I’m stopping my rent payments for May and June to account for the lost gas and refrigerator goods, and I’m looking into legal assistance for either a) suing the b@st@rd for everything he’s worth (which isn’t much), or b) someone to represent me in the murder trial of said landlord. (I know, I watch too much court TV). 🙂
This weekend is Easter here, and it’s a pretty big deal in Italy. Gonna swing down to Arpino to visit with the family and see what Italians do for their celebrations (somehow I don’t think there’ll be big rabbits or funny colored eggs). What are YOU planning to do for the holidays?
Ciao for now…
Dan
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Giornali d’Italia Siette
An Interesting Turn Of Events
4 June 2003
May and June 2003
On Friday, I received (finally) my new stripes – effective 1 June, my rank changed to Technical Sergeant. In addition to that, the cycle for station changes came about. We were supposed to find out our new assignments on Friday, but nothing materialized for me. Supposedly, if we hadn’t heard by that date, then we were not going to receive an overseas assignment and therefore were going back to the States. It was odd that none of my choices came to fruit (including 2 short tours, similar to Korea), and I immediately started checking for other options. One would have me working in the Embassy in either Saudi Arabia, Armenia, or Turkey. I was preparing my resume for this type of job (Defense Attaché), and today I planned to schedule a test to see if I was eligible, when out of nowhere, I get a call saying an assignment came down. The guy who notified me said I should come up and take a look, leaving me in suspense. He asked of the choices I’d listed, which did I really want. I thought about that for a second, then simply said that if it was on the list, it was somewhere I wanted to go. Then he pointed to my number one choice. Thule, Greenland. Sure enough, I got my pick, and I’ll be heading there at the end of this year. And being that this will be a short tour assignment (only a year long), I’ll have my pick of where I get stationed afterwards! Can you say Hawaii or Australia?! 🙂
Anyway, things here, needless to say, are going pretty good. No major problems with the house (knock on wood), increased pay with both the rank change and our cost of living allowances, and preparing to enter the realm of summertime. The past couple weeks have been relaxing, though I did take an excursion on the 4-day Memorial Day weekend to Slovenia and Croatia. The weather that weekend was perfect, with warm sun beating down on a calm beach in the middle of a small town’s seaside resort. What more could ya ask for? Next week, I’m working with the Youth Programs to bring some teens up to Germany for a Rope Training course, which is part of an “Extreme Summer” program the overseas bases have set up. It’ll be a nice 5 day break and I’ll get to work with kids in the fresh outdoors mountain park of Chimsee. The last day of the trip will be my 30th birthday, so when I get back, it’ll be party time! I’m also working with a friend on base to try to start up a summer teaching program for Martial Arts. Both he and I are keen on the idea, but we need to get the commander’s blessing, and an interest for the folks on base. If we can tie this to Extreme Summer, we can get the kids involved too, and maybe even get PAID! HAHA
The past few days here have been unusually foggy, and night time has brought lightning storms to the Valley. The days near the base have been increasingly hot and muggy, and my office continues to be the oven it was last year, even with the aid of a portable A/C unit. Being a high turn-over timeframe, my workload has been upped dramatically, processing people in and out. Plus, we’re closing in on the end of the year, and everyone is beginning to freak out about the budget. So, sitting in my sauna that someone calls an office, wading through tons of paper and trying to keep the commanders at bay, it’s been a bit stressful. But, with the knowledge now of where I’m going and that there are beaches ready to lay out at, it’s easy to forget the woes of the day and concentrate on more important things… like a nice, dark tan!
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Giornali d’Italia Otto
Ropes Challenge and the Three Rs
13-17 June 2003
A note went out one morning from the Services Squadron asking for volunteers to chaperon some teens on a trip to Germany. A paid trip to Germany?? I was over there faster than they could click “send”. They needed 2 to go, but I was the only one to sign up. The day before the trip, someone finally took on the second slot, and all was a go.
We left the morning of Friday the 13th, at 5AM (meaning I had to get up around 3AM). I got a rental van and some gas coupons, along with sodas and chips, so we were set. The drive through Italy was uneventful, though there were some delays trying to get through Switzerland. Then in Germany, we took a couple wrong turns, but ended up, finally – 10 hours later – at the campsite.
First chore on arrival was the setting up of tents. We helped our 5 teens put up their tents, then did ours. “Shaggy” (Ryan), the other chaperon, said there was no reason to put up the cover on the tent, and that the open top would allow fresh are into the tent. Shaggy has done many camping trips, so I left that up to him. After settling in, the crew from the site started up a BBQ. There were several other bases there and we started meeting the other chaperons while enjoying our burgers and hotdogs. By 8PM just about everyone was there, and we all just kinda got used to the area and such.
R One
Breakfast in the morning was great (I was expecting traditional European breakfast, which is not totally to my liking, but instead got bacon and eggs, juice and coffee). The first day of activities included a ropes induction at an Air Force adventure site near Spangdahlem. We were shown how to use ropes for rappelling and climbing, and the kids went through some team-building exercises. Lunchtime was spent on the field, and we ate some boxed lunches. After lunch though, an ominous cloud approached, threatening rain. Within a few minutes, it started to downpour, and we all sat inside a small bus stop-like building to wait it out. After a while, the camp folks decided it might not be a good idea to continue on the course (due to lightning), so they opted to take us to the base to climb indoors. Only problem, most of the kids forgot their IDs. So we went back to the campsite to get the IDs, but the kids took too long, and as we were driving out to the base, we were hailed down by one of the camp folks to return to the adventure site. The rain had passed, so we could continue with the course. That evening, when we got back, Shaggy had told me that our tent got soaked (“had nothing to do with the top being off – really!”). Sleeping bags, clothes, etc – all soaked. He said he’d take care of clean up, so I opted to go to the pool with the kids and other chaperons. Anyway, that was “R” one – Rained out…
R Two – don’t remember
R Three – Ran out’v gas….
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Journal of Daniel Rea Photography 