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First off, let me say, "Merry Christmas!" Yes, I chose to say Christmas versus Holiday, which seems to be big in the news this year. So if the polling team comes around, please submit my absentee ballet for the former.
Wow! what a year... yet another big move (perhaps not in overall distance, but more-so in dynamics), and yet another pending. It's been a challenging 365 this go-around, but coming out at the end unscathed. As you know, I'm in Iceland now, after finishing my 6 weeks at the NCO Academy (sort of a sergeant's prepatory school) in Germany, and returned to Keflavík just in time for the festivities. But we'll come back to that in a moment. Let's recap the year first.
After finishing my tour in Greenland in January, I took some time off in the States and arrived in Iceland a few weeks later. Following a short time of getting my feet wet in both the local area and the new job (working as a supervisor in Customer Service), I landed a part-time position at the recreation center (The Windbreaker Liberty Center) as a tour guide for single Airmen and Sailors. Talk about the right job! Getting to explore - as you know I love to do - and receiving pay doing it? Sign me up!!
Just to ensure you that every day was not fun-and-games, my first true role as a supervisor and section chief really put me to the test. Walking in to a smooth-running shop was a dream come true, but quickly dissolved when we didn't get replacements for 2 positions and our local civilian decided to take another job in Reykjavík. Thankfully I had a great NCO (sergeant), Teddy, working for me. With just him and me running things, we worked some long hours filling a 5-person shop and managed to keep the customers and the bosses happy. After almost 3 months, we finally got a replacement for the civilian, and again, we were graced with great potential. She was rarin' to go, and quickly caught on to the intricacies of the shop (and learned how to put up with my craziness, too). Bonus! <grin> We ran a great team for several months and finally filled the empty NCO position, and after some time, the airman slot, too. So now we're running on all cylinders.
All the while, I had been hounded by the NCO Academy saying I had to attend. I kept pushing them off because of the low manning, but finally succumbed when we had everyone in the shop and all were up to speed. So in November I took off for Germany to learn about what my next rank might be like: the role of the Senior NCO (Master Sergeant). Six (LONG) weeks of learning managerial and leadership skills, speaking and writing, and even a little bit of getting back to the basics with marching and retreat. Fun stuff!
So, now that you can see how the time here was not just playing around, I can get into a bit of how I blew off some steam.
From the day I got here, I was on the road exploring. The very first Sunday, in fact, I drove out with barely any knowledge of the island - just a map and a Jeep - to find my first waterfall: Urriðafoss. Then, during the week, I found the Windbreaker. First night I checked out the free movie and signed up for my first trip to the Blue Lagoon. After talking with Jennifer (one of the kewl folks working there, and now a good friend), she suggested I sign up to work there. Not but a couple weeks later, I'm on the payroll. (I even took up an Icelandic Language class to help me along. Didn't learn a lot, but got a feel for the alphabet.) Well, the first journey, packed with adventure-seekers, was to the northern town of Akureyri - this is the furthest trip the Windbreaker goes on, and thankfully I was riding tandem with Jenn. She helped me get my feet in the water, and made the trip a real success. And what a sight Akureyri was: we stayed an awesome youth hostel, explored the lake MyVatn and the waterfall Goðafoss, had some wonderful Italian food with vino, and even caught "The Ring Two" at the theater.
That first road-trip experience opened up to the opportunity to explore most of the island. From the black sands of the south shore to the desolation of the island interior, between solo trips with the Jeep and trips with the Windbreaker, there wasn't much I haven't been able to see (and in some cases, more than a few times each). Some of the memorable trips include: 4th of July Camping Weekend, Western Fjords, sneaking onto the set of "Flags of our Fathers", discovering some lesser known waterfalls, driving through the center of the island (4-wheeling), and going over 50,000 miles in the Jeep.
Speaking of driving, the Friday before I headed down to Germany for the Academy, some friends and I were supposed to go to a Halloween party at a campsite. The day of departure it began snowing real hard, with winds gusting to 70 mph, but most of the party headed out and called to say they encountered no problems. Thinking everything would be okay, my friends and I headed out just after work. We didn't get too far. Let's just say we had a rendezvous with Black Ice and a light pole. Driving along only a minute outside the base, a gust of wind blew the back of the Jeep just as we rolled onto a patch of black ice. It spun the car to the left a bit, but I regained only long enough to be blown to the right. That caused us to spin sideways and into a light pole. The side of the Jeep was smashed and caused the rear window to implode. Luckily (VERY luckily), my friend's wife in the back seat didn't get a scratch from the glass. No one was hurt, and somehow the Jeep was still drivable (luck, too, since no one stopped to see if we were alright). Even though I dropped off the car to get fixed before going to Germany, today I still have no Jeep (something about ordering the wrong parts that didn't come in for 4 weeks). We'll see what happens. In any case, it's only a $250 deductible on my part. Whew!
Off the island in September, I planned some time off to spend with my brother, Michael, in concert with attending my friend George's wedding and witnessing my Godson's blessing. The trip with Michael went astray thanks to Hurricane Katrina - we planned to go to Costa Rica for 10 days, but the damage to New Orleans slammed those intentions to the ground. Michael's place was okay in the end, and he was safe, which was all we could ask. In fact, he even made a surprise trip up to Detroit to visit. It was great seeing him, even if for only a couple days. Now that I had an extra few days off, I decided to surprise mom with a visit. I told her I was still going to Costa Rica, as the tickets were non-refundable. In reality, I was able to get back most of the cash since the Hurricane caused the cancellation. When I got up there at 9PM, my little brother answered the door, mouth wide open. I indicated for him to keep quiet, and mom came down from upstairs saying, "who's here at nine o'clock at nigh ... DANIEL!" <grin> In addition to visiting mom, Andy, Herb, Mike and Karen and Ma Barabe, I got to see the Millards, Mamas Pam and Sharon, the Kotsifakis fam, the Wares, and for a short time, my sanity! <grin>
Anyway, on to Christmas. I brought back some seasonal lights to brighten up the dorm room, have a collection of Christmas songs playing on the computer, and plan to go to church in Reykjavík tomorrow to hear a Christmas choir - gotta see if some folks from around here might be interested... then for New Years, gonna check out the infamous fireworks that go on all night in Reykjavík. Not long after that, I'll be packin' up again to leave Iceland and head to my first landlocked* base in Germany. My roll-out time is the end of February and should get to my new base the beginning of March. Lookin' forward to some new adventures, and I'm sure the new job will be a hand-full; it's been a while since I've been to a full-blown finance office, so there'll be some re-acclimation happenin' for sure.
Anyhow, I've rambled on enough, passing along a bit of what's happened here. Please do the same and let me know what your end-of-year holiday plans are (or were, depending on when you read this). In any case, I hope you have the MERRIEST of CHRISTMASES and a grand start to the NEW YEAR!
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* all my overseas bases have either been islands or peninsulas up to this point. Germany will be the first country surrounded only by land.
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