The Journey Begins

Hotel room webtv can be aggravating. I ought not to complain. These are pretty nice digs.

I arrived in this southwestern metropolis 11 days ago. Air travel isn't any more fun now than it was three years ago. Went to NYC that time. Narrow seats, screaming babies, $5 drinks. Duffel bags have gotten heavier since last I lugged any through an airport. I must have looked like a potential expat because a guy came up to me asking about ground transportation to the hotel. I need to ask him why he thought I would know. I dragged the bags out to the pick up point and sat on my duffel bag and waited for my ride, feeling very soldierly. Waited. And waited. That was the first test. There would be many others. The van driver was a real sweet heart and made us step over a pile of luggage to load our bags. He drove us to a shopping mall. We dismounted, unloaded the bags, and found a chow hall set up in what must have once been a big clothing store. Feeding the new troops impressed me. Somebody must know what they are doing. The hotel we were told we were going to is not the hotel we ended up staying in the first week. That hotel is in charge of billeting, and the farther along you get in this process, the closer they put you to the chow hall. I stayed in the first hotel they put me in until yesterday.