Uggghhh

I'm sick. I have the flu. Leave me some love.

No First Names

The funny thing about work is that no one has first names. Even the civilians are Mr. so and so or Ms. so and so. It's kind of funny that people who work together every day call each other Mr. or Ms. I guess it's a respect thing. The military personnel of course refer to each other by rank.

The last few days I have been working with LTC C*. He is the division chief for the Regulation and Legislation division in the JAG office. I know, I know...what can be more exciting than legislation and regulation! But it actually has been kind of interesting. I basically read draft revisions of Army regulations, and one NATO joint publication, and look for typos and clarity issues and any legal issues or conflicts the revisions might have with other regulations. After I find the issues, if any, I type up a memo with the JAG office's recommendations and LTC C* signs it and sends it off. So, my recommendations could end up in an Army Reg or a NATO publication. Of course, most of my recommendations are to correct grammar and typographical errors so it's not like I am changing the substance of the regulations but it still makes me feel like my job is important. I will be doing much of the same thing next week and then I'll switch to a new division on Monday June 5th.

I have a four day weekend this weekend because of the Memorial Day holiday. Yesterday, at work they had a little ceremony in front of the building dedicated to fallen soldiers. It was really touching especially when a bugler played Taps.

Well, Brad and I don't have any big plans this weekend. We are going to see the Da Vinci code later today but other than that we are just going to hang out and be lazy. Since I have been getting up at 6:00 in the morning everyday and driving an hour to and from work, hanging out and being lazy sound pretty good to me!

First Day of Work

Where to begin...

I got to the base around 8:30am. I met my sponsor Major I*. She is very nice and she introduced me to about 20 or 30 people. All I have to say is thank goodness they all have their names and ranks attached to the front of their uniforms or I wouldn't have any idea who anyone is. I think everyone should wear velcro name tags. It would make life a lot simpler and everyone would always know your name.

I spent a lot of today waiting for my password to be approved so I could sign onto networks and ask for more approvals and get a building pass. I am now "official" with a picture name badge and everything. When I got home Brad wanted to see my picture. He disapproved of me smiling in the picture. "You're not supposed to smile in these things," he said. I don't care. I was happy. It was the last thing I needed in order to be fully processed today. Well, I also need my two month vehicle pass but that is pending approval and should be ready tomorrow.

In between waiting for password approval and vehicle approval and building pass approval I went on a lot of tours. Major I* took me on a tour of the base, including a tour of the gym. Major I* is very enthusiastic about working out. Brad said, "so that means she could kick both our butts." I said probably, but I don't think it would take much. We also drove around the area around the base and we went on a tour of the building.

Most of the building is filled with cubicles. These are the tall cubicles you can't see over. There are also cubicles with doors on them which is something that I have never seen before. I'm sure the building is laid out pretty symmetrically but the cubicles are set up in a way that creates a bit of a maze. Major I* led me around the building and I swear we came back to the JAG office a different way every time. I start work tomorrow at 9:00am but I may have to get there at 8:00am with a compass just to find my way back. I am not in the JAG office that I linked in a previous post. Instead, I am in the Army Reserve Headquarters building. The building itself is relatively new. All over the building there are cases with uniforms and other military artifacts which represent the Army Reserve or the Army Reserve's accomplishments over the years. There is even a cannon on the bottom floor. There can't be that many legal interns who can say there is a cannon in the building where they work.

The highlight of the day, though, had to be when I found out where I am going to be working during the summer. They have assigned me an office, not a cubicle, an office. It is quite large and has two desks, one with the computer the other behind the chair with the printer. Oh, yeah I have my own printer. There is also a bookshelf, four chairs and a set of BDU's hanging on the back door. So I guess I could invite a whole bunch of people to hang out in my office. We could read the phonebook, dress up and print things. But we can't call anyone because my phone has been disconnected. It was an empty office for a while so they are working on getting it reconnected. The JAG office is getting another intern next week. I asked where the other intern was going to be and was told he was also getting an office, but I saw his office and it is a lot smaller than mine. So I guess getting there first has its perks.

Well that's all for today...I am working on reviewing and proposing regulations tomorrow with Lieutenant Colonel C*.

Today

Nothing too exciting happened today. Brad and I went shopping over in Newnan and got some ice cream in Peachtree City. Tonight was the series finale for Charmed. The series had become kind of stupid lately but I think they ended it well. Like the Will & Grace series finale, the Charmed finale showed what happens to the characters in the future so you weren't left wondering what would happen to them later. Well, time for bed. I'll write about my first day of work adventures tomorrow.

Congratulations...

... to everyone who recently graduated, including:

Jen (sister-in-law) - graduated with a paralegal degree

Heather (practically sister-in-law) - graduated with a nursing degree from Lynchburg College

Katy (friend) - graduated from Tulane with a law degree

Shane (friend) - graduated from Barry with a law degree

Happy Graduation everyone. I hope you all had a terrific day.

Now go be adults

The Army

I am working for the Army JAG Corps this summer. I had to fill out a thousand forms, swear that I have no plans to overthrow the government in an affidavit and may have given away my first born child. I'm not really sure what I'll be doing this summer because they've been kind of vague but here's what I got in an email:

We don't have a handout on the intern program, but essentially you will be doing legal research and writing, witness preparation for trials and oral and written presentations. The actual work will vary based on the types of cases you are assigned.

I start on Monday, hopefully I passed the forms "test" and I will be given a vehicle pass to get through the gate and a building pass to get into the building.

And for all of you wondering:
1. No, I do not have to wear camo to work. I am a civilian.
2. No, I am not obligated to the Army. I have not joined the Army. I am an intern and a civilian.

This Summer

OK, I am not giving up. Plus I finally figured out how to take pictures and download them onto my computer so my blog will be more interesting or at least more colorful. I'm down here in Atlanta again. I just finished playing Age of Myths. If you have an army of trolls coming your way or you need some dwarves to be rescued I'm your person. Other than the computer game I have accomplished very little this week. I should be doing laundry or reading or taking the dog on walks but instead I am watching cable and playing games on my laptop. I don't have cable in Winston Salem. Well I pay six dollars for basic cable which pretty much just guarantees that the local channels will come in clearly. But I do get the TV Guide channel which is just kind of sad because I get to see the 15 channels I do have and the 45 channels I don't scroll by. It's really exciting down here...getting all the channels on the TV Guide channel!

Right now I'm watching the History channel now. It's a show about Leonardo da Vinci's military inventions. They have been playing something about da Vinci every night on the History channel because of the Da Vinci Code movie coming out tomorrow. I'm excited to see how the screenplay came out because I don't like the way that Dan Brown writes his books. He skips around right when we care about what will happen next. That doesn't create suspense that just creates annoyed readers. I'm not sure about Tom Hanks in the role as the main character. I like Tom Hanks but I think it was weird casting. I would have picked someone less well known. Funny, a commercial just came on for the Da Vinci Code.

Well I can ramble on for a while but I think I'll stop here and post a picture of a tiger who sleeps just like Penny...upside down and pressed up against the wall.