The last few days

So, we've hit about the 1-week mark before Matt has to leave for Iraq. I know it's probably a sad note to start out on, but I know that's why everyone is reading this blog (other than the really awesome pictures ;). What have our lives been like recently? Well, the rear detatchment (Rear-D) commander just changed to a new guy named Captain Anderson, a high-speed infantry-man that Matt really likes. I've come to really like him as well, because as of a week and a half ago, Matt didn't have to go in for anything at work other than morning PT (which is from 0630-0800). And what'd we do with the rest of that time? Had fun! We had such a lazy last week and a half, half-heartedly cleaning up the house, making gourmet dinners every night, driving around our area, getting packages from the CMR (Central Mail Room). Speaking of which, I just got our pots and pans a day ago, and they're beautiful!

What's the schedule from here? More of the same. Matt only has to go in for PT in the morning, so we might actually start taking day trips to cities within the 2-hour driving distance. Bavaria is really the best part of this country. In the north part of Germany, the landscape and architecture are just not as interesting. The south is cool, and we haven't visited the west, but Bavaria is where all the cute little towns are, and more importantly, where they make all the beer. Beer here is only allowed to contain four ingredients, so a lot of it tastes similar, but every now and again, you get a real gem. One such gem is found at the brewery located about 200 yards from our house. Yes, we're ridiculously lucky.

As for a specific day that he's leaving, we don't know. He has a flight window of about 4-5 days. There's a possibility that the flight might not go at all. This window was originally scheduled to go at the early-mid month mark, but has already been pushed back a few times. But, the likelihood of it not going is small enough that I'm not considering it.

How am I doing? Well, I've not let myself dwell on it too much. The hardest times are in the evening, after we've finished watching a movie. I got a glimpse of what this upcoming time would be like when he was on a 1-week training exercise, and that memory and anticipation of much more of it is just very sad. One thing that doesn't help is that I found out yesterday that a soldier that went to Iraq just over a month ago was killed in action. This soldier was the husband of someone I was familiar with, and a friend to one of my best friends here. I scowl at Matt every now and again for leaving me here to just think about these things, but I know that's not productive, so I try to control it.

We've had so much fun these last few months together, and that really does help the situation. I would hate for him to go to war and for us to only have been arguing all this time. He also encourages me by saying that he'll be in a "safe" area most of the time because he'll be training for a few weeks or so, then meeting the guys, and then a couple of months after that, they have to start packing up. He's basically saying that his window of time to see action is pretty small.

What's going to keep me distracted while Matt's gone? Well, I had planned on working at the outdoor rec (ODR) in Grafenwoehr, but that didn't work out. I had visited the ODR in Vilseck, and the people that worked there were cool, and it was in a good building/location. Assuming things would be the same in Graf, I applied for the open position there. A few days later I decided to stop by myself and see what it was like. The building it was in was sketchy, and it was in a tiny room, instead of a whole stand-alone building like in Vilseck. Instead of seeing 3-4 young-looking people behind the counter, I see one middle-aged man with long greasy hair. After talking there for a bit, he said I wouldn't want to work there because he was an ass-hole, and good luck with the job. In the middle of this, Matt walked in and just walked right out. When we got back in the car, we looked at each other, and agreed that I'd withdraw my application.

After that scary incident, I went over to the framing shop to see if the job was still available there. Turns out it was! The guy I talked to really wants me to work there, so I picked up an application.

A few days later, Matt and I had gotten a map of Graf post (something for which we had been looking for a long while). On it had a building marked "Department of Public Works." On a whim, we went over there to ask if there were any jobs available and to ask where the Army Corps of Engineers were located. The German guy we were talking to looked confused, said there were no jobs, and pointed us in the direction of the Corps office...out in an area not shown on our map that I didn't know even existed. We drove by, eyed the building, and said I'd come back the next day with a resume and cover letter and see what I could find.

The next day, dressed all snazy and with a ridiculously well-written resume and cover letter printed on resume paper, I made my way to the Corps office. I walked in, not knowing what would come of this endeavor, and somehow found my way to a gentleman in his late 40's who, though he worked in a Corps office, still looked very alive, intelligent and engaging. It would take too long to explain exactly what happened, but the whole conversation we had was very witty. He had on his desk at that moment resumes that he was looking through to fill three available positions. I handed him my resume, explained my situation, he looked at me, and basically said he wanted to hire me. Woot! He didn't know if he could, thought there might be some red tape, but would contact me later about it. But part of his incentive to help me was that he had gotten his start the same way, just walking into someone's office. And he had a pained look on his face when I mentioned that my only other option was to work at the arts and crafts store doing framing.

He called me later that day, very hopeful, and said that he'd send me a copy of the job announcement and description for the job he was trying to fill, and told me to adjust my resume to include as many of the underlined words as possible. I said I'd get right on it.

About an hour later he called again, and then he told me that there was no way I could ever get the job. He had talked to the people who actually appoint people for the job (not engineers, and nobody I'd be working with), and they said that the job announcement calls for 1 year of experience. With my internships, I'd only have about 9-10 months, and that would never cut it. I was currently at a level of GS-5, and the position he was trying to fill was a GS-12 (I don't know what GS means, this is just what he told me). So, he told me that 3 more months of experience would take me from a GS-5 to a GS-12, which is ridiculous in my opinion, and in his as well. I offered to volunteer for the office for 3 months to get that extra time, but he didn't like that option. So we hung up the phone and I was depressed, again.

The next morning, he called me saying that he was going to try to create a position for me that would be a quasi internship position. My impression was that it would have to pay a lot less because of my experience, but he just really wanted to see me start my career. So how this last scenario would work is that it would take him about half a month to create the description for said position, then he's gone all of August, then after that he could submit the position to the lame people in the states that make all the important decisions, it would take a month for them to decide to publish it or not. If they liked it, they'd publish the description online, then I'd have to compete for it, the people in the states would have to like my resume enough to send it back to my friend in Germany, and then he'd make the final decision.

That's where we are today. I'll have to wait until early October to know if I have a job or not. Very aggravating, but at least there's hope. Everyone who's supposed to know about jobs around here was not helpful. They all tried to send me to the unit of engineers in Graf, where I'm pretty sure civilians don't work. Finally, I had to just go do the research in person around Graf (the information could NOT be found online, frustratingly enough), found the office, and just walked in. So pray that the people in the states view this idea favorably, view my resume favorably, and that this situation can work out well for me. I'd really like to start my career, and not just put it on hold for 3 years. I mean, how could we plan for kids if I was just starting my career at 26?

Enough about all that! I've included some pictures below that I took a while ago and just haven't had an excuse to put up yet.

This is Veldenstein Castle. Just half an hour from our place. We had planned to have dinner there the night this was taken, but there was a wedding going on that interrupted our plans.

This little empty church is about 2 kilometers from our house. So sad that nobody uses it anymore!

Ah, the beloved Smart car! The church is in the background, and my very handsome groom is in the driver's seat.

This is me just goofing around at a castle/manor in a city about an hour and 15 minutes away. Nobody was here, and the place was completely free to get into. Man I love Europe!