Yesterday it got up to 125 degrees. It was 90 deg. by 0800, and 100 deg. shortly after nine. I had planned the day before to go for morning run, before the heat of the day, but didn’t get going until about 0830. The heat kind of took me by surprise. It had only been 115-118 the preceding days, and didn’t get so hot so early.
I talked to a couple of soldiers today, and mentioned that it was a little cooler today (116). One said, “Oh, was it hotter yesterday? I guess I didn’t notice. I’ve gotten kind of numb to it. Wearing body armor all day makes every day hot.”
Right after I left those soldeirs, I walked to lunch. Standing by the clearing barrel I asked a soldier how his day was going. “Today, sir? Today is a really good day.”
“Why is that?” I asked.
“I had a really good talk with my wife last night.”
At his point I was thinking this soldier wants to tell me something, so I kept asking questions.
“What was so good about the talk?’ I asked as we approached the hand washing station.
“Well, sir, we finally came to an agreement about me staying the Army” he said. He told me that he likes the Army life and wants to stay in, but his wife doesn’t like it and wants him to get out.
“What finally changed her mind?” I asked. “Well, I finally just said 'Look, I’m the man and I earn the money, and I’d like to be able to decide what I do for a living’” he told me.
“And she was OK with that?” I asked, a bit taken aback, “I mean, really OK with it? She’s not going to hold it against you?”
“Oh no, sir, she’s fine with it. I think she was just relieved that we made a decision and got it over with. An of course, the bonus doesn’t hurt.” And then the happy soldier walked into the dining facility, leaving me drying my hands and smiling.
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