I had to take the shuttle to the other side of the base where I live so I could get the internet access all taken care of for my personal computer.  It was a 45 minute ride for about 5 miles.  Sigh.

The plus:  working internet!  Wooo! 

The minus(es): the guy who did the setup wouldn't put it on my second laptop.  He also changed my desktop background to HIS preference and my homepage to HIS preference.  Then, when I still couldn't log in, he tried to tell me that I MUST have done something.  Um yeah, I think I know how to connect to the internet, thank you.  Then he put a USB drive on my laptop and just started loading something on there.  I asked him what that was and he said that it was antivirus software.  I made him take out the stick.  I spent good money on AV software, I don't need his low-grade crap jacking up my box.

The team here seemed glad to see me when I got back, even if I didn't bring them McDonald's from Dubai.  See, it's a sort of tradition that, if you're coming in from R&R, you bring McD's with you.  Just a few burgers for everyone to enjoy, ya know.  Well, the morning of my flight back, the Departure Board said that the flight was delayed until the afternoon.  I didn't want to get a pile of burgers only to have them be bad when I finally arrived.  But, the departure board was apparently lying, because we got called to board at the original morning time.  Thankfully, the guys here forgave me for my bad judgment.

Other than missing my family and friends, I'm glad to be back at work, although I've got a lot to take care of and only six months to get it done.  One of the guys suggested that I extend an additional three months.  Yeaaa, NO. 

So, while I may not be practicing Aikido out here any more, I can still kick some bootie in other ways.  Woooo!