Plans Going Awry

I don't have to be here on base today at all. I could've stayed at the hotel and slept in and wandered about the GK market today, but I came here because Lance's office is throwing him a farewell luncheon, and I wanted to come. Lance says I'll be the only civilian there, but why do I care? He's the guest of honor and I am his wife...it feels natural for me to be there.

At 8 AM, we went to power company to close out our account with them (required in order for us to even leave Germany).

Well, this didn't work. Their computers are down. They told Lance to come back at 10, but they can't guarantee that their computers will be working then either.

GAH! Stupid power company!!

Then Lance had various errands to run on base, so he decided to drop me off at the Airman & Family Readiness Center...hopefully he can do what he set out to do, drive back to the power company and get that taken care of, and then come back here and get me, go to the post office to mail a bunch of household stuff to Washington, and then go to the lunch.

I've lost track of all there is to do.

Tomorrow, GERTIE GOES TO THE JUNKYARD! While we aren't getting money out of it, I am so happy to no longer have responsibility for the car. We'll have a nice, new rental car to drive around in for the last week. At some point next week, we have to de-register the vehicle so that it is totally and completely not our responsibility.

Note to the guy in the computer lab with me: EAR PHONES! Seriously...I do not want to listen to your ear-splittingly loud music videos. WTF?

Next Friday...

We turn in our NATO ID cards. I turn in my SOFA stamp. We will officially become persona non grata here at the base. Lance's holiday office party is next Friday night at Paganini. Honestly, we'll be done with EVERYTHING early next week, so that's the main reason why we're sticking around. He wants the chance to say goodbye to everyone all at once and then we'll go.

Friday, continued

So after my post this morning, I wandered across the street to the NATEX to get a snack, since I had little for breakfast and was feeling hungry. Despite the delicious smells of fresh Belgian waffles beckoning to me from the waffle stand, I went inside and got myself a soft pretzel (aside: I just found out the other day that pretzels get their color from being soaked in lye. Oh well...they're still delicious, and I haven't been killed by one yet. And if the Norwegians can eat it with their fish, it's good enough for me).

Lance was a little late getting me, since he was supposed to pick me up at 10:30, but he arrived about 10:45 or so, and had already finished all the day's errands, much to my surprise. So we went to his office, because his lunch was supposed to start at 11 (I thought it was noon). But everyone was in a staff meeting. So we waited. And we waited. And around 11:45 or so, Lance said that there was no sense in continuing to wait, since there was no telling when the meeting would end, so he took me back to the hotel and then went back to the office.

So I ended up having lunch at my usual chinese place, alone, although I brought a book to keep me company. Lance eventually had his farewell lunch with his colleagues, and came back shortly before 4, right after I woke up from a long nap. He told me that the spread was amazing: seafood, a selection of Belgian cheeses, fresh baguettes, and Belgian chocolates. I'm sorry I missed it, especially since everyone kept asking where I was.

Oh well.

I just cooked dinner in the tiny kitchenette, which consists of two burners and about 2 inches of counter space. I nuked a Bowl Appetit for Lance (the cheese rotini variety) and cooked some spiral pasta for myself, which I mixed with zucchini and tomato sauce that I had left from our pantry. I also warmed up a can of peas. So despite the small amount of space to work with, I got a substantial meal on the table for us, and we plan to eat in most nights next week in order to save money and my waistline. We still have some food to use up, but we're going to get a few more things tomorrow.

Tomorrow night we are going to the Nikolaus Markt down the street - Geilenkirchen's 3 day Christmas market, which started tonight. They are supposed to have a holiday swing band tomorrow night and I plan to get some potato pancakes.