mychai's Diaryland Diary

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My entry for the week... Summer time is slow time.

Today, when coming back from a trip to Ramstein, we were greeted to about 200 cars lined up in front of the security gate in front of Sembach.

There are barely 200 people who live on Sembach, so to see this many cars trying to get on base was a bit of a surprise. I assumed that they were doing some kind of security exercise and not letting anyone on base. Having eaten two bowls of Kashi Good Friends� cereal for lunch, my bowels were screaming for relief.

"This delicious cereal/snack now provides 12g fiber, with 20% more granola and tastier twigs!"

We stopped and asked someone what was going on, and the truth was revealed: The emergency barriers at the guard gate -- designed to pop up if someone looks like they aren't going to stop so they can detonate their car bombs at a point only to kill German gate guards -- malfunctioned and came up and refused to go down.

So, instead of just parking in the street and basking in a hot car, we went down this narrow street and sat on a bench and read magazines under the shade. The breeze was blowing and it was a wonderful evening, despite the little bugs that give you the itchies.

By 8:30, they had gone back down. An investigation uncovered that some kids stole some of the general's "little blue pills" and threw them out the window while passing through the gate.

I played king for about thirty minutes when I finally got home.

I went on that canoe trip on the border of Luxembourg this past Sunday, and met an Indian girl named Pocahontis.

That's not her real name, but I have enough people in my life named "Lisa" to keep them straight. She's full blooded Indian Native American, so now she has a nickname.

She lives on Ramstein and graduated from Keesler the same day I did. She's nice and all, but is seven years my junior.

I kinda prefer the older ladies. But then again, this is a girl that smiled at me for reasons other than pity.

The funny thing about the trip, though, is that I wore a pair of jeans with a hole in the left knee. The high temperature was 68 on Sunday, but it is still June.

So, now I have one really white knee, and one really burnt knee.

And no, I'm not pulling your leg! It hurts when I get in the shower. I have to shower standing sideways in the shower as to not have the hot water tourture my left side.

I'm going on a three-day white-water rafting, hiking, and possibly hang-gliding weekend in Switzerland this weekend.

I'm most excited about the rafting because that is something I really get a thrill from doing. I love rivers; I find them to be almost a spiritual thing, so strong and powerful, able to erode mountains and change landscapes yet you can stick your hand in the water and it can feel so gentle.

It's so exciting to ride in a rubber boat over those huge waves and get ice-cold water in your face and feel that rush of adrenaline.

I would be most excited about the hang-gliding, but it's not certain if I will do that yet. It depends on weather and time on Sunday. If I get a chance, though, you can bet my ass is going up in the air. How often do you get a chance to go hang-gliding in the Swiss Alps?

Exactly!

What do yall think of the flags on the right there? I need to put Luxembourg on there next.

I was going to get a ring of those flags tattooed around my ankle, but I think that would end up being too many flags.

Well, a friend named Roach just came over and is telling me about her day in Kaiserslautern.

So, I am going to go.

9:11 p.m. - Wed., June 9, 2004

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