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Adventures in ID cards…

Thanks to my lifelong affiliation with members of the United States military, I have had an I.D. card for most of my life.  From the age of ten until I was 23, I had one because I was an Air Force brat.  From the age of 30 until now, I’ve had one because I am the wife of a now retired Army officer.  I have a lot of experience with getting military I.D. cards.  I must say, this morning’s experience getting  a new I.D. was truly enjoyable.  I genuinely can’t say that about 99% of my other I.D. card experiences.

This is the fourth time I’ve had an I.D. made in Stuttgart.  When I think back over my life, I know I’ve had four I.D.s made at the Naval Weapons Station in Yorktown, Virginia, because that was the closest location to where I lived when I was coming of age.  I remember it was an ordeal to get the I.D., since my dad had to come with me.  One time, my mom took me by herself and we had to come back later because they wouldn’t make an I.D. without the sponsor present (unless he was dead).  I don’t know if that’s still the rule, but it was in the 80s.  Going anywhere with my dad was generally painful because he liked listening to Muzak and singing along.

When I got married at age 30, Bill took me to the Pentagon, where I was shocked to find out all my info was still in the “system”.  I also remember the super skinny lady who made my I.D. reading all of my stats out loud, including my weight, which was almost surely inaccurate, but still more than I wanted to admit to publicly.  That was pretty unpleasant, since she basically announced it to everyone in the office at the time.

The next time I got an I.D. was in Stuttgart, then I got one at Fort Bragg, where the I.D. office was in the old hospital.  I had one made at Fort Sam Houston in 2014, which was a horrible ordeal that took all morning because Bill was retiring from active duty as a full time member of the National Guard.  The computer wanted to give us red I.D.s instead of a blue one for him and a tan one for me.  They kicked us out of Tricare, too.  That didn’t get fixed until a few weeks later, after we had already moved to Stuttgart.  I got another I.D. made here, again shocked when all of my stats from Bill’s Army tour here from 07-09 were in the system.  I remember the lady who made it then told me that she didn’t think my hair was red anymore, which it’s definitely not.  Then we had to turn the I.D. back in a few months later because Bill’s contract changed.

I had to get a new I.D. card today because Bill is working for a new company as of last week.  Given all the other times I’ve gotten an I.D., I can’t say I was looking forward to it.  But today’s experience was downright fun.

First, Bill and I went to get a new I.D. made for me.  I think we may have been among the first people to visit the I.D. office.  While we waited for the very slow system to update, I cracked jokes about Suzanne Somers with the very pleasant guy who took my photo (and he managed to get a fairly decent picture of me, too).  We also bonded a bit over M.C. Hammer…

I was joking about how I used to have reddish blonde hair, but now it’s turned very blonde… a la Suzanne Somers circa 1991.

 

Then somehow we ended up joking about M.C. Hammer’s “2 Legit 2 Quit”…  Damn, I’m old!

 

After I got my new I.D., we visited the passport office, where I got a new SOFA card.  They were kind enough to take care of us, even though we didn’t have an appointment (thanks to the automated system being down).  The guy who looked after me there was hilarious as he and Bill chatted about drill instructors.  I noticed all the signs on the walls, including one instructing people to sign in even if they just have a question.  I can only guess that’s because a quick question often turns into something a lot more complicated.  After a few minutes, my card was ready and we headed down to the next office to update my info in the system.

Bill and I walked into the room and the first thing we heard was, “Hey! It’s the Traveling Overeducated Housewife!”  Once again, thanks to all my pictures of Bill on this blog, we got recognized!  And once again, we were taken care of quickly and professionally by very friendly staffers!

I bonded with the ladies in the last office over the 1991 version of Beauty and the Beast, which was playing on the TV.  I told them about my former college suitemate who was obsessed with that movie, which was fairly new when I was in college.  She’d sit there in her sweatpants eating tortilla chips covered in cheese and salsa, watching that movie over and over again and trying to sing along with the songs.  Unfortunately, she was tone deaf, which made listening to her rather torturous for me.  I happen to have perfect pitch.  This particular suitemate also used to sing along to any and all commercial jingles, which made it hell whenever there was an ad for Mentos.

I don’t know if everyone was so chipper because today is Friday, but I truly had a good experience this morning.  And although I won’t be sharing this post with the masses in the local Facebook groups, I figure enough folks read this blog regularly that it’s worthwhile to give them a positive shoutout.  So… if any of you folks working in the I.D. and passport offices happen to read this, please accept my genuine thanks for being so pleasant, efficient, and funny today!  You’re all a credit to your jobs!

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Partytime!

Last night, I met some people who read this blog regularly.  It always cracks me up when I run into people in the Stuttgart area who have read my rag.  They usually notice Bill first, because I make a point of putting a picture of him in all of my posts.  I put Bill’s pictures in the blog because it’s a running joke that started a few years ago.  Bill and I share a lot of inside jokes.  It’s part of our collective charm, I guess.  The truth is, Bill is low key and not overly fond of being photographed.  He’s become more tolerant because I often manage to get decent shots.

We met the readers at a party Bill and I attended last night.  Our host was one of Bill’s former co-workers, from the time when Bill was here as an Army officer working for EUCOM.  Bill’s former co-worker is retired, like Bill is, and works as a contractor, also like Bill.  I don’t know the guy that well, although we did attend the same Lyle Lovett concert back in March 2009 at the Liederhalle.  His parties are apparently legendary, though, and now that I’ve attended one, I can see why.

We arrived late in the afternoon.  A crowd had already gathered around the grill, where an impressive spread of a variety of meats were being cooked.  We had salmon, chicken, pork, lamb, and beef, as well as an array of sausages made of venison and elk.  There were lots of side dishes, too.  I wish I had gotten the recipe for the corn casserole.  That was delicious!

I sat down and started chatting with people.  There were only a few there that I knew.  After we’d been there for a little while, a couple walked in.  One guy, who hasn’t worked with Bill, took one look at him and said, “The Overeducated Housewife!”  And Bill smiled and pointed at me, which made me laugh.  The guy’s wife came over and gave me a big hug.  I have to admit, Bill is the face of my travel blog… despite the fact that he usually blinks when people take his picture.

Could my Bill’s head be turning like Spongebob’s after he was on a commercial?  Not likely.

We really had a good time last night.  I don’t always do well at parties because I either get carried away and run my mouth too much or I feel shy and uncomfortable.  But we were hanging out with a couple I knew from prior events hosted by Bill’s soon to be former company.  We just sat around and chatted about life in the United States.  The couple we spent the most time talking to last night will be heading back to the States after a long stint in Germany.  I am a little sad to see them go now.

A few of my friends who arrived in 2014 have already PCS’d out.  We thought we might have to move ourselves; but it seems we have a new lease on life here… for the time being, anyway.  I’m not complaining, even though I will miss my friends.  The truth is, I’d miss them anyway, since we wouldn’t be going where they are going.  I am very happy that we don’t have to move, although it’s now become clear that even if we had moved, it would not have been back to America.

One thing I noticed while sitting on our host’s balcony was that his neighborhood is a bit densely populated.  Consequently, we noticed quite a few locals passing the party and looking over at us with curiosity.  I saw more than a few expressions of what appeared to be disdain or disapproval.  Granted, our group was large and perhaps noisier than what they’re used to.  But then Bill went to fetch our car and noticed that one of our host’s neighbors was also hosting a gathering and they were as noisy as we were.  In a couple of weeks, we’re supposed to attend a BBQ thrown by our neighbors.  I wonder if people will be giving us the stinkeye if we’re partying with locals.

Speaking of stinkeyes.  I keep meaning to write about this.  Our house sits next to a very large field.  We have a wall of windows and the rolladens are usually up.  Sometimes, when we’re eating dinner, people will pass by.  Many times, they have dogs with them, which make my dogs go berserk.  I notice that as they pass and my dogs go nuts, these looky lous will stop and gawk at us.  I’m usually standing there in my nightgown, trying to wrestle the dogs away from the window so they aren’t too disruptive to our neighbors.  The passers by will just stand there and stare, causing the dogs to bark more and me to give them one of my trademark death ray glares.  It’s probably funny for them to see that.  Maybe that’s why they stare.  Or maybe they wonder why our dogs aren’t trained or I’m not dressed.  I wonder what they’d do if I mooned them…  We might get a visit from the authorities.

I wasn’t actually planning to write about last night.  I didn’t take any pictures.  Someone asked if I would write about the party and I said, “Why would I do that?”  I figure what goes on at a party should stay at a party.  I also figured most people wouldn’t be interested.  But since I know I do have a few regular readers who were partying with us last night, I decided I might as well write.  Besides, nothing salacious happened, other than being on the receiving end of a few disapproving looks from the host’s neighbors.  You can get those anywhere at any time going about your regular business, right?  The food and company were great and we had a fantastic time.  Bill is now picking up a used freezer from his soon to be former colleague.  Maybe later today, we’ll have a new culinary experience or something.  Or… maybe not.

Thanks again to everyone who reads my blog.  I mainly write it to stay productive and pass time.  It is gratifying to know that some people like it and find it useful and/or entertaining.  I’m not doing this for fame or recognition, but I have to admit it does tickle me when we get recognized.  😀

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