Twelve days left

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post.

We were required to have a special escort to access one of the sites. All plans were made for the short trip and access times were scheduled. We arrived at the site to find that our escort didn't have the proper pass to enter the site. The escort gave me a contact name and phone number. We arrived at our scheduled appointment, without escort, made the contact and completed the inspection. Turns out that all of the protocol was just that. Protocol. Our host said just call me whenever you want to come back.

Another site had the same issues. We were to have a Host Country Civilian ID to enter the site. We started the process when we arrived in January and a month later were told that it takes up to six weeks to get this ID. We had four weeks left. It was decided that after many days of personal escorts from remote parking lots and hours of wait time, we should just try to drive in and see what happens. The next day we drove to the site, handed them our badges and entered. No problems, no questions.

The guys are starting the countdown to their return flights. Our morning meetings usually start with someone stating the number of days left. People are pretty much focused on that thought and are in a routine to make it to the end.

I'm not sure how I'll ever be able to stay up past 8:30 PM again. Finish work at 7 PM, eat dinner at 7:30, shower at 8, sleep at no later than 9.