Going Public

I decided yesterday to take all of my older entries off "private." I had mostly done it as a way of closing the door on my rather foolish past, but I’m remembering that those events are part of me too. So if you want to read them, you can. Frankly, I wouldn’t put too much hope in what they may contain. Lots of song lyrics, lots of gushing about boys I liked. Typical late-teenaged stuff. I will say that it was a pain in the ass to do it. The entry manager wasn’t allowing me to switch an entire page from private to public, so I had to go down the list and change them individually. It didn’t take too long, despite how many there were, but it did get to the point where the words private and public had very little meaning anymore. Public especially. It was starting to look like something written in Russian.

We ran into a bit of trouble at the Commissary on Monday. My credit card got declined. Thinking that the payment for this month just hadn’t processed yet, I tried to use our debit card. That was declined too. Feeling very confused and put out, Alan went over to the ATM in the store to check the balance, and found that we only had $44. Now, I realize we’re broke, but I do know there was at least triple that in the account. So we went over to the library (thankfully it’s just across the street) and logged onto the bank website and found a random withdrawal of $83 in Sherman Oaks, California. It was an ATM withdrawal too, which is especially problematic as we live nowhere near California and neither of us has lost the card. Alan reported the charge as fraud and cancelled his card because we’re pretty sure his is the problem since he uses it on post more than I use mine. Fortunately, we do know that it’s a problem with debit cards used on Ft. Carson because some wives in the Carson groups on Facebook reported a problem with their USAA accounts having major withdrawals all coming from California. Ugh. I’m glad it’s not a huge amount, but it’s a pain in the ass. I’m going to have to call Progressive and the utility company to let them know they won’t get paid this month. We really could have squeaked by despite the car trouble, but it was going to be a tight fit. Without that $83, it’s not going to happen. Fortunately, all the other bills are already paid.

And Alan had some good news for me last night as we walked down to the grocery store. He’s getting promoted next month! I’m not supposed to tell anyone, because with the Army nothing is official until it happens, blah blah blah, but he’s seen the orders and the waiver that his chain of command had to sign in order to promote him before he had completed his time in grade. Technically, he’s not eligible to be promoted to E4 until he’s served as an E3 for something like 24 months. In order to get promoted early, his superiors have to sign off on it. The fact that they did is pretty fucking awesome if you ask me. I’m a little pissed though. Apparently, he’s known about this for weeks. Sgt. Schulz even wanted to tell me when we were all at Captain Souza’s house last week because he knew Alan hadn’t told me, jerk that he is. This is really good news because it means that he’s impressing the right people and because it means an extra $325 in his paycheck every month. That is always a good thing, especially since I still can’t manage to find work. I’m feeling slightly less bad about it though. Sgt. Norbeck is getting counseled about finding a job in the civilian world because he’s separating from the Army and apparently if you even want to be the guy who cuts the grass on post you still have to show up to the interview in a suit. And a good suit at that. We’re talking Saks, not Sears.

Ugh.

Anyway, Pez is really pissed that Alan’s getting promoted before him because Pez has been in the Army longer. Then again, nobody seems to like Pez and he’s generally regarded as a shit bag, which is why once he gets back from leave he’s going on gate guard duty for 6 months. And promotions aren’t automatic. Yes, he may be eligible to be promoted, but that doesn’t mean they have to give it to him. They do have to counsel him every month about what he needs to improve in order to get promoted though. Frankly, you have to be a douche not to get promoted in the Army. They don’t ask for a lot. And the first time I met Pez I thought he was a tool. So yeah.

We have a mandatory FRG meeting tonight and Alan recommended I go because apparently the SCO wants to address the spouses. Sometimes I really hate being involved. LOL… Can’t I stay at home and read?

By the way, I just finished the fourth in The Mortal Instruments series, City of Fallen Angels. I was really disappointed. The first three books were great, but this one fell flat. The story was choppy and there were some pretty gaping plot holes. I’m still going to read the first book in The Infernal Devices series. I’m hoping that because it’s a series, she feels more freedom to really develop the plot. This last book feels like it doesn’t really belong, like the first three were very popular and profitable so her publisher made her write a fourth in that series. Clary becomes much more of a Mary Sue. And unfortunately, the ending makes it pretty obvious that there’s going to be another. I’m sort of relieved to be moving on to The Satanic Verses. I also read Withered by Lauren DeStefano and it was pretty good. A very quick read, but good nonetheless and I’m looking forward to the next in the series.

All right. Time for breakfast and then the gym. My plans for the day include dusting and maybe making bread. And Alan got a ride with Kelby so I can leave for the FRG meeting early and get the rest of the groceries. What a thrilling life I do lead, eh?

~Liz