Defense contractor life

I picked a weird time to start working as a contractor -- right before a major exercise. Since last Wednesday, I've been working from 10:30 to 8:30 every day (weekends too), though as a salaried employee I don't get any overtime.

So far, being a defense contractor is much like being in the Army: long hours, yet everyone's still too busy to tell you what they want from you.

The good news, though, is that "comp-time" applies, so now that it's over I have some time off tomorrow to get the cars registered as a non-resident one last time. My terminal leave ends in a week, and then I officially become a Hawaii resident again. I'll save some money by registering the cars as a non-resident.

I also had lunch with my old co-workers today. That was nice -- we went to Moanalua Ranch 99 (an off-post spot near Ft. Shafter) and got Thai food. The other three guys, all fellow 2009 year-group guys, all got passed over for promotion, much like I likely would have been if I'd not gotten medically retired. The office is still strangely dysfunctional, which makes me happy to have moved on.

At the same time, I miss the camaraderie of being a captain