Out of Phase

The last few nights have been very dark, and tonight’s no exception, as it’s the new moon.  A flashlight is an absolute necessity if you want to avoid stubbing your toe on a misplaced paving tile or smacking into a barrier you forgot was between your room and the latrines.  The good news is that once your eyes are adjusted to the light outside, you can see a whole lot of stars.  Makes you appreciate how pretty the night sky must have been before the industrial age and widespread electricity.

 

Speaking of electricity, I just got my hands on a power converter.  Power here runs 220V and 50 Hz, and can fry electronics meant to run on the US 110V/60Hz system.  Sometimes it doesn’t fry things, but people with electrically powered alarm clocks complain that they lose 10 minutes every hour.  One soldier I talked to had perfected the art of setting the time ahead at night so that it would be exactly right when his alarm clock went off.

 

Oh, and the power converter is to power my new TV and Refrigerator!  A little patience paid off, when I found a bunch of people getting ready to head home, and offering to sell their stuff.  Back to the comfortable life, and I can even watch Bronco games from my own room now!

 

The new moon and astronomical objects in general remind me that tomorrow’s the first day of Autumn.  I can mark another whole season off my calendar.  And that means I’m quite close to the halfway mark.  Of course, I’m not counting down to the end, yet.  I’m just counting down to my R&R leave.  Much closer, and getting closer every day!