Military Medical Team Makes the 'Toughest Call' (GI IMPALED BY BOMB - courage abounds!!!)

ABC News ^ | 9/22/07 | Ruth Reiss

[Monkey Face]

Try MJB decaf. It’s really good stuff!

I keep it on hand.

[Monkey Face]

Welp, I’m off to bed, late as it is.

I need to watch the dreams. I might learn something!

See ya tomorrow!

[rottndog]

I ready to go meself...

Good Night!

[darkangel82]

Good night.

[sionnsar]

Guten Morgen, good afternoon and good evening, depending upon where you (and I) are.

My 33-hour day, featuring 25 hours in transit from Germany to Washington, is about over. The trip IS over -- defined as "the suitcase is back where any self-respecting suitcase ought to be: in the closet, once again gathering dust."

It was an "interesting" time and promises to get wilder, but that'll have to wait until tomorrow, probably evening (PDT).

[sionnsar]

Schlafen zie gut!

No time fu:r gut geschlafen, it was run run run, coupled with eat eat eat drink drink drink talk talk talk, not necessarily in that order nor to equivalent degrees, and the last full day ended with drive Drive DRIVE Drive [repeat] (on the Autobahn). The local beer in Dortmund was powerful stuff, that or I'm losing my edge through lack of practice.

[sionnsar]

No spreche Deutch...
};oþ

You'd have loved Monday afternoon's meeting. Our meeting was visited by representatives from another (government-related) organization. Some of them did not speak English so our group's tradition of using English when a non-German-speaker (such as yours truly) is present went out the window. I remained for this meeting, however, because there was much political significance to my being there.

We'd prepared for a colleague to translate the essentials to me, but to my dismay the meeting opened with a round of introductions, and it was clear that more than name & employer was being given.

So when it came to me, I just said (following the pattern and easily understanding this much), "Meine Name ist N___ N___ mit Co___ und ich hab' kein Deutsch." [room breaks up in laughter] "Chair, XYZ committee."

Good enough -- and following the conversations and slides that followed through the afternoon I was surprised at how much of my limited (elementary) but still-forgotten German started flowing back.

I don't think they believed the "kein" (none) part. The first of their speakers wound up with an impassioned plea directed straight at me. Unfortunately I understood little of what he said in that sentence but if it was only summation, I understood completely.

[sionnsar]

They’re going to move her to a different hospital tomorrow, then she’ll have surgery on Friday, from the sounds of things. They need to get her pain stabilized.
So I probably won’t be here Friday until later. She thinks she won’t come out of the anesthesia, so I’m going to hold her hand.

Prayers for your daughter.

[sionnsar]

Good night, all.

[Tax-chick]

Good morning!

[Tax-chick]

Much nicer morning for a run. I had to use my ear-warmer! I caught some of my neighbors watering their trees and flowers, though. Bad, bad, bad!

(We watered our trees, too :-).

[Monkey Face]

Welcome back!

It’s been pretty quiet here without you!

And thanks for the prayers. She can use all she can get, poor baby.

[Tax-chick]

Good morning! Shannon’s after the lizards!

[Monkey Face]

LOL!

I’m surprised I’m even here. I should know better than to stay up so long after my bedtime.

It usually means I won’t sleep at all, or only about two hours. *sigh* Which is about what I got. :o|

[rottndog]

Hungover?

[Monkey Face]

Nah. I’ve only been hungover twice in my life, the first time when I was in Germany.

The second time was here in Vegas, before I started to work full time.

Lucky me!

[rottndog]

I have a headache hangover....not to bad, but the fuzziness in my head is lingering.

[Tax-chick]

Drink lots of water.

[Tax-chick]

I can always use more sleep, myself. Shannon gave up on the lizards and wenk to look for excitement out the windows.

[Monkey Face]

I had a couple of hypoglycemic episodes yesterday, then got a migraine. The headache is still working at the back of my neck and my right eye. I don’t know how long I’ll be here. If the lights come, I’m gone!