Time

by Martha

Somthing that pops into my head more times than it should everyday is the concept of time. I'm always thinking about what time it is somewhere else, mainly what time it is Eastern Standard Time. This is the first time either of us have actually lived outside of the Eastern Time Zone. We've visited all over, but never lived in a different time zone. All day long, I'm thinking about what time it is in the East. It drives me crazy, but I can't seem to get it out of my mind. Mainly, I think about it because anytime I go to call someone, I have to do the math..."It's 9:00 here, so it's 12:00 there...hmmm, it's 1:00 here, so that means the workday isn't over yet, so I can't call," and the list goes on and on.

In a similar note, we rarely get calls here from anyone. Most everyone we know lives in the Eastern Time Zone. In fact, aside from a couple of new friends I've made here on base, my friend Carin, is the only one I talk to that even lives in my current time zone! If people call, many state, "Well, I wasn't sure what time it was there..." We don't get calls past 6:00 PM usually because it's too late in the East. However, the random telemarketers must all live on the East Coast because we get calls as early as 5:00 AM from them.

I keep telling myself that the longer I'm here, the less I'll think about time. I don't, and in fact, it seems to only get worse. I don't think I'll ever stop because so much of our family and friends live in EST.

Now, part of this time issue gets me into another major annoyance...television. Our tv drives me crazy. We have Directv, just like we've always had, which is the only plus. The rest can't be helped. I never know what time something is going to be on tv. We get a ton of things on Eastern Standard Time, so I have to watch Greta on Fox News at 7:00 (horrible time with bedtime for the kids); Friends on TBS is on at 3:00 here. Then, some channels are on Mountain Time because half of the year, not now, we are on Mountain Time. Then, a chunk of channels are on Pacific Time, which is the time zone we are in for this part of the year. AGGGH!!! Yes, I do DVR things, which is a nice new addition to our t.v. programming, but I really like watching the news, Fox News to be exact, so it messes me up that it's live. I totally miss the morning show because it ends here at 6AM. It's so annoying.

On the note of the tv, we have Directv. The only other option is Time Warner, which we actually had to have for a couple of weeks, and it was awful. It kept going out, and their premier pack only had a handful of channels. So, with Directv, we can't get local stations here in the desert. For customers like us, that means a waiver has to be filled out to get network channels. Network meaning either NBC/CBS/ABC/FOX New York or NBC/CBS/ABC/FOX Los Angeles. So, the waiver was submitted immediately, but we were told it can take up to nine months or longer for it to be approved, if it even will be. AGGGH! Bless ABC because they approved it almost immediately. I'm not even a huge fan of ABC, but man, I'm about to be. It's the only channel so far to have signed off. So, the entire time we've been here, we haven't had NBC/CBS/FOX. Those of you who know me know the only t.v. show I must watch is my soap, As the World Turns, on CBS. I've had to watch it on the computer every night. Time is ticking, and I'm going to be ticked if this goes on much longer. We seem to get every sports channel and football game known to man due to the free package at signup for NFL Ticket and our purchasing the College Football Pack to watch our beloved Clemson Tigers and other ACC games (who by the way, had a horrible opening game on tv). But, still, I can't get the one show I want.

Oh, and I forgot, but when the networks do signoff, you either get the network channel for East Coast or West Coast. We get ABC West Coast, so our "local" news is Los Angeles (man, talk about it being like an episode of Cops every night on the news!). If and when we get CBS, NBC, and/or FOX, we could get either East Coast or West Coast, further messing up the time thing!

Since I'm on the topic of things that really annoy me lately:

1. I hate the PO Box system here. Our post office is only open M-F 10-3. Mail isn't available until 3, but then the post office is closed. We can still get to our box, but if we have a package, we have to come back the next morning to get it from the counter.

2. Along with the mail, we have no Saturday delivery! HELLO, it's a U.S. Post Office, and we have no delivery on Saturday. In theory, if you had a package to pickup on Friday afternoon, you'd have to wait until Monday morning to get it...yeah, it's happened to me.

3. Stop telling me it's a dry heat. It's not. We've been really humid the last couple of weeks. Now, it's not 90% + like in North Carolina, but it's been around 70% humidity the last couple of weeks. Then, we've got the HORRIBLE heat on top of that. Sunday after church, Madison and I went to the grocery store, and it was 121 with 68% humidity!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If I'd had the camera, I'd have taken a picture of Madison's candy bar that actually melted just from walking from the store to the car. She cried. I had promised her a candy bar because she had been good at another new church and then good at the store, and her candy bar melted.

4. We can't wash our car here at our house. We have to go through car washes in town. The same reason that makes the water non-drinkable for us leaves a lot of minerals, etc. in the water that put permanant spots on the car and on my house windows too (from the sprinker system).

5. We filed our moving claim over a month ago, and we've been calling to see when it's going to be processed. Today, we found it may still be up to Dec. 1 before they get to it. That means all of the destroyed stuff still has to sit in our garage, and our treadmill has to sit unusable still. I can't believe that every three years as we have to move, it could take then another six months just to file and get paid for our damages.

6. Edward's paycheck is still not right from moving, not even close. Since we lived off post at Bragg, we got a housing allowance. Now that we live on post here, that is to be cut off. Well, we're still getting it, which isn't great as you might say. We've filed and refiled to have that cut off and have pays such as a "Flight Surgeon Pay" etc. added, as they are supposed to be. Any housing allowance we are still getting, the Army will take back from us. So, I've had to put that money aside each pay check, and it's adding up, big time. Now, when they do start taking it, they will 1) finally turn off the housing allowance, and 2) take our regular pay out of our paycheck to "payback" the housing allowance they are giving us. Potentially, they could almost wipe out a few checks to "payback" our housing. I've been setting that aside so when it happens, we aren't broke, but I still have no idea what our new budget will be. I'm really Type A when it comes to this stuff. I know exactly how much we bring in each check, and I have it balanced to the penny as to where it goes. This junk drives me nuts. Back to the title of the blog...time will take care of things, but how long???

That's just my take on things right now. We do like living here, but man, there are some major annoyances lately.