Ah geez, been too long since my last post, hasn’t it? Let’s ketchup.

The days are slowly pouring by…

Well, there is work* and it seems to be going pretty well overall.  I’m blessed with an outstanding staff of professionals who work hard and seem to enjoy their jobs.  I’m fortunate to not have to deal with “people issues”.  I treat them right and they respond accordingly.  That’s just simple management 101, I’m no genius.

But having said that, I reckon I’m doing pretty good at what little I do do.  No shit!  People come to us for answers and solutions and we provide them.  We’ve filled some voids for the command and I do believe the leadership appreciates our contributions.  I take a lot of pride in that.

Our new building is a bit of a pain in the ass.  The biggest adjustment for most of us has been getting used to the prohibition on electronic devices in the building.  That means no cell phones and no Fitbit!  God knows I hate losing all the ancillary steps that aren’t recorded during the day.  My poor Fitbit is confused about being locked up at the front entrance and accuses me of taking a nap during the day.  Oh well, these days we all have to be cognizant of OPSEC (operational security) and do our part.

Several of my folks have not physically moved to Pyeongtaek as yet and that commute from Seoul is a killer.  For now at least I’m allowing them to telework 2 days a week, so that helps relieve some of the burden I suppose.  Anyway, we’ll all adjust.

So you may be asking yourself “I thought he was planning on retiring in September?”  I was.  And I still am in the not too distant future.  I’m just going to be flexible in my planning.  As mentioned above I do derive some satisfaction from working and damn, it is hard to walk away from my ridiculous salary and my ridiculously big and paid for house.  I’ve got a goal on how much money I want to have in the bank when I hang it up and I’m making steady progress towards achieving that goal.  Meantime, I’m just going to enjoy the ride and try to decide what my “purpose” will be in life once I retire.  So far the best I’ve come up with is enjoying bay views while I watch the world go on without me.  We’ll see.

Ms. Choe, Song Won is one of my superstars. It was my honor to recognize her with the Commander’s Award for Civilian Service.  (We had to go outside to get a photo.  Everyone’s camera is on their phones these days)

What else?  Well, I’ve had some visitors which is nice.  Joey and Sonja (the newly engaged couple I wrote about here) have moved to Pyeongtaek.  In fact, they wound up renting a place just about across the street from me.  Heh, it’s a small town!  We enjoyed a grilled meat dinner and then I took them on a tour of my favorite bars.  That was a great time.  Last night Jessie, one of my old time Seoul friends, was in town on Army business and he got to enjoy my upstairs guest room.  We had some beers out on the town to facilitate a good night’s sleep of course.

I found a small house with the attractive coffee on one of my walks…

And if you can’t afford the best, this place is very good…

Still enjoying some quality time bicycling on the river…

That was not a bridge too far…

I kept to the straight and narrow. It’s jut the way I roll…

Serious business biking is.

What about my love life?

It’s probably for the best.

Tensions are higher than I’ve ever seen here on the peninsula.  But we’re pulling out our big guns…

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

I’d still rather be here than in the USA.  Much easier to avoid the silly PC social justice warriors.  I have zero tolerance for that bullshit.

Well, they will be well-suited for future employment with Google I suppose…

I was just talking to the moon, hoping someday soon that I’d be over the memory of you. Too hard to hold on…

*  The views expressed here at LTG are my own and are written on my own time and dime.  My opinions are not sanctioned or endorsed by my employer and do not necessarily reflect the positions of the United States Government.  What are the odds?