2020- the CORONAPOCALYPSE (the arrival)

I arrived in NYC over a week ago now.  We arrived after dark, checked into our hotel rooms, and I called home to tell Steph and Morgan that I had arrived safely and caught up with everything going on back home.  I will say, living in a hotel by myself (about a half mile away from my work, at the Javits Center), with my own bathroom, is certainly better than living in a tent with porta potties (Iraq, 2018) or even the dorm I shared with a roommate located down the hall from the bathroom (Afghanistan, 2011-12). 

 

 

I did have to "enhance" my room with my UofA flag, of course!  We do have a great big screen TV, cable, and free internet.  The food, however, was actually better during my deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.  I know that may sound strange, but the area in which we are allowed to go is limited to 1 block from the hotel east and north, then all the way west to the Javits Center and the running trail along the Hudson River (yes, I am, of course, still working out a couple hours a day, including P90X and a daily run along the Hudson past the Intrepid aircraft carrier and the USNS Comfort docked at the pier.  It IS a deployment and I am used to 5-6 hours a day for workouts on my deployments).  This area severely limits our food choices to a lot of identical deli's (good food, but not great variety) and a few other restaurants that are still open offering take out.  And eating takeout by myself in the hotel room is not that enjoyable.  There is, however, one Mexican food restaurant 100 yards from our hotel, but the menu is limited to fish tacos, a burrito, a cheese crisp, and a "plate" consisting of rice, beans, and choice of meat with side of tortillas. The last one is very good but I miss my chorizo!  Afghanistan had a British dining facility (aka "DFAC"), two American DFAC's, and an Asian DFAC.  Iraq had only one DFAC, but it had awesome eggs made to order in the am (pic below from my daily breakfast in Iraq:) and a hot line as well as a sandwich/soup/salad bar for lunch and dinner.  I miss them.....

 

 

 

 

 

More on what I am doing next......