Yes my fine friends, it is almost Friday, which in turn means it’s almost time for the weekend. Three-day weekend, that is, because Monday is Columbus Day and for some reason they have felt necessary to deem it a federal holiday. Thank God for Christopher Columbus because if he never would have discovered the New World, we would never have the second Monday in October off of work.

Speaking of work, I’ve got roughly one more month left. For those of you who feel compelled to count down with me, the countdown stands at either 26 or 36 days, depending on whether they give me ten days of house-hunting permissive TDY like they’re supposed to. Yesterday I got my separation orders — basically official documents I have to hand to different squadrons when I outprocess — and I was extremely giddy when I saw that the option “Honorable” under Conditions of Discharge was checked.

Tomorrow I’m finally going to do something about my car’s transmission. I am the owner of a 1995 Chrysler Cirrus that has treated me really well despite me beating the living crap out of it (speaking in terms of wear and tear on the engine and related items), and the transmission has been slipping when it hits third gear. Not good in city driving, and especially not good when you consider I have a cross-country trip coming up. So today I called Cottman Transmissions, over on Warwick Blvd. in Newport News, and they penciled me in for a free diagnostic tomorrow at 10 AM. And in case the whole thing needs to be rebuilt, I have a coupon from their website for $100 off the repair job. Not too shabby.

I can’t say enough good things about the kind folks at the St. Helens branch of the Oregon DMV. They’ve been really helpful and understanding about my tags being expired and me needing them mailed over here ASAP, even though it’s been tough to do since I’m not the primary owner of my vehicle — Dad is, and he’s in Missouri so that makes it even tougher. Despite the quagmire that’s put us in, a couple nice people at the DMV have helped me sort it all out and I should be getting my tags soon. God bless them!!!

Aftan’s MIA so I’m gonna go find her. How do you all like the “Since Your Last Visit” feature in the sidebar?