Several of my friends in our unit chose to move back to the mainland for the duration of the deployment. Slowly, they are returning to the island. One of my good friends is back this week and is moving stuff out of her storage unit into her new home. She is a capable woman - former military herself and no stranger to hand tools and such. Nor am I.
Given that our husbands - our technical advisors - are in a war zone, we can't just call them when we need help with something. So we call each other. Our lives are like the MilSpouse version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire".
The first situation posed to her that she needed to use a "Lifeline"
for was the ratchet strap/tie down. Tricky buggers if you are not used
to fiddling with them. And she's not. Shoot, it's been a year since
she's had to mess with anything other than the microwave in her
parents' kitchen. So she got stuck. Well, the tie down strap got stuck.
Thank GOD for Google! We figured out HOW to un-ratchet the ratchet
strap though it was too balled up to be of much use for now.
The second situation that required the use of a "Lifeline" (thank
goodness that, in THIS game, there are unlimited "Lifelines"!) was the
jump-starting of the car that has sat in storage for 12 months.
Needless to say, the battery is D-E-A-D. She couldn't remember the
order in which jumper cables should be hooked up and how to ground out
the jump so again, she called me. Didn't really need Google for this
one though I did consult it, just to be sure. Didn't want her to blow
the poor car up!
Military life is a lot like the game, "Who Wants to be a
Millionaire". If you survive, the winnings are great. But there are
many times that you need a "Lifeline" in order to continue on to the
next round. Thank goodness for friends (and Google!).
Cross-posted at HomefrontSix
