Ishmael's Grandma

You wouldn't believe what I spotted today.  An old lady...with a beard.  Straight Kingpin style!  She may have been sporting her 5 o'clock shadow, but she was in great physical shape.  The amount of old people who are active is amazing.  No wonder they can drink all that full flavored beer and still stay thin.  Every necessity is literally a short bike ride or walk away and they take advantage of that.  I honestly have not seen an overweight person, well an overweight person who was German.  On base and at the resort you can find plenty of seam splitting Americans.  Hopefully someday we can adapt a similar lifestyle and still allow ourselves to consume large amounts of alcohol like we love to do.  They also have an extensive recycling program and no plastic bags.  It's like shopping at Bloomingfoods!
Today was an in-process today.  Meaning we had to be put into "the system".  Fingerprints, military ID's, background checks, and endless signatures.  Having a government job has a lot of perks, but getting to those perks takes a lot of red tape and paperwork.  Thank goodness I'm nearly on the tail end of it all...one more extensive background check and I'm done!  Good news though, I'm getting paid to sit around and sign my name.  Glad to hear your tax dollars are hard at work?
Tomorrow starts the real job.  I'm starting to think I'm destined to be a Front Office worker for the rest of my life.  I can't seem to stray from the front desk!  As much as I love smiling, the front desk can get exhausting and repetitive (haha which job isn't?).  Hopefully after my 90 day probationary period I'll have the opportunity to apply for a new position.  Anyone who really knows me has a good idea of my feelings towards rugrats, but surprisingly, I'm thinking a job in the "Just For Kids" program would be a lot of fun.  Maybe I'm being crazy.
I went grocery shopping today and bought Ramen Noodles, soup, pretzels, and humus.  Livin' the life!  The grocery store on base has all American items so it was refreshing to understand what I was buying.  In the future I think I will frequent the downtown Aldi or local groceries.  It really surprises me how many places don't accept credit cards, in Italy it was never an issue.  Speaking of money issues, at Peaches, the local bar, they have "Dollar Night" on Tuesdays where you can use American money to buy everything.  It was so funny watching the bartender struggle to count the money and try to make change.  Haha It was a relief to not be the stupid one for once!

A little preview of my gingerbread house land!