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Dale is home today because of the dedication of the Pentagon Memorial created to honor the victims of 9-11.  There are so many people attending the dedication that they told those who work at the Pentagon to stay home today.  Every September 11th, I feel a great sadness for all those who lost someone they love and I pray that the Holy Spirit will comfort them.  I think the government has renamed 9-1l: Patriot Day.  The kids are supposed to wear red, white, and blue to school.  I understand that view, but for me, 9-11 will always be a day of remembrance and mourning.

Although I was hesistant to slug initially, I am now a convert. It’s kind of like riding with Aegis. I don’t have to drive. While I’m in the vehicle, I don’t talk to anyone and usually close my eyes for a little snooze. At the end of the mission, I get dropped off again. It’s very convenient. The key to successful slugging, however, is a flexible schedule. If I had to be at work at a certain time, slugging would not be a good idea because it is so unpredictable. One day I was in line for less than a minute, but another day I was in line for 30 minutes. The average time to slug in from Stafford to the Pentagon appears to be about 45 minutes. Last Thursday, it took me 1 1/2 hours to get to work because of an accident in the HOV lanes. But the next day, it only took 30 minutes. The lady I rode with that day was flying. I said a little prayer, closed my eyes and went to sleep for the trip!

Yesterday I went for a run during lunch. Today I hurt! I basically took 3 months off from running (Jun-Aug). It’s time to get back into the groove since all of my civvies are much tighter than they should be. Fortunately, I wear ACUs to work everyday! Anyway, I ran from the Pentagon, across Memorial Bridge to the Lincoln Memorial and back to the Pentagon. The whole run was about 3.5 miles, but today I was walking like I had just run a marathon. I was planning on running again today until I woke up this morning. I guess I’m on a day-on day-off running schedule until I get back into a little better shape. By the way, I had to pay about $200 for an annual membership for the Pentagon Athletic Club to use the showers, unless I wanted to pay a $3 daily fee for each use. Now Mugs has even more reason to remind me to run so that I get my money’s worth.

Today was my much anticipated first day at my new assignment at the Pentagon. This morning was also my first time slugging. The slug lines are informal carpools that form to take advantage of the HOV lanes going into DC. There are two lots about 1/2 mile from our house where drivers pick up extra passengers so that they meet the 3-person minimum for using the HOV lanes. The HOV trip to the Pentagon from Stafford is about 45 minutes. During heavy traffic, in the regular lanes, this can easily take two hours. The driver benefits by the savings of time while the passengers receive a free ride. You can read more about this at http://slug-lines.com.

Last week I cleaned up my motorcycle, put in some gas from the can, charged the battery and tried to get it started after sitting in the garage for the past year. But as Mugs already posted, I couldn’t get it to start. I ended up buying a new battery earlier this week, and the bike started up very easily after that. We planned for Mugs to drop me off at the slug line in the morning and pick me up in the afternoon. I didn’t want to ride my motorcycle to/from the lot because then I would have to lug around my full-face helmet and leather jacket all day. Yesterday I decided that the solution was to buy a half-helmet. Since the lot is so close to the house, I can wear a half-helmet with the ACUs and leave the leather jacket at home. Here’s a picture of me the day before going back to work.

Dale with Bike

I got up at 0500 this morning to walk Blaze, planning on riding over to the slug lot at 0600. By the time I fed and walked Blaze, it was already 0545. Normally after a period of leave, I shave the beard off the night before going back to work. Unfortunately, I didn’t do that this time. I was still shaving at 0600 when Mugs got up to start getting ready for the day. I eventually got out the door around 0620. Then my bike wouldn’t start. I must have drained the little bit of fuel I put in the tank while I was on my test ride yesterday. Anyway, at 0630, Mugs came out and gave me a ride to the slug lot.

There were probably about 20 people standing in the Pentagon line when I arrived. The line moved quickly, and within 10 minutes, I was next in line. A car pulled up to the front of the line, the driver said “Pentagon”, I got in the car with the next guy in line, and we headed to the Pentagon. Fortunately, I had read the rules and etiquette for slugging online and understood that conversation while slugging is not permitted unless the driver initiates it. After a nice, quiet 50 minute drive, I was dropped off at the Pentagon steps at 0730 for my first day of inprocessing. The post is already quite long, so I won’t go into any details on my first day of work. I also won’t talk about the garage door breaking for Mugs (she can post that). After 1 day of inprocessing I have 3 new security badges and 0 computer accounts. At 1600, I walked out to the Pentagon parking lot and stood in the Stafford – Rte 610 line. By 1645, I was back in Stafford and waiting for Mugs to pick me up at the lot.

Tomorrow I might get some computer accounts, but maybe I shouldn’t rush it!