I’ll get back to that man in part 3 later, cuz he was such a huge part of my whole tour of duty in Germany, that I’d end up talking about him too much.

 

 

  What did I do in Germany except party you ask, yes, well, we all worked as paper pushers/desk jockeys/whatever name you have for it.

 

  We updated the soldier’s personal records up there in that little attic on the 4th floor.  It was boring work.  I belonged to a squad of about 8 to 10 folks who did records. 

 

 

 We did our job, and now and again, we had CQ (charge of quarters) duty.  We had 2 on this job nightly, and if you were on, you had to stay up all night, make security checks, be there in case of trouble etc… 

 

 

 Then there was some duty called STAFF DUTY RUNNER.  This duty was more complicated.  It was 24 hours, and ”runner” was pretty much a good description for it. 

 

 The duty officer basically told you what to do and you did it.

 

 

 I remember one night i had this freakin’ nightmarish duty.  The misogynistic jerk on with me tells me in the middle of winter,  “Go do Perimeter guard.”(walk the fence around the base) 

 

 

Hello??? 30 degrees out fella!

 

 

  “Oh and also, let the Military Police in the gas station when they need gas.” 

This meant every few hours a patrol car would need me to unlock the huge chain and padlock to the gate with frozen fingers, wait while they pumped their gas and lock it shut behind them. 

 For heaven’s sake mister! 

 

 

 That was total crap.  All night.  For duties such as this, we had medicine the next day.

 

 

It was called SHOPPING.  We loved shopping as much as we loved CLUBBING. 

 Duty +Shopping+Clubbing= 0 zero sleep for 48 hours.

 

 

  Wow.  We loved Germany. Nothing like spending every dime you made working on partying and shopping. 

 

 As far as I know, the single soldiers of today haven’t changed a bit either.  I have my son, who is 23 now to compare to, and uh, let’s just say, he’s prolly just as foolish and young as I was.

 

 

  Sorta a few weeks into being in Germany though, there was serious fatigue setting in. 

 

 It seemed i always needed to nap, when I hadn’t before.

 

  I also woke up one day to find a large painless knot on one side of my neck. 

 

 I went to sick call, and they did every test they could, until a quick thinking nurse ordered one more test~~

it was positive, for MONO.  

 

 

 Besides being really worried, I was now quarantined for 2 weeks. 

 

 My spleen was swollen to softball size.  I was told to rest, because:

 

Moderate enlargement of the spleen occurs in about half of all mono cases. When it is enlarged for any reason, it extends down into the part of the abdomen that is not protected by the ribs and is susceptible to being ruptured (or torn) by trauma to the abdomen.

 

 

Although a ruptured spleen is not a common complication of mono, it is important to know that if and when it does occur, it is a life-threatening condition that requires emergency surgical intervention, because it causes profuse internal bleeding that will not stop on its own. 

 

 

it’s essential that you avoid certain activities until his spleen shrinks to its normal size as determined by an experienced healthcare professional (often a matter of weeks following a mono infection). Actions you should be restricted from doing:

 

 

• roughhousing

• contact sports of any kind (such as tackle football, wrestling)

• bicycle or scooter riding, because of the risk of handlebar injuries to the abdomen

• any activity that could result in a fall or direct blow to the abdomen

• vigorous exercise of any sort

• heavy lifting.

link    

Here’s how dumb Sweetiegirlz was, people.

  Roughly a week into quarantine in my room, I suddenly got the party itch again and CLIMBED OUT of my 3 STORY barracks window and jumped down to the ground! 

 

 I think that might’ve caused a spleen rupture, I’m not sure, but my spleen feels like rupturing just thinking about how I tempted fate that night…

 

Besides risking umm….DEATH!  I risked getting court martialed too, or losing a month’s pay for disobeying a direct order. 

 

 How I escaped to the club unnoticed is beyond me, but i snuck back in through the front door, and no I did not climb back up!

 

I promise you that I did experience more culture than just partying, and I will get to those things next time.  As it turns out, I wouldn’t just have a little taste of Germany, It would become a matter of survival for me in more ways than one!