And Now I Remember

And now I remember.......


Today I colored my hair and got all dolled up (as dolled up as a retired 65 year old can get) for a quick trip to Tinker to get another retirement badge.  You see, someone, a retired person, told someone, who told someone, who told me that if I go through the Tinker gates the guard will tell me to get another badge.  I had waited for perfect timing of "want to" and "looking decent" to make this trip.  Today, the timing was perfect!  I didn't want to be caught in a deadline crunch lunch date with my friend and be turned away at the gate.  So off to Tinker I went.


I pulled off the interstate at the gate directly across from J C Penney's.  Landmarks nowadays are shopping related as opposed to Tinker gate names.  Anyway, the building just outside that gate is the last place I went for a badge before I retired so it probably still is.  Wrong!  I got in the far right lane to pull right up to the building and lo and behold, that building is surrounded by a fence.  Well.............I guess things have changed.  Not a biggie.  I'm cool!  I'm all for change.  Tinker is growing, after all.  It must be at the Air Depot gate.  I then remember the new building just outside that gate.......must be the place.........makes sense...........outside the gate to the officer's club.  Yes.......


So I make a U-turn across three lanes (remember, I was in the far right hand lane) making sure there wasn't a cop nearby.  I zoom on down 29th street.  Making the left turn on to Air Depot street, I noticed the building and pulled into the lot feeling very smug that I found the Pass and ID building without calling or texting someone about the location.  I march right in and right off, I locate the big sign that says "BADGES".  I am going to get this done and done today.  Feeling really good, I march right up to the military woman (I didn't even notice her rank), pulled out my old badge and asked if this was the place to get my new badge.  She told me no.  They must not have been busy because all three people behind the counter got involved and told me that I needed to go to the Headquarters building for my new CAC card.  Sounded strange to me that I needed a CAC card, but who am I to know.  Okay, I will go to the Headquarters building.  I'm cool!  They asked me if I was familiar with the base..................as if................I wanted to tell them all I had spent 27 years on that one base.........many more years than any of them, I am sure.  Nonetheless, in order to make sure they hadn't torn down the Headquarters building and built another elsewhere, I asked if it was just inside the shopping center gate.  They assured me it was.  I then asked if that gate was closed.  Again, they assured me that it was open until 15:30.  They were very adamant about that!  15:30!!!


So I leave the parking lot, get back on the interstate and pulled back off and pulled up to the CLOSED gate at 13:00!!!!!!!  I'm not too cool at this point, but I am dealing with it.  I make another U-turn and head back down 29th Street to the Air Depot gate.  I turn left and head right to the gate, this time bypassing the building.  Finally, after waiting for the 12 cars in front of me to go through the gate, I reach the guard.  I pull out my retirement badge and tell him I that I need a new retirement card.  He looked at it closely and said that I didn't...it wasn't expired.  I told him that someone told me I needed a new retirement badge.  He backed off a little and said that if someone told me I needed one, then I needed to get one.  I told him it was another retired person, not anybody at the gate.  He said again that I didn't need one.  I, then, point blank asked him, "If I want to pick someone up for lunch would this badge would work?" "Yes, no problem", he assured me.


So I make another U-turn, this time on the inside of the base, and get back on the interstate, pulling off again at the shopping center gate exit.  This time I turn left instead of right..........right on over to Target.  I know Target.  I don't know Tinker anymore.


Now I remember..............I had forgotten what some days were like at Tinker..............  "She said, he said."  I guess we will see what happens the next time I approach the guard.  Will I be turned away for a new badge?  Will I miss my lunch date?  I will let you know.


I love you. 
(Dolled up--daddy used that term a lot when talking about Mom...warm sentiment to me.)