First Day

It'll take me a while to catch up with the events of the past couple weeks, so I'll just focus on today. It's been an interesting first day as I reported to my unit at Fort Bliss. Here's just a run-down of some of the events:
*Locked myself out of my motel room as I ran to get something from the car while I was on the phone.
* Had lots of salutes given to me. Failed to salute an officer because I was temporarily blinded by sun and blowing dirt while leaving a building and had to be reminded of this simple military courtesy by another officer. Sunglasses are a must here.
* Found out that I was still not in the system. Third time was not a charm, as I was previously told this at Camp Pendleton and Los Alamitos. My in-processing has been put on hold for a bit. Fortunately, I was able to get all of the paper work together and everything is now being put into the system. Then I can get my ID card. It was highly recommended that I do not leave the base until I get my ID card. This could take a few days since Friday may be off.
* While my breakfast sat like a rock in my stomach, I was reeeeally thirsty all day long. I finally re hydrated myself after a trip to the commissary in the late afternoon and I stocked up on gatorade and water.
* I was set up in one of the annexes for lodging. They are some pretty old buildings, but it's decent. The downside is that I have very low cell phone reception.
* I can see Mexico! However, I am prohibited from traveling to any part of Mexico.
* My orders for tomorrow: call the captain of my unit to let him know I am still alive (this is what he said) and search through apartment guides.
* I have not been able to find enough English stations to finish programming my car radio.