Out with the Old, In with the New

Despite my being sick the past the past few days and having a rough call night on Monday where I got very little sleep, and despite Gwen being on call all weekend, the past few days have been pretty good for the household.

The Steelers won, The Eagles lost, Bush is out, and Obama's in. Not too shabby from our perspective.

Yesterday was pretty cool. Gwen and I huddled around a laptop watching live streaming coverage of the inauguration while toasting champagne. I've honestly never been even close to as fired up for any political event as I have been for the Obama election win and yesterday's inauguration day. Just thinking about it still give me chills.

From the throngs of people on the Mall to the worldwide euphoria, it's just been a really cool thing to witness from a global perspective. I imagine for many it evoked memories of the JFK days, a time it seemed when many people were equally galvanized. Accoring to some poll, apparently 75% of the American population is "more optimistic about the nation's future" because of Obama, a record response to that inquiry on inauguration day. Pretty cool.

The only thing I remember about the last two inaugurations were rampant protesters - especially in 2005 when people were just sick at the sight of Bush. There was nothing there worth watching.

Speaking of ex-President Bush, there is an unfortunate-at-times rule which exists in the military, a rule stating something along the lines of "A Military Officer cannot criticize the President, who is Commander-in-Chief". It's no stretch to say that I've struggled with this rule over the past several years, and often when writing here actually, and I must admit I spent a part of the day today snidely querying my NCO's if it was "legal" to talk trash on Bush now that he's officially out. I've been told that it is.

To which I say only this before moving on: Good ****ing Riddance.

Watching him board that helicopter yesterday, leaving forever, was just another great sight to add to the day's memories. Surprisingly, footage of Dick Cheney in his TIE Fighter on his way back to the Death Star has not yet been released.

And so a new day begins.

There is a main hallway in Landstuhl, which has 8.5 x 11 framed portraits of the chain of command for the Army Medical Core, that Gwen and I walk by every day to get lunch. The pictures begin at the company command level, and next comes the hospital command. Then there's the leader of US Army Europe (medical), the Surgeon General of the Army, The Chief of Staff, the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of Defense, and finally the President. For three and a half years Gwen and I have walked by this hall, and put up with the unfortunate picture of President Bush, sitting atop all the others, looking emptily out at us as we walked by. Well today when we walked by, there was a different picture on that wall. A far better picture.

Fired up.