The ASVAB
Oxbear is up shaving his head in the six o'clock hour... he's got a quick medical appointment... and there's maybe some unnecessarily loud clattering as he hunts for the hand vacuum but it's not to be found...
Some hour or so later he returns... before I remember to ask how it went he announces with mock-sobering tones... “Well it's official” he sighs... “I'm a lizard”...
Then he volunteers to start a pan of eggs because it's still that early... mine include a touch of cinnamon-sugar which Yali has brought out of the spice drawer for his toast... then inexplicably decides to knock some of the bottle back into his open mouth... **COUGH COUGH COUGH COUGH COUGH**... blinks several times before proclaiming... “IT INHALED ME!”
While I get busy with the never-ever-ever-ever-ending checklist – even if it is summer break now...
...Puck paces a little thinking about his ASVAB appointment that morning... Army recruiter "R" picks him up at eleven o'clock to drive downtown...
Meanwhile Yali and Patience are ready to throw themselves outdoors into the amazingly cool late morning sun so we drive to three different parks trying to find a light crowd – and finally do – but they're already fighting so much that we only stay about half an hour in a Michigan-lighthouse breeze (is it really May in Missouri right now?)...
Back home it's practically a WWE showdown in the kitchen over tater tots between Yali and Patience... they spend some time sitting in separate parts of the living room to contemplate their sins...
Then while Oxbear and Yali are at another therapy appointment in the later afternoon...
...Puck texts me while stopping at Jimmy John's with R... “I passed” he announces... not only did he “pass” but he scored high enough to qualify for most possible jobs amongst the 125 kinds available within the Army…
R drops him off and walks inside in his uniform to shake our hands... “He crushed it!” he exclaims... then leaves us with a list of all those job possibilities to ponder...
Puck finishes off a bottle of Coke – explaining that lunch was “on the Army” today because the military has a trillion dollar budget and can afford to buy him lunch – then wraps himself up in his new giant velour blanket on his army cot with his yellow cat while we chat about the options... “How did you qualify to be a dental assistant?” I laugh... he just grins...
But it's back to the studio while researching MOS codes with Puck over the phone...
And then back home again in a melting white gold sunset...
...to more MOS code research and OPAT physical qualifications test research and discussion with Puck...
...as Oxbear leaves to grab a box of DQ “star pops” for Puck to celebrate one more step along the way...