Day Sixty - Melt

So my plan before getting the transfer, and after feeling more at ease with the rigours of miltary life, was to ask for an extension to my contract. It was a weird setup, as first I'd have to have an additional four month extension, and only then could I go for yearly extensions. Had I stayed where I was, I'm fairly certain that I would have seen out a number of those contracts, maybe even all of them. So by the time I'd made ny introduction to my new CO, I also mentioned that I was looking for that four month extension. I quickly gave up on that idea, as I didn't want to spend a moment longer than was absolutely necessary in the air force. I truly disliked everyone who I had to deal with, with no exception. From  the top on down, no one there was amiable in the least, and having gone through that particular ordeal once, I felt no desire to go through that again. And things would get worse, when early one morning, as I was finishing my shift, I twisted my ankle, and god alone knows how I didn't actually break my foot. But for a couple of weeks I could barely walk, and the doctor recommended I use crutches so I didn't have to lean on my foot, and I had to go on leave for a bit. On the very day I told my CO that I had been given a medical leave, the guy went absolutely apeshit on me. If I had any doubts about leaving teh air force, then they were definitely dissipated then. All I had to do was endure the remaining weeks I still had to go, and then I would be free.

When that time came, I had to return all my military clothing, uninforms and whatever gear I was issued, before I could be given the all clear. That done, I was supremely glad to leave that part of my life behind. A part of me felt sorry, but that was the part of me that knew I'd messed up by accepting the transfer, because deep down I knew I was fine where I was. In August 1996, I left the air force and now had to figure out what I was going to do. And I arrived at that decision quite easily : I wanted to go back to school, finish high school and maybe get into university. Alas, the best laid plans of mice and men... 

One of the good things about leaving the air force was that for a year and a half I'd be receiving unemployment, and as such I thought that the best course of action for me would be going to a private school. It would take quite a chunk out of my monthly loot, but It was manageable. For some reason I thought that I would be able to just cruise through it, but not to anyone's surprise, really, I struggled bad, crashed and quit even before the year was up.