Don't Drive Angry!

A couple of weeks ago at a prayer breakfast for my Battalion I used a trailer from the movie Groundhog Day. It is indeed one of my favorite movies. I love anything with Bill Murray. In fact I laugh thinking about him sometimes. The story line is that Bill Murray is a weatherman, he hates his job and he hates winter. He goes to Punxsutawney PA, home of the groundhog for Groundhog Day to see if the big rat is predicting another 6 weeks of winter. When he gets snowed in that night, he wakes up to the sound of Sonny and Cher singing “Babe, I got you Babe”. He finds that he is stuck in the same day with the exact same events happening over and over again. Every day its Sonny and Cher and its Groundhog Day. I nearly drives him nuts! Well, in Basic Combat Training after going to the same ranges, day after day. The same privates with the same names, the Johnsons, the Smiths, the Jones, keep showing up. They all look alike too. They all have the same haircut. They all wear the same thing. It can be like déjà vu all over again. So my Drill SGTs and Cadre constantly say now, “Its Groundhog Day!” On Feb 2nd which actually was Groundhog Day, I got a call at 0450 in the morning. Now I hate mornings. I think I might actually lose my total faith in God just as my alarm clock is going off. Well this morning my phone rings 10 minutes before my alarm goes off and I am in deep REM sleep mode, dreaming of mountains and a fly rod in my hand and a trout ona wet line. I answer the phone expecting an emergency, to hear the off key wailing of 1SG Frank Lauer singing a really bad rendition of “Babe, I got you Babe” in my ear piece. The he screams, “Its Groundhog Day!” It was horrible. If I didn’t think so much of him I probably would have called down a good smiting from the Lord on his area of operation. Frank is a great guy, a combat veteran, big and loud and funny. We quote movie lines when we see each other. He has a nasty Ducati bike that is sick fast. He keeps me laughing and that’s a good thing in the Army. So much of what we do is deadly serious, its good to be able to laugh. I have my revenge planned, but it will come after much plotting and conniving. I might even wait for a few years to catch him on Groundhog day at 0330 with my worst Sonny and Cher, “Babe, I got you Babe!” Just when he least expects it. Have a great day Frank!