Most spouses going through a deployment know about the Donut of Misery, AKA the Donut of Hope. I prefer misery, maybe I'll go with hope when I am over 50%, we'll see. It is a wonderful little excel sheet turned into a circle graph that charts your progress on the deployment. Just insert departure date and date of redeployment and it does it's magic.
For a numbers person like me, it is bitter-sweet. I love being able to know how much we have accomplished, down to months, weeks, days. It goes all the way to seconds. And on the flip side says how much is left. That would be the bitter part, sometimes. I am shocked that we are nearing the halfway mark but at the same time we are only nearing the halfway mark?
I have to force myself to not check it everyday, just maybe a couple times a week. it takes 4.5 days just for the thing to move 1% so I really don't need to be checking it, other than for a convenient torture device.
There is one thing that I do like and that is the message that is associated with percentage we are on. It changes every 10%, I look to see what will that next message be? Like some upcoming scene from next week's episode on my favorite show. They are mostly humorous and have given me some smiles but I am unhappy to say the least with what it told me when it hit 40%. "Not quite there!" Oh really? I didn't need a computer program to rub it in like that. Totally necessary. Bad form, entirely.
I decided to forgive it though, it will change sometime in the next 45 days or so.
Also, I will add a new sidebar item of the list of all the things the Donut tells me. You will know I have hit the new level when I add to the list.
Here's what we've accomplished so far and it's corresponding percentages...
1% Fresh off the Jet
2%-9% A Long, Long way to go
10%-19% Still a Long, Long way to go
20%-29% So...How many steps does it take to get to the Latrine/Showers?
30%-39% Are we there yet?
40%-49% Not quite there!
So that's it, almost 200 days it and all it can give me is a not quite there, stingy spreadsheet.
4 comments:
I was thinking about you today when I heard on the radio that a bunch of Marines have to stay out there an extra 30 days. I was sorry for their families and hoping it won't affect yours!
oh, i'm so sorry. i know ... it's SOO hard, i think its hard on the men and women serving their country ... but i know from experience how hard it is on their family back at home. you're sacrificing for our country as well and most people forget that.
I would not look at thing again for 30 days. That woudl drive me stinking crazy!!!
At least it didn't say, "Almost halfway there!"
Definitely something the annoying optimist would say, thinking it'd be of comfort.
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