I was living like it was the last days of Rome—if Rome was the two main bars across from campus.

It’s June of 1983 and not screwing up during my first six-months in Hawai'i have paid off.

I simply don’t have the wherewithal to own up to these feelings and stop the insanity.

I’m on my first international deployment to South Korea. And life for a private in the field artillery is very cold and unusually dangerous. Even for the Army.

I have the misfortune of being cast in another original play.

In today’s back catalog episodes, 1982 is all but over and so is my time at home. In episode 52 “A little too present” Christmas, my birthday and New Years are a blur. And in Episode 53, “Fresh Meat” the reality of being in the Army comes into focus.

I’m deep in denial, and the girl is leveraging her youth and good looks to get a great theater scholarship and work study job.

In today’s back catalog episodes, it’s late 1982 and my Army training moves from basic to advanced, but not before I learn the Army's standard for clean. In episode 50 “GI Party” I learn when a party is not a party. And in Episode 51, “The end of the beginning” my nerves and body survive basic and advanced training, and I’m headed back to Carson City for two weeks.

In today’s back catalog episodes, my Army career has begun!

School is out and we’re on our way to Reno for summer jobs in the casino industry.