Getting Around in GTMO

Some days it is just slow going. This sign says it all. The "normal" speed limit on the base is 25 mph with some notable exceptions here and there.

We still can't figure out what this sign means.

And what is the speed limit when it is NOT a "special event" .......and, just what are special events?

Can you proclaim your own special event, which is what Vince wants to do?









And, this is a sign you probably won't see back in Lincoln, Cincinnati, Tulsa, or Birmingham.

As anyone knows who has moved to a new location, it just takes a while to know where everything is, and their hours of operation. Here at GTMO, we are working on developing more patience, because we are often kept guessing. This is because either the traffic or the service is moving at a snail's pace, or because just when you think you know something, it CHANGES.

I finally came across a pamphlet at the library that had a list of facilities with operating hours. Of course, one challenge for me is that times are listed in military fashion, so when it says "1700" or "2100," it takes me a moment to subtract and figure it out.

Logic would tell you that it would be so nice if most places were open the same days, and the same hours, But, no.....it's complicated. For example, the bank is open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. That is what I was told when I called. But, then I found out that if you want to open a new account, which is what we wanted to do, you can only come in on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

The post office opens at 9:00 a.m. some days of the week (I can't remember which ones!), other days at 8:30 a.m. But it's definitely closed weekends and holidays. Which leads me to explain something about our mail system.

Mail is not delivered to homes here. The post office apparently can't handle that, so each entity that exists on the base has one or more employees designated as "mail orderlies." These lucky folks get the opportunity to go to the post office between 9:00 and 10:00 a.m. to pick up and deliver mail for their organization.

So, what happens in our situation is this:

Mail arrives at GTMO by plane on leeward side of the bay.
Mail gets ferried to the post office on the windward side of the bay.
Mail orderly for air traffic control picks up the mail at the post office, and takes the ferry BACK to the airport on the leeward side.
Mail is placed in individual's in-boxes at the office.
Vince will pick up our mail there, and then he takes the ferry BACK to the windward side.

Whenever we do get mail, it is well-traveled and has gone back and forth across the bay numerous times!