On my way into the radio station, I saw a bumper sticker on a truck in front of me. It caused me laugh as I read, “Conserve water, shower with a Marine.”
It wasn’t that the quote was all that funny, it’s the memory that it brought up. I promised myself that the moment I got my official paperwork and had been reassigned to the 1st Civilian Battalion, I never take another two-minute shower again.
A real two-minute shower consists of turning on the water while standing under the spray nozzle. If you’re first in line, this means your first few seconds are an icy cold blast of water cascading down your body.
About thirty-seconds or so later, jus’ as the water’s getting hot, you have to turn it off and lather up. Within another half-minute or maybe a few seconds more, you turn the water back on and rinse yourself as thoroughly as possible.
I never felt sufficiently clean — unless I was off-base and was free to take and enjoy a real shower.
In fact, after being discharged, I checked into a motel and took a hot shower that was so long, my skin wrinkled up like a prune. I was determined at the time to run the hot water completely from the lodging’s tank.
And I damn near succeeded — but the pizza I’d ordered arrived before I could accomplish my mission.
The Old Blog in the Desert 
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