Transfer

I arrived in the San Francisco Bay Area nine years ago today (08 Sep). I transferred from Coast Guard Group Corpus Christi, Texas in August of 95 and reported to the Coast Guard Pacific Area Command Center on September 10th 1995. I was in the Command Center when it merged with the District Eleven Command Center in 1997. In July of 2000 I transferred to the Coast Guard Cutter Morgenthau home ported in Alameda, Ca. In August of 2003 I transferred back to the Coast Guard Pacific Area and District Eleven Command Center.

This past Friday I received orders to report to Coast Guard Sector San Francisco Command Center on December 01st 2004. My new billet is "Assistant Command Center Supervisor". Unless for some unforeseen reason I am "short toured", my orders to Group San Francisco will take me to July of 2008 at which time I will have served twenty and one half years in the United States Coast Guard. And, will have been in the San Francisco Bay Area for thirteen years.

Transferring to Group San Francisco is an exciting prospect for the fact that for crossing half way across the Bay Bridge to where the Group is located on Yerba Buena Island, my Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) will rise substantially by nearly 600 a month. At current, I live in Coast Guard housing and can only cash in on that higher BAH if I move out of housing and onto the economy. Unfortunately, housing in the Bay Area is about the highest in the known Universe. And likely, I will have to face a daunting commute if I wish to find affordable housing. You cannot find a pest free three bedroom house with indoor plumbing in Alameda for under $500,000. For that, you have to drive about forty miles. Anyway, I've begun working with a Realtor to find my dream shack - I'll keep you posted.

Zelig X

P.S. I did find a very fine crack shack in Albany for $499,000. Crack whores not included. Oh well.