Per Diem, Rhode Island, and the Onion Rings That Broke Me
If you haven’t been following along, here’s the quick recap: On deployment, I get $68 a day for food. Whatever I don’t spend, I get to keep — and with kids in college, that money matters. Plus, I’m a man who can eat for a lot less than $68 a day. Tuna packets and dignity are basically free. But… when in Rome, right? And Rhode Island has its own Rome — a Roman Empire made of chowder, clam cakes, pizza, and milkshakes promoted like folklore. I tried the famous Awful Awful because everyone said you had to. Didn’t live up to the hype. Not bad — just… I’m from an area with real milkshake chops. We don’t hand out superlatives lightly. This deployment was also my first time being out solo for ten full days. I met up with a teammate a few times, and one night he suggested dinner. We hit up Shannon View Inn , an Irish bar close to my hotel. Good call on his part. I ordered fish and chips that came with a mountain of French fries . The kind of mountain that would’ve made my mother...