Well, we finally made it! Got past all of the "decompression" time at Atterbury (which was far more stressful than the uber-planners thought it would be...idiots), all of the processing (which was decent) and all of the petty personality issues we had thanks to processing and "decompression". We got back to Evansville yesterday, and the town had turned out to meet us. We hit Tri State Aero, got on to firetrucks and rode along US 41 and the Lloyd, all lined with well wishers to the armory, where there were more well wishers and family to greet us home. It was amazing, overwhelming and truly humbling. I can complain about a lot of different things, but the manner in which Evansville received us home is definitely not one of them.
You all can imagine what we did once we got back here to the house, so I'll spare the readership all of the details. I will throw this one out there, just for Diba: Kim had an open bottle of wine, from which she had been drinking most of the week. Maybe a glassful was left in it. So she asks me what I want, I respond with a glass of wine and start looking at the rack. She tells me there's an open bottle in the kitchen, which I then grab. On the way up the stairs, she asks me if I need a glass. I looked at Kim, smiled, said, "nope" and promptly drank from the bottle. Arr!
It's good to be home. I have plenty puttering around here to keep me busy, that's for sure. It's all good, and it'll keep me going until December. That's when we've decided to start the adoption process back up and then I "get" to go back to work. Until then, I finally get to really and truly decompress. Oddly enough, "decompression" at Atterbury is an oxymoron. I could go into all sorts of complaints and such, but suffice to say, it simply doesn't work. The whole time we were thinking, "just get us the hell out of here".
On a personal level, I find me reminding myself more and more often to not snap at folks. I vacilate between that and just listening and thinking, "so what?" So, some minor things to work through but nothing that's a showstopper.
End of this week, we'll be at my parents' house for Thanksgiving. Dad and mom both just had surgery, so we need to go up there and see them. Should be a good Thanksgiving. Mom said she'd fix a beef tenderloin.
Enjoy!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Back Home Again
Back Home Again
So, we're back. The flight, which mercifully had only one layover in Ireland, landed yesterday late morning. Since then we've been here in Indiana being subjected to an arcane process known only as "demobilization" to the cognoscenti. We managed to squeeze four hours' worth of briefings into a ten hour day today, which was special. Tomorrow should be a little easier to manage, given we're doing medical and dental processing. Then we do administrative stuff, then turn some stuff in and then we get to go home home. At least it's clean and green and quiet here. Other than that, I could complain about a whole lot of things, but won't. Complaining just doesn't change things, and it's easier to get through all this if I'm not whining all the time. The process is a necessary evil, and so we go through it thinking we'd just rather be home. Of course, cooperating and getting through all this tends to make the whole thing work more smoothly, so we're willing to deal with it all, provided we keep moving - not necessarily fast, but moving. Moving is good.
Paul met me off the plane, which was cool. I hadn't seen him in a long, long time, so it was nice. Of course, the rest of the folks in my battalion just ignored me after that. Not sure what's up with that, but there's something there.
Not including today, which is Wednesday, I see Kim in four days. We're into single digits and under five. I can live with that.
Enjoy!
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Guten Tag, sehr geehrte Damen und Her...
Guten Tag, sehr geehrte Damen und Herren!
I thought that an appropriate greeting, considering I've been in Germany now for...five days? Something like that. I accompanied an officer to the hospital at Landstuhl, from which the Army moved him to Walter Reed. Nothing serious, but that was their decision. So that leaves me here in Germany, trying desperately to get back down range. It's not bad, as there's not mission, no stress and nothing to do. And it's awful, since there's no mission, no stress and not a whole lot to do. I have no civvies, so going "out" is not really an option. I left the borrowed running shoes in Landstuhl (good move Mark) and so here I am. For all that, it's not bad. There's a cafe open up next door (they serve Starbucks, and I can live with that), which is open until like, midnight. I might actually go there and pay the $10 for WiFi access today and do Warcraft for a few hours tonight. I mean, why not? Right now, I'm on one of the computers in the PHA ("Personnel Holding Area"), and am posting, so it's not totally uncivilized. The only problem, the only glaring hole in this entire setup is the arrangements to fly. See, it's all "Space A" travel, which is "space available". Nothing is guaranteed. Essentially the trip that took five hours to get here will take two to three days to get back, and that's just getting to Kuwait. Yay.
Everything notwithstanding, I have no complaints. Well, no legitimate complaints. I'm here, with others in the same situation, and as misery loves company, we're a sort of odd fraternity. It's all good. I was able to hit the gym a couple days ago, and am still at body weight on bench press. I can hit the gym here, providing I don't mind working out in boots. We'll see. This is a weekend, so doing next to nothing is acceptable now, whereas yesterday it was not.
I played the rank card yesterday, which I kind of feel bad about, but it was needed. See, they put all patients and escorts into the same housing in Landstuhl. When I went to "check out" yesterday, they said, "oh sir, you'll have to wait for your platoon sergeant." I snapped. "Hey sergeant, let's try this," I started, "how about, I'm a Major in the US Army and I'm leaving whether he's here or not? I have a commander who wants me downrange, I'm not a patient and have no intent upon staying here longer than I must. I don't wait for E7s." Strangely enough that worked like magic. They started hopping. I'll only play the game for so long, usually until the situation becomes stupid, then I snap. I didn't get upset, didn't raise my voice, so that was good.
So that's what's new in my world. Either I'll get back to Mosul, or I'll get to Kuwait and await the main body. Either way, I'll get back to the unit.
Enjoy!
Monday, October 27, 2008
Working Through
Alright folks, back for another round of blogging fun and excitement!! First, I must say this is odd, as I'm not posting from an office, rather from my can. See...apparently, in the new digs, so much bandwidth gets used up in the early evening that it's impossible to access something as basic as Google Documents. Strange, I know, but such are vagaries of the Mayor Cell. Or maybe it's Internet Explorer, which I have come to despise worse than before. Have I mentioned I don't like Internet Explorer? Just checking. So while I've been navigating to this particular site where I can FINALLY post, I've managed to watch the final episode for CSI season 4, courtesy of The Market. $40 for all eight seasons simply can't be beat.
The replacements are sort of here and we're reading in those who are. Those who aren't...well, they'll catch up. Mostly I'm not concerned too much, as one extra week won't make or break them. Also, I'm not too concerned, since my replacement and my NCO's is here. It's a childish and egocentric way to look at it, but it IS the Army.
This morning I finally was able to get in contact with Kim. Between DSN lines being goofy or busy and her cell phone being cantankerous, we finally got through to one another. It's the small things that count the most, I've found and being able to talk to Kim regularly matters a whole bunch over here.
The weather has taken a dramatic turn for different. We had thunderstorms through here over the weekend. Thunderstorms. With rain. Lots of rain. Gravel isn't too bad in rain, but sand and dust mixed with water makes mud. Marez is now a mudhole with guardtowers and a kickin' perimeter. The up side to all of this is it isn't hot any longer. Humidity has climbed to a massive 56%. A little more and this place might just begin to pass for Indiana in the spring. Maybe. If you take away all the Turks, Kurds, Iraqis, palm trees, machine guns, etc.
Not sure why I'm posting this, but it struck me as a pretty cool read, so take a look.
In the meantime, I'm watching CSI, preparing for November and training my replacement. Life is decent.
Enjoy!
The replacements are sort of here and we're reading in those who are. Those who aren't...well, they'll catch up. Mostly I'm not concerned too much, as one extra week won't make or break them. Also, I'm not too concerned, since my replacement and my NCO's is here. It's a childish and egocentric way to look at it, but it IS the Army.
This morning I finally was able to get in contact with Kim. Between DSN lines being goofy or busy and her cell phone being cantankerous, we finally got through to one another. It's the small things that count the most, I've found and being able to talk to Kim regularly matters a whole bunch over here.
The weather has taken a dramatic turn for different. We had thunderstorms through here over the weekend. Thunderstorms. With rain. Lots of rain. Gravel isn't too bad in rain, but sand and dust mixed with water makes mud. Marez is now a mudhole with guardtowers and a kickin' perimeter. The up side to all of this is it isn't hot any longer. Humidity has climbed to a massive 56%. A little more and this place might just begin to pass for Indiana in the spring. Maybe. If you take away all the Turks, Kurds, Iraqis, palm trees, machine guns, etc.
Not sure why I'm posting this, but it struck me as a pretty cool read, so take a look.
In the meantime, I'm watching CSI, preparing for November and training my replacement. Life is decent.
Enjoy!
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Within A Month
Within A Month
To everyone who follows my blog ramblings, I must beg forgiveness. I know it's been a while since the last post. Several significant things have happened since then, so I will attempt to bring everyone up to speed.
First, and most significantly, Dad had a birthday. Happy Birthday Dad!!
Next, my office assignment was moved and duties added. This is a strange effect, since it's a blessing and an annoyance all rather rolled up nicely in one neat package. See, I still have to do badge stuff at the badge office. AND I get to do more stuff here at the Mayor cell half a mile away. Joy! Rapture! The essential difference here is people walk in and out. A lot. Folks wander into my office and ask questions like, "hey sir, what do you think...left boot on the left foot...?" I especially enjoy that one. In any event, now I must actively wander between the two locations. To add insult to injury, I have to deal with Internet Explorer here instead of Mozilla Firefox. Yeah, I know, life's tough all over.
Lastly, we're close to three weeks from rotating out of here. Naturally, that's not the end to this nonsense, but it's close. Then, see, we get to do another ten days of "redeployment" nonsense to make sure the Army does everything it can for us (all good) and then listen to briefings (good thing I have books on my cellphone...might need to make sure those are up to date...I hear we have way many much briefings) and THEN we get to go home. I think. "Home" being defined as that place containing my wife and wine. Honesly, I should be more tolerant. After all, I know and understand the Army, like any large institution, will have its fair share of nonsense. I knew it before I joined. Still, I don't think it's bad to point it out when it crops up.
And...we're still at a crossroads for adoption. Both Ethiopia and Russia are financially feasible, now it's a matter of where we want to go. Ethiopia is quicker, the child will be an infant, the fees are about half as much as in Russia and the visit is shorter. The agency has had no health issues with children adopted from Ethiopia at all, which is good. But we're also interested in Russia. To say we're torn would be a great understatement. Please pray for wisdom in this decision.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Back in the Saddle
Back in the Saddle
So, here I am back in Mosul, doing what I do best: dodge work. Just kidding. Mostly. I returned to find that I've been bequeathed with some additional duties, which correspond mostly to the responsibilities I'll have once we return to the Real World. Key words here are "additional duties". For those not fully acquainted with the military parlance, that simply means this is stuff I get to do on top of the list of stuff I already do. Normally I'd whine at this point and try to claim that my docket is so full I couldn't possibly get all of it done, even if we stayed another year. Unfortunately, such is not the case for me. I mean, I can't even TRY to do that, which kind of stinks.
The good news is here! Y'all need to check that link out. Basically we're at a high of 98 today and then tomorrow it drops to the mid eighties. That, in and of itself, is motivating!! I haven't seen the mid eighties as a daytime high here since we arrived, if then.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention some of the others, who have included me in their blogs. Anjie, who contributes a lot to the comments here, included me in her blog. It's a great post and an excellent blog, so please take some time and read it. As a kid, I remember going to friends' houses and asking them to come out and play. If Anj and her husband lived closer to me, Paul and I would be showing up at their doorstep asking, "Anj, can you come out and shoot?"
Mid eighties...that's just simply outstanding!
Actually I begged off the morning briefing today and came directly to my old office here at the Badging Cell. Several reasons surround this. First and foremost, all of my archives are here and I have one last nut to crack before I can say I'm prepared to begin training my replacement (actually I have a ton of stuff to write up for him too, but I'm talking absolute minimum here). Also, because I don't have the foot traffic in this office that I do in the other one, I can actually get something done here. There's a lot to be said for that, to be quite honest. It's a yin and yang thing too - I like being around the others and the rest of the unit, but I'm more able to focus here. In any event, I'm here for the morning and plan on knocking out a plan or two. Maybe I'll get to smoke some, who knows?
Lastly, please pray for Kim and me. Over the leave, we reopened the adoption process with an agency located in Evansville. The current plan is to adopt a child from Russia. If all works out, the child will be 10 or 11 months old when we pick him or her up. Also, we have a better chance of adopting a boy, which will be a change on the grandchild front... *grin* In all seriousness, please pray. The costs seem insurmountable to me right now, and I know that if this is supposed to happen, we'll find all the resources we need. To that end, I've begun some research, but it's certainly not done. So, please pray: right direction, resources and just a sense of peace about this whole thing.
Those who would send us packages, please do not send anything! We're close enough to flowing out of here that we've been told to tell you all to not send stuff. Again, thanks to everyone who was able to send stuff, and those who wanted to do so!! Getting stuff is nice, but knowing folks are out there keeping us in their prayers and thoughts is amazing too.
Enjoy!
So, here I am back in Mosul, doing what I do best: dodge work. Just kidding. Mostly. I returned to find that I've been bequeathed with some additional duties, which correspond mostly to the responsibilities I'll have once we return to the Real World. Key words here are "additional duties". For those not fully acquainted with the military parlance, that simply means this is stuff I get to do on top of the list of stuff I already do. Normally I'd whine at this point and try to claim that my docket is so full I couldn't possibly get all of it done, even if we stayed another year. Unfortunately, such is not the case for me. I mean, I can't even TRY to do that, which kind of stinks.
The good news is here! Y'all need to check that link out. Basically we're at a high of 98 today and then tomorrow it drops to the mid eighties. That, in and of itself, is motivating!! I haven't seen the mid eighties as a daytime high here since we arrived, if then.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention some of the others, who have included me in their blogs. Anjie, who contributes a lot to the comments here, included me in her blog. It's a great post and an excellent blog, so please take some time and read it. As a kid, I remember going to friends' houses and asking them to come out and play. If Anj and her husband lived closer to me, Paul and I would be showing up at their doorstep asking, "Anj, can you come out and shoot?"
Mid eighties...that's just simply outstanding!
Actually I begged off the morning briefing today and came directly to my old office here at the Badging Cell. Several reasons surround this. First and foremost, all of my archives are here and I have one last nut to crack before I can say I'm prepared to begin training my replacement (actually I have a ton of stuff to write up for him too, but I'm talking absolute minimum here). Also, because I don't have the foot traffic in this office that I do in the other one, I can actually get something done here. There's a lot to be said for that, to be quite honest. It's a yin and yang thing too - I like being around the others and the rest of the unit, but I'm more able to focus here. In any event, I'm here for the morning and plan on knocking out a plan or two. Maybe I'll get to smoke some, who knows?
Lastly, please pray for Kim and me. Over the leave, we reopened the adoption process with an agency located in Evansville. The current plan is to adopt a child from Russia. If all works out, the child will be 10 or 11 months old when we pick him or her up. Also, we have a better chance of adopting a boy, which will be a change on the grandchild front... *grin* In all seriousness, please pray. The costs seem insurmountable to me right now, and I know that if this is supposed to happen, we'll find all the resources we need. To that end, I've begun some research, but it's certainly not done. So, please pray: right direction, resources and just a sense of peace about this whole thing.
Those who would send us packages, please do not send anything! We're close enough to flowing out of here that we've been told to tell you all to not send stuff. Again, thanks to everyone who was able to send stuff, and those who wanted to do so!! Getting stuff is nice, but knowing folks are out there keeping us in their prayers and thoughts is amazing too.
Enjoy!
Friday, October 10, 2008
Getting Back To It All
Folks,
My sincerest apologies for the lack of posts this last couple of weeks. I've been home on leave as many of you know, and so that has been in the forefront of my mind. So, appropriately enough, this will be about the leave time and getting back. I'm still not really "back" to it all yet, as I'm stuck in Ali Al Salem, lovely Kuwait. Most folks don't like Ali, simply because it's Kuwait: way too hot, no cover, nothing but sand and buildings. Add to all that, it's a waystation for most of us, nothing more. For all that, it's not too shabby. I can get online here for a sawbuck and do stuff like this, allegedly they have a couple of gym tents and a couple MWR tents, which I might go find later (or not). In addition to the DFAC, there's a McDonalds, Pizza Hut and a Green Bean Coffee shop, so all of one's needs are cared for, almost. At this point, I'm figuring that I'll keep going on this odd body clock thing that I have, post, eat, shave, etc.
Leave was good. I didn't do everything I wanted to do, but the time was well spent. My parents came down, which was awesome! I hadn't played golf in years, so it was good to get out on the links. Plus, I don't think I'd seen them in a long, long time, so seeing and spending time with them was nice. Spent an evening with the Devines and the Kempfs, which was great (Joe - when do we do a minimarathon?)! My goddaughter came over and she, and Kim and some friends and I all went out, which was cool, and otherwise I just really enjoyed folks visiting, stopping in and just hanging out. I started 15 gallons of wine and got it all into secondary fermentation, so that's a good thing. Thanks to Kim needing practice, I got a couple massages, and we went out and played more golf. All in all, a pleasurable time home.
Most folks asked me what it's like for me, living in Iraq. I gathered a popular impression is that it's like Vietnam in the desert. It is not. Sure, it's hot, dusty, and all that. Yes, there are dangerous places there. Mostly we still enjoy most of the comforts of home to a certain degree. Some posts have more stuff than we have, some have less. We get shelled occasionally. Keep in mind, "shelling" is like one or two rockets and that's all. 90% of the time, that all hits away from where we stay and work. Outside the wire, it's more dangerous, but that is also a matter of degree. By no means is it a constant set of attacks on us, one right after the other. For all that, it's dangerous, so Soldiers keep their guards up and stay vigilant to the dangers around them. We do our part and keep the bad guys off the base, which is our job. I work most of the time, workout three or four times a week (more now that we have a PT test coming up), watch movies or play on the laptop in my off time, maybe smoke a cigar with others outside, and otherwise talk to Kim almost daily. The worst part is being away from Kim and other loved ones. The second worst part is the process of getting here and getting home. By necessity, it's complicated, which means we spend a lot of time on our tails. Usually I don't mind being here, but it's not home.
So, that's all for now while I'm in transit. I need to get some food, get cleaned up and crash for a bit
Before I sign off, I'd like to congratulate Matt & Laura on the birth of their son! You guys will be great parents!
Enjoy!
My sincerest apologies for the lack of posts this last couple of weeks. I've been home on leave as many of you know, and so that has been in the forefront of my mind. So, appropriately enough, this will be about the leave time and getting back. I'm still not really "back" to it all yet, as I'm stuck in Ali Al Salem, lovely Kuwait. Most folks don't like Ali, simply because it's Kuwait: way too hot, no cover, nothing but sand and buildings. Add to all that, it's a waystation for most of us, nothing more. For all that, it's not too shabby. I can get online here for a sawbuck and do stuff like this, allegedly they have a couple of gym tents and a couple MWR tents, which I might go find later (or not). In addition to the DFAC, there's a McDonalds, Pizza Hut and a Green Bean Coffee shop, so all of one's needs are cared for, almost. At this point, I'm figuring that I'll keep going on this odd body clock thing that I have, post, eat, shave, etc.
Leave was good. I didn't do everything I wanted to do, but the time was well spent. My parents came down, which was awesome! I hadn't played golf in years, so it was good to get out on the links. Plus, I don't think I'd seen them in a long, long time, so seeing and spending time with them was nice. Spent an evening with the Devines and the Kempfs, which was great (Joe - when do we do a minimarathon?)! My goddaughter came over and she, and Kim and some friends and I all went out, which was cool, and otherwise I just really enjoyed folks visiting, stopping in and just hanging out. I started 15 gallons of wine and got it all into secondary fermentation, so that's a good thing. Thanks to Kim needing practice, I got a couple massages, and we went out and played more golf. All in all, a pleasurable time home.
Most folks asked me what it's like for me, living in Iraq. I gathered a popular impression is that it's like Vietnam in the desert. It is not. Sure, it's hot, dusty, and all that. Yes, there are dangerous places there. Mostly we still enjoy most of the comforts of home to a certain degree. Some posts have more stuff than we have, some have less. We get shelled occasionally. Keep in mind, "shelling" is like one or two rockets and that's all. 90% of the time, that all hits away from where we stay and work. Outside the wire, it's more dangerous, but that is also a matter of degree. By no means is it a constant set of attacks on us, one right after the other. For all that, it's dangerous, so Soldiers keep their guards up and stay vigilant to the dangers around them. We do our part and keep the bad guys off the base, which is our job. I work most of the time, workout three or four times a week (more now that we have a PT test coming up), watch movies or play on the laptop in my off time, maybe smoke a cigar with others outside, and otherwise talk to Kim almost daily. The worst part is being away from Kim and other loved ones. The second worst part is the process of getting here and getting home. By necessity, it's complicated, which means we spend a lot of time on our tails. Usually I don't mind being here, but it's not home.
So, that's all for now while I'm in transit. I need to get some food, get cleaned up and crash for a bit
Before I sign off, I'd like to congratulate Matt & Laura on the birth of their son! You guys will be great parents!
Enjoy!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Home!!
Hey everybody, I'm home. I know this is the one thing that most folks tell me not to do, but that's how it is.
Several things have struck me with incredible clarity now that I'm here. First and foremost is just how quiet this place is. No generators are going in the background, no constant noise of armored vehicles moving, nothing. It's odd. Second, after living for months with what I consider to be a minimum of possessions, I'm struck with how much stuff we have accumulated and simply do not need at all. I'm tossing a lot of my own stuff out, just to be rid of the extra crap I know I'll never use again. Naturally this did not happen overnight, nor will it be solved overnight, but I can make progress regularly, I think. The more stuff I have, the more I must work to maintain it all. I don't like that. I also don't like to think of all the Army stuff I have in the garage, which THEY GAVE ME and I have never used. All I know is I just have to be rid of the majority of this stuff. This is the best one: the Army issues us all equipment, then tells us we're not allowed to utilize it in the manner it was designed to be utilized. Case in point is the black fleece jacket. Each of us in the Brigade received one as part of RFI. Yet, at both Atterbury and Stewart, First Army's standard was that we were only allowed to show ACU pattern as outerwear. I understand that as a means of teaching things to new soldiers. However, we're not new. Furthermore, the Army's cold weather clothing system is not all ACU pattern on the outside. So I'm confused, since we were issued equipment that the rest of the Army wears as outerwear, but we weren't, simply because we were mobilizing? But once we got to Iraq, we were allowed to wear it. The point is, we have way too much stuff.
Lastly, I'm struck by how strange it is to have nothing to do. That's not to say I am bored, but if I don't want to do anything, I have no requirements to do so, which is nice.
The trip here went smoothly, I spend maybe only 48 hours in transit, total, which is good. Half of that was in the sky, the rest of waiting, naturally.
So, arrived home safely and am happy, happy, happy to be home for a while.
Enjoy!
Several things have struck me with incredible clarity now that I'm here. First and foremost is just how quiet this place is. No generators are going in the background, no constant noise of armored vehicles moving, nothing. It's odd. Second, after living for months with what I consider to be a minimum of possessions, I'm struck with how much stuff we have accumulated and simply do not need at all. I'm tossing a lot of my own stuff out, just to be rid of the extra crap I know I'll never use again. Naturally this did not happen overnight, nor will it be solved overnight, but I can make progress regularly, I think. The more stuff I have, the more I must work to maintain it all. I don't like that. I also don't like to think of all the Army stuff I have in the garage, which THEY GAVE ME and I have never used. All I know is I just have to be rid of the majority of this stuff. This is the best one: the Army issues us all equipment, then tells us we're not allowed to utilize it in the manner it was designed to be utilized. Case in point is the black fleece jacket. Each of us in the Brigade received one as part of RFI. Yet, at both Atterbury and Stewart, First Army's standard was that we were only allowed to show ACU pattern as outerwear. I understand that as a means of teaching things to new soldiers. However, we're not new. Furthermore, the Army's cold weather clothing system is not all ACU pattern on the outside. So I'm confused, since we were issued equipment that the rest of the Army wears as outerwear, but we weren't, simply because we were mobilizing? But once we got to Iraq, we were allowed to wear it. The point is, we have way too much stuff.
Lastly, I'm struck by how strange it is to have nothing to do. That's not to say I am bored, but if I don't want to do anything, I have no requirements to do so, which is nice.
The trip here went smoothly, I spend maybe only 48 hours in transit, total, which is good. Half of that was in the sky, the rest of waiting, naturally.
So, arrived home safely and am happy, happy, happy to be home for a while.
Enjoy!
Friday, September 19, 2008
36 to 48
Alright, so it's getting close. Really close. This is so close, if it were Looney Tunes, Elmer Fudd would turn, face the audience and say, "Be vewy, vewy quiet, I'm hunting wabbits!" Then, naturally, Bugs would show up. See, that's close.
So, after last post, I am wondering how many folks I turned off with the Google search link. If that kept anyone away, I am heartily sorry. Those who know me and love me understand I have a wildly inappropriate sense of humor, such as it is. Naturally I laughed my tail off when I first saw that clip. Go figure.
So, I've been taking stock of the time here in Iraq, just to kind of review how things have been. First and foremost, to lay some concerns expressed by in-laws to rest, I have not yet managed to shoot myself in the foot (keep in mind, I pack heat daily, just like all the other folks here). Granted, my shooting coach is a former SF sniper with a ton of confirmed kills, so that might have something to do with it. Or, it might be because after 20 years in uniform and counting I have some shadow of a clue of what I'm doing. It's a stretch, I know. What else...oh, I'm benching my body weight and am back up to my high point on squats where last time I had to drop weight and relearn technique. No knee pain, all is good. And I'm done with ILE. Well, not totally, but close. Two of my assignments got kicked back for some odd reason (sentence length, I imagine). Honestly, I have no clue why, since they were sent to me in Evansville. Once I get home, I'll figure it out. Maybe. In any case, I'll have the military education for LTC done before I get home, that's the important thing. Other things....I've met Iraqis who have risked more for for the USA than many Americans I know. That's humbling. And I think I've grown up some, which is always a good thing.
Thanks are always in order, and I have a lot of folks to keep thanking. In no particular order, there's my wife (who ROCKS), Matt & Anj, Paul, Sarah & Carl, Brian & Joanne, Ron & Gloria (my parents, who also rock), one of the grade school classes at the church school where mom & dad attend (can you get me that address, I really, really, really need to write them a thank you letter), the Shaker Messenger, and all the folks who continue to keep me and my unit in their prayers. Thanks again! Please keep praying, as we're only close to the end, we're not there. Also, please pray for our families and keep them in mind as the end of the year and the holiday season approach. If I've left anyone out, you have my apologies.
Lastly, I have to tell you, I had a "Ron Moment" this week. First, some background. My dad is the master dissembler. Ask him to play any card game and the answer's the same: Oh no, I've never played that, show me how (and forget Trivial Pursuit). Then he wins. Earlier this week I was walking through the screening cells and saw some of the linguists playing cards. They asked me to play, and without skipping a beat, I said, "Oh no, I've never played that. Show me how." I won the first round and almost took them on the second one too. It was a classic Ron South moment. Naturally, the Kurdish linguist, who has never met my dad, fell for it hook, line and sinker. Yeah, it wasn't fair, I know.
I'm pretty pumped about going home for a while, needless to say. I can promise the phone will be on, but I can't promise I'll answer it, or be in a condition to do so. For all that, I do hope to see some of you when I get back.
Enjoy!
So, after last post, I am wondering how many folks I turned off with the Google search link. If that kept anyone away, I am heartily sorry. Those who know me and love me understand I have a wildly inappropriate sense of humor, such as it is. Naturally I laughed my tail off when I first saw that clip. Go figure.
So, I've been taking stock of the time here in Iraq, just to kind of review how things have been. First and foremost, to lay some concerns expressed by in-laws to rest, I have not yet managed to shoot myself in the foot (keep in mind, I pack heat daily, just like all the other folks here). Granted, my shooting coach is a former SF sniper with a ton of confirmed kills, so that might have something to do with it. Or, it might be because after 20 years in uniform and counting I have some shadow of a clue of what I'm doing. It's a stretch, I know. What else...oh, I'm benching my body weight and am back up to my high point on squats where last time I had to drop weight and relearn technique. No knee pain, all is good. And I'm done with ILE. Well, not totally, but close. Two of my assignments got kicked back for some odd reason (sentence length, I imagine). Honestly, I have no clue why, since they were sent to me in Evansville. Once I get home, I'll figure it out. Maybe. In any case, I'll have the military education for LTC done before I get home, that's the important thing. Other things....I've met Iraqis who have risked more for for the USA than many Americans I know. That's humbling. And I think I've grown up some, which is always a good thing.
Thanks are always in order, and I have a lot of folks to keep thanking. In no particular order, there's my wife (who ROCKS), Matt & Anj, Paul, Sarah & Carl, Brian & Joanne, Ron & Gloria (my parents, who also rock), one of the grade school classes at the church school where mom & dad attend (can you get me that address, I really, really, really need to write them a thank you letter), the Shaker Messenger, and all the folks who continue to keep me and my unit in their prayers. Thanks again! Please keep praying, as we're only close to the end, we're not there. Also, please pray for our families and keep them in mind as the end of the year and the holiday season approach. If I've left anyone out, you have my apologies.
Lastly, I have to tell you, I had a "Ron Moment" this week. First, some background. My dad is the master dissembler. Ask him to play any card game and the answer's the same: Oh no, I've never played that, show me how (and forget Trivial Pursuit). Then he wins. Earlier this week I was walking through the screening cells and saw some of the linguists playing cards. They asked me to play, and without skipping a beat, I said, "Oh no, I've never played that. Show me how." I won the first round and almost took them on the second one too. It was a classic Ron South moment. Naturally, the Kurdish linguist, who has never met my dad, fell for it hook, line and sinker. Yeah, it wasn't fair, I know.
I'm pretty pumped about going home for a while, needless to say. I can promise the phone will be on, but I can't promise I'll answer it, or be in a condition to do so. For all that, I do hope to see some of you when I get back.
Enjoy!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
One week left
OK, just one week until I go on leave. But I'll come back to this place, so it's all good. With that in mind, I figured folks would want to know what I plan to do with the time. So, in the spirit of that, I have some links! I already have a link to Kim's blog over there on the right hand side, so that's covered. Let's see...well, there's this, and this and this. And, of course, this. Don't worry, they're all mostly PG links. I'm supposed to view this as a "family" blog and so can't add a link to the other "activities" for leave. It's all good. Some folks think they know what the internet is for (NB: this is a funny link, but relatively inappropriate...you know me).
So, what's going on otherwise? Basically I'm preparing things for a temporary replacement. Essentially, I'm preparing the foundations of my continuity binder. The collection of knowledge and "5killz" I've accumulated over the time spent here. My intent is to give my replacement more than what I was given. Now, my predecessor did an excellent hand over, so I have my work cut out for me. Right now, the hand off consists of a series of "how to" guides, which are step by step instructions, with pictures, of how to do the different things I do in Access Control. I realize this is backwards for folks like me (ie, most AGRs), but knowledge and ability are no good unless I can pass them on to someone else. The idea here is not to horde information, but to make it public and available to lots of others, so I can go on to bigger and better things and crack the code somewhere else.
As usual, I'm working out. This was a tough week for that, as I woke up last Sunday with a knot in my right deltoids the size of Texas. Needless to say, working it out was not easy. My eventual solution was to get a whole bunch of hand warmers from supply and duct tape one inside my t-shirt just over the knot. Slow heat works every time for me, and a couple days and nights of that I was up and running again. Shaving becomes a whole new adventure when I can't tilt my head up at all. I had to ditch the Merkur for a week in favor of something that pivots on its own and doesn't need my undivided attention. Not to worry, I have plenty of time to continue mastering it.
Other than that, just tying up whatever loose ends I can, avoiding the ever present drama from 3ACR (I could write a book about the drama), and am otherwise ready to go home and spend some time with Kim. See, here's where I want to complain about the cav drama we have here. Problem is, complaining won't make it go away. To be blunt, it's just stupid: he said this to him or her, and they thought that, so we did this, etc. And just way too sensitive. Anyhow, it is what it is. It's helped me to understand mainly how to pull the drama and emotion out of issues and see what really needs to happen, and to understand what matters and what doesn't. Unfortunately, those lessons shouldn't come from any one institution's culture. I've learned, and have begun to put those lessons into practice, which is what it's all about. I go back to one of my original philosophies, modified: I don't care what patch or tab or spurs you have, if you can't help get my unit to a theater of operations and back again, all of those cool tabs and patches and spurs do you (and me) no good.
Enjoy!
So, what's going on otherwise? Basically I'm preparing things for a temporary replacement. Essentially, I'm preparing the foundations of my continuity binder. The collection of knowledge and "5killz" I've accumulated over the time spent here. My intent is to give my replacement more than what I was given. Now, my predecessor did an excellent hand over, so I have my work cut out for me. Right now, the hand off consists of a series of "how to" guides, which are step by step instructions, with pictures, of how to do the different things I do in Access Control. I realize this is backwards for folks like me (ie, most AGRs), but knowledge and ability are no good unless I can pass them on to someone else. The idea here is not to horde information, but to make it public and available to lots of others, so I can go on to bigger and better things and crack the code somewhere else.
As usual, I'm working out. This was a tough week for that, as I woke up last Sunday with a knot in my right deltoids the size of Texas. Needless to say, working it out was not easy. My eventual solution was to get a whole bunch of hand warmers from supply and duct tape one inside my t-shirt just over the knot. Slow heat works every time for me, and a couple days and nights of that I was up and running again. Shaving becomes a whole new adventure when I can't tilt my head up at all. I had to ditch the Merkur for a week in favor of something that pivots on its own and doesn't need my undivided attention. Not to worry, I have plenty of time to continue mastering it.
Other than that, just tying up whatever loose ends I can, avoiding the ever present drama from 3ACR (I could write a book about the drama), and am otherwise ready to go home and spend some time with Kim. See, here's where I want to complain about the cav drama we have here. Problem is, complaining won't make it go away. To be blunt, it's just stupid: he said this to him or her, and they thought that, so we did this, etc. And just way too sensitive. Anyhow, it is what it is. It's helped me to understand mainly how to pull the drama and emotion out of issues and see what really needs to happen, and to understand what matters and what doesn't. Unfortunately, those lessons shouldn't come from any one institution's culture. I've learned, and have begun to put those lessons into practice, which is what it's all about. I go back to one of my original philosophies, modified: I don't care what patch or tab or spurs you have, if you can't help get my unit to a theater of operations and back again, all of those cool tabs and patches and spurs do you (and me) no good.
Enjoy!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Midweek
Greetings and salutations. I stumbled upon a couple of good articles and figured I'd share.
First, another blog talks about the simply ridiculous media circus surrounding Palin. Personal politics aside, I agree with the author's point. Namely, that reporters leave out those facts, which are inconvenient truths.
Next, Atlantic Monthly has an article about the "Petraeus Doctrine". Great write up of something I consider to be the ongoing search for our professional identity as military professionals. Why I like it: first, it summarizes the essential issues well. Second, it mentions a white paper about the Field Artillery that's been circulating for some time. I happen to have a copy of that white paper, and it's also 100% on the money. Lastly, I think both Nagl and Gentile are correct. I think the Army needs to cultivate an Officer Corps that is both warrior and scholar (ie, they can think and shoot and lead). We are in a position, I firmly believe, where we as Officers must be able to conduct both combat and non-combat missions.
Also, the weather's beginning to break here. Thunderstorms have been rolling through and cooling things off a bit. Now, before you all get the wrong idea, this isn't the same thing as a Midwest thunderstorm. Here, the wind blows, it gets really cloudy and it might sprinkle. But, it doesn't rain down in sheets as we'd expect. The effect is relatively similar, as the temperatures drop and life outside becomes civilized (unless one attempts to light a cigar, then one must go inside to do so). Highs have dropped into the low hundreds, so the weather really is not too bad.
So that's about it. Shaved the grape again today too. I'm getting incredibly close between Somerset's and the Panasonic! It's impressive!
Enjoy!
Greetings and salutations. I stumbled upon a couple of good articles and figured I'd share.
First, another blog talks about the simply ridiculous media circus surrounding Palin. Personal politics aside, I agree with the author's point. Namely, that reporters leave out those facts, which are inconvenient truths.
Next, Atlantic Monthly has an article about the "Petraeus Doctrine". Great write up of something I consider to be the ongoing search for our professional identity as military professionals. Why I like it: first, it summarizes the essential issues well. Second, it mentions a white paper about the Field Artillery that's been circulating for some time. I happen to have a copy of that white paper, and it's also 100% on the money. Lastly, I think both Nagl and Gentile are correct. I think the Army needs to cultivate an Officer Corps that is both warrior and scholar (ie, they can think and shoot and lead). We are in a position, I firmly believe, where we as Officers must be able to conduct both combat and non-combat missions.
Also, the weather's beginning to break here. Thunderstorms have been rolling through and cooling things off a bit. Now, before you all get the wrong idea, this isn't the same thing as a Midwest thunderstorm. Here, the wind blows, it gets really cloudy and it might sprinkle. But, it doesn't rain down in sheets as we'd expect. The effect is relatively similar, as the temperatures drop and life outside becomes civilized (unless one attempts to light a cigar, then one must go inside to do so). Highs have dropped into the low hundreds, so the weather really is not too bad.
So that's about it. Shaved the grape again today too. I'm getting incredibly close between Somerset's and the Panasonic! It's impressive!
Enjoy!
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Twelve and Two
Today after Mass, I walked into the Badging office and Dixon had blues just blasting. It was then that I realized how much I miss listening to live blues. So, Kim, add that to our list. We might not hit it all this month, but at least it's on there.
This morning, responding to a couple of folks on Facebook, I realized how polarized opinion becomes around an election. Now, anyone who reads this knows that I'm just as bad as everyone else, which I freely admit. I have my own way of looking at life and freely allow others to know it. It's all good, it's the process that works for us here in the US. I'll be honest, I was amazed at the media response to Palin's family issues. That was plain silly. I mean really, who cares if her daughter is pregnant or not? Does her daughter's choice make Palin a quality stateswoman? Help me out on this one, because the whole affair smacks of a media circus, as opposed to focusing on the issues. We have had folks with similar qualifications running on both the Rep and Dem ticket in the past. Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, both former state governors, come to mind. But no, we jump up and down about her family. This, ladies and gents, is why I don't have a TV here, and why Kim and I refuse to watch a whole lot of TV at home. I honestly can say I hate the media circus in general, and especially around elections. I wonder what the founding fathers would say about the media circus. Likely they'd comisserate, as I'm certain they had some of that as well.
This week, I've been finishing up with ILE phase 3. In fact, once I get back from lunch today, I turn off email and focus just on pushing through the End Of Course Completion Exercise. The intent is to get all of it finished today. Then, I can focus back on some of the smaller projects 'round here I've been neglecting. Once those are done, I should be pretty close to going on leave. My intent is to have enough of the "detail" stuff done before leave, so afterwards I can focus on assembling the continuity binder, brain dumping everything I know somehow (a page or two, nothing more, I assure you) and otherwise avoiding confrontations with 3ACR. I promised our CSM I'd be nice, so to do that, I have to avoid those guys, since they annoy me greatly.
I ordered the Sangiovese juice this week! Five gallons of pure, Italian, unadulterated Sangiovese juice. AND I ordered a Cabernet kit and a Merlot kit. The good news story is I stayed under my budget for these projects. So, I'll have 6 gallons of Sangiovese, 6 of Cab-Merlot, and 6 of Merlot-Cab in secondaries before I leave Evansville for Mosul.
Enjoy!
UPDATE at 1713 Mosul time: I am done with the *impressive echo voice* End Of Course Completion Exercise!! It was a whopping 16 slides. Before I panic, I'm going to go talk to another Major here, who finished this up a couple months ago, but I think his EOCCE was like 17 slides. As many of you know, I've been largely disappointed with the academic rigor needed to get through ILE by distance learning. On one hand, I'm complaining, on the other, I'm not. It will all work out, I'm sure.
This morning, responding to a couple of folks on Facebook, I realized how polarized opinion becomes around an election. Now, anyone who reads this knows that I'm just as bad as everyone else, which I freely admit. I have my own way of looking at life and freely allow others to know it. It's all good, it's the process that works for us here in the US. I'll be honest, I was amazed at the media response to Palin's family issues. That was plain silly. I mean really, who cares if her daughter is pregnant or not? Does her daughter's choice make Palin a quality stateswoman? Help me out on this one, because the whole affair smacks of a media circus, as opposed to focusing on the issues. We have had folks with similar qualifications running on both the Rep and Dem ticket in the past. Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, both former state governors, come to mind. But no, we jump up and down about her family. This, ladies and gents, is why I don't have a TV here, and why Kim and I refuse to watch a whole lot of TV at home. I honestly can say I hate the media circus in general, and especially around elections. I wonder what the founding fathers would say about the media circus. Likely they'd comisserate, as I'm certain they had some of that as well.
This week, I've been finishing up with ILE phase 3. In fact, once I get back from lunch today, I turn off email and focus just on pushing through the End Of Course Completion Exercise. The intent is to get all of it finished today. Then, I can focus back on some of the smaller projects 'round here I've been neglecting. Once those are done, I should be pretty close to going on leave. My intent is to have enough of the "detail" stuff done before leave, so afterwards I can focus on assembling the continuity binder, brain dumping everything I know somehow (a page or two, nothing more, I assure you) and otherwise avoiding confrontations with 3ACR. I promised our CSM I'd be nice, so to do that, I have to avoid those guys, since they annoy me greatly.
I ordered the Sangiovese juice this week! Five gallons of pure, Italian, unadulterated Sangiovese juice. AND I ordered a Cabernet kit and a Merlot kit. The good news story is I stayed under my budget for these projects. So, I'll have 6 gallons of Sangiovese, 6 of Cab-Merlot, and 6 of Merlot-Cab in secondaries before I leave Evansville for Mosul.
Enjoy!
UPDATE at 1713 Mosul time: I am done with the *impressive echo voice* End Of Course Completion Exercise!! It was a whopping 16 slides. Before I panic, I'm going to go talk to another Major here, who finished this up a couple months ago, but I think his EOCCE was like 17 slides. As many of you know, I've been largely disappointed with the academic rigor needed to get through ILE by distance learning. On one hand, I'm complaining, on the other, I'm not. It will all work out, I'm sure.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Happy Birthday Mom!!
Just so everyone knows, I owe my mother a call today. On one hand, this should be easy, since she's retired and has little to no schedule. On the other hand, until my parents retired to Holland, I thought retired folks didn't do a whole lot. So, it might not be as easy as I think. Plus, I have to find the number, which I'm sure I have somewhere.
*hours pass*
So I hiked back out to the office, placed the call and left a message. Mom, happy birthday!
Maybe I've been here too long (not) or maybe I'm just so close to leave that I want to think I've been here too long (more likely), but I just don't give a rat's butt about the Iraq issues any longer. It's odd, really, that my world view is now to the point where I want to do this job the best I can, build my good habits and go home. That it is now Ramadan means nothing to me, as the 'Beebs haven't stepped up their attacks in any significant manner. Granted, this isn't Baghdad, which might be different, since it has an entirely different threat picture. See, I had this discussion last week (was it last week? maybe the week before that?) with one of the cav guys, wherein I explained, using very short words, that I don't have the same Access Control policy as Balad, simply because THIS AIN'T BALAD. It's Mosul. Lookie here. See us up in the north? Where it's got that pretty blue color? Yeah, that's mostly Kurdish. They hate Turks and sometimes Iraqis. And even though we, as a country, screwed them royally two or three times, they hate being under Saddam more than they hated us screwing them. They're mostly alright. See Baghdad? See how it's all orange? Yeah, they're Shi'as. Between us and them are the Sunnis, who are the minority and used to rule this place. With terror, I might add. The AQI guys (NB, Sunnis, BTW) spend as much time shooting the Shi'as (ie, the REST of the country) as they do the Americans and the Kurds (most unwise). So, whereas Baghdad and its environs have the civil war and AQI to deal with, we have some AQI remnants to deal with. Different threat picture. QED.
All that to explain it's been quiet 'round here. Still. Some folks stand on the soapbox and cry out, "oh no, it's Ramadan, they'll hit us a ton more this month!" Fine. So they'll what? Shoot at the runway twice a week instead of once? Help me out on this here. Let's be real. These folks are fasting all freaking day in triple digit heat. I don't know about any of you all, but I don't know many folks who'll be up to doing much of anything in those conditions. Heck, jump school wasn't that bad.
More good news: I am now two writing assignments away from finishing ILE. And I've seen the assignments, they're cheesecake assignments. So I'll be done with that whole gig pretty soon. Go me.
This week I sent Kim an email detailing all that which I wanted to consume while at home. Needless to say, a glass of Arrogance was something I asked her to facilitate. Good thing for me the Gerst still has it on tap. NB: Evansville folks. If they have stopped carrying it, please let me know. Those of you who know me understand the solemnity with which I ask for this information.
Well, I've managed another blog post. Life is good and getting better.
Enjoy!
Just so everyone knows, I owe my mother a call today. On one hand, this should be easy, since she's retired and has little to no schedule. On the other hand, until my parents retired to Holland, I thought retired folks didn't do a whole lot. So, it might not be as easy as I think. Plus, I have to find the number, which I'm sure I have somewhere.
*hours pass*
So I hiked back out to the office, placed the call and left a message. Mom, happy birthday!
Maybe I've been here too long (not) or maybe I'm just so close to leave that I want to think I've been here too long (more likely), but I just don't give a rat's butt about the Iraq issues any longer. It's odd, really, that my world view is now to the point where I want to do this job the best I can, build my good habits and go home. That it is now Ramadan means nothing to me, as the 'Beebs haven't stepped up their attacks in any significant manner. Granted, this isn't Baghdad, which might be different, since it has an entirely different threat picture. See, I had this discussion last week (was it last week? maybe the week before that?) with one of the cav guys, wherein I explained, using very short words, that I don't have the same Access Control policy as Balad, simply because THIS AIN'T BALAD. It's Mosul. Lookie here. See us up in the north? Where it's got that pretty blue color? Yeah, that's mostly Kurdish. They hate Turks and sometimes Iraqis. And even though we, as a country, screwed them royally two or three times, they hate being under Saddam more than they hated us screwing them. They're mostly alright. See Baghdad? See how it's all orange? Yeah, they're Shi'as. Between us and them are the Sunnis, who are the minority and used to rule this place. With terror, I might add. The AQI guys (NB, Sunnis, BTW) spend as much time shooting the Shi'as (ie, the REST of the country) as they do the Americans and the Kurds (most unwise). So, whereas Baghdad and its environs have the civil war and AQI to deal with, we have some AQI remnants to deal with. Different threat picture. QED.
All that to explain it's been quiet 'round here. Still. Some folks stand on the soapbox and cry out, "oh no, it's Ramadan, they'll hit us a ton more this month!" Fine. So they'll what? Shoot at the runway twice a week instead of once? Help me out on this here. Let's be real. These folks are fasting all freaking day in triple digit heat. I don't know about any of you all, but I don't know many folks who'll be up to doing much of anything in those conditions. Heck, jump school wasn't that bad.
More good news: I am now two writing assignments away from finishing ILE. And I've seen the assignments, they're cheesecake assignments. So I'll be done with that whole gig pretty soon. Go me.
This week I sent Kim an email detailing all that which I wanted to consume while at home. Needless to say, a glass of Arrogance was something I asked her to facilitate. Good thing for me the Gerst still has it on tap. NB: Evansville folks. If they have stopped carrying it, please let me know. Those of you who know me understand the solemnity with which I ask for this information.
Well, I've managed another blog post. Life is good and getting better.
Enjoy!
Sunday, August 31, 2008
I think It's Dad's Fault
Today at lunch I had an interesting experience. As is my sometimes practice, I was sitting with a group of folks from the Mayor Cell. We're an eclectic bunch, us Mayor Cell types, and attract a rather eclectic selection of people from all over the FOB, for as many reasons as there are people in our little clique. One of the soldiers sitting with us complimented me saying that, three days ago, when I was walking one way and she and another soldier were walking another, I really impressed the other soldier by stopping and talking and generally being me. Apparently this other kid had expected a Major to act like some sort of ogre, and just be unreasonable and stuffy and that kind of thing. So I got a compliment, so what? Thing is, I get this often. Enlisted soldiers are surprised when I talk to them instead of at them, they're confounded when I ask a question and stand there, looking at them, waiting for them to answer (NB: I call that a "conversation", or at least part of one). So I began to think about this and it's led me to a couple conclusions.
First conclusion is maybe they have a skewed vision of what Majors are really like. I mean, most of the guys I know are Officers, and a few are Majors, and most of them are pretty decent fellows. So, maybe the Majors they know in the Regiment are normal folks and the enlisted folks just don't know them. The only problem with that line, I've met some of the other Majors, to whom I'm referring. I don't particularly like them either. The talented ones are way overworked, the untalented ones are immature. Some of them still look at us down their noses (NB: we ignore this, knowing if we, as Mayor Cell and BDOC sat down on the job, the Regiment would be hard pressed to manage without us), and some talk to us like we're equals. Most of them are the latter group, not the former. So, all that to say there might be something to the compliment giver's point of view. Their view of Majors isn't necessarily skewed, but it is limited, unfortunately, to a very few who aren't all that great to start with. I take some issue with this, as I really don't like to see my peer group have that poor of a following among the enlisted. Let's face it, there are more EMs than field grade officers. Most of those EMs are willing to work their tails off with a simple "please" or "thank you" and just treating them respectfully. The Army does a great job a stripping our dignity in certain circumstances. Those of us with rank can get a lot done simply by allowing soldiers to maintain what dignity they have.
Second, I blame most of this on my Dad. See, when we were kids (NB: my use of the first person plural in reference to myself indicates I'm speaking of Paul and of me, because we were usually together all the time as kids), Dad would sometimes take us to his school and we'd goof around, he'd work or do whatever, and we'd go around with him when he'd make his rounds. It was pretty cool. The best part was that he'd talk to EVERYBODY in that building - cooks, janitors, teachers, parents, crossing guards, everybody. And you know what? Every one of them were treated with the same amount of respect and dignity. That's a big deal. Now that I'm in kind of a similar position, I find myself (and Paul) doing a lot of the same stuff we saw Dad doing. Thing of it is, regardless of the setting or industry or nationality, treating folks with respect and dignity goes a long, long way. Thanks Dad.
This week has been like trying to take a drink from a firehose. For the most part, that's due to one company bringing in hundreds of new workers, and two other companies preparing to get out of here. Both of these activities involve me intimately, as all of those folks have badges and I'm in charge of the stinking badges. But, September's around the corner and things are a'movin' and a'shakin'. All of this is good.
In other news, more cigars showed up. This time I decided to buy some singles and try new things: 5 Vegas Classic, 5 Vegas Gold and 5 Vegas Series A. I know the Golds are very good, and am looking forward to trying the other two. I'm hoping the weather breaks a little more over the next couple of weeks. Those who are native to these parts say it will. Not that I can't deal with triple digits, but like shovelling snow, it gets old.
Other than that, I have started the third and final phase of ILE, your tax dollars hard at work, thanks.
13 and 3
Enjoy!
First conclusion is maybe they have a skewed vision of what Majors are really like. I mean, most of the guys I know are Officers, and a few are Majors, and most of them are pretty decent fellows. So, maybe the Majors they know in the Regiment are normal folks and the enlisted folks just don't know them. The only problem with that line, I've met some of the other Majors, to whom I'm referring. I don't particularly like them either. The talented ones are way overworked, the untalented ones are immature. Some of them still look at us down their noses (NB: we ignore this, knowing if we, as Mayor Cell and BDOC sat down on the job, the Regiment would be hard pressed to manage without us), and some talk to us like we're equals. Most of them are the latter group, not the former. So, all that to say there might be something to the compliment giver's point of view. Their view of Majors isn't necessarily skewed, but it is limited, unfortunately, to a very few who aren't all that great to start with. I take some issue with this, as I really don't like to see my peer group have that poor of a following among the enlisted. Let's face it, there are more EMs than field grade officers. Most of those EMs are willing to work their tails off with a simple "please" or "thank you" and just treating them respectfully. The Army does a great job a stripping our dignity in certain circumstances. Those of us with rank can get a lot done simply by allowing soldiers to maintain what dignity they have.
Second, I blame most of this on my Dad. See, when we were kids (NB: my use of the first person plural in reference to myself indicates I'm speaking of Paul and of me, because we were usually together all the time as kids), Dad would sometimes take us to his school and we'd goof around, he'd work or do whatever, and we'd go around with him when he'd make his rounds. It was pretty cool. The best part was that he'd talk to EVERYBODY in that building - cooks, janitors, teachers, parents, crossing guards, everybody. And you know what? Every one of them were treated with the same amount of respect and dignity. That's a big deal. Now that I'm in kind of a similar position, I find myself (and Paul) doing a lot of the same stuff we saw Dad doing. Thing of it is, regardless of the setting or industry or nationality, treating folks with respect and dignity goes a long, long way. Thanks Dad.
This week has been like trying to take a drink from a firehose. For the most part, that's due to one company bringing in hundreds of new workers, and two other companies preparing to get out of here. Both of these activities involve me intimately, as all of those folks have badges and I'm in charge of the stinking badges. But, September's around the corner and things are a'movin' and a'shakin'. All of this is good.
In other news, more cigars showed up. This time I decided to buy some singles and try new things: 5 Vegas Classic, 5 Vegas Gold and 5 Vegas Series A. I know the Golds are very good, and am looking forward to trying the other two. I'm hoping the weather breaks a little more over the next couple of weeks. Those who are native to these parts say it will. Not that I can't deal with triple digits, but like shovelling snow, it gets old.
Other than that, I have started the third and final phase of ILE, your tax dollars hard at work, thanks.
13 and 3
Enjoy!
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Kind of midweek
Alright folks, don't get accustomed to this. Most of you know why I'm posting. Let's hear it. Exactly. I have other work that needs to be done, hence the post. I am, if nothing else, predictable.
This week, we have lots and lots of workers coming here to work and then next week lots and lots of folks leaving. Why do I care? Because the former group needs to be badged, which is what I do here. The latter group all have a badge I must collect. Contrary to the opinion of the LTs in the 1-8, badges are controlled items. They're a big deal, and quite frankly, I don't fancy allowing some forgetful Turk to take one home on a convoy with him. So, this week is going to see me being detail oriented and moving about quite a bit. That's all good, as I have nothing else to do.
This morning I submitted the history essay for ILE. This means, among other things, that I am now unofficially two-thirds of the way done with ILE. I'm absolutely pumped about that! The end, as they say, is in sight. In light of that, I thought this was interesting, in terms of looking at the types of conflict to expect in the next 10 to 15 years. And I found this article too. All good stuff.
Part of me feels bad for skipping PT this morning, but I really don't. Kim was on the line and we were both fairly much awake, so it was all good.
Short post for now, so that's about it. I'll beat on KBR more tomorrow and sooner or later, they'll have the details hammered out.
Enjoy!
Alright folks, don't get accustomed to this. Most of you know why I'm posting. Let's hear it. Exactly. I have other work that needs to be done, hence the post. I am, if nothing else, predictable.
This week, we have lots and lots of workers coming here to work and then next week lots and lots of folks leaving. Why do I care? Because the former group needs to be badged, which is what I do here. The latter group all have a badge I must collect. Contrary to the opinion of the LTs in the 1-8, badges are controlled items. They're a big deal, and quite frankly, I don't fancy allowing some forgetful Turk to take one home on a convoy with him. So, this week is going to see me being detail oriented and moving about quite a bit. That's all good, as I have nothing else to do.
This morning I submitted the history essay for ILE. This means, among other things, that I am now unofficially two-thirds of the way done with ILE. I'm absolutely pumped about that! The end, as they say, is in sight. In light of that, I thought this was interesting, in terms of looking at the types of conflict to expect in the next 10 to 15 years. And I found this article too. All good stuff.
Part of me feels bad for skipping PT this morning, but I really don't. Kim was on the line and we were both fairly much awake, so it was all good.
Short post for now, so that's about it. I'll beat on KBR more tomorrow and sooner or later, they'll have the details hammered out.
Enjoy!
Saturday, August 23, 2008
14/4
Just so everyone knows: MY WIFE TOTALLY ROCKS!!!
The temptation now is to post and leave that as the entire blog posting, but those who know me understand I'm far too loquacious to not expand on that particular fact. A few weeks ago, I ordered a new razor, a Merkur Heavy Duty safety razor. So, since Amazon's too much of a wuss to send that to an APO, I had it sent home to my wife, who rocks, and who is NOT too much of wuss to send it here. With it, she threw in yellow and purple Propel (excellent!), some pics from class and a card. That, my friends, is why my wife rocks. She sends me cool stuff without complaining. Along with that arrived some books from Jeff - dude, you are an intellectual oasis in a desert of Maxim magazines my friend! Thank you very much!! And lastly, a couple of DryMistat tubes I had ordered showed up. The other two tupperware containers I have here are now field expedient humidors, all for the low price of nine bucks each. Why, do you ask, do I need two more humidors? Because, with the same birthday money (thank you Mom & Dad), with which I purchased said razor, I picked up two bricks of decent cigars (personally, I like the torpedos, but that's a lot of cigar, should have gone with robustos, live and learn). Now, just for the record, fifty cigars is a lot of smokes. Ergo, the need for more humidors. The circle is complete - now all I need is for the weather to break, at least under 100, so I can sit out on my veranda, enjoy a cigar and read. One more thing to add to the "Leave List".
Did I mention that Kim is awesome?
This week has been good. My morning routine is improving, if nothing else. I'm nowhere near as consistent as I'd like to be, but that will come with time. All that said, tomorrow morning is an "A" day, so I'll be back at the weight stack. As long as I get a couple of days on the elliptical trainer, I'm good to hook.
Work-wise, we continue to work at the whole impregnable fortress image. I have two dudes to put on alert, which I'll have done in a day or two. I've made progress on the essay for phase two, and today should see me making even more progress on it. In fact, my goal today is to have the outline stuff entirely done - Germans, Russians, Modularity and the discussion and intro sections. That means I can start putting this Frankensteinian essay together and run some voltage through it to see if it can walk on its own. Once that's all done, it's on to phase three baby!
Many folks here obsess about an AFN hookup in their CHU. I do not. Personally, I don't watch a whole lot of TV at home, and what little I watch, I have on an 8 DVD set here in theater (all eight seasons of CSI baby!). All that said, I'm happy to be missing the drama surrounding the presidential race right now. For all that, I manage to keep up somehow. Needless to say, I enjoy the commentary of Day By Day.
Enjoy!
Just so everyone knows: MY WIFE TOTALLY ROCKS!!!
The temptation now is to post and leave that as the entire blog posting, but those who know me understand I'm far too loquacious to not expand on that particular fact. A few weeks ago, I ordered a new razor, a Merkur Heavy Duty safety razor. So, since Amazon's too much of a wuss to send that to an APO, I had it sent home to my wife, who rocks, and who is NOT too much of wuss to send it here. With it, she threw in yellow and purple Propel (excellent!), some pics from class and a card. That, my friends, is why my wife rocks. She sends me cool stuff without complaining. Along with that arrived some books from Jeff - dude, you are an intellectual oasis in a desert of Maxim magazines my friend! Thank you very much!! And lastly, a couple of DryMistat tubes I had ordered showed up. The other two tupperware containers I have here are now field expedient humidors, all for the low price of nine bucks each. Why, do you ask, do I need two more humidors? Because, with the same birthday money (thank you Mom & Dad), with which I purchased said razor, I picked up two bricks of decent cigars (personally, I like the torpedos, but that's a lot of cigar, should have gone with robustos, live and learn). Now, just for the record, fifty cigars is a lot of smokes. Ergo, the need for more humidors. The circle is complete - now all I need is for the weather to break, at least under 100, so I can sit out on my veranda, enjoy a cigar and read. One more thing to add to the "Leave List".
Did I mention that Kim is awesome?
This week has been good. My morning routine is improving, if nothing else. I'm nowhere near as consistent as I'd like to be, but that will come with time. All that said, tomorrow morning is an "A" day, so I'll be back at the weight stack. As long as I get a couple of days on the elliptical trainer, I'm good to hook.
Work-wise, we continue to work at the whole impregnable fortress image. I have two dudes to put on alert, which I'll have done in a day or two. I've made progress on the essay for phase two, and today should see me making even more progress on it. In fact, my goal today is to have the outline stuff entirely done - Germans, Russians, Modularity and the discussion and intro sections. That means I can start putting this Frankensteinian essay together and run some voltage through it to see if it can walk on its own. Once that's all done, it's on to phase three baby!
Many folks here obsess about an AFN hookup in their CHU. I do not. Personally, I don't watch a whole lot of TV at home, and what little I watch, I have on an 8 DVD set here in theater (all eight seasons of CSI baby!). All that said, I'm happy to be missing the drama surrounding the presidential race right now. For all that, I manage to keep up somehow. Needless to say, I enjoy the commentary of Day By Day.
Enjoy!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Surprised
The variety of tasks we undertake here as a unit never ceases to surprise me. This assignment - to be a Mayor Cell for a base - is one that ARNG units are uniquely suited to do. After all, the Regulars don't exactly have a career outside the military to draw on.
I have my leave dates, and am preparing myself to visit home for a while. Today I sent home the first of a couple of footlockers. The intent is to get some of the extra gear and stuff home from here. Extra in the sense that I know I don't need it, and can't imagine keeping it here. Ultimately, I will send as much stuff and equipment home through the postal service as I can. I have absolutely no intent of dragging multiple duffel bags through customs, dumping and repacking several times either on leave or redeployment. One of the facets of military life I've never truly been able to understand is the "necessity" for multiple inspections of the same items more than twice in a row in less than 24 hour period. So, in order to avoid this particular personal hell, I am sending home most of my stuff.
So, in December, Kim bought me a new pair of Danner THXs. Great boots - comfy, light, and generally well constructed. Eight months of wear later, the insoles are destroyed, all the eyelets are pulling out from the leather, one of them is cutting laces and there's a half in long gash in the instep of one of them. Needless to say, I'm slightly disappointed. OK, I know Danner has outstanding customer service, I'll send them the old boots and ask them to hook me up. Well, what do I wear in the meantime? My old Danners, of course! Ahh, but the insoles are destroyed in them too. No problem - bought new insoles, Sole insoles. Absolutely love them! Granted, I don't have the oven to heat them in order to mold them to my feet, but beggars cannot be choosers. Need great new insoles? Get Sole.
In the course of getting stuff done today, my NCO and I stopped at the "big PX" on the "other side". My intent was to buy foot powder, among other things. Imagine my surprise when they were sold out. Yeah, I don't get it either. I know AAFES isn't really trying to make money, and I know we only have 100+ temperatures here for 7 or 8 months a year, so WHY would they carry extra foot powder in stock? Needless to say, I am becoming very much acquainted with online resources for normal, everyday items the PX is either unable or unwilling to stock. Dear readers, if you care to send a couple or three containers of Gold Bond (or your fave brand) of foot powder, I guarantee that I will get them to the Chaplain's stock and make them available for other soldiers. I'm ordering some right now. *edit* Actually, found the second thing of it I had in my can, so all is good. Still, AAFES needs to figure out it's either get on the ball or we go online.
On that particular note, thanks tons to Brian and Joanne! The tuna fish lunch thingies are awesome! Mom & Dad, the TOC finally has the coffee urn set up and running, they are happy! Good things to send, one of which I learned from Anj, is trail mix - the kind with nuts and M&Ms totally rocks! That, of course, is just my own unedited opinion. Others don't like trail mix, but it fits well in the office, so I'm all for it. Again, thanks to everyone who has sent and keeps sending stuff this way. You all have been simply outstanding! I can't say how cool it is first to jut get mail, and second to get stuff in a box that I just can't get here (due to time or AAFES, or both).
Leave dates are just over a month away, which is a good thing.
Enjoy!
The variety of tasks we undertake here as a unit never ceases to surprise me. This assignment - to be a Mayor Cell for a base - is one that ARNG units are uniquely suited to do. After all, the Regulars don't exactly have a career outside the military to draw on.
I have my leave dates, and am preparing myself to visit home for a while. Today I sent home the first of a couple of footlockers. The intent is to get some of the extra gear and stuff home from here. Extra in the sense that I know I don't need it, and can't imagine keeping it here. Ultimately, I will send as much stuff and equipment home through the postal service as I can. I have absolutely no intent of dragging multiple duffel bags through customs, dumping and repacking several times either on leave or redeployment. One of the facets of military life I've never truly been able to understand is the "necessity" for multiple inspections of the same items more than twice in a row in less than 24 hour period. So, in order to avoid this particular personal hell, I am sending home most of my stuff.
So, in December, Kim bought me a new pair of Danner THXs. Great boots - comfy, light, and generally well constructed. Eight months of wear later, the insoles are destroyed, all the eyelets are pulling out from the leather, one of them is cutting laces and there's a half in long gash in the instep of one of them. Needless to say, I'm slightly disappointed. OK, I know Danner has outstanding customer service, I'll send them the old boots and ask them to hook me up. Well, what do I wear in the meantime? My old Danners, of course! Ahh, but the insoles are destroyed in them too. No problem - bought new insoles, Sole insoles. Absolutely love them! Granted, I don't have the oven to heat them in order to mold them to my feet, but beggars cannot be choosers. Need great new insoles? Get Sole.
In the course of getting stuff done today, my NCO and I stopped at the "big PX" on the "other side". My intent was to buy foot powder, among other things. Imagine my surprise when they were sold out. Yeah, I don't get it either. I know AAFES isn't really trying to make money, and I know we only have 100+ temperatures here for 7 or 8 months a year, so WHY would they carry extra foot powder in stock? Needless to say, I am becoming very much acquainted with online resources for normal, everyday items the PX is either unable or unwilling to stock. Dear readers, if you care to send a couple or three containers of Gold Bond (or your fave brand) of foot powder, I guarantee that I will get them to the Chaplain's stock and make them available for other soldiers. I'm ordering some right now. *edit* Actually, found the second thing of it I had in my can, so all is good. Still, AAFES needs to figure out it's either get on the ball or we go online.
On that particular note, thanks tons to Brian and Joanne! The tuna fish lunch thingies are awesome! Mom & Dad, the TOC finally has the coffee urn set up and running, they are happy! Good things to send, one of which I learned from Anj, is trail mix - the kind with nuts and M&Ms totally rocks! That, of course, is just my own unedited opinion. Others don't like trail mix, but it fits well in the office, so I'm all for it. Again, thanks to everyone who has sent and keeps sending stuff this way. You all have been simply outstanding! I can't say how cool it is first to jut get mail, and second to get stuff in a box that I just can't get here (due to time or AAFES, or both).
Leave dates are just over a month away, which is a good thing.
Enjoy!
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Procrastination
Nothing is better to ensure a blog post than procrastination. You see, I know I haven't posted in a long time. I also know that posting has been an item in my to do list for just as long. So, while I sit here in the office, with forms in front of me to sign, I think to myself, "what a PERFECT time to post to the blog". Just ask anyone who knows me - nothing like putting off something else to get yet another thing done that should have been done a long time ago, as I procrastinated doing it then. Don't try this at home folks, I'm a trained professional.
So what's happened since my last post? Well, I turned 40, which was extremely cool. I talked to Paul, commisserated and solved the world's problems. Well, we complained, not sure we really solved anything. Kim sent me some boxes of stuff - extremely cool stuff - which I just loved! I still have that "40" confetti all over my CHU floor. That's love folks.
Today's been a good day. Got a lot done today (reconciled a company of ~ 650 badges to zero discrepancies....that's no small task considering it's run by Turks), had a great dinner with another company (my neighbors, actually) and am sitting here, writing and listening to Pat Metheny. Granted, it could be better. I could be at home, with Kim, Dave or Brubeck on the stereo, a bottle of MY Pinot Noir...maybe some Scrabble...could be very much better. But, I'm here and looking at roughly five weeks until I get to play Scrabble. Not that I did a whole lot of that before I came over here, but that's Iraq for you - never know what changes are wrought in the space of a scant few months.
This week's been interesting. I told you I just...sorry, "we" (didn't do it alone)...got a company of 650 souls to be down to zero mistakes on badge accountability. So what? So each of those badges gets a person onto the base. Getting the picture? Throw in the fact this company tends to move employees from base to base and not tell us, not get badges changed, etc, and life becomes more interesting. They're not bad people, they're not stupid, just ignorant. As humans we tend to focus on ourselves. Not true? Hmm...I think I have an apple here somewhere to test that theory. Anyhow, considering the second, third and fourth order effects of our actions and decisions requires stretching, it's work. So I run a company and need widget fixers in Tal Afar. Too easy, I'll move them from Mosul. Tell someone? Why should I do that? It's MY company. See what I mean? It's not unlike dealing with the kids I taught at LC, except I really can't speak the language this time. Tomorrow I think I start a new project and continue an older one. I don't want to look at another roster for a few days.
That's been about it. Oh, one more thing - broke 200 on benching. That was fun, felt that all day. I still don't look any bigger though.
Enjoy!
Nothing is better to ensure a blog post than procrastination. You see, I know I haven't posted in a long time. I also know that posting has been an item in my to do list for just as long. So, while I sit here in the office, with forms in front of me to sign, I think to myself, "what a PERFECT time to post to the blog". Just ask anyone who knows me - nothing like putting off something else to get yet another thing done that should have been done a long time ago, as I procrastinated doing it then. Don't try this at home folks, I'm a trained professional.
So what's happened since my last post? Well, I turned 40, which was extremely cool. I talked to Paul, commisserated and solved the world's problems. Well, we complained, not sure we really solved anything. Kim sent me some boxes of stuff - extremely cool stuff - which I just loved! I still have that "40" confetti all over my CHU floor. That's love folks.
Today's been a good day. Got a lot done today (reconciled a company of ~ 650 badges to zero discrepancies....that's no small task considering it's run by Turks), had a great dinner with another company (my neighbors, actually) and am sitting here, writing and listening to Pat Metheny. Granted, it could be better. I could be at home, with Kim, Dave or Brubeck on the stereo, a bottle of MY Pinot Noir...maybe some Scrabble...could be very much better. But, I'm here and looking at roughly five weeks until I get to play Scrabble. Not that I did a whole lot of that before I came over here, but that's Iraq for you - never know what changes are wrought in the space of a scant few months.
This week's been interesting. I told you I just...sorry, "we" (didn't do it alone)...got a company of 650 souls to be down to zero mistakes on badge accountability. So what? So each of those badges gets a person onto the base. Getting the picture? Throw in the fact this company tends to move employees from base to base and not tell us, not get badges changed, etc, and life becomes more interesting. They're not bad people, they're not stupid, just ignorant. As humans we tend to focus on ourselves. Not true? Hmm...I think I have an apple here somewhere to test that theory. Anyhow, considering the second, third and fourth order effects of our actions and decisions requires stretching, it's work. So I run a company and need widget fixers in Tal Afar. Too easy, I'll move them from Mosul. Tell someone? Why should I do that? It's MY company. See what I mean? It's not unlike dealing with the kids I taught at LC, except I really can't speak the language this time. Tomorrow I think I start a new project and continue an older one. I don't want to look at another roster for a few days.
That's been about it. Oh, one more thing - broke 200 on benching. That was fun, felt that all day. I still don't look any bigger though.
Enjoy!
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Seventeen
Today, dear readers, is my seventeenth wedding anniversary. To quote Kim, if we add in the four years we knew each other prior to being married, we've known each other 21 years. We are now legal! I still can't believe she's put up with me that long...
Today is also a Sunday, which means you all get a post whether I want to write or not. Thanks to server issues, I'm posting in someone else's office instead of my own. No big deal, just incredibly inconvenient. This week has been a tad stressful, I'll admit. Companies are coming and going, which will end up issuing or terminating thousands of badges. Doing all of that in an accurate and timely fashion is no mean feat. My troops are up to the task, of that I have no fear. I do have some minor concern that the ACR isn't really paying attention when I say, "no, we're not doing an inventory, as half of the badges are going in or going out". We'll see how that works out.
Yesterday, we had a German come in to try and get a brown badge. Now, this dude's been in before, in May to be exact. He had a bad attitude then - bad enough that I was tempted to give him the option of taking the badge I was able to get approved for him, or no badge at all. So just in case he didn't get the message the first time three months ago, I wrote the response in German and attached it to the application. Oddly enough, I still cannot issue him a brown badge, that's the rules.
Other than that, most of my existance is coping with what comes my way. I hate being reactive, as it means I give up the initiative, but right now have no choice. Companies are still negotiating this and that, which means my planning is in a holding pattern until they make some decisions. It is what it is, which means we'll wait until we can see how the situation looks and make a plan to meet the goals set for us.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
It happens even here.
Last night, another officer and I went to a local vendor (a "Haji Shop") to look for DVDs. Honestly, I was looking for CSI episodes and struck the motherlode. Anyhow, I'm perusing the goods, when the vendor (a Turkish fellow) says to me, "Sir! Hello sir! Do you remember me?" Now, it had been a full day, I wasn't exactly tracking, and I suppose my face showed it. The vendor saw that and repeated, "Sir, I am Ahmed, CJ's brother! You remember?" To which I finally replied, "Oh, from two or three years ago?" At which point, this dude lights right up, "Yes! Yes! You remember!" "Um, actually, I don't, I have a twin brother you see..." So Paul, CJ and Ahmed say hello, for what it's worth. AND I picked up eight seasons of CSI for $40, which isn't bad. Naturally, if any of the DVDs don't work, I can bring them back to be recut....
Things are shaping up around here for near and long term plans. Near term, I met with some folks today and I think I can tackle the next month for the four or five companies involved with little to no hiccups. Long term, I have to decide if I'm sending anything via connex or not. At this point, I'm thinking to send all of my extra stuff home via USPS. First, because I can claim the postage on my travel voucher and get it back, second because I want it sent to my home, not Camp Atterbury, and lastly because I don't want the customs apes at Atterbury pawing through my stuff.
Hey, Carl and Sarah, thanks TONS for the package!! Used the mug this morning, and I think I have a new favorite mug. This one is nice!
Folks, that's all the news here from my end of the world.
Enjoy!
Last night, another officer and I went to a local vendor (a "Haji Shop") to look for DVDs. Honestly, I was looking for CSI episodes and struck the motherlode. Anyhow, I'm perusing the goods, when the vendor (a Turkish fellow) says to me, "Sir! Hello sir! Do you remember me?" Now, it had been a full day, I wasn't exactly tracking, and I suppose my face showed it. The vendor saw that and repeated, "Sir, I am Ahmed, CJ's brother! You remember?" To which I finally replied, "Oh, from two or three years ago?" At which point, this dude lights right up, "Yes! Yes! You remember!" "Um, actually, I don't, I have a twin brother you see..." So Paul, CJ and Ahmed say hello, for what it's worth. AND I picked up eight seasons of CSI for $40, which isn't bad. Naturally, if any of the DVDs don't work, I can bring them back to be recut....
Things are shaping up around here for near and long term plans. Near term, I met with some folks today and I think I can tackle the next month for the four or five companies involved with little to no hiccups. Long term, I have to decide if I'm sending anything via connex or not. At this point, I'm thinking to send all of my extra stuff home via USPS. First, because I can claim the postage on my travel voucher and get it back, second because I want it sent to my home, not Camp Atterbury, and lastly because I don't want the customs apes at Atterbury pawing through my stuff.
Hey, Carl and Sarah, thanks TONS for the package!! Used the mug this morning, and I think I have a new favorite mug. This one is nice!
Folks, that's all the news here from my end of the world.
Enjoy!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Weekend of Firsts!
Hello everybody! True to form, this has been an excellent weekend. Actually, Sunday was a good, good day. Basically I slept late (0630), drank some coffee, read a book, skipped a briefing (the LT just reads the slides anyhow), grilled steaks (later that day) and PT this morning kicked butt.
So, the firsts. I think I posted a month or so ago that I was tired of grilling meat that had no flavor, no prep, nothing. As a result, I had ordered a pound of kosher salt and some steak rub from Penzy's. Unlike other online merchants (ie, Target, et al), they ship to APOs. THEN, last week I scored some decent steaks at the PX. Last night we cooked them up. The result was very, very good! The salt did the trick, as it usually does and the rub is just fantastic on top of all that. It was good to be back at a grill, fussing over steaks. So, the experiment worked! The other first - just went over my own body weight on bench press, which for a guy with my build, is kind of cool.
Work-wise, things are progressing well. Odd thing, I get into these emotional ruts, where I just don't want to be here at all, work through it, write or watch DVDs or read a book - basically change things up a little - and life gets better. Currently, I have three or five relatively decent sized balls in the air that I continue to juggle. My intent is to concentrate on one of them at a time, until I get rid of them altogether. This includes, of course, the LAST ESSAY I need to write in order to be done with Phase 2 of ILE. I might, just might, have to do this in the evenings. We'll see.
[rant] One fact of life, to which I've resigned myself, is that those celebrities who visit Iraq seldom make their way far enough north to see us here in Mosul. While this shouldn't surprise anyone, I'm left to wonder why any politician would make his way all the way here just to ignore US troops. Oh wait, that's right, now I remember. Obama was never in the military. So, if visits determine votes, it looks like Dane Cook will carry the "stationed in Mosul in 2008" demographic. [/rant]
That's the update for this morning. Life is progressing inexorably to that date in September when I will go on leave!
Enjoy!
Hello everybody! True to form, this has been an excellent weekend. Actually, Sunday was a good, good day. Basically I slept late (0630), drank some coffee, read a book, skipped a briefing (the LT just reads the slides anyhow), grilled steaks (later that day) and PT this morning kicked butt.
So, the firsts. I think I posted a month or so ago that I was tired of grilling meat that had no flavor, no prep, nothing. As a result, I had ordered a pound of kosher salt and some steak rub from Penzy's. Unlike other online merchants (ie, Target, et al), they ship to APOs. THEN, last week I scored some decent steaks at the PX. Last night we cooked them up. The result was very, very good! The salt did the trick, as it usually does and the rub is just fantastic on top of all that. It was good to be back at a grill, fussing over steaks. So, the experiment worked! The other first - just went over my own body weight on bench press, which for a guy with my build, is kind of cool.
Work-wise, things are progressing well. Odd thing, I get into these emotional ruts, where I just don't want to be here at all, work through it, write or watch DVDs or read a book - basically change things up a little - and life gets better. Currently, I have three or five relatively decent sized balls in the air that I continue to juggle. My intent is to concentrate on one of them at a time, until I get rid of them altogether. This includes, of course, the LAST ESSAY I need to write in order to be done with Phase 2 of ILE. I might, just might, have to do this in the evenings. We'll see.
[rant] One fact of life, to which I've resigned myself, is that those celebrities who visit Iraq seldom make their way far enough north to see us here in Mosul. While this shouldn't surprise anyone, I'm left to wonder why any politician would make his way all the way here just to ignore US troops. Oh wait, that's right, now I remember. Obama was never in the military. So, if visits determine votes, it looks like Dane Cook will carry the "stationed in Mosul in 2008" demographic. [/rant]
That's the update for this morning. Life is progressing inexorably to that date in September when I will go on leave!
Enjoy!
Thursday, July 24, 2008
It's Friday Already?
We have been very busy this week. Not "frantic" busy, but busy enough that I'm not counting the minutes as they pass. That's all good, but it also means that my already rather long Master To-Do List gets longer. Folks 'round here tell me to grow accustomed to that state of affairs. To be honest, leaving loose ends for my successor to tie up bothers me, hence the need to get the list done. I know, I know, we don't RIP anytime soon, it's the intent I want to maintain though.
Apparently, according to my Bride, my brother made his way to Evansville to pickup the truck. Just so it's somewhere in writing, the truck has a Rhino liner in the bed, in-dash CD player, AC, cruise control, V6 engine and still looks pretty decent (for an eight year old vehicle). Paul, have fun teaching the girls to drive a stick! Oh, the tires are new too.
So, last night I went and did the Turkish dinner thing with some folks who had invited several of us from Badging. Normally I beg off of these, as being polite, charming and witty after dealing with ten hours of "can I please have this" and "why can't I have that" is an effort. But, I needed to go and so I went. It was good. Food was great, company was great and we all had a pleasant time. I watched two guys play two, almost three rounds of backgammon inside of ten minutes. These guys are cutthroat backgammon players! They don't even stop to count the little points while they're moving.
Unfortunately, I've not been writing for pleasure as much as usual. Oddly enough, I can tell. One viewpoint of why to write is here. Enjoy the article!
Short post, I apologize! Like I said, this has been a full week. So much so, I am looking forward to Sunday, just to catch up on projects I've had to let go for immediate need items.
Enjoy!
We have been very busy this week. Not "frantic" busy, but busy enough that I'm not counting the minutes as they pass. That's all good, but it also means that my already rather long Master To-Do List gets longer. Folks 'round here tell me to grow accustomed to that state of affairs. To be honest, leaving loose ends for my successor to tie up bothers me, hence the need to get the list done. I know, I know, we don't RIP anytime soon, it's the intent I want to maintain though.
Apparently, according to my Bride, my brother made his way to Evansville to pickup the truck. Just so it's somewhere in writing, the truck has a Rhino liner in the bed, in-dash CD player, AC, cruise control, V6 engine and still looks pretty decent (for an eight year old vehicle). Paul, have fun teaching the girls to drive a stick! Oh, the tires are new too.
So, last night I went and did the Turkish dinner thing with some folks who had invited several of us from Badging. Normally I beg off of these, as being polite, charming and witty after dealing with ten hours of "can I please have this" and "why can't I have that" is an effort. But, I needed to go and so I went. It was good. Food was great, company was great and we all had a pleasant time. I watched two guys play two, almost three rounds of backgammon inside of ten minutes. These guys are cutthroat backgammon players! They don't even stop to count the little points while they're moving.
Unfortunately, I've not been writing for pleasure as much as usual. Oddly enough, I can tell. One viewpoint of why to write is here. Enjoy the article!
Short post, I apologize! Like I said, this has been a full week. So much so, I am looking forward to Sunday, just to catch up on projects I've had to let go for immediate need items.
Enjoy!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Sunday Reflections
Greetings once again from Mosul, vacationland of the north! Today is Sunday and true to form, it's time for another post. Why do I mostly post on Sundays? Easy - the contractors who work for me get today off. This means nobody is here to be screened or printed or pick up a badge, or arrange for a badge, etc. I can sit in the office, literally, all day and not see a single soul. That, ladies and gentlemen, is a good day. Why? Because the other six days of the week, my door is a revolving door for all sorts of requests from the mundane badging type to the incredibly unique (yesterday, I turned travel agent, went to the transportation yard to wave my oak leaf around and get a Turk on a convoy to go back to Q-West...not something I've ever done before). So Sundays I do no PT, usually clean the office, restock my supply of bottled water sitting inside, clean the CHU, catch up on projects that I've had to set aside thanks to folks walking into the office and asking odd sorts of favors. Like can I help a Turk get back to Q-West, that sort of thing.
Here's what I need you all to do before reading the next section. Look to the right of this post at the links. I should - should - have a link to Kim's blog. Click on that and read her latest post. When you're done, hit the "back" button and keep reading.
SO I was talking to Kim on the phone yesterday morning (more about phone calls later) and she mentioned this yard sale thing my mother-in-law (MIL) was going to do with her. My bride, the love of my life, knows how much I abhor conducting yard sales, which is perfect, as she likes doing them. It's like eating olives, so there's a balance. Anyhow, Kim was mentioning how hot it was going to be and that sort of thing. Not wanting to miss an opportunity, I replied with, "OK, so do that, then wear some hiking boots, jeans, a t-shirt, a long shirt, go to the garage, grab my old kevlar helmet wear that too..." Kim responded with, "I get it, I get it." And we laughed about it. Honestly, the only way I handle this heat is I don't really have to be out in it all day long. Aside from that, I drink all the freaking time, I mean all the time, I'm in good physical condition (this is key, by the way), and there is almost NO humidity. I'll happily take 120 in this environment for 95 in Evansville, any day. Any. Day. The humidity in Evansville is horrendous. It's bad enough that while I like living there, I would not have chosen to live there.
Before I forget, this is an excellent article on COIN and where it fits in our spectrum of professional skills. Be advised, it doesn't place COIN on the same pedestal as the rest of the Army. Granted, it's important, but his thesis, in my opinion is accurate.
A quick note on phone calls, as that seems to be a topic that's on my mind. The difference between here and Evansville (which is in the Central Time Zone) is eight hours. That is to say, when it's 0800 here, it's midnight the night prior in EVV. When it's 1600 here, it's 0800 the same day in EVV. Evansville is eight hours behind me. As I've outlined in the past, my day usually starts at 0530 or so when I call Kim. I work, or am on task with something vaguely relating to the military, from 0800 until 1800 or so almost daily. Given also that I'm not the only dude on this base with family on a different continent, and getting a working phone line either DSN or via internet, can be a chore at times. Usually Kim and I get pretty decent reception through the internet most mornings, but we've had pretty cruddy connections too. Calling Kim daily isn't a chore or a duty, it's what I do. I made a commitment almost 17 years ago, and that's what takes priority on calling home (never mind the fringe benefits associated with that effort). I will not stay awake past 2200 to call (can't really get out easily, as I've tried) and I most certainly will not roll my butt out of bed at ungodly hours to do so (ie, 0300). Folks, I live and die by email. I can chat on yahoo or Skype, I've done that with folks in the evenings, which works wonderfully for me (lower bandwidth than calling, so it's easier to do reliably). Phone calling is not an easy task, trust me, between the time difference and the duty day's hours (which have extend to 2100, from time to time). I will answer all emails, trust me. Yahoo chat is far easier than trying to get a spawar phone in the evenings, or a DSN line (which is not always available) or talking via internet.
Off the soapbox.
Anyhow, life is going well. This afternoon I'll either jump into database work, or work on a research paper for ILE. Likely it's going to be the paper, as I have a hankering to get it in the can. That's my day!
Enjoy!
Greetings once again from Mosul, vacationland of the north! Today is Sunday and true to form, it's time for another post. Why do I mostly post on Sundays? Easy - the contractors who work for me get today off. This means nobody is here to be screened or printed or pick up a badge, or arrange for a badge, etc. I can sit in the office, literally, all day and not see a single soul. That, ladies and gentlemen, is a good day. Why? Because the other six days of the week, my door is a revolving door for all sorts of requests from the mundane badging type to the incredibly unique (yesterday, I turned travel agent, went to the transportation yard to wave my oak leaf around and get a Turk on a convoy to go back to Q-West...not something I've ever done before). So Sundays I do no PT, usually clean the office, restock my supply of bottled water sitting inside, clean the CHU, catch up on projects that I've had to set aside thanks to folks walking into the office and asking odd sorts of favors. Like can I help a Turk get back to Q-West, that sort of thing.
Here's what I need you all to do before reading the next section. Look to the right of this post at the links. I should - should - have a link to Kim's blog. Click on that and read her latest post. When you're done, hit the "back" button and keep reading.
SO I was talking to Kim on the phone yesterday morning (more about phone calls later) and she mentioned this yard sale thing my mother-in-law (MIL) was going to do with her. My bride, the love of my life, knows how much I abhor conducting yard sales, which is perfect, as she likes doing them. It's like eating olives, so there's a balance. Anyhow, Kim was mentioning how hot it was going to be and that sort of thing. Not wanting to miss an opportunity, I replied with, "OK, so do that, then wear some hiking boots, jeans, a t-shirt, a long shirt, go to the garage, grab my old kevlar helmet wear that too..." Kim responded with, "I get it, I get it." And we laughed about it. Honestly, the only way I handle this heat is I don't really have to be out in it all day long. Aside from that, I drink all the freaking time, I mean all the time, I'm in good physical condition (this is key, by the way), and there is almost NO humidity. I'll happily take 120 in this environment for 95 in Evansville, any day. Any. Day. The humidity in Evansville is horrendous. It's bad enough that while I like living there, I would not have chosen to live there.
Before I forget, this is an excellent article on COIN and where it fits in our spectrum of professional skills. Be advised, it doesn't place COIN on the same pedestal as the rest of the Army. Granted, it's important, but his thesis, in my opinion is accurate.
A quick note on phone calls, as that seems to be a topic that's on my mind. The difference between here and Evansville (which is in the Central Time Zone) is eight hours. That is to say, when it's 0800 here, it's midnight the night prior in EVV. When it's 1600 here, it's 0800 the same day in EVV. Evansville is eight hours behind me. As I've outlined in the past, my day usually starts at 0530 or so when I call Kim. I work, or am on task with something vaguely relating to the military, from 0800 until 1800 or so almost daily. Given also that I'm not the only dude on this base with family on a different continent, and getting a working phone line either DSN or via internet, can be a chore at times. Usually Kim and I get pretty decent reception through the internet most mornings, but we've had pretty cruddy connections too. Calling Kim daily isn't a chore or a duty, it's what I do. I made a commitment almost 17 years ago, and that's what takes priority on calling home (never mind the fringe benefits associated with that effort). I will not stay awake past 2200 to call (can't really get out easily, as I've tried) and I most certainly will not roll my butt out of bed at ungodly hours to do so (ie, 0300). Folks, I live and die by email. I can chat on yahoo or Skype, I've done that with folks in the evenings, which works wonderfully for me (lower bandwidth than calling, so it's easier to do reliably). Phone calling is not an easy task, trust me, between the time difference and the duty day's hours (which have extend to 2100, from time to time). I will answer all emails, trust me. Yahoo chat is far easier than trying to get a spawar phone in the evenings, or a DSN line (which is not always available) or talking via internet.
Off the soapbox.
Anyhow, life is going well. This afternoon I'll either jump into database work, or work on a research paper for ILE. Likely it's going to be the paper, as I have a hankering to get it in the can. That's my day!
Enjoy!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Beginning of Wisdom?
This week has been progressing well, I think. I've actually been completing things on the "to do list", which is nice. Instead of randomly going at it, I took the slide that I briefed last week of "all the stuff I'm going to accomplish this week" and stuck it in front of me on the desk. This way, I figure it's a focus help. Plus, I decided to get more into the game and really worked the GTD piece of my uber-list and have been working off that too. It works for me.
Commander and I were reflecting earlier today, figured I'd share some of the observations here. When I first arrived in country, and even before that at the mobilization site, I was all about "soldiers are like this" or "soldier are like that". Really, it's not about soldiers, as much as it's about people in general. We've begun to notice that all the dumb stuff we whine about back home (ie, "brigade did this dumb thing" or "brigade has that silly plan"), is the same on active duty, and in the Regular Army. The leadership in the RA feels just as mercurial as the leadership in the ARNG. And honestly, they're really not all that much better than we are. Sure, they do this stuff every day, and I'll give them credit that they deploy on an every other year cycle. For all that, the quality of soldier isn't dramatically different than the quality we bring with us. Please don't misunderstand me, my intent isn't to tear down the RA and say they're some low quality soldier or some such. Quite the opposite. My point is, they're not that much better at this than we are. People can give me countless examples for and against this entire point, but I see it daily. So, the beginning of wisdom...people are people. Large organizations are all fraught with the same leadership issues. Soldiers are soldiers, regardless of who owns them. Higher HQ are no better or worse deployed than at home (ie, they all do the same things, make us wonder, "why did they do that", etc). And ultimately, most people show up day in and day out with the intent of doing the right thing, based on their understanding of the situation at hand.
Have I mentioned that I am married to the coolest woman in the world? Package arrived yesterday with TWO COLORS of Propel powder in it!! TWO! Purple and Red! I intend on doing a blog entry that reviews the various and sundry drink mix powder packets (mit Bilder) sooner or later.
So...four weeks until I get my leave date. Then, maybe another four, maybe another two until I go home on leave. What this tells me, in simple terms, is that in two weeks, I MUST purchase the anniversary present and have it sent (For the record, I'm working with a handicap on this one. See, normally, I could poke through Kim's stuff to make sure I don't duplicate previous gift efforts. In this case, I don't have that luxury, so I must rely on my really lame memory of what I think she might have in, around or in the dresser), the wine kits I intend to start and rack while on leave, and whatever else I think I need to get my butt home. Essentially, I'll need to pack one of the duffel bags with as much extra crap as possible. The rest goes into boxes and the footlocker, which I send home at the end of October.
Speaking of wine kits, I have my eye set on the Sangiovese these folks sell. I cannot remember if I've linked them before, I think I might have though. The plan, for those who are late in arriving to this here blog, is to make a batch of the Sangiovese, and rack it to secondary before I am done with leave. Also I will do a Merlot and a Cabernet and blend in the secondary. THEN, in January (follow me now), I get a Sangiovese, Pinot Noir and a Merlot from Kamil, and do two batches of a Tricorno. How freaking cool is that? Naturally, this will require new equipment (BIGGER FERMENTERS, ARR, arr, arr). Sadly, that means I'll have started 15 gallons in September and another 15 in January. Oh, and the 15 from September should be ready to clarify and package when we get back in December, not to mention drink. Got to fight the deep fight when it comes to making wine. Now, should any of you have any concerns at all about us having not enough wine in the rack, feel free to get us some. If you're not, that's cool, since I packaged 15 gallons last December. Most of it should still be there. Should. I plan on competing all three of those batches too.
That's the update for now.
Enjoy!
This week has been progressing well, I think. I've actually been completing things on the "to do list", which is nice. Instead of randomly going at it, I took the slide that I briefed last week of "all the stuff I'm going to accomplish this week" and stuck it in front of me on the desk. This way, I figure it's a focus help. Plus, I decided to get more into the game and really worked the GTD piece of my uber-list and have been working off that too. It works for me.
Commander and I were reflecting earlier today, figured I'd share some of the observations here. When I first arrived in country, and even before that at the mobilization site, I was all about "soldiers are like this" or "soldier are like that". Really, it's not about soldiers, as much as it's about people in general. We've begun to notice that all the dumb stuff we whine about back home (ie, "brigade did this dumb thing" or "brigade has that silly plan"), is the same on active duty, and in the Regular Army. The leadership in the RA feels just as mercurial as the leadership in the ARNG. And honestly, they're really not all that much better than we are. Sure, they do this stuff every day, and I'll give them credit that they deploy on an every other year cycle. For all that, the quality of soldier isn't dramatically different than the quality we bring with us. Please don't misunderstand me, my intent isn't to tear down the RA and say they're some low quality soldier or some such. Quite the opposite. My point is, they're not that much better at this than we are. People can give me countless examples for and against this entire point, but I see it daily. So, the beginning of wisdom...people are people. Large organizations are all fraught with the same leadership issues. Soldiers are soldiers, regardless of who owns them. Higher HQ are no better or worse deployed than at home (ie, they all do the same things, make us wonder, "why did they do that", etc). And ultimately, most people show up day in and day out with the intent of doing the right thing, based on their understanding of the situation at hand.
Have I mentioned that I am married to the coolest woman in the world? Package arrived yesterday with TWO COLORS of Propel powder in it!! TWO! Purple and Red! I intend on doing a blog entry that reviews the various and sundry drink mix powder packets (mit Bilder) sooner or later.
So...four weeks until I get my leave date. Then, maybe another four, maybe another two until I go home on leave. What this tells me, in simple terms, is that in two weeks, I MUST purchase the anniversary present and have it sent (For the record, I'm working with a handicap on this one. See, normally, I could poke through Kim's stuff to make sure I don't duplicate previous gift efforts. In this case, I don't have that luxury, so I must rely on my really lame memory of what I think she might have in, around or in the dresser), the wine kits I intend to start and rack while on leave, and whatever else I think I need to get my butt home. Essentially, I'll need to pack one of the duffel bags with as much extra crap as possible. The rest goes into boxes and the footlocker, which I send home at the end of October.
Speaking of wine kits, I have my eye set on the Sangiovese these folks sell. I cannot remember if I've linked them before, I think I might have though. The plan, for those who are late in arriving to this here blog, is to make a batch of the Sangiovese, and rack it to secondary before I am done with leave. Also I will do a Merlot and a Cabernet and blend in the secondary. THEN, in January (follow me now), I get a Sangiovese, Pinot Noir and a Merlot from Kamil, and do two batches of a Tricorno. How freaking cool is that? Naturally, this will require new equipment (BIGGER FERMENTERS, ARR, arr, arr). Sadly, that means I'll have started 15 gallons in September and another 15 in January. Oh, and the 15 from September should be ready to clarify and package when we get back in December, not to mention drink. Got to fight the deep fight when it comes to making wine. Now, should any of you have any concerns at all about us having not enough wine in the rack, feel free to get us some. If you're not, that's cool, since I packaged 15 gallons last December. Most of it should still be there. Should. I plan on competing all three of those batches too.
That's the update for now.
Enjoy!
Friday, July 11, 2008
Milestones...or Has It Really Been That Long??
Hello everybody! This has been a tough week. One of the soldiers in the section helped me out by giving me a cold, so I've had the sniffles all week. Today is the first day it seems to be lifting. Between Airborne (excellent stuff, by the way), more Sudafed and literally drowning the cold (no shortage of free bottled water), it seems to be working. And today is Friday, which means one more week is close to being done. As much as I'd like to truly enjoy the journey, the cold, hard fact is that I miss being home and hanging out with my wife.
On to the milestones. Yesterday was the 10th, which officially is the 7th month of the deployment. Pretty cool. Five to go. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm kind of stoked about that. Milestones...let's see, it's 3 weeks and 3 days until my anniversary. That's right, we'll have been married 17 years come August (I'm pretty sure my math is right on that one). I figured this one out the other day and keep thinking, "wow, Kim's put up with me for a long time!"
Thanks go out to lots of folks right now too! The Third Reformed Church's 3rd - 6th grade class, you guys are awesome!! Thanks for the pictures and letters, I owe you a real written response! Be warned, my handwriting is marginally better than my father's....but not by much. The Shaker Messenger Store, thanks for the soups. I'm more than a little nonplussed, as I have access to legitimately great bread, and can scare up a hotplate, but I'm short on the appropriate sized kettle. However, I see this as a challenge. I figure, once September or October hit, I'll be jonesin' for some decent soup and so I have a few months to scrounge said kettle. Good thing I know the Turkish Godfather. Last milestone: according to this, it's eight weeks until the Boilermakers take the field again. Now, for those who know me, this is an odd statement. Everybody knows I don't follow sports. Being over here, it's almost as if anything that reminds of home or good memories becomes something we latch onto, and so for me it's the whole college football thing. Who knows, I might actually follow the season this year. Here's the evil plan: get a TV, have it in the office, hook it up to one of the several AFN satellites on the rooftop and viola, college football Saturdays in the comfort of the office! Or even better, since we're eight hours behind on some of that stuff, I can very likely watch it on Sundays, which means NO INTERRUPTIONS! See, this gets better all the time! Nothing like a late Sunday morning, some nonalcoholic Bitburger Pils and a college football game.
For those of you who might be wondering, I do find it interesting that the Iraqi government is calling for a timetable on withdrawal of US forces here. Honestly, I'm not so sure the GOI understands how really fragile the current level of stability really is. My very limited perception on this whole scenario is that the GOI is like a 16 year old kid asking for the keys to the family car in the middle winter in Michigan (read, "deep snow") and saying something like, "no honestly, I know exactly how to drive in snow." NB: I believe both Paul and I have used this line in the same circumstance. Between an overconfident GOI and possibility of a Democrat in the White House in 2009, I can see this region descending back into the chaos it knew in the past, once we begin to significantly pull out of Iraq. It is what it is. Before we descend into arguments over politics, let me make my position clear: I am in 100% agreement with the philosophy outlined by Robert Heinlein in his book, Starship Troopers (awful film, excellent book, he'd never have approved that film were he alive..here's a very good treatment of that whole philosophy). I am under the impression that Obama Barack has never served in the military. If that's true, in my opinion, he has no business being President of the United States. Period. I fail to see how he can better show that he is able to place duty and honor and country before himself outside of military service. That, dear readers, is the distilled essence of my political views. I realize they are unreasonably narrow in some cases, I'm willing to accept that limitation.
That's about it for now. Coming out of the head cold tailspin is nice, needless to say. I could write about all the stuff here on my desk, but why? That's boring.
Enjoy!
Hello everybody! This has been a tough week. One of the soldiers in the section helped me out by giving me a cold, so I've had the sniffles all week. Today is the first day it seems to be lifting. Between Airborne (excellent stuff, by the way), more Sudafed and literally drowning the cold (no shortage of free bottled water), it seems to be working. And today is Friday, which means one more week is close to being done. As much as I'd like to truly enjoy the journey, the cold, hard fact is that I miss being home and hanging out with my wife.
On to the milestones. Yesterday was the 10th, which officially is the 7th month of the deployment. Pretty cool. Five to go. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm kind of stoked about that. Milestones...let's see, it's 3 weeks and 3 days until my anniversary. That's right, we'll have been married 17 years come August (I'm pretty sure my math is right on that one). I figured this one out the other day and keep thinking, "wow, Kim's put up with me for a long time!"
Thanks go out to lots of folks right now too! The Third Reformed Church's 3rd - 6th grade class, you guys are awesome!! Thanks for the pictures and letters, I owe you a real written response! Be warned, my handwriting is marginally better than my father's....but not by much. The Shaker Messenger Store, thanks for the soups. I'm more than a little nonplussed, as I have access to legitimately great bread, and can scare up a hotplate, but I'm short on the appropriate sized kettle. However, I see this as a challenge. I figure, once September or October hit, I'll be jonesin' for some decent soup and so I have a few months to scrounge said kettle. Good thing I know the Turkish Godfather. Last milestone: according to this, it's eight weeks until the Boilermakers take the field again. Now, for those who know me, this is an odd statement. Everybody knows I don't follow sports. Being over here, it's almost as if anything that reminds of home or good memories becomes something we latch onto, and so for me it's the whole college football thing. Who knows, I might actually follow the season this year. Here's the evil plan: get a TV, have it in the office, hook it up to one of the several AFN satellites on the rooftop and viola, college football Saturdays in the comfort of the office! Or even better, since we're eight hours behind on some of that stuff, I can very likely watch it on Sundays, which means NO INTERRUPTIONS! See, this gets better all the time! Nothing like a late Sunday morning, some nonalcoholic Bitburger Pils and a college football game.
For those of you who might be wondering, I do find it interesting that the Iraqi government is calling for a timetable on withdrawal of US forces here. Honestly, I'm not so sure the GOI understands how really fragile the current level of stability really is. My very limited perception on this whole scenario is that the GOI is like a 16 year old kid asking for the keys to the family car in the middle winter in Michigan (read, "deep snow") and saying something like, "no honestly, I know exactly how to drive in snow." NB: I believe both Paul and I have used this line in the same circumstance. Between an overconfident GOI and possibility of a Democrat in the White House in 2009, I can see this region descending back into the chaos it knew in the past, once we begin to significantly pull out of Iraq. It is what it is. Before we descend into arguments over politics, let me make my position clear: I am in 100% agreement with the philosophy outlined by Robert Heinlein in his book, Starship Troopers (awful film, excellent book, he'd never have approved that film were he alive..here's a very good treatment of that whole philosophy). I am under the impression that Obama Barack has never served in the military. If that's true, in my opinion, he has no business being President of the United States. Period. I fail to see how he can better show that he is able to place duty and honor and country before himself outside of military service. That, dear readers, is the distilled essence of my political views. I realize they are unreasonably narrow in some cases, I'm willing to accept that limitation.
That's about it for now. Coming out of the head cold tailspin is nice, needless to say. I could write about all the stuff here on my desk, but why? That's boring.
Enjoy!
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Another update! When I viewed my own statistics on this here blog, I realized that two or three updates a week would up my total for the month considerably. I'm concerned about finding enough to tell on here which doesn't 1. violate OPSEC, and 2. bore / frustrate / shock the readership. Some thoughts on the first one. Acknowledging this has been stated in the past, my section controls access privileges to this base. As a result, we talk to a lot of Iraqis and other people who work here (like, all of them). Not everyone is an angel and not everyone is a saint, we get plenty of both. Naturally, the interesting stuff, the really "sexy" stuff centers around those who are less of a saint. You know, the former Republican Guard, former Ba'ath Party folks who think they're now past all that, and so on. Some of those are in process still, no surprise there. That's what makes life interesting around here. That and employers (like AAFES), who can't seem to tell us where all their employees are. That's a comforting thought. See, to the military mind, personnel accountability is way high up there. To someone like me, "losing" people simply is unthinkable. Usually that sort of situation receives the reply of "How the &*#@ do you lose your people??", then I usually follow up with, "No, never mind, don't tell me. Just find them. I'll be back in three days, please have them found by then."
The 3ACR's priest is back from leave. The priest who had been here as a substitute was great! At one time he was in the OHARNG, which means he has a personality outside the military. The "normal" priest we have is fairly vanilla. I'm fairly certain he's a good man, but the substitute, well, he preached with personality. He was a real mensch. Reminded me of Fr John, honestly. So, now we're back to the vanilla homilies. I think I need to end up as a deacon for no other reason, than for folks to hear more homilies that aren't vanilla, kindergarten level, regurgitations of the readings. I was really happy at Holy Redeemer between Fr Jason and Fr Paul...then I deployed. Since then, the last month was the first time I've seen a priest who wasn't Philipino, AND one who could make the message of the readings really come alive. Kim would say I need to really watch what I say about who preaches how, and I'm certain I mostly agree with her...to a point...sort of. I really have a very hard time with dumbed down, watery messages disguised as homilies. Church tradition and the writings of the saints are so full of great stuff, why bother with "acceptable" preaching?? Most of the saints we revere today we're exactly agreeable people in their time. Keep in mind, Christ offended people, not by being rude and crude (Diba, take note), but by being the Son of God and preaching the Truth. It's really that simple. Challenge us! The message of Christ is going to be a stumbling block for many and that's OK - heck, the Eucharist was when Christ first practiced it, and He certainly didn't make it any more palatable at the time! Thus endeth the rant. Needless to say, I was less than impressed with Father's message this morning. I know, I know, we don't go for the message, but the Eucharist. It's still nice to have a priest, who can stand up there and say things like, "God doesn't love us with a cheeseburger love".
The focus here is the key to getting through it all. Most of the time here, I've existed only in the "now" and been mostly happy with the flow of things. As stressors build, as some of the really dumb stuff continues, the challenge to me is to continue staying in the "now" and focusing on results instead of the minutae of daily existence. So, knowing that, I'm looking to shift my focus back to the now and not be so wrapped up with what is or is not. I know I need to write more on my own, just to take my mind off things. Plus, I think a few nights of nothing but gaming or just vegging out watching DVDs would help too. Anything to set the day aside and let it go is good. Thanks to Kim and some others, I have plenty of DVDs. I picked one up this week on Amazon for like $5 including shipping. Got to like that!
Goal this week: roll out of bed early enough to lift M-W-F (which I have been doing), talk to Kim (ditto) and run T (which I have not been doing). And to focus on positive things.
Enjoy!
The 3ACR's priest is back from leave. The priest who had been here as a substitute was great! At one time he was in the OHARNG, which means he has a personality outside the military. The "normal" priest we have is fairly vanilla. I'm fairly certain he's a good man, but the substitute, well, he preached with personality. He was a real mensch. Reminded me of Fr John, honestly. So, now we're back to the vanilla homilies. I think I need to end up as a deacon for no other reason, than for folks to hear more homilies that aren't vanilla, kindergarten level, regurgitations of the readings. I was really happy at Holy Redeemer between Fr Jason and Fr Paul...then I deployed. Since then, the last month was the first time I've seen a priest who wasn't Philipino, AND one who could make the message of the readings really come alive. Kim would say I need to really watch what I say about who preaches how, and I'm certain I mostly agree with her...to a point...sort of. I really have a very hard time with dumbed down, watery messages disguised as homilies. Church tradition and the writings of the saints are so full of great stuff, why bother with "acceptable" preaching?? Most of the saints we revere today we're exactly agreeable people in their time. Keep in mind, Christ offended people, not by being rude and crude (Diba, take note), but by being the Son of God and preaching the Truth. It's really that simple. Challenge us! The message of Christ is going to be a stumbling block for many and that's OK - heck, the Eucharist was when Christ first practiced it, and He certainly didn't make it any more palatable at the time! Thus endeth the rant. Needless to say, I was less than impressed with Father's message this morning. I know, I know, we don't go for the message, but the Eucharist. It's still nice to have a priest, who can stand up there and say things like, "God doesn't love us with a cheeseburger love".
The focus here is the key to getting through it all. Most of the time here, I've existed only in the "now" and been mostly happy with the flow of things. As stressors build, as some of the really dumb stuff continues, the challenge to me is to continue staying in the "now" and focusing on results instead of the minutae of daily existence. So, knowing that, I'm looking to shift my focus back to the now and not be so wrapped up with what is or is not. I know I need to write more on my own, just to take my mind off things. Plus, I think a few nights of nothing but gaming or just vegging out watching DVDs would help too. Anything to set the day aside and let it go is good. Thanks to Kim and some others, I have plenty of DVDs. I picked one up this week on Amazon for like $5 including shipping. Got to like that!
Goal this week: roll out of bed early enough to lift M-W-F (which I have been doing), talk to Kim (ditto) and run T (which I have not been doing). And to focus on positive things.
Enjoy!
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Alright, time to update y'all back home. This has been an interesting week.
We continue to try and educate the infantry, and we're not being successful. Not sure what it is, to be honest (not using pictures, probably). I normally would think that a Major telling them, three times, "your battalion exec signs here" would suffice. I know, it's not outside the wire and it's not kicking in doors. For all that, these folks aren't helping me to help them. I've finally broken down and told their Ops guy. We'll see what happens. Note this is the same unit, whose misguided LT I had to set straight about combat arms and active duty time, so I suspect there's some underlying prejudice about the Guard and such.
Oh, I lost my temper in a most spectacular manner yesterday with a friend of mine over something pretty stupid. That was fun. Not real happy with myself over that. I've apologized, but it's still something I'm frustrated with myself about.
And then we had the air conditioner drama. That was an illustration in typical contractor BS around here:
AC in my office had been on the fritz for 5 days. I'd been able to nurse it along by turning it off every night, when I left for lunch, that sort of thing. Awaan (DPW contractor) came to replace it, so there was a shiny new one on the wall. Guy asks me to sign the paper, since it was installed. I look at the AC, and the power cord not only didn't reach the fuze, but it wasn't wired in. No electricity was going to this shiny new AC unit. So, essentially, it didn't work.
So I tell him, "No, I will sign your paper when the AC works."
Him: "But it does work."
Me: "No, it has no power, so it doesn't work."
Him: "We are not electrician."
Me: "OK, go get one and f*****g fix the AC. THEN the AC will work and I will sign the papers."
Apparently, he can understand English when I do what he wants. He then grabbed one of my linguists, made his case to her, she translated to me. I answered her with the same message, "Hey, as soon as the unit has power and is running, THEN it works. Period. I'll sign all sorts of papers for him then."
Linguist: "You're not happy about this?"
Me: "No I'm not happy. The job is not done."
I then walked into my sergeant's office and handed him my pistol ammo. After that, I didn't trust myself to keep a calm head. The kicker here is they get paid by the Army for each service call. This was one call, that they turned in to two. According to a soldier in our unit, they did this to a couple dozen soldiers on the post that day.
Here's what it's boiled down to for all of this: Do it right. Attention to detail is the key to success. The measure of success is in the follow-up. The Colonel was right.
Oh, for those of you following Bama-bama-bo-bama, you'll enjoy this one.
Please pray for my patience.
Enjoy!
We continue to try and educate the infantry, and we're not being successful. Not sure what it is, to be honest (not using pictures, probably). I normally would think that a Major telling them, three times, "your battalion exec signs here" would suffice. I know, it's not outside the wire and it's not kicking in doors. For all that, these folks aren't helping me to help them. I've finally broken down and told their Ops guy. We'll see what happens. Note this is the same unit, whose misguided LT I had to set straight about combat arms and active duty time, so I suspect there's some underlying prejudice about the Guard and such.
Oh, I lost my temper in a most spectacular manner yesterday with a friend of mine over something pretty stupid. That was fun. Not real happy with myself over that. I've apologized, but it's still something I'm frustrated with myself about.
And then we had the air conditioner drama. That was an illustration in typical contractor BS around here:
AC in my office had been on the fritz for 5 days. I'd been able to nurse it along by turning it off every night, when I left for lunch, that sort of thing. Awaan (DPW contractor) came to replace it, so there was a shiny new one on the wall. Guy asks me to sign the paper, since it was installed. I look at the AC, and the power cord not only didn't reach the fuze, but it wasn't wired in. No electricity was going to this shiny new AC unit. So, essentially, it didn't work.
So I tell him, "No, I will sign your paper when the AC works."
Him: "But it does work."
Me: "No, it has no power, so it doesn't work."
Him: "We are not electrician."
Me: "OK, go get one and f*****g fix the AC. THEN the AC will work and I will sign the papers."
Apparently, he can understand English when I do what he wants. He then grabbed one of my linguists, made his case to her, she translated to me. I answered her with the same message, "Hey, as soon as the unit has power and is running, THEN it works. Period. I'll sign all sorts of papers for him then."
Linguist: "You're not happy about this?"
Me: "No I'm not happy. The job is not done."
I then walked into my sergeant's office and handed him my pistol ammo. After that, I didn't trust myself to keep a calm head. The kicker here is they get paid by the Army for each service call. This was one call, that they turned in to two. According to a soldier in our unit, they did this to a couple dozen soldiers on the post that day.
Here's what it's boiled down to for all of this: Do it right. Attention to detail is the key to success. The measure of success is in the follow-up. The Colonel was right.
Oh, for those of you following Bama-bama-bo-bama, you'll enjoy this one.
Please pray for my patience.
Enjoy!
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Savior, Thy Name Is Braun!!
Oh happy day! Oh coffee sweet! Oh caffeine rush divine!
Yes dear readers, the 220V coffee grinder I ordered has finally arrived! Now, several folks, realizing my desperate need in these dark times, sent me ground coffee. For that, my friends, I am eternally grateful. Now, however, I am aptly prepared and fully able to take advantage of the fifty pounds (Fifty. Pounds.) of goodwill sent here by the eastside Starbuck's. Please note that other coffee is actually more than welcome here!
So this last week has been interesting. Not because of the folks coming through badging per se, but because of the incredibly welcoming environment, in which we find ourselves. See, temperatures are beginning to hit levels that are consistent with the desert environment. To wit, we have been experiencing highs of low teens. That's 110 to 115 for you folks at home. That's mighty hot. I know, Paul will happily pop on here and tell me it gets hotter. Yup, got that. Not complaining, just a statement of fact. So, machinery, like people, doesn't like to run at full capacity in hot weather. Odd how that works. Generators have been going out on a regular basis 'round here, which includes those generators that power my office. Normally I'd say, "such is life" and be done with it. The problem is that we have this one server that people access from other parts of the country on a regular basis. Random power outages disrupt that, which means it shuts down. That is bad. The power guys came by and tried to explain it all to me. I was nice. I listened (or tried to). At one point my statement was simply, "make it work and keep it working." Add to that, the A/C in my office is female. It randomly blows hot and cold air, it blatantly ignores the setting I have on the thermostat, and works well when the repair guys show up. QED.
On another positive note, Matt and Anjie (ok, Anjie mostly) sent me a box, which arrived here this week. The really eerie thing is that the very day prior to that, I had a serious jonesin' for purple Propel drink mix. I open up the box and lo, verily my jonesing had been a prophecy! Inside were three different colors of Prople (EXCELLENT!), a box of Menergy (energy drink mix, not sure the brand), a tub of hershey kiss cookies (very excellent) and some other stuff. Anj, Matt, thank you tons!!! The drink mixes by themselves were great, everything else on top of all that is fantastic too! In fact, I now have a cat to guard my ammo at night.
See? Cats get into the darndest places!
Enjoy!
Monday, June 23, 2008
Most of March, all of April, May and June. That's practically four months. That is, I believe, the longest single span of time Kim and I have been apart since we've been married. I remember when a friend of Paul & me told us she and her husband had never spent a night apart since they married. We both kind of thought that was odd. My first thought was, "what do they do on drill weekends?" Then I realized they don't deal with drill weekends. I have been in this profession all of my adult life. For all of the time we have known each other, the military has been part of what I do and am. Kim and I really don't know anything else. Our friends have different arrangements - the whole normal, no drill weekends sort of thing - and that just seems a bit, well, different. Someday that will change, I'm sure. I just wonder if we'll go six or seven months before Kim looks at me and says, "Umm...yeah. I need a weekend off. Can you go, you know, camping or something?" Although I kind of doubt that.
So what's going on? Well, some Turkomen workers are fixing Gina's air conditioning unit. This is the second day in a row these gents have been out here. Since they fixed my A/C yesterday, I'm pretty happy to see them here. I got billeting to give one of our linguists permanent housing, which is as it should be. Got a briefing ready, so I can brief some guards tonight. And I wrote up stuff about badging for my replacement, whoever that is. It's been a full day.
Kim, who still thinks I'm one great guy, sent me four pounds of ground coffee! THIS is why I married her!
July is coming up fast. One more month down, which means we're that much closer to home. I know I should have a more Zen outlook to this whole thing and really focus on enjoying the journey. Even do the whole, "see God in others and His daily manifestations" thing of The Rule. It's not always an easy choice to make. So, aside from just praying for my patience, please pray I might enjoy the journey more.
Enjoy!
So what's going on? Well, some Turkomen workers are fixing Gina's air conditioning unit. This is the second day in a row these gents have been out here. Since they fixed my A/C yesterday, I'm pretty happy to see them here. I got billeting to give one of our linguists permanent housing, which is as it should be. Got a briefing ready, so I can brief some guards tonight. And I wrote up stuff about badging for my replacement, whoever that is. It's been a full day.
Kim, who still thinks I'm one great guy, sent me four pounds of ground coffee! THIS is why I married her!
July is coming up fast. One more month down, which means we're that much closer to home. I know I should have a more Zen outlook to this whole thing and really focus on enjoying the journey. Even do the whole, "see God in others and His daily manifestations" thing of The Rule. It's not always an easy choice to make. So, aside from just praying for my patience, please pray I might enjoy the journey more.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Dad, my apologies, Happy Father's Day!! I was laid low by some lower GI issues Sunday and into Monday, so I wasn't up for much.
After talking this morning with Kim, I think we're both at the point where we want this to be over, but we're not quite violent about it. Add to that, I think we're both to the point, where we accept that yes, it sucks being apart, and things will generally suck until I RIP/TOA and go home. Leave will be nice, but it's all about the longer term. We both stay busy enough to ignore the suckage, but have yet to truly embrace the suck.
Last week and this week and probably next, the Regiment is doing a physical check on all badges. This is good, as it gives me a solid baseline for the database. It's bad, because I have senior NCOs in my face asking, "hey sir, why isn't this whole thing perfectly updated all the time?" Hmm...good question. Let me think...maybe because it's a 20K item database, which is constantly growing, and in order to update it (read, "clean up from previous owners") I have to dedicate manpower that I don't own (or I can stop badging, which folks don't want). See, I can go in and terminate something, but that doesn't mean much if it's not done for real. Doing so has taken one of my soldiers probably about two weeks working several hours "overtime" on this (his initiative totally). So it's improving, but not at one hundred percent. Add to all of this, this job isn't "sexy". It's inside the wire. There is NO CHANCE of me receiving a CAB if I do this job. This means that most officers who are here and are combat arms won't want to do this. Me, I have no issues with it. I became very comfortable a long time ago with the fact that if I don't get a CAB, that's OK (it's all about vision and mentoring and being a professional, not about collecting hardware for my chest). The Army was very free with them up until the last 18 months or so and then started tightening down on the standards of winning one. Back to the original point: there is very little overt glamor in this job. It's all behind the scenes. The coolest part of this job is knowing that we are able to find, on the average, about two to four "juvenile delinquents" a week.
I do, however, have a mini fridge in the office now, so there might be a few folks who want this job. Having a fridge is sweet! Finally - cold water, cold diet cokes, I can store breakfast foods, steaks for the weekly cookouts, the mind boggles at the possibilities! All I need now is to get one for the CHU.
Enjoy!
After talking this morning with Kim, I think we're both at the point where we want this to be over, but we're not quite violent about it. Add to that, I think we're both to the point, where we accept that yes, it sucks being apart, and things will generally suck until I RIP/TOA and go home. Leave will be nice, but it's all about the longer term. We both stay busy enough to ignore the suckage, but have yet to truly embrace the suck.
Last week and this week and probably next, the Regiment is doing a physical check on all badges. This is good, as it gives me a solid baseline for the database. It's bad, because I have senior NCOs in my face asking, "hey sir, why isn't this whole thing perfectly updated all the time?" Hmm...good question. Let me think...maybe because it's a 20K item database, which is constantly growing, and in order to update it (read, "clean up from previous owners") I have to dedicate manpower that I don't own (or I can stop badging, which folks don't want). See, I can go in and terminate something, but that doesn't mean much if it's not done for real. Doing so has taken one of my soldiers probably about two weeks working several hours "overtime" on this (his initiative totally). So it's improving, but not at one hundred percent. Add to all of this, this job isn't "sexy". It's inside the wire. There is NO CHANCE of me receiving a CAB if I do this job. This means that most officers who are here and are combat arms won't want to do this. Me, I have no issues with it. I became very comfortable a long time ago with the fact that if I don't get a CAB, that's OK (it's all about vision and mentoring and being a professional, not about collecting hardware for my chest). The Army was very free with them up until the last 18 months or so and then started tightening down on the standards of winning one. Back to the original point: there is very little overt glamor in this job. It's all behind the scenes. The coolest part of this job is knowing that we are able to find, on the average, about two to four "juvenile delinquents" a week.
I do, however, have a mini fridge in the office now, so there might be a few folks who want this job. Having a fridge is sweet! Finally - cold water, cold diet cokes, I can store breakfast foods, steaks for the weekly cookouts, the mind boggles at the possibilities! All I need now is to get one for the CHU.
Enjoy!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Picture Time!!!
Back again everybody!! OK, time for pictures. I've decided to try and give somewhat of an introduction to the area, and what we have here little by little.
Not really. These are random pictures and thoughts to go with them. They are, however, all related to what I do here.
OK, this first image is the Turkish flag. We are close to Turkey, so many Turks work here. And they put their flag on almost everything they own. There's one slight problem, which is, Mosul is really in Kurdistan (OK, it's on the border of it). Kurds and Turks don't like each other. If the Turks flew their flag as much in Mosul as they do here on the FOB, they'd be shot at. A lot. It's a lot like having two rival gangs living on the FOB.
This is me at the combat patch ceremony. Chief Smock is "patching" me. Velcro patches make this sort of thing possible. It was kind of cool, so I won't make fun of it. And the Chief is one of the best Officers I've met. Him "patching" me was really an honor.
This is inside the badging compound. The white door on the right, there in the shade beyond the red roof thing, that's my office door. Those concrete barriers beyond that are new. The Engineers put those in. Go Engineers! Folks are happy about the barriers, both for the blast protection they afford, and because they help add some privacy to the area. My people all live & work in this compound, so those were sorely needed.
This is the other side of the t-walls. Here is where I really need Kelly's help. I'm thinking of just a BIG "See Rock City" sign to paint on here. I really don't want to go with a military (or Turkish) motif, so what do you think?
This is Starbuck's coffee. I like Starbuck's coffee (I like Kempf's too Joe, but I cut my teeth on this stuff). One of the Starbuck's in Evansville sent us fifty pounds of this stuff. Fifty. Pounds. That, in and of itself, is incredibly cool. If this picture were larger, you'd notice three key words on the bags: Whole Bean Coffee. Not only did they send us coffee, I'm told they sent us a grinder too. OK, life is good. The grinder was (key word here) 110 voltage. EVERYTHING in this country is 220. So far so good? One of our soldiers plugged it into a wall socket and proceeded to burn it out (*cough* Berlin *cough* transformer *cough*). I've also been told it was this soldier's third appliance he's burned out. Third. One I can understand. Two, maybe he just didn't get it, but THREE? Anyhow, I found a place online and ordered one for 220. Life must go on.
I had originally wanted to use this as a lead in to discuss Starbuck's coffee as the Evil Empire and such, but I just don't feel like it. I mean, let's face it, Starbuck's did for coffee, in general, what Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada Brewing Company did for the craft brewing industry in the USA. Do I think that everything they sell is great? By no means. I prefer Intelligentsia espresso to anything available outside of Italy (Black Cat blend is the best, period), and Starbuck's espresso is plain old bland (personal opinion). Plus, I was mail ordering the stuff before anybody had ever heard of it, so I think I have some street cred on this one. Besides, Intelligentsia has better stickers.
So those are the pictures. I'm real nervous about taking pics inside the wire, as some of the stuff is legitimately not allowed to be photographed, let alone posted here. But, I will attempt to continue to capture appropriate images of Marez for you all.
Enjoy!
Not really. These are random pictures and thoughts to go with them. They are, however, all related to what I do here.
OK, this first image is the Turkish flag. We are close to Turkey, so many Turks work here. And they put their flag on almost everything they own. There's one slight problem, which is, Mosul is really in Kurdistan (OK, it's on the border of it). Kurds and Turks don't like each other. If the Turks flew their flag as much in Mosul as they do here on the FOB, they'd be shot at. A lot. It's a lot like having two rival gangs living on the FOB.
This is me at the combat patch ceremony. Chief Smock is "patching" me. Velcro patches make this sort of thing possible. It was kind of cool, so I won't make fun of it. And the Chief is one of the best Officers I've met. Him "patching" me was really an honor.
This is inside the badging compound. The white door on the right, there in the shade beyond the red roof thing, that's my office door. Those concrete barriers beyond that are new. The Engineers put those in. Go Engineers! Folks are happy about the barriers, both for the blast protection they afford, and because they help add some privacy to the area. My people all live & work in this compound, so those were sorely needed.
This is the other side of the t-walls. Here is where I really need Kelly's help. I'm thinking of just a BIG "See Rock City" sign to paint on here. I really don't want to go with a military (or Turkish) motif, so what do you think?
This is Starbuck's coffee. I like Starbuck's coffee (I like Kempf's too Joe, but I cut my teeth on this stuff). One of the Starbuck's in Evansville sent us fifty pounds of this stuff. Fifty. Pounds. That, in and of itself, is incredibly cool. If this picture were larger, you'd notice three key words on the bags: Whole Bean Coffee. Not only did they send us coffee, I'm told they sent us a grinder too. OK, life is good. The grinder was (key word here) 110 voltage. EVERYTHING in this country is 220. So far so good? One of our soldiers plugged it into a wall socket and proceeded to burn it out (*cough* Berlin *cough* transformer *cough*). I've also been told it was this soldier's third appliance he's burned out. Third. One I can understand. Two, maybe he just didn't get it, but THREE? Anyhow, I found a place online and ordered one for 220. Life must go on. I had originally wanted to use this as a lead in to discuss Starbuck's coffee as the Evil Empire and such, but I just don't feel like it. I mean, let's face it, Starbuck's did for coffee, in general, what Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada Brewing Company did for the craft brewing industry in the USA. Do I think that everything they sell is great? By no means. I prefer Intelligentsia espresso to anything available outside of Italy (Black Cat blend is the best, period), and Starbuck's espresso is plain old bland (personal opinion). Plus, I was mail ordering the stuff before anybody had ever heard of it, so I think I have some street cred on this one. Besides, Intelligentsia has better stickers.
So those are the pictures. I'm real nervous about taking pics inside the wire, as some of the stuff is legitimately not allowed to be photographed, let alone posted here. But, I will attempt to continue to capture appropriate images of Marez for you all.
Enjoy!
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