Good morning, dear readers!!

The intent today is to update you all on life here in "sunny" Georgia. To paraphrase Mark Twain, the coldest winter I've ever spent is the one at Fort Stewart, having sent my snivel gear forward. Which is, ultimately, my own fault. At first, I ranted about the "packing list" the sergeants major came up with, which directed us to send it all forward. Yeah, bad idea. Thank God, I have a wife who loves me, appreciates me and supports me. So, she's sent me my field jacket liner (oddly enough, nowhere on the official packing list), my winter boots (the gore-tex lined ones) are on the way (also should have sent those forward) and my REI package of a pair of gloves will arrive shortly too. Oh, and she sent me my underarmor thermals, so life is improving. Last night we had temperatures in the upper 20s, no heat and so this morning was chilly. Folks 'round here tell us that days begin to warm up quickly after January, so maybe in a couple of weeks, my feet will be warm during the day. It's all temporary, but just uncomfortable enough to be distracting.

Training has been good. We hit base defense, we're moving now into operation center based exercises, probably two or three weeks' worth of them. This will be interesting, as we're really trying to run two separate functions out of our company. We've been in contact with our counterparts in theater, and what our "trainers" are expecting us to pull off makes as much sense, according to them as, "a cop mowing a lawn in the middle of a domestic disturbance call." Nonetheless, we will do our level best.

I've had to really be careful and watch my temper and my mouth. Already I exploded on a lieutenant, who didn't deserve it. Granted, he had given me a couple real flip answers during the day, and then I saw red at some point, but the flip answers didn't deserve the intensity of my response. I apologized, beat myself up and such. Kim and I talked it all out, so I have some decent self talk going on to help out with it all. Learning to get beyond the immediate slight discomforts, the trainers who seem to not think, coworkers who have annoying habits (I do too, so it's not entirely one sided), senior NCOs who can't close doors behind them, etc, is the essential challenge. Learning to get beyond the immediate annoyances is the real work here.

All that said, it's still not too bad. It doesn't rain all that often, and when it does, the entire task force is indoors for most of it, so that's no biggie. The chow is still good, the DFAC is still open 24 hours a day and we have, literally, a virtual unlimited supply of Diet Coke and coffee. So,no real complaints. According to the weather man, temperatures are supposed to rise through the weekend, maybe I'll start getting out on the running track in the afternoons, pending training exercises. Would be a nice change of pace. That's life for now. We all are looking forward to the four day pass in March and finally getting into country, where conditions will be better.

Enjoy!

Moin moin!

One of the best things about being here in Georgia for the
winter is the weather is just like being in Germany.  The
major difference, of course, is the lack of beer, any beer.
Regardless of that, it's generally been very cool, not too
bad warm, damp, foggy, kind of rainy, and generally cloudy.
All in all, a very pleasant Berlin winter day.  Speaking
of which, there's something about that, that once it's in
one's soul, never really leaves.  This is the weather I
really like. Many of you who know me know I like to ski
from time to time, don't mind snow (aside from removing it
from my driveway by hand), and find a white winter to be
very pleasant.  All that said, north German winter is
something I never really lose. Part of it is never having
to freeze my butt clean off.  Part of it, I imagine, is
association with good memories.  I met some good friends
and had some great times with them during north German
winters.  I proposed to Kim during a Berlin winter.
Good memories.

When we arrived here, the Army wasted no time in giving us
all a smallpox vaccination.  One of the side effects
(temporary)is fatigue and fever, which is what I've been
blessed with. Needless to say, sleeping isn't a problem
right now.  Thanks to that, choosing to not let dumb stuff
bother me is.  So, please pray for patience for me.  I'm
ready to basically shoot a couple of the other officers who
work with me and have 11 more months to put up with them.

Jeff, you'll appreciate this: starting tonight, I'm weaving
yoga into my evening routine.  Granted, the floor is a
little dirty (no, please don't send me a yoga mat.  I can
get away with doing yoga, but not on a mat that's some
fru-fru color), but wearing something like 40 or so pounds
really strains the lower back.  Yes, we have the new IOTV,
which fits a whole lot better, and that helps.  Still and
all, I really need to go through the routine every day
until the back stops hurting.  Little by little is the way
to make it all work.  What'd I'd really like - this one's
for Jeff - is one or two poses that help to build shoulder
muscles.  Beginner and intermediate stuff, of course.

Mom, did I tell you the SmartCafe is a great item?  Well,
it is, thank you.  I even like the Jack's Blend coffee. 
Only challenge: the coffee bag is paper.  I will probably
have to transfer it to something more substantial sooner
or later.  A one liter Nalgene bottle comes to mind,
simply because it's crushproof, watertight and fits into
the category of "cool guy gear".  I love my Nalgene bottle,
which is currently used for extra pens, rechargers, phone
cords (ear buds, etc) and other such miscellaneous items
that tend to get lost in a backpack.  So later tonight,
I'll probably crack my way through the local firewall and
hit REI for another one. That and I just want to order
something.  Heck, I haven't spent money on anything since
I left Indy, so I'd like to do a little spending.

Chapel is in an hour.  Somehow they got a priest who was
willing to come out here and say Mass, which makes me happy. 
Also, the chaplain had a ton of St Barbara medals and some
Miraculous Medals, so I stuck Mary in the wallet and Barb
in my pocket.  Spiritually, we're taken care of pretty well.

Time to get my head into the game.  Enjoy!

Greetings from sunny Georgia!

We're here, we're on the FOB, we're training, we're learning and all
is, oddly enough, pretty good.  Chow is plentiful, tasty and hot.  On
that note, I've never eaten so much meat for breakfast and dinner in my
life.  I'm beginning to think that going on an Atkins style diet would be
relatively easy, given the variety of chow we get here.  The weather
started very cold - apparently 20 degree nights here in Georgia is
pretty chilly for these folks - but is now unseasonably warm.  I look for
things to even out after the thunderstorms this weekend to a nice sunny
62 during the day and a very sleepable 30 or so at night.  The tent has
plenty of room for all of us in it, hardwood floors and is heated.  Hot
showers, hot water to shave with (will change my routine to showering
and shaving in the evenings) and relatively private latrines.  I would
write about the PX trailers here, the barber and the Internet Cafe, but
I don't really have time to hit said PX, don't yet need a haircut and
the Internet Cafe is still not operational.  Give it a few weeks, I
think.

Things happen every day, and every day things get a touch better.
Honestly, I don't have a whole lot to complain about.  We spent six weeks
as a battalion between two AT periods doing nothing but running our own
field operations, tracking training data, reacting to last minute
changes, scrambling for more ranges and resources and life was fast.  Here,
we just run operations.  Sure, we have connexes to load, and a FOB to
manage, which takes time.  But to get right down to it, life isn't too
bad.  Naturally, I don't want to go out and train in the rain, but even
that is temporary.

After chatting with Kim, I have to thank you all for calling her up,
dragging her tail out to dinner and other things.

Not much to post this time, other to let you all know that my routines
are messed up, which means I'm beginning to wake up and force myself
into some sort of a routine, if for no other reason than to add some
illusion of control to my time and my days.  I hate the rush in the
mornings at the sinks, so the next experiment is to shower and shave in the
evenings.  If that proves to be a fight for space, I may have to beg Kim
for an electric razor.  We'll see.  Paul told me the sink space was at
a premium in theater, so, as with all things, it's a wait and see,
adjust and tweak sort of thing.  The cots we have are pretty wide, Kim's
sent me my thermarest sleeping pad (another post will deal with the gear
I left behind this time and why I'm a dumbass for doing so), so it's
pretty comfy.  It's been a long, long, long time since I've lived out of
a couple of duffel bags, so I repacked a little today and my space in
the tent should be very orderly and livable, which is a good thing.  Mom
gave me this nifty cool thermal cup with a french press built into it,
along with a pound of coffee.  Put a little coffee into the cup, tote
it to breakfast, fill it with hot water, and presto, great java.  Mom,
you done well, thank you TONS!!

Training starts for us in the headquarters later this week in earnest.
Even that will be a good change of pace to cleaning up after tenant
units.

When it's all said and done, one more day gone gets me one more day
closer to Kim.

Enjoy!

Time For Reflection

We are calling this evening many things. The clever plan we thought we had for storing some of our equipment wasn't apparently as clever as it had been briefed, so some are busy preparing to track the stuff down tomorrow. Some are just hanging around in the barracks or here in the offices just hanging out. I, as you all can see, am writing. As I will not likely get another chance to post anytime soon (or at least until Kim's first package of stuff arrives), this is a good time to cover some items I've not yet covered.

First, thanks to friends and family who've made this time valuable to me. It's been challenging for me to stay focused on being present with you all, while at the same time not thinking about the road ahead. Dad said it best when he looked at me one day and said, "you're already in Iraq." Most of all, thank you Kim for being around and sticking to me like velcro. I know I wasn't always appreciative of it, but thanks for being more insistent than I about sticking close.

Next, thanks to everyone for offering to do stuff. This is where I grow practical. We all know that at some point in time, I'm going to call or write home and say, "hey, it'd be great to have this or that or the other." Most of those calls will go to Kim and she can farm them out as she sees fit. Most of that sort of thing will be me complaining about stuff, and can't really be actioned anyhow. Here's what I really want you all to do: take care of Kim. Drop by and have a cup of coffee with her at Borders, or go see a movie, or go have a beer, or whatever. Not all at once, and if I were you, I'd definitely call first (although there are times when with her it's just easier to show up and grab her). The grass will need to be mowed in the spring and summer, and I'd just as soon pay someone to do that than have someone dealing with it (so, recommendations are welcome). There's some odd settlement crack in the master bath that needs someone smarter in houses than I to look at it and figure out if it's serious or not. The carboys need to be rinsed well. All the crap I have just laying around in the garage should be boxed up for now. Kim, pick out the best four buttondown shirts I have and give the rest to charity. Same for the t-shirts. Grab the ones you never see me wear and give 'em to Goodwill. Or make Chiara do that. Oh, and someone should tell Kenny Lucas I have a ton of malt he's welcome to take, Brad gets the Gewurtztraminer kit in the brewery and there are no less than a dozen (yes, a dozen) dry beer yeast packets I'd like to donate to either the Ohio Valley Homebrewers (or whomever asks Kim first). They're not going to be viable when I return anyhow. Anything that gets Kim out of the house, does some little task, anything like that, is all greatly appreciated.

Oh, and I think there's some ice cream in the freezer to be eaten. I know there's some incredible espresso beans - around three pounds of them, whole - to be used. No, it's not Starbuck's, and I hate to think of them going bad. So, three pounds of Intelligentsia Black Cat Blend whole bean espresso to anyone who asks. Honest, you drink this stuff, you won't go back to anything else. I would offer my burr grinder to those who would BORROW it, but it needs to be back in its place by Dec 2008.

Lastly, thanks for following the blog. I'll keep updating and posting. All is well here in sunny Atterbury, and we're basically tying up some loose ends waiting on buses for Georgia. Aside from that, we're getting our collective heads back into the game, looking forward to the training and what we think we'll need coming up here in the next thirty to sixty days.

Don't know exactly what to expect, but it's game time.

Enjoy!