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By John, on January 30th, 2008
Stink? If you guessed stink you would have the correct answer! Good for you!
The water provided to our base comes via a canal. A few days ago some Iraqis started maintenance on the canal upstream from us. As a result of the maintenance, the water dropped below acceptable levels. Initially we were put on restrictions like combat showers (3 min showers) and reduced laundry service. Some people blatantly ignored the rules and took 30 min showers. These individuals should be either flogged, humiliated, or put into the stocks in public.
We were told that they had a contingency plan and that it should resolve the problem in a few days. Unfortunately for us, the plan hasn’t gone into effect yet and the water was at a lower level than they had anticipated. As a result, we no longer have access to the showers nor do we have any laundry service.
I was thinking about doing a two bottle of water shower (one to wash and one to rinse) but they physically nailed a board across the door to each shower unit effectively blocking access to the entire building. I guess they had a feeling that if they didn’t go to extremes that people would cheat the system (as they had before).
So, because I share genetic traits with my father I am prone to sweating. I know that it does not make a difference if I exercise or not – I’m going to stink after a day or two. I decided to not let the water situation deter my daily activities (save for showering) and I went to the gym as planned. I have about 6-7 days of laundry before I start recycling dirty clothes. Lets hope that they get it all squared away before that point in time. Until that happens, people will suffer – and there is little that I can to prevent it.
Oh well – such is life
Unfortunately, it could get worse. If the water levels continue to drop they will block access to the chow halls due to the inability to provide enough water for us to wash our hands. As a result, we will be given MREs (meals ready to eat). They are edible – but, its better than starving.
I just have to remember that there are people at FOBs (forward operating bases) who have no showers or chow halls. Typically, their only hot meal and shower comes when they can visit a major base. I don’t have it bad – I just have it worse than normal.
By John, on January 29th, 2008
I feel like writing something while knowing full well that I have little to share. I’ve mentioned almost everything of note in previous posts and there is very little that you don’t know about my experience while I am in Iraq. I still feel the need to post – but only time will tell what actually pops out of my head and ends up in this post.
I only work twelve hour days, six days a week. The work schedule really doesn’t bother me because I came here to work and it gives me a great feeling of accomplishment when my job makes a difference. Unfortunately for our foes, the difference it makes renders their skin unable to hold their body together as god intended.
When I’m not at work I have a few choices on how to spend my time. On work days I go through the same schedule: Wake, shave, gym, study, shower, eat, work, eat, work, eat, work, sleep. On my off days I have a few different choices because there are movies, games, video games, the gym, books, and volunteer work to keep me busy. The last two weeks I’ve done almost nothing productive save for reading a few hundred pages in a book. This week I think I’ll go to the (Iraq) Theater Hospital and do whatever they need me to do. Some people are thrown off my medical treatment – I’m not sure how I’m going to take it. I’ll probably only volunteer from six to midnight and then goof off the rest of the time but its better than doing nothing.
I have a book on the way that should prepare me to take one of my two final classes for my associates degree. I’m in need of a humanities class so I’m going to study world religion and take a DANTES test. I passed my last CLEP test without studying my I’m not so sure I could pass this one without reading up on it. I found a book for $6 on Amazon so I think its a fairly decent proposal – spend a few sheckels on a book, study it, and take a test. It sure beats going to a class for a few months.
By John, on January 27th, 2008
By John, on January 27th, 2008
I read an extremely interesting article (found at the NY Times) about our nation and its future. The geopolitical landscape is constantly changing and this author believes that we, the United States, are on the verge of no longer being a prime superpower. Competition from the EU and China is going to be fierce and we must change a number of things to reassert ourselves and turn our nation around. We may have to change our thinking but change can be good – it’s lengthy but well worth the read. (somebody out there can buy me his book if they really want – I’d love to read it)
By John, on January 26th, 2008
I love thunderstorms – I love seeing the rain come down in torrents – I love seeing the sky flash with lighting and hearing the wind whip through the trees. I love hearing the crack of thunder that reverberates across the countryside. I don’t mind the aftermath because I got a great show. I love falling asleep to thunder – some find it frightening but I always sleep better during a good storm.
I hate drizzling crap rain. It rained a few days ago and I spoke of my great dislike for the mud. I thought that the worst of the crap was over and that the ground was going to finally dry up. I was looking forward to wearing one pair of shoes instead of carrying a second pair around with me. I was looking forward to not worrying about the mud that gets tracked everywhere. I was looking forward to my roommates no longer tracking in the mud – they aren’t considerate enough to take off their boots at the door. England is notorious for drizzling crap and the pacific northwest is notorious for drizzling crap. I didn’t expect to find that particular brand of rain out here.
I woke this morning to a drizzle that brought down the temperature 10 degrees and that covered every surface with a thin sheen of mud. There is no clean place left on this base. Indoors and out we live in world of slime, a world of filth, a world of muck. I say boo the mud – boo the rain. I don’t want scorching heat but I’d take it over drizzle any day. So, bring on the pain – bring on the heat.
By John, on January 24th, 2008
So the govt. wants to give me money – sure, I’ll take it. But, the one thing I can’t figure out is where they expect the money to come from and what good they actually expect it to do to the economy.
I’ve done a little reading and found out some interesting tidbits – the first is a quote from Bernanke, Head of the Federal Reserve, who said “Stimulus that comes too late will not help support economic activity in the short term, and it could be actively destabilizing”. Others have said that in order to avert a recession the stimulus must arrive before we actually start the recession. Unfortunately, we don’t know if its too late. They plan to get us the funds by May – thats almost 100 days from now. I have a feeling that this is nothing more than a political move.
No politician in their right mind would openly come out and denounce the plan because their constituents want that money. They would effectively be taking it out of their hands. Its a smart political move to fight for the money – only time will tell if its good for the economy.
The other thing I don’t understand is where the money is coming from. Last time I checked we had a Federal deficit and an unbalanced budget. Unless we found 1 trillion tons of gold under the capital building in the past few days I don’t think we’ve even begun to pay it off. The money simply isn’t there – the government needs to budget like the rest of us do. When the money runs out – you have nothing else to spend. Sure we have credit – but paying it off is a PITA – trust me, I know.
Here is a link to another editorial from a like minded person
By John, on January 23rd, 2008
When you get to a place like this one is forced to wonder how it could possibly get any worse. I know at least two ways to make the experience less than enjoyable – add mud and rain.
The military has had a hard time dealing with the extremely fine dirt that gets into all sorts of machinery. Its found a way to clog things that shouldn’t be clogged. Unfortunately, this dirt also makes the worst brand of mud imaginable. Its not like there is a little mud, this stuff really likes to cake onto itself. We have gravel spread almost everywhere but there is little you can do to avoid some patches of the crap. If you’re not careful your boots will weigh an extra pound with each additional step in the mud.
The conditions aren’t terrible but we’re bored more than anything else – something like this can ruin your day. Sure, its a small annoyance but its the one thats on the top of your mind so its bound to drive you crazy.
By John, on January 22nd, 2008
The forecast calls for rain tomorrow and I am not looking forward to it. It rained a week or two ago and we probably had no more than half and inch of rain. The dirt here has a tendency to turn into creamy peanut butter whenever the rain hits it. You’re probably thinking that it doesn’t really turn into peanut butter – well, if you emptied out a jar of creamy peanut butter on the floor and stepped into it you would find the same consistency I have found here. It doesn’t help that its just as sticky – where is a 50,000 gallon glass of milk when you need it? It doesn’t take a whole lot of rain to do it but the entire place turns into a quagmire of mud and puddles. Whenever the ground is muddy we go into “two shoe” policy. In order to enter most of the public buildings we are required to change out of one pair of shoes (the ones we wore on the way there) to a clean pair of shoes. Its not that its hard to do its just one more thing to bother you. The ground seems to retain most of the water in the top 3 inches so the last time it rained we experienced mud for at least four days. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain more – how much more I’m not really sure. All I know is that I’m not looking forward to fighting my shoes, boots, and vehicles whenever they inevitably get stuck in the muck.
By Jessica, on January 22nd, 2008
This weekend I was able to par take in one of our favorite races of the season. It was the 14h Annual Chemult Sled Dog Race. It’s has been a long time since I have been on a sled by myself so this was an event for me. When my parents made the offer for me to go with this year I was very excited. It was going to be my dad running in the 8 dog class, my mom in the 4 dog, and I was going to borrow 4 dogs from a friend and run in the novice class. Unfortunately, my mom had too much work do get done with the business and so I agreed to run her team for her since the entry fee had already been paid. Bad idea.
Incase you’ve never heard the story, the last time I ran my mother’s 4 dog team I crashed and was drug behind the sled for about a mile. I know that these are different dogs and all but history seems to repeat itself.
The whole day was just stress for me. As every minute passed I felt the sinking feeling in my stomach get worse. About 20 minutes before my class started I was convince that I needed to go and vomit up blood. There were 12 teams total and I was going out 11th. As my dad brought me to the line the intense sick feeling became, if possible, even worse. Before I knew it I took one deep breath and it was count down, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, you’re off. We flew out of the chute. As we got past the spectators and further on the trail I started to loosen up a bit. This was not as scary as I remembered ( running the sled has never really been my forte) The trail was beautiful, hard and fast. I was good until I got to the curves. This trail is probably one of the most fun trails, for someone who is a bit more confident in their skills and team, not so much for me. I was way too worried about how fast I was going. I rode the break a lot and wasn’t concentrated on my dogs or where my hands, legs, and feet were. This resulted in Jessica falling off the sled and into the snow many times. I was doing good and I even passed a team but then fell over and it was all down hill from there. Rollo(my leader) kept looking at me like I was nuts. When I came back in, I was covered in snow and sick again because I knew I had one more team to take out.
I ended up using the old and crusty dogs of the friend of ours. I didn’t matter to me really at all. I loved these dogs and they wanted to run, they just weren’t very fast, at all. I took them out ( it was the same course) and I did a whole lot better. I was able to figure out my sled a little more and not be suck a wussy on the corners. It was the confidence builder I needed and came in with a big grin. I had a great time running the older dogs. After I made it back to the truck, Polly ( one of the many mothers I had growing up) came up to me and said there was blood on the side of my head, but I didn’t feel anything. She looked at it for me and it turned out I split my ear open. She told me it wasn’t bad so I was mildly concerned but went about my business, taking care of my team. As I walked around people kept coming up to me and asking if I was sure I was alright but I didn’t see what the fuss was about until I looked in the mirror. Turns out I had blood down the side of my head. That’s when it started to hurt. It really wasn’t bad at all just a little shocking to see.
The second day was much better. It had snowed quite a bit before and during my class which made the trail a little slower and easier for me to navigate. I didn’t fall at all though which was a big relief. I finished 10th out of 12 in 4 dog which was good because I was NOT last and I finished 1st out of 2 in novice.
All in all it was a fun weekend. I got to see people I haven’t seen in ages and got to race again. The worst part about it is that I know when I was younger I’d fall a lot too but I don’t ever remember it hurting this bad. My muscles feel like they’ve been hit by a large truck. Anyway, here are some pictures for your enjoyment.
Mom’s 4 Dog Team
My Novice Team
By John, on January 20th, 2008
I changed the header on my web page (notice the mountains are gone) to a picture I took from the office a few days ago before I left for home. Its strange to have a clear shot of the sun coming up when you get used to the mountains blocking the early morning sunlight.
Work has been sporadic but its enough to keep me from going insane. The filters at work block out most of the internet so I spend some of my free time reading the news. There is only so much going on at one time so it tends to wear out quickly. I took a few pictures of the bay (look below)
Here is a photo of us doing what we do best – building things that make loud noises and send chunks of steel flying at high velocities. Serj Tankian would say that we are building the components needed for death showers. Well, he isn’t far from the truth.
This is why we do it
We haven’t got all of our people in for this rotation but I do have a few friends here. One of the people here was a classmate when I was in tech school. I haven’t seen her in almost 6 years so its kinda cool to talk to her. The other guy I know I met at AFCOMAC so its not like I don’t know anyone here. Its nice to be in this environment because we all bond quickly so its not like we don’t have any friends out here.
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