Posts Tagged ‘desert’

• Filling the days

  Date: 2010.04.16 | Category: desert, work | Response: 0

  I’ve been adept at filling my days at work. We’ve had a constant stream of traffic coming through the door and whenever we find a lull we create additional traffic. For the last week I really haven’t had time to do anything at work but sweat and work. (our a/c is on the fritz… oh well).

  I’ve found that although I can fill the days at work I cannot eat up all of the time during my days off. My solution to the problem: never have a day off. To help keep myself sane, I’m only going to leave early for PT but aside from that I’m just going to work – everyday.

  All things considered, it’s probably the best choice for me. I’m more likely to get involved in some interesting shenanigans and I won’t go stir crazy. Best of all, I won’t notice as the days tick by. I’ve got roughly a month left and then I’m headed home.

• The cassette tape effect

  Date: 2010.03.30 | Category: desert, work | Response: 0

  In the first of many instances of dating myself, I’m using a metaphor for cassette tapes as my post title. What in the world is he going to be talking about? Read on intrepid explorer of the internet.

  Years ago I had a cassette player and I would listen to tapes for hours on end. For quite some time I borrowed my parents but one year I received my own – it was an upgraded model and had an auto reverse. I would listen to the same tapes repeatedly until the material started to warp. After a while the batteries would wear down and everything would start to get comically funny as the motors would run out of juice. The tape would slow down until it eventually stopped.

  Time feels like that cassette player on its last bit of juice – it is dragging. We’ve powered through most of our work and I’m digging for something to keep me occupied. Yes, I still have a little bit to go in each of my classes but its hard to study without break throughout the day. I need something to break up the monotony. We joke about it all the time and we’re sure that a bunch of work will be dumped upon us at any moment. I’m waiting for that moment – I’m waiting for those batteries in my cassette player to be replaced…. still waiting….. and waiting…

• Lacking the intensity

  Date: 2010.02.24 | Category: desert | Response: 1

  I’ve been unable to find the intensity in all of my workouts. I’ve changed some things around with my schedule and my routine has been vastly altered to break up the monotony. On cardio days, for some reason, I’ve had a hard time pushing myself. I’ve been plagued with minor joint injuries over the past two weeks. My feet find every odd shaped rock and every uneven space in the ground to land. I’ve had three or four partial ankle sprains and I’ve got a few quasi-stubbed toes. I keep on telling myself to take it easy and loosen up those joints… the intensity never comes when I get stretched out.

  I might need to take a cue from my dog and start taking something similar to glucosamine. I had to Google the word because the dictionary couldn’t find it – Wikipedia says that the effects are no more than those of a placebo in multiple studies. Apparently glucosamine is widely used in veterinary medicine and it works (for the most part) but humans aren’t so lucky. Maybe there is another way to help loosen up the ankles and knees. For now, I’ll continue with the stretching and try to prevent further injuries. I just wish I could do all of that and bring the intensity up.

• So little faith in the management

  Date: 2010.02.17 | Category: desert | Response: 0

  Yesterday we get a call.
  They ask if we have a certain item.
  We tell them we do.
  They tell us we might need to ship that item.
  We ask for the location.
  They don’t know the location.(How did they know we need to ship it if they don’t know where it might go?)
  We tell them its due an inspection prior to shipping.
  They tell us to take care of it.
  We do and wait.
  We call throughout the day for updates.
  We need to know more info to proceed further.
  No information is flowing our way.
  The item might go back to storage today.
  They still don’t know anything.
  Why did they call us in the first place if they didn’t know for sure?
  Oh yeah, knee jerk reaction.
  I have so little faith in the management.

• The requisite gym update post

  Date: 2010.02.05 | Category: desert | Response: 0

  What would you do without the requisite gym update post? Probably continue through your life without skipping a beat – but, I feel the overwhelming need to write something new and the only thing on top of my head is my progress at the gym.

  First off, I should have done a better job taking care of myself when I was younger. I’m not old, but, some of the self inflicted injuries still come back and haunt me whenever I workout. Shoulders, knees, feet, and ankles seem to be the problem areas (notice the trend, all joints).

  Last time my only goal was to shred weight and I did that to the tune of 25lbs. This time, at the request my significant other, I don’t plan on dropping a ton of weight as I looked “like I hadn’t eaten.” The intensity level isn’t where I would like it but I’ve been pushing myself harder this week and I’m starting to feel the strain. I mix weight days (a variation of the P90x workout) with stationary bike days – I’m not up to full speed on the bike yet (averaging about 13mph). I want to push it to over 18mph by the time that I leave. I’ve got a long way to go but I think I can do it.

• Routine

  Date: 2010.01.31 | Category: desert, rants | Response: 0

  We all have routines that guide us through our day. My routine at home is far different from the one that I have when I deploy. My routine on the weekend is far different than what I have on weekdays. One constant always remains regardless of the situation – I attempt to adhere to my routine all of the time.

  I’ve been “out of the pocket” for the past few days and my routine has been absolutely destroyed. I have been waking up two hours later, not working out (don’t have the necessary shoes – At Balad you can walk in and workout in the shoes you are wearing as long as we aren’t in mudcon. At Sather you must carry your gym shoes with you – I only have one pair of tennis shoes with me so I can hardly carry a second pair. Sure, I have my boots and I thought about wearing them in and changing but I also have a transportation issue. Here, unlike Balad, I can’t walk everywhere. In fact, its almost a three mile trip from where we are staying to the rest of the base. ), eating terribly (I don’t have any motivation without working out), and generally accomplishing nothing. We finished our required tasks yesterday and have been waiting ever since to find transportation back “home”. We’ve been all over the “camp victory base complex” and we’ve almost gotten good at the navigation.

  I did get to take a tour of the “Victory over America” Palace. Saddam thought that since he was still in power after the gulf war that he should be a victor – so, he built a new palace for himself. This palace, unlike some of the others, was left unfinished when the war started. Our boys in the sky did a little renovation with a couple of 500lb JDAMs. I took a BUNCH of pictures. I’ll have to upload them at some point in the future.

  I can only hope I can resume my routine tomorrow. Sure, its not exciting but it’s what gets me through my day and makes the time fly by.

• This isn’t the Hilton

  Date: 2010.01.20 | Category: desert | Response: 2

  This place isn’t the Hilton, Sheraton, or Best Western. Think of it as a scattered Motel 6… that sublets your room to other people.

  I wish were sleeping in tents. Really, I wish we had tents instead of containerized housing units. First and foremost, I could have some privacy as its fairly easy to segment off a section of a room so that it is yours. This space belongs to you day or night. There is nobody else sleeping in there when you have your day off. You don’t feel bad when you need to go into your room and grab something. The guy that works nights (and who happens to be sleeping) is by far the lightest sleeper I have ever come across. I sleep through almost everything – people banging around in the room, lights getting turned on, controlled detonations by EOD, and fighter jets screaming down the runway.

  Sure, the heating/cooling system in a tent isn’t entirely optimal but the tent does have the opportunity to breath a little. The night sleeper likes to turn off the air during the day and get the room nice and cozy… and he likes to make it smell like warm human ass. That smell you notice from the unwashed masses at your local dollar store or Walmart – yep, that’s the smell I’m talking about.

  Oh well, at least they feed me well and the only thing I have to complain about it a slightly smelly light sleeper.

  I’m doing a slightly different job this time around and everything has been new for me – new is good – new is distracting. I’m working in the inspection section so if it comes in or goes out of the bomb dump I get my hands on it. We are the nexus of the bomb dump.

  The term bomb dump sounds terrible to people that directly dissect the words. Its not like a garbage dump where things are left randomly. We have a collection of warehouses, pads, revetments, and buildings where assets are stored in a neat and orderly fashion. We don’t have a death wish so we keep things clean and we make sure that not too much of explosive A gets next to explosive B. If explosive A should catch on fire we could have an extremely bad day.

  Unrelated note – ever Google your name? Found this old article from the base paper. A few spots down I found another link. I don’t live a particularly private life – not many people from my generation do either.

• This is not the same country

  Date: 2010.01.11 | Category: desert | Response: 0

  For starters I’m not freezing to death. On average, its been about 20 degrees warmer throughout the entire day. Last time I was here we endured temps that hovered in the high teens and low twenties but now the nighttime low is in the 40s. This is simply too odd. I’ve got a bunch of cold weather gear but I don’t know if I will even need it. I’m going to hold onto it just in case irony strikes – it always seems to strike when I’m not prepared.

  We also have some brand new buildings that are nicer than the ones I have back at home station. We may be a little short on supplies mostly due to transportation issues but we can make do with what we have. I’m working at Inspection so this is a welcome change. I’ve done inspections in my building but I haven’t worked in an inspection shop so I have a few things to learn. I shouldn’t have any problems picking it up as I go.

  The food is better and its served in a bigger building. I didn’t think the food could improve but it did.

  The gym has doubled in size since I was last here.

  I haven’t heard a single mortar hit yet (knock on wood). Last time I heard 8-10 hits on the first day.

  I am away from Jessica and my kids (the dogs) – that is, by far, the worst part of the trip. I’m not going to count the days because time seems to slow. I’ll be back home in May and all things considered its not that far away.

• Electronic pushpins on a map

  Date: 2010.01.09 | Category: desert | Response: 0

  I’ve done a little bit of traveling in the past few days and I’ve got one more leg of the trip before its all over and I reach my final destination. Since I was here last, wifi has propogated across almost everywhere that I’ve been. If I’ve turned my laptop on and accessed my google account it keeps track of where I’ve been. If I had my phone on at some point it also tracked my location. I allow it to track my location history and I can choose whether to share it or keep it for personal use. I think this image is interesting – who else can say that they’ve been to all of those points on the map in less than a week?
  

  
  
  

  Where I've been traveling this week

  
  

  I did make a short stop in Ireland but the wifi was down – that would have made one more stop in the middle. Odds are that I won’t be able to get something in my final destination. I don’t know if they have any wifi available.

• Leaving home

  Date: 2010.01.06 | Category: Life as we know it, desert | Response: 0

  It’s that time once again. I’m set to get on a plane and travel half way across the planet away from everyone that I know and love.

  I’m headed to Iraq for another 4 month stint in what should be a relatively easy trip. I’ve got my bags packed and this time my trip will be all about distraction and self improvement. I’ve got textbooks for two classes and some workout gloves so I know what I will be doing with my spare time. I should have lots of it. It’s probably going to take 3-4 days to actually get there so I won’t be able to update this for a bit.

  The dogs, Duke and Havoc, will have to keep Jessica company while I am away – I’m going to miss her greatly. Luckily for Jessica, her family is nearby and she has friends all over the place. Hopefully they’ll keep her distracted enough so that the time passes quickly.