Ice Cube's a PIMP!

If you know the reference, that's 10 cool points.

But seriously it was. Got some mail today, and indication that moves may be made earlier than expected... I might be home before Christmas.

Back to the mail...If you're ever in a God forsaken hell hole, but you get mail, try drugstore.com . I was so tired of having to beg people for food and go on freaking scavenger hunts to avoid eating MRE's, so they came through in a clutch. That C-130 tearing down the runway was the greatest noise ever...Now a quick bring it back selectah to the God forsaken hell hole bit. I'm not referring to Pakistan..Pakistan is a beautiful country, and Pakistanis are for the most part nice and courteous. I was talking about the small portion of the base that I'm at...and the conditions the Army has got us in. Fun Fact: they found E-coli in the showers...a month after we'd been using them.



Hey there, lil fella


Add that to the fact were packed in rooms like the freaking SS Amistad and pretty soon you'll get a brigade full of Outbreak monkeys. Hoo-rah. So far I haven't got sick (knock on wood)...but all it takes is one.

Now, about getting home, Inshallah as they say. I just hope it translates to soon...

..<>..

Give Me a Ticket

So ready to be home...

I miss my family and friends...

The Plan vol. 1

This song has been stuck in my head all day, so far...maybe my 1st hot shower put me in a slow jam mood...

The routine is getting established...

I had many reasons to want to go to Pakistan, and one was to prolong a stay of execution aka PT Test. Anybody thats known me since whenever knows that I'm a big dude. And I never feel ready to take a PT Test because 1. it's a bummer and 2. my stress level is through the roof. Even when I'm ready for it and worked out for months prior to, it's always a mood drain on me. I think it's mental, matter of fact I know it is. I don't think the boss had confidence in me either, and that may have influenced his decision. One of the last things he said to me was "Watch what you eat out there." I wasn't in the least bit offended. I took it as a subliminal hint, like here is a second chance (or third or fourth, you pick) don't mess it up.



Learning



So...back to the routine. We have an airfield here that is about 3/4 mile around. When we first got here I was running 2 laps, the length of the PT test run. It was a killer, but I was doing it. It was in the afternoon so it was freaking hot and hazy and the Helo's would always be coming back at that time. I don't know if you ever took a blast of debris in the middle of a distance run, but lemme tell you, it's not the shiznit. So the new course of action is 4 laps (3 miles, for the kids in the back) in the morning. It's pretty nice, cool weather, it's not crowded sunrise over these mountains is beautiful. I'm not a runner but it's actually a good run. I'm going to try for a 3 on, 2 off schedule, mainly due to laundry.

We used to do pushups in the office every hour but we've been on slack mode lately. If this place had a bench it would be the bomb, but alas we do not. So for now I'm focusing on bringing sexy back 4 laps at at time. And finally taking hot showers. 



30 Days in Pakistan

So here we are...

30 days since I left Alaska...

50+ days since I left the house, the wife and kids, the Xbox and Playstation...

Still no light at the end of the tunnel...

I wish that people in charge were able to commit to the type of information they expect from thier subordinates. A simple timeline is all I want. I had a pretty big 2011 planned. 2010 seems to want to jack that schedule up. I was hoping to get to go to Afghanistan in the spring but this clusterfoxtrot might get that canceled. It sucks being away from the family for that long but deployments are actually pretty good if you use your time wisely. Most of the extra B.S. that comes with being a member of the finest flying force the world's ever seen melts away and you get to focus on doing what you raised your hand to do.

I'm not saying doing a humanitarian relief mission isn't satisfying in it's own right. The part that makes this so sucky is that we're confined to a very small section of the country..city..base..airfield. It feels like a prison. Max security lockdown. 'They' say we'll be here for a few months. 'They' also say we'll be gone in a few months. It kind of seems like rushing into things without a endgame is becoming the norm. That's why I like videogames. The goals are clear, but in real life, notsomuch.

I personally don't think this space we're set up in will last too long. It's okay right now because people packed for a couple months, but 4 months down the road, I expect hard times. At least in (most bases in) Afghanistan, they are built up and have facilities and recreation. It took 3 weeks to get a toilet by the hangar so you didnt have to walk (literally) a quarter mile to drop a deuce. I still haven't been able to take a hot shower in 30 days.

It's funny that a lot of people say that even getting on the internet is boring now. There literally isn't anything to do out here. Big Army likes to use the excuse that this is 'how the Army is' but they don't do a lot to fix it. And everytime they set something up somebody spoils it for everyone. They set up a MWR tent and got it shut down in 1 day. That's why we can't have nice things.

        

I'm just looking forward to getting back to my friends and especially my family. And my liquor...

Awaken the Sleeping (Blogging) Giant

 

It seems like the only time I get to update this blog is when I'm TDY...I swear I'll try to do better but as it stands..this is what it is. Anyway the setting of this written picture is Pakistan. I gotta be on one of the most boring deployments ever..the crazy part is that I have no clue when I'm getting back to the wonderful world of wireless internets. At least there's a few cool people on this one. For those who may (not) read this and have never been on a TDY or deployment, its basically going to an unsafe place and being confined to a small area. I don't want to compare it to prison though. Prisons are much bigger. It's getting pretty crazy though because I'm here with the Army. The Army loooooves to make dumb ass rules that they expect grown people to follow. Not saying they aren't necessary...whenever one of the talking  heads on your favorite 24 hour news channel mentions how they send brave young men and women to the warzones, it's not an exaggeration. They are young, but not child prodigies. Think about how smart you have to be to run into the direction of oncoming fire. Think about what other kinds of things you will do with that level of intelligence. This is my life now.

I sound like I'm complaining alot...but really I'm Mr. Brightside. As in the Brightside of this is that eventually I will see an increase in pay, you know family separation, iimminent danger...uhh by the way, there are the Pakistani Special Forces (SSG) guys no more than 50 feet away from me at all times. With weapons. Loaded weapons. Have you read the news lately...yeah they aren't too pleased with us right now. Even though we are here to help. LOL (not really). Guess how many loaded weapons I have in my immediate possession in case of danger...Lemme stop you right there. It seems the enemy of my enemy may very well be my enemy.

Hello my friend...

Geopolitics aside, the untold story of isolation in a military environment is the basis for every story ever told. The chemistry between man and woman. Or in this case 350 men and 30 women. One of which I work with. This means an endless parade of dudes with no apparent job coming in to hit on her. To her credit she's pretty cool, but these dudes have the weakest game. Here's an example, one guy sent his boy over here to let her know that "He's had his eye on {her}, and wants {her} to know that he's going to make his move soon." Young girls, if this is the stuff that works these days, I'm glad I'm married. Other dudes are just becoming a nuisance. I applaud their effort, but fellas, you gotta show some class. And anyways this isn't like a real deployment where you can find places to "handle your B.I." this is a confined space, did I mention the guards. But they already found used jimmy hats (for the old school bonus) behind the trailers. On a unrelated note, at least 3 people have seen the doc for STD's.



...In your crotch


I'm really bored here seeing as how it's already turned into GroundHog Day...But I did get to watch the latest season of The Boondocks (I likes ya, and I wantcha) and I've read a few books already (Good Omens, The Lost Symbol..working on The Strain) so I've got a little bit to keep me entertained. The food isn't bad (raise your hand if you've ever eaten pigeon!). The main drawback to this is that I miss my little Munchee-chee and my family and friends in Tacoma (and everywhere else). But as pseudo-deep friends will tell you when you least want to hear it, "This too shall pass." And when it does....I'm gonna get drunk.