My Vacation in Iraq

Conclusion

2006-03-20T16:05:00.000-06:00

Well it has been a couple months or so since I left Iraq. I left the blog kind of hanging since then. I thought that I should write something in here to wrap things up so this is what you get.
What have I been up to since coming home you ask?
Well I did get to go snowboarding a few times which was a lot of fun and hopefully I can get a few trips together next year too cause I really enjoy getting outside in the winter and there isn't too many other reasons to do so. My little brother got married a couple weeks ago. So grats to him! My friends Jimmy and Jamie just got married also. So I have had a few chances to go out and party which is good because any time I have gone to the bar since I have been home I end up getting sick from the smoke and loud music. (I don't know what's up with that)
Right now in my spare time I am doing work at home for the company I worked for full time before I left for Iraq. As far as short term goals I would like to find a job in or around the Quad Cities and then buy a house. I think if I do any more blogging it will be in a new blog. I would like to thank everyone for the support and for reading my boring blog while I was gone it meant a lot to me.

Happy New Year

2006-01-06T09:57:00.000-06:00

Well for those of you that don't know yet I have been in Ft. Dix, NJ since the 1st of Jan. I got to spend New Years Eve on a plane. Woo Hoo! Anyways it's been great being in the states so far. Even if it is NJ... again...
They have told our families that we are going to fly into the Quad Cities on the 8th at 8:30am so in less than 2 days I will be home with my family and friends! Hopefully they all understand if I sleep all day. I guess we are going to be up all night long preparing for our trip home Saturday night, so I am sure we are all going to be dead tired.
We have had some time off the last couple nights to go have fun while we are stuck here. So we have been taking full advantage of that. Other than that, Happy New Year everyone.
in the words of Adam Duritz "There's reason to believe maybe this year will be better than the last."

Pictures.

2006-01-03T17:41:00.000-06:00

Here are a few pictures that I would have liked to post while I was living in the tents with out internet at BIAP. Enjoy...

2006-01-03T17:38:00.000-06:00

This patriotic little guy took a ride with us on our .50 cal when we moved to biap. That was our last actual movement as a squad.

2006-01-03T17:32:00.001-06:00

Sgt Ballard enjoying a sadwich at our last platoon dinner.

2006-01-03T17:32:00.000-06:00

Now I don't know if they named these roads on Liberty this on purpose because me and my gunner are that awesome, but I would like to think so.

2006-01-03T17:15:00.000-06:00

Took time for one more team picture at the Cross Sabers

On the move....

2005-12-23T08:18:00.000-06:00

Well I am finally done with my mission here. I am just waiting on my ride(s) home for the most part. I am now back with the rest of my company in the BIAP area. My platoon is mostly all in one tent. I am not expecting to be in the States for Christmas anymore. I guess there were some scheduling problems with our flights. I was hoping that if we were there before new years I would be able to get leave and go to NYC... That would have been cool. Probably wont happen now, but I will cross my fingers. Some of the other platoons have been here doing nothing for a few weeks now. They have all been living in this area for a while though so they can show us where everything is. I don't think I will be taking too many trips though since I have to walk everywhere. It was a 20-30 minute walk to get here had someone not stopped to me a ride. That was the first time I rode in a SUV since I was home on leave... I couldn't believe how comfortable it was. You forget what life is like outside this place a little after being here so long. It will be nice to be home.

Seasons Greetings from Me, SGT Lewis, and I guess John Deere, here in Iraq!

2005-12-13T16:22:00.000-06:00

We had to take some guys to Falcon the other day to use the range there. I saw this thing driving around. Me and Lewis saw it as a good photo opp.

Have a Merry Christmas (those of you who celebrate it).

2005-12-05T03:04:00.000-06:00

Here is a picture I took a couple days ago of the Grand Mosque... This is as close as I have been to it for the most part.

Night Photos

2005-12-04T16:39:00.000-06:00

I was out taking pictures the other night with SGT Ballard and this is what I came up with. I think they turned out pretty good. As usual, click on any of the pictures to get a larger version.

This is one of the apartments that are right east of our FOB. I had to crop it to get rid of the roof of the building directly in front of me.

I have never really found out the name of this building. It is one of the ministries now but I think it was the Arts Center and I think it actually has a palace name too.

A mosque lit up in the back ground beyond the fairgrounds.

This is the west cross saber and the city skyline to the north.

On the horizon you can see the enormous silhouette of the Grand Mosque

This one is pretty cool because you can actually see the path of a humvee in the foreground and some taillight streaks in the background on the overpass

If you use Photoshop or something and lighten this picture you can see it's really me :) I had to stand there for 20 seconds because I set the camera for a 10 second delay and 15 second exposure. That's why I am not smiling it was bad enough trying to stand there :p

It just hit me I am going to miss Christmas

2005-12-04T16:17:00.000-06:00

Okay, I knew I was going to miss Christmas, but it didn't really hit me until I was reading a Christmas card from my mom and dad today, that this is going to be the first Christmas that I won't spend with my family. That pretty much sucks. I have always spent the night for Christmas Eve at my parent's and opened presents with everyone Christmas morning.
I have been telling everyone not to get me any presents this year because I won't be able to go shopping for anyone this year. If anyone really wanted to get me something for Christmas they should just wait anyways because I may buy a house this year and a house warming gift might be a lot better.
I would like to use this opportunity to tell everyone Merry Christmas because, as the people that know me best all know, I am not the card-sending type of person. I was thinking about getting people gifts from here but everything I see seems really cheap and a lot like tourist trinkets.
Anyway, Seasons Greetings everyone! I should be in the states during Christmas just not home. So you wont have to worry about me over the holiday!

Meeting Cool People is a Perk of the Job

2005-11-30T08:18:00.000-06:00

Me and my friend Juan

One of the best things about being deployed to another country is that you get to meet really cool people from different parts of the world. This is a friend of mine that works at one of the places I have to go to a lot. He is from Peru and luckily he knows english pretty good because it's the only language I know, and I don't even know it that well :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2005-11-24T03:46:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Things to be thankful for:

The support of my family

Great Friends

Not being injured during my deployment (knock on wood)

Being assigned to possibly the army job in Iraq

The internet

Care Packages

Things are getting busier around here for us. Partially because of our job and partially because we are getting ready to go home. We have been packing bags and filling out paper work. Last week my squad had to help and fill in for one of the other squads and run some extra trips out to Victory. This week is a little slow but my team still has to fill in for the other 2 teams in my squad because the duty we would normally be doing this week someone else has to do for us because he got in trouble.

Neglecting the blog...

2005-11-02T06:37:00.000-06:00

I have really been neglecting my blog for a while. It seems like there is nothing to write about now. I think it might be because I have been occupying the time I ussually spend writing doing things like going to the gym, playing videogames on my xbox, and researching online about my car.
It's pathetic but I really do miss driving my car a lot. It is true that once you own a VW you are hooked! I don't have any pictures of it but it is a 2003 Jetta 1.8T Reflex Silver w/ every option but leather. It is sad that I have owned it since 2003 and have only got to drive it for about a year!
I don't know when I will get back into writing in this blog like I used to but I am sure I will sometime. Untill then I will just write in it when I feel guilty for neglecting it :)

Wouldn't you think 10 days is enough?

2005-10-23T06:46:00.000-05:00

Sure I am feeling better (not sick anymore) but I have been congested ever since I started getting better. I think I need to take more vitamin C.

Anyway its been pretty calm here in my little home in Baghdad (as far as explosions and gunfire goes). A lot of stuff I probably cant talk about has been going on too. It doesn't matter though because you can read about most of it in the news anyways. It wouldn't make any sense for me to repeat it after its already been in the news. It would just make me look like I am only copying everything the media writes. There are way too many bloggers that do that already.

Here is some of the boring stuff that I can talk about though:

The weather has been AWESOME! (finally around the 80's during the day)

My job here is pretty slow lately (contributing to mass boredom on my part)

I haven't been able to catch a lot of my friends and family online lately :(

Starting my new weight lifting program today! (we'll see how that goes)

Finally lost my beer belly (liquid grain storage) I got in college ha ha

DOD cut the re-enlistment bonus for AGR (big mistake)

Other than that, I can't wait to get home in January!

I'm feeling better!

2005-10-12T18:27:00.000-05:00

*knocking on wood*

Ah... I sick again!

2005-10-11T05:16:00.000-05:00

I think the last time I was sick was when I was in Kuwait in Camp Virginia. That was probably from the small pox vaccination though. I guess it it has been a long time since I have been sick... Everyone in my platoon seems to be getting the same bug right now. I have been sick for a couple days now. I had a fever yesterday and the day before but I think I am feeling a bit better today. Hopefully this wont be one of those lingering sicknesses that give me a runny nose for a couple months.

I finally finished reading Wizard and Glass I hadn't had as much time to read it, as previous volumes, and when I did I kept falling asleep. It was a slow read through most of the book. The last part of the book went pretty quick though. I think I am going to start reading The Talisman now since I don't have Wolves of the Calla.

On top of being sick the mosquitoes are back again. I had just recently moved my bed and had to take my mosquito net down too. So now they are free to eat me alive at night. My left arm is actually bigger than my right arm because of all the mosquito bites on it. I guess I am going to have to try to rig up the mosquito net again or they are going to end up driving me insane (more than I already am).

A Crappy Story

2005-10-05T10:14:00.000-05:00

I was just answering an email from Danjel Bout the author of 365 and a Wake Up this morning when I was interrupted by my PSG who came in to tell me I had to stand out side my room while they take the dog through our building to look for drugs. (A few weeks ago some soldiers (not from my unit) were caught with some drugs) So I got out side my room and waited patiently. I know I had nothing to hide, I have never even taken a drag from a cigarette in my life let alone had anything to do with drugs. I still felt a little nervous for some reason but that's besides the point of my story.
The Air Force Sergeant that came in with the dog told us to not make any sudden movements because the dog was trained to attack. Which I thought was probably B.S. but didn't feel like taking chances when he pointed to the area that Fido liked to bite.
After that, he brought the dog through 4 of the 13 rooms in my building. Finding nothing in each one. When he came to the Squad leader's room the dog decided he was going to "leave one" right in front of SSG Kave's bed.
The dog must have been out all night drinking Budweiser cause it smelled really bad too!
Shortly after the embarrassed sergeant from the Air Force cleaned up the "evidence" he said "I don't think I am going to bother you guys any more today. I am going to take shit head home."
I guess I didn't have anything to be nervous about today in more ways than one since the dog didn't even get to my room.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Monument 10

2005-09-26T15:46:00.000-05:00

I thought this would be a good photo to post last because if you look through the Cross Sabers in the background you can see the Baath Party Headquarters Building that I stood on top of to take that first picture.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Monument 9

2005-09-26T15:34:00.000-05:00

Me and My Gunner at the top of the Monument... I am not sure what the significance of this object is. I am 6' tall if this gives you any idea how large this place is. I never realized how big it was till I had to climb to the top and even then it took pictures to point it out to me.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Monument 8

2005-09-26T15:28:00.000-05:00

I am not sure what this says but it is written at the base of that big half shell thing. We are not supposed to go down into the Monument.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Monument 7

2005-09-26T15:23:00.000-05:00

At the top of the Monument 3

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Monument 6

2005-09-26T15:22:00.000-05:00

At the top of the Monument 2

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Monument 5

2005-09-26T15:21:00.000-05:00

At the top of the Monument 1

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Monument 4

2005-09-26T15:17:00.000-05:00

Me at the top of the Monument

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Monument 3

2005-09-26T15:16:00.000-05:00

A shot from the base of the Monument

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Monument 2

2005-09-26T15:12:00.000-05:00

Here is a shot from the east side of the Tomb

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Monument 1

2005-09-26T15:05:00.000-05:00

This is one of the first pictures I took when I got to Iraq I was standing on top of the Baath Party Headquarters Building. I intended to take a picture of the east set of Cross Sabers but it ended up to be a pretty good shot of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Monument also.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Monument

2005-09-26T15:01:00.000-05:00

This Monument was constructed by Saddam Hussein in memory of those killed during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war. The huge monument is built on an artificial hill and houses an underground museum.

There is some more information and some cool pictures located Here

2005-09-26T14:56:00.000-05:00

I can't read arabic so I was wondering if someone could translate this sign I saw on the road the other day. I thought it was pretty interesting...

I knew it!

2005-09-22T11:15:00.000-05:00

I knew if I posted those dates they would change. Look for me to be home mid January now. I should be back in the states before Christmas though. Just not in my home town... (bummer).

2005-09-18T08:13:00.000-05:00

Here's me taking a minute out on a mission to play with some puppies and feed them some cookies.

Three More Months(?)

2005-09-18T08:02:00.000-05:00

It has been a while since my last post... I have seen a few cool things, that I cannot write about but will probably always remember, since the last time I posted. I will probably post a few pictures in the next couple posts of my last week and a half.

I think today marks the 3 month count down for us leaving this country. With any luck we could be demobilized and home before Christmas, but that is not a guarantee. With my luck we will probably not get home until after the new year. I know my Company command will try to get us home before then if there is any way that is possible but something always comes seems to come up.

Today we had our first training briefing for a mission that we will be a part of from now on. This mission will be added on top of the mission my platoon has been doing for the last 8 months. None of us are looking forward to doing this especially with the end of our deployment coming up.

This new mission is not supposed to interfere with the mission we are already running since the one we are running now is much more important. However, I am still skeptical about how this will all pan out. We have a couple weeks of training to do before we start and hopefully we will get some new equipment that I think we need during this time.

A week of midnight to noon shift!

2005-09-07T13:58:00.000-05:00

Last night started a week of working midnight to noon for my team... So far we agree it isn't half bad. Staying up all night while it is nice and cool outside, not to mention calm is a pretty good deal. We are more or less just "On Call" during these 12 hours so we have to stay in a room or right outside the building. That isn't half bad because there is a couple TV's in the room and I ran a ethernet cable over to the room and hooked my old wireless router up so that we could have internet in there while we wait. Last night I got to talk to my mom and dad a little while I was on shift so it wasn't too bad at all. The other 12 hours of the day we don't have to worry about getting pulled for any duties so that is pretty nice too. Now if I could just use some of that waiting time for reading instead of playing around on the internet I could do something productive :)

Yet again another reason to "Just say no to drugs!"

2005-09-06T16:54:00.000-05:00

Kanye West's infinite wisdom I am going to leave out my comments that would include words like moron or idiot. Because I have been told that I have a problem with name calling.

I will, however, leave this Open for comments. Please tell me your thoughts on this because it is bound to be a great conversation piece. Make sure to watch the video :) and if you read my blog you better comment cause this one is on you guys :)

How to make a donation.

2005-09-02T23:43:00.000-05:00

To donate to the American Red Cross Hurricane 2005 Relief Click Here!

Quick Sand?

2005-09-02T12:02:00.000-05:00

SGT Ballard stomping in the sand...

This is not water or mud this is just really dry sand that is about the consistancy of baby powder... This is pretty much why we have dust storms constantly here.

Foamy's Opinion on the Situation in Louisiana

2005-09-02T11:51:00.000-05:00

These are pretty much my exact thoughts...
Beware Explicit Language!!!

In a picture mood

2005-08-31T15:16:00.000-05:00

This is my older brother Heath and I from when I was on leave. Were standing on the Historic Lyndon Bridge over the Rock River. Right down the road from my parents place. I am the guy NOT wearing any army clothes in this pic :) most noticable by my ussual orange glasses.

Now you can probably tell why I would want to go home if you compare these 2 latest pictures

Platoon Picture Time!

2005-08-31T14:37:00.000-05:00

Here is a picture of my platoon we took this morning out in our motorpool. If you know what I look like you can find me in the front row. A couple guys aren't in the picture because they are on leave but this is us... Yeah we're hardened war vets... jk

Hurricane Katrina and Iraqi Stampede

2005-08-31T08:20:00.000-05:00

The latest headlines I have seen for Hurricane Katrina state there are 110 dead so far. I am glad that the initial number is so low. Thousands of people could have been killed. Maybe that number will rise but lets hope it doesn't. It is too bad that we, the National Guard, are not home to help with the clean up and rescue efforts, but we are definitely needed here a lot more. The people of the USA are willing and able to help themselves in times like this. While conditions in Iraq seem to be getting better the people are still scared; as is to be expected after what they have gone through the last few years. Today when I was in the chow hall I saw on the news that 635 Iraqis were killed in a stampede that started when someone apparently said that there was a suicide bomber in the crowd. More people died from fear today than a massive natural disaster the other day.
Strange...

Mars is Spectacular!

2005-08-28T17:00:00.000-05:00

"The Red Planet is about to be spectacular! This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the Last 5,000 years, but it may be as long as 60,000 years before it happens again.

The encounter will culminate on August 29th when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles of Earth and will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of -2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. At a modest 75-power magnification Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. Mars will be easy to spot. At the beginning of August it will rise in the east at 10p.m. and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m.

By the end of August when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30 a.m. That's pretty convenient to see something that no human being has seen in recorded history. So, mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grow progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month. Share this with your children and grandchildren. NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN"

This is an example of an Urban Legend (One of my worst pet peeves) I received in an email at the end of last month. You always get emails like this with some outrageous claim that seems impossible. There are too many examples to point out. And I am too lazy to post another one.

There are so many on the web though that there are whole websites dedicated to proving them wrong.

Now I don't want to share with you who it was that sent me this email. Because he knows who he was. Right dad :p But come on... Mars as big as the Moon in the night sky? I admit I fell for it at first but I didn't go as far as to forward the email without proof.

Most of the time when you get emails claiming that you will get money from Bill Gates if you send the email to all your friends or a little fairy will dance across the screen if you send this message to 10 people or Yahoo! will shut down your account if you don't forward the email to everyone in your address book... You can pretty much tell they are fakes. If you can't, just copy some text from the email and do a search with google or something. You will know pretty quick if it is a hoax. As a matter of fact I have a pretty keen eye for these hoaxes and the only one I was wrong about was this email about a Giant Liger (half lion - half tiger) named Hercules I guess he is actually real Watch out Roy! According to Napoleon Dynamite it's bred for its skills in magic. Which I would have to call B-ll Sh-t on. Sorry Napoleon.

Anyways, do your part. If you get an unbelievable email there is probably a reason. Check out http://www.snopes.com for your answer if you are unsure. The example I posted above has been in circulation for over 2 years now. Just to let you know though.... if you are into star gazing the Earth will be very close to Mars in October if you really want to check it out try then. You might as well look up while you are out smashing pumpkins and egging the ever loving crap out of [insert your worst enemy's name here]'s house. But don't let your guard down by staring at the sky the cops will be watching you. Actually just don't do that... cause I probably have a lot of enemies and I don't want my place egged. Besides it's more fun to chase around little kids with a chain saw with the blade removed... Wait... don't do that either. Better to just stay in your house and do nothing on Halloween because now days kids aren't allowed to have fun. Why am I talking about Halloween?

I will save Halloween for October...

Anyways I hear that there is a nasty Hurricane heading towards New Orleans. It will be fun to watch the stupid news reporters try to get the "scoop". I really despise the media these days... I do hope none of the dumb ass people that decide to stay get hurt. There are always those people that are too stubborn to leave. That City is probably due for a bath (good word Heath better than my baptism but both serve the same purpose) if you ask me anyways. Not that I have ever been there but I think that may have been where Girls Gone Wild was born.

As far as news from my neck of the lack of woods... The constitution was "finished" today. Lets hope that everyone can try to agree on it. Because I have been working my butt off for that thing! Well not really... That's only a half truth. I have finished reading Seven Years in Tibet by Heinrich Harrer (not Brad Pitt), an awesome read! and am starting on Wizard and Glass the forth book of the Dark Tower Series by Steven King. Then, I plan on reading, The Talisman and well lets just see if I get that far...

It's still dry as a bone here. The weather has been a cool 85 degrees or so at night with about 115 during the day every day. I wish the Hurricane was hitting here instead.

Two last things...

It's the 29th here... and Mars wasn't spectacular!

and sorry for dogging you out like that before dad :p

It's that time again...

2005-08-23T14:44:00.000-05:00

Time for me to ramble on. Nows the time the time is now... I almost didn't start writing this. It is really hard for me to get motivated to write. I think the newness of everything has worn off for me. Nothing really to exciting is going on and the heat keeps me in the building confined to my room. So I am not really experiencing too much outside of the missions I go on either.
Recently they started a midnight chow here on our FOB and I try to make it when I can because it is a really good thing for us. If not enough people go to it I am afraid they may take it away. Not that it would matter if people from our platoon would go to it. I am sure it was something that the larger unit on our FOB enstated and if they don't want it it won't matter how many of us go to it.
Last night we were on a mission that began early in the morning. It went on late into the night and past midnight. There was a lot of time where we were doing nothing but waiting so I got a lot of reading in. I read more than 2/3 of Seven Years in Tibet in one day. I have read more here than I have read in my whole life. If I could get myself to read in all of my down time I could have quite the library under my belt. Anyways I told someone I would go to midnight chow with him so I better get going.

Sandstorm - Reason #2

2005-08-10T23:44:00.000-05:00

Photo taken by SPC McDaniel

The last few days the internet has been on and off due to a sand storm that was blowing threw. Since we have a satellite internet system its really affected by the weather. Plus our service is not the greatest because they have not come to align our dish with the equipment they were supposed to use. This was a view from the front of the building I live in from just a couple days ago. It was strange waking up and the whole sky was orange. I kept thinking my eyes just weren't adjusted. I didn't know that this was just what color everything was. I woke up early and no one else was around to verify that I wasn't losing my sight so it was a little scary for a while.

Haven't been in the mood to post lately... Reason #1

2005-08-10T09:00:00.000-05:00

I haven't been in the mood to post on here lately. Although, there were a couple times when I was going to post or would have posted but for some reason out of my control I was unable to.
I guess there is a little bit to catch up on now. First I want to post that article that I mentioned in the last post:

Peeved over pet peeves

For those who would have me remove my sunglasses from my head; for those who fought soldiers to have backpacks (even Camelbaks) removed from the dining facility; for those who fought the wear of the booney cap; for those whose main concern was the wear of the physical training uniform in the gym; for those who would have National Guard units remove their state flags from the Pods; and for those who are concerned about what we wear on our way to the latrine, you are the problem.

Not one of the above rules will help me accomplish my mission flying troops over Iraq any more effectively. Not one will lift anyone’s morale, nor make them a soldier who is better at what they do, nor make anyone of us any safer.

Those pet peeves are the work of idle hands.

We will remember those pet peeves when the deployment is over and the stop loss lifts. I may remember those rules with my feet and maybe I’ll take the rest of the pilots with me.

That’s not a problem, right? The Army doesn’t need us.

Chief Warrant Officer 3 Rob Erlick
Logistics Support Area Anaconda, Iraq

This guy wrote what 99% of us are thinking. Everything he talks about in this letter to the editor of Stars and Stripes are the types of things that me and my fellow bloggers from my platoon calls "Stupid Rules" and that wasn't even the tip of the iceberg.

Anyway... for a totally different subject. When I was on leave I went to Six Flags in Gurnee to the new water park they have there. The weather had been hot (upper 90's) since I got home and from what everyone tells me it has been hot a long time apparently there is a drought in the Midwest if you haven't heard :p. I had a feeling though, since we planned this day in advance it would rain - considering all my vacations or planned days to be outdoors are rained on. I can't remember one time in the past where I have went on a trip or planned a picnic or went camping where it hasn't at least rained enough to ruin the day. Maybe I am cursed? I can just picture an exgirlfriend getting together with her friends to put a hex on me... you know... the kind where they gather round a glitter filled garbage can lighting pictures of me on fire and tossing them in it while praying to Princess She-ra not She-ra from the Masters of the Universe... the goddess of revenge or something to ruin any of my fun and maybe they had her had a touch of motion sickness too.

Sorry, thinking out loud... I do that in person too

Anyway it rained the whole day we were at the water park which wouldn't have been bad by its self but it got down to 66 degrees too, which is 66 degrees cooler than I have been used to... or so.
All that just to tell you why I think I got sick when I was home and felt like crap for the first week I was back. (Reason #1 that I haven't posted)

Back on Vacation

2005-08-02T14:59:00.001-05:00

I think I have made it back to my FOB in record time... I was half hoping I would get stuck somewhere overnight. I think it took about 63 hours to get here. Thats not too bad considering most people are taking about 6 or 7 days to get back lately.
I have decided I am never going to ride another C-130 without taking Dramamine first. It worked great I didn't feel sick at all. On the way back to the states I did everything I could to keep from loosing my lunch.
I have missed out on a lot of stuff going down since I have been gone. I can't talk about most of it though.
The guys had told me through instant messenger when I was home that there was a lot of stupid rules coming down lately... They were right.

Someone posted an article on the bulletin board called Peeved About Pet Peeves and I am trying to find a copy of it online to post on here because it sums up my feelings about these stupid rules exactly.

Home Sweet Home

2005-07-15T14:00:00.000-05:00

Made it home yesterday at about 1 pm. Been kinda busy so I haven't been able to post but I just thought I would write and say that I am home; and how sweet it is.

Welcome to Shannon Ireland

2005-07-13T22:50:00.000-05:00

Well I am on the way home... Right now I am in Shannon Ireland it's about 11pm wed back home and 5am thursday here. I am supposed to fly into Dallas then to Chicago and then back down to Moline and get there a little after 5pm. I have an open ended ticket though so I may be able to switch flights and get something directly to Moline from Dallas with any luck... I can't believe I am almost home!!!

0n my way

2005-07-12T01:04:00.001-05:00

I stayed 0ver night at an0ther base last night and am sitting here n0w. I have already went t0 the airp0rt t0 get my flight time and sh0uld be 0n a flight int0 Kuwait later this aftern00n. If my flight actually g0es 0ut 0n time I will pr0bably spend the night in Kuwait and with any luck leave f0r the US t0m0rr0w. I will try t0 keep updates 0n here s0 if any 0f my flights are delayed 0r I am stuck here f0r a while this is where y0u can hear ab0ut it... Maybe next time I sit at a c0mputer all the keys will w0rk and I w0n't have t0 impr0vise a zer0 f0r an ___ (letter I cant type L0L)?

Last Day Before Leave

2005-07-10T15:41:00.000-05:00

My team From left to right: SGT Port (me) - Team Leader, SPC Salmon - Driver, CPL Catour - Gunner

This was from 10JUL2005 on my last mission before I go on leave. I am going to start making my way home tomorrow or today if you consider that it is 0045. I can't wait to see green grass and clear skys again. All we have here is sand on the ground and dust in the air...

I still don't understand why anyone would want to live here.

Rino 120 GPS

2005-07-06T01:57:00.000-05:00

This is the Rino I thought he was talking about when he said can you take a picture of a rino for me... This is my back up GPS that I always carry with me and forget that I have when I need it.

Rhino Buss

2005-07-06T01:42:00.000-05:00

My dad wanted to see what a Rhino buss looked like... It's like an armored shuttle to the airport. I have never rode in one. I have my own armored shuttle :)

Nerd Heaven 2

2005-07-05T07:37:00.000-05:00

Here is a picture of my computers I have here with me.

Nerd Heaven

2005-07-05T07:20:00.000-05:00

I guess I haven't came out and directly said that I am using my own laptop, but I have talked about using my computer and fixing the other guys computers multiple times. Plus think about it... is the US Army really going to give me a laptop to use? They did give us a laptop for the platoon but we do cool high tech top secret army stuff on it. The network we setup is both hardline and wireless and I use hardline for security reasons.

My laptop is a Sager Notebook model 3790 it has been an awesome laptop so far.

Specs

1800 Pentium M

ATI Mobile Radeon 9700 128ram

60GB 7200 rpm HD

512mb ram

DVD/CDRW Drive

USB 2.0 x 3

Firewire

15.4in wide screen with 1680x1050 res

4 in 1 media card reader

built in webcam (junk)

centrino mobile technology

The only thing I don't like about this computer is the sound card sucks. Other than that it's awesome and less expensive than a say a dell with the same specs.

There is a pic of my network setup somewhere in my blog if you want to check it out.

Oh and I can't forget about my backup

My roommate is mooching this one right now cause he doesn't have a laptop.
It's a Dell Smartstep 250n

Specs

Pentium 4 2.4ghz

40GB 5400 RPM HD

512 mb ram

generic video card

DVD/CDRW

USB 1.0 x 2

PCMCIA x 2

Firewire

I bought this laptop almost new (refurbished) had problems when I first got it but sent it back to get it fixed and it has worked great ever since.

The reason for my short post last time...

2005-07-02T13:07:00.000-05:00

When I was writing last night SPC McDaniel came in and told me that I had gate guard. I said no I have it tomorrow and we went out to the chart in the hall where I would be proven wrong. I had less than 5 minutes to get there and was wearing my PT clothes.
It kind of sucked too because I had just got back from the gym where I used the eliptical machine for 20 minutes. I didn't get a shower till this morning because of that!!!
Anyway we had an exciting mission today! One thing I noticed today is that a lot of the guys are starting to get complacent. So if any of these guys are your sons or spouses, ream them a new one and tell them that SGT Port said they are getting complacent!

Give it up for me!

2005-07-01T13:29:00.000-05:00

I have worked out 3 days in a row now. Maybe I could keep it up? Anyone want to place bets? I could only hope I keep it up... I have gotten out of shape the last couple years. It could have had something to do with my college days. Oops I got to be somewhere! bye...

OP yet again

2005-06-29T05:35:00.000-05:00

Another long night at the Observation Point (OP). I have only had to be out in the tower a hand full of times now... it is kind of a pointless detail to get put on. There really isn't anything out there and if there was we would know by radio before we actually saw anything. There is a highway right below the tower on the other side of the wall and it is enclosed on both sides by 12 foot walls. I stare into a field on the other side of the highway over the wall all night and it is full of weeds and sand because nothing else can grow here. It is all closed off by 12 foot walls also... No doubt the site of the new Wal-mart Super Center. Of course occasionally you can hear the feint pop of gun fire or sometimes even a .50 Cal rap off some rounds. Sometimes you even hear explosions, or just hear something that sounds like thunder, out there, outside the international zone. I wish it were thunder cause that could mean rain. I don't know if I will get lucky enough to see the rain again here. I guess if I did stay here long enough to see the rain again that wouldn't make me that lucky it would just make me here longer.
I think if I wasn't so bored all the time and higher would stop jerking us around it would be a lot easier to stand and I would even stay here longer. I have decided to wait until the end of my deployment to decide if I want to stay in the guard or not. There are a lot of good things that the guard has done for me but it could be time to move on. Only time will tell what I will actually do. By the way if anyone else tries to tell me they want to convince me to get out I think I will stay in just for fun. This is a decision I can make on my own and I already know what everyone else wants me to do. So unless I ask please don't comment on it.

I can't wait to get home for a while and that is less than 2 weeks away!

Pool Party!

2005-06-29T01:48:00.000-05:00

Here is a picture from our trip to the pool on our last day off. Don't worry we didn't swim like that...

Woah too much work! Not

2005-06-25T06:49:00.000-05:00

Here is a recap of the last week or so. Went to the pool a couple days. Laid out tanning a couple days. Eat food and sleep. Believe me? Well don't worry folks your tax money is being spent well. It's kinda like being in the fire department for me here. The fire department isn't always working unless there is a fire and I am not always firing unless there is work. Well, something like that... Not that I am firing at anything but I couldn't probably tell you if I was.

Today is my birthday!

2005-06-21T09:42:00.000-05:00

Yep I am now officially 27. Although this year my birthday came 9 hours early ha ha. Some of my buddies brought me back a piece of cake from the D-FAC and put some candles in it and sang happy birthday :) so that was pretty cool. SGT Ballard got me a squirrel that blows bubbles... I thought it was going to be an Ipod. Damn.

My leave dates are official!

2005-06-19T02:55:00.000-05:00

I should be coming home between July 12-29. So no more asking me when it will be. :p

Rambling

2005-06-16T07:31:00.000-05:00

I am in a particularly good mood today. I am a little bored this afternoon but that's probably a good thing. I am trying to start exercising since I haven't really done any this year. Me and SPC Delgado ran 2 miles 2 days ago. That doubles the amount of miles I have run this year haha. The only other time I ran was during my PT test. I think the last time I ran regularly was when I was in basic training 6 years ago. I ran the 2 miles with Delgado in 12:59 without trying. Not that this is something to brag about but considering I haven't ran for real for 6 years I would say it's pretty good. Maybe I should get back into running and do some road races when I come home.
My birthday is in less than a week and I have already started to get some cards. Thanks for thinking of me over here guys! Oh, that reminds me, I found one thing that I would like in a package if someone wants to send it. SPC Owen got these Keebler Soft Batch cookies. (I think that's what they were called) Anyway you put them in the microwave for a couple seconds and they taste like homemade cookies from the oven. They were awesome!

Just to give you an idea about the heat

2005-06-15T09:28:00.000-05:00

I heard it was pretty hot back home these days from a few different people now. It is a little hot here too. Today it was about 116 and tomorrow it will be around 118. However, it should cool off the next few days and be around 109 that will be great! It is so hot out right now that you feel like you are in an oven even when you are in the shade. Why do people live here?

Maybe its time to pull out

2005-06-15T04:45:00.000-05:00

Not only do we have to deal with the "GREEN ZONE COPS" (anyone else have the pleasure of dealing with these pseudo-soldiers yet?) trying to bust us for speeding but we just got a list of 11 new policies that are not only going to make our lives miserable, but are probably going to hurt more soldiers than help them. The pencil pushers and desk jockeys must have finally rotated into Operation Iraqi Freedom.

This post was meant to be humorous. So if you can't take a joke don't read my blog.

I think I was traded a lemon.

2005-06-14T03:40:00.000-05:00

Five minutes before we rolled out the gate this morning my truck threw its serpentine belt. How many things can go wrong with one truck? We had to scramble to get another truck ready and meet the rest of the platoon because they had to leave without us. Anyway, we got back to the FOB and pulled the truck back to maintenance to get it worked on and they were like "No problem that will only take 15 minutes." They should have waited to say that until after they pulled what was left of the old belt off. They couldn't seem to find a new belt to put on it. An hour or so passes buy before they get it up and running again. I am glad we didn't have to rely on the 15 minutes they told us or some people would have been real angry with us...

Hopefully within the next few days I will find out if I get to go on leave next month or not. I don't want to get my hopes up for it but I really would like to go home for a while. I haven't got to talk to a lot of my friends and family for a long time.

Redirect

2005-06-11T08:41:00.000-05:00

I was going to comment on playing dodgeball yesterday, but since SGT Ballard already did. You should go to his blog instead :). He even put up a few pictures. By the way when he comments on my getting hit in the face and still catching the ball after it bounces up in the air 20 feet. It really was that awesome.

My new truck is awesome as far as crappy trucks go :p

2005-06-10T06:54:00.000-05:00

I don't know if I mentioned that I have a different truck now. I had to switch with someone else because of the equipment this one has installed. Anyhow, this one does have it's good points being faster than my old one is a plus. However, the rearend went out and is in the middle of getting fixed, which will be a while because the part it needs is nowhere in the green zone. So now its in maintenance jacked up for a few days. We had the day off today so we installed one of the new better turrets. The previous posts were some of the pictures from this morning.

2005-06-10T06:49:00.000-05:00

The finished product... I can't believe that took 3 1/2 hours.

2005-06-10T06:46:00.000-05:00

CPL Catour bolting the hand crank on the new turret. He was afraid his hair looked bad in this picture. Who is he trying to impress? hmmm...

2005-06-10T06:38:00.000-05:00

Me taking a quick break from the 150,000 degree heat.

2005-06-10T06:32:00.000-05:00

SPC Salmon right before the locking mechanism on the turret fell off and hit him in the nuts. He wasn't smiling for long after this picture.

2005-06-10T06:25:00.000-05:00

Dr. Port says "I diagnose this truck with major problems."

Sad News...

2005-06-07T13:31:00.000-05:00

Last night the inevitable happened. My unit sustained it's first casualty of the war. I know I am not a good writer and couldn't begin to write about what happened. So I'm not going to try.

If I see any articles in the news about it I will post the links here.

WPSD's Coverage

WQAD's Coverage

Chicago Tribune Article

quickie

2005-06-06T07:59:00.000-05:00

SGT Ballard has some pics of the sand storm last night on his blog... I recommend checking out his blog he seems to actually be updating it lately :p. Plus he is one of my buddies from my unit and lives accross the hall from me.

Here is the link to his blog:

My 18 month vacation to the beach

It is also on the right side of my page if you ever need it again.

Today was a long day of cleaning out A/C units and dusting stuff off. Every time we hit a bump now in the Truck dust comes out of the A/C vents... Got to love that!!!

Quick Update!!!

2005-06-05T15:23:00.000-05:00

This is the worst sand/dust storm I have seen yet! If anyone gets pictures from tonight's dust storm let me know. There will probably be some cool pictures circulating tomorrow. You cant even see 30 feet outside my building.

2005-06-05T15:03:00.000-05:00

Can You Dig It? that was our team name... yeah, we rule.

2005-06-05T14:45:00.000-05:00

This is Abbey and Tommy

I need a vacation from this vacation.

2005-06-05T14:35:00.000-05:00

I have been not been very motivated to post on my blog lately. I am not even sure when the last time I posted was. I am sure its been a while.
So I guess I should update what I have been doing lately...
In no particular order...
Today I wrote a $10,000 check! I did kinda write it to myself though I guess :). The army has this savings plan for activated soldiers that gains 10% interest. I would be a fool not to put into it. I should have done it a long time ago but procrastination killed the cat. I know, I know, you think it was curiosity that killed the cat but I think procrastination could kill it to... like if you were to procrastinate feeding it. Just kidding (but not really LOL). Man, I don't like cats. It doesn't help that I am allergic to them.

I don't think I mentioned it before, but when I got activated I moved back in with my parents to save money and visit before I left for here. They have 2 dogs Abbey and Tommy. Abbey is a girl black lab and she is the most lovable dog I have ever been around, and I have been around a lot, because my mom used to raise dogs when I was a kid. I think at one time we had 30 dogs in the kennel counting puppies. Tommy is a Jack Russell and he is nuts but very smart and fun to play with. They both love me and I miss them. I wish that the army would change its policy because it would have been nice to have a mascot like Chuck, God rest his soul :( Well I guess you can tell I am a dog person...

Back to what I have been doing...

We had a volleyball tournament on Memorial day weekend. My team one woo hoo!!! I will upload a picture of the team with our trophy.

I finished the video game I have been playing the last few days. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II The Sith Lords... Man that game took forever to beat. It was really fun though, I got into it. I like those kind of games because it is like watching a movie that you are part of. No one really wants to play multi player games here so that kinda sucks... This is definitely a different crowd than I am used to. Most of my buddies back home love playing video games with each other. Most of these guys probably have never played a multi player game other than Halo in their lives. So I am stuck playing games by myself.

They guys are getting together to play dodge-ball and there is supposed to be a tournament for it but it already doesn't seem like it is going to be any fun. Dodge-ball is about whipping a ball at someone for fun... they are trying to put all sorts of stupid rules into it and I keep hearing "The way we used to play was" anyways I don't feel like playing now, unless they play every man for themselves :).

I don't think I like team sports too much. I always liked Cross Country and Track I know they add up your points at the end and see if your team won, but everyone knows its all about yourself in those sports and if you did bad you only had yourself to blame. I think thats why I did so well in those sports back in the day. I knew that if I was going to win I had to do my best all the time and not rely on my teammates to carry me to victory. Thats probably a bad way to think about it psychologically but it only made me stronger.

Did I just write this?

2005-05-24T13:34:00.000-05:00

I got some really good packages this week. A couple days ago I got that game I have been wanting from my friends back home. I haven't got to play it as much as I would like yet... mainly because the first attempt I made to play it ended when the power went out :( No big deal I am getting used to it. It is funny to hear the curses from the new guys down the hall whenever that happens.
I didn't mind so much this time. I just broke open a chem light and lit a couple candles and started reading more of "The Gunslinger". I just got this book 2 days ago and am 2/3 done with it. For me that is amazing... I am flying through it... I don't mean to break any of my old English teachers' hearts, but this is like the first actual book I have read and I am now 26 years old LOL. I am not ashamed to say it. I have always had trouble with reading ever since I was little. It is weird how things change... I guess I can't say I have never read a book, but the longest book I have ever read is probably "The Time Machine" and its not a fraction of "The Gunslinger" in length.
It's funny now looking back I am a totally different person than I was when I was younger. I think I had A.D.D. but they just didn't have a common name for it then. I am sure that if I were to go back in time to meet with myself, "Little Luke" wouldn't even recognize me and not because I look to different (other than a few stress/laugh lines) but because I am a completely different person inside for the things I have done and seen. I should point out that I am not talking about the war changing me either because it hasn't or at least I haven't experienced any "major" life changing events... yet. I am just rambling anyway I am sure everyone experiences these same thoughts at some point in their life.

Back to reality...

I got to see Episode III of Star Wars tonight in the auditorium on the FOB... It was an excellent movie way better than the first two disappointing episodes as I am sure all the critics are saying. They could have shown more of Natalie Portman if you ask me though ha ha. She reminds me of a girl I dated once. She looks like her that is. Can't say that I know Ms. Portman or anything. But hey, maybe someday she will google herself and find her mention in my blog and want to meet me. Hey, anything can happen.

A New Holiday for Iraq

2005-05-21T16:22:00.000-05:00

I propose a new holiday for Iraq...
Lets start Monday and this new holiday will last until the end of the month. It will be called. The National Kick the Crap out of an Insurgent Time... (or some Arabic equivalent). I am sure there is a word for that.

By the way... I was told I am not getting to go home next month for leave for sure, so thats a bummer. Maybe if this new holiday works out the Coalition Forces can pull out of Iraq and I wont need leave :p

Update about my leave time... Kinda...

2005-05-20T04:15:00.000-05:00

Try to guess what kind of mood I am in.

As some of you know I was planning on taking leave in June. I was hoping to be home for father's day and my birthday and was led to believe that there were no problems with my dates I chose.
I just found out last night that I have been bumped out of my leave slot by someone else. I am not sure when I am going to get to go on leave now.
The way my company does leave is they ask everyone what reasons they have for going on leave at a certain time and try to weigh each reason to see who should go. During that time. Leave slots for the next month come out toward the end of each month for the company. This means if you didn't get your leave you get bumped to the next month and your reason's for going are weighed against the soldiers that had reasons to go in that month. This causes you to keep getting bumped to the next month because your reason for going isn't even valid any longer. My birthday and father's day aren't in July so I have no reason for going on leave in July. This could keep happening until the end of our deployment causing me to miss out on leave all together.

Some soldiers are having problems back home and are taking leave early to try to fix these problems. Here are some examples of things that are happening:

Wives cheating on husbands

Wives wanting divorces because they can't take being alone

Wives cleaning out husbands bank accounts

Power of attorney/mother cleaning out son's bank account

I am not saying that these are not valid problems that need to be dealt with but this is just my platoon. I am talking less than 30 guys. Thats a pretty high percentage. This is pretty messed up - how can there be this many problems. I don't think I am going to ever get married after looking at this. We are not even half way through our deployment how can things be this messed up back home. I know that none of these people doing this stuff are going to be reading this but if they were, I would tell them to grow up. There should be a law or something that puts people like this behind bars or something. If anyone knows anyone doing something like this to a soldier that is deployed; I think I speak for every soldier man or woman when I say feel free to beat the crap out of them.
As far as my leave time goes... I have no idea when it will be. They tell me I could still squeeze into June, but I doubt that... I will keep you all posted...

2005-05-17T16:15:00.000-05:00

Since the show was only an hour long I decided to do some fishing after it was over,

2005-05-17T16:11:00.000-05:00

Attention! Toby has left the building!

2005-05-17T16:07:00.000-05:00

Me and Mikki D at the USO concert

2005-05-17T16:02:00.000-05:00

Toby Keith live in Baghdad!!! It was pretty cool even if it was only an hour and the band couldn't make it. This was my first actual day off since I have been here :). Got to take a trip to Victory which is pretty cool cause I don't get out of the IZ too much if at all. They have a huge PX there that has way more stuff than the one in the IZ.

Online shopping can be a pain

2005-05-13T07:21:00.000-05:00

Today I went to buy this videogame from an huge online bookstore that will remain unnamed Amazon.com. After finding out that they will ship items to APO addresses I was excited to get on and start ordering some stuff I want. Mainly this videogame that I have been wanting for a few months now.
Anyway I find the game put it in my "Shopping Cart" and get ready to check out. As I put in all my information and hit the checkout button and it says "Some stupid error message" there is a problem with your information...
After looking into the matter I found out that there is a few different items that Amazon will not send to APO addresses and here is that list:

apparel

camera and photo items

cell phones and service

computers

most electronics items

hardware

housewares

kitchen items

magazines

outdoor living items

software (including games

tools

I think they just need to put up a disclamer that comes up if you want to buy something that says. "If you have to use an APO address you can't get anything cool." I mean come on what does that leave?

2005-05-12T14:43:00.000-05:00

Field of dreams...

2005-05-11T03:06:00.000-05:00

Here is a picture of our internet setup. It is cool that we all had the skills and equipment to get this set up. It's slow but better than walking across the FOB and paying 2 dollars an hour.

Been working on my blog

2005-05-09T14:13:00.000-05:00

I just recently added a cool picture to the top of my page. I put a cool counter on the side bar too. I also put some clocks that have my two favorite time zones on them... Well one of them is a nice time zone anyway... Oh and I put some links to my buddy's blogs. They don't update them as much though.
I know this is really too obvious to be writing about but I have nothin. Although I do have plenty of things that I can't write about. What a rip off.

Links to my pictures

2005-05-08T06:24:00.000-05:00

Well I was going to post some pictures on here from when I was in Ft. Dix till know, but then I thought that it would probably be best if I just send the links to friends and family that ask for them. So if you want to see them let me know and I will send you the links to them.

More Missions

2005-05-07T04:41:00.000-05:00

I just wanted you all to know that I have been getting more missions lately. That is why I have not been online as much. This will probably be a regular thing now. No more staying up till 3 to talk to people back home for me.
I also wanted to address something I have been hearing from you all back home. It sounds like the news has been making it look like there are more and more attacks lately. If you ask me there have been fewer attacks and bombings. I used to hear them all day long when I first got here. Now if I hear any there is maybe one or two in the morning and that's about it. We have also been stopping more and more car bombs before they do any damage also. Just remember that the news only reports the bad stuff and never the good. If anything maybe the few bombs that have went off lately have just got lucky and done more damage than usual.

2005-05-06T06:12:00.000-05:00

I had to post this because if I had a dump truck this is exactly the paint job I would give it...

2005-05-06T05:49:00.000-05:00

Just a cool picture I took the other day.

Someone bring me an ID10T form

2005-05-03T13:37:00.000-05:00

Okay, just in case I start to sound harsh when I talk about the idiot that got his weapon stolen yesterday. Here is some backup for my opinion.
First of all, from what I hear, this guy lost his pistol on 3 different occasions. Once in Ft. Dix, Once in Kuwait, and yesterday here in Iraq. This last time he left it in the gym where someone obviously stole it. Just last week while he was at the PX he had a negligent discharge in the clearing barrel and that is a major screw up.
Now our higher ups are making all sorts of rules like. You have to take your weapon to the bathroom that is 10 feet from the door of our building. Yet you are not allowed to take it all the way across the FOB to the GYM. That's rediculous... Get this you don't have to bring your weapon to the shower trailer that is right next to the bathroom one that you do have to take your weapon to. One E6 joked around by saying lets just bring towels with us everywhere and leave out 9's in our rooms. Then we can just say we are going to the shower or the gym at any point when someone stops you and asks you where your weapon is... You know I really haven't signed the paperwork for re-enlistment and this kind of BS is definitely making me rethink signing back up.

Looks like I am not going to get much sleep

2005-05-03T02:58:00.000-05:00

Five minutes after I published that last post we got a mission. I had to kick my guys out of bed and we had to get moving cause we had to leave in 15 minutes. We got ready in record time. Just about the time the first truck was pulling out we got the word to stand down. Man! I think someone is just messing with me today.
Some of the other guys from my company are here today so I got to visit them for a while. It is nice to see them it's almost like a taste of home for some reason.

Running on no sleep

2005-05-03T00:09:00.000-05:00

Last night shortly after my roommate and I fell asleep. We were woke up by my half asleep squad leader telling us that he needed to see our weapons... This happens when someone loses their weapon. Don't ask me how looking to see that everyone else has their own weapon finds the moron's that lost his. I don't know if that sentence made sense but you know what I mean. Apparently one of the guys from the wonderful unit we are attached to lost his weapon and we had to suffer along with them... It is funny when the unit that you are attached to that usually hardly counts you as a platoon when it comes to supporting you all the sudden remembers you when there is stupid stuff like that to do.
Then, I had just gotten back to sleep and I got a knock on my door again "Health and Welfare inspection" I was like "You have to be kidding me..." So we get up and my squad leader reluctantly searches our room for any contraband we might have stashed away. I only wish I had something I wasn't supposed to have mainly alcohol cause I probably would be drinking it right now considering how crappy a night I had. So after that was all said and done I went to bed yet again.
I didn't even fall asleep this time cause I couldn't get comfortable before my squad leader came in again... (it was probably an hour and a half later about 0545) "Sorry guys I just like messing with you." Obviously he used a more colorful word in there and was being sarcastic. Even he was getting annoyed by having to get up so often. He then explained to us that we had to go out and search for the missing pistol that had still not been found out in an area of the FOB that I don't think I have ever seen anyone walk before. Obviously it was going to be a waste to go out there but we did it anyways... So we take this half mile, hands across the desert, walk down and back shuffling our sorry feet the whole way, making comments about the stupidness of the situation, cause we are all getting ridiculously P.O.ed at this point.
Obviously we didn't find anything I don't know if they have even found the weapon yet. It is probably in the guys room and he just didn't look hard enough for it before he said it was gone. Either way he should have never lost it... All you have to do is put a lanyard on it and attach it to your belt. The only time mine ever comes off my side is when I am doing PT, showering, or sleeping. It is things like this that make my platoon look bad... Even though we are not the ones that do stuff like this we are attached to the unit that is. There have been many even stupider things that they have done and we get lumped into the consequences by association. I probably shouldn't even comment on those things though. It just really ticks me off that anytime they do something wrong. The blame falls on everyone including us, but when something good happens, they take all the glory. Granted they are doing a lot of good things for themselves that affect us like getting new bathrooms put in etc., but if it was just our platoon that needed new bathrooms; we would never get them.
Anyways I just had to get that off my chest. I drank a Red Bull energy drink this morning at chow and I am all fired up I guess lol. Speaking of that on the way to breakfast today I noticed that the wind was so strong last night it bent the metal supports on the welding tent that the contractors us. It tore a couple of the legs right out of the ground and they were cemented down. I thought about going back out there and taking pictures of it but I really am starting to feel tired again from lack of sleep. I am going to like reading this one later to see if it even makes sense. I think I am going to go back to bed... Hopefully we don't have a mission anytime soon.

Watching a movie...

2005-05-02T13:50:00.000-05:00

Excuse me if I am distracted while I am writing while watching the movie Resident Evil 2. Me and my roommate have been borrowing a portable DVD player since my xbox is a POS. Other than that we have been playing a lot of volleyball to pass the time. We played for 4 hours strait yesterday and today we played 2 hours. I hope the guys don't get burnt out on it cause it ls pretty fun... It is nice to do something besides play Fight Night 2 on my friends Xbox. Can you believe that I have watched the whole movie and this is all I have written? Thats funny

Not much to write about these days...

2005-04-29T12:25:00.000-05:00

There were a lot of Car bombs this morning or what we call VBIED's. VBIED's (V-bids) Stands for Vehicle born improvised explosive device. I guess they killed some Iraqi soldiers. It is rough fighting a war against bombs. Luckily my job isn't fighting the bombs...
enough of the bad news... Back to my vacation... That title has become pretty fitting to this blog since I can't really talk about the actual work I do here. Today was pretty hot... I don't know how hot but I am willing to bet it was in the 100's. I managed to stay out of the sun today so it was pretty easy to keep cool. The A/C works great in my room and the A/C in my truck is alright but the engine heat gives it some pretty good competition...
After supper chow a few of us went over to the Aussie side of the base where they have a sand volleyball court set up... It is right under a palm tree and if you try real hard you can pretend you are on vacation back there if you shut out the occasional pop of gun fire across the road at the firing range. We went over there yesterday too and played. There is going to be a tournament on our FOB in a few weeks so we are trying to find some guys for our team. It should be pretty fun.

Gate gaurd, Sandstorm, Rain, Explosions

2005-04-25T14:42:00.000-05:00

Well today has been a long day. I got up at 0200 to go do Entry Control Point (ECP) Duty. That is the army's fancy way of saying Gate Gaurd. It was alright but I would have rather been sleeping at that time. Plus there was a pretty good wind kicking up a sandstorm so I got pretty dirty out there. I guess today was Anzac Day for the Aussies about 0500 vehicle after vehicle pulled into the gate to celebrate with the Aussies we have on base. I am not sure what Anzac day is but I think it may be like thier independance day or something? Anyhow all those vehicles coming in made the time pass by quickly.

I took a moment just now to look up what Anzac Day so here is what it is:

ANZAC Day - 25 April - is probably Australia's most important national occasion. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The soldiers in those forces quickly became known as ANZACs, and the pride they soon took in that name endures to this day.

This is actually pretty interesting if you want to read more here is where I got this info http://www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/anzac/anzac_tradition.htm We need holidays like this.

Enough about that...

While on gate gaurd I was thinking to myself 'Man it would be nice if it rained so this sand would stop kicking up in the wind so much' then a few hours later it started sprinkling. Now it is raining pretty good but not heavy like back home. I just thought that was ironic that it actually did rain. I thought I had seen the last of the rain a long time ago.

Earlier today we were sitting in the motorpool because we were going to have to support another platoon if they were to go out to the red zone. While we were out there we all heard about 8 loud explosions off in the distance all within 30 seconds of eachother. I don't know if that had anything to do with the platoon not going into the red zone or not but, they didn't end up going which was good because I was really not looking forward to it since I had been up since 2 and it was raining.