Lovely Day

Today was a lovely day!

It was in the low 90s with a stiff breeze and lots of sunshine!

I was in the tower from 1100-1700 and spent a good chunk

of that time sitting on the balcony reading.

Which is what this pic is of.

I was also kinda bored and playing with the camera. :-)

This is sand. I like the ridges that the wind carves in the berm.

It's pretty in a desolate desert kinda way. :-)

This is lots of sand. And a road that leads to nowhere.
There used to be a road that ran along the border right through here,
probably pre-Desert Storm. Anyway now it starts in the middle of nothing
and goes nowhere. Kinda peotic.
You know, in a desolate desert sorta way. :-)

And this is a shadow of me sitting on the balcony of my tower. I

said I was bored...

Anyway, I got in from the tower, emailed some folks, checked my school account about 20 times to see if grades were posted yet, finished my book ("P.S. I Love You"-and a good book), talked to Aunt Linda (while she was hiding in her office with the door shut so as not to get caught on a personal call...bad girl!, and now here I am. Oh Yeah, I think all that sitting on the balcony gave me a sunburn on my face too. Nuts. Oh well. So there, you go. Not perfect, but lovely none the less.
And a Big Giant Happy Anniversary
goes out to Jenny and her oh so lovely husband Greg...4 years. Awesome!

MEN!!!!!

So, I just went out to go potty. There are five porta potties outside the area I'm at...ALL FIVE had pee all over the seat. COME ON GUYS!!!!! Really, all of them!?

Pics

Here's me working on my blog. Today actually.

The computer is tucked into a little corner in a supply room.

On Monday, THERE WERE CLOUDS!!!

It was so pretty!

This is one of Jenny's...

I'd so much rather look out my window and see this.

EST (Engagement Skills Trainer)

Today we did EST training before work. On the negative side we had to get up and hour early and do this stupid thing before our normal shift and got stuck waiting around for a couple hours waiting our turn. On the positve side, the thing is actually pretty cool. This was the only pic I could find, but we were shootin M-4 rifles, not 50Cals. You go in and have to group (get three shots real close together) then the computer zeros the sights for you. (normally with a regular rifle you have to manually adjust your sights a little at a time until you are hitting center mass. Each weopon is different, and each person is defferent, so you have to adjust it each time you qualify. It can get knocked off of it's zero by everyday jostling.)

So then you look at the far wall which serves as a giant screen and the targets pop up, looking like when they do on an actual range. Today we were doing NBC (Nuclear,Biological, Chemical) fire qualifications, meaning we had to fire with our gas masks on. It's not easy, but you get used to it after a while. The CCOs (Close Combat Optics) that we have mounted on the weapons help. Anyway, the computer can tell with lazers where you hit, and the targets actually go down when you hit them. We did one at basic where there were actually people at some wearhouse thing shooting at us and we had to engage the moving targets.

It's like a really cool interactive video game. Expensive too I'm sure. :-) Your tax dollars at work. It does make it easier when going to a range would be impossible, and does save on ammo costs. Anyway, that's what I did this am. I'm done with my classes now and have 5 days off...don't really know what to do with myself. Anyway...hope you have a great day!

Day Off

Hi! It's my day off and still eary (noonish). So far I had to get up early for a flu shot and get my teeth cleaned. YEAH!!!! whatever. So I just checked online...I got an A in my strategic Geography class. Yeah! And yes, Aunt Linda, an A on that paper. I still have one project due in my other class, but it's a good start. I'm looking forward to the rest of the day being pretty rexaling. Well, have a good one!

Better

Hey, thanks y'all. I'm actually feeling much better. A 24 hour thing I guess. I still have this massive paper to write today, but that's just the way it goes. :-)

Sick.

I am sick today and this bites. What's worse than being sick in a foreign country? Being sick in a foreign country and having to work 15 hours while doing it and writing a final for school. I'll spare the details, but I woke up at about 2am and was not a happy camper. I switched my shift around with my squad leader so that I could get some sleep and that helped some, but I've still got a killer headache. :-( I wanna go home.

Kuwait City

So I was on the phone on Tuesday afternoon trying to figure out WHY it was going to take three trips to the Kuwait City to get my wisdom teeth pulled when in walks one of my sergents.


"I need to know RIGHT NOW if you want to go on an MWR trip tomorrow." "Where to?" I ask. "Kuwait City, I think." "OK," says I. So, 0730 yesterday AM, off I went. Groggy and cranky about being sent back to my barracks to chend=ge into a shirt with no print. So that I wouldn't stand out as an American. Cause the blonde hair doesn't give it away... Anyway, We headed down adn after driving incircles for a while to follow force protection protocal, We got to Kuwait Towers.

Now, Kuwait Towers is a shameless tourist thing, but they are cool, and you get a great view! There were also Pictures posted inside about what it looked like when the "foreign barbarians" destroyed it during their occupation in 1991.

This is the view to the south from the tower. We walked around a bit, got a snack and loaded up to go to the mall.

The Marina mall was pretty nice. It is really upscale and full of mostly Eurpopean and American stores. (Claires, DKNY, Limited Too...) It was OK, but I'm not a mall person under the best of circumstances, let alone in a foreign country. I did, however, enjoy a Krispy Kreme donut. :-)


I was there with a buddy I work with, Sam, so after we pulled our guard shift at the busses we skipped out of the mall and headed to the beach. We walked around and took pictures, played in the water a bit.




Then we headed out into town. It was nice to see a bit of more realistic Kuwait City. We got lunch at a little cafe and just wandered around looking at stuff. It was pretty cool. We also made it back in time, so we weren't missed. :-)

After that we headed to this science center, but didn't have a lot of time. We explored a little and went for a wlk along this path on the water. All in all it was a really nice day. I saw trees, and kids, and water and grass. Everything was so colorful. It might sound silly, but my whole world is in brown and gray. It was nice to see normal people doing normal things. It was very relaxing...even if they did make me go to a mall. :-)

Military Dental

OK, so I need to get my wisdom teeth out. I still have 2, and they cause me problems. So here's how it works...I went to the dental office here and he wrote me a referal. So I called to make an appt, and I have to physically walk into the office at Camp Arifjan (2 hour drive each way) and make an apt to go get a pano x-ray out in Kuwait City. I then have to drive down on an additional day to get the x-ray. Then I have to come back the third time and get the extraction. (good news is they can knock me out if I want.) But 3 trips to Kuwait city to do it. And I need 2 crowns...who know's what that'll involve... Oh, well, I guess you get what you pay for. :-)

Zone 4

The Little shopping area near my barracks is called Zone 4. I know, creative. The Army is great at boring names. There is some descent stuff though. To the left and right are the inside and outside of our Starbucks. I don't hang here much being that I hate coffee, but it's open 24 hours and provides a little spot of home for us.



Then we have the KFC. I've never actually eaten here, but it's pretty popular. Most of the restaurants are like this...walk up. That's not so bad at this time of year, but in the summer it REALLY sucks.



We have one "big PX" on post, one 24 hour Shopette, and this little thing. It's the back of a Semi that they've made into a little PX. it's actually not too bad. It's doesn't have much, but it is convenient.




Here is the Nathans's hot dog stand. I have eaten here, and it's not bad. The chilli cheese fries are killer. Aside from these things, there is an embridery shop, a beauty shop, a barber, a photo processing/t-shirt making shop, an internet cafe, and a couple of little souvenier places. There is also a DFAC (dining facility) here. Overall it's pretty convieniant.

Civilians Suck.

Ok, here's a fun story that happened a few days ago. I think...thins has kinda been the week that will not end though, so who can really be sure?

Anyway, we were getting back to post and there is usually a bit of a line at the front gate,

but not too bad. Well this night there was a HUGE line. We've got another troop surge going on and they all come through Buehring. Anyway, so big charter busses..blah, blah. So we swerve around the group and cheat by going through another line. That gets us past the first set of guards.

Well, then we had to pull over to clear our weapons (make sure there are no bullets in the chamber so we don't accidentally shoot someone. We have to do that everytime we come back on post.) Anyway, there are these serpentine barriers set up along with the speed bumps from hell. We stopped in the middle of the road, got out and walked around the berm to clear our weapons in the barrels we always do. We loaded back up and got to the second set of gates.

Well, we got there and they said we had to clear our weapons. Our driver said we did. They said we didn't. we tried to explain that we did and where. They said we didn't. This is where it got a little louder. After a few Minutes of going back and forth with the dumb ass civilian guards, one of our guys got out to go get our sergent from the bus that was following us. Well, At that point they said they were going to call the MP's. Our sergent came up, we all went and cleared our weapons, AGAIN, and got back in the vehicles.

They wouldn't let us through. They called the MP's and waited for them to get there. As if there was anything they could do about a couple of guys mouthing off to some civilian rent-a-cop gate guards. Anyway, the pic is of our sergent talking to the MP's when they got there. At this point we had been sitting at the stupid second ate 10-15 min at the end of a long day and were all pretty pissed. The MP's told us to be nice and sent us on our way. It was a big stupid mess.

Civilians suck. :-)

Another day Begins...

Well, we're at our daily stop at the PX before work. I'm tired and I wanna go home! The barracks will due, but I have about 14 hours before then. I'm on my 7th day straight working and I'm exhausted. On work days I don't get enough slepp because there are not eough hours. We get back to base at midnight and have to be up at 8. So I am generally sleep deprived.

I have reading a paper to write today, fun fun and I am in the tower all day. So I will have my cute little butt parked in there for 12-13 hours. It's not that bad, but get boring after a while. Well, gotta run!

Oh, and Aunt Linda, I HOPE to be home then, but the Army can do whatever it dang well pleases. I would say there's about a 98% chance that I come home in Dec though. :-) But hey, I volunteered. Love ya!

Kaboom!

Well, we had a bit of excitement last night. We picked up this uparmored Hum-vee the day before yesterday and drove it out to K crossing. Well the stupid thing wouldn’t drive over 35 without overheating and billowing black smoke. Please recall all the vehicle problems we’ve had… Anyway, the thing needed to get back and maintenance wouldn’t come get it, so our platoon Sgt said to have someone drive it back.

So around 2200 two guys took off in the truck to get back to Buehring since it wouldn’t go very fast. About 2210 we got a call that the truck had caught fire. So I’m thinking, a little fire. We had one catch fire before, and they just grabbed an extinguisher and put it out. Well, that’s not what happened here.



They were driving and the truck overheated, so they pulled over. They called in that they were broken down and right after they called the engine exploded. Not broke, exploded. Like big giant BOOM and fire ball. So they grabbed their stuff and make a run for it and called to say it was on fire.


Our relief was an hour late getting here (no big shocker there…) so by the time we got to the site there were MP’s all over and a big hubbub. The pictures are what the truck looked like when we got there. The hood and tires were totally melted. It was quite the happening.

Anyway, I’m pretty beat right now. That didn’t get us home until around 1am and then I had a hard time sleeping. Today we were out at the firing range for qualification and that was pretty sucky. I qualified though, so I don’t have to go back out. Well, I’m gonna run. Love ya!

Lift the Freakin' Seat!!!

Oh my gosh! What the heck is wrong with guys? You walk into a porta potta and in front of you stands a seat and off to the left a urinal...No, says he, I will not use the urinal...I will use the toilet. And no, I will not lift the seat, I am too lazy to bend forward. So instead I will pee on the seat." Argh!!! It's not that stinking hard. If your aim stinks that bad, sit down, or pee in the urinal. Or at leat lift the seat. Seriously boys...Were you born in a barn?

Army-opoly

Well I'm back to work after my day off and I must say, it was one of the better ones. I got a referal to get my wisdom teeth pulled (at least I don't have to pay to me maimed here.) and spent the evening with a couple friends playing Monopoly.

Yep, It's cheesy, (ooh, good story in a minute) but it was a lot of fun. We played for about 4 hours before we finally just stopped. It was obvious I was gonna win and it's only fun so long. :-) Instead of houses and hotels there are brigades and divisions, and the properties are all Army bases. Yes Trevor, Fort Huachuca is on there. A red one, right next to free parking. :-) The tokens are Army things (HumVee, boot, helicopter...) It was a lot of fun. I don't even know when the last time I played was. :-)

OK, Cheesy...There is this Sergent on my shift that we call Sam. it's short for his actual name that few can pronounce. He's Lithuanian. Anyway, he speaks good English, but it's still his second lanuage. Well we were watching Alex & Emma the other day up at North Gate and I said taht I liked the movie, but it was really cheesy. To which he responded "What means 'cheesy'?" Well, hmmm... How do you explain that one. I think he got is after a while, but it's hard to explain in proper English. :-) Sam is very cool. He's working on his citizenship right now and will hopefully take his oath soon after we get home. I was actually surprised how many non native Americans serve in the military. There are quite a few.

Anyway...that's all for today. God Bless!

Randomness.

I thought it was cool that you could see my reflection in the top of my cup. You gotta want it. :-)










Me in the rearview mirror.









Exactly what you think it is. Of course I needed it explained to me. :-) Found these in one of the towers.



Mom and Cole walking at Morro Bay in CA. You can walk along the beach and pick up sand dollars everywhere. It's cool. Morro Rock is in front of them.











What do you get when you give Night Vision Goggles to a bored soldier?

The Army...My Posse

Merriam-Webster’sWord of the Day
October 10

posse

Meaning
*1 : a large group often with a common interest
2 : a body of persons summoned by a sheriff to assist in preserving the public peace usually in an emergency
3 : a group of people temporarily organized to make a search (as for a lost child)
4 : one’s attendants or associates

Did you know?
"Posse" started out as a technical term in law, part of the term "posse comitatus," which in Medieval Latin meant "power or authority of the county." As such, it referred to a group of citizens summoned by a sheriff to preserve the public peace as allowed for by law. "Preserving the public peace" so often meant hunting down a supposed criminal that "posse" eventually came to mean any group organized to make a search or embark on a mission. In even broader use it can refer to any group, period. Sometimes nowadays that group is a gang or a rock band but it can as easily be any group — of politicians, models, architects, tourists, children, or what have you — acting in concert.

Random Army Graffiti II

This is from the roof of one of the porta potties. I thought it looked really cool. :-)

This is a...

SCUD BUNKER. These things are everywhere. In case of a SCUD missle attack, but that's not really what they get used for. I know a girl that hides in there for nude sunbathing, and various other activities take place in the nice little hiding places.

Sunset from the Tower

Kinda pretty, in a baren, desolate sort of way... :-)

I Hate Economics!

I hate it. I hate, hate hate it! I hate dealing with money. I like spending it, but that's about it. I hate having to study it, and write about it, and read about it. It is boring and annoying and I HATE it!!! There, I feel better now. Any Guesses on what I'm studying ion my theory class? :-) I miss third world civil war. :-(

Concert Time!

Now, I'm sure everyone has heard of these great little USO concerts, right? Well, me too, but until last night there had just been the vauge taunting of posters for concerts, all of which saw me at work. Well last night I finally got to go to one...YEAH!!!







I had a blast. The preformer was Scott Stapp and his band. Never heard of him? Think Creed. He was the lead singer of Creed and now has a solo career. It was awesome. The music was great and it was fun to just relax and let my hearing be deteriorated. :-)

My Best Day

Yesterday was the best day I've had since I got here, hands down! I was up late hanging out with a friend the night before and had the day off, so I slept in until 1pm. Good start. :-) Then I got together with my friend Theresa and we had a blast. We met in Mississippi and she's in my company, but we have different jobs and never see each other unless we make plans. Well with how busy she is yesterday was the first time we actually got to spend more that an hour or so hanging out. We got a lot of errands done and just hung out. It was really nice and a lot of fun to just have "girl time" with a good friend. :-)

After that I got together with my friend Damian and we had a little pre-halloween party. :-) Anyone who knows me well knows I can get a little "batty" around holidays. I love them! Well, we got craft items and candy corn from the PX and watched The Great Pumpkin (if you don't know that movie you are simply un-American) and made halloween decorations. The picture is of my finished door. It's amazing how well construction paper, Kleenex, and duct tape can become festive. :-) It was was a ton of fun.

Overall it was just a great, relaxing day! By the way, 60 days and counting!

Happy Almost Halloween!

Random Army Graffiti I

This is the start of a lovely series called "Random Army Graffiti." This one was found on the side of our shelving unit in one of the towers.