Here Comes the Rain

02NOV08, two days before the elections, what does that mean to me….just a good day to get caught up on some blogging...oh yeah, I did vote already, Are you?? I want to say thank you to the Woxlands, Asburys, and my parents. I got your care packages with everything I wanted. You all came through so I will not be needing any more dental floss, or toothpaste for the rest of my deployment!! Aunt Rea, thanks for the embroidered towel, I will have to send the Lady’s Auxiliary a nice picture of me modeling my new towel!! The pocket flags are really nice, I have been handing them out and I will get a nice picture of that too, so stop by often.

For this entry I think I am just going to babble in no particular order, whatever pops to mind is what I am going to write about. These past few weeks we have received our first rainfall, boy what a mess. In one day we received twice the average rainfall for this time of year. I can see how the Great Flood of biblical times happened; there is no place for the water to go. The ground here is so dry and so packed that the water cannot be absorbed into the ground, it just pools up and lingers until the Sun can heat up enough to evaporate it all. The fine dust that is on the ground, which you could mistake for cinnamon turns into a brown paste like glue that sticks to everything making it miserable walking/biking/driving from one point to another. I have a few pictures, I kind of been slacking on those, of the mess. We are entering the rainy season so I am sure I will have plenty of opportunities for more.

To try and combat the misery of walking in this crap, Grupe and I constructed our own elevated walk way so that we can make it semi-safely to the port-o-potties and the shower. Of course we talked about doing this before the rain came, but procrastinated about it, so as soon as it dried up somewhat, we were out there constructing (see pics).



In preparation of the rains to come, my high speed guys constructed an awning for our porch outside the office, it adds some addition shade so we can keep the door open and let some fresh air in…one nice thing about the rain, it suppresses all the dust in the air, so it is actually nice to be outside breathing this Iraqi air.

I did break down and purchases my 2009 Pewter Pearl Harley Davidson Fat Boy form Twin Cities Harley in Lakeville, it will be ready for pick-up when I get home in JUNE 2009!! I cannot WAIT, to ride it!!! (Click to see Pic)
Our new found favorite spot here is called the DRMO lot (acronym for something), it is where units bring equipment that is no longer working. Notice I did not say repairable, because my Joes have found some things and were able to piece together some working items. I am trying to acquire some more real estate here to build a computer lab so they have a place to work on their new projects and also gain some valuable experience in the area of computer repair and networking…I’ll keep you posted.

Some projects we have been doing around our AO include the running of a new CAT5 line to bring some more users up on our network, Giddyup and I handled that job, I like to get out in the field once in awhile to show these young pups a thing or two. The items I talked about in earlier blogs that I was trying to purchase came in, so we were able to install 5 more CISCO IP phones, and will probably install a few more here down the road. We are also working to set up some stand alone LANs to link some workshops together with a printer and we may have a mission to install SINCGAR radios into some vehicles. Other than that, we continue to refine and improve on our ongoing missions.

I ran a few races since I last wrote, same old same old, finished in the top 10. My last race was the Tulsa 15K where I placed 6th with a time of 62 minutes, that was on 25OCT and it was also the last time I ran. I have developed a shin splint in on my right leg and I am giving it time to heal. There are two 5ks coming up this week in which I plan to still run, I will truly be doing them as “Fun Runs.” Starting on 3NOV, I will bike and do the elliptical to get my CARDIO back up, I really do miss my running though. So Amy, that ice/heat back you sent me is going to be real important in my recovery – thanks! You can see my actual results from the 15k by clicking this link: Race Results (The top results are the ladies, scroll down for the men).

If you haven’t heard, the new Social Network Fad is www.Facebook.com. I have reconnected with some old high-school friends and am staying current with other friends going ons….it is a neat way to stay on top of things without having to do any work other than logging in! I can see what people are up to and if I want I can leave a comment or send a message, this works real well with my schedule!

The other neat online thing I have been doing is www.Skype.com, I have been able to Skype with my sister and family, which was really cool and with my friend Verna, surprisingly she has been getting to see me the most, it must be her work schedule??? I have a plan to Skype my parents this evening 2NOV and another for Thanksgiving, I can’t wait. BTW my Skype handle is chrispkline.

People have been asking what I do for fun over here so let’s see, on Halloween I went to my first Movie, “Pride and Glory” had a NA beer and popcorn, cost me all of $2!! On 1NOV went through a Haunted House, then went to the Driving Range and hit a few golf balls. I have been hitting the weights regularly for a month now, so although I am not running now, I am still exercising. I have been watching the TV series Nip/Tuck; I have seasons 1-4. Building my music and movie library, I guess that has really been it, nothing too exciting. I am hoping to start taking some Israeli Mix Martial Arts and Weapons training, that will be a few nights a week, From time to time they offer Salsa Dance, I may try to hit that occasionally; the MWR here has all kinds of neat things to do, I just need to plan my schedule a little better…believe me, I am not bored!!

One thing I have noticed here and that is – I do not miss my cell phone one bit, although it is funny, from time to time I will “feel” this phantom vibrate in my pocket and I will place my hand there to feel if my phone is there, only to realize, it was all in my head!

I have started a dialog with my replacements, the 628th ASB out of Pennsylvania, I am hoping to provide them all the info they need to make it a seamless transition when it comes time for them to replace us.

I will leave you with this quote, it came from one of the Company Commanders during a Command and Staff brief, he was telling us a story of how some of his soldiers didn’t perform a task quite up to standard, leading to some mishap, no one was injured thankfully, but this is how he stated it: “You can go ahead and laugh at my Privates now, because I am sure I will be laughing at your Privates later.” It took him a minute to realize what he just said, the whole room just busted out in laughter – I hope you all can find the humor in this.

As always, enjoy the pics.