Less than 90 days to go...random posts from here on out.

10FEB09
Today was the windiest day I have experienced in Iraq so far. It was so windy that the only way I could ride my bike into work was standing and peddling in the highest (easiest) gear, and yet I just barely inched a long. It was so windy that it blew my MWR satellite dish out of sync! Not only did the wind totally suck today and degrade all my signal strength causing stuff not to perform at ideal capacity…the BDE Share Server crashed yesterday morning and still wasn’t on line today….how can I explain the significance of this situation….basically the total historical documentation and all current operational data was lost for a period of 24 hours.

All the digital media, reports, forms, SOPs, awards, spreadsheets, word docs, everything we created, GONE!! And, AND, BDE did not have one good backup of my file because a specific permission was missing from the folder structure, therefore not allowing the server to back up my file!! Bad, Bad, just very bad. Well we let BDE attempt to recover it on their own, before I sent my ace in the hole, AKA, CPT Grupe up there to square things away, and by the grace of God, he was able to get the server to boot and our BN’s data backed-up to an external drive!! I thought I just had sealed my fate as a Signal Officer; I was careless not to have my own back-up procedures in place and to trust all “my” files to be cared for by one entity. I did have a plan in the works to back-up my files; I was just waiting for the equipment to arrive! I believe I have just weathered this storm and things will be better tomorrow.

21FEB09

The share server is still not up, and I left to go to Kuwait on 14FEB for a week long training on MS Project, but not before I was able to run the Valentine’s Day 5k race. Our flight did not leave until 0100, so plenty of time to get stuff in order before flying out. The class will help me organize and plan all tasks that I need to accomplish before I can leave Iraq and hand the reigns over to my replacement.

My marathon training has been going pretty well, at this stage I am averaging at least 30 miles a week within a minimum of one long run of over 10 miles per week.

Kuwait is nice, you do not need to carry a weapon and after duty hours you can wear civilian clothes. I have been able to maintain my run routine, lift and take in a nightly movie. Arifjan Base is about as close to feeling like home as you can get over here.

As most of you may know, I got to spend my Birthday down here in Kuwait, it was just another day, other than all the Birthday Day wishes I received on Facebook and emails, thank you everyone who took the time and sent me a message, it really made my day!!

I brought “Teddy” with on the trip and have been able to get some good pictures, even took one with some Aussie soldiers we met down here. For of you not familiar with Teddy, he is a traveling Bear sent to me by my friend Gladys from back home whose child is doing a project related to the journeys of traveling Teddy.
We are suppose to be headed back to Iraq today, but appears as though the weather is not going to cooperate, no big deal, get to spend another fabulous night in Kuwait!