One Year in Iraq

Sense of Accomplishment

I finally did it. I completed my half pipe, and only 1 month before I leave Iraq. It took a lot longer to build than I expected. I am covered with scrapes, holes, and bruises, but all my appendages are still intact. The ramp is 24ft long and 66 inches wide. It is made completely out of reconstituted wood, stuff that has been used before. I had to remove a few hundred nails just so I could use the wood. It will be a parting gift of sorts for the Marines. Need to go home from Iraq? Just ride Brian's ramp till you break something. Here is a little video I made of the project. It was a lot of fun. The volume is a little loud on the video. You might want to turn it down before you press play.

It's not in the credits but the song was 'Beyond the Blinders' by Death by Stereo. I am almost out of here. I cannot wait to get home. It has been a looooong year for sure. If you pray, do so for my safe travels home. Nothing like a last minute rocket to ruin your day.

Happy B-Day USMC!

The Marine Corp turned 232 years old this week. To celebrate they had cake and beer. It was the one time during the year that the Marines were allowed to drink alcohol while deployed. I almost missed out on the festivities due to having to go to Baghdad again. Luckily, the Air Conditioner in my room decided to nearly start an electrical fire, thus causing me to postpone my trip.

At first I didn't even know they were having a celebration. I went to lunch as usual and noticed that they had beer there. I inquired as to what you had to do to get a beer and was told that those who were authorized were given tickets. I felt ripped off. Nobody gave me a ticket or even told me that there was going to be beer available. It is not that big of a deal being that I usually only drink about twice a year any way. It was more a fact of having something available and not being able to take advantage of it. Luckily the Marines I work with came to the rescue. They picked up there own supply of tasty beverages and invited me over to join in their celebratory activities.

Cpl. Ayres and Myself with my Guinness

I got a Guinness, being it is the only beer I can stand to drink. I am a super light weight drinker and started slurring my speech after about half a beer. There were some left over beers, so they had a round of Marine Corp history trivia to help distribute them.

It was amazing to hear how enthusiastically these Marines new their history. It is the only service I know of that seems to take so much pride in their heritage. It is really admirable.

There was also the celebratory Hookah. It resembles a bong of sorts, but is totally drug free. They smoke a fruity type of tobacco that smells really good. The cake was great and the beer was a nice treat. Much thanks to the Marines for sharing their Birthday with me.

Opinion

There is a large water tower on FOB Ramadi. I have had dealings with this water tower in the past and you can read my old blogs if you want to know more about those dealings. Suffice it to say it has been a rough relationship. Part of the charm of this water tower is that it has become a public canvas of sorts. There are a few pieces of graffiti as well as some paintings of some of the unit insignias for some of the units that have been here. I am not sure as to whether or not people obtained permission to paint the water tower. For the graffiti I am pretty sure that it is not the case.

Ramadi Water Tower

There was one person who painted a not so nice word on the water tower and a few days later it was buffed over. In the states it would definitely be illegal to use a public water tower to express ones self artistically. That I am aware of, there is no explicit rule or regulation that prohibits painting on the water tower, or any other surface for that matter. They even allow you to climb up it if you want, just don't take any pictures of the base is all they ask. The question I have for all of YOU is what do you think about people painting on the water tower? In light of being in a war zone, it is probably an insignificant thing, but I am curious to see what people think none the less. Here are a couple pictures of the artwork/vandalism.

Much Needed Break

I got the lovely opportunity to attend my 10 year High School reunion. Since I grew up in Hawaii, there was no way I was going to miss it. I spent a lot of time leading up to going trying to track down old friends I have lost contact with over the years. I found a few, but not all. I hoped the ones that were playing hard to find would show up at the reunion and make the process much easier.

I was supposed to arrive on Thursday and then fly out the following Sunday evening. The reunion events took place on Friday evening through Sunday morning. This would have given me lots of opportunity to visit with old friends and still make it to the reunion events. Unfortunately, I ended up getting stuck in Iraq for a couple extra days and had to push my trip back. I was able to make it to the Saturday event, but then spent the rest of the time running around visiting as many people as I could. I should have known better than to try to do all this in just three days. I did meet up with a lot of friends and was grateful for the chance to catch up. There were still a few that I couldn't track down and who didn't show up at the reunion. The reunion was a really good time. We had a lot of laughs, they gave away a lot of prizes, and the food was awesome too(At least compared to eating Iraq cafeteria food for 8 months). I made sure that I went into the ocean while I was there, even though it was only for five minutes. I also made a quick hike up diamond head, just long enough to take some cool pictures and then ran back down.

Trying to Remember the Alma Mater

Hawaii felt a lot different this time through. My 'pigeon' accent returned, but it was very diminished from what it once was. I stayed in a hotel and got a rental car, which was a big change. Usually I would crash at a friends house and catch the bus everywhere. I hate to admit it, but I think I have fallen for the mainland. Hawaii has the best food and the greatest beaches and some of the greatest people. The pace of life there is extremely relaxing too. In spite of all of that, it still didn't feel like home. I would choose it over Iraq in a heartbeat though.

View of Honolulu from Diamond Head

I got to stop off in DC for a little layover on the way back. I got to go on a date while I was there. We went to a cute little Indian restaurant called the Ambassador near John Hopkins in Baltimore. It was refreshing to get dressed up and to have a nice night on the town. I got a rental car for my DC trip too. My initial options were minivan, minivan, or for $20 extra I could upgrade to a luxury car. I upgraded. They gave me a nice little Chrysler 300. This was a nice addition to the date as well.

Date Night

My daughter Madelyn will be moving with her mom to Texas soon. She was still in Virginia while I was traveling so I was able to visit with her too. I am amazed at how fast she is growing up. Even from the last time I saw her three months ago, she seems to have changed so much. She is talking like a champ and is very intelligent. She is still as stubborn and independent as ever, but that is her personality. She was a joy to be around and I miss her incredibly.

Madelyn the Cutie

Only a little less than three months to go. I cannot wait.

Been Here Too Long...

I went on my first organized run in Iraq this week. I had to make a trip to Baghdad to do the usual pick up and drop off gear routine. When I got there a couple of the guys said they were going to the Air Force's 60th Birthday Run. I decided to join them. When we arrived there were quite a few people there. Oddly enough, there seemed to be more army people there for the Air Force run then Air Force. When I think about, it is more logical then it seems. Air force people are not well known for running and the base we were on was mainly Army. They had two running options, a 6.0K and a 6.0 mile. The 6.0 to signify the 60th birthday thing, kinda cheesy but whatever. I did the 6.0 K and came in around 32 mins. I had a killer side pain, having not drunk quite enough water before the run. Unfortunately they didn't give out t-shirts just little Air force 60th birthday pins. It was a great time and I hope to do it again.

Ramadi Sunrise

Here is a list of things that might indicate that you have been in Iraq too long:

• You start picturing your wife in traditional Arab dress
  
• You drink the water from the tap because you want to drop 20 pounds in two weeks


• You can put your body armor and helmet on in the dark in under 5 seconds
  
• When you actually get excited to get a package that contains 3 pair of socks, 12 bars of soap and a Victoria Secret Catalog
  
• You make the new guy show you his count down timer just to make you feel better about your time you have left in country
  
• You forget there are other colors than brown that can be found in places other than power point slides
  
• The temp drops down to 102 degrees and you shiver while reaching for your polar fleece.
  
• When, During the BUA, "DIV asked MNSTC-I for the FRAGO that MNC-I was supposed to publish, but couldn't because MNF-I hadn't weighed in, since they were too inundated with MOD and MOI war-gaming the JCCs within the ISF to square us away!" is a valid comment and generates no questions.
  
• When you end every phone conversation with "Out"
  
• When the weapon buyback program has become so successful that you have issued the same AK-47 to the Iraqi army 3 times
  
• When you can actually tell the difference between the sound of an exploding car and an exploding mortar
  
• When on R&R you go to Church and wonder why no one is wearing body armor or carrying an automatic weapon to the service
  
• You see an indirect fire attack take out a generator and get angry at the enemy for not hitting the one that powers your work computer
  
• You see an indirect fire attack take out an air conditioner and your vigor to fight is renewed
  
• You decide that it is a better course of action to pull your blankets over your head than put on your body armor during a mortar attack - the woobee will save you and at least you are comfortable
  
• You go to a social gathering and intermittent gun fire or explosions don't even cause a pause in the conversation


• My personal one: You have a preference for the kind of dirt you use to fill your chow entrence fee sandbags.

BBoy Bbux

The first group of Marines I worked with are gone. They were some really good people to work with and gave me a much better image of the Marine Corp. They will be missed. Somehow word got out that I had experience in the area of Break Dancing (properly known as bboying). As a result it was demanded of me that I put on a performance for the marines that were leaving. I obliged and below is the video. I pulled a muscle in my leg and one in my back during the making of the video. I will leave up to you to figure out what the look on my face at the end of the video means.

I have a new group of people to work with and to get to know. In general it is a challenge for me to be sociable. Being in Iraq doesn't help. I have my own room that I can just go hang out in all day without interacting with anyone. I really need to stretch myself in this area. I hope the new group of Marines will provide opportunities for me to do so.

The above pile of wood is my future half pipe. I have been slowly scrounging wood for a few months now. Last week I hit the jack pot and got just about all the wood I will need. All I need now is a few sheets of ply wood and I will be good to go. That and a new skateboard, being that I kinda sorta broke the first one. (Helium is not as strong as I thought it was).

People send out some random things in care packages. The item pictured above is no exception. It is a collapsible Pirates of the Caribbean container. It was sent to someone else, but they didn't want it, so I snatched it up. I knew I wanted it, I just didn't know why or what for. I finally got the idea to turn it into a laundry basket. It is both practical and highly decorative. I don't think I will turn my whole room in a Pirates theme, but it would be cool.

Four months to go. I like the sound of that.

Good Bye Bat Cave/ Mr. Sanitation

This week I got to say my fair well to the Bat Cave. The system there is going to be moving to another location, so it looks like I will no longer be traveling out to take care of it. Myself and a group of Marines went out to tear down the system. We got there on a Tuesday and came back on Friday. The bat cave has been a source of both good and bad memories. The personnel that manned the site have sort of grown into friends over time. It was always a nice break to go there and be away from every thing else. I will miss it.

Building where Bat Cave was

I had my first conflict in Iraq. On the scale of conflicts it was towards the insignificant category. It had a significant impact on me though. I had gone running this particular evening and so had need of a shower. I took my needed shower and was nice clean and refreshed. It was around midnight chow time and I was a little hungry, so I went to use the potty, washed my hands, and headed off to get something to eat. On the way into the chow hall there is a hand washing station. There was one guy washing his hands there. Since I was sparkling clean and had just washed my hands, I bypassed the said station. Apparently this was not well liked by the person who was there washing his hands. He felt it was necessary to comment to me that 'they have a hand washing station for a reason' with a whole load of attitude. I am not a conflict oriented person by nature, so I attempted to explain that I had just washed my hands before I got there. This was not sufficient explanation as I found out that 'there are still germs'. At this point I was a little perturbed. Being that I am not a quick witted and clever fellow, I did the only thing that came to mind, I asked him in a stern voice what his name was, as though that would put him in his place. He returned the favor and endowed me with a new title in the process, 'Mr. Civilian'.

Coincidently we happened to sit across from each other in the chow hall, which didn't help me forget the incident. As I was brooding over this attack on my sanitary state of being, I kept thinking of what I could have said to my attacker that would have been witty and clever, had it been said immediately following the attack. I would have given him the title of 'Mr. Sanitation' and invited him to inspect other areas of my body for cleanliness. That was the best one I came up with. I knew that my anger was ridiculous and I kept thinking of the verse in the bible that says, 'the anger of man does not accomplish the righteousness of God'. I hope that if I run into Mr. Sanitation again that I will be able to be kind and generous to him. Here are the verses I read the next morning that really put me in my place.

1 Corinthians 4:12-13

"...when we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly..."

That is the life I strive to live. This incident was a little set back from that standard, but hopefully it will be a lesson learned.

Back in the Sand

I am back in lovely Iraq. I had a wonderful vacation. It was the first real vacation I have ever taken. I think I am liking the idea. I think I will make it a point to take more vacations. It was a lot different than coming back from my deployments in the military. It felt more potent. My life looks a lot different than it did when was in the military, so I am sure that has a lot to do with it. I definitely have a greater appreciation for life in than states. Any complaints I may have had before are totally void now.

I got the chance to stop off in London on the way to and from leave. I am totally in love with that city. It reeked of bohemian urbanism. The first time through I did the whirlwind tour and saw nearly everything in about 3 hours. The Tube system in London is marvelous. I would wander aimlessly from sight to sight until I ran into a Tube station and then would just hop on and catch it to some other random tourist spot and start walking again. The weather was fantastic. It really sucked going from a bright and sunny 65 to a 110 and dry. My next time through London I will take my time and spend a few days there enjoying all it's marvels.

The site that was having issues before I left is finally fixed. It took three techs and a month of trouble shooting to finally narrow down the problem, but it is working and that is all that matters. I have learned a ton through this painful process and hope I can spare others from going through the same. Now it is back to the same old routine. My motivation level for my job is not the highest it has ever been. I almost feel like I am just trying to make it to January. I try to take pride in what I do and that helps a little.


Six Months to go.

One week away...Maryland or bust!

The last two weeks have been the busiest and most hectic by far. Last month I got every thing done fairly quickly, so I was pretty bored towards the end of the month. This month is the total opposite. I haven’t been able to do hardly any of my normal monthly maintenance. One of my sites had a small issue that has turned into a conundrum of a problem.

It started out with one piece of gear going bad. I made the journey to the site got the broken piece of gear and traveled to TQ to pick up a replacement. I went back to the site put the replacement in place and nothing worked. I didn’t bring a lot of my tools because I thought it would be a simple procedure that would not require them. I started trouble shooting the problem and more and more things started to break. Without the proper tools it was hard to narrow down exactly where the problem was. I spent two days straight trying to fix the problem with no success.

I eventually went back to Ramadi so that I could get the tools I needed. I then jumped on a chopper to Baghdad to grab some more replacement parts. I was able to get some advice from some of the more experienced technicians while I was there as well. I tried to do a one day turn around but ended up getting stuck there for four days. I didn’t even get to go to Salsa night either. I flew back to Ramadi and then jumped on a convoy out to the site the next day. I now had a ton of tools and parts to help me get this thing working.

My mind and creativity were stretched pretty far. Even with all my tools and replacement part I still could not figure out what exactly the problem was. I read manual after manual and continuously called back to Baghdad for advice. I nearly rebuilt the whole system and still could not get it to work. I never got frustrated while I was trying to fix this monster, but I did get exhausted and a little depressed. I tried every thing I could think of to get this thing working. Eventually I ran out of ideas and parts to replace. My boss from Fallujah is going to take over where I left of and try to get this thing working.

I on the other hand am going on vacation. I am going back to Maryland to visit friends and family. I get a one day layover in London which should be exciting. Best of all, I can forget about things breaking and just relax. It is only a two week trip, but it will be a wonderful two weeks I am sure.

Brian the Beard

The last few weeks have been pretty boring. Not too many new or interesting things to report. There was one interesting event that took place the whole time. Over the years I have acquired quite a few nick names such as BJB, big brian, bucky, b, bbux, krie, and a few others I can’t remember. I get to add to those ‘Brian the Beard’ and ‘Haji Terrorist’. The last one isn’t so much a nickname as more of a description that was given of me. Those who have seen pictures of me with a big beard can understand why someone might say I look like a terrorist.
It all started when I found out that my company was going to start maintaining an additional electronic system in Ramadi. Part of this system is on the top of this really big water tower. In order to get familiar with the system I asked one of the Marines to take me up and show how every thing worked. Another marine, Cable, joined in on the excursion and we headed up the water tower. The view from the top was not that impressive. It was late and everything was dark and dusty. Cable brought a camera and took some pictures of the view. This turned out to be a bad idea.

Shortly after we got to the top a vehicle pulled in at the bottom and a guy with a walkie talkie got out. We assumed that it was some kind of security for the water tower or something and would go explain what we were doing when we were done. Shortly after that a Humvee pulled in and a whole bunch of fully armed and armored soldies got out. It looked like our situation was more precarious then we thought. Cable decided to climb down and see what the story was. Once we were done we climbed down only to find that everyone was gone including Cable. We joked that Cable had gotten arrested and taken in. This was in fact not far from the truth.

Later in the evening Cable stopped by my room. Come to find out, they thought that I was a ‘Haji Terrorist’ and that the two marines were going to throw me off of the tower. That and we weren’t allowed to be taking pictures of the base from up there. They took Cable to the base police station and made him delete all the pictures he took off his camera. When the story of what happened got around they came up with the name ‘Brian the Beard’ to commemorate the incident.

Pack Mule

The last couple of weeks have been traveling weeks. It was my turn to head out west to Husaybah once again. The path to Husaybah went through Baghdad this time. I needed to go to Baghdad for several reasons. First of all I had a lot of broken stuff to drop off. Secondly I had to pick up some new gear and replacement parts for the broken stuff out in Husaybah. Lastly, and most importantly, I hadn’t been to salsa night in three months. I had a flight scheduled for Friday night which would have given me a full day to rest up for some intense dancing. Alas, my Friday night flight got pushed to Saturday and I arrived in Baghdad too late to dance the night away.

New Helium Filled Skateboard

The sign says welcome to Syria

Baghdad was just like I remembered it. There were a lot of new people, but other than that things were pretty much the same. It did seem a little more relaxed than the last time I was there. The petty bickering and backbiting was still in effect. The use of my time in Ramadi seems a lot more efficient than in Baghdad . In Baghdad you are sort of forced to come into work for 12 hours a day whether or not there is anything to do. The place I was staying in was a good distance from work so that would eat up a lot of time as well. It makes me appreciate what I have in Ramadi. I can see how running a business out of you home can be very appealing. There is nothing like waking up and being able to go to work in your pajamas if you feel like it. That is sort of how it is in Ramadi.

Can you geuss what the little white dots in the middle of the pasture are? Here is a hint: they are not snow cones.

I stayed in Baghdad for a few days and then started my trip out to Husaybah. The trip was a multi-legged one and the first stop was TQ. I finally got to meet Dion, the guy who I had babysat his site for while he was on vacation. It was neat to see all the guys from the bunker again. And yes, I did end up playing Halo and got my butt kicked. I flew out of TQ the next night and eventually made it to Al Qaim and then convoyed from there out to Husaybah. The last time I convoyed out I was in the back of a troop carrier and so couldn’t see any of the ‘scenery’. This time I got to ride in the back seat of a Humvee, and even though it was at night I was able to see a lot of the sights.

This weeks interactive portion. Post what you think and appropriate caption would be.

Sunset over Al Qaim

Thanks to my new folding cart I was able to carry a lot more equipment than usual. Many of our sites don’t have easy access to package delivery services. As a result, sometimes the technicians have to carry extra equipment with them when they travel to these sites. When I arrived in Al Qaim the phone on the flight line wasn’t working so I couldn’t call for a ride up to the barracks. I had to walk with my 150 plus pounds of equipment about a mile or so. Thank goodness I had my cart with me. There is no way I would have been able to carry all that stuff otherwise. I felt like a pack mule, but it could have been worse. On the way home I got to use my cart to help other people who had a lot more bags than they could carry by them selves. It is a blessing and a cursing all at once.

The supper handy dandy collapsable pack mule cart full of my stuff.

Four months down, eight more to go.

Welcome Back

The trip back to Ramadi was very hectic. I had all my gear packed in a big box with a little collapsible dolly cart to help me carry it around. It was very convenient, at first. I was the first in line to board the helicopter. I tried to roll my cart right up to ramp at the back of the helicopter when the wheels got stuck under the ramp. The crew chief helped me get it unstuck and onto the bird. When we arrived in Ramadi I pushed the box off the back of the bird and it popped open spilling my stuff onto the ground. I rushed to get everything back in the box and strapped down to the cart. As I was rolling away the box fell over and popped open again. Eventually I made it off the flight line with all my gear but missing a whole bunch of pride.

The Marines were there waiting to pick me up, which was nice. They took me back to where we work to check in. Upon arrival the first words I heard were “fix my S#&%!”. The equipment knew I was back and decided to start malfunctioning to mess with me. I tried calling the necessary people to get things working and all the numbers were busy. Then, one of my computer account passwords weren't working. I decided to take my gear back to my room. On the way there in the dark I rolled through a huge mud puddle. Welcome back to Ramadi.

Eventually I was able to get the system back up and running. It felt really good to fix something. I went to bed only to be woken up at 3am because another system had broke. Although TQ is a nicer place to live, I will take Ramadi any day of the week. The sense of accomplishment in getting something working is well worth the slightly poorer living conditions.

Yesterday we broke the 100 degree mark. I had no idea hot it actually was. I just knew that is was a little warmer than usual. I thought to myself that it must be finally getting into the upper 80's. Boy was I off. The high yesterday was 103 and the low was in the upper 80's. Now that I know how hot it really is I find myself being more conscious of it. I am sure the people who have lived through this heat for hundreds of years are a lot less concerned about it than I.

My skateboard was waiting for me when I got back. It has been fun messing around on the basketball court behind where we work. Now all I have to do scrounge enough wood to build a half pipe and I will be set.

Weeks 13 and 14

Weeks 13 and 14 were spent hanging out in Al Taqaddum, or TQ for short. I was the only one left out west due to people leaving for training and vacation time. I went to TQ because it is a large air base and it would be easier to get around from there than Ramadi in the event that something went wrong at one of the sites. I also heard good stories about the location being pretty nice compared to Ramadi. The stories were not wrong. The chow hall is the only one I have been to so far that uses real plates and silverware. They also have those fancy hands free faucets. The trip was sort of my in country vacation.

Entrance to the Bunker

I was picked up from the airfield in TQ by one of the Marines from the site. TQ is a very large base. When I go jogging around Ramadi it takes me about 20 minutes to run around the whole base. It took us over 20 mins to drive from the airfield back to the bunker where I would be staying. The vehicle I was picked up with is a neat old Russian Jeep. The Jeep was a convertible and the night breeze felt good. The bunker itself conjures up images from one of those apocalyptic movies where a meteor is about to smash into the earth. It would be a self sustaining facility if it only had a kitchen. The atmosphere there is very different from Ramadi. You are sort of forced into social interaction due to the arrangement of the facility. There are about ten rooms that open into a common area. One room is a work area and the rest are living quarters. The level of privacy you get is very minimal. The room I was staying in also had an X-Box 360 which had its own magnetic effect.

Parked on incline because starter was out. Needed gravity's help to jump start.

I played more video games in TQ in the short time I was there than I have in the last ten years. That fact was very apparent as I was constantly being slaughtered playing Halo 2. I forced myself to go jogging a few times to make sure I my muscles didn’t atrophy from sitting on my butt all day. It was definitely a lazy time. They had a basketball hoop, horseshoe pit, and two hole golf course on the compound where the bunker is. That got me outside every once in a while. There is a lot less equipment in TQ than in Ramadi and nothing broke the whole time I was there. This didn’t help the laziness.

Sunset over lake near Al Taqaddum

One of the Marines that lives in the bunker is Christian. It was nice to find someone who shares my spiritual beliefs. I attended the protestant services with him and had a good time. The service went well and I really liked the sermon. I also got to play dominos with him and some of the people from who attend gospel service. The people we played dominoes with were a lot of fun. The game we played was called Mexican Train dominoes, or something like that. It was very competitive and there was a fair amount of friendly trash talking. It was one of the best times I have had in a long time.

Three months down nine more to go.

Pics

Here are some more cool pictures. Most of these are taken on the way to and from the bat cave.

This is me all suited up for the convoy out to the bat cave.

Above is a picture of the mud after a heavy rain. I wish i had a boogie board.

From inside the Humvee a collapsed building in the background.


More scenery on the way.

Prime Ramadi Realestate.

More Scenery

A mosque.

Me working hard.

Convoy on the way home.

Saddam's Mosque.

Week 12

Week 12 was a very demanding one. We had a really bad storm roll through the area. The wind gusts were up to fifty miles an hour. Recovering from the effects of the storm kept me very busy. The long hours combined with the oceans of mud left me drained. I wasn’t able to get much else done, besides watching a few episodes of Alias. I bought all five seasons and am working on season four right now. Season one hooked me and so I thought that I would enjoy the rest of the seasons just as much. The law of diminishing returns seems inescapable though.

I made two trips out to the bat cave this week. The first was for monthly maintenance and the second was due to the above mentioned storm. The bat cave is very detached in several ways. There are no windows and the windows that used to be there are sealed and covered with sandbags and plywood. There is also very little incentive to leave the bat cave. There is not much to do on the base besides eat and go to the gym. Having this atmosphere of detachment, it is easy to forget that there is a world outside of the bat cave. A powerful storm could very well pass right over the bat cave and no one would no the difference. This would have happened if the powerful storm hadn’t blown over the satellite dish that provides the bat cave with its communications. This is what brought me back to the bat cave only two days after leaving it.

I was able to get everything back up and working fairly quickly. I even got my first ‘at a boy’ from the folks in Baghdad. I felt good and accomplished. I am finally starting to fall into a rhythm and am feeling more confident about my job. I hope this will only help to make my time here go by quicker.

Week 11

This week’s weird dream: I dreamt that I was in a feudal Chinese fort that was under attack. I was an archer and I was steadily taking down the attackers. I eventually ran out of arrows and was forced to defend myself with a sword. My sword fighting technique was not up to par and so I was easily defeated. I woke up from this dream determined to become a better sword fighter. Then it dawned on me that I was crazy.

This week was not exceptionally exciting. I did however learn my first ASL ‘story’. It goes like this:
HI I [spell your first and last name].
NICE-MEET-YOU.
I HEARING. I SIGN SLOW.
I STUDENT [spell the name of your school].
I LEARN LEARN SIGN.
TEACHER NAME [spell the name of your teacher first and last name].
HE/SHE DEAF.
HE/SHE TEACH GOOD.
I UNDERSTAND HE/SHE.
I LIKE HE/SHE.

Since I am teaching myself sign, I kind of improvised the last parts. It is a very straight forward introduction, but took me forever to get down smooth. It was very exciting to learn. ASL is so much more intuitive then learning a spoken language not to mention being very mnemonic.

This week there was a large explosion in Ramadi. Here is the link to the news report. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070406/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq
The explosion was a few miles away from the base, but it was large enough that it shook my room door. I went out side, probably not the smartest thing to do, and saw this huge dust mushroom cloud out in the distance. It didn’t cause much of a reaction in me. Just a ‘wow that was big’, and carry on with my life type of deal. I feel like there should be more than that. In my own selfish way I want to know what it is like to have to live with the fear of something like that happening to me with out actually being in danger of it. I feel like I will never be able to identify with those whose suffer when I am always in a place of safety. I think if I were here doing humanitarian work or something more benevolent in nature, I could partake of the experiences of the people more legitimately. Maybe one day I may get that chance somewhere else.

Week 10

I found out that the reason my skate board has not arrived is that they haven’t shipped it yet. It is so state of the art that they seem to be having a hard time getting all the parts together. Oh well, at least my ASL Curriculum has made it. I am both excited and nervous about learning Sign Language. It is a big step but one I look forward to taking. So far it has been a little tough teaching my self ASL. I can’t ask the teacher to clarify since all I have is pictures to look at. I am determined to learn though and will do what ever it takes to do so.

This week was nice. I got to play host to a couple of my fellow contractors who came to town for a few days to do an upgrade on our system. It was cool having people to hang out with and to show around. Most times I will go to lunch or dinner by myself and be in and out in about 15 minutes. With these two we just kind of sat around after we were done eating and chatted. It was a little uncomfortable at first, due to being a break from my normal routine, but I started to enjoy and even look forward to it.

I pulled my first all nighter at work this week. We had a routine upgrade to the equipment that should have taken about an hour. We ran into some complications and I didn’t get to bed till 6am. After 24 hours of not having any sleep I tend to get really cranky. Luckily this only kept me up for 22. The next day I just relaxed and watched lots of DVD’s and drank lots of coffee, my reward to myself for working hard. I watched a lot of ‘My Name is Earl’, my new favorite sitcom. It is a really funny but semi-wholesome show, a rarity these days. Despite some philosophical and theological issues, it is a really great show.

I have had a lot of strange dreams since I came to Iraq . A lot of them have aspects of the war or other things having to do with my work in them. Last night I dreamt that I saw a soldier walking on base doing sign language. It is very interesting and at the same time very weird. Being here can feel very surreal at times. I feel like when I get back it won’t even seem like I was in Iraq . I wonder if people will see any difference in me. I wonder if being here will have a positive or negative effect on who I am. I hope whatever happens I am able to use this opportunity as a chance to grow.

Rest of week 9 plus pictures

The rest of week nine was pretty normal. I did get a couple things I ordered in the mail. The first is the STK500 8-bit AVR RISC micro-controller starter kit, for my geeky side, and the other is my new skate shoes, for my cool side. The skateboard and sign language curiculum are still on their way.

Here are some over due pictures:

Me hanging out in Fallujah.

Sunset over Al Asad

My favorite Portable Environmental Toilet

Living quarters in Husaybah. It is a trailer where the sides expand out and it turns into a big room with enought space to sleep 6.

My lovely home. We share a building with the motor pool mechanics. My place is on the right.

Sunset over Ar Ramadi

Inside of the office/living area. Will chating on the phone.

Me with my lovely St Patties day glasses, care of Melissa Kane.

View from the roof of the bat cave.

My new very cool ZOO YORK skate shoes.

Week 8 and part of 9

Most of week eight was pretty boring. At the beginning of week 9 I got to go on a little field trip out to another one of our fly-away sites. The site is on a really small base very similar to Husaybah, the site out west. The people at this site live and work in the same location. There are two people there at all times, but there is enough room to sleep seven. We had nine people staying in the room. We did what is called ‘hot’ racking to make due.

The building that the site is in is halfway built with metal bars still sticking out of the cement. The brick work is about the worst I have ever seen. All this gives it a very unique atmosphere. Then there is the actual living/work space. My best parallel would be the bat cave. There was one working florescent tube light in the sealed off cavernous room. Paired with the blinking lights from the electronic equipment, it had a very unique feel to it to say the least.

I was able to take part in my first semi-philosophical discussion since arriving in country. The two soldiers stationed in the bat cave were very intellectually inclined and made for some good conversation. I wasn’t able to follow along with everything, but threw in my two cents when I could. I was refreshing to hear someone look critically at the current US strategy in Iraq. While no solution was forth coming from the discussions, it was still neat to mull over various aspects of the war.

I convoyed out and back to the bat cave. The trip out was at night, so I didn’t get to see too much, except the dogs barking and chasing the vehicles. The ride home was during the day and provided a very unique glimpse into Iraq. The route back had the most visible sign of war that I have seen so far. There were several buildings completely collapsed. Every building that was standing looked like there had been a fire fight in it. Bullet holes riddled about everything in sight. Occasionally you would get a glimpse of a person here and there. It is hard to imagine wanting to continue to live near something so disturbing. I wish I could live in their shoes for a day so I could know what is really like. Maybe it was just more shocking to me and is just a natural part of life in Iraq now.

Two months down ten more to go.

Week 7

I am not sure what the requirements are for citing sources on a blog. In order to keep from getting charged with plagiarism, I will divulge the source of my 'neat new facts'. Last weeks and this weeks neat fact come from a book titled 'A history of Civilizations' by Fernand Braudel. On that note.

This weeks interesting fact or bit of knowledge: (Disclaimer: much of this may be common knowledge to many people. I have lived a sheltered life, so these bits of knowledge are very new and neat to me. Please spare my feelings if you can ;) )

During it's hey day, Islam was very successful in various scientific fields. It was the source of some great mathematical and astronomical insights. It was also very advanced in the field of medicine. In the above cited book on page 80 it says, "More than half the remedies and healing aids used by the west came from Islam".

This week has been pretty busy work wise. Mechanics are sometimes referred to by the title of grease monkey. If I were to receive such an affectionate title, it would be dust monkey. It always amazes me how much dirt and dust can collect in this equipment. Will was finally able to get out of Baghdad and brought me home a bunch of treats. I had left my sleeping bag in Baghdad because I didn't think I would have enough room to bring it. Will was nice enough to pick it up and bring it back for me. Along with that he also brought back a bunch of girl scout cookies I ordered when I was there but was unable to pick up. These cookies are evil. I have been trying to practice self control by only eating one Samoa a day. It hasn't been working. I had three today, plus I don't know how many thin mints. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

'They' started charging for chow. Every one has to fill one sand bag before you are allowed to eat. I started out counting how many sandbags I have filled, and since have lost count. It is a little bit of a hassle when you hungry, but it could be a lot worse. That could be someones full time job.

Thank all of you for you opinions and insights into my spare time dilemma. I have decided to start learning ASL and have ordered a bunch of curricula to start learning on. I will try to do the half pipe if I can acquire the materials. The robot is still up in the air. I will definitely try to create some sort of electronical device, but probably not as complex as a robot. I will keep every one posted as these projects progress and will try to put up pictures somehow. I look forward to keeping you all informed.

Week Six

This week I am all by myself. My co-worker, Will, had to go to Baghdad to drop off some stuff. He tried to come back the next day unsuccessfully, and now has been stuck there all week. I was left to my own devices to make sure everything was up and running. As my luck would have it, right after he left a bunch of equipment started having issues. It wasn't that horrible, and I was able to get everything back in order, eventually. This week by myself has been very boring. I always tell people that I don't like having room mates. I kind of like having Will around. It was nice to have another guy to talk to. We didn't have a whole lot in common, just enough though.

I am really starting to miss things from back in the states. Friends, church, my daughter, a super huge fajita burrito from Chipolte. I am a pretty good suppressor, but i can only suppress for so long before the feelings starts bubbling to the surface. A year feels like such a long time when your missing people. Luckily there is the internet to help keep in touch. I have been able to visit with my Daughter over the web cam a few times, which has been awesome. It always makes me smile when I see her, even if she is being cranky.

I visited church this week. I attended the evening Protestant service at the main post chapel. There were about 8 people who showed up, including the pastor and worship team. It was a good message and we were able to partake of communion as well. I will try the morning service next time and see how that goes.

Here is a new thing I will try to do each week. I will share a new and unique bit of information that I have learned throughout the week. This weeks random piece of knowledge:

During the initial spread of Islam, the Arabs did not try to convert the people they conquered. If you were Muslim you did not have to pay taxes. So, instead of converting the conquered and losing the tax base, they prevented people from converting to Islam in order to maintain their quality of life. Random, but interesting, I think.

Now I need some input from my loyal readers, all three of you ;). I am going to have to come up with some things to do to keep me occupied and productive during my down times from work. I have some ideas and would like your opinion(s) about them and any other ideas you might have of things for me to do. Here they are:
1. Build a robot
2. Learn a new language (Japanese, Russian, Sign...)
3. Build a pager (so people here can get a hold of me)
4. Learn some slight of hand and other magic tricks
5. Learn a new computer language (Ruby on Rails, Python, AJAX...)
6. Build a mini half-pipe

The ramp and the robot are my top two choices. Let me know what you think.

Week Five/Stuck

The majority of week five was spent being stuck. Our trip out to Husaybah was supposed to take about three hours. It ended up taking three days. It ended up being an unforeseen camping type experience. The purpose to the trip was to perform routine monthly maintenance on the equipment we support. This consists mainly of blowing out all the dirt and dust that equipment manages to collect from month to month. It is a long process, there is a lot of dirt and dust in Iraq. Once all the dirt is blown out, everything is plugged back in, powered up, and tested. When we plugged everything back in I plugged one thing in to the wrong place. My bad. It took us a while to realize what had happened, and by then the convoy we came out on had already headed back to AQ. The next convoy wasn't due for another three days.

Camp Gannon, the base in Husaybah, is tiny. It is about as far west and remote as you can get in Iraq. I was able to see into Syria if that tells you how far west. The facilities were the bare minimum. Food on most bases here is generally served in the traditional cafeteria setting. You have a main line with various entree choices and a short order line with fast food type dishes. This was not the case in CG. There were two choices: take it or leave it. My favorite meal was breakfast on the last day; ham and cheese omelet and chili? CG is where I had my first cold shower since being in country. Since I was covered in dirt and dust, I didn't mind at all.

On a church retreat I attended recently, I was introduced to the concept of a 'composting toilet'. It is an environmentally friendly toilet that uses bacteria in the place of plumbing to dispose of waste. It was quite fascinating, if you could get past the smell. Camp gannon also had its own environmentally friendly toilet called PETT( The Portable Environmental Toilet). I hoped that I would get by with out finding out how to use a PETT, but alas three days is a long time. The PETT system consist of a tent similar in size to a porta-potty, a toilet with a net where the bowl usually is, appropriate reading material, and a bagging system. There were also tubes buried in the ground for urinary usage. I am sure that that was way too many details for some, so I will leave it at that.

Most of our time in CG was spent entertaining ourselves by watching movies, reading, or playing video games. When is was time to go, I was not at all sad. We convoyed back to AQ and got on a flight back to Al Asad. The flight to AA was horrible. I forgot to get ear-plugs and we ended up going way out to another base an hour away before heading up to AA. At least I wasn't freezing at the same time thanks to my new neck scarf. Lesson learned; don't forget your ear-plugs.

I am back in Ramadi now, and am glad to be so. It almost feels like 'home'. My little safe haven. Eleven more months to go.

Week Four in the Mud

Closing in one one month in this enigmatic country. Time is moving very quickly. I feel like I was just having my going away party yesterday. I thought that time moved quickly only when you were busy. It seems to do the same when your sitting around twiddling your thumbs as well. Maybe the long naps have helped it do so.

This week is trip out west to do maintenance week. We have one site that is pretty far out there. We/I take turns doing monthly checks and services there with another tech. That means I will have five more of these lovely trips out west. A nice little way to count down the time I have left in country. It is one big adventure getting out there and back. If we are lucky, it will take at the shortest about a week to get out and back. This time the trip is full of excitement.

We started out with our flight scheduled for thursday. It started raining right around dinner time. The base instantly turned into a giant mud pie. We got to the flight line and checked in. There was no place to put our gear, so we left it out in the rain. We went to the passenger tent and found that everyone and there uncle was trying to fly out that night. We sat in the packed tent till 2am when they finally told us our flight was canceled.

The next day the mud was everywhere. I made the mistake of trying to walk to the shower in my flip flops. The mud about pulled them apart. Half way there I turned around went back and got my boots. It was a wonderful sight. Me with my towel and pajamas walking to the shower in mud covered boots. When I arrived at the shower the water wasn't working, so no shower for me. I slept in passed breakfast but probably would have passed on it given the long walk to the chow hall in the mud. I almost thought about just eating a really big lunch and passing up dinner to avoid the walk. I barely left the room all day. The mud had imprisoned me.

We finally flew out friday night. Our first stop was Al Asad. This base is huge. It made you feel like you were back in the states. They have paved roads and a PX with everything you could possibly think of. They even have a bus system that will take you any where you need to go. It was nice. Best of all, there was no mud any where. It sprinkled a little bit, but didn't have the muddy out come. Instead I was able to see a rainbow paired with a gorgeous sunset. It was beautiful.

After AA was AQ or Al Qaim. AQ is a neat little base. It is kind of a mix of Ramadi and AA. Not as big as AA but with paved roads. AQ is an old railway station. It gives the place a different sort of atmosphere. There is a nice view of the surrounding desert as well. We are sitting here awaiting our ride to our final destination, Husbayah. Once we are done with our maintenance there, we start the journey all over in reverse. I pray this time without the mud.

Week Three

The hero finally makes it to his destination. Lovely Ramadi, home of the character Saheed from 'Lost'. Now my new home for the next year. The journey here has been pleasant. I got to fly out to Fallujah and hang out with Marines for a couple days. That was a big change from being in Baghdad. It was so much more laid back. In Baghdad the two bosses desks were situated in such a way that the could watch every thing you did. You were still able to get things done, but you felt constrained and preasured while you worked. Fallujah was a world different. They didn't have Salsa night, but I was still able to get my Chai.

After playing with the Marines for a couple days I flew to Ramadi. I was lucky enough to be able to catch all my flights in one day. Travel arrangements here are less that reliable. Upon arrival in Ramadi they kicked me off the chopper and there was no one there to tell me where to go. So, I headed to the closest lit building. Luckily it is where I needed to go. I finally made it to my 'hooch' around 3am where I was able to sleep very comfortably on my, could you geuss it, bunkbed.

The set up in Ramadi is very nice. A lot nicer than I expected. We are pretty much secluded from everyone else but close enough where they can come get us if we are needed. Our shop/living area is just the right size to be able to do our work comfortably and have enough room to live. The base is pretty ugly. It has the appearance of a dusty old western town plopped in the middle of world war II europe. Lots of sandbags strewn around old concrete buildings surounded by dirt packed roads. I hear that when it rains here the mud comes up to your ankles if not higher. Fun in the sun baby.

I look forward to establishing myself in this new location. One of the first people I ran into upon arriving was a marine I served with twice in Afghanistan. He is a really good guy and I look forward to working with him. I knew I would run into someone I knew eventually. It is an incredibly small world. The only thing I have to worry about now is not turning into a hermit. I have to stretch my introverted self a little bit and make some friends. This has been an interesting adventure so far and I look forward to what may come.

Week Two in the Sandbox

Week 2

It has been two weeks since I arrived in Iraq. I am still stuck in Baghdad. Is that a good or a bad thing? Not too sure yet. The extra week here provided me another chance to go Salsa dancing, which was a good thing. I started getting side pains from dancing too much. Suffice it to say that I had a good time. The area here is really nice. The work environment can get a little mundane and political, but other than that it wouldn’t be the worst place to be stuck.


This is where I live. There are six sets of bunk beds two of which are occupied at the time. With the troop build up coming, that will not be the case for long. We are in one of the about 70 buildings that made up one of Saddam’s presidential retreat centers or something like that. It is a really beautiful area. The architecture on some of the buildings is amazing.


Above is the view from my front porch. I have heard that there are huge fish that swim in the lake. I haven’t seen any yet, but I am sure they are there. I wouldn’t recommend going swimming.

This is me giving the classic double guns pose. Notice the big pouch dangling from my neck. That is what is affectionately referred to as a ‘Man Purse’. If you look closely you will see that my comforter is covered with sponge bob characters. This was a purposeful choice on my part.

I went on my first helicopter ride this week. I really liked flying over the city and felt drawn to it in a strange way. I wish I could have the opportunity to go out into the city and experience the culture up close in personal. I know that it isn’t safe, but still I feel drawn. Flying over Baghdad reminded me of my trip to Guadalajara. Probably seeing the kids play soccer/football in the streets. It was easy to identify the very poor neighborhoods. I imagine that large cities in most of the developing world look very similar. One more reminder of how good we have it in the states.

Will our hero ever make it to his final destination? Stay tuned to find out.