All shook up...

Earthquakes here feel a little different than back home. I was shaken out of bed at around 3 am and was happy to say, my house is still in one piece, nothing fell off my shelves, not even a mouse. It felt like someone was standing at the foot of my bed shaking it, after I got up and looked outside to see if others felt it, I really felt the floor rolling. Once back in bed, it kept going. It made me very queezy! Reported the next day that it was a 6.3 earthquake centered in the Hindu Kush mountains NE of Kabul.

9.11K Walk/Run

Remember this? Memorial Day we accepted this piece of steel from the Twin Towers site to remember why we are all here.

Early morning start, look how dark it is.

After the first full length of Disney, after the turn......

at the finish line.....we made it....Fransisco, me and Nelson.

Military working dogs line up along the road to wait for the start.

When asked if I was going to do the "9.11K" on 9-11, I didn't hesitate. I registered, and then began to train. Yes, I walk almost every night up and down Disney Blvd. But starting on the first of the month I had to get out there consistently and force myself (come dust or high winds) to walk the 2.1 mile length up and back (4.2 miles total) every night no matter how late!!!! This training will surely pay off on the 11th. Most of you know I am not much for training. I usually just take it on, and feel the pain during and after. 9.11K equates to about 5.66 miles, or so I was told. But that didn't matter. The night and morning before the event was eventful to say the least and on just three hours sleep I woke to the power going off in my room. Dressed and ready, met my walking partners and headed off to the race.

The race had interruptions of it's own that delayed the start, and changed the direction of the course, mapping the final route to about 7.4 miles! In practically a racers walk the entire way, I worked at keeping up with Fransisco; either walking, skipping, and sometimes even having to run. I did it, we all finished in less than one hour and forty-five minutes!

One day you're in, the next day your out....

Nelson and Fransisco, walked with me.

Biru, recreation center employee (dealer) always keeps me smiling!

Castor and Bryan (TASS) great friends, spades partner.

Maybe I need to catch some of you up on life over here; you need to know that people come "in" and go "out" so quickly; the PAX terminal is like a revolving door over here. Opening up to bring friends back from R&R (coming through Bagram) while others are heading out on R&R.

Here is brief synopsis of the first 4 months: First I am here alone; then comes in Michael. Yeah a friend and classate from my Camp Atterbury training. Then Ryan (classmate) came in, on his way to his final destination, and then he went out. Carl (classmate) came in on his way out for R&R. Kathryn (classmate) came in to teach a class, and then out she went. Alan (classmate) came in and Mike and I got to work with him until Michael went out. Then Matt (classmate) ran into me while in Atlanta on our way back from R&R, we returned to Bagram together, and then he went out.

Back home we refer to the mountain (Mt. Rainier) as being "out". Here we refer to friends as being "in" or "out". And that is just my camp classmates. I have plenty of soldiers and contractor friends that are going out to work other regions, or coming in from R&R with stories to share. When friends are here it is like the mountain being out, a beautiful thing!

I am excited that I have had the opportunity to see so many of my classmates over the course of these last 4 months. Especially since in class it was noted that I would be the only one assigned to Bagram.

So, the people in my life over here, are either "in" or they are "out", but they are never off my mind. As we all worry about each others safety and we keep track of the military activity and the happenings at each others forward operating bases (FOB), and the news surrounding it.

Thank you Xeni, Curlee, Bryan, Hector, Ray, Nelson, Leo, Gary, Fransisco, Castor, Levi, Biru, Jackie, Gabe, Melissa, Jan, and all of the rest of the people who have taken the time to become my friend, my walking partners and a reason to keep my head up and a smile on my face.

I hope someday you will all come to see the beautiful state of Washington, and that the mountain will be "out".

Ding dong the mouse is dead...

Well, I did it! I killed the mouse. Actually he fell to his death. I was pulling something off of shelves, that if I put one more thing on it, it would probably fall. So today I tackled the heavy shelf. When I pulled down the first bundle of mags and papers the mouse fell straight onto the "sticky trap" below. It couldn't have been more perfect. He must have been caught in slumber. (Nice to know something can sleep in here.)
I had turned when I pulled down the stuff, so I didn't witness the actual fall, but I concluded that when it hit the ground it got a concussion. It looked dead.
In my happiness, I was flustered to try to figure out how to remove it, so I grabbed my frisbee, and moved the "sticky trap" (a flat piece of cardboard with stickiness on it) onto the frisbee, so that the weight of the mouse wouldn't collapse the cardboard during movement to the outdoors.
Once I placed it (the frisbee) on my front door step the mouse started coming to. Oh no, now the squealing started. Not mine, the mouse, silly. I quickly ran back in my room and grabbed by plastic bag out of my trash can and poured the "sticky trap" with mouse into the bag and tied it off. Whew, the task is complete.
Funny thing I didn't even know I still had a mouse! I thought it had escaped!
So, I rebaited all of my traps, laid out a new "Sticky trap" and opened up my latest snare, "moth balls". Sent to me lovingly by Skip with indifference toward my need.
I have been given inside scoop that moth balls keep the cobras out of your b-hut. I have a feeling they are going to keep me out of my b-hut. Boy do they stink. I only put out about 5, is that a lot for a 6' x 10' space? I rolled them into the dark corners under my bed and behind the fridge and the clothes locker.
Skip teases that they will act like salt licks for the mice, and that snakes don't smell. But since Skip doesn't have to live here, I am listening to the locals and taking every precaution necessary to keep my b-hut rodent free.

Losing "Rainman"...10 minutes to Blackjack.....

I might be losing my spades partner, Brian "Rainman" (nickname for poker) and I "Trouble" (nickname for poker) met when we both arrived at spades without partners, anxious to play and having not played in years (30 between the two of us) we settled down to what started out really well for the both of us. We beat the best team there! Ever since that win, I meet up with Brian and his team of employees at dinner and after we work long hours we head on over to the recreation center to play BINGO, poker, and black jack. Some late nights, if or when we lose, or get knocked out early, before midnight, we go on the Disney Walk (which is about a 4 mile stretch) and get to discuss the days events. But this friendship too may come to a quick close, as Brian is leaving on R&R and may not be returning. He has a huge decision to make, will he return to Bagram, or take a promotion/different job in Iraq? I am glad I am not having to make those kinds of decisions here; I hate to see him go. But I know he has to do what is best for his family and for his career. He works for Honeywell and their company is doing a pretty big job over here and evidently in Iraq as well. Of course while he is gone, all of his team have invited me to continue to dine with them at dinner, and even Castor has offered to join me for BINGO. The only game he will play. Who knows I may just have to get some of the other guys to try poker.

Comcast ... not me....

Lucky for me I have a computer "geek squad" x-employee working in the office, as well as many IT guys, and a couple of very good computer people in my circle of influence over here. After a full day of playing will all sorts of virus protection stuff, and running checks, it was determined that time was all it was going to take to allow Comcast time to get the "Promotions" part of their site up and running. It's problem became my problem when I was unable to open any emails all day. It is incredibly crazy how quickly you can feel distance grow with every minute of email being down! I was able to fill the time though reading the new book Monica sent me "OPEN" by Andre Agassi! Thank you so much! I love watching tennis, reading tennis, and thinking about playing tennis all day long. My teams are forming back home, they are preparing for Pierce County League and USTA Fall league, of which I will be sidelined, watching results and cheering from afar. Good luck team!

DUST

This is a crazy place. First of all, no one has a thermometer hanging from a tree in the backyard or by your door or window. In fact, no body even cares what the temperature is here. It doesn't vary enough to matter. But when you finally see a weather broadcast on TV it is enough to make you laugh. They have this DUST icon that they show all over the Mid east. Like the RAIN icon they always show over the Pacific NW. If they have made an icon for it, you know it must be occurring quite often. So DUST is in the forecast for the rest of the week, No SHEET! Everyday it is dusty; and when you exit from your shower you are immediately covered by a thin powdery dust much like you are a donut coated in powdered sugar.
Oh to have a donut! But I do have Oreo's. The PX stocked the shelves last night and along my long Disney Drive walk, I run in to see if anything is new. Donnie has requested Oreo's, which makes it a good opportunity to make my first c/c transaction of the month. In order to get my checking acct. interest, I have to make 12 transactions a month. Which is much easier to do when you are in the states. I currently have an "Error" message on my Comcast e-mail and can't open my mail, I hope this has to do with Comcast and not with me!
Forecasting that as soon as my email is up, the dust will settle; still not predicting any rain!