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sgtdub: February 2007

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

28 February 2007, Ha! I didn't miss a day of posting due to the internet not being paid yesterday. Luckily I had to work late and did that post from the office, of course, if anyone from the office is reading this, "from the office" means away from the office and in no way near the office at the time of posting. That would be wrong. (Disclaimer: I am a rebel)
I could do a whole weeks worth of posts on Al Gore's current situation but I see it's all over and why beat a dead horse. His camp's rebuttal lacks any substance and I should probably hire out my daughter to them as she takes after her mother in putting up at least plausible arguments.
CPT C is talking a lot of trash talk right now. He says he is under 230 now without shoes, at last check I was still about 237 with boots and uniform on. Official weigh-in will be Saturday. March appears like I will be back on track for working out and I'll put that little extra effort in it. (Plus I have been working on getting him chocolate candy bars with almonds) I imagine that he will probably come out ahead of me this month and I won't hear the last of it, which is fine, I need a motivator.
Be safe and have a great day.

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

27 February 2007, Everything here is good, Bagram is close to 30 miles away, so no worries. I'm still at the office working on a couple of projects, so I decided to post an article I found, which a couple of other sites have posted too. Here it is with it's source.
Al Gore’s Personal Energy Use Is His Own “Inconvenient Truth”
Gore’s home uses more than 20 times the national average
Last night, Al Gore’s global-warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, collected an Oscar for best documentary feature, but the Tennessee Center for Policy Research has found that Gore deserves a gold statue for hypocrisy.
Gore’s mansion, located in the posh Belle Meade area of Nashville, consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, according to the Nashville Electric Service (NES).
In his documentary, the former Vice President calls on Americans to conserve energy by reducing electricity consumption at home.
The average household in America consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, according to the Department of Energy. In 2006, Gore devoured nearly 221,000 kWh—more than 20 times the national average.
Last August alone, Gore burned through 22,619 kWh—guzzling more than twice the electricity in one month than an average American family uses in an entire year. As a result of his energy consumption, Gore’s average monthly electric bill topped $1,359.
Since the release of An Inconvenient Truth, Gore’s energy consumption has increased from an average of 16,200 kWh per month in 2005, to 18,400 kWh per month in 2006.
Gore’s extravagant energy use does not stop at his electric bill. Natural gas bills for Gore’s mansion and guest house averaged $1,080 per month last year.
“As the spokesman of choice for the global warming movement, Al Gore has to be willing to walk the walk, not just talk the talk, when it comes to home energy use,” said Tennessee Center for Policy Research President Drew Johnson.
In total, Gore paid nearly $30,000 in combined electricity and natural gas bills for his Nashville estate in 2006.
This was publish by Tenneessee Policy.
I just found this very interesting and it speaks loudly about so many Hollywood types that are crying global warming. For those that watched the entire Oscars to include the red carpet, How many gas guzzling limos did you see veruses how many "green" cars did you see?
Be safe and have a great day.

Monday, February 26, 2007

26 February 2007, Well, the Oscars are over, when I came into the office this morning, that's what some of my guys were watching. I would have preferred Nascar showing the race in California, but it wasn't on. Although the volume was down, I saw the Ethridge lady singing her green earth song and Al Gore following her. I'm sure Al won his Oscar. I think he is completely off. I don't think we are seeing global warming but in fact another Ice Age. Yep, at least I look outside and see results. As the news was flashing pictures of white outs in Colorado I looked at the monitor and saw it was snowing here again too. I made the comment, "It's too warm to stick", guess I was wrong too.
































I managed to get some sleep, of course, napping in the afternoons will ruin my sleep for the evening, so I was awake more than normal, but still managed ok. With the exception of having the crud, I felt pretty good all day, just not my jovial self. I did manage to take a picture of me, not a very good one, since pictures make it look like I'm loosing my hair, I fixed it up a bit, just enough so it looks more like me. (hehe)





For the road map to success in Iraq, I believe it's time to post (if there isn't one already) and promote a reward/bounty for Mr. Al-Sadr. Yes, with his little merry band, I'm sure it wouldn't take too long before someone turned him in.
The Milblogging site was confusing to say the least. Yes, many of you went and voted during the nomination period, and I'm very happy that I was in the top 5, thank you. For some reason, JP thought better and decided to make it just 5 Army regardless to location and I was dropped from the list, don't worry, I handle rejection very...(sniff, sniff) well. No, really, I'm ok with it. Sarge Charlie did make the cut for veterans, and at last count was in 2nd place against BlackFive. Now, BlackFive is a group of veterans and supporters who have been up and running for a couple of years now, and publish pro-military articles and opinions, so if the outcome didn't change, Sarge should be pretty proud of himself.
Well, it's time to call it quits for tonight, be safe and have a great Funday!

Sunday, February 25, 2007

25 February 2007, I wasn't going to post much tonight, I finally have the full blown crud here. I left work at 1300 (1pm) and came back to my room where I went to bed. I slept pretty good for about 4 hours. I only got up to crawl to the PX to buy some pre-paid phone cards so I could call my beautiful family back home.
Well, since I was up long enough, my body said, "let's eat" On my way back to my room, for some reason I was pondering why on earth we were still showing Anna Nicole and Brittney. Then, it hit me. Wow! What a victory for our troops in Iraq. We need more Anna and Brittney, throw in the Oscars this weekend. Show it all!!! Never stop showing it.....I know, now you are saying to yourself, "It must be the fever, he's not himself." Well, for every minute we report on Brittney and Anna, that's one less minute of aid and comfort for the insurgents from our media. This is a victory in itself. Can't you see it.....
MSM reporter: John, we are here with the cell leader for Al-Qaeda, Roshan Akbar Al-akbaar, he has spent all night setting up roadside bombs, we have shown him which routes the Americans are taking to leave their base, in hopes of showing you how this war is wrong and that we can't win, tell us, Roshan what is your opinion of.......What's that? Roshan, sorry, the court in Florida has just made an announcement in the Anna Nicole Smith story, we will have to cut from you and go back to our correspondents in Florida, Mary.....
Just think, without our media's help in Iraq the insurgents can't win. Let's keep showing the trivial, the stars on the edge. Support your troops, ask for extra air time devoted to Brittney's rehab recovery.

On a closing note, who said...
"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty."

Be safe and have a great day.

Saturday, February 24, 2007

24 February 2007,
Another Fallen Comrade
Sgt Buddy "Doc" Hughie died this last week. He was in the Nuristan Province on a mission. On the return to base Sgt Hughie's convoy was ambushed. During the battle it was determined that the ANA soldiers at the front of the convoy where about to come under mortar attack. Sgt Hughie volunteered to go forward, away from cover to warn his brothers in arms.
As Brigadier General Douglas Pritt said tonight at the ceremony, "Sgt Hughie died the same way he lived his life, volunteering one more time to go forward." This was Sgt Hughie's second tour here in Afghanistan and he had mentioned going to Iraq with the Oklahoma National Guard next year, because he believed in the mission, believed in the purpose. This is the first lost of a soldier to combat for the 1-180th Infantry Battalion, 45th Infantry Brigade. He was well like, well respected and will be missed. May God bring comfort to his wife and 4 month old son. Our prayers are with them.

Friday, February 23, 2007

23 February 2007, Not much happening today. They moved the ceremony for SGT Hughie to Saturday here as they had the first ceremony where he was stationed in Nuristan province today.
I'm actually quite tired and thinking about going to bed early tonight. I managed to stay in the office for most of the day, lately I've been running around a lot.
Many of you have posted about the way Congress is acting these days. I am glad to see that not everyone has lost their marbles. The Democrats, Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid made grand gestures about changing and reforming Congress, to make it better. This would indeed be a modern day miracle as it appears the only thing on the agenda is....how did they put it....yes, to "slow bleed" the troops. Yes, they support the troops so much they are willing to sacrifice them for their political gain. Now, this does not pertain to all liberals. Clinton and Obama are way too busy to even show up for work these days. Both are out on the campaign trail for an election that doesn't even take place for another 20 months. As Obama becomes the poster child for the Dems, let's look at this from a different perspective. Let's say a guy was hired to be the general manager of a car lot. Now, one week later he's telling you that he wants to be the CEO for General Motors. He hasn't proven himself yet even though he did write a book about cars once. And by the way, he hasn't been at work yet either because he's in Detroit trying to convince General Motors that he needs to be in charge. Hmmmmmm.
I do think we should take a note from their book though and start our work of replacing these people in Washington now. As you know from reading my blog, I try not to classify people in the Democrat and Republican labels, but more into liberals and conservatives. This comes from being raised in Oklahoma. Oklahoma is a registered Democrat state, no doubt about it. However, the majority are conservative Democrat and proud of it. I looked at the National level when I was just a young'n and found that the Republican party was more in line with my own values. Oklahoma just doesn't fit in the National spectrum.
Regardless to how you are registered, it's now time to find true, honest Americans with sound values to run against those in Washington that wish to see us destroyed. Yes, that does sound harsh, but anyone who is willing to sacrifice our troops for their own gain, anyone who can't make a decision to solve the immigration problems, anyone who is weak on Homeland Security needs to be replaced. Representing the people of the United States of America is just that, representing. It's not about what you can get out of it. It's not about seeing that you get life time benefits and health coverage and retirement after working one day. It's about making sure the people are treated fairly, that everyone is treated the same, that we can continue to stand for what is right and just in this world.
It's time to get active in our future to make sure we still have one. Be safe and have a great day. Happy Dance Friday too.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

22 February 2007, Down to business first. Lizza at I am Woman See Me Blog is having a birthday, and Dixie was presented with Bestest Blog. Go tell both of them Congratulations.
Today was another busy day and a late day as you can tell. I'm hoping things will slow down in March. It appears to be busy at home too. After watching the news this last week I have discovered there are only 4 events happening in the world right now, It's Anna Nicole Smith, Brittney Spears, American Idol that other thing in the middle east, but it's not getting much coverage after the first three. Once again I am amazed at the media, but I'll save this for a soap box.
Sarge Charlie announced that I made it to the final voting stage at Milblogging, so thank you. The voting stage lasts for the next 4 days if I understand it correctly.
I think I caught something from those of you who have been sick over the last couple of weeks. It's slowly creeping up on me and I just don't want it. Feel free to come by and pick it up. I wiped off the keys to my keyboard so I shouldn't be able to pass it on to any of you who haven't gotten sick already.
Mrs. Dub said she got her Valentines Day Card yesterday and I received hers tonight. Maybe at some point she will share the poem I wrote. I have never really written poems before other than for silly amusement and really haven't met too many guys that did. I guess the internet and blogging is for the more creative people and I'm finding a lot more people using this as a creative outlet.
Well, it's already getting late and I need to finish up some things before retiring for the evening. Be safe and have a great day.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

21 February 2007, It's Wednesday, so for everyone the week is almost over. We've had a bit of interesting weather over the last couple of days. We went from Sunday being a high of 68 F/19C to Monday morning seeing it snow again. It has been raining since Monday night and turning back into snow yesterday afternoon and night. Now, as I've said, Afghanistan needs this type of precipitation, but the locals are complaining. You see, they still build most of the houses out of mud to include the roofs, sooo....rain and snow on hard pack dried mud homes equal soft mud crashing into the living room. This afternoon it started turning nice again.
I have made it to cardio workouts twice this week so far, this is good. I weighed this morning unofficially at 237 with shoes on so at least I haven't gained any weight during my absence at the gym.
The Italians were here at Camp Phoenix today for a ceremony were we recognized them for their part in the VBIED incident in January here. The Italians have an EOD team that responded that day. We had certificates for them and the paperwork has been submitted for awards. Apparently they did the same for 11 of us to include me. I'm getting an Italian award. This is pretty cool. Although I interact with many nations on a professional level, I usually don't get to partake in the more social aspects of it.
Everything else is going pretty good. I was able to leave work earlier tonight and hope to get caught on reading every one's blogs. Be safe and have a great day.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

I have pulled the ad for Green Marines. Apparently I did not research it enough myself to find the hate comments several of you pointed out and I will not endorse such sites on mine. I will endeavor to do better next time. Thank you for the comments, and my apologies to those that visit this site.
20 February 2007, It might have been gone unnoticed, but we had another communication black-out during the last 24 hours. I'll put out more information when the time is right. You might be asking "How come nobody noticed?" Well, my story started Sunday night when I went to bed at 2300 hrs (11pm) and didn't fall asleep. At 0200 in the morning I finally got up and went back to the office where I started on some paperwork. I stayed there until 0515 in the morning, working and watching the Daytona 500, which was exciting. Since I was still up I also put out a post in those early morning hours. I finally went back to my room and slept from 0530 to 0730, yep, two hours, got up and came back to work. It wasn't until 1800 hours that I got off work again on Monday. At 1730 though we got word that the communications would be shut off. I went back to my room, ate dinner, and by 2000 hrs (8pm) went to bed. I got to sleep 40 minutes before my phone rang, a local Afghan wanting me to help him get a job. Let's just say I was more than pleasant with him and after taking his information, I went back to bed and got almost 9 hours of sleep. Of course, I felt very groggy this morning but otherwise had a good day.
Check out the article i wrote below, be safe and have a good day.

Sunday, February 18, 2007

19 February 2007, Well, It's 0430 in the morning, I just finished watching the Daytona 500, amazing race, with #01 Army almost taking home the victory. #25 Casey Mears was doing well too but in that last lap got taken out and finished 21st.
Milblogging is a site where military personnel, veterans and supporters are listed. The 2006 Milblogging Awards are up for nominations till the 21st of February. Yes, another late entry, but I'm glad someone thought I was even worthy. I followed Empress Bee in nominating Sarge Charlie for his veteran site as he is just as proud today of the military as he was during his 26 years in the U.S. Army. You simply go to www.milblogging.com find the sites you like and when you click on their name, it gives you the chance of nominating that site for the upcoming awards. The top five in each catergory will advance to the awards contest.
The following people on my sidebar are listed as nominees:
Sarge Charlie
Cpl Todd Larkin with Task Force Phoenix 5
Flag Gazer
Be safe and have a great day.
Pay Per Post - This is an advertisement for the blog site Beautiful British Columbia. http://beautifulbritishcolumbia.blogspot.com/ Heather is a wonderful Canadian who blogs. She tells all about wharfs, fishing, her grandfather who just celebrated his 93rd birthday and is still very active. Heather also does Pay Per Post advertisements which she and her dog Hugo do a wonderful job about telling you how to get good vacation deals, and other exciting opportunities. I know you read something like this a little over a week ago, but did you check it out, well then, head back over there and tell her I sent you.
18 February 2007, I hope everyone slept in late this morning and nobody had to wait for me to get off work to post. I built an extension to my desk that could clear up some more area for my new Airmen to work in. We added another computer to the mix, so hopefully we can be more productive. I also built a little cabinet for the projector in the conference room. It's not too shabby for what I had to work with. A little while back, a suggestion was made to build another coffee house (we came with Oregon, they need a coffee shop every block, no offense to my wonderful readers from Oregon) or a steak house. Yeah, that's what I was wondering. My suggestion was to build a Home Depot or Lowe's, then we could build whatever we wanted. Of course, then Mrs. Dub would cancel my Home Depot Card, but I could still just walk up and down the isles and enjoy myself.
Cpl. Todd Larkin, the writer of Task Force Phoenix V and myself were added to the Milblogging roll by Flag Gazer, (from Oregon, don't mention the coffee shop thing I said). Well, Todd called me yesterday in the office and said we had been nominated for some milblogging award. I still haven't gotten the details about yet, but I will check into it. It was then I started asking Todd some questions about the milblogging and decided that I would get Sarge Charlie on the roll over there. Guess who beat me to the punch. Of course, Empress Bee, she's real sharp about all kind of things. Cpl. Todd Larkin, (did I mention his site?) is also working on several projects to help the citizens of Afghanistan, and especially those in the villages surrounding our camp here in Kabul. His current project is collecting children's shoes or taking donations for shoes. If you are interested in what he is doing and seeing the great photos he takes (with his Nikon 50) go on over.
Another day and weekend knocked off the calendar, yippee!
Be safe and have a great day.

Saturday, February 17, 2007

17 February 2007, I'm beginning to see a pattern of losing my internet connection on the weekends, this time might have been #2 but I didn't hear any loud thuds. It has been an extremely busy day for me and I did manage to accomplish a lot. Tomorrow appears to be the same way, but I'm excited about most of it as some of it has been put off for some time now and getting them done and out of the way will feel great. (Plus I'm going to be playing with power tools and building stuff again, arrh arrh arrh) I am completely worn out tonight and I'll just be going to bed earlier tonight. Hopefully, I will get most of my chores done tomorrow and will get caught up on every one's blogs too. I hate getting behind.
I finally got approved by Pay Per Post and am looking forward to doing some work. It looks like a neat opportunity and maybe I can buy that camera and then get Mrs. Dub some jewelry,(but don't tell her, we'll make it a surprise.)
I got some exciting news to share but I was way too busy to get the details straightened out so hopefully in the next day or so I'll put it out there.

What big plans do you have for this weekend?
Be safe and have a great day.

Friday, February 16, 2007

16 February 2007, Blogger is giving me fits tonight. I am still logging in by way of messages but it decided not to recognize me even then till my 4th attempt at it. Anyway, todays post is late but with merit. I attended another ceremony of a fallen soldier.

SGT Long Nguyen died last weekend while serving with the Oregon National Guard in Mazir-e-Sharif. From the ceremony tonight, I could tell he had touched many lives and although there was sadness at his death, there was laughter at his life. Although I have no plans of having anything happen to me, my wish is that people can laugh at my funeral too. I can think of no better tribute to a person than knowing the joy and laughter they brought into so many lives. Sgt. Nguyen joined the United States Army in 1998 and served with the 82nd Airborne Division. He was born in Vietnam and prior to his death had applied for both U.S. Citizenship and Warrant Officer School. Sgt. Nguyen is survived by his mother, brother and sister. Our prayers go out to his family.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

NEWS FLASH!!! NEWS FLASH!!!
Please stop what you are doing and go directly to Mrs. Dub site. Click the name or go to my sidebar. Mrs. Dub is a very mischievous person and not to be trifled with. If a past life lawyers would have her write their letters to solicit certain responses. Miss Dub woke Mrs. Dub up last weekend while having a sleep over. Now, in my 15 years I have learned that the only time to wake Mrs. Dub up is when she is sleeping on the couch and it's time for her to go to bed. Run right over to her site and see what happens when you wake the bear.

Disclaimer: When referring to Mrs. Dub as the bear, it is meant in that cuddly cute little bear everyone loves and not to be construed with a grumpy mammal with claws.
15 February 2007, Well, I hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day. I did get to go "out" to eat last night. We took my two Air Force personnel out to the Thai restaurant for their going home dinner. We don't get ice in our drinks here so it's always a real treat to order sweet iced tea.
CPT C dragged me over to the gym today to lift weights. We started off with weighing ourselves on the scales first. CPT C was excited to find that he is now 6 pounds lighter than me. I haven't been to the gym to do cardio in 4 weeks now, and he continued working hard at it. I had been able to stay 1 pound ahead of him while we had been working out together. After this post, I'm headed to the gym to do my cardio, now he's my inspiration, (or actually, I'm just wanting to get 1 pound ahead of him again).
The weather has been a bit cooler the last two days, but over all still very nice. I took off from work around 1530 hours today and came back to my room. I left the door open to let it air out some and swept the floor.
I want to thank everyone who worries about me while I'm over here. With that said, I'll list in order of merit reasons I might not post for more than one day.

1. I forgot to pay my internet bill and have to wait until tomorrow.
2. An asteroid has hit the internet satellite dish.
3. I've actually gone home to surprise Mrs. Dub again.
4. Someone in our Task Force has died causing a communication black out.
5. Something happened to me, like breaking both hands and my toes are too fat to type coherently.
So, there you have a list of reasons you might not hear from me. Number 1 is the most plausible and has happened a couple of times already. But usually no more than one day. Number 4 was the reason for last weekend's break in my posting. I will possibly update you on that event when it becomes more clear to me. I don't forsee numbers 2,3 or 5 happening, so stay tuned.
Mrs. Dub sent me a valentine picture, and she's wearing her fuzzy Mickey Mouse ears, mmmmmmm, should I share it with you?
Remember that tomorrow is Happy Dance Friday and you should wear appropriate footwear. Be safe and have a great day.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

14 February 2007, Did someone say Happy Valentines Day? Well, you have it here, Happy Valentines Day everyone. for those who want to know, I didn't forget about Mrs. Dub, but she can put on the pressure huh? The PX still had a couple of those 4 foot wooden nut cracker soldiers in the discount bin so I picked one up. For those of you are about to make a comment about what she might do with a 4ft nut cracker, well, those are on the fire place mantel at home anyway, remember, I'm married.
Everyone has been crying Global Warming. Hello?!?! Parts of New York got 110" of snow during the last two weeks, now the northeast is calling for another 4 feet. Warming? How about some of those intellectuals mentioning something about another Ice Age?
Well, this in deed will be short, Be safe and have a great day.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

13 February 2007, A long day.
My Air Force personnel have changed out and I'm having longer days trying to get all my taskings done. I'm not complaining, just explaining why this might seem late and why it might see short. I still have a couple more taskings to take care of before I can call it a night.
Today was a pretty good day and the weather has turned nice again. We had 3 days of wet weather that started with two solid days of drizzle followed up by a day of very wet snow. It's completely cleared up now and most everything has dried up. Like I've said, Afghanistan has been in a drought for several years and is slowly coming out of it, so I won't complain about any wet weather we get here, they need it.
Mrs. Dub told me something was supposed to be happening sometime this week, but for the life of me, I can't remember what it was. I think it was something to do with a holiday, possibly President's Day, but I think that's next week. She can get a bit upset if I forget important dates like President's Day. Of course, I tried to arrange all the important dates on the 31st of the month, that way I make it easier. My birthday, Mrs. Dub's birthday, our anniversary are all on the 31st. Miss Dub takes after me and procrastinated her birth and instead of the 31st she was born on the 4th. You see, I would have had all the bases covered, any month with 31 days, I would know I needed to do something special. But February only has 28 days so I know there shouldn't be anything this month. Hmmmm.......
Well, it's about time for another meeting. Be safe and have a good day.

Monday, February 12, 2007

12 February 2007, Here I am.
The good news was that my absence occurred over the weekend and most of you do have lives outside this little box. The bad news was that my computer would have worked yesterday if I have checked a little farther. As I have mentioned before, the internet here is month to month and the guy who operates it has it set up where we have to log in to start surfing the net. Well, yesterday when I came back to my room the log in page would not come up. At this I just stopped and grumbled under my breath. What I found out from my guys today was that the log in page is the only one having problems and that you can just go to where you want on the web, no problems.
I've notice a condition growing on me. Living in the connex housing (lego-land) we have to be quiet all the time. Listening to the television or laptop I have to have my headphones on so as to not bother any of my neighbors. I really don't mind this that much, but I have noticed that I will put my headphones on automatically and then not bother to put on anything to listen to. I then realize this and finally figure it out that I need to put something on to listen to.
Mrs. Dub's site tells us that this week is the 29th Annual National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans Week and will be held February 11-17, 2007 at all VA Medical Centers Across the Nation. The purpose of the National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans Program is to: pay tribute and express appreciation to hospitalized veterans; increase community awareness of the role of the VA medical center;
encourage citizens to visit hospitalized veterans and to become involved as volunteers. More than 98,000 veterans of the U.S. armed services who are cared for every day in Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers, outpatient clinics, domiciliaries, and nursing homes. There is a link at the bottom of the website to help you find a VA Medical Center in your area. Visit http://www1.va.gov/volunteer/nshv.cfm to learn more.
I almost forgot to mention it, but Happy Funday. Be safe and have a great day.

Sunday, February 11, 2007

12 February 2007, I'm still standing.
Not that I'm a huge fan of Elton John, but it let's you know I'm still here. We had a communication black out for just about 24 hours and then yesterday, when it came back up, I started a post in my room when it crashed again. I hope to be up and running again today, I'm at work right now so don't email the boss and tell him I'm on here. I'll post more a little later. I hope everyone is doing good and I'll be caught up soon. Be safe and have a great day.

Friday, February 09, 2007

09 February 2007, Happy Dance Friday.
Yes, once again we have reached Friday safely. I stopped by the French Bazaar today and did some shopping. I want to take this time to tell you about a young boy named TJ. TJ was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Pro-B in September 2006. TJ's journey will been a long one. As most of you know, people with cancer go through chemotherapy and as a result of this, loose their hair. This usually follows with patients wearing hats. TJ has a desire to break the Guinness World Record for having the largest collection of hats. The total number? 83,000. TJ's plan doesn't stop there though. Once he has taken the record, it is his desire to begin distributing those hats to others who have succumbed to the same disease. There is no way I can even attempt to explain what he and his family are going through or how to tell their story. What I can do, and what I'm asking you is if you have any hats at home that you would like to donate to TJ for this wonderful cause. As I said, I went to the bazaar today and bought several pakol hats.




Pakol hats are also called the Masood hat (by us Westerners), as it references the former leader of the Northern Alliance that stood against the Taliban here in Afghanistan. I also have a boonie cap that I am getting worked up to send to TJ. I have a collection of ball caps at home that I have told Mrs. Dub to box up and send to TJ too. Of course, only the clean ones. Please remember that these children are both male and female and if you have some more stylish hats for the girls, these too would be very nice.

If you would like to donate a hat to his cause please send it to:
TJ's Journey
P.O. BOX 888781
Grand Rapids, MI 49588-8781


Our Navy LT R wouldn't let us send his other hat. Something about still needing to block the alien transmissions.
Be safe and have a great day.

Thursday, February 08, 2007

08 February 2007, The question was asked.
The question was, "if you don't have weekends, why bother counting the days till the weekend?" Good question, next.
Just kidding. As of June 21, 2006 I count each and every day, count down, that is. MAJ F has a calendar on his office wall that he made. It has pictures of steaks and lobster tails. Each steak and each lobster represents a Friday in the year and each time he crosses out a steak or lobster we are one week closer to going home. As I've said before, we can't give exact dates but we will be home in time for July 4th, I hope.
The day was nice with some cloud coverage, but still nicer than the reports I'm getting from the States, except a few commenter's in California.
If anyone was scratching your head yesterday looking at the Pay Per Post ad I did, well, I decided since I've seen several of you doing it, and claiming you're making money at it, I thought I could give it a try and use that money to buy that nifty Nikon camera I mentioned a few posts ago. If I do real good, maybe Mrs. Dub can get that diamond she mentioned. I won't try to kill you with them, maybe just one or two a day.
I just came from another soldier reenlisting. SGT G. reenlisted this afternoon for another 6 years. As you remember, I did mine on July 4th here at Camp Phoenix. We have seen quite a few soldiers do this during the deployment. SGT G is even more special in the sense that he doesn't receive a bonus for reenlisting, he's just doing it because he believes in what he is doing and he still enjoys it. I told him I felt like a lady of the night because I did get a bonus for mine. I'm not sure if this helped him or not, but since it wasn't a factor in his decision, I don't think it mattered. Everything else is going pretty good here. Be safe and have a great day.

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

PPP - I'm not sure how this works and if anyone can screw it up, it's me. Anyway, my task for this post is to review Heather's blog site at Beautiful British Columbia. Heather does a wonderful job of explaining what being Canadian is and with the help of her wonderful dog Hugo, also advertises for Pay Per Post. Heather's site is well designed, keeping it attractive, yet simple. You can click on her link above and tell her I sent you. As always, be safe and have a good day.
07 February 2007, Does life get any better than Frito's scoops and bean dip? Well, yes, actually, but I'm not home, so this is probably as good as it gets. Don't worry, I won't overdo it on the bean dip (mainly because I ate most of it last night). 9oz is considered 1 serving, right?
It was another absolutely beautiful day here, and I got outside a couple of times. A couple of rockets were shot in the capital city today, but I don't think any injuries occurred from it. We tracked the situation for most of the morning which kept us busy. I also heard there was a small earthquake tremor last night, guess I slept through it. I remember the large earthquake that hit Pakistan last year before we came. It was felt in Kabul too.
I have been seeing some new readers and comments here and I want to say thank you for stopping by. I hope you enjoy your time here as I enjoy going to your sites and reading what's important in your world too.
Mrs. Dub put up a new post yesterday that is of importance to me and many of you out there. I hope to cover it in the next day or so, as I have a couple more items I would like to address with it also. In the meantime, please check out her comments.
It's Wednesday, so we are half way through with the week, be safe and have a great day.

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

06 February 2007, Things I can't tell you.
This does suck as I have a great story to tell. One that got my adrenaline pumping that now, 45 minutes later, I"m still a tad bit hyper. Operational Security (OPSEC) is the key. This is what protects us day and night. I sit here and contemplate what I can and cannot say each day. Today's story is no different. Can I relate the highlights without divulging things, I just tried and it didn't work, sorry.
What I can tell you is it involved me taking a person out of a vehicle, using an arm bar take-down and putting this guy on the concrete. (My police training is still intact.) I kneeled there on this guy for a good 5 minutes while next to a vehicle I had no idea what was inside it. All turned out well though. Now doesn't that just not satisfy your interest? I probably shouldn't have said anything, I'm sorry.
In other news, CPT C dragged me to the gym today to lift weights. Now he will say that he didn't drag me there, that he just asked, but regardless, I went. We did a light work-out, which is my first since 3 weeks ago. I did make it to two of the ab labs during that time, but I definitely need to get back into it big time.
The weather was absolutely gorgeous today with the sun shining. I wanted to take a picture of me sunning, but I'm afraid the overexposure of my white legs would have cancelled out the picture all together. I've been reading The Pioneer Woman and she is going through all the benefits of a SLR digital camera versus a point and click. Mrs. Dub is being very nice to me, and letting me buy a new rifle, one that I can use at work back home, so nows not the time to ask for a new more expensive camera, but I'll work it into the conversation soon, (like with this post, hehe). I think the Nikon 50 or 70S would be good for me, and of course my family. I could take wonderful photos of my lovely wife and my wonderful daughter. (You think this is working yet?)
Thank you to everyone who did a 3 beautiful things yesterday. I hope it helped you just a bit too. Be safe and have a great day.

Monday, February 05, 2007

05 February 2007, Happy Funday everyone! I really do have to feel bad for everyone not here. You see, here, the last Monday I had was in March 2006. Since then, I've worked everyday, no weekends off. So, I don't dread Monday morning any more than every other morning here, but I'm consistent. So for everyone out there, who is making your way out of bed, except Sarge Charlie and Empress Bee, (they're retired and just get up when they want to), I hope this Monday finds you in better spirits. Of course, for those who wanted the Colts to win the Super Bowl, you're probably giddy and ready to go find those who were rooting for the Bears. I really didn't have a problem with either team winning. I had a wager of 25 push-ups with an E-4 half my age. SPC M was good about it and this morning went down on the floor to knock them out. I went down with him. Yes, I can do 25 push-ups....but not too many more than that, hehe.
I received a wonderful email today. Clare from Three Beautiful Things sent me an email stating that I had been mentioned in church on Sunday. Now granted, I am getting care packages from at least 3 different churches in Oklahoma. My current church Chisholm Heights Baptist Church, my parents in law church Draper Park Christian Church and then the South Yukon Church of Christ. All three have been very supportive for my family and me. But this church of Clare's you see, is different. Clare lives in England. The Unitarian Church in Brighton, England. The mom of a friend of Clare apparently reads her blog and has found me on there too. She was speaking at the church on Sunday and brought up the connection between Clare and I. Now, before Mrs. Dub gets the wrong idea, this is the first email Clare has sent me and other than a comment every now and then the action between us is simply reading, I'm not sure how much she reads my blog, I read hers everyday with all the other blogs I read everyday. Clare's simple blog is finding 3 things each day that make her thankful for that day. The beauty of this is that it makes her slow down just enough to take notice of what's around her. Something each of us should do. Even here, when the haze and pollution are down, and the mountains are visible, it's simply majestic. So this mother of a friend states how two people, worlds apart, never having met, are connected by technology and have an impact on each other's life. Clare stated she was surprised when she heard about it, and felt I would like to know too. Thank you Clare.
The weather is changing again and it's cooling off. I just had a bowl of Hamburger Helper for supper. Now, go out today, Funday (Monday) and find three things that make you thankful, not off the top of your head, but search, look and reflect. Here are mine:
1. new friends around the world that take time to share with you
2. the beauty of the world when it's quiet
3. the love of my wife and daughter
Be safe and have a good day.

Sunday, February 04, 2007

04 February 2007, Part II.
I'm back from the British camp and supper was great. I had steak and mushroom pie, carrots, green beans, cheese and crackers, and potatoes. I just stopped by Skittle's Place and picked up this Muppet Personality Test, who will you be?

You Are Fozzie Bear

"Wocka! Wocka!"
You're the life of the party, and you love making people crack up.
If only your routine didn't always bomb!
You may find more groans than laughs, but always keep the jokes coming.
I don't think there was any doubt.
The Super Bowl starts at 0345 hrs, in the morning. Go Colts!!
04 February 2007, The weather was super today and I was out in it a couple of times. Lately, I've been running all over camp attempting to get things working right. Alas, as I solve one problem, it appears two more pop up. I'll work through it or quit and come home.
I haven't been to the gym except twice in over two weeks now, I am hoping to resolve that this next week.
I finally got a real good night's sleep last night, and am certainly hoping for another one tonight. I actually could take a nap in my chair right now. I just don't have the time for that, and it would interfere with my sleep tonight. It looks like this will be a short post as I have to run for now. Be safe and have a good day.

Saturday, February 03, 2007

03 February 2007, ARRRGGHH!!! Can someone please tell me what I said that would upset Blogger so much. Today they wouldn't let me log in. I finally gave up and went to Turnbaby's site to leave a comment just so I could try logging in there. It worked, but now I feel so dirty for using her like that, I hope she can forgive me.
Lt M scrapped up all the little notes he had reminding him of projects needing to be completed. It turned out to be a list so he had us working on knocking some of them out. It's moving along ok. We have a couple of vehicles down due to maintenance and I took one of the Specialists in the office and we tried getting something running. We managed to find the vehicle we were looking for, way in the back. It hadn't been started in a couple of months and we needed to jump start it, and then get a tire aired up. It's not running right at the moment, but I'll check it again tomorrow and see if I can getting it going.
Mrs. Dub and I talked this morning and she described her adventure in trying to move a round hay bail with my truck by pushing it. Luckily I feel trucks are designed to be scratched or scar'd so I'm not too worried about it. It's a 1994 GMC extended cab and has been pretty good to me. It's slowly coming apart and we think we will make it a ranch truck. I plan on getting a hay spike to put in the bed when I get home. The question now is whether or not I will get a replacement truck to drive. Mrs. Dub drives a Ford Expedition and we really like it a lot. I think we should replace it since it's expired it's warranty. Now, if she decides she can handle a 3/4 ton quad cab then I'll let her trade up. She can probably have the expedition again if she really wants. I don't mind driving any of the big three, Ford, Dodge, or Chevy. Mrs. Dub says no to Dodge just based on looks. As long as it looks something like this (adding the trailer I want too)
As you can see, the scenery also includes the acreage I would like and the mountains Mrs. Dub mentioned. Y'all are invited by for the summer once we get settled in.
I woke up this morning at 0400 and couldn't get back to sleep. I had heard that if you can't fall back to sleep within 20 minutes, to get up. I gave it an hour and then got up. I watch a movie until time to go to work. I'm hoping I sleep better tonight. I don't' like having to get up early and I sure as heck don't like getting up earlier than I need to just because I couldn't sleep. Not much else to report this Saturday, be safe and have a good day.

Friday, February 02, 2007

02 February 2007, I'm back. Or should I say you can come back now and comment if you feel like it. Anyway, Blogger has graciously decided to allow comments again. For Odat over at Odat's mumblings, Happy Dance Friday! Many people can relate to wanting to dance on Fridays. I would have danced today, but after I was threatened with UCMJ if I was caught moving like that again, I decided against it. Mrs. Dub can tell you I was learning to western dance when we met. I can two step the basics, anything past that requires too much concentration on my part. My Afghan employees were giving me problems today, so it required me to go to the connex and yell at them. Then I told the civilian employee who oversees them and she went down and yelled at them too. She is much more effective than I am. Between the two of us, I think we got our message across, and they should behave for a couple of weeks anyway. We had a bazaar today and I actually went through it. I purchased some wooden baskets that are carved very nicely. I also picked up seasons 1-4 of the television series 24. I've seen the first season but not any of the rest. I tried watching one copy I had but it kept freezing up or switching to a previously recorded program underneath it. I had this problem with Lost earlier this deployment, and that required me to go home on leave and rent it at blockbuster. I'm sure that was what Mrs. Dub had in mind for my 15 days at home with her...watching television. Lt. M bought some fur hats at the bazaar last week. I thought maybe I should share some pictures with you.
Remember me at
Christmas
time wearing
the white
feathered boa?











Earlier this week, see the how even in the midst of work, I can look so dashing.









Remember the guards at the castle of the Wicked Witch from Wizard of Oz?
Lt M and Maj M showing off a little too.











Well, be safe and have a good day. Remember, dance if you want to.

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Part IV. Blogger appears to be in a nasty mood today, and either they or myself have broken my comment button. We can either show patience today or storm their building...I'll let you decide. Be safe and have a good day.
Part III. I can't stop!
I have found a new site out there through Wade's site at LifeSong. It's called the Conservative Cowboy. Now, in just the title I've found two points that strike my liking, conservative, and cowboy. While checking his site, I found "The Cowboy Code". I read through it and I agree with what it says. It brings back the simple rules of wrong and right, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, John Wayne. Here it is.

The Cowboy Code

1. A cowboy always tells the truth and keeps his word.

2. A cowboy is a Patriot and stands for Truth, Justice and the American way.

3. A cowboy never betrays a trust or takes advantage.

4. A cowboy is brave, but never careless.

5. A cowboy defends the weak and helps them.

6. A cowboy is kind to children, old folks, and to animals.

7. A cowboy is free from racial and religious prejudice.

8. A cowboy is clean about his person and in thought, word, and deed.

9. A cowboy is loyal, hard working and maintains a high ethic.

10. A cowboy is thankful for what God has given him.

I can't find anything there to argue with. Thanks Chris.
01 February 2007, Part II.
I post my blog first, then read, a couple of people were sneaky and put up posts about my birthday, so I'd like to thank them too, Sarge Charlie did one, but for some strange reason added a picture of Sen. Hillary Clinton. Then Desert Songbird put one on her site The Ice Box, as well. Thank you both and again thank you to everyone who sent warm wishes.
01 February 2007, Another month down.
Well, January is over now, and so is my birthday. I would like to thank everyone who wished me well, and a big thanks to Sanni for that little surprise on her site Coffee2Go. Mrs Dub also decided to post about it on her site, stating that I have managed be on military orders for the last several years during my birthday. Well, after last year, I don't need any more surprises. I need to check with Sarge Charlie and see if I'm old enough now to get those senior discounts. For those that were curious, I turned 41. Yeah, I know, life's been hard on me and I look a lot older. You know, it was cool when I was 18 and looked 28, I knew then that it would catch up with me.
Yesterday I also received a box of goodies from Sgt Tim back home. I finally got a cereal bowl the size I've always wanted, and he sent the cereal too. Here in the picture are MAJ M, 1LT M, me, and CSM B.
LTC Y picked up some
oatmeal cream pies
Sgt Tim sent so don't
let him tell you different.

The weather is up in the mid 50's and it's nice. Of course, in typical military fashion, I finished that connex project yesterday to be told today that it had to come down. This didn't sit well with me and I've been working most of the day to get things fixed again. I think I mentioned something like this over a week ago. I'm working on making the contacts within the BDE that I need to try and find a semi-solution.
News from home came sweeping through the camp about the 45th IN BDE. It appears they will be slotted for Iraq sometime next year. Of course, soldiers young and old began asking questions. First, it's way to early to start worrying about anything. We still need to get this deployment out of the way before we start worrying about anything in the future. Second, it's way to early to start worrying about anything. ( I already said that, but I couldn't think of a better #2, not this early in the stages anyway). As I've mentioned the 1-180th IN BN from the 45th came here to assist the 41st BCT, our sister brigade.
Stay tuned tomorrow for another post from the stan.
Be safe and have a good day.