25 December 2006, Is Al Franken Santa?

I've kept you waiting for two days now to see what Al Franken had in store for me at the USO Hope and Freedom Tour show. Would you believe the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders! Yes, Santa (Al) gave me a big smile and quite a treat for Christmas. I'm sharing some of the pictures with you here. Oh, and Mrs. Dub was the first one to know outside of Camp Phoenix. Blackmail is not an option, sorry.

And in case you're wondering, this is the second time I've worn a feathered boa in a combat zone. I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas today.

24 December 2006, Christmas Eve.
Christmas is one of my most favorite times of the year. I have had reason to not be fond of it at all, and could even bare an excuse to avoid it all together. "God is good, all the time" as Ben would say at his blog site. My mother passed away on Christmas Eve 14 years ago. God is good. God replaced that lost with the birth of my daughter, Miss Dub, who was born on November 4th, just in the nick of time for the holiday season. So I got a reason to be thankful, to feel blessed, and to enjoy Christmas as much as I always have. On Christmas Eve around 1800 - 1830 hrs, I stop what I'm doing and talk to my mom, just for a few moments. Then I go back to celebrating the meaning of Christmas, the Birth of Christ, my family, my friends and of course, wait eagerly for Christmas morning to see what Santa brought me.
Now with that out of the way, As I logged on tonight, I found one of those stories that our fine media slips up every once and a while and publishes. This one I found in Yahoo News. I won't get on the soap box tonight, but this story brings hope to all here in Afghanistan, and it helps me realize even more how much more that us as a Nation, as a world, are bringing freedom and hope to this country. For those of you who wanted to see what Al Franken had in store for me, you'll have to wait one more day. This story should be the headlines all over the world. It's simple, but it speaks so loudly to me.

By RAHIM FAIEZ, Associated Press Writer
KABUL, Afghanistan - In devoutly Muslim Afghanistan, Christmas is like any other day — people go to work, there are no blinking lights lining the streets and pine trees remain unadorned — except on Flower Street, where local tree vendors are making an extra buck from the foreigners' holiday.
Located in the heart of Kabul, Flower Street is different at Christmas from any other time of year, transformed into a festive place full of trees decked with multicolored tinsel garlands and lights.
"After the Taliban, we started to make Christmas trees because lots of foreigners are around, and they are asking for them," said Eidy Mohammad as he decorated a tree at his shop, the Morsal Flower Store. "Business is growing — we had only the wedding season before, but now we have Christmas as well."
Unlike many non-Christian countries in Asia, Afghanistan does not recognize or celebrate Christmas. But thousands of foreigners who live in Kabul working with the United Nations, non-governmental organizations or international military forces, celebrate the holiday quietly in restaurants and behind military barracks.
Many shop at Flower Street for their holiday trees.
"Christmas is a good season for flower stores in Kabul," Mohammad said, adding that during the Taliban's rule, nobody was allowed to make Christmas trees in Kabul.
He has sold about a dozen Christmas trees, earning anywhere from US$20 to US$200 — a hefty sum for Afghans, many of whom make only about US$50 a month. The trees are from across Afghanistan and are adorned with Chinese-made artificial materials.
"I was amused when I saw trees with lights," said 29-year-old Abdul Qader. He thought the lit-up trees were a new fad in Afghan home deco, but he later found out they were for Christmas.
"They looked beautiful to me," he said with a smile.
Had this story gotten out earlier, I would have attempted to go and take pictures and shop there. I have been on flower street before, walking into the flower shops, the corner stores. It is a marvel unto itself in such a war-torn country. May they continue in their freedoms.
Be safe and remember to give extra kisses and hugs to your loved ones. Have a Merry Christmas. Did I mention that I'm having a white Christmas this year, it started snowing today at about 2 p.m. It's beautiful.

23 December 2006, What a Show!

Al Franken and Leeann Tweeden did a fantastic job emceeing the show last night. Al, during one of his moments showed concern about traveling to Bagram Airfield by convoy. He stated to the crowd that if he was captured and video taped, we should look for messages from him. "If they video tape me and you see me and it looks like I'm crying, that's the signal for you to come rescue me. If they video tape me and it looks like I'm crying....and I've wet my pants, that's the signal for you to come rescue me...and bring an extra pair of pants." He continued in the Bob Hope fashion of attempting to get a kiss or more from co-emcee Leeann, and failed.

The show started off with the All-Army band and singing group knocking out the hit song "Pump It" by the Black Eyed Peas. Four very talented singers got the group ready for the rest of the evening.

Former Army Ranger Keni Thomas came on next with Shevy Smith playing keyboard and guitar for him. Keni has one album out right now, Flags Of Our Fathers, A Soldier's Story. Shevy has an amazing voice herself and it shouldn't be long before she starts to shine.

A hip hop group called Washington Project is a brother sister team who's father is a retired Air Force Sergeant. They have some real talent and every song was geared towards the troops, heck I even gave a shot at dancing

Next up was Mark Wills. The troops had been as far away from the stage as 35 feet, but with each new act, we got closer to the stage, partly because we were enjoying the show, partly because the stage had heat radiating off it from blowers and it was 35 degrees outside. Anyway, Mark put on a great show singing and interacting with the audience. With his announcement it was his last song, someone from the crowd booed him, Mark quickly turned and said, "Don't boo me, I'm not the Dixie Chicks." This got a round of applause from the troops.

Darryl Worley was the final act and really had the crowd worked up. First, he came out wearing a jacket over a seemingly red jersey style shirt. Please remember that Camp Phoenix is primarily made up of troops from the Oregon National Guard and the Oklahoma National Guard. Some time back in the college football season these two teams met on the field and Oregon came out on top, (we won't mention the obvious bad calls by refs, oh...I just did) Well, just before Darryl got started he mentioned he was awful hot and took off his jacket, revealing a Oklahoma Sooner's jersey. Now, in his defense (as he is from Tennessee and said he was already doomed for wearing the jersey from folks back home) we gave him the jersey and he said he would wear it since nobody else gave him a jersey to wear.

Guess that was about it.....oh, wait.....I forgot to mention getting up on stage with Al Franken, didn't I? Yeah, I didn't know what he had planned but he asked for a couple of soldiers to come up on stage.

Guess you need to check out tomorrow's post to find out what he had in store for me. Be safe and have a good day.

22 December 2006, USO Tour Hits Phoenix. Yes, we are all excited here as the Hope and Freedom Tour comes to Camp Phoenix. Let's go through the line-up for today's show.Al Franken - comedian/radio personality - Al Franken was one of two original writers for Saturday Night Live and spent more than 15 years with the show. He has written several political books, hosts a radio program and this is about his 8th USO tour since 1999. Although Al is considered very controversial and is outspoken on the Liberal side of the world, he does show a considerable appreciation for the U.S. troops overseas having been in Kosivo, Iraq and Afghanistan. We may not agree with him on many, many, uh....many topics, he is entertaining and hopefully will put on a great show.
Darryl Worley - Country Music Star. Darryl Worley has been on scene for several years now, and with at least 3 different CDs showing gratitude and support for veterans and service members. Those songs include POW 369, Have You Forgotten, and I Just Came Back From A War, which is on his newest CD Here and Now, and he is. Darryl has been doing USO tours since 2002.
Mark Wills - Country Music Star. Mark Wills is another singer that is on his 4th USO Tour. Mark just had dinner at the White House last week and is spending his Christmas time here with the troops. You can't ask too much more of a person who is willing to spend Christmas away from his family to bring a little piece of home to us here. And as his hit song says, The Crowd Goes Wild.

Keni Thomas - Veteran/Motivational Speaker/Rising Country Star. I had to use Wikipedia to find out about him, and I'm glad. 'A former Army Ranger and member of the elite Task Force Ranger assault unit, Thomas fought in the Somalia battle recounted in the book and motion picture Black Hawk Down. He was awarded the Bronze Star for Valor and the combat infantryman's badge. Thomas spent four more years in the Army as an assistant team leader for the 75th Ranger Regimental Reconnaissance Detachment. He got out of the Army to work as a counselor in an outdoor therapeutic program for troubled youth.'(courtesy of) He has done much in motivational speaking and has his own band, Cornbread.
Leeann Tweeden - sportscaster/model. Leeann Tweeden is on her 8th USO tour. She has been featured in Maxim, FHM and various other magazines as well as being a host on several sports shows.

We also have a duo called Washington Project and a couple of Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders. Stay tuned for tomorrow to see how things turned out, with any luck, I'll get some pictures and autographs. Be safe and have a good day.

21 December 2006, I had to post a little early yesterday because I had to sit at the front door of the DFAC for three hours. Why? Good question. Out of about 1500 people on this post there are about 10 that decided they don't want to wear identification like they are suppose to. The Army here has decided to combat this by posting 4 soldiers at the doors at each meal to tell these 10 people to put on their badges. So for the last several days we have pulled 12 soldiers from their normal tasks to sit at the DFAC. We won't mention ( I lied) that we also posted 2 soldiers at the PX for the same reason. We won't state the obvious here, that almost everyone on the post knows who they are or that we know where they work. To say that it gets more ridiculous is, well.....true. But I'll stop here. Anyway, I sat at the DFAC doors for 3 hours to tell these people that they needed to display their badges.
Afterwards I came back to my room. Then between 2000 hrs and 2200 hrs it apparently snowed about 2 inches. I noticed it when I went to take a shower and it was awesome. Most of it was still around today. The snow shovelers were out in the early morning hours scraping it off the boardwalks in our connex housing. I say early, remember I get up at around 5-530, and they had been working on it, (and it sounded like outside my door the entire time) for a couple of hours already.
The crud has really kicked my butt today and it wasn't until late this afternoon that I finally started feeling a little better.
We had some visitors come in just this afternoon, but I'll share more about that tomorrow. Be safe and have a good day.

20 December 2006, 100th Post. For such a grand occasion Blogger announced the official transition from old blogger to new blogger. I am once again honored that such people choose to make me feel special. I guess my teachers were right.
But really, you didn't come here to hear that, so is there anything I can say that will make your time more enjoyable? Well, only 4 more days till Christmas eve and then it's Christmas Day!! Certainly a favorite time of year for me. We are looking at a 50 % chance of snow tonight, and I'll have to check the weather to see if I will get to have a white Christmas. I started listening to my Christmas music yesterday.
In other news....well, I'm not sure if there is other news, it's been pretty quiet around Kabul, and of course, we like it that way. I'm going through the coughing, congested stages now of this crud. I did make it to PT today and did an hour of cardio, but I didn't push myself to the limits, as nobody would have enjoyed that very much. We stepped up on the scales afterwards and I was at 237 lbs, but that's the unofficial verdict so I will have to wait until the first of the month to do something official. I'm hoping I can knock another 2 lbs off and bring me down to 235 lbs. CPT C is working hard to catch me, he's lost over 40 lbs so far during this deployment and he wants to catch me on my weight. I told him I am going to stay 1 lb ahead of him at all times just to keep him motivated. He's only about 1-2 lbs away from me so I better get busy, either that or start leaving some homemade cookies by his desk and fatten him up some more, hmmmm.
That's about all I have on my end, be safe and have a good day.

19 December 2006, The Battle Rages. Don't worry, it's not that kind of battle. I'm coming down with something, even though the Army insisted I take their flu shot. I was pretty bad off yesterday, even taking a half day off to sleep. The illness seems to be taking it's course in reverse, as the worst part was Sunday night-Monday morning.
For those of you who showed concern reading my last post, maybe I should have started with the responses I got just for turning it in. MAJ M, (formerly known as CPT M) started laughing when I handed it to him. I asked him what was so funny and he stated it was just his anticipation of what I wrote. Remember, LTC Y will tell you I was just brought for comic relief.
This afternoon I had my choice of torture. I chose to go to an ISAF briefing. "I'll tell you whatever you want to know, just stop the briefing!!" rang through my head several times during that 3 hours. Actually, I should have recorded the briefing and then market it next to Sounds of the Ocean, or Highland Wind Chimes and other relaxation CDs.
Not much else to report, be safe and have a good day.

17 December 2006, Narrow Escape. Today started liked every other day here in Afghanistan for me, way too early. But that's not the point. We left camp this morning around 1000 hrs to finish up the police sub-station project you have been reading about. At 1058 hrs, it all began. Below is the debriefing statement I gave, with the omitting of names, all other information is as I reported it:
"At 171158LDEC06 our convoy had finished the construction at the sub-station located at the above grid. Before we could leave, several members of the convoy heard gunfire 100 meters east of our location. Immediately, the patrol set up a defensive position providing for 360 degrees of coverage. SFC M and SPC M defended the western flank to deny any enemy forces from attacking. CPL L and SPC T assembled to the east providing coverage from the direction of the gunfire. 2LT M immediately established contact with the ANP Officer in charge at the sub-station and with the assistance fo the interpreter began gathering intelligence to ascertain our situation. I maintained a position that would allow me to communicate with both our security elements at this crucial time. The sound of approximately 7 rounds had us all on edge. 2LT M was quickly able to determine that the ANP was attempting to arrest a _ _ worker. After several tense minutes we were able to extract ourselves without further incident. Although rattled, we were able to continue our mission."
Now, before you get all excited, I'll tell you the real story. We had just finished the construction, and my LT was talking with some elders of the villages surrounding us. I went to my truck and sat down. I then began to eat some potato bread CPL L had gotten for us from a vendor. I looked over at another guy and he made a motion. I opened my door and he said they had just heard some shots fired. (If you haven't read it before, I had to have a waiver for my hearing, it's that bad) I didn't hear any shots fired, but could see the ANP had two pickups about 100 meters from us and were definitely doing something. I won't mention names but someone, not me, called in to headquarters and made the statement "We're taking fire". If I had been closer to this individual I would have slapped him in the back of his helmet. (That's because this incident was much like me getting taken off a bicycle by a real clothes line and the other officer making the comment over the radio, "Officer down". Anyway, we contacted headquarters again and let them know that we only heard gunfire and that we were not engaged in anything. Within a couple of minutes the whole incident was over and the man they were looking for was in custody. My only concern during the incident was that I really needed to travel in that direction and I was hoping they would be gone soon. Other than that, it's been a normal, boring day, which in a war is a good thing.
Be safe and have a good day.

16 December 2006, Building Afghanistan II, The ANP (Kabul Police) officers didn't show up this morning. This isn't a bad thing, because I was able to work on the wall without their assistance. It was a nicer day weather wise. Yesterday we saw snow flakes on occasion and today was all sunshine. After about 2 hours I had the wall finished and had made a door handle for the outside of it. If you notice the pictures, there isn't a handle anywhere.
This didn't seem to bother the Afghans at all, it would have been one of the first things asked about back in the states, "I'm sorry, where's the door handle?" I am planning on going back to the first site and installing the handle as well as putting in a window if I can. Even Marshall Matt Dillon from GunSmoke had a nicer office than this, but it's a start. The scale of police work involved at this level is very low. They have branched out to having investigators, but the grunt work almost revolves entirely around traffic detail and setting up checkpoints. Anyway, let's get on with the pictures from yesterday.

We offloaded the wall and began to set it in place.

U.S. and ANP pull security so I can play, (um) I mean work.

Promo shot for Dewalt Tools, I'm waiting by my computer for that endorsement deal.

The crew is all set now. Now only 5 more is what I hear. Guess I'm going to be busy. Yeah.

Tonight is Ab Lab and I'm just about ready to go. I need it, I just don't want it. Lousy sleeping last night. Such is life in Afghanistan. Be safe and have a good day.

15 December 2006, Building Afghanistan. I've noticed that when looking through my archive, that I give the date first and then start typing what's on my mind. There are a couple of posts that I have done that I consider good work. However, since I don't title my posts, it could make it difficult to find it again. So from now on, for me, and for anyone else out there, I am going to do the date followed by a very short title, then I will start typing whatever is on my mind. Today, it's mostly sawdust.

As I mentioned, today I worked with 4 Afghanistan National Police Officers in building two walls with doors for the connexes we donated to them to be used as sub-stations within the district we reside in.

I was fortunate in the fact that two of the officers spoke some English and this helped to speed the process up some what. CPL L took two of them and they got some pencils and paper pads gathered for a future mission coming up to give to the children at a school. We have been very active in our community in building clinics and schools, putting together medical clinics to provide basic medical care for the villagers and donating literally tons of goods shipped from home. There are times it doesn't seem like enough, but it's our little piece of Kabul and we are doing what we can.

While CPL L was doing that, I had the other two with me and we started building the second wall based on the dimensions of the first one. With a couple of hours we had two walls and then started on the doors for both. As I mentioned out there in the yard and as Mrs. Dub can attest, I am handy around the house, but doors and windows are not my forte. Within an hour, I was proving myself right. I had to disassemble the first door twice because I was making it too big for the opening. We broke for lunch and treated the ANP officers to the DFAC. I hope it was a treat for them, I stayed with the corn dogs and onion rings. After lunch, we finished the doors and then took a convoy down to Massoud Circle where one of the connexes was located. Within 30 minutes it was put in place and looked ok. Our plan is to go back and using the spray foam insulation seal the cracks and openings that need it. It was getting close to being dark out so we stopped by the second sub-station and made some measurements and then headed back to camp.

Tomorrow I will hopefully post the rest of the pictures showing us putting them in place. All in all, a fun day,(if LTC Y is reading this, I wasn't having fun, it was hard work, really hard work). Be safe and have a good day.

14 December 2006, If I'm not here tomorrow this is why. CPT M in my office is growing his mustache. He decided it has grown enough that it could be captured on film, and asked me to take the picture. If you haven't guessed by now, I'm mischievous. I sent him the copy of the picture, and then the gears in my head started turning. I had one of my airmen find a background that has animated snow falling. We also have a Homer Simpson Santa figure that sings Christmas carols and dances. I took CPT M's head, Homer's body, painted a roof top and chimney on the snow falling background and added Homer Simpson singing Jingle Bells to a PowerPoint slide, which will of course, be seen tonight at the Battalion briefing. If that wasn't enough, I took LT M's picture, which we put his head on an elf a couple of weeks ago, and today have him floating down from the sky onto the rooftop during the song.
The rest of the day, I spent getting paperwork done. we didn't have PT this morning so I'm not as sore today as I was from yesterday's run but tonight is the ab workout again. I'm feeling pretty good, so hopefully, here in a bit, I'll head over and get a good workout done before hand and then do the ab class. Right now, my biggest problem is staying awake. I keep saying I'm going to go to bed earlier and I stay up till 2200-2300 hrs.
Here are a couple more pictures from our trip two days ago. The first one shows you a closer look at the houses on the mountain. The construction is mainly mud bricks, some concrete, and wood.




I'm not sure if these were houses or just bunkers of some sort. But as you can see, plenty of mountains all around. Well, not much else from my side of the world. Be safe and have a great day.

13 December 2006, will I be staying in the office anymore? I took another trip today, this one only an hour long and we didn't get the mission accomplished, so guess that means another trip out soon. I was also informed today that I shall be "dubbed" (hehe) Head Construction Guy this weekend. We have given some old connexes to the Police District we are in so they may use them as sub stations. Well, to make them more winter friendly I have been instructed to build fronts for them so that they can have a door and be enclosed. You know what this means....POWER TOOLS, HAHAHAHAHAHA. I have been telling everyone here that I was trying to get fired from my job in the office and be sent to self help, this is about as close as I'll get. Of course, I have guys back home that have already said I was helping them with some roofing projects, Mrs. Dub said I have a kitchen to remodel, bathroom to remodel, barn to build........mom in law bought my old house, so it's in pretty good shape already. If I can only win the lottery, I would just go around and fix things all the time.

Anyway, let's get to the pictures I wanted to share today. I looked around on the Internet and wasn't able to find a picture of the Queen's Palace in all it's glory, so I'll just post this one as it stands today.

This next picture is several houses with a view, although the smog and haze take that view away.

Fortunately the sky is much clearer where they are. I just wouldn't want to live at the top or the bottom, somewhere lower middle works best.

This next shot is the mountain range in south Kabul still near the Queen's Palace. The building on top of the hill is the old Russian Officer's Club. It stood stripped and abandoned for several years to include when we were here the last time. We went up there several times during our first trip for the spectacular view it offered. Someone finally decided it was worth fixing up.

We went out on the track this morning and ran 3 miles. Let's just say that that my body and I are not on speaking terms at the moment, although it is yelling at me for doing that. The fact that I have been working out is probably the only thing that kept me from falling over from this week. Time to go, be safe and have a good day.

12 December 2006, two posts in one day. Of course, the first post was to recognize my recognition...if that makes sense. This post is today's post. I made it ['outside the wire' today having to run all over Kabul. I found that the smog haze that sits over north Kabul disappears the farther south in Kabul you drive. For some of the soldiers and airperson I took with me this was their first trip to the camp located in south Kabul. Going through downtown was a treat as they didn't really know what to expect.

A nice little old lady

in a burka walked up

to my vehicle while we

were stuck in traffic and was asking for money, I rolled down my window and gave her a dollar. She walked back to the vehicle behind me and held up her index finger indicating "1"for a dollar. They thought we had upset her and they locked their doors and tried to get her to leave because she was "shaking a finger at them".

But you could also

buy all your fresh

vegtables, fruits

and meats right

there off the street.We pulled over and bought some peanuts from a street vendor on the way back.

Tomorrow I will post the rest of the trip, and hang on, I still haven't posted the bazaar picture yet either. Guess I need to get busier. Well, I'm headed off to Ab Lab as I skipped out last week. Be safe and have a good day.

12 December 2006, Wow!! What a way to start the day!



Apparently, while I slept last night, strange and exciting things were set in motion. I was named "Bestest Blog of the Day". I want to thank.....um, I didn't really prepare a speech.....I want to thank Mimi for the nomination. She had mentioned featuring me on her blog this coming Friday at MimiWrites but I had no idea she was doing this also. This appears to be an exciting week for me as Rock over at the Truth, is considering featuring me on his site too. I have discovered a lot of great blogs and to be included as one of the best is amazing. If you are seeing any autographed photos of me on E-Bay, I don't think they are genuine, so be careful. Thank you to Bobby at The Bestest Blog of All Time again for this treat. I do have one correction about my site. The count down widget on the sidebar is for the Oklahoma Centennial and not my return to civilization. Luckily I plan to be home this summer and will be able to attend most of the festivities Oklahoma has planned.

11 December 2006, I'm a bad blogger. Last Friday, we had a bazaar on camp where we allow local Afghans come onto camp with the goods they sell. DVDs, CDs, fur coats, jewelry, marble chess sets, cups, bowls, old rifles, swords, clothing, everything you could need in a country. Well, I finally went down with my camera and took pictures to share. My only problem is I downloaded them on the office computer and I'm in my room. Now, it's after dark, and my office is almost 100 yds from here, so the inherent danger (I'm just too lazy) is just to great for me to risk, I will just have to remember again tomorrow to get them.
This morning we went to the running track for my morning PT. We did a 2-mile circuit training. With the temperature at 34 degrees and 4 laps around the track, I'm wiped out. The deep cold air hitting the lungs is grueling. Every time I got out of my chair my first 3 steps were a limp. My knees are what they were when I was running cross-country track. Overall it was a decent workout. We are suppose to be back out there Wednesday for a run. What's that word I'm looking for?.....yeah.
I told you I skipped Ab Lab Saturday night and avoided one of my LTs. Well, I talked with LT. S the next day and he described how he had got a mat for each of us and then waited in the circle for me to show up. He mentioned people would come up and he would tell them "this spot is saved" and I never showed up. I couldn't help but laugh at the picture I had in my head. I think he got me back today. I had to brief LTC Y and my slides were all messed up. Of course, Y and I go back several years and he thinks this is just par for the course with me. I muddled through it the best I can, and later in the brief, another LT takes his turn to find my good slides on his brief. To which I tell LTC Y, "I found my slides Sir"
Not much else to report today, be safe and have a good day.

10 December 2006, today I got to play in an old Russian tank. Of course, it has long since been in running condition, but none the less, have you been in one. At approximately 5'10 and 240 lbs, it seems that the tank was not built for a man of my size.

In fact, as I was wedging myself into one of the openings, I found myself remember Winnie the Pooh, after having some honey at Rabbit's hole and then he got stuck, where he had to stay until he lost some weight.
Well, fortunately, I made it out with no real problems. We had made a trip over to Pol-e-Charki today to service some of our Ford Ranger pickups and had time to waste. The service garage is much like the ones back home, (being built by Americans and Europeans does help), but back in the garage you can hear the old heavy rock blaring out to include Hotel California. The garage is supervised by some Russians and all the work is done by Afghans. This took up a good portion of my day.
We had one explosion down the road from our camp last night, the intended target appears to be the police. There are a couple of different reasons and a couple different theories out there. But nobody was hurt and only minor damage to the surrounding buildings. Tomorrow we hit the track for PT. Should be fun, I know I can't wait.....until spring....or summer. Not much else to report so be safe and have a good day.

09 December 2006, Today was another long day. I had more paperwork than usual and it involved contacting several different people. I'm working on acquiring some winter weather clothing and equipment for about 15 people. This was quite an easy task last time I was here, place a phone call, give them the numbers, send someone to sign for it and pick it up and distribute. Today, nobody wants to do it. I have contacted the two people it should go through, both said no problem. Next, I have to submit a form through Supply, he sends it up, they should forward it to the Bde J-4, then they make the call and then I go pick up the stuff. A few more steps but do-able. No, can't go like that. First, supply calls to find out why I want the stuff, so I explain. Next, the S-4 calls and wants a letter of justification and some type of documentation stating it's our responsibility. I got as far as sending the documentation, but haven't started on the justification yet. I'm sure it'll get approved by summer.
Next, since I have two Air Force personnel working for me, I have to do evaluations and award packets for them. I started this the same way we do our Army evaluations. Wrong, I have to use different terminology for Air Force and can't use specific bullet comments. So, I head down and talk to the Senior Air Force NCO in charge of my people and he helps me out with what he's looking for.
With such a long day, I headed over to the Self Help shop and finally started working on my desk for my room. I spent about 2 1/2 hours in there and finally stopped for the evening so I could eat dinner and relax for the evening. I may have to be real quiet here in my room for the next 20 minutes as one of my LTs wants me to go to the Ab Lab with him again tonight. I'm not wanting to and I just ate, but they are doing it 3 nights a week so I'll start up on Tuesday.
That's about all the fun I can share with you today. Be safe and have a good day.

08 December 2006, I guess I finally got tired of the DFAC here. I just had my 4th Subway sandwich this week. Part of it is the recycling you see with the food. If you remember last month I had chili a couple of days in a row for breakfast. By the next week, I noticed the chili continued to get thinner each day. They just keep adding water to it to make it stretch farther. Well, I wanted chili which is thick, not soupy. Tonight is Steak and Seafood night. That means that tomorrow we will probably have fajitas and Sunday will be beef stew. Same meat just decorated differently each day. I really don't have much to complain about since I seem to still be above my allotted weight limit.
Speaking of which, we went to the gym this morning for 1 hour of cardio again. According to the calorie readers I burned off somewhere around 740 calories. Last night I spent 20 minutes on the elliptical and then did the "Ab Lab" which was 30 minutes of non stop crunches, sit-ups, etc. I either did them wrong or am in fantastic shape already, because I wasn't sore this morning. I am however, exhausted today, so that's probably a good thing.
My mornings have gotten better. We put a t.v. in the office to be able to keep up with world events, like....um.....football....basketball, and occasionally the news. However, at 0530 we found Stargate SG-1, so we have been watching that first thing in the morning while I worked on some reports.
Not much else to report for now, be safe and have a good day.

07 December 2006, Today’s blog is dedicated to those lost, passed away and to the survivors of the USS Oklahoma, BB-37. December 7, 1941. This date still holds a grip on America. Even with the passing of 65 years now, the survivors still ask why? Why did they live and others die? This is not a question that can be answered here, but only in the afterlife, when each of us stands before the Creator of Life, then he can answer our questions. Even during this past year 15 more have gone home to be reunited with their shipmates. Soon it will be up to the next generation to remember for them. 429 men lost their lives aboard the USS Oklahoma. A total of 2403 men lost there lives on that day. Today, in Hawaii, the ground-breaking ceremony is to take place to erect a monument for the ship and her crew. It is to be completed in time to honor those next year.
The USS Oklahoma was launched in 1914 and completed in 1916. On November 26, 1941, Japan launched the most powerful carrier task force ever assembly at that time. It included 6 aircraft carriers, 420 airplanes, battleships, cruisers, destroyers, tankers, submarines and midget submarines. The midget submarines were equipped with two torpedoes and were sent the night before the attack to enter Pearl Harbor and upon the start of the attack begin sinking ships. Of the five, one was attacked prior to dawn of the 7th outside the Harbor and sunken by the USS Ward, one entered the Harbor and was sunken by the USS Monaghan, and a third was found the following day beached on Oahu. Two others remain missing but it is suspected that one may have entered the harbor and fired its torpedoes at either the USS Oklahoma or the USS West Virginia. It was reported that the USS Oklahoma was hit by at least 5 and as many as 9 torpedoes. Two men serving aboard the USS Oklahoma were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions after it was evident that the ship was capsizing.

Medal of Honor citation of Seaman First Class James Richard Ward (as printed in the official publication "Medal of Honor, 1861-1949, The Navy", page 277):
"For conspicuous devotion to duty, extraordinary courage and complete disregard of his own life, above and beyond the call of duty, during the attack on the Fleet in Pearl Harbor by Japanese forces on 7 December 1941. When it was seen that the U.S.S. Oklahoma was going to capsize and the order was given to abandon ship, WARD remained in a turret holding a flashlight so the remainder of the turret crew could see to escape, thereby sacrificing his own life."
Medal of Honor citation of Ensign Francis C. Flaherty, USNR (as printed in the official publication "Medal of Honor, 1861-1949, The Navy", page 184):
"For conspicuous devotion to duty and extraordinary courage and complete disregard of his own life, above and beyond the call of duty, during the attack on the Fleet in Pearl Harbor, by Japanese Forces on 7 December 1941. When it was seen that the U.S.S. Oklahoma was going to capsize and the order was given to abandon ship, Ensign Flaherty remained in a turret, holding a flashlight so the remainder of the turret crew could see to escape, thereby sacrificing his own life."

While researching this event I discovered two paragraphs that could be spoken of the secret attack on the World Trade Centers and the ensuing war on terrorism.
"These great Japanese (insert Islamic Extremist) successes, achieved without prior diplomatic formalities, shocked and enraged the previously divided American people into a level of purposeful unity hardly seen before or since…(for the next five years, the continued assault on Military and civilians alike in Iraq and Afghanistan)…..American and Allied morale suffered accordingly. Under normal political circumstances, an accommodation might have been considered." Excerpt taken from (http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-pac/pearlhbr/pearlhbr.htm) Under normal political circumstances, an accommodation might have been considered, yes that makes sense to me, but the unwarranted attack against America, because America put an oil embargo on Japan for their greediness to conquer more than what was theirs, did not qualify as 'under normal political circumstances.'
"However, the memory of the "sneak attack" on Pearl Harbor fueled a determination to fight on. Once the Battle of Midway in early June 19 had eliminated much of Japan's striking power, that same memory stoked a relentless war to reverse her conquests and remove her, and her German and Italian allies, as future threats to World peace." See above siting.
Wow, a concept of stopping future aggression by taking the battle to the enemy and not allowing him to strike at us again. Hmmm.........there's an idea.

Visit the official site dedicated to the survivors of the USS Oklahoma. We salute you for your sacrifice to your God, your Country and your Family.

06 December 2006, I'm not even sure how I should approach this blog today. There have been events in the office that have set me on edge. So two people got to feel the brunt of it. I was, however, as considerate as possible and really only yelled at one (a local national), and he only got yelled at because he had called me every hour today as well as 5 times last night. If you want me to do something, the best possible route to take is to NOT go to the point that I'm feeling harassed. Mrs. Dub can get away with this because, as I heard this line in a movie, "I fear no man, just one woman." (and of course my mother in law too), so that's two.
I went to the gym today and did cardio for an hour, alternating between the elliptical, bicycle, stair master and tread mill. I probably did pretty good on eating too, having two small Quaker Oats granola bars for breakfast, and a 6" tuna sandwich for lunch and another for dinner. A few small snacks here and there but nothing too large, tootsie pop, smarties. In the month of December so far, I have received 5 boxes of goodies from a church in Yukon. All the boxes have made their way to the office and are quite the treat to everyone who comes in. Tomorrow is suppose to be up in the low 50's.
I posted a comment on Rock's Truth Zone about the recent letter to Americans from the Iranian President. Rock found it a bit lengthy and made it a post of it's own on another of his sites. This was quite the honor and I appreciate it. I certainly have been enjoying reading blogs from other people and it allows me to see outside the area I'm currently in. Mrs. Dub sent me some pictures to show me what I'm missing at home with the snow and the horses. I tried to post one of them but blogger is giving me issues tonight, I may have to yell at them too, just kidding. With that I have nothing else to share tonight. Be safe and have a good day.

05 December 2006, Is this what freedom feels like? I sit here looking at my algebra book, knowing it no longer holds any power over me. Of course, I still have to do something since this class was remedial algebra and I still have taken the college algebra class, hmmm, feels like it's pulling at me again.
Anyway my friends, the sun popped out today and we had some nice temps this afternoon. One thing really nice here is that the winter storm cleared up the air and the mountains surrounding Kabul are beautiful. I here that back in the 60's they actually had snow skiing in the mountains around here. It's amazing that prior to the Soviet invasion this was a flourishing metropolis. I've been inside the Queen's Palace that now lays in ruins from the war. In it's day it was quite the palace. There is one room that would serve nicely as my library/study/office. It was approximately 30' x 50' with at least 20' ceilings. I can just see the length of one wall with the towering bookcases and the sliding ladder to retrieve those books. My large wood desk towards one end, my chess table with king's chairs at each end, and the flat screen television hooked up to my x-box.
We are expecting a cold snap to hit in a couple of days driving temps into the 20's for highs and single digits for lows. Yippee! I can say yippee because I won't be working any accidents out in the cold this winter. Sorry guys back home. I still haven't even unpacked my coat yet. I did find the gloves and knit hat the other day. I wear these for long durations outside, even though there aren't that many times I have to do that.
Thanks to everyone who is commenting, and who actually enjoy the site. Be safe and have a good day.

04 December 2006, there will be no blog update today as the deadline for my algebra is midnight. Fortunately, this is also the last day and I'm a free man again, until next term anyway. Be safe and have a good day.

03 December 2006, Well, I've had better days but I can't think of any right away. For the last 36 hours it's been snowing. Now, unfortunately, it hasn't been snowing hard during that time and today it got just warm enough to begin melting the snow while it snowed. Confused? me too, but besides algebra, I stunk at science too. Anyway, I thought I would share my joy with you

And keeping to tradition, I got off work at 1530 and put on my shorts and went about the camp. Starting at the gym, then the PX. The temps are very mild and very comfortable right now.
As of this blog, it was still snowing outside, we are somewhere close to 5-6 inches right now. I am still hoping for another 6-12 inches. Hey, I have my reasons. Of course, living on a concrete pad doesn't help, it doesn't have anywhere to go. But I can live with that. Be safe and have a good day.

02 December 2006, This is what I call a good day.

01 December 2006, Only 30 more days in this year, wow! time is still going pretty fast here and that's great news for me. For the last couple of weeks I've been adding a little variety to my daily routine. Of course, this had killed me going to the gym and I need to fix that somehow, but the rest of the day is going pretty good. I printed off my final test for algebra and will be working on it this weekend.
The weather got colder as the sun went down, but I'm nowhere near the snow that fell in Oklahoma. Where's my snow!! Even if we do get it, I won't get any snow days off here, nope, they will think I can make it the 100 yds to the office. Talk about your separation issues with work.
I haven't been able to get back to the wood shop since we last spoke about it. I went that night, it was 1740 hrs (5:45 p.m.) and the guy was locking up.
Guy: Can I help you?
Me: Yeah, I was wanting to work on a project.
Guy: Oh, we close at 1800 hrs (6pm)
Me: (Looking at my watch which reads 20 minutes till and looking at the sign on the door) Oh, maybe that's why I'm confused, the sign says you close at 2000 hrs (8pm).
Guy: Oh, well, I....uh, have to make a phone call.
Me: Oh, ok, well, I guess I'll come back then.
Guy: Yeah, that'll work.
Me: (mumbling something about government employees, which of course, i fall into that category too)
So, you see, I wasn't able to finish up that evening. Now it's a couple days later and my room is still not finished. This isn't entirely bad, since I'm still milling around with a couple of different ideas about how to finish it up anyway.
Not much else to report on my end, be safe and have a good weekend!