Paperwork, thy name is Federal Government

I've just about finished my SF86. I need to send the file and the signature pages to my security officer. But I can't just send them any old way. Some need to be faxed, some mailed and some scanned and then emailed.


tomorrow I find out if the Georgetown Post Office can expedite a renewal of an expired passport. If not, its down to Houston on Tuesday.

I was going to by a Dell XPS for my stay, but they recently changed the CPU options and the resulting system price has increased by about $350-450. The apparently happened late Saturday or early Sunday. I was also eyeing the Toshiba Qosmi but upon further reflection I think I will get the HP Pavillion zd8060us. Seems to have everything I want and its under $2000. Just barely.

I think I will buy either the Pentax Optio 750z or Sony Cyber Shot DSC-V3. I was going to buy the Sony RDR VX500 DVD recorder but in the last day and a half stupid Best Buy has run out, at least online. I may go for the LG model. They both do +/- DVD-R and DVD-RW.

I have been emailing people to let them know what's going on. I get to basic responses: "WHAT the..." and "what THE..." Actually my parents and my wife's parents were quite supportive. My dad, while in the Air Force, was in the Philippines for a whole year before my mom and 3 year old brother could come. Then, shortly after they arrived, dad was sent on the Berlin Airlift and mom and bro were "alone" in the Philippines for another few months. So she knows what my wife will be going through.

That's if for now. Gotta start buying electronic "goodies" for the trip...

Ok, Here We Go

On Friday, February 25th, 2005, I accepted an offer from ITT to be a Network Administrator in Iraq, at an (as yet) undisclosed "tent city".

This blog will chronicle my "adventure". Once I am actually in Iraq I have no idea how often I will be able to post, what I will be able to post about and how easy it will be to post.

Right now I'm wading through a mound of paper work. I have no clearance: I have to get a secret clearance. I let my passport expire: I have to go to Houston and fast-track a new one. And then all of the ITT forms, proof of identity, etc. Fun.

But wait! Why in the $%&@@!$ am I doing this? In short, because I was laid off at the end of January, I'm not exactly flush with cash, other than some irregular stuff, short-term contracting isn't cutting it and Shelly and I prayed about it. Maybe sometime down the road I'll post the long story.

[gotta go put the skillet on warm. back in a sec...]

I gotta help my wife prepare some kind of egg caserole thing for a baby shower. I'll check back in later.