Qarinim'i

A Very Late Postscript

2009-11-20T07:35:00.000-08:00

I never did post those Ali pictures mentioned in the previous post. Not sure why. About 6 months ago, I accidentally erased about 90% of my deployment pictures. No, they weren't backed up. And no, I am not going through another 14 months in SWA just to build up another catalog! ;-)

One really amazing thing to me is quite a few guys I was with at Scania are either STILL in Iraq or have moved on to Afghanistan. One guy in particular, since arriving at Scania around January of 2004 has been either there or in Kandahar for about 5 1/2 of the last 6 years. Oy!

tiawuKnIm'I: The Final Chapter

2006-05-25T05:35:00.000-07:00

Well, I have begun the demobing process.

The three of us left Scania around 2am Wednesday morning. We hit Tallil around 6am and left Tallil for Ali Al Salem around 1:30pm. We finally got all checked in and in our tent around 5pm Wednesday.

So now I am just hanging out here until Sunday at around 0200 when we begin our trip to Ft Bliss in El Paso.

The flight in to Tallil was "interesting". Very windy and turbulent. When we landed, the pilot apologized to us. I likened the Sherpa to the airborne version of an old Humvee driving fast on a winding, rough and wet road. A couple of passengers (of which I was not one) went for the airbags but didn't have to make use of them. Thankfully.

Well, that's it for now. I'll post pics of Ali once I get back to Austin.

The Light at the End of a 14 Month Tunnel

2006-05-15T19:01:00.000-07:00

Of the four of us here at Scania ending our contract at the end of May, one guy was scheduled to leave a week earlier than the rest. He left here early on the 16th and safely arrived at Tallil, down south.

I mailed my first footlocker home on Monday and will mail the other one plus a folding chair and box on Saturday. I should then be leaving the following Monday or Tuesday.

Not long now. 7 or 8 days left at Scania. 12 days until I leave Kuwait. 17 days until I arrive in Austin.

Good thing, too. Its starting to get a wee bit on the warm side: highs around 105-110.

Hooray, It's May!

2006-05-01T15:21:00.000-07:00

Cool! It's already the 2nd of May!

30 days and I should be back in Austin. I am scheduled to leave Kuwait on the 27th so as long as I get there by the 26th, I'm good to go.

Almost all of the Georgia soldiers from the 1/108th AR are gone. The few that are left should be gone by the end of the week.

We're topping out around 100 now.

Now I start putting together all of the stuff I'll be shipping home and start looking, in earnest, for employment, post ITT.

That's all for now.

Minnesota's Here!

2006-04-23T18:50:00.000-07:00

Well, over the last 10 days or so, most of the Minnesota troops have arrived.

Our contingent is the 1-125 Strike Battalion, which is under the 1/34th Brigade Combat Team.
LTC John Kolb will be Scania's Commander once Georgia transfers command.

Here's a link to some info about the 1-125 Strike FA: http://www.dma.state.mn.us/redbull/DIVARTY/1125fa/125fa.htm
http://www.redbullweb.com/23.html

Over the next 3 weeks or so, the transition will be complete and the 1/108th group from Georgia will get a much anticipated break from all the "fun" here as they make their way back home.

Speaking of home, it looks like about 30 or so days and I'll be outta here!

Short-timer?!? Who, me???

A Flower Grows in Iraq

2006-04-11T01:04:00.000-07:00

I took a picture to prove it.

It is finally hitting the low 90's with some regularity and looks like by the end of April we'll be hitting the low 100's.

As of this posting I am about 40 days away from Leaving Scania and demobilizing via Fort Bliss. Interesting to think that it was about a year ago that I was at Ft. Bliss and going through all of that mess.

Well, enjoy the picture.

On my way back to Iraq

2006-03-22T10:12:00.000-08:00

Aka: Tiawuknimi.

Here's a brief synopsis of my time on leave:

Left a flashlight in Talill.
Left an iPod in Arifjan. (Since recovered!)
Had my flight cancelled by Kuwait Airways because I didn't call them 72 hours before my flight to tell them I was STILL planning to fly with them. What the???
With a lot of help from ITT's T3 group, I was able to get tickets via United/Lufthansa at the last minute and left Kuwait a day later than initially planned.
Left my seat pad on a Lufthansa flight to Wash. Dulles.
Got my Xicar cigar cutter confiscated at Frankfurt. (Forgot to move it to checked baggage before travelling.)
Had my baggage arrive 2 days late when I laded at Austin.
Spent 2 great weeks with my family in Georgetown, Texas.
Dismantled our deck. (With much help from my wife, nephews, father-in-law, etc.)

Had my baggage arrive at least 1 day late upon arriving in Kuwait. I say, "at least" because I find out in about 10 minutes whether or not it arrived tonight. I am currently at the KWI Kinkos using a PC with internet connection.

I will follow up with some action pictures of my time on leave once I get to Scania. Should be 3 or 4 days, I would guess.

Milestone Reached

2006-02-25T05:41:00.000-08:00

Well, this was the first day since late October that I really needed to wear shorts. It hit 80F in the shade. In the sun, it felt more like upper 80's.

I am trying to go home on leave from Mar 5 - Mar 21 but so far have not yet received my tickets. For some reason we couldn't do eTickets so I had to have my physical tickets shipped to me. They were shipped on the 10th and I am scheduled to leave Scania on the 1st. You'd think that would be enough time. You'd think. I still haven't received a couple of packages that were sent on the 6th, so who knows.

Apparently I can, assuming none of the flights legs are full-booked, go to the Kuwait airport and purchase another set of tickets and then submit an LTA (Lost Ticket [something]), and get either the price of the first tickets, or the second refunded. Not sure which.

Hopefully the original tickets will come in before the 1st. I should get Friday's, Monday's and maybe Wednesday's mail before I leave. The other possible factor is the Shiite/Sunni tensions and related road closures. Could delay mail delivery as well.

We'll see what this next week brings.

ITs Raining Again

2006-02-04T00:43:00.000-08:00

Starting around 0230 on Friday and lasting until about 2200, it rained. And rained. And rained.

Here are a few pics.

Yes. That's its natural color.

I have never seen more than about 3 or 4 inches in this ditch.

This ditch is about 1/3 mile long.

Don't be fooled by the color. I was taking the picture a bit into the sun and it came out a bit more blue than it should have. The entire 1/3 mile of ditch is this full. Quite a bit of water.

Near the DFAC

The DFAC is on the other side of that cement wall section that's sort of out by itself. The fun part is that when the water is about 80% evaporated, it will become a sticky, goopy, mess.

This is just a small sampling of how much standing water is now present. I think we got about an inch of rain. Its supposed to rain again on Wednesday.

Scania is BIG TIME!!

2006-01-30T21:57:00.000-08:00

Check out the article about Scania's DFAC at the link below.
I'll be sending up some more pics in a day or two.

Four-Star Dining Experience in Iraq

No Humility For The Hard Man

2006-01-14T22:46:00.000-08:00

Not too much going on here, as usual. Here's a quick list:

- The team has gone to 5x12s instead of 6x10s. I have changed my schedule to 8a-8p.

- Highs have been in the upper 50's to low 60's and the lows have been in the upper 30's.

- The rain has increased but it hasn't been too bad yet.

- Due to staffing issues, I will be unable to take my trip to Bangkok. Oh well, I'll be taking my trip to Texas in March, and that's the important one anyway.

Happy New Years Everybody!

2006-01-02T08:58:00.000-08:00

Just chuggin' along here. The 108th got all geared up for the 1st and had some sort of ball thing they dropped at midnight. They also had some small bon-fires and karaoke.

Recently we've been topping out at the mid 60's with lows in the upper 40's. Its suppsed to be a bit cooler than that in a couple of weeks. Not much rain so far, but that's also supposed to change in a couple of weeks.

On the 27th of January I'll be leaving for Bangkok for a few days with a co-worker. Most people think of Bangkok in one of the two following ways:

#1 Exotic Temples:

#2 Sprawling, Uncontrolled Rampant Urbanization:

I'll be sure and let everyone know which one I encounter. [Hint: Both]

Not much else going on here. I was off for Christmas but worked New Year's Day. I'm still doing the 6pm-4am shift. Lots of friends sent cards and gifts, which was very much appreciated.

Oh, for all you coffee drinkers looking for something a little different, try:
Peet's Coffee & Tea. Major Dickason's blend is quite nice.
The Coffee Fool. Their roasts are more on the light side but they have a ton of blend options which are very tasty.

Both companies shipped to Scania and in the case of the Coffee Fool, their bags are hermetically sealed. The coffee was sent already ground and was still quite fresh when I got it.

Scania The Hut

2005-12-10T05:37:00.000-08:00

Well, we're finishing our 10th and final C-Hut row, at least for now. As you can see, the last row of tents is coming down. If you look on the right side of the picture, look for the C-Hut row that has the cement wall sections going down it. My C-Hut is on the near end of the row, on the left of those sections. Basically, it looks like they almost touch my hut, and they almost do.
As always, click on the image for a larger version.

Scania Shanty-ville Update

2005-11-18T17:10:00.000-08:00

See that first row of exposed tents on the left? Mine is fourth from the end. If you look close you might see our slanting wooden door. Needless to say, my sleeping during the day (I am currently working 8pm - 6am) is dependent on my earplugs. Hopefully we'll be moving from there on the 21st.

I believe that the open area between the completed C-Huts and the tan tents is as far as the C-Huts will go for now.

The Fog...

2005-11-18T17:04:00.000-08:00

All that standing water has to evaporate somewhere. We had two days like this, and it was much heavier about an hour before this picture was taken. Be the third day after the rain, there wasn't much fog left.

Back In Iraq

2005-11-16T13:38:00.000-08:00

Actually, I got back on October 28th, but between handling the turnover of Texas and Georgia National Guards, and some technical difficulties (moved to a tent with no internet connection), I have been remiss in my updates.

The most significant event of the last few weeks is displayed below. Yep, its rainy season. It rained from about 9am to 4pm. Our tent performed ok, no roof drips, but the walls were soaked and we did have some water "incursions" between the walls and the plywood flooring. Hopefully we'll be out of this tent before the next big rain.

I Am Inbound

2005-10-24T10:15:00.000-07:00

From the 7th of October I have been on leave.
Here are some key words associated with my leave:

Miami (flew in and out of there)
Carnival (cruised from the 16th through the 23rd)
Western Caribbean (Where we were initially scheduled to cruise)
Eastern Caribbean (Where we -actually- cruised, due to the next keyword)
Wilma (See keyword above and keyword #1)
Standby (The kind of flight you get on when you are supposed to fly out of keyword #1 on Monday evening but realize that due to keyword #5 that ain't gonna happen)
Blessed (To have spent a couple of weeks with my wife and daughter, that we both got the early flights out of Miami we needed)
Ibis Hotel (Since I arrived in Paris a day early I needed a place to stay)

And so I am at the hotel. I will catch the shuttle to the airport around 8am tomorrow, local time. After that, a few days at the lovely Ali Al Salem transient storage facility and airbound shuttle service in to Iraq. Then on to my truck stop.

I've Been Framed

2005-10-04T05:21:00.000-07:00

Slowly but surely

2005-10-03T04:34:00.000-07:00

More construction pics of our new C-Huts:

Tearing Down Day

2005-10-02T04:59:00.000-07:00

Well, here are more pictures from Row 0. Now they've gotten down to the ground and are grating and levelling it.

Soldiers: Start Your C-Huts!

2005-10-01T06:26:00.000-07:00

Looks like we have have activity. Right now just dismantling the tents and such. Apparently they will displace a row full of soldiers, dismantle the tents, remove all of the existing 'stuff', regrade and gravel the ground and then replace the 10 tents with 5 C-Huts. I would imagine something like a week for each row.

The Weather

2005-09-22T00:46:00.000-07:00

August saw highs around 112-118. Nights were running 78-85.
Through September 22nd, this month's highs have been in the 103-110 range.
This month's lows have been around 72-76.

My heat observations for Scania are:

Less than 80 = Cool
80-90 = Pleasant
90-100 = Warm
100-110 = Hot
110-120 = Uncomfortable
More than 120 = Stifling.

I'm Baaaaack -2

2005-09-22T00:23:00.000-07:00

Ok, ok, so it's been awhile. For the most part, there's been nothing going here that you couldn't already read about in some earlier post.

However, that's starting to change, now.

I leave Scania in 15 days to go on a cruise with my wife and daughter. On the other hand we're taking a eastern Carribean tour, so hopefully all of the storms will have died down by then. We leave Miami on the 15th or 16th of October.

We're getting close to the time when we'll have the big turnover in troops here. Currently Texas is in charge of the camp. Come sometime in November, that will be handed over to Georgia. I have heard that November and December will be very busy months at work.

And to add to all of this, due to some interesting planning (or lack of) back in June, we're going to have to get rid of all of our rented tan tents (about 80-90% of all the living tents) and replace them with "C-Huts". This means about 110 tents will be replaced by about 55 C-Huts. And this needs to be done by the end of November or they'll start having problems with rain. They intend to begin work around the 23rd or so.

The C-Huts have the same footprint as two tents and are basically plywood buildings. I have included a couple of pics. The big question is whether they'll get to my row before, during or after my vacation. They have 25 C-Huts to build before they get to me. We'll see how long it takes. I'll post pictures of the progress.

I'm Back

2005-08-21T01:02:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been away for so long. Not much has been going on around here.
It may still be a bit early to hope, but we seem to have hit a high temp wall around 115, which is still hot but not opressively so. The nights are also starting to trend a bit "less warm". By midnight it is now usually under 90.

Back in May we got some new DSSTs, who are our direct link to the 54th SigBn, who we work for. Well, they we're not intended to be long-term and are preparing to leave. Another group of 3 DSSTs has arrived and will probably be the long-term solution. By long-term I mean 6-9 months. Anyway, we had a farewell lunch yesterday consisting of hamburgers and hot dogs. I will post some pictures in the next day or so.

We've had some units move out and others are arriving. I have also heard that part of Scania's current job functions will be relocating elsewhere. So we're entering a period of low-level flux. Since most of what's changing involves the miltary, I'm not really at liberty to get very specific. In the end, most things will remain the same, and I am not aware of any of the military changes here impacting ITT's role.

Gimme a Break!

2005-08-10T01:50:00.000-07:00

From the heat. Oh, you did. Thanks!

I was (and still am to some degree) dreading August, using my Augusts in central Texas as a guide. However, we've gone from highs around 120 and lows around 85 in July to highs around 112 and lows around 80. Even lower when there's dust (which has reared its ugly head again after taking July off). I have no idea what to expect for the rest of the month and like the first half of September, but I'm still betting on a strong resemblance to central Texas.

In other news, there is no other news! As that most famous of all boardgames to ever bless the planet earth has been known to say, "No events. Things are calm."

On the Road Again

2005-07-28T04:20:00.000-07:00

Went down to Talil on Tuesday to get my CAC card renewed. It was the start of a very long day.

I got to MCT around 0930. There were some mechanical issues with the Humvees so we didn't get going until about 1030. On the way down 4 TCNs, driving 18-wheelers, had fender benders with each other that resulted in lengthy delays. What should have been about a 3.5 hour trip took 5.

Once in Talil we made it to the card renewal place around 1500. Keep in mind there's a convoy heading back to Scania around 1800. We are hoping to catch that one. So, it turns out that when we were issued our CAC cards during CRC at Ft Bliss they we sort of temporary. Part of that was manifested in the lack of privileges and Geneva Convention wording. In reality, for the time I am assigned overseas by ITT, I should have access to most anything the military provides, at any overseas base. However, since this information was left off of our original cards, the folks at Talil wanted our new cards to be the same way. Eventually they got in touch with some people at Baghdad who convinced them to make the appropriate changes. However, bacause of all the time used to get this straightened out we didn't get done until 1815.

We checked with the TNG presence at Talil and the next convoy out with two seats available (another ITTer came with me) left at 0200, with a final push to Scania at 0400. So we hooked up with KBR and after eating at the DFAC tried to get some sleep until 0100. Then we caught a shuttle bus to our meeting point.

About 10 miles out of Cedar, a TCN truck broke down and we had to wait for a KBR recovery truck to arrive and tow it or fix it or whatever it is they do. After that the trip was fairly easy. However, the toal travel time was 5.5 hours. We got back to scania around 0930 Wed.

So all said and done, in a span of 24 hours, I spent almost 11 in the back of a Humvee. Thakfully I had my memory-foam seat wedge or I would have been in much worse shape.

Oh, for those wondering, yes, Humvees have A/C. No, its not very useful. Remember, there's a big hole in the roof where the gunner is. In addition the vehicle is made of metal that conducts the outside heat inside very effectively. I'm guessing that during the daylight hours, even with the A/C running its easily over 100 inside.

I figured I drank about 140-150 ounces of fluid during those 24 hours. I porbably could have used another 20.

Hopefully I won't be doing the Humvee thing again until October.

Weekly Update

2005-07-21T04:12:00.000-07:00

Brief recap of the last week or so:

- After power returned, our water pump broke and so the living area was without water for a couple of days. That has been resolved.

- Days are consistently topping out around 120.

- I got a memory foam (kind of like tempur-pedic) 3" thick seat wedge. It has the cutout for the tailbone. Very comfortable. Courtesy backbenimble.com.

- Watched the final season of Star Trek Voyager on DVD. Prety solid season. Finale was a tad confusing. I looked up the main actors on imdb.com to see what they had been up to since the May 2001 finale. Basically, not much. A couple have been fairly busy directing TV episodes.

- Am currently reading Ezekiel Option by Joel Rosenburg. I think it is set about 5-10 years in the future. Lots of problems with Iran and Russia. I'm about 1/5 of the way through and it has been action packed so far. Very interesting if you like Geo-political action stuff.

- I'll be heading down to Talil in the next week or two to get my CAC card renewed.

- only 78 days until I leave Scania for vacation.

Getting Old

2005-07-16T04:42:00.000-07:00

No, not me. Rather the fact that on the last two days, around noon, the entire living area here (main tent area) lost all of its power for 4-6 hours. I guess the generators are overloaded. After sputtering for 30 minutes or so, they just shut off completely.

Now for me it isn't too bad since I am usually up by 9:30. But we have three guys that sleep well past noon. For them, this really sucks.

Also, if you saw the earlier post where I showed the white generators being taken away, you might be interested to know that the original generators are back, in addition to the new orange ones. I'm not sure what's up with that. Hopefully the electricity to the tents.

More of the grey stuff

2005-07-14T04:26:00.000-07:00

Well, we're back to the hazy days of July...

Da Crew

2005-07-11T08:46:00.000-07:00

Ok, here are most of the ITT folks here. Four are missing due to being out on leave.

If you want to know which one is me, look for the familiar hair cut.

Moving Day

2005-07-11T08:38:00.000-07:00

No, not me. Several of our old power generators (white) were replaced with two new generators.

SEE: how they move big trailer shaped objects around here!

MARVEL: At the relative size of people and machine!

WITNESS: A huge power generator hanging by straps!

BEHOLD: Other things in the picture that I haven't mentioned!!!

Come, visit our campus!

2005-07-11T08:20:00.000-07:00

Ok, I thought I would reveal Scania's massive (MASSIVE) ITT campus.

The brown trailer houses our DSSTs (military liasons for ITT) and phone guys.
The white trailer houses everyone and everything else.
We have two trucks to use as needed.
The porch in front of the white trailer has been around awhile.
The porch infront of the brown trailer and between the two trailers has been added on the last month and is still a work in progress.
The orange-y boxes are our two generators.
The buildings in the far back are areas where they work on vehicles.

Like you, I too am stunned by the massivity of our overwhelmifying presence.

2005-07-06T08:15:00.000-07:00

Or a partial resemblance thereto. I finally decided to get 'skinned' along with my typical flat-top cut. Witness before and after. Still needs some tweaking but its not like I have my pick of barbers here...

2005-07-02T12:55:00.000-07:00

Ahhh, the wonders of Light Scribe. When provided with the proper type of CD, that has a special coating on the side you would normally right the label on, I can have my laptop's cd burner actually etch a label onto the cd surface. The actual cd looks better then the picture indicated. The best example of the crispness is the phrase "Live Linux Distribution". The other images are clip art I picked up and re-sized so the scaling makes them a little pixelated.

Rare Cigar Post

2005-06-25T10:09:00.000-07:00

Ok, it has been quite awhile since I posted any cigar reviews. I used to run a now-defunct blog called "JavaSmokes", which consisted of my opinions on cigars I had smoked and coffee I had drunk.

Anyway, I recently smoked a Baccarat Cigar for the first time. I had heard it was mild. No kidding. Most of the time I couldn't even taste it. It burned unevenly and, even though it was mild in flavor, it was at times somewhat harsh. It seemed to be fairly loosely rolled and burned quite hot. So I am not a Baccarat fan.

The only thing less flavorful I have smoked is a Fonseca cigarello. That was like smoking paper.

If you like to taste your cigars without having to suck the filler out, hesitate before purchasing Baccarat.

Just Checking In

2005-06-23T07:43:00.000-07:00

Howdy, all.

Finally had another decent strenght dust storm today. Always a joy.

We've pretty much ironed out the worst of the connectivity issues we were having at the camp. There are some lingering things to address but what we were having to do several times an hour to kind of reset things, we are only doing 5-10 times in a 24-hour period.

I got my Fathers' Day package and voltage regulator on the 22nd. Hopefully I won't fry any more 220-110 transformers. In addition to some great cards, a t-shirt and some useful things, I got a lot of drawings from my daughter!

Went to the local market today (Thu) and bought some movies and a 4-drawer setup for my folding clothes (3 drawers) and loose junk (1 drawer).

I am still attending Thursday night Bible study since I haven't made Sunday church yet. We are currently about mid-way through Hebrews.

That's about it for now. I need to get ready for my Bible study.

2005-06-19T01:53:00.000-07:00

Yes! Goodies and useful stuff from my family! We have two pairs of boots, dry-wipe board, toiletries, recarded TV shows, cigars, etc. I also get drawings from my daughter! Great stuff every time.

Feelin' Hot Hot Hot!

2005-06-16T07:57:00.000-07:00

As I walked to the dining hall today, I noted an unusual and unfamiliar sensation. My hands and fingers were tingling, but not like they were "asleep". As I thought about it I realized it was more of a "Hello, Andy? Yeah, skin here. Just thought you might want to know your hands are burning. Later." I found out a little later it was 125 degrees as I walked about in my short sleeved shirt and shorts.

Along with the whole hands issue I noted I was sweating. Even though I had no binding clothing and it was all cotton. I have never really sweated, as in the drops pouring down your face type, since I have been here unless I was engaged in some physical work outside. Just walking around didn't do it. Today, I was sweating like it was June in Houston.

I don't care if you had some sort of magic negative humidity. At 125 you'll still sweat. And keep your hands in your pocket. My understanding is that we'll top out around 135. Golly! I can't wait to see what 10 more degrees of heat will feel like.

During June-August, be sure and pray for the health of all the soldiers in Iraq, and not just the Americans. Just think how the Poles feel. I saw some in the dining hall today. I have to believe that once it gets over about 110 here some part of their brain just shuts down. It would be like taking some Iraqis and dropping them off in Greenland during January.

A Day In The Life

2005-06-14T11:21:00.000-07:00

And now, by popular demand!!
er...uhh...
And now, by...demand.
Ok, by request, I present: An Average Day For Me.

All stated time close but approximate. Might fluctuate +/- 10 minutes

1000 Hours: Wake Up
1010 Hours: Head to Showers, Take Shower
1030 Hours: Back to tent to get dressed
1100 Hours: All dressed
1120 Hours: Completed bible devotional for the day.
1140 Hours: Arrive at Dining Hall
1210 Hours: Leave Dining Hall
1215-1330 Hours: Open time. Could be on computer, running errands, etc.
1340 Hours: Get ready for Work

1355 Hours: Arrive at ITT Trailer
1400-1830 Hours: Work
1830 Hours: Go to Dinner
1900 Hours: Return to ITT Trailer
1900-0000 Hours: Work and Call My Wife
0015 Hours: Back to tent
0020 Hours: To Latrine Trailer to brush teeth and...other things.
0040 Hours: Back to tent
0100-1015ish Hours: To sleep, perchance to dream.

And that about covers it. On Thursdays I'm off. I keep my sleeping and shower/teeth brushing schedules on that day. Other than that I'm on my own to do whatever.

Feel free to print this out and post on your refrigerator, send it to your local newspaper, commit it to memory, or whatever else reading it inspires you to do...

2005-06-10T01:18:00.000-07:00

Navy Seal Boots: RIP. Apparently the Navy never figured on walking around in the desert on egg-sized gravel. Go figure. Now my New Balance shoes have held up very well. I think if I can get some regular hiking boots with the tough soles I won't have to bury them as well.

Mid-Week Update

2005-06-07T08:09:00.000-07:00

It has been very dusty and windy the last couple of days. It looks like a heavy fog, but since we are nowhere near anything approximating water, I know better. At least it holds the temps down to "only" 107-110. JOY!

I lost my 240-120 transformer. I went to bed, it worked. I woke up, it didn't. I bought another like it from the local PX but for some reason it didn't work either. Other 220/240v items I have worked fine on all the outlets I plugged the transformer into. So I bought a heavier duty 220/240-110/120 transformer that handles up to 750 watts and regulates the voltage so that attached devices get the right amount. Useful here since apparently our power is fairly 'dirty' and fluctuates quite a bit.

Also got a nice 220/240 volt power strip/surge protector.

Not much else going on right now.

2005-06-02T12:34:00.000-07:00

Peeking through my blankets into my "space". Most of it is to the left.

2005-06-02T12:31:00.000-07:00

The Valley of Lost Bedframes. This is where I got the cool frames with the spring/slat construction. I guess we'll see how cool it is when I sleep on it tonight.

2005-06-02T12:29:00.000-07:00

My new tent. It looks alot different than the other one, doesn't it? Note the dismantled bed frame in front. That's the one welded like crap. At least we have a little more protection from incoming...stuff. I'm in the back left.

All Moved In

2005-06-02T12:06:00.000-07:00

Well, I got up at 0900 and by 1200 was all moved into the new tent B58.

The bed frame I was going to use in the new tent was welded quite badly and the parts on the end pieces that support the horizontal frame snapped off. So out went that mees to be picked up later, and off I went to the valley of lost bed frames. I have provided a picture in another posting.

I actually lucked out because in the 'valley' there were two of the new frames that have springs and slats. Much nicer than the bar-based frame of the bed I just left.
I got all of that situated and finally settled on the basic arrangement of my stuff.

One of the "downsides" of getting 50% more space is that my wall setup didn't work anymore. Too much area to cover. My blanket and pancho didn't reach. Fortunately one of the ITT guys had a spare blanket and gave it to me. It is the blue in the pictures.

The other "downside" was no network connection. This tent is now signed for by ITT but was previously signed out to some military folks. So our cabling guys made me a cable and I ran it from the nearest network connection. It worked great so I now have internet access in my tent once again.

In addition to the two ITTers that moved in, there is an interpreter who just moved in. He leaves in August so after that I'm not sure who all will be in there.

Well, that's about it for now. Enjoy the pictures.

Moving Day

2005-06-01T11:27:00.000-07:00

Is Thursday.

No, not to another camp but to another tent. ITT signed for a 4th tent so Duane and I will be moving in with Gus, an interpreter. The good part is that we'll each have 1/4 of the tent instead of the current 1/6th. Gus leaves in August so I guess after that its me and Duane.

Initially I'll have no internet in that tent but I'll have that rectified in a few days.

Not much else. I got some letter from my folks, which was nice. Along with an article about an author who lives in a nearby town in the states that apparently is well known in Star Wars book fiction circles.

Shortly I'll have some move pictures up.

Weekly Update

2005-06-01T09:10:00.000-07:00

Well, I think I'm just about recovered from changing my work shift. The last couple of nights I have slept better. Now I just need to get used to my new mattress. Quite firm as mattresses go. I wake up tighter than a drum.

I ordered and recently received a Logitech Marble Mouse. I bought it from Amazon, refurbed. For 5$. I am beginning to realize that a refurbed Marble Mouse is not a happy Marble Mouse. Mine keeps hanging for up to 10 seconds. Meanwhile the laptop trackpad works fine. This has gotten worse over time so I assume I got what I paid for. Next time I'll either get mine sent from the states or pay the $20 they normally go for.

Yesterday (Tuesday) I was introduced to the joy of filling and lugging sandbags. Mmmmmm, fun! We recently installed 2 diesel generators to run the 2 ITT buildings from. Apparently there is already a fuel leak so we put down to haevy plastic and put sandbags 2-high under the outer edge of the plastice and then another row on top of the plastic and the other bags to hold it all in place. This forces the rim of the plastic up by almost a foot to help hold back fuel spillage. The plastic sheet was something like 20'x40'. Lots of bags to lay.

For Memorial Day, our Chow Hall really went all out. Lots of different things to eat and they had Peach Cobbler and Pumpkin Pie for dessert. Very well seasoned and quite tasty!

Recently saw a movie called "Ong-Bak". I believe it is Thai. It is kind of a fight movie, ala Bloodsport, where a buddha status is stolen from a village and one of the young men, who just happens to be mind-bogglignly astounding at doing astoundingly mind-boggling things, has to go and bring it back. Its kind of like mixing 40% Jackie Chan, 40% Jet Li and 20% Van Damm. But I only use them as reference. This guy fights with some style where elbows and knees get used a lot. Really trippy and amazing. The lead actor is Phanom Yeeram. Check it out if you like this type of movie.

That's about all for now. I'll send up some more pictures in the next few days.

364 days to contract completion! About 354 before I begin leaving Iraq.

2005-06-01T01:27:00.000-07:00

And here are the other changes: thicker, firmer mattress, 4x4 wood blocks lifting the bed frame (not shown) and all of my infrequently used stuff under the bed. Yes, in true white trash form, I have my bed up on blocks.

2005-06-01T01:25:00.000-07:00

The first addition to my "new" room is the wonderful handcrafted oak and mahogany personal electronics support structure. Oh, ok, its a crudely made table I found in the Camp's wood scrap heap. Hey, it does the trick!

Weekly Update

2005-05-26T13:45:00.000-07:00

I am switching to a split-shift to fill-in while one of our system admins is on vacation. I will be working 1400-0000 (2pm to mid-night, for those of you in Rio Linda) and will still have Thursday off. This arrangement will last until he returns (early July) or I get shipped off to Al Anbar area.

I installed my Steam client and finally downloaded Half-Life and Half-life 2 content. It probably took 24 hours spread over 4 or 5 days to do it. Haven't tried deathmatch yet but given the internet lag here, it will probably be ugly.

We have some more folks in to help us with some of our comm issues. They already spotted some things that needed correcting so I'm hopefull that they'll help us get this thing worked out once and for all.

For this week, the temp highs have been in the mid 100 teens, at least so far as I can tell. Some people tell me that and others say its never been above 105. I have felt 109 in Phoenix and some days here have felt hotter.

I got my new orders, which cover me until May 31st, 2006. Now I just need to get my CAC card renewed. I have been told its not too big of a deal until I try to leave Iraq, which I don't plan to do until October.

20 weeks and counting until I see my family!! Woohoo!

2005-05-26T04:28:00.000-07:00

Ok, these boots have been worn like 5 times to work. At this rate they probably won't make it past June. Ahhh, the wonder of egg-sized gravel. :-( These guys were built for comfort. "Comfort" or "durability". My choice.

2005-05-26T04:25:00.000-07:00

Consider this picture. I have managed to access Half-Life 2 via my Steam account. It took several days of downloading to get all of the content. But just to be able to do this in the Iraqi desert is pretty cool.

2005-05-24T07:38:00.000-07:00

Home at Camp Scania: 48sqft of tenty goodness! You see here about 24 of those 48 sqft. Eventually I will get a higher bed fram so a duffel and a footlocker can go underneath, I'll build a table to go where they were. Behind the 'chair' is a blanket hung up on some 550 cord to make a 'wall'. To the left out of the picture is a wall locker. The brown towels are on the east wall and help block the sun since I currently get to bed around 7am.

2005-05-23T06:59:00.000-07:00

Woohoo! We finally sold our Round Rock house! We are due to close by the middle of June!

2005-05-19T13:36:00.000-07:00

This lovely shot shows how close we came to 'seeing' Germany. Not very. The gate was not ready so we sat on the Tarmac for 2 hours. We could even leave the plane.

2005-05-19T13:34:00.000-07:00

Our majestic flight, taking us from sunny Fort Bliss to sunny Kuwait.

2005-05-19T13:33:00.000-07:00

In a sign of things to come the first thing I saw after leaving the Kuwait Airport was...port-a-johns.

2005-05-19T07:51:00.000-07:00

Hunh...Look at all that smog in the air...Oh, wait, that's dust.

2005-05-19T07:45:00.000-07:00

"Sgt. Dork, reporting for duty!"

I have the POWERRRRR!

2005-05-18T02:05:00.000-07:00

Actually, I finally have my laptop. I got it Monday afternoon and have been setting it up ever since.

I have moved to the other side of the tent. Two new guys moved in.

Of such things are exciting times made, here at Camp Scania.

I hope to have some pictures posted in the next day or two.

Iraqi "Brisket"

2005-05-16T04:30:00.000-07:00

I'm from Texas. Specifically I'm from central Texas. They have barbeque there. Lots of barbeque. After high-school football and huntin', its probably the most hotly debated topic. I miss my barbeque.

Recently I saw that our dining hall had "Texas Bar-B-Q Brisket". I thought, "If I can convince myself to live in the Iraqi desert for 12 months, I can handle their version of brisket."

I did, but it was a very...um...interesting experience. It was kind of like, and I have to admit that I have no hard evidence of this, they freeze dried the "meat" for several years, re-constituted it, and soaked in some sort of smokey-ish ketchup stuff. As a meat dish it was passable, but as for "brisket" it was a hangin' offense that no Texas jury would have found me guilty of.

As for their "fuhheetuzz", well, they'd be hung, then shot. They should just stick to the dining hall favorites of "Swiss Steak", "Meatloaf", "Beef N Noodles", etc.

Actually the food here is pretty good. They just don't get the regional US dishes down well.

Checking In

2005-05-13T20:00:00.000-07:00

Wow, I didn't realize it had been so long since my last posting. I guess time flies when you're working 8p-6a. Anyway, here's a recap of the week:

- It is now like central Texas in late July. Days are usually 105-ish and at midnight it is still 85+. At least there's usually a nice hot breeze. ;-)

- I still don't have my laptop but a package I ordered from Amazon, about 3 or 4 days after my wife sent my LT, arrived a couple of days ago. It is a CCDP Self-Study book. I think I can take the CCDP test up at Anaconda at their VUE testing center.

- Recently the PX got 8 Sony PSPs. They were all gone before noon the next day. They also had 4 $180 Sendheiser headphones that were gone in less than a day.

- We had some military folk come in from Camp Arifjan to help us with some comm issues we have been having. Nothing definitive yet but we're ruling things out one by one.

- Apparently there are some new places opening up that will require some ITT presence. Volunteers have been requested. If that doesn't meet staffing needs then people will be told to go. Since I'm sort overkill here, I might be in that number. Hopefully I can stay here for awhile but I'll go where they send me.

- I am finding that the chow hall can be a problem. Those servers load it on. I need to be careful. I think I have actually gained a little weight since coming to Scania.

Well, that's all for now. Hopefully my laptop will be in soon. I am making progress in Rayman: Hoodlum's Revenge on my Gameboy Advance so it isn't a total loss!

Appearances...

2005-05-08T19:45:00.000-07:00

can be deceiving.

After awhile, you get into a routine, you get your work tasks figured out, things just sort of flow along, just like when you are back in the states. And then...

They shut the water off. All of it. Until they work on the filter. Showers? Nope. Flush toilets? Nope. Sinks? Nope. If its running water, its not available. We did this for about 24 hours. Lots of activity around the port-a-potties!

At least my tent's AC worked. Another ITT tent lost its AC due to some sort of malfunction. I haven't heard yet if they got it fixed. Not good for those who sleep during the day.

No laptop yet. Thus no pictures.

Dust In The Wind Redux

2005-05-05T20:30:00.000-07:00

Had another nice one today (Thursday). I have some pictures but this site does not directly support the inclusion of pictures. They partner with some other place to support photos but I can't take advantage of that until my laptop arrives.

If I can get my webspace at verizon.net set up with pictures I might include some links there.

Stay tuned.

The Upside of Dust Storms

2005-05-03T20:00:00.000-07:00

At least at this point in the year, this one was followed by a day that didn't get above the mid-80's. I think this is the Iraqi equivalent of that weird snowstorm in Amarillo recently. Man, it was nice today, and of course I slept through it.

We've got a little action coming up from the tech side, which will be interesting.

Other than that, not much else here.

Just waiting for my first shipments from the states.

All It is is dust in the wind...

2005-05-03T11:15:00.000-07:00

Gee, my first dust storm. Niiiiice.
Its actually not too bad by Iraqi standards. I would guess visibility is maybe 1/4 mile. Probably 20mph winds with 30mph gusts. The sand is almost like a light smokey consistency. Hopefully it will be over by the time I get off.

Speaking of which, it is just 1:15am and i'm already starting to get drowsy. Not a good sign with 5 hours to go.

Swimming Against The Tide

2005-05-03T02:45:00.000-07:00

First, ignore the post claiming to be entered at 1:15pm. It was AM.

From 4am-4:30am I was pretty much useless. It was like I was in college classes again: barely able to keep from falling completely asleep, head always nodding up and down, etc. I fought through that and, as of about 4:30am I have a second wind. We'll see how long it lasts. Will be interesting to see how easy it is for me to go to sleep. Right now, my worry is whether or not I will hear my alarm...

The Big Switch

2005-05-02T18:15:00.000-07:00

Ok, starting today (Monday) I am working nights: 8p - 6a, at least until the other night network admin comes back from leave. After that, who knows.

I tried sleeping from 3am-11am last night to sort of start my body in the right direction. If the showers aren't too busy around 6:30am I'll shower after getting off work and then try to get to sleep by 7:30. Otherwise I'll shoot for 6:30 and then shower after I get up.

It will probably take a few days to get the routine figured out.

It rained again today, but not for long. Other than that I recently watched the 2nd Lara Croft movie, 50 First Dates and Mr. 3000. I liked the details of the LC movie but the plot was asinine. 50FD was pretty good. The ending was bittersweet but that in itself was a pleasant change. Mr3K was also better than I expected due to Bernie doing the right thing in the end. On the other hand I had pretty low expectations for Mr3K.

Rain Rain Go Away

2005-05-01T15:50:00.000-07:00

Apparently it is raining more here in Iraq than in central Texas. And me in a leaky tent. :-(

I start coming in at 8p on Monday so I'm kind of on a little extra break since I'm getting off at 6pm on Sunday. I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to do this change. I think I will try staying up until 3 or so and then sleep until 10-11. Then I have 'free' time until about 7pm when I'll eat "breakfast".
I think I'll try to shower and get in bed by 7am and then sleep until 2-3pm. I'll figure out what works best. By then I'll probably change to another shift.

Not much Here, except...

2005-05-01T06:15:00.000-07:00

Saturday night some of the ITT guys managed to procure some pretty good steaks, plus baked potatoes and fresh salad.
Another ITT guy showed up but he is headed to another camp named Echo. From what I hear, Echo makes Scania look like the "Big City". Ouch!
Our sys admin is off today so it will be interesting to see how that goes.
Other than that, Friday and Saturday have been pretty routine.
I put up some sheets to block off my portion of the tent I am in. It is going to require some fine tuning. I may go with a heavier blanket instead of light sheets.
Now, if only my laptop were. But likely won't be until mid-May.

Lazing About

2005-04-29T08:03:00.000-07:00

On Thursday I had my first day off in a while. Slept in until 11am and pretty much goffed off the whole day. Yes!
In the evening I attended a bible study on Hebrews. I had to insert myself at Chapter 8 but the chaplain is thorough and so there will a lot more for us to cover. There weren't many there since most of the guys attending were away doing something.
Other than that, I am enjoying my Hogan's Heroes DVDs.
On Friday I move into my "permanent" tent. I'm still a little curious as to how long I will be at Scania.

4 day Update

2005-04-28T10:45:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of postings. Right after my last posting I got a flight to Talil, Iraq, where I stayed until Monday morning. Around noon Monday I caught a convoy to Scania and arrived around 6pm. The bad: sitting in a Humvee. The good: road was mostly paved and we actually hit a cold front about half way there. It was around 115 when I left Talil but probably low 90's for most of the convoy trip.

Scania is very small. Kind of rectangular. I can probably walk the two most distant points in 20 minutes. Its not too bad here. I get to wear several tech hats, in a week you have all of the network device locations known. In another week you know all the main people you'll be dealing with.

I don't have my laptop yet so my blogging will still be sporadic for a while (I am using an ITT laptop). Once I get it I will start adding some pictures.

I will be living in a tent. Not too bad. We have a good AC unit. Of course when (not it) we lose power it takes about 10 miutes to get really cooking in there. Haven't had an issue with thte critters here...yet. I have no illusions in that regard.

We got our very own post office here about 2 weeks ago! We have a "laundromat" too. The dining hall is pretty good so far. The PX is more like a nice convenience store. Maybe like a Love's for those of you in Texas.

To keep that dust down and minimize the impact of rain, there is egg-sized gravel all over. Does a number on your shoes.

Somewhere around here there is a "Hadji Mart". Kind of local competition with the PX. Haven't been there yet. When I do I'll blog it.

The joys of "Space Available"

2005-04-23T14:00:00.000-07:00

All of the ITT guys deploying into Iraq have been shuffled from the ITT bay to the Space Available bay.
This means that if you are trying to catch a flight to Baghdad, for example, there might be 10 open places on a certain one. However, you might be the 11th guy trying to get on. If so, you wait until the next flight and try again. And again. And again.
Its like a weird Army version of Purgatory, where you are in a sort of limbo until you get selected to move out.
Baghdad isn't so bad because there are multiple flights per day. However, flying to Balad and Tilil is different. Only one flight per day. You get bumped? Wait another day to go again. One of our guys trying to get to Balad got bumped.
I don't know about my Tilil flight yet since as of this posting they have not called roll for it.
A pop-up might happen but that's a lot more likely to Baghdad than the other two.

Well, we'll see how it goes...

I Have My Camp: Scania

2005-04-22T09:00:00.000-07:00

Heading out to Scania Friday afternoon.
I think I won't be there until Saturday.
It is near Nippur: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/nippur.htm
No other CRC ITT folks are going with me. It has less then 2000 people.
I will be in a tent, no portables. Apparently ITT is about 3 people over 100% so the tents are getting crowded. No doubt to the approval of the local vermin...
It might be awhile before I post again. I'm not getting good vibes about the internet sitch there, but maybe they have a public place I can logon to for a fee.

Lots of additions

2005-04-21T05:04:00.000-07:00

I recently added a lot of posts but back-dated them from the 11th through the 17th. Be sure to look back through those days to see what was added.

I'll be adding more later.

Tiawuknimi

2005-04-19T11:45:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have been in Kuwait since Saturday the 16th of April. I have been living in the ITT "bay" at Camp Doha. I'll be here another few days until all of the ITT Iraq position assignments are completed.

I am charged 5USD per hour for internet access by AAFES so I won't be bloggin regularly for a while.

HP has been woefully unreliable regarding my laptop shipment. First it was shipping on the 28th or March. Then the 9th of April, then the 16th of April and most recently the 19th of April. Ugh! I hope the quality of the product is not foreshadowed by the quality of the service.

That's it for now. I'm storing up pictures so once I get my laptop I will be able to include some with my blog postings.

BTW, timestamps will reflect local (Kuwait/Iraq) time.

Friday and Saturday: Bliss to Doha

2005-04-17T16:50:00.000-07:00

We spent most of Friday watching all of the hundreds of bags get checked for all sorts of things that they don't want on the flights. Lots of dogs were used.
Eventually we headed out to the airport part of the base. After several briefings we boarded that plane and headed for Germany.

They messed up the arrival and we had to sit on the tarmac for 2 hours as we waited to be refueled. After that we headed on in to Doha. We got there around 10pm local time. After a quick "welcome to Kuwait" briefing, we did bag detail. Remember those hundreds of bags? We had to unload them all so that we could then wander around looking for ours. Remember, these weren't a bunch of Samsonite bags. We're talking hundreds of green duffle bags.

Mike from ITT met us and took us back to the ITT bay. He gave us a 30 minute or so briefing about the upcoming week and the things we could do that would get us fired and sent stateside.

Around midnight we all went to the chow hall to eat. Pretty good food and a decent variety.

Thursday at Bliss

2005-04-14T16:40:00.000-07:00

Pretty light day.
We learned about NBC. No, not the network. Nuclear, Biological and Chemical threats.
We also learned how to don our gas masks in under 9 seconds.
We were issued our military equipment. After getting it all we had to spread it around on the parking lot and make sure it was all there and all in working order. Doing that in June or July would really suck.
Me and a friend got left at the PX by a bus driver. We were expecting to have to walk back to the the CRC building but some nice army types in a van gave us a ride. The bad part was that they weren't from Bliss and they weren't sure how to get to the CRC building. We had a nice scenic tour of the base but finally found the CRC building. If they were sorry they picked us up they never let on.

Wednesday at Bliss

2005-04-13T16:36:00.000-07:00

Got my physical and dental work done.
My BP was at the high end of normal. Hopefully some exercise and weight loss will address that.
My filling repair became a root canal. Nice. Oh well, better in El Paso than Iraq. In Iraq they'd just yank the tooth.
That's pretty much it for Wednesday.

Tuesday at Fort Bliss

2005-04-12T16:23:00.000-07:00

Morning formation was at 0515. Yes! A whole 30 more minutes to sleep in.
We did the dental stuff today. At least on Monday we could sit down while waiting. Today we stood up from about 6:30 to 12:30. Turns out I am dentally non-deployable because they feel that in the next 12 months one of my fillings will fall out. In addition to the physical I need to get that addressed on Wednesday.
We also attended first aid training. Let's just hope I'm never in the position of having to render first aid! ;-)

More On Fort Bliss

2005-04-11T16:15:00.000-07:00

Since I found a place that doesn't charge $5/hr I thought I would retroactively update my blog before I deploy to Iraq, whenever that is.

Monday (April 11)
Morning formation was at 4:45am. I was surprisingly alert. Probably anticipation. Today we do the medical screening, including just about every vaccination known to man! :-) It was a lot of hurry up and wait, as they say.
We ate breakfast from about 5-6. By 6:30 we were at the SRP (Soldier Readiness something). We had to progress through a number of stations, each dealing with some particular part (eye, legal, medical screening, chaplain, vaccinations, etc.) We'd wait for 30-45 minutes between stations. At the vaccination station I got a total of 8 shots. 6 in my left arm and 2 in my right.
All of this went on until early afternoon.
I was deemed non-deployable in repair due to the need for a physical.
Those are the main highlights for Monday.

Day-1

2005-04-10T14:22:00.000-07:00

Sunday has been pretty laid back so far. We had our first briefing and check-in from around 8-9:30. After that we ate at the "chow" hall and then went to the PX.

The chow hall served some nice, though not remarkable, breakfast. I bought some padlocks at the PX. Can't be too careful.

Most of the processees have come in this afternoon. Its pretty busy here now and Monday is supposed to be packed.

The ITT guys are heading back to the chow hall for dinner at 4pm and we have another general briefing tonight around 7pm. Monday starts at 5:30 with breakfast at 6:30.

Day 0: Off to Fort Bliss

2005-04-09T20:30:00.000-07:00

Well, today I got up at 7am, finished final packing and met a lot of family at Monument restaurant in Georgetown. Around 10am Shelly and Cherokee and I headed out to the Austin airport.

We got me all checked in and hung out until about noon or so. After a pretty tearful farewell, I headed to Houston and then on to El Paso and Fort Bliss.

The winds are evil out here right now. Probably 20-30 sustained and 45+ gusts. As a result the landing was pretty weird. I was on this glorified puddle-jumper that had 2 seats on one side and one seat on the other. Our wings were bobbing back and forth and about 20 feet above the runway we dipped to the right about 3 or 4 feet. I thought we'd come down on just the right wheels but at the last second we straightened out.

The military life is certainly different. I did an ITT pre-briefing briefing at 17:30 and apparently all of the "excitement" will begin tomorrow morning. For Sunday I get to sleep in and don't need to be at the briefing room until 7:45am. After that I'll be up before the crack of dawn.

If there are any medical issues that can be controlled, like high blood pressure, that are detected, I may be delayed in my deployment. I should know about that by Wed PM.

That's about it for now. I am going to hit the sack early tonight.

Its All Arranged

2005-04-02T19:14:00.000-08:00

Well, I got an email with my flight info from Austin to El Paso. Of course you are assuming (as did I) that they'd plop me on a Southwest Airlines direct flight. They run them all the time. But no. They've got me on Continental. In Texas, Continental's big hub is in Houston. Houston is Southeast of Austin. By about 180 miles. El Paso is a lot farther from Houston than it is from Austin. So of course that's the way I'll be going. 45 minutes to Houston. 75 minute lay-over. 60 minutes from Houston to El Paso. So what could have been about a 60 minute flight becomes a 3 hour trip.
So...this is what the next 52 weeks have in store for me...Bring it on! :-)

Oh, my email also noted that while at Fort Bliss I should be prepared to wait in long lines for "hours at a time". And that's why God invented iPods.

It's Official!

2005-03-26T21:16:00.000-08:00

I heard from ITT-MEO (Middle-east Office) around noon today (3-26) that I had received my initial temp clearance! This means ITT will employ me and send me to Iraq. With a 1 week "lay-over" at Fort Bliss for orientation first.

Come Monday I will send in my employee paperwork to the Kuwait office.

After that its wait for my sweet HP laptop, due to arrive around Mar 31st, or so, and then wait until the 9th when I fly out to beautiful El Paso.

Mmmmm, can't wait for my days at Fort Bliss that start at 5am. Right...

I Think I'm Cleared

2005-03-22T20:03:00.000-08:00

I got my official Welcome Packet from ITT this morning. According to my TEKsystems recruiter, they wouldn't send one to me until I had my clearance. However, noone has yet been able to verify that I officially have my interim clearance. I also have no word yet as to when they want me to deploy to Ft. Bliss.

I just thought I had paperwork before! My packet was literally about 1/2" thick. This time I'm not waiting to get the stuff filled out and sent back to ITT. Hopefully I can get it all sent back on Wed or Thur.

The cool part is that I will be issued Kevlar and body armor at some point in Kuwait, before I deploy into Iraq. Hopefully it will only be used for decorative purposes!

One Down, One To Go

2005-03-15T17:17:00.000-08:00

Yes! My passport finally came in. I signed it, scanned it, and emailed it in to ITT. Now all that's left is to wait for the up/down vote on my interim clearance. This is also going to make my cruise just a little easier.

Markin' Time

2005-03-14T20:25:00.000-08:00

Not much going on right now. I got some luggage and slacks from Kohls during their big sale over the weekend. I found out that the CRC is doing an orientation every week so even though I will not make the one on the 3rd, I should be able to make the one on the 10th.

One item of particular interest, Hogan's Heroes has finally made it to DVD. I just bought the complete 1st season and am refraining from watching it so I may do so in Iraq.

I bought a Sony Cybershot P200 for the Iraq trip and so far it has been excellent. I took some 7MP pictures the other day and they made great 8x10's.

Going on a farewell cruise this 17th-21st down to Cozumel and back to Galveston. I'll post some pictures once I get back.

Posting will probably be pretty light until I get my interim clearance or get rejected. Still hoping to hear on that during the week of the 21st.

By the way, if you haven't yet, rent Deckchair Danny.

The Clock Has Started Ticking

2005-03-09T14:55:00.000-08:00

As of yesterday, March 8th, ITT finally got all of the 'stuff' they needed to begin the clearance check. I should know in 10-14 business days if I get my interim clearance or not. If not, the gig is off. If so, then I still need to be at least two weeks out from my time at Fort Bliss for orientation. This is because Bliss, currently, needs a minimum of two weeks' notice that I am enrolled.

After missing the deadline for the class on the 28th of March, I had quasi-planned on attending the one on the 3rd of April. Given the head's up lead time Bliss needs and the fact that from the 8th, 10 business days is (if you include the 8th) the 21st of March, the earliest ITT could notify Bliss about me would be 13 days before class starts.

I assume the military is not in the habit of cutting people slack, so right now I assume I will attwend the class after the 3rd. Might be the 10th, might be the 17th. I have no idea at this point.

On a better note, I found out that in addition to my 70lb checked bag, I may also bring a carry-on plus a laptop. Ofcourse I heard so many different "facts" about allowed luggage, lead time to notify Bliss, how often the classes are held, who documents should be sent to and in what format, that I am taking the luggage info with a grain of salt. I'll try to pin them down about a week before I leave.

A Visit to The Man

2005-03-04T19:50:00.000-08:00

I took my cards to the Williamson County Sheriff's office and got fingerprinted today. Also got the word that there were some discrepencies with the SF-86. I need to correct them and resend the info. The prints will be sent tomorrow via DHL.

Left finger, right finger

2005-03-03T21:01:00.000-08:00

Got my fingerprint cards today. I have to get with the Georgetown Police Department tomorrow and have them print me. I know its for the FBI investigation, but it is still a little unsettling to walk into a police station and ASK to be fingerprinted. What''s next, "May I please spend the night in jail?"

Other than that not much going on, Iraq-wise.

We're going on a "farewell" cruise during the middle of the month. Five days four nights.

More Changes

2005-03-02T15:54:00.000-08:00

found out last night that instead of having to wait until possibly late April for the next CRC orientation and having to give 30 days notice, they'll be having one on April 3rd and I only have to give them 2 weeks notice. In essence I need to have received my interim secret clearance at least 14 days before whatever CRC orientation I want to attend.

I wonder how many more times all of this stuff will change before I actually leave the country.

EPSQ: Finished!

2005-03-01T19:28:00.000-08:00

Finally got the EPSQ information finished. Faxed signature sheets to my SO. Then started faxing other sheets to other places. And emailed scanned sheets to still other places. I have no idea how ITT is going to get all of this straight.

I have two TEKsystems contacts in Colorado Springs, 1 ITT contact in Colorado Springs, 1 ITT contact in Qatar and 1 more ITT contact in Kuwait City. And I'm going to Iraq! Yeesh!

After this things will probably calm down and I won't be posting much. The main thing now is to get my new passport back.

My ETD Has Been Deeeelayed

2005-03-01T00:30:00.000-08:00

I found out Monday night that the window to get me into the March 28th orientation had passed. I probably could have gotten all the stuff to them, except for the new passport info. However, I had no idea that there was a 1 month notification window. So I had basically 3 1/2 days to get everything in order, including my expired passport.

My next orientation opportunity will be mid-late April.

Looks like I'm stateside for awhile.

Paperwork, thy name is Federal Government

2005-02-27T20:44:00.000-08:00

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

2005-02-26T06:55:00.000-08:00

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.