Blah, blah, blah. Insert funny story. Blah, blah, blah.

Just a little dust...

Ok so everyone saw the fog from the other day. Now here is some dust. The previous day we had some stiff winds which led to a dust storm. We have yet to have the ones that you see in the pictures, thousands of feet high and dark as night.

This one left a nice coat of dust on everything. We spent some time when we first moved in weather proofing our CHU. It looks as though it has worked. We had very little dust come in to our living area.

This is the third storm like this that we have had since we have been in country. I do not look forward to any that are worse than this. Needless to say that we had very few aircraft off of the ground.

Music to sooth the savage beasts...

There was a video of Kenny Chesney playing "No soes, No shirt, No problems"

If I had enough money to never have to work again I think that I would find a nice little place in the islands and sit on the beach every day. I watch this video and think about how great it would be to just sit back and relax on the sandy shores. To look around and not see much of anyone else. I love the crystal clear waters and the white sands, it seams so relaxing...

I was asked why there are not more pictures of me. Well when I am holding the camera most of the time there will be an absence of me in the pictures. I went out the other day and had someone take a picture of me so that I can please all those that have been asking for pictures.

Talk about chilly out. I think that the black fleece jacket that I have on is probably one of the best things that the Army has ever issued. Our company area is right next to one of the taxiways for the airfield. In fact the "road" that is behind me is the taxiway.

I have had many times while I am still in a daze in bed when the big jets take off. It rattles our CHU walls and you can feel them take off. I know when I hear that sound that it is the sound of freedom.

Clear Skies

As you can see by this picture the skies have been clearing up. For most of the day today there have been very few clouds. As I am writing this though the clouds seem to be rolling in. Hopefully the storms will pass to the south of us and give us one more day to dry out.

This is going to be a short update because I am tired and ready for bed. My roommate is gone for a couple of days and I get some peace and quiet and I am going to take full advantage of it.

Beautiful weather has arrived at least for a little while...

I woke today to find the sun shinning. I have not done that in almost a week. I figured that it would surely turn cloudy and then rain later in the day but it stayed beautiful.

I was supposed to go flying today. We have a few birds that have been in the standard maintenance that they all go through. I have been working with a maintenance test pilot this week trying to get a particular aircraft ready to go back on the line. Well it looks as if I will be waiting at least one more day before I go flying. These things happen but are good that they find some of the problems while they are still in the shop because they can get fixed easier and faster.

Just about everyone here that has been deployed to Iraq before keeps telling us that this bad weather will not be leaving us for another two months. If it does like it has been doing I will be just fine with it. It will stay gloomy for about a week and then it will turn sunny and the water will seep back into the ground long enough to dry up things for about a day. It gives you a break and lets you recoup and get ready for the next wave. Too bad it will not do that once it gets hot. Give us heat for a week and then rain; I guess not in the desert...

London in Iraq

Well the weather persists!

I woke yesterday to find another day has dawned just as miserable as the previous.

I have not been flying much because of this weather. I have been on the day shift for almost a month now. During the day shift we fly all of the maintenance flights that need to be done. Our maintenance flights are similar to the test drive that your mechanic will do before and after fixing your car. We ensure that the problem reported is there and then make sure that it has been properly fixed. For these flights we often need to fly higher than normal and because of low cloud cover we cannot

So, I get to sit here and update. I know that everyone is happy for that.

In the early mornings, just before the sun breaks the horizon, you can get lost as to where you really are. Some days you would not be able to tell that you are located in the middle of a desert or in the outlying areas of London. With the all of the rain that we have been getting it has been super saturating the ground. The moisture lifting from the ground and the low lying clouds has brought walls of fog. With all of the lights on outside of each person's CHU it lit the fog into an eerily glow.

I guess I should have had my camera with me. I was just looking through my pictures and realized that it has been a while since I last took some pictures. I have been really enjoying getting a lot of pictures here. I now have enough pictures to fill a CD full! I will have to go out and get more....

Well, I sent out a long e-mail the other day. After I sent it out I got a big reminder that "e-mail has no emotion!" I always try and explain this to people but I guess I forgot.

E-mail has a bad problem that you can send out a message that is taken completely opposite of what you meant.

It was a blah day when I wrote the e-mail. It has been cold for a while and then just that day it started raining. Well since we had not had any real rain since we got here it ended up being just one of those grey miserable days. I guess too much of that mood got into my writing even though I did not intend it as such.

I have been in a very good mood since I have been here and have yet to get into a sullen mood. If I ever get into a poor mood I would probably not be writing about it.

Ok, so that everyone knows, I am almost always in a good mood. If I ever get into a bad mood it will only last for a little while. I have a unique way of letting go of things that bother me.

I am sorry if I confused anyone with my prior email.

Keeping Myself Busy

Well another year has gone by and now we welcome in the new year. Wow, the years are flying by faster and faster with each year that goes by.
This one has to be up there with one of the most memorable years. This is the first end of year holidays that I have been away from any type of family. Some days it seams as if the day goes by without a blink of the eye and others it just drags. When Christmas came and I was out flying it just seemed like any other day. That is when this picture was taken. I felt good about the flight though. We were moving troops back so that they could return home after a long deployment. You almost feel like Santa bring joy to all that see you. We could see the smiles on all of the soldier's faces as we picked them up.



I have definitely been keeping myself busy. We had a fire safety class the other day and had a chance to practice at using different types of fire extinguishers. If you have never had the chance to do this I would highly suggest going to your local fire department to see if they offer the service. You never realize how hot a large fire can get. We were within 3-5 feet when we started spraying the bottles and I felt like I was going to melt. Adrenaline was rushing through me as I was putting it out and I felt very good when the flames were extinguished. Of course we had a few guys who did not get the flames out on the first try but we had plenty of bottles for them to try again.

So now we welcome in the new year and hope that this one brings us as much joy as all of out previous ones. 2006 will be a very memorable year for me. In almost 14 years of service in the Army this is the first time that I have been deployed. I have learned a lot of things about the military with this deployment and I will be more than ready to return later this year. I just keep reminding myself that I am 1/4 of the way there.