Looks likes Arizona without the vegetation, and with landmines!

Here are some pictures of the terrain as seen from one of the guard towers. In the second picture you can see the city of Herat in the distance, a place I have never been. Believe it or not, but the fields beyond the wall are full of landmines placed by the Russians. Everyone sticks to the roads so there is no danger, unless you are stupid. Like they say, "Life is hard, but it's harder if you're stupid." As you can see it is very barren out there. I miss the woods! What an ugly country. I don't think there is one forest in this whole country.

I've been lazy, but the Holy Spirt never is.

Tonight, the second person called me out on either not staying in contact or not updating my blog. I've just been lazy. I figured I'd better write something because Mother was getting worried. I guess there were some news reports of several people getting killed in Herat. Funny, but I'm here and I hadn't heard anything about it. So I'll need to at least write something even when nothing is happening.

Lately, I've been doing a lot of stuff that frankly isn't a whole lot of fun. Monthly property inventories and accountability were wrapped up yesterday. This is monotonous and I dislike it very much. It starts all over again next month. I've also had to counsel some soldiers for being overweight and take the appropriate administrative actions. This is also not fun. One thing that is good is that one of my soldiers dropped enough weight to come off of the "special population" (read fat-boy/girl) physical fitness program. Not that big of a deal, but he has made a lifestyle change! That is a huge accomplishment, and I'm very proud of him. I've also been writing up awards for U.S. Navy sailors. By the way, all of my people in my office are U.S. Navy sailors. It makes it very interesting. Anyway, I've been working on an award which isn't fun either. It's great to submit a service member for an award, but the approval process is frustrating. It usually takes several rewrites to get it through. I just finished tonight, and I think I've got it this time. I'm also mentoring my Lieutenant. Sometimes it's frustrating because he doesn't know a whole lot. That's when I remind myself that I was once like that. It's uncanny because he asks the exact same questions that I asked when I was a 2nd Lieutenant and I thought I was the baddest mo' frappy on the planet. It's actually kind of fun because I made a promise to myself that I would provide mentorship and guidance to my lieutenants when I was a Captain because no one ever did it for me. Of course, I did this when I was a Captain on active duty, but I think I'm much better at it now.

Finally, a great thing happened today. We had an English speaking priest give us an Ash Wednesday Mass, although it was Monday. This is the first English Mass we've had in two months! That wasn't the best of it, though. After Mass, Father offered the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession). It felt good to go after two months without the opportunity, but that wasn't the great thing. After my confession I waited outside of the chapel for my friend to finish his. When he came out, he admitted to me that he had just done his first confession in over 10 years! Absolutely wonderful! He, of course, said he felt great. Of note, he did not receive communion during Mass and asked my why I thought that he didn't go before confessing, because he didn't know why. My only response was, "it must have been the Holy Spirit!" Not to wax religious on everyone, but the Holy Spirit truly guided his actions today; and it couldn't have come at a better time than the beginning of Lent.

By the way, any suggestions on what I should sacrifice for Lent? Lent begins Wednesday, so I have only one day to figure it out. I really can't give up alcohol or women as a Lenten sacrifice because the Army has already taken that away from me with General Order 1B! I need some help.

Enough of my rambling. Good night all.

Oh yeah, I'll get some pictures up soon.

Oblivious

It's absolutely amazing how some people are oblivious to what goes on in the world around them. Yesterday, after a particularly grueling workout I was walking to the shower when I was almost run over by a non-commissioned officer (NCO) driving a gator! By the way, I hate gators because everyone drives them as if the were racing a go-cart. Had I not seen and heard her coming, I could have been seriously injured. I was aghast because her and her passenger, both senior NCOs, were staring straight ahead and didn't even flinch or slow down. By the way, she was travelling way too fast in a pedestrian area.

Two days prior, I received a nasty email from my commander, Colonel B., that he had spoken to this same NCO who told him that she had not been given the mandatory indoctrination brief when she arrived last month. The indoctrination brief and training is meant to give soldiers, sailors, and airmen (sorry Dad, no Marines here) the basic knowledge of the standards and dangers here in our area of Afghanistan. The Colonel gets very upset when he finds people that did not attend this training. I was infuriated because I looked right at this woman when I gave my speech during the brief on Jan 9! I also had an attendance roster with her signature!

So basically, I got in trouble, and almost became a combat casualty because this NCO is oblivious to the world in which she lives!

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

I woke up this morning to more wind and now there was rain. I was going to inventory Armored HMMWVs today, but I really didn't want to be outside in the rain all day. I postponed the inspection until Saturday. Wouldn't you know it, as soon as I rescheduled it stopped raining! The wind died down too. Speaking of wind, I'm getting a lot of questions about 180 days of wind. I guess I wasn't too clear. Here it goes. Supposedly Herat and the surrounding provinces get an average of 180 days of constant wind starting late winter, early spring. Yes, that's six months of constant wind! I've always hated windy days. Even when I was a kid windy days made me iritable, and it still does. I hope that answers all of the questions about 180 days. Again, thats six months of non-stop wind!

Back to the rain. Once it stopped, I went to my room and like Arizona the once dry riverbed was again flowing! I guess I screamed loud enough because KBR (Kellogg Brown and Root) came to fix it about a week too late. Hopefully the repair has fixed the problem.

Oh yeah, did I mention that Herat gets an average of six months of continuous wind every year?

Day 1 of 180?

Tonight the wind is fierce. It started early evening and has not stopped since. I'm told that the 180 days of wind that Herat experiences each year is just like this. There were dust clouds rolling over and through the camp. I've discovered that in addition to leaking water when it rains, my windows and door allow some of the wind to slip in. My curtains have been fluttering, not much but enough to know that it could be a lot worse at higher wind speeds. I can't help but wonder, is tonight the beginning of the 180 days of wind?

Bald is a choice

I sit down in the barber's chair yesterday and say, "Take it all off." The barber replies with a chuckle and says, "Are you sure?" "Yep, take it all off." I just felt like starting over with all new hair. Not a big deal to me because sometimes ya just gotta do it.

By the way, my head is a lot colder than usual.

We are the V.F.W.

Our Command Sergeant Major received an inoperative Soviet anti-aircraft gun from our resident Marines. He gets the idea that we'll place this gun in front of my headquarters building. I think it's kind of silly, but hey, he's the Sergeant Major!


I feel much safer now because when the Taliban Air Force sees that we have and anti-aircraft gun, they'll think twice about attacking Camp Stone from the air. All the Taliban needs now is at least one plane for us to shoot down. They wouldn't be smart enough to use an aircraft anyway because they would probably just pack it with explosives and crash it. Then we would have a new term ABIED (Aircraft Borne Improvised Explosive Device).

All I need to do now is register Headquarters and Headquarters Company with the V.F.W. and I can get a post number!

Syd The Kid

I was missing my niece, Sydney yesterday morning. I called my sister, Kris, but again Skype was awful. Neither did I get to speak to my sister for long, nor did I get to speak with Sydney. Sydney may not have been too interested anyway. It seems, she was watching baby videos of herself because she is excited about a new sibling on the way. Kris is due in about three weeks.

I had written a letter to Sydney, but the mail has taken a long time. I sent the letter almost a month ago because she sent me a letter with a nice crayon drawing last month. The mail is strange because it seems like a package will move much faster than an actual letter. For example, I sent out several post cards at the same time as the letter, and no one has received them. However, I ordered some books from Amazon.com and they arrived within 5 days! Maybe my letters were blown up by an IED somewhere in transit. I sent another post card today, and Kris said she would let me know when it arrives so I can figure out how long it takes.

Anyway, Sydney is a lot of fun. She gets crazy when I go to Kris and Don's house. It's really great when a child is so happy to see you (Sydney is 8). It's even nicer because I don't have a family of my own.

Watch out though, because Sydney has BATS IN THE CAVE!! Gross!

Courage

My best friend called me tonight on Skype, yes spotty, shaky, frustrating Skype. Of course it was no better than it was the other day. Hopefully, it will improve with the latest software update (if I can get it downloaded).

Anyway, we had a great conversation. She is currently looking for a new job. I truly admire her courage and integrity. She left her company of eight years for her principles at a time when the economy is terrible and jobs are in short supply. I am relieved that she has gotten some interviews and has some great prospects for her future. She is very talented, and I have no doubt that she will find the perfect job. Best of luck to her in getting that new job, it sounds like an awesome opportunity. I will be praying a Rosary tonight for her success. I think the Joyful Mysteries would be appropriate.

I may buy her one of those awesome Dubai knock-off watches from the bazar for the first day on her new job. I doubt I'll be able to buy it with some Nestle's hot coco, so I'll just have to use some Dollars.

I always enjoy when we talk because we've known each other for almost 18 years and she can make me smile and laugh like no other. What a great end to an already fantastic day!

Love, Hate

Skype. What a fantastic technology. For those who don't know, Skype is a VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) system that allows phone calls through the internet to other Skype users for free, or to landline and cell phones for a nominal fee. I absolutely love the idea because I can call whenever I want from my room and I don't have to wait for a phone in the phone center. It is also great because of the privacy that it allows.

However, I hate Skype. For the past two weeks it has been very sketchy. I called my friend Luke two weeks ago and spoke for two hours, but I had to redial about every 10 minutes because it kept dropping my calls. When the calls don't drop I can hear others clearly, but they cannot hear me. Apparently, my voice goes in and out. It is very frustrating because people either hang up on me or 90% of the conversation is "say that again, I can't hear you." I'm downloading an update now. Hopefully, that will work. Gotta go, I'm about to head to my (worthless) morning meeting.

So say we all!

I'm absolutely excited. Doc just got several of the new Battlestar Galactica (BSG) episodes in the mail today! I feel like a kid on Christmas morning. We're sitting down to watch them now. BSG is one of the best shows I have ever seen. I am a huge fan. I'm kind of sad that this is the last season of a fracking great show, but it's better than seeing my favorite show "Jump the shark."

So say we all!

DURKA, DURKA!!

Tonight, I finally saw Team America. I couldn't stop laughing. A little crude, but funny. What they were able to do with the marionettes was amazing. I liked the Film Actor's Guild (F.A.G.) and Michael Moore as a suicide bomber. Speaking of that Anti-American, free-loading citizen, I saw another good movie; An American Carol. It is a great film that uses parody to show the outlandish philosophies of Michael Moore and his clan while at the same time showing that not all Hollywood actors are Scientologists and Radicals. It even has a cameo by my Mother's favorite journalist, Bill O'Reilly! A great line in the movie is when Rosie O'Donnel was quoted as saying [sic] "The Twin Towers was the first time in history that fire has melted steel." Where do these people get this stuff?

Back to Team America. (singing) America, freedom is the only way, YEAH!
DURKA, DURKA!!

Sunset on the mountains

I took this picture last night just before sunset because I thought the mountains looked nice with the sun and the shadows. Of course, like everything here, the beauty is polluted by the presence of ugly buildings and concertina wire. So, the majesty of the terrain is diminished.

Plagiarism Accusations

This evening I was accused of plagiarising clever references from my friend, Major Ritchie's, blog: Q8BJZ4-I am an Army of One, in my previous post "Water, water everywhere. . . " In a post of the same name on Major Ritchie's blog, he had used a reference to The Rime of The Ancient Mariner. Being far more intelligent than I, he was referring to the poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. I, of course, do not think in terms of classic literature, or in this case poetry. I think the same way that I did when I was sixteen. My mindset and frame of reference is, of course, Iron Maiden. So, I was not actually plagiarizing Major Ritchie's reference to a poem. I was using a reference to a heavy metal song ABOUT a poem.

UP THE IRONS! Maiden RULES!

(singing) Won't 'cha tell me, where has all the good chow gone?

Honeymoon period, well, it's officially over! The food was fantastic when I first arrived, and it lasted for over two months (the turkey burgers were incredible, of course they were never to be seen again). Lately though, the selection/variety is on par with previous meals however the taste and the appeal have dwindled considerably.

Get this; tonight was mexican food night, so I decided to have some tacos. Tacos without lettuce, tomatos, cheese, and taco sauce. Not because I didn't want such essential ingredients of a taco, but because they simply were not provided. I guess my idea of a proper taco is radically different than that of our kitchen staff's.

I'm usually not very picky about what I eat, but it's getting ridiculous how awful the food has been. I can't explain it. The cooks are the same and there doesn't seem to be a shortage of anything except white milk. Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR) provides the meal service here like they did in Kosovo. I remember the food at Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo being great for my entire deploymet. I guess KBR has decided to force some weight loss here at Camp Stone, because I definately will not be eating more than necessary to stay alive. I would almost rather be eating MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) than to eat another meal in the DFAC (Dining Facility), and that's saying quite a bit!

Water, Water Everywhere. . .

. . .nor any drop to drink. Yesterday it rained like crazy, if only for about 20 minutes. Usually not a problem, right? Wrong! My wonderful living space sprung leaks everywhere! It leaked under the windows, through the door, and believe it or not straight down the wall. As the river of rainwater was flowing through my room, I noticed at least 10 streams of water flowing freely down my wall. It looked like one of those waterfalls you see in nice restaurants, or blood like in the Amytivlle Horror movie. The repair crew was supposed to fix the seam between the wood and the concrete today, which was the source of the leaking, but I guess they were on Afghan time and didn't show up today.

Yes, Sir *sigh*

After a thorough flogging, I have been corrected by the Major. It seems that I have a typo in my P90X entry. I referred to Doc as a Physician's Assistat. Apparently the real title is Physician Assistant, so I stand corrected. Geez, some people are quite testy. You'd think I called him Fat Fulk or something.