Day 73

Today was a harried day of last minute details and changes.  Unfortunately, my day is not done yet!  I'll be up late tonight (for me).

I ended up skipping breakfast this morning because I was running late, but I had a wonderful hot chocolate (made in the office!) to warm me up.  I'm officially out of packets right now, but I can probably find some at a shop around the compound here.

I basically just worked on itineraries all day, with little time for much else.  I did read about American Airlines declaring bankruptcy, which was interesting.  The best tickets I've found so far for our vacation have been on American, so we'll have to see what happens.

I gave pumpkin a treat or two today, and she followed me around like a dog :)  She's pretty cute.  I hope she weathers the winter well enough.  I took a picture of a cat shelter someone had built.  I am told there are a few of them that pile in there and use it at night.  So that's pretty cute.  I'm glad people care about them.

Day 72

Another not so great day for Dan.  I got into an argument on the phone with an O-6.  Go figure.

Sigh.  This job just plain sucks.

I did learn this morning that Nick Willet was out here at ISAF HQ at some point shortly before I arrived.  My friend remembers him as short, stocky, back seater, call sign Oompa Loompa.  Funny how people leave impressions where they go.

I went with the drive team today to check out a couple locations.  I guess I always assumed it was my job to set up the meetings, and they would know where these places were.  I was wrong.  And they want me to give them a grid coordinate!  "Excuse me Ma'am, I know you work for the UN, but could you please give me a grid coordinate for your location?"  Not likely.

I'm stressed, tired, and cranky.  Afghanistan pretty much sucks.

Day 71

So this is my second time writing a post for today. My lovely laptop
decided to have itself a BSOD party, and lost my work. I'm ready to
sell this thing and buy a mac!

Today was ok, nothing terribly new. I think the biggest news is that
I bought a mug at Eggers tonight, and I have already made myself a hot
chocolate in it. Delicious! So I think if people are looking for
care package ideas, hot chocolate packets would be great. I will grab
a spoon from the dining facility tomorrow, but tonight I used my big
knife to stir it all up. Quite comical, I would imagine.

I made my hot chocolate, and then we all proceeded to the conference
room to watch our Professional Military Education for the evening.
We're not exactly sure what it was about, because we were playing
poker. I actually made out quite well, and would have walked away a
big winner. So that was cool. I'm still not very fast on the
betting, but I think my judgement was sound.

Pumpkin got a couple treats today, but no whole meals. I think she
will get those as treats. It might be that they can smell the treats
in my pockets, but I'm like the pied piper for cats around here. They
follow me around! I certainly don't mind, but it's kind of funny to
watch. Pumpkin even waits for me when I go into the bathroom.

Well, things are going to get pretty busy and crazy for me shortly. I
have a couple long visits coming up, and I'm somewhat dreading them.
Especially since one is notoriously hard to work with and please. But
maybe it'll be ok. For now I think I'll get some sleep. I'll share
more tomorrow!

Day 70

Well today started out good.  I watched a little Star Trek this morning, and then I went by the Post Office to mail stuff home.  Unfortunately, there was a 20 some person line OUTSIDE the post office.  They only allow 3 customers inside at a time, and it was evidently going to take forever.  So I decided I'll try to mail it tomorrow.

I went to lunch and then work.  I have started becoming confrontational via email.  So most of my regions are being reasonably cooperative, with the major exception being RC-S.  They keep bouncing the visit around to different people, not giving me any feedback, etc.  In fact, one of their more senior people called me 1LT in an email today, and I felt obligated to correct his malfunction.  I had to go tell my bosses, in order to give them fair warning.  But I'm getting pretty ticked.

But I got a Thanksgiving care package from my parents today!  And I can honestly say that I never expected these contents.  Cookies, yes.  Muffins, sure.  6 cans of cat food and a box of more cat food, completely unexpected!  But Pumpkin already thanks you for her can of turkeys tonight.  She was very excited to have real food.  It made me smile, but covertly, of course.

Other than that, my day was pretty boring.  I will have to wait and see what pain my emails bring me tomorrow.  Hopefully I'll finally have people come back to work on the east coast.  It's been very hard trying to work while I wait for answers from people who are taking a holiday.  Well, good night!

Day 69

Today was just another day to mark off on the calendar.  I would actually say that today was boring.  I am not getting information back from my trip planner because they're taking the holiday.

I did get a care package from Emili today, so that was exciting.  Snacks and batteries!  I am not doing great at consuming all the snacks.  Just as an example:  Emili sent me off in Norfolk with a bag of peanut butter M&M's.  Well, the package is mostly gone, but not quite.  I probably still have another few days' worth of grazing before I kill that off.  I didn't even finish my mom's peanut butter squares until last night.  So I have a long ways to go!

I walked through the Women's Bazaar today, but I wasn't that excited about any of the wares.  Lots of table clothes and napkins, which might be nice under many circumstances, didn't feel right today.  Certainly not for $60.  Even the women were a little pushy, but at least they weren't grabby!  Oh well.

I have been getting pretty cold in the office, so I decided today that the next time we go to Eggers, I'll buy a mug at the Exchange.  That way I can use the little water heater we have in the office to make hot chocolate or spiced apple cider from packets!  Anything to keep my hands warmer.  I am going to go dig out some gloves here in a minute.  Thank goodness I'm not cold when I sleep!

I made a new friend at the dining facility tonight.  She's a calico, and she has a tipped ear and a flea collar on.  She's been hanging around outside, just sitting there on the concrete.  We were waiting for someone to follow us out from lunch, so we were petting her, and she kept coming over to my pocket.  I think she knew I was holding out on her, so I relented and gave her a treat.  I had to be careful because there were lots of people all around!  I'm such a rule-breaker.

Well, nothing much scheduled for tomorrow either, except getting to sleep in a bit.  I can't really sleep in very well, so I'll just relax once I get up.  Well, I'm off to dig out some gloves.

Day 68

I woke up this morning and got to chat with Emili and Molly, who were celebrating Thanksgiving together.  So that was nice.  Then I watched some StarTrek as my roommate Kevin packed up his things.  He is leaving Kabul and being moved to Qatar.  So he'll have a much higher quality of life there.

Then I went for my massage.  It was ok, but she spent a really long time on my back.  Maybe she thought my back was sore or something, but she had her whole weight on my back.  It was ok.  I think I'll probably give it another try in another month.

Then I showered and went to work.  Once Thurmond came in, we went to the Bazaar.  It was supposed to be a friendlier experience, because the Base Support Group Commander had a chat with all the merchants about being pushy and grabby.  Unfortunately, I had a man grab my arm today, and I stopped, turned to him, and very sternly told him to let go of my arm.  He did, and he backed off a little after that.  I don't think that's supposed to happen, but it's part of the culture I think.  Thurmond ended up spending something like $350 today on crappy jewelry for his wife, mother in law, grandmother, etc.  I seriously wouldn't purchase any jewelry from the bazaar.  I'm pretty sure none of it is real, or else it wouldn't be sitting out on the tables in the open.  Scammers.

Oh!  I also received a care package from Emili's mom, full of good stuff like chocolate dipped oreos, gingerbread men, and some other goodies.  And I got a letter from my Grandmother and a Thanksgiving card from Emili's Grandmother.  All in all, a pretty good day for mail!

Not too much going on here.  December looks like it's going to be horrible for visits.  Hopefully we'll be able to catch our breath in January.  That's it for tonight!

Day 67

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

I am thankful that I'm safe, well fed, mostly warm enough, and that people at home care about me.

Today was actually a pretty normal day at work.  I decided not to go to breakfast (though I'm not sure why I was moving so slow), but I got a hot chocolate, so that was good.  I'll soon be able to justify a hot chocolate on any day.  First it was "because it's just once a week."  Then today it was "because it's a holiday."  Soon my reasoning will include "because it's Tuesday" or "because there is dust in the air."

Today I played volleyball again, and while I was extremely sore this morning, I actually played a little better today.  I was on a 2 man team, versus a 3 man team.  We actually managed to win 5 out of 6 games, so that wasn't bad at all!  Plus, it was tons of volleyball.  I'm actually quite sore already, but I have my massage in the morning, so that might really help.

Our PSD teams came over from Eggers tonight, and we went to dinner as a family.  A camouflaged family, but still mostly friends.  Unfortunately, we ended up waiting outside for half an hour!  I think it was just that crowded for a while.  But while we were waiting, I saw one of my friendlier cats running around carrying a rodent of some variety in his mouth.  He looked very proud, so I was happy for him.  I guess we all eat well tonight.

I ended up having a pretty quiet dinner because I didn't necessarily like the kid that sat across from me.  He's just a smug person.  As far as I can tell, it's not really warranted, but he's smug, and he bothers me.  Oh well.

So I hope everyone is having a wonderful time eating and visiting and being merry.  I do believe it's bedtime for me.  Good night.

Day 66

So today was interesting.  I find myself taking my first Motrin in 2 months!  But I'll get to that.

I actually met some cats on the way to breakfast this morning, so I took a couple pictures.  They must have been Italian cats, because they were hanging out at the Italian NSE building.  Maybe hoping for good mouse flavored pasta.

 

The morning was pretty calm.  I just worked a few issues here and there with itineraries.  No big deal.  After lunch, I got a package from Emili's Aunt Lorraine and Uncle Ralph!  They had made some cookie bars and sent me a bunch.  I don't want to make everyone at home feel too bad, but they're quite delicious!

After lunch, I met a group of people from PSD at our volleyball court here.  I had reserved the court last night for them, and they let me play.  So we played 3 on 3 for a solid 2 hours!  We won the last 2 out of 5 games, so I think we were improving.  But needless to say, I was quite sore afterwards!  I'm doing better now than I was immediately after, but the Motrin should help a bunch.

I'm getting tagged with all sorts of visits, either just the execution, or as supplementary help for people.  So I'm guessing people think I did ok on the first visit.  Tonight I got information that made me panic a bit.  I'm trying to work a visit with Capt Thurmond such that his visit and my visit would be completely separate, with the exception of a final meeting at the end.  However, I was told tonight that he'll be leaving early, and I needed to move this meeting.  Unfortunately, I had sent out 30 invitations to Generals and Admirals for this meeting, and I had a pretty good RSVP rate so far.  So I wasn't too excited about that.  But after we talked to people in the states for a while, we decided I should leave my itinerary alone and forgo the other person's presence.  So who knows.

I didn't see Pumpkin today, but TSgt Zuromski called to tell me he thought she was behind the DVQ building.  So after work, I went back there, in the near complete darkness.  But I was armed with cat treats!  As it turns out, it wasn't Pumpkin, but a smaller, much younger torty and a second cat too!  I have not seen them before, but they were cute.  Not socialized at all, so I couldn't pet them, but the one kept coming up and trying to bat the treats out of my hand.  So maybe with time they'll become more socialized.  I feel that they have made a home back there, and very few people go back there.  So maybe I'll work on them.

 

Day 65

Today wasn't too bad.  It was pretty low key, really.  I'm trying to nail down some engagements for my more immediate visit, while at the same time figure out a plan for the visit after that.  Not too much fun, but at least I didn't have a headache at the end of the day.

Today we did more farewells at Eggers, and it took FOREVER!  We thought we'd get back earlier than the previous night, because last night we had to sit through training afterwards, but no.  Same time.  But today we said farewell to a few people I worked with on my McChrystal visit, so it was nice to be there for them.

Other than that, it's hard to believe that Thursday is Thanksgiving.  It really doesn't feel like it here, but we're a very multinational organization.  So perhaps holidays are bound to be downplayed.  But I'll be thinking about everyone and wishing someone around here could make a decent pumpkin pie!

Day 64

So today is going to be media day!  I have a handful of pictures, and a link to a video to share with everyone.

This was my main charge for the weekend, General and Mrs. Annie McChrystal.  They were great people, and we really enjoyed working with them.

Part of what I did for this weekend was arrange a Women Leaders Round-Table Discussion.  I invited and had 10 women leaders from around Kabul come and discuss issues on women's rights, educations, reformation, etc. with Mrs. and General McChrystal.  It was apparently a big success, which was great.  These are a couple of the attendees.

This is the conference room where I had them all located.  It was really nice, and I think they enjoyed it too, because they were very talkative when I escorted them back to the gate.

I met this playful kitty the other day.  He has an ISAF collar and tag, and he acted very much like a dog.  I couldn't get a picture of him while he was rubbing on me because he was too fast, so another guy came by and petted him for me.  People love the cats!

If this works, this is the video we made that might make it on tv for the Cowboys game.  I'm in one of the front lower corners, kneeling down.

Our Video

Day 63

Wow, what a day.  While yesterday was chock full of changes, today was just normal frantic scrambling.  I can't say too much, except to say that it all went wonderfully.  I received compliments all around, which was awesome.  I actually have some cool pictures to share when I can.

But for now, I'm safe, I'm in my bed, and now I can rest until tomorrow.

Day 62

Wow, what a long day.  I got up at 5am, and I just made it back to my room at 10pm.  Looong day.

So imagine that someone has something planned, and then someone else, at 7am, declares the day a holiday.  So then nothing is open.  And you had planned to go to these things.  Not a fun time.

So all in all, today was a success.  However, I had to make about 10 itinerary revisions today alone!  So many things changing....man.  I'm exhausted.  We'll see how tomorrow goes...

Day 61

Today sort of flew by. I got up slightly later than normal, but pretty close. Then I went and got a really short haircut at the Spa. It's probably not that attractive, but I won't have to mess with it for a while, which is nice. I also signed up for a massage next Friday morning. So that'll be nice I think. I then got a hot chocolate from The Blue, which is always good. It's 1.5 euros, so I get one once a week maybe. But then it was off to work for me.

 I made a fair number of changes today, and got things mostly figured out. Around 3-4pm I went around collecting chafing dishes, sterno, china, and flatware. Then I got to lug it all over to Eggers, which seemed like a very long walk while carrying all these things! But it got there safely. 

Then my PSD team did a pre-mission brief, which was good to see and be part of. This is truly a unique experience for ALL of those guys, and I think they're enjoying it.

 Well, tomorrow I'm getting up very early, so I'm going to head to bed now. Wish me luck tomorrow!

Day 60

Wow, who could have believed that 60 days had passed since I had to leave Emili in a parking lot in Norfolk. It makes me pretty sad to think about, but at least it's about 2 months down!

If yesterday was boring, today would be quite the opposite. I told Kevin that I had to get to work early, so basically I went just early enough so that he didn't slow me down. Much better morning, in that respect. Then I went to work, where I changed the itinerary around based on some feedback I got. Easy enough.

Then we had our meeting at the Palace again. Most of the details are ironed out, but there's always that language barrier that makes a person not 100% sure that they'll do what they said they'll do. So you cross your fingers. After I got back from that, I was filling in details to the itinerary, and trying to shoot off emails to people who I needed feedback from. I got a phone call that my drive teams were going out for a route recon, and Col Fenton said I should go with them. So I had to put the body armor on and all that jazz, and then we went driving around Kabul. Not my choice, trust me. It's a crazy place, where public health education would go a loooooong way. They still hang meat up outdoors, and push around meat in carts. It's a sad place. I'd put it somewhere between Peru and Haiti, with Haiti still taking the cake.

We decided that two of my locations on the itinerary weren't good ideas, so I had to go back to the drawing board for those. I didn't get lunch either, so I snacked when I got back. But dinner was good. I had lasagna and french fries. Not that they go together, but I enjoy both. So yeah.

Now, if this works, here are a few pictures from the past few weeks. Now that I have the wireless network up and running, my phone uploads pictures on its own.

Day 59

Well today wasn't too exciting. My roommate was slow again this
morning. Go figure.

Probably the most exciting part of the day was when we had the Public
Affairs people record a message from us. The entire Joint Visitor's
Bureau got in a big group and shouted a message of Happy Thanksgiving,
Go Cowboys! A little part of my soul died. But we might be shown
during the Cowboys-Dolphins game on Thanksgiving. Or so we're told.

I did get my packages from home today, so I now have my sleeping bag,
router, magnets, and some new candy. I look forward to crawling into
the cocoon soon. Say that 5 times fast! I also got a letter from my
Grandmother again, so that was nice to read.

Other than that, blah, another day.

Day 58

Today was another average day. No big cancellations or anything, but it's a balancing act trying to work 3 visits all at once. Especially when the other Regional Commands are not doing what they're supposed to be doing.

I had breakfast with Kevin, then I went to work. I don't think much happened this morning, but I don't really remember. Ha! Rob asked me if I wanted to work out at 11am, and I agreed. I hadn't worked out in 2 weeks, but I still ran 2 miles in about 18 minutes, did 20 pull ups at once, and 50 dips at once. Then I did some crunches and handstands. So I don't think I'm terribly out of shape or anything. But it's good to find out I suppose. Today I weighed 77.2 kilos.

After that, I showered and got dressed again. I went to lunch by myself, since everyone had already gone. I ended up sitting with a couple medical peoples. One was an enlisted corpsman, and the other was a family practice doctor. And they were both Navy. The doctor had actually been an NFO, but after his commitment was up, went back to medical school. So similar to my situation. He thought med school was easier than normal Navy life, so that was encouraging to hear!

This evening I started to get a headache, so that's not fun. I think I may be a little dehydrated, and the working out probably exacerbated the issue. But it's another day I can mark off the calendar. Time to drink some water.

Day 57

Today started slow. Not because I'm slow in any way. I was trying to get my roommate going. He wakes up and makes old man noises for a long time. Grunts and groans, heavy sighs. So then we finally make it out the door, and he just walks slow. Granted, he's overweight and 57, but I was hungry! Anyway, they didn't even have syrup this morning, so I just had a couple hashbrowns and a yogurt. I'm glad the yogurt made a reappearance!

But work wasn't too bad. Lots of tracking things down, deciding the best place for visitors to park, etc. I also changed locations for a meeting, and it was a tremendous step up, so that's great. Oh yes, we got a new guy today. So I'm no longer the FNG. He's an Air Force Captain (brand new) so he'll learn the ropes like I did. Good stuff.

I was also given an arts and crafts project today, at which I excelled. We changed a document we use for pocket reference, so I had to print and laminate lots of copies for all the people we have. Not too bad. I also went to the woodshop and picked up 12 armor stands that I ordered a couple weeks ago. So I guess it was a pretty productive day.

We walked over to Eggers again today for more farewells. Four more people there are going home in December, so they got awards and roasted somewhat. We had some dinner there, and then I went to the PX and got a little section of carpet. I put it right in front of the bed so my feet don't hit cold floor immediately in the mornings. It also provides the illusion of some cleanliness. Illusion only, trust me.

I think that's about it for today. Last night I stayed up and watched How to Train Your Dragon, which was very cute. I enjoyed it and would recommend it. I'm also trying to teach myself some Italian with the Rosetta Stone software, so for now, arrivederci!

Day 56

We had an adventure this morning!  After I had showered, I logged back onto gmail and I simultaneously started watching How to Train Your Dragon (cute movie so far, by the way).  However, all of a sudden I heard a pop!  So I took my headphones off, and looked around.  I smelled smoke, which is never good.  It was electrical smoke, so I
looked at my international travel adapter kit I bought in South Carolina.  Of course, it was smoking and hot.  So I pulled it out really fast, set it in the hallway.  But it was pretty much toast.  Unfortunately, it tripped all power to our room.  Grrr.  So we had no lights, no AC unit, no outlet power.  So we went to the US NSE (National Support Entity, I think) and a guy walked back with us and showed us another set of breakers on the outside of the building.  Ours had tripped, and after we flipped them back everything was fine.  Unfortunately, I now had no way to power my laptop.  So Kevin and I walked to Eggers to the Exchange and bought a couple outlet adapters.
It's pretty ghetto, because it's a UK outlet I think, and we had another adapter, and a second adapter for US.  I'll try to take a picture of it later.  I think I may unplug things when I leave the room though.  It was certainly an adventure though.  I think we'll be good though, and I shouldn't need a power strip, provided all the outlets continue to work.


After that, we went to lunch and then to work.  More progress was made today, and it looks like things may come together.  So we'll see.  I had a good dinner with Rob in my office.  He explained how FTS works, Reserves, etc.  I was curious about the various ways of retiring, so it is marginally more clear now. 


When I came out of the office this evening, there were TWO cats waiting for me.  It looks like Pumpkin got the word out that there are good treats over here.  So I petted them and gave them each a treat or two.  The new (to me) cat was an extremely healthy male.  Borderline overweight even!  It didn't look like he was starving at all.  But it was a nice way to end the day.  Well, that's it for tonight!

Day 55

So I have a story from today.  I actually got to go to the Palace today.  I had a meeting with the Protocol to the President man.  So that was pretty cool.  I believe it's more than most anyone in my office has done or seen there, so I feel special.

But I also had normal work to do today.  Lots of changes and lots of fixes on my end.  I am getting pretty excited about one event I'm putting together, which I hope others share with me later.  I think I'll be setting a precedent for this sort of event.  But we'll see.

The other day, one of our enlisted brought in a whole package of Hooters calendars.  Not being one to offend, I took one.  However, I didn't open it up until I got back to the room tonight.  While most calendars follow a sequential pattern, these hop months all over the place.  It starts in October, then June, then November, then August, December, February, April, September, May, March, July, and January.  A little haphazard and non-intuitive.  Oh well.

In other news, I'm approaching the 1/4 of the way done mark.  I think 58 or 59 days is 1/4 of the total time, so that's good.  The time here has gone by pretty fast.  It's hard to believe I've been here 3 weeks already.  Hopefully the months continue to fly.  I told myself that I'd get a full body massage after the successful completion of each month.  So I'll have to find some time after this coming week.

Day 54

Today I "slept in" until about 7am.  Then I Skyped with Emili before she heads down to Miami for Corey's birthday.  It sounds like it'll be fun, and there will even be an inflatable BounceLand thingy.  After that I watched a movie called Grown Ups.  It had Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, Maya Rudolph, Selma Hyak, and other big name people.  But that didn't really make it good.  Sad to say.  But then I watched an episode of Star Trek Voyager, which was good.

Then I went to lunch, then into work.  I wasn't there too long when someone mentioned going to the Bazaar.  We have a big soccer field here, and helicopters use it to land and transport people around.  But on Fridays, local Afghan merchants are screened and then allowed into the perimeter of the soccer field to sell their stuff.  You would have thought that a truck carrying sunglasses and knifes was hijacked!  It was an interesting mix of what you'd expect (rugs, scarves, trinkets, etc) and western items (sunglasses, knives, holsters, dvds, watches, etc).  Rob Bowlus bought a $5000 watch for $25.  So we'll see how long that lasts!  I was tempted by some of the items, but restrained myself today.  One man was showing me his rugs or carpets, I'm not sure which, and he was telling me it was made of fox fur.  And another part was mink.  So I asked him for a live fox or mink.  We went back and forth for a few minutes, but he never got my humor.  His loss.

When I got back, I had received a care package from Charlene Delanoy!  It was very thoughtful, and we exchanged a few emails this afternoon.  Thank you!

Other than that, work was work.  Nothing terribly exciting or anything.  When I woke up this morning, my roommate Kevin said he was up all night throwing up.  I didn't hear a thing!  He had me send his work colleagues an email saying he was staying in bed.  Quite funny, if you ask me!  The other odd thing now, as I sit here, is a set of 3 seabags in the room in front of my bed.  I don't know who they belong to, but I hope they don't think they're staying in here tonight!  We only have 2 beds!  Well, I think it's time to poke around the shared drive, and see what goodies I can find.

People ask if there is anything they can get me....so......if someone was willing to download the Fedora 16 64-bit Live CD distribution, and possibly the Fedora 64-bit Scientific Spin.  Some of you will know what these are, and some will not.  And that's ok!  But I think that's all for tonight.  I hope to have interesting things to share tomorrow!

Day 53

Today wasn't too bad.  Kevin and I went to breakfast, because we're good roomies like that.  Pretty boring breakfast though.  They have not had yogurt for the last week or so, and that's kind of a bummer.  But I think I'll live.

I was happy to see Pumpkin again today.  I gave her a couple treats, which she gobbled right up.  I think her eyesight is about as good as Toonces, because she smelled my hand where the treats were, and then tried to nibble on me.  Crazy cat!  Not quite as resourceful as the cat that tried to shove his head in my pocket where the treats were, but she's a good cat.

I don't know if I share the laundry process yet or not, but here it is.  I put my dirty clothes in a mesh bag they lend you.  Then I drop it off at the laundry shack, and pick it up the next day.  It's been washed, dried, and even folded!  Pretty nice deal!  So I just take the stack of clothes, and shove them back in my locker.  It works out pretty well.  So I picked up my clean laundry today, which was nice.

I also got my first haircut in Afghanistan today.  I went to the Spa, and had some Russian speaking asian women cut my hair.  It was a little weird to see, but I thanked her at the end in Russian.  (smile)

Another good thing today....I got another care package!  The nice people at Epiphany sent me a box of Halloween candy.  It was actually pretty good stuff too!  There were full size candy bars, a Reeses peanut butter cup, some Whoppers, etc.  Now I have some good snacks at my desk in the office!  Thank you very much for thinking of me.

I ended up having a little downtime this evening, so I was researching all the duty stations I could end up at with the Army Vet Corps.  I think my top two choices for overseas are now England and Stuttgart, Germany.  The location in England is at a Royal Air Force base, and it involves some travel to Scotland, Ireland, Germany, and Italy.  Sounds like a nice tour!

Stuttgart, Germany is located only 60 miles from the French border, about 100 miles north of Switzerland, and is relatively close to Austria, Slovenia, Prague, etc.  It looks like a pretty neat place to be too!  Plus I've never tried to learn German, so that could be a new opportunity!

So that was my day.  Nothing else too exciting here.  Just counting down the days.

Day 52

Today was the first day I was really frustrated at the Afghan officials.  So if someone important invites a guest to visit, does it seem considerate to turn down a meeting invitation?  Well, that's apparently par for the course here. Great.

I'm in the new room, which is nice (and freezing at the moment!), but only 1 network jack seems to be connected to the outside world.  So I'm not sure what Kevin and I will do until Emili can send a wireless router.  I knew there was a reason I was keeping 2 or 3 spares at home.... (smile).  I actually can still get on the wireless network from my previous room.  So we'll survive.  I think they may even sell cheapo hubs (did you know you could still buy those?) at the Afghan market.

And today I discovered a certain cold weather shirt that I can wear under my camouflage and not need the jacket.  I think it's what Mark Johnson recommended, and it's awesome.  It's just a another layer, but it can zip up to be a turtleneck too.  So I'm a big fan, and it's only been one day!

I received lovely letter from Grandma today, and she told me about how her week went, day by day.  It's similar to my blog, which is neat.  She even offered to come out and pet all the cats!!  Thank you Grandma!

I also received a great care package from Emili's parents today too!  Lots of good cookies and Steeler stuff, so thank you very much!  I took a picture of my desk area now, with the Terrible Towel proudly displayed.  I'll upload it soon!

I think that's it for tonight.  I will now enjoy the new room!

Day 51

What a day!  So many things to share.

This morning I went over to the BSG (Base Support Group) and chatted with them about bringing locals onto the compound.  It was cold and rainy this morning too, so it was nice to go into their little shack.  When I went in, I was surprised to see a cat scampering about!  It was the same one that sat on my lap the other day!  And when I looked around the room, I saw a can of cat food sitting out for him to eat!  So I'm certainly not the worst offender.  I discretely snuck him a treat, and he was my best friend!  I was squatting down, and he jumped up onto my legs and was rubbing all over!  He was quite charming.  :)  On the way back from that building, I actually saw a cat shelter someone had constructed out of wood.  I'm not sure what nationality, but it wasn't the American place.  Everyone loves the cats!

At the office, I called the Army Veterinarian on the phone and had a lovely chat.  She got her DVM from Minnesota, and got an MPH too.  She also took advantage of the Army Health Professions Scholarship.  She outlined some details, but it still sounds like a good deal.  She actually knew someone who came into the Vet Corps with 14 years of Navy experience, and she was promoted on a faster track.  So hopefully I'll be in a similar boat.

Let's see, then I pretty much sat around work all day and did very little.  It's the Eid holiday here, so I can't really get in touch with any Afghans, which is about all I need to get done.  So that wasn't very productive.  I read lots of xkcd.  I also emailed Chris Brown and asked him how SI110 was going.  Hopefully everyone is going well.  It's a darned good course, if I do say so myself!

Then I stopped by the NSE on a whim.  Sure enough, I got a key to the room upstairs.  So I moved a few things, and I'll plan to move the rest tomorrow.  I think Kevin Hanley is going to be my 2nd roommate, which will be fine.  He's Rodney Dangerfield in accent and personality, and he's a really nice guy.  The good news is that there are only 2 beds in the room total, and it just feels like there's more space.  I couldn't get the internet port to work, which is why I stayed in my room tonight.  On the other hand, the guy's router in here went dead because he hung a wet wetsuit over the router.  Go figure, electronics and water rarely get along well.  So I think his router is toast.  I'm connected via the ethernet cable at the moment, but I'll hand it off to the next guy in a few minutes.

I think that's it for now.  I seem to have a lack of pictures of Emili, so if anyone has pictures they'd like to share, send them my way!  That's all for today, so good night!

Day 50

You know what they say about the "best laid plans."  Needless to say, a very large wrench was thrown in my itinerary today.  It presents very unique challenges, and things no one else in the office has dealt with before.  So hopefully I can pass on whatever new things I learn.  Along with the annoying, there are some neat opportunities to be had here too.  So I really can't wait to share later!

But I woke up today and I gchatted with Emili.  She gave me scoring details for the first quarter of the game.  Unfortunately, the Steelers let me down this morning.  I even had it up on one of the 60" tv's in the office!  And they still let me down.

I also got an awesome care package from Dee today!  I was very excited.  I even used my new knife to slice through the tape.  Thank you very much Dee!  It is very much appreciated.  :)

Other than that, it was a pretty calm day.  Pumpkin got a couple treats today.  I even convinced the LTJG in our office, Pam, that she looked cold outside.  So Pam took a box outside, and set it up as a sort of shelter.  I don't think it's quite cat-like, but it was a really sweet gesture.  I just hope they stay warm enough through the winter.

Well, I don't know that anything else was notable today.  Time to read some of Dracula on the Kindle.  Good Night.

Day 49

Today I didn't get to feed any treats to cats!  I didn't even see a cat until we went to dinner.  Kind of crazy.  So maybe they'll come out of the woodwork tomorrow.  I did, however, see my first collared cat here tonight.  We were walking back from dinner and a calico was outside with a collar and tag on!  So there is definitely a program here, which is great.  Hopefully they can continue to capture and take care of the cats.

This morning I slept in, and then I watched a couple episodes of Star Trek Voyager.  This is my little treat to myself!  I can't remember if I mentioned this before or not, but there is a HUGE network file system in place.  So far, I haven't NOT found a movie or TV show I'd like to watch.  Pretty amazing stuff.  Every Star Trek ever is online.  So I'll be occupied for a bit.  Even John Schultz would be happy, since Deep Space Nine is here.

Other than that, my day was uneventful.  I confirmed a couple appointments, and I decided on a really cool visit for my DVs.  I really wish I could go with them, but that's not usually in the cards for the Action Officer.  But I will share with everyone in a couple weeks!

So Emili and I are planning to take a vacation when I get back next summer.  www.ladera.com  I can get a 10% military discount on the nightly rates, which is great.  I think I'll head to bed soon, and dream of the Caribbean...

Day 48

Today wasn't too terrible.  I made a couple friends today.....with 4 legs!  Pumpkin got a few treats throughout the day, and then on my way out tonight I met a vocal black and white cat.  Very sweet cats, and then immediately begin to follow me after I give a treat and start walking away.  And while I don't think it was necessarily related to the treats, I found Pumpkin sitting in our hallway today, meowing very loudly!  So I got her outside and petted her for a bit.  Rose told me there is a pair of young kittens that come into her housing and play in the hallway at night.  They apparently curl up together on a rug near one of the doors.  We all have lots of seabags and boxes in the hallways, so I would imagine it could be quite fun to play among the obstacles!

This morning I had to sit through Basic Indoctrination Training.  Basically, people from the various departments came in and gave 5-10 minute briefs on what they do and how to contact them.  Not terribly interesting, and I definitely dozed through a bunch of it.  I also took my phone because there is wifi in there, and I surfed the tubez.  However, after doing all that, I was able to go pick up my real ID badge.  So now I don't look quite as "New Guy".  I've always found that it's best to blend in as much as possible.

Now, here are a couple pictures of my room at the moment, and a couple pictures of my new knife.

Day 47

Today was an interesting day. I'm starting to get solid appointments
for people, which is good. I am still struggling to get information
for a certain trip, but I'll make something up.

But good things today:

1) I was told I can use that empty room upstairs. They are just
waiting to get the keys back. So that is fantastic news. It might
not last long, but I can at least get the back bed.

2) I bought a knife today at Eggers. It's a pretty serious knife, and
I could definitely protect myself with it. Or open a pomegranite.
Either or.

3) I watched some Star Trek Voyager this morning. Today was one of
our mornings off, but we all got up to see Heather off at 8:30am.
Then I had some time to kill, so I window shopped at the closed Afghan
market (where I found the perfect cat statue to go with our hound in
the windows!) and then I went back to the room and watched some
episodes. Relaxing, for the most part.

4) Today is my little sister's 13th birthday! Happy Birthday Lauren!
I hope you have a wonderful day!

So today wasn't too bad. Wearing body armor and helmets to transit
isn't fun, but it's not always like that. So hopefully things will
get better soon. Well, that's all for today!

Day 46

So today is another day to mark off the calendar. Today had an
exciting event or two, which I'll get to soon.

I slept with the Bose sound cancelling headphones last night, plugged
into my phone so I could listen to relaxing music. Unfortunately, I
remember hearing the whole albums I listened to, so maybe it didn't
help me sleep quite yet. It's kind of weird, but even though I'm
getting less sleep, I haven't fallen asleep at the desk or anything.
So I don't know when I'll crash, but not yet in any case.

I went to breakfast, and then I came into the office a little early.
I emailed my contact information to the appropriate people in Kuwait
and also in Norfolk. They each have a certain degree of control over
my, and they told us to keep them up to date. So I should start
getting the newsletters via email soon.

But also in my email this morning was an email back from my detailer.
He said my resignation request had been forwarded to DC with their
approval! I'm so excited because now the Navy definitely won't
interfere with vet school next fall. I think it's great news!

But then it was work as normal. But when I came back from lunch, I
had TWO large boxes sitting on my chair! I got a care package from
Emili and a care package from my Mom, Dad, and Lauren! I was very
excited :) My family had included some good treats and snacks, as
well as my vet anatomy book and flashcards, so that was great. And
Emili sent me an XKCD book of comics, which is awesome! I had to try
to explain some of the jokes to Heather, but she just didn't get it.
She didn't know who Vanilla Ice or MC Hammer was, so I couldn't do
much with that. But it's tremendously funny, and I recommend it to
anyone who understands geek/nerd humor. But I even got a card from
Lauren in the care package, which led me to believe that she loves
school, and can't wait to learn more (wink).

But other than that, I petted Pumpkin a couple times throughout the
day, which was nice. And my itineraries are coming together some, so
I guess that's good. Tomorrow Heather is leaving, so instead of
sleeping in completely, we'll go say goodbye and help her with her
luggage. So I'll be there, imagining myself in her shoes in 6
months-ish. I'll cross my fingers....

Day 45

Today was a lost day of work. I got a tiny bit done early this
morning, but then the person I'm replacing, Heather Lane, came in and
had to write her Fitrep. Unfortunately, that took about all day. So
I didn't get to actually do work again until about 8pm. Grrrrrr.

However, I did snag a wall locker today, which is awesome. Now I can
put things up on top of it at the end of my bed, which will be nice
for the laptop, the kindle, the phone, etc. It was heavy, but a
really nice SSgt in the Air Force helped me move it from upstairs down
to my room. The room we took it from was an empty 2 man room, that
had 3 wall lockers in there. I asked him if I could move up there,
and he said he'd look to see. I'm not exactly hopeful, but it sure
would be nice. Nice and quiet, not on top of a rickety bunk bed, etc.
I'll cross my fingers and toes.

Emili was able to order me a sleeping bag and some magnets, so I am
looking forward to those. Anything to make the bed softer... I'm not
really sleeping well because both of my roommates make sleeping
noises. Either really heavy breathing, or straight up snoring. So
it's certainly less than ideal. Tonight the Bose sound cancelling
headphones come out. Hopefully that will help.

We had a going away lunch for Heather in the VIP room today, which is
actually pretty nice! It's quiet, the tables are set like a
restaurant, but the food is the same as in the normal room. But it
was still nice. She's headed into the "return home" process on
Friday. I say process, because this is what has to happen:

1) Catch flight from ISAF HQ to Kabul International. Spend the night.
2) Catch flight from Kabul to Kandahar. Probably spend a couple nights.
3) Catch flight from Kandahar to Kuwait. Turn in issued gear.
Definitely spend several nights.
4) Catch flight from Kuwait to States, by way of who knows where.
Lose at least a day in the process.
5) Outprocess at NMPS in San Diego for a couple days.
6) Back to real job.

My process won't be identical, but it was also take a long time to get
home. But I think once I hit Kuwait and drop the gear, it will start
to feel real. But it's not time for that yet. Well, not much else to
report really. Still lots of cats!

Day 44

Today finally felt like I was taking the reigns. I started calling
people and setting up meetings on my own. It may not sound like much,
but it feels like a big deal. My very first visit is shaping up to be
pretty out of the ordinary. Unfortunately, I can't share who or when,
until afterwards. So stand by!

I spent the entire morning in a training session so I could learn
about one of my computer accounts (actually, just to do the training
so they don't shut it off in 30 days). That was extremely boring, and
since I didn't sleep well last night (next paragraph I guess), it was
pretty hard to keep my eyes open. But I got through it.

So last night I spent my first night in the new room with 2 roommates.
One is a stuttering Army Major who habitually coughed all night. The
other is a contractor linguist who smells strongly of smoke and snored
through the night. Fantastic. Oh yes, and the mattresses are hard as
a rock. I think a sleeping bag and a curtain will do wonders. After
the successful arrival of the first care package, I'll be ordering a
sleeping bag and some strong magnets (to hang a sheet from the metal
ceiling around my bed). I might also get magnets with hooks, so I can
hang things, like headphones. Still no wall locker in the room, as of
this morning. So we'll see what happens.

This evening we walked to Eggers again, and had a farewell for one of
the Marine Captains who is a Mission Commander for our security
detachments. I think he was happy to be going, but everyone gets sad
to depart their friends. Hard to say how I'll feel at the end, but
right now I'd be ok dashing out the door! Well, I'm still at work at
10pm here, so I think I'll head out soon. Good night.