Day 195

Today I pretty much felt like crap all day. I didn't sleep well last
night, and I think I'm battling a cold. Hopefully I feel better
tomorrow.

I don't really know what to say about today. I didn't do much, I was
bored out of my mind, and I napped in my chair. Sometimes the boredom
is the worst part. I did try on my new suit with the shirt I bought,
and I think it looks pretty darned good. But I may have a slightly
biased opinion after all. Well, I'm off to sleep. I'm looking
forward to the sleep-in tomorrow. Good night.

Day 194

Today was a pretty long day. Too many stupid people in this world.
But at least the day is over. I think we have about 30 days left
until we leave Kabul. Sigh.

Good night.

Day 193

Guess who has a nice new suit? This guy. It's pretty nice, and it's
3 pieces. I had it made it all black, and it looks sharp. I also got
a black shirt to go with it, but I'm not sure how I feel about it yet.
I think it could possibly work, but I'll have to wait and see. In
any case, you can't beat the prices!

Other than that, my day was very average. Average lunch, average
work, average dinner. Very boring, all things considered. But I made
some progress on two trips at the same time, which is good because
they're happening at the same time. Strange how it all worked out.
But by the time my birthday rolls around, I should be free of the
immediate visits, with one more around the corner.

So I'd like to pose a question of anyone that may be reading this:
what color tie goes best with all black?

Day 192

Well, I don't recall exactly how long my first deployment was, but I
think this one is now officially the longest. This is such a long
time to be in a foreign country (that sucks). But the end is in
sight. I believe we'll be leaving here in 32 days, and should arrive
home about a week later.

This morning I got all suited up in my body armor and combat shirt and
went with a volunteer group to bring supplies to an orphanage. It
felt more like we were giving to a charitable organization who then
distribute to the local orphanages, but it was still a good cause. We
loaded and unloaded a rather large box truck, which was a good
workout. When we arrived at the location, we realized that about 50%
of the boxes still had customs forms and addresses on them. Since we
don't give anything like that to the locals, a large group of us took
our knives and cut addresses off the boxes. That was pretty time
consuming. We also didn't take the body armor off at all, so I was
completely soaked in sweat by the time we made it back to Eggers. Not
too much fun. But it was for a good cause.

I also had a video teleconference this afternoon, which wasn't too
productive. My upcoming trip still hasn't resolved their flight
issues, so that'll be interesting. I almost think they won't make it
to Kabul, but we shall see. I feel like I should at least meet one of
them, since they've been such a pain in the butt so far. As far as
the meeting went, I butted heads with an Army Reserve Colonel, and I
was pretty amused. Certainly not my favorite person, but I haven't
been afraid of confrontation lately. So she's probably not too happy
with me.

Another day done. Tomorrow should be a pretty normal day. My suit
might even be ready. Good night.

Day 191

Today was average, I'd say. Nothing to good or bad.

I did spend some time this morning watching our PSD teams do some
drills with the cars, and that was entertaining to watch. I learned
some interesting tidbits too. For instance, if they have the car
break down with a General and his aide, they'll grab the General and
throw him into a second car, but the aide is really on his own. If he
doesn't keep up, he gets left behind. Kind of crazy!

Hmm, other than that, I surfed the internet, argued with trip
planners, and ate junk food. Nothing too exciting to report. I'm
going on a Volunteer and Community Relations mission tomorrow, so
that'll be interesting. I think we're giving lots of supplies to an
orphanage or something. I'll get the details in the morning.

Well, that's about it for the night. Good night.

Day 190

Man, MtDew was my nemesis today. I drank one yesterday, and then I
couldn't sleep last night. So today I walked around in a zombie-like
state. Not cool. I either need to drink more to get used to it
again, or just avoid it except in extreme needs.

But today was just your standard aggravating day dealing with trip
planners. I have been mostly successful shutting down the problem
child of the upcoming visit, but he just continues to push. I'm not
yet to that point when the parents are on the 3rd or 4th child and
they decide which battles are worth fighting though. Oh well.

I think the most exciting news of the day just arrived in my inbox a
few moments ago. I just got my separation orders from the Navy! So I
can, indeed, be a normal person again someday! Very exciting. It's a
little overwhelming with how much paperwork needs to be taken care of,
but it will be worth it I'm sure. Hopefully I can take care of most
of this stuff up in Annapolis instead of Norfolk. I'm sure some will
have to be in Norfolk, but the medical screenings and whatnot can be
done in Annapolis. But in any case, it's very real progress toward my
goals.

I also got an Easter card from Emili's grandmother, which was very
thoughtful. And I got a lovely audio card from Stacey! "Hi, hi,
hello, hello, hi!" Thank you for thinking of me. I know you have a
full plate yourself, so it means a lot to me.

I think that's about it for today. I'm going to catch up on some
sleep now. Good night.

Day 189

Today was a wet day here. I have my various uniform pieces hanging
all around my area to try to dry out before tomorrow. Who ever knew
that Afghanistan got so much precipitation. It has truly surprised
me!

I slept in a bit this morning, then watched In Bruges on my phone
while my Fedora updated. Unfortunately, I think the update changed
some things around with the Gnome3 desktop, which I had grown
accustomed to. So I'll fiddle with it a bit later.

I did go to the tailor shop today and try on the unfinished suit coat.
He marked some the shoulders with a chalk pencil and told me it would
be done and ready on Thursday. Knowing how the Afghans work around
here, that probably means Monday or Tuesday. But in any case, it was
visible progress, which was nice to see.

I went to Eggers tonight for the bananas foster french toast, which is
delicious. I might have to make this when I get home. We also did a
range safety brief and another brief or two. We aren't actually going
to the range tomorrow, because the reservation was never confirmed.
It would probably be a muddy mess tomorrow anyway. But at least now
we can just head out there when we get the chance. Now I've been
thinking about buying a Desert Eagle handgun....

Well, I'm going to try to dry out now. Good night.

Day 188

Today was an ok day. We did play volleyball, but I always ended up on
the teams that lost. I also got knocked down and hit my head on the
ground. Not too much fun there. I wish my coworkers were more
athletic.

I'm also arguing with my next visit. I was sent a list of changes
today, which I think are mostly unreasonable. So I flat out told them
one place was not even an option. We'll see what we work out with the
other request. I don't understand how they can all be so
unreasonable.

Anyhow, here's a picture of me in my combat shirt. It's kind of
blurry, but it's a different sort of uniform.



I am looking forward to sleeping in a bit tomorrow. Who am I kidding?
I wake up at 0600 or earlier most every day, regardless of when I go
to bed, or even when I have the option to sleep in. I'm hoping I'll
be able to relax enough when I get home to actually sleep in. Plus it
will be home, so that will help immensely. Well, off to bed for now.

Day 187

Today was an ok day, but nothing too exciting. The network is too congested, so I'm typing this on my phone.

Looking forward to volleyball tomorrow. Good night.

Day 186

Today started off with great news. I was accepted to the MPH program
at Tufts too. So in the same 4 years, I'll get a DVM and an MPH. Not
too shabby! I'm sure I'll be very busy, but it will be very rewarding
too.

I also got a package from Emili's folks. Thank you very much! The
cookies are delicious, and I look forward to some of the other treats
too. If only I was ever able to duplicate your cookie recipe...

I was assigned another, shorter fuse visit, for a very high profile
person. Unfortunately, the planning is currently like a soup
sandwich. They can't tell us how many people will be coming other
than between 6 and 20. That's not super helpful, and I can't do much
if they don't refine that very quickly. It's being sponsored by an
office here, so I'm basically only going to do the movements (air and
ground arrangements). It's probably going to end up being a disaster,
but at least I won't be responsible.

I did reserve the volleyball court for a couple hours on Saturday. So
the officers at our PSD will come over, and we'll all play for a
while. I think it'll be a nice diversion. We're also going to the
range on Monday to practice. So that, too, will be nice. I am
getting a little stir crazy, and I'm looking for almost any reason to
get out of the office. So these are good distractions.

Well, hopefully tomorrow is a good day. Good night.

Day 185

Today was a pretty good day! My face is pink from a slight sunburn,
but it was so nice to see the sun and a clear sky.

We started off with normal work, but that was fine. Then we had a
meeting about leaking information over the wrong computer systems.
But we had been invited to play volleyball with the PSD teams, but as
it turned out, it wasn't really for us. So we showed up and stood
around and watched the guys play dodgeball and then volleyball. After
all the enlisted had competed and figured out a winner, the winning
team played the officers, so I was on. However, some of the other
players on my team sucked pretty bad. I actually got hit in the face
with the ball from a teammate. Needless to say, we didn't win, but it
was still fun.

After that, I got a pizza with some of the mission commanders at
Ciano's. We were in our PT gear, so we couldn't go to the DFAC. We
sat in the garden, and it was very peaceful. I even saw Panda
lounging in the grass. It was a very pleasant afternoon!

I made some progress with getting my boss an upgraded badge, so that
was good. Then later we walked to Eggers for some farewells. We have
3 Marines going home shortly, and I'm happy for them. They all have
such funny stories after being out here for a while. I don't think I
want that many people at my farewell, if I even have one. Definitely
too many people. Oh well.

A pretty nice day, and hopefully the weather will continue to be nice.
Good night.

Day 184

Today was interesting, but not really in a good way. My DV never
actually made it to Kabul. In fact, they decided to bypass the whole
Kabul portion of their itinerary. So in one respect it was easier on
me, but in another, I wish they had been able to stick to the plan.
But it was mostly weather related, so there wasn't much we could do.

I was told that some of the PSD team reserved the volleyball court for
tomorrow, but I'm not sure they'll be able to come over to play.
We're locked down at the moment, and they'd have to be on official
business to get over here, technically. So we'll see. Even if they
don't come, we could play volleyball. It would be good to get out of
the office. Today I arrived at 0530, and left at 2000. Annoyingly
long day.

Not too much else going on, I guess. I think I'm in the 40's now, for
number of days left here in Kabul. I'm really just counting down
until I leave here. Some people count down until they return home,
but I figure once the journey home begins, that'll be good. But now
I'm sitting here and I'll watch a little tv before bed. Good night.

Day 183

Well, today has culminated in an interesting dilemma. I have 3 people
stuck at Bagram because of the sand/dust storm that has enveloped the
entire country, it seems. So I don't really have any idea when
they'll get out, but I guess we'll find out in the morning! I'm still
not sure if the DV party will arrive as planned. The dust is so fine
that even since the wind died down, the dust is just hanging in the
air. It reduces the visibility a ton, and no one was flying tonight.

I did get up the airport this afternoon (the first time our party was
supposed to arrive). We had a new Action Officer check in today, and
she accidentally left one of her bags at the airport. However, I
managed to find it when I got there, so that was at least one positive
thing that came of the trip. Oh well. I was kind of looking forward
to getting out with the drive team to the airport tonight, because
I've never actually seen what they do up there. Maybe another time,
though I'm running out of opportunities quickly.

Well, I think I'll try to get some sleep while I can! Good night.

Day 182

I spent most of the day in a depressed funk. Couldn't shake it,
couldn't focus on much positive. But the hours passed.

I did have a trip planner hang up on me tonight, which was pretty
special I thought. I don't know or care about what his problem was.
He hasn't been the most helpful person for this trip. It's a
relatively simple itinerary, so I don't see the issue. But perhaps
there's that slight element of me not caring. Ehh.

I'm just trying to go from day to day, but the biggest enemy is
boredom. I have been trying to get out of the office more often. I
went to the Embassy bazaar yesterday just to see what it was like. I
am going to the airport tomorrow, mostly for fun. I don't need to go,
but it would be nice to get out. I find I need the distractions.
While General Alexander's itinerary kept me busy and stretched my
planning skills, now everything seems quite simple by comparison.

I watched Willow this morning. I remember being much more scared
watching it in the theaters at age 7 or 8. As I watched it today, I
sat there thinking "this is a direct rip-off from Tolkien, Peter Pan,
and Gulliver's Travels." But it passed a couple hours of the day, so
it served a function. And now it's time for bed. Good night.

Day 181

Today was another pretty slow day, except today was St. Patrick's Day.
No green beer here (or any beer at all), but the Irish did set up a
party. So we had sandwiches and sodas this afternoon, and it was an
ok diversion.

My heart isn't really in this coming visit, but I'm sure it will still
go fine. I can't get excited about it, and I lack the motivation to
even really try to get excited. Oh well. It'll be over soon enough,
and the following visit might be messy.

Not too much else. I think I posted a cool article on my gmail status
message. Good night!

Day 180

Wow, 180 days gone. Pretty sad, really.

It was a pretty lazy day, really. I spent a great deal of it with my
headphones in, listening to music and either napping or reading
Dracula. Meals were unmemorable, as always. Wraps most of the time
lately. I did watch some Star Trek: Deep Space 9 this morning, but I
also dozed through it. So all in all, an extremely boring and lazy
day. I have another visit that begins in a few days, so that'll
occupy me soon. Most of the planning is in place now, so there's not
much left for me to do.

Well, I will write more tomorrow. Good night.

Day 179

Today was boring and uneventful, neither of which are really bad
things here. There has been such a string of bad incidents, I'm glad
to have slow and quiet days. I worked a little on my upcoming visits,
but then I surfed the internet a great deal. I may even have fallen
asleep in my chair today.

We said our farewells to Col Fenton today, and she went off to the
airport to fly home. So that was sad/exciting for us/her. I think
I'll hear from her again and probably see her this summer. She
thinks, for some reason, I'm an expert in education. Ha! So she
wants her kids to talk to me about schools on the east coast. A sort
of college mentor of sorts. Kind of funny, but I wouldn't mind.

I did sing in the shower a little this morning. I miss my privacy a
great deal. I miss driving fast down the road, singing to whatever I
want. Sigh. Oh well. Soon enough I guess.

Well, tomorrow is a sleep-in day, so that'll be nice. I will write
more tomorrow.

Day 178

Today was an ok day. I feel pretty good about where my itinerary is
for the next trip, which is good because it's less than a week away.
Hopefully it goes as smoothly as I'm planning it.

I don't think much really happened today. We have a big visitor here
now, which most everyone knows about. He takes up most of our
resources because his party is so huge. Oh well.

I also filled out some paperwork for the return home. I'm being
tracked, and I have a date of return and everything. So that's good
news. I'll still be here for my birthday, but I should be home for my
anniversary. Which is good!

Not too much else to report. Just another day in Afghanistan.

Day 177

I took today off from work, which was great. I watched Star Trek,
napped, ordered a suit, etc. Overall, a very relaxing day. Too bad I
need permission for these days off... but it will be back to work
tomorrow, unfortunately.

Day 176

One visit, three coins. Too tired.

Day 175

Man, today was not a great day. My DV's are stuck in a different RC
and didn't make it here because of weather. I was frantically trying
to put together a plan for tomorrow, and I have 3 different methods of
getting them back here. So we'll see if any of them work. It really
just depends on the weather, unfortunately.

Other than that, I'm pretty blah. I'll try to go into more detail
later maybe. We shall see. Good night.

Day 174

Here's another very tired update. I woke up at 5am, ran to the office
and checked on helos, then ran to the dining facility to make sure the
reservation was fine. Then I ran back to the DVQs to get the peoples.
We walked to breakfast, and then we walked back to the DVQs so they
could get their stuff. Then I put them on helos and sent them away.
I think most everything went according to plan today, which was great.
I think the weather is going to wreak havoc shortly though. They are
forecasting snow again for the next couple days, which isn't so good
for flying around

I posted a couple pictures on my google+ account today. Combat
gymnastics I call it :) But I had a great lunch and I will write
more tomorrow. Good night.

Day 173

Well, what a long and stressful day. I had many things happen today,
and I can't talk about a single one of them!

I did, however, watch the movie Thor this morning. I actually enjoyed
it, and felt the urge to walk around topless carrying a hammer.
Unfortunately, my hammer is a Stanley, and not nearly as useful as
Thor's. But it was entertaining.

I had a wrap for lunch, picked up my laundry, ordinary stuff. We went
to Eggers to farewell some people, but it hadn't yet started at the 45
minutes late mark, and I had to get back for my mission. So I didn't
get to hear any of it. But I'll live. I had another wrap for dinner,
but with bacon. I really try to live on the edge.

Not too much else. A VERY early morning for me tomorrow, so that's
not cool. However, I think I have a good lunch on the schedule for
tomorrow. I'll tell you about it tomorrow. For now, Good night.

Day 172

Another very tiring day.  Let's try a limmerick:

There once was a man in Afghanistan,
Who had about all the complaints he could stan,
Stupidity runs deep,
I'd much rather sleep,
I need to start out on my new plan.

Good Night.

Day 171

What a long day. 0800-2115-ish. Hmmm. Too tired to really write
much. Instead I'll write a collage of thoughts.

Afghan women's soccer .... handstands on rings ... confusion! ...
putting pieces back together ... stress ... not eating ... losing
weight ...

Bed time.

Day 170

Wow.  That's about all I can say about today.  So many ups and downs.  Unfortunately, the day ended with a huge "down."  My itinerary is about to fall apart because of an Ambassador.

I've worked pretty damned hard on this one, more so than any other visit.  It just doesn't seem fair that one man could decide to go to a reception instead of meeting with my VERY important people.

Lots of other things bother me, like reading something written under a pseudonym, that sort of thing.  Reminiscent of 1998.  Long story.

Anyhow, hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Day 169

So today was pretty neat, because our cat friend came back to the office.  He came in first, and I let him walk around for a bit and then I took him outside.  However, he made it back in a second time, so I just let him explore and stay.  Here are some action shots:









Pretty ferocious, right?  But I think it was therapeutic to have him in the office.  He was a little dirty, but Pam gave him a wash with a baby wipe.  Just nice to have him around, I guess.

Not too much else, really.  I have a couple back to back meetings tomorrow, so hopefully I'm not late.  But other than that, I wanted to share the cat pictures.  Good night!

Day 168

As of today I'm 75% of the way done. I'm pretty pleased about that,
and I cannot wait to return home. I hope the next months go by
quickly.

I had tried to get these images up last night, but the network failed
me. These are the two sides of General Allen's coin, which he handed
out to us yesterday. It's a pretty cool coin, as these things go.





I slept in this morning, which was very nice. It was a very gray day,
and it rained for a good portion of the day. I had a long meeting at
the Embassy for an upcoming visit, so that was interesting. Not
terribly enlightening for me, but we wanted to make sure the people at
the Embassy were doing their jobs.

After dinner tonight, I squatted down to pet the white calico outside
the DFAC. She came right over and was enjoying the petting so much
that she jumped up in my lap! I was surprised, but I really enjoy
that sort of thing. I think most of the cats here are nicer than the
average person I have to deal with here. So it's always nice to
relieve some stress by petting a cat or two.

I don't have much else to report. I'm thinking of having a suit made
here, because someone told me it costs about $100 for them to make and
tailor a suit to a person. So that could be a good investment. I
found a pretty bright purple tie, so now I just need to make a suit to
fit around the tie... sound reasoning! Well, I will write more
tomorrow. Good night.

Day 167

Today was an ok day.  I actually have a few pictures to share, if the network cooperates.

It was pretty much a boring work day, with little variation, except I made arrangements for General Allen to take a picture with the JVB today.  So we all assembled outside, he came out and took a picture with us.  Then, and this was unexpected, he shook each of our hands and gave us each a coin.  So that was really cool.





I took pictures of the coin he gave me, but the network isn't working well enough for the photos to upload to my google+ account.  So maybe tomorrow.

I think I will enjoy sleeping in a bit tomorrow!  Good night.

Day 166

Today was an ok day I guess. I watched a little Star Trek Deep Space
9 this morning. I know John Schultz really prefers that series to
Voyager, but I'm not sold yet. I'm not sure I believe in Commander
Sysko yet.

But then work happened. Sort of like the American phrase of other
things happening. It took me a few hours to catch everything up from
the flurry of emails from last night, but everything is in order now.
We're getting closer to the trip, and I have about all the airlift
taken care of, so that's good. I'm still trying to decide on other
backup plans, but I think I'm in good shape now.

So I personally had an idea, and then arranged something pretty cool
for tomorrow. Maybe the rest of the world won't think so, but I do.
Hopefully I'll have a picture and a short story for tomorrow.

As I populate my hard drive with TV and movies for when I get home,
I'm running out of ideas. If people would suggest favorite shows and
movies, I'll grab them and I can watch them when I am home again. I
think I still have plenty of space on the hard drive, so the sky is
the limit!

That's about it for today. I can't think of much else that happened.
So I will write more tomorrow!

Day 165

Too ... tired ... to ... write.  Kind of a rough day, but not too much I can talk about.  Enjoy these pictures instead...