My Dad’s care package arrived today. Because of the sandstorm all of our mail was delayed so today there was a huge pile in the mailroom. I goy some really cool stuff. Lots of food and snacks to include my favorites; pistashios, wasabi almonds,splenda, and M&Ms. I couldn’t eat it all before returnng from deployment. I shared with Mark and my staff. The folks I work with were quite excited to see the snacks we had a miniparty. Thanks Dad - everyone sends thir thanks. I my package was a Grundig shortwave radio. I grew up watching my Dad use his [View Full Entry]

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Holy sand batman. Today we encountered the worst sandstorm yet. There has been light sand for the last few days. This morning I got up and gathered my things to go shower and as I opened the door I was greeted with a wall of sand. The sand was so thick that you could not see to the end of the row of CHUs that I live on. I dawned my baclava and wrap around glasses and headed to work only to get covered in sand. It is almost like running out of a grocery store to your car in a [View Full Entry]

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Today my first care package arrived. I was so excited - like a kid at Christmas. Kristen sent me a package with my Army Times (weekly newspaper for the Army), some things I left at home, and Lizzie sent me a Mickey Mouse fan, and Cinderella Postcard. I am sure that my friends think I am a little weird, newspapers and a Cinderella postcard. It made me happy. Everyone who has read my blog knows that I have complained about the poor coffee and lack of sugar in the PX. We had several bags of coffee beans that the other CSH [View Full Entry]

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Father’s Day and my first day off this deployment. I planned to get up, after sleeping in a bit, and go for a bike ride on the ridge of the base. I woke up to the radio (walkie talkie) and thought I was getting a call. It was not for me but since it was the evening at home I decided to get dressed and walk to the hardstand. I called home and talked with my girls. That made my day even though it was 0300 in the morning. I slept until 0800 hoping to go for my bike ride. I [View Full Entry]

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Happy Birthday to the Army. She is 233 today. Since today is Groundhog Day we didn’t know that it was the Army birthday today until we saw the email from the Sergeant Major of the Army. Oh, Happy Birthday we muttered. The excitement came at chow time. When we got to the DFAC (dining facility) there were lots of patriotic decorations. The tables were covered in red, white, and blue table cloths. The ceiling was covered in streamers and the walls had signs with American Flags on them. The decorations were just the beginning - for dinner: Steaks, lobster tail, shrimp, [View Full Entry]

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A power outage today. The hospital is new to Al Asad. It was built last year. It has all of the modern hospital equipment. We have x-Ray, CT Scanner, Pharmacy, Laboratory, Blood Bank, ER, OR, and Dental Clinic. The hospital is wired with 110 volt and 220 volt power. Many instruments have been lost by plugging into the wrong outlet. I work in the Hardstand, which is the old Saddam hospital. The Hardstand is largely offices and very little clinical operation. Because it was an original building, it is wired with 220 volt only. The base lost power which is 220 [View Full Entry]

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Today we gained a new addition to the hospital - a mascot of sorts. Even though we are not allowed mascots under General Order 1 (the same order that prohibits Alcohol, Sex, Fun, etc.) we adopted a bat for the afternoon. A small fuzzy bat perched himself on the windows in the main hallway. He hung from the aluminum frame of a large window. At first I thought it was a huge bug but, it was a little bat instead. It was really small and cute. Everyone was really interested in it. Since there is not much to do here everyone [View Full Entry]

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Hump day. I used to go by the days of the week. Wednesday was two days until Friday, which meant time home with my girls. I usually don’t know what day it is. Our wives laugh at us because we don’t know what day it is. I have heard many soldiers say, “My wife/girlfriend thought I was giving her a hard time on the phone because I said that I didn’t know it was Wednesday.” We really do not know what day it is - everyday is like the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray. Every day I wake up at [View Full Entry]

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Today the weather cleared. The concert is on. Puddle of Mudd a rock band from Seattle came to Al Asad tonight. Everybody is glad to see anything other than work and sand. Mark and I went early to get a good seat. The concert was held at the old stadium build by Saddam. We secured seats in the stands - and what a good thing. The sand picked up a little and the band was delayed getting in. They arrived about two hours late so we had a long time to sit. Everyone on the base must have come. The band [View Full Entry]

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Another sandstorm today. A band was supposed to play for us tonight but they were not able to fly in today. Hopefully tomorrow they will offer the concert. The sand storm is really interesting. It blows sand into every crevice and crack in the buildings. You will spend hours cleaning and a sandstorm will blow through and negate your work in minutes. I suppose that you just have to live with it. [View Full Entry]

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