062608b Anaconda is now officially Balad and the Indoor Pool

062608b Anaconda is now officially Balad and the Indoor Pool

Camp Anaconda is officially now an Air Base and so the Air Force gets
naming rights. Now all along the AF has always referre to Anaconada
as Balad (and the Army vice versa). It's like waking up and being
told that those nuts you've been eating are now called 'Brazilian
nuts' and not... Well, if you're old enough you know what they used to
be called. So Balad Air Base (hereafter referred to just as Balad)
has two pools her here are some pics of the indoor pool. The Army/Air
Force has done a great job at providing some really great services
here at Balad and the indoor pool is great example. The outdoor poor
is twice as big and I'll have to get some pics too. Also it's getting
hot. Everyday now it's about 110F. It'll continue to get hotter. Eh,
it sucks yes. I was at the PX the other day and noticed some
chocolate covered peanuts in plastic bags. I picked up a few an felt
only one clump inside. Obviously someone didn't think twice about
shipping chocolate covered peanuts to Iraq in summer. A few years
back a coworker received a large chocolate bar in the mail. Basically
all the oils in the chocolate bar had been cooked out and what was
left was a lousey tasting powdery mess (but still in the rough shape
of the original chocolate bar). We threw it out.
So here are some pics of the pool and also a pic of sunrise that I'd
thought I'd throw in.
R/Chris

062608 Lawn Update and how much water does it take to water a lawn in Iraq???

062608 Lawn Update and how much water does it take to water a lawn in Iraq???

Well, the lawn looks great as it should and below is a pic of early
morning watering. The lawn gets watered twice a day, in the morning
and in the evening. Below also is a pic of me in front of the 10,000
liter water tank. Hmm, so I asked one day how much water is used per
watering. I was told that they water until 1/2 of the tank is gone
(ie, 5,000 liters of water). So some quick math and .....

Daily use water - 10,000 liters

Days of watering per year (conservative estimate) - 200

Total gallons per year - 2,000,000

Cost per liter in $ - $.1 (10 cents/liter)

Total cost in $ - $200,000.00

RHIP (you can google that)
R/Chris

062108 New Washer Trailer

062108 New Washer Trailer

The other night we also got a 'new' 'washer trailer'. What this means
is that people (soldiers/civilain) here at the battalion will now be
able to do their own washing. So some may say that this is a good
thing as the current service doesn't really get your whites that
white! Others (usually women) personally don't like dropping off
their 'personal laundry' (skid marks and all) with stangers. I've
been told that women's laundry is sorted separately from men's laundry
due to religious sensitivities. Many/most of the laundry workers are
muslim. I really don't care but this is again another step in the
'doily-fication' phase of the base. (previous phase was 'war phase'
- park anywhere, no damn speed limits, can ride bike on sidewalk,
'doily-fication phase - park in the parking lot, speed limit is 32
KM/hr, canNOT ride my bike on the sidewalk, etc.)

Anyway, here are some pics of the trailer being positioned into place.
These things are usually done at night so as to cause minimal
interference with normal operations.

R/Chris

062108 I've not posted in a bit/General Pics/Snake

062108 I've not posted in a bit/General Pics/Snake

I've not posted any update in a while as I've been REALLY tired of
every dang day being a Ground Hog day. I've been over here for over 3
1/2 years now and it can be wearisome at times. I do appreciate the
comments people post even if I cannot reply. Anyway, suck it up, pull
up the bootstraps, blah blah blah. I'm committed to this contract and
will do what I said I would do. So below are some early morning pics.
It's about 4:45 AM when the pics were taken so you can see that's
it's pretty light out. The one pic with the car should show the moon
setting in the distance (but it's hard to make it out.) The bunker
pic is just another pic of the old burned out Iraqi power generation
bunker. One of these days I'm going to ask to go see the inside. The
pic of the lawn is just a general lawn pic. You dump enough water on
something and it will grow anywhere! The last two pics are pics of
what the yard looks like where I am. As you can see this looks some
general commercial zone in the industrial part of any big city.

Lastly, last night (around 3 AM) I was walking around the building
with one of the security guys and we say a small black snake. The
other guy saw the snake better than me and said it had a big head
(viper) but wasn't more than about 12 inches long. Well he wanted
nothing to do with it but I took his flashlight and tried to hunt the
snake down since he'd disappeared somewhere between the AC units and
the building. Needless to say I didn't find the snake but it probably
wasn't too smart to be prodding around looking for a black viper in
the dark wearing shorts. The snakes here in Iraq tend to be generally
poisonous and aren't that big unless it's a cobra.
R/Chris

08 Jun 08 Sunday morning in Iraq/ Why no American Flag?

08 Jun 08 Sunday morning in Iraq/ Why no American Flag?

It's 0600 Sunday morning and there are more joggers out this morning
(as you can sorta make out in the pics below). A dust storm also
moved in over Balad around 0100 and it's pretty windy outside so maybe
the wind will pick up and we'll have a sand storm today. Even with
the dust, most people here I'd say are pretty dang healthy. The Army
does a great job of giving one about a dozen shots even before you
come over here. Also, AFN (the military TV network) doesn't have
'normal commercials but rather ones emphasizing eating vegetables,
using the MWR facilities and detailing the difference between a
Specific Power-of-Attorney and a General Power-of-Attorney.

Yesterday I happened to be thankful for such Army health services. I
ate breakfast at 7:10 AM and by the time I was done and walking to the
truck at 7:30 AM I had a serious full body rash and itching and a
slight tremble. Something I ate gave me a mild allergic reaction. I
went to the TMC (Troop Medical Center) and was pretty much seen
immediately, got a steroid shot and within an hour things were fine.
(I also got enough meds for 30 days but I doubt I'll take them!)

Also below you'll see the new flag poles outside the Battalion office.
Notice that there is only one flag (black POW/MIA flag). We cannot
fly the American flag here! There were units around the base that
were flying their state flags and the American flag but about 6 months
ago, they were discretely told to take down the American flag. Why -
host nation 'sensitivities'. Go figure.
R/Chris

07 Jun 08 - It's 5 AM at Balad

07 Jun 08 - It's 5 AM at Balad

It's 5 AM Saturday morning here in Iraq and the weather is...dusty.
Yesterday it was pretty sunny and soldiers were out running but on
Saturdays soldiers usually get day or two off every week so no one is
out running today. Below are just some average pics. One is me in a
bunker. I got a haircut the other day and the barbers here usually
give one a brief massage at the end of the haircut (which is evidently
the custom in Pakistan and India.) Having a barber start rapping is
knuckles on your head and massaging your temples usually comes as a
surprise to the uninitiated but you get used to it. Certainly the
custom associated with a haircut in Korea is much more of a shocker!
(If you're interested, google 'full service haircut Korea' and you'll
agree with me.) The big tomb-like building is a fortified power
generation building that has a big 'bunker busting' hole in the top.
All power generation on this base before the American invasion was
done in fortified buildings to protect the generators from bombs.
Evidently the building was no match for a guided 1000lb bomb and I've
been told its completely 'burned-out' inside and not worth repairing
so there it sits. Also there are some wicked thorns here. When I got
my bike I had 2 flat tires within the first two days. I used a bottle
of that 'green gue' to seal up the tires from all the thorns I ran
over. Even the plants here seem to say 'go away!' (and yes, those
thorns are sharp.
R/Chris

04 Jun 08 It's 4 AM and the lizards are out

04 Jun 08 It's 4 AM and the lizards are out

I've got a few more weeks of night shift and I'll be glad when it's
done and I am again a 'day walker'. I'm the only one around at night
except for an occasional security person to come around and of course
the lizards. The lizards are about 3-4 inches long and the other
night I snuck up to a lizard which was hiding in a crack in the t-wall
and grabbed his tail. Sure enough, the tail came off and continued to
wiggle while the lizard made a clean get-away! The pic below with
spots is just dust in the air. This happens when I use a flash at
dark. You can also see how tall the t-walls are. Also the grate that
I'm standing on is what we use to scrape our boots on during the muddy
season. That about sums up how exciting the night shift is!
R/Chris

02 Jun 08 Morning rabbit and Propaganda

I've been on night shift for about the last week or so and I think I'm
finally into a decent routine. I pretty much sleep all day and then
start my day at 7 PM and go till 7 AM. I then eat breakfast and go to
bed for 8-10 hours but I always wake up several time during the day.
There's not a lot of wildlife here but I have seen an occasional
jackal on base and since I've been on night duty, I've been seeing
this rabbit. He (or she?) is usually on the 'lawn' munching away at
the grass and flowers but I see him just about every night, I suspect
it's the same rabbit.
Also someone received a 'care package' of general stuff (mostly candy
and toiletry items from various hotels) along with 'feel-good
stories/God loves you' stuff. While it's really kind to be
appreciated for putting up with doing a job over here in this God
awful part of the world, from what I can tell from talking to soldiers
and other civilians we're over here to do a job and not espouse any
particular ideology. Yes, there are the 'onward Christian solider'
types who may see their purpose here as something bigger but I suspect
that there are many more soldiers who see themselves here since the
job is here and it's as simple as that. 'Soldering' can be a great
job but soldiers don't do everything so contractors factor in. And
some contractors do very well in this environment. Like a lot of
things in life, you just have to find your niche.
R/Chris