072608 Boring days until someone starts a fire!

072608 Boring days until someone starts a fire!

I've not written much recently basically because there's not too much
to write about. Everyday we work and there are some things that I
must pretty much do every morning and every afternoon and the rest of
the time, 'stuff' comes up. Everyday has also been hot and sunny. I
think I saw a thermometer yesterday indicate 118F, which while hot,
still isn't 'hot-hot'. July and August are the hot months and
September is iffy. It'll still be hot but there'll be some relatively
cool days that indicate summer is over.
Anyway, so the most exciting thing that has happened has been a fire.
This fire was in one of the housing units of the workers at the PX
(AAFES store). Fortunately, the wind wasn't blowing much at all and
the fire was contained quickly. A fire in a tent can be even worse.
With the wind blowing, I'm not sure you could even run fast enough to
escape a fire in a tent.
R/Chris

071308 Comments, Emails, Feedback

071308 Comments, Emails, Feedback

I get some great comments and feedback here on this blog. Thumper
left some great ones- Thanks, I'm also glad that Patricia commented
that she was able to see what Anaconda/Balad looked liked from someone
who is there- Thanks. I also get some email comments and YIM comments
that are not posted that seek to enter some political discourse or
some times people just want to vent a general dissatisfaction with the
war in Iraq/Afghanistan. I appreciate those comments too but I just
think it's best not to enter any political discourse here. A few have
made even more drastic comparisons/comments in their emails. And
again, I appreciate the time you took to make known your opinion.
R/Chris

071008 Softball - a very vicious sport...

071008 Softball - a very vicious sport...

Playing softball or any team sport is good. It builds cohesiveness
and you meet people that you probably wouldn't meet otherwise and in
an environment of team unity. I think playing softball is a
requiremnt the Army as it seems there are many Army teams. And since
the Army has to do mandatory PT, why not play baseball! I've not
played in years (uh, decades actually.) So in the first game I took
two dirt sumersaults and did something else to my right knee and right
elbow (hint, throw a softball from the shoulder!) Urgh, then there's
knife-fighting class. I took a hit to the face and got a fat lip
there. Hopefully by this weekend I'll be well enough to get beaten up
again.
R/Chris

070908 General Pics and Jim's Blog and a Weather Update

070908 General Pics and Jim's Blog and a Weather Update

The other day I had to do some driving around the base so I took a few
pics to give an idea of what it looks like here. What doesn't convey
is the heat though. Every dang day in the summer is hot. Sometime
it's hot and cloudy, sometimes hot and dusty, sometimes hot and clear
blue skies, but always hot. Eh, it's Iraq. One of the pics below
shows stacked twalls (in case you were wondering what those were.) A
friend Jim is a firefighter at Baghdad. We have a mutual friend in
the states and have chatted a few times. He's got his perspective of
Iraq and his blog is jiminiraq.blogspot.com (great minds think alike?)
Have a look, he's posted some good pics and stuff there.

I still get comments enticing me to enter some political dialogue as
if doing so will accomplish anything. I'm posting here to give my
limited perspective on a contractor's life at Balad, Iraq. It's not
right, it's not wrong, it just is. Neither did I join the Navy to
expresss any political bias and seriously doubt anyboday does so now.
I also read and appreciate the comments that people have posted but
it's very difficult for me to reply. My internet access can be
agonizingly slow at times, but I can always draft an email and que it
for posting to the blog.

We also now get weather updates. Here is today's update for noon (and
9% humidity!)
Widespread Dust 40°C /104 F
Humidity: 9%
Wind: SSW at 20 km/h
Barometer: 996 mb
Dewpoint: 2°C

R/Chris

070408 Floor Hockey, bugs and the ASV

070408 Floor Hockey, bugs and the ASV

So if one is still bored here at JBB (Joint Base Balad) after the
pools, movies, the gym, salsa dancing there is Floor Hockey! You can
read the article below but the point is, soldiers and civilans
certainly cannot say "there is nothing to do". The Army has done a
fine job at providing ample recreational opportunitites.

Evidently there has also been a breakout of beetles here. (Oh the
dangers of playing night-time beach vollyball!) A few years back it
was scorpion beatles. Scorpion beatle are harmless but they do posess
two pinchers as front legs (much like a scorpion, thus the name). But
scorpion beatle are Big. They are about 1-2 inches in length and can
fly. They also reproduce prodigiously. There were a billion of them
here and while walking to work you'd accumulate dead beatles on your
boots and be hit by at least a few of them flying. And after a few
weeks, all signs of them were gone.

Also below is a story on the ASV. In any endeavor there are lessons
learned and while during the initial boots-on-the-ground stage it was
tough on the Army, there has been much progress all around at Balad
and in Iraq. For most people in the states, failure to learn from the
past in order to change your behavior in the future won't get you hurt
(or worse). But life in Iraq is simply much less forgiving.
R/Chris

070308 The Outdoor Pool

070308 The Outdoor Pool

The outdoor pool is great! About a year back there was a general down
at Camp Victory (just outside of Baghdada) that decided it was'nt
right that soldiers at some bases had an outdoor pool to use while
solders at other bases didn't. So the pools were shut down. At
another time, a new camp mayor decided that nearly neked soldiers
lounging around a pool in high numbers presented a vulnerable mortar
round target so again the pool here was closed. Eventually though,
desire overrides reason and the pool gets opened. And wow, when it's
115F or so outside, the pool really is nice! (as you can see below).
Thongs and bikinis are not allowed nor are swim suits that are deemed
'too tight'. Yes, those 'host-nation' sensitivities come into play
here. The outdoor pool is Open 24 hours a day from April to October
and it's also about twice the size of the indoor pool here. Is this a
great camp or what!
R/Chris

070208 Change of Command Dinner

070208 Change of Command Dinner

Today we had the change of command dinner. This pretty much involves
having dinner in a hanger where ASV (armored support vehicles) are up
armored (steel plates added, etc) and then listening to a few speeches
and of course handing out some awards and trinkets. Below you can see
some pics of some of the people I work with and you'll notice that the
mil/civ mix is about 50/50. There are probably as many contractors in
Iraq (and Afghanistan) as there are military. The guy with the
'Germany' shirt on is from Germany but there are workers here from all
over. Coins are also a big deal for the Army (but not for the Navy)
so you can also see in one pic where some unit coins were embedded in
a flag box. The flag box is a US flag that has flown over the base
here and comes with a 'certificate of authenticity'. I've sent quite
of few of these flags out to friends as gifts so if you want
one....let me know. Perhaps we can come up with a trade of sorts?
R/Chris

070108 Orange Day and Speciality foods

070108 Orange Day and Speciality foods

Today is another orange day. The pics below REALLY show what it looks
like here under 'orange' conditions. Below are two pics that I also
tried to take from the same place to give you comparison too. The
good thing is that it's not as hot here when there's so much dust in
the air. Saturday was the first really 'hot' day of the year (around
115F or so). Saturday was also a clear nice day out. Today it's
cooler but the bad thing is that it's bad to breath in all that dust.
So no running at lunch time today. It's really not that bad to go
running in 115F heat as long as you soak your shirt and shorts in ice
water and then put them on wet. If you do this, you've got a portable
AC system good for about 30 minutes (which is about the max I can
run.) Also, there is a woman here who is from Korea and really misses
Kim-chi. Somehow she got some fresh cabbage here and mixed it with
some Hunts bbq sauce and probably spices and then put the mix in a
sealed container inside an unused fridge. That fridge has been
sitting out in the heat (sealed) now for about a week and I've been
told that after a few weeks of this, voila! kim-chi!! I think I'll
pass when she offers me some though. My food weakness is black
licorice Jelly Belly jelly beans! DANG, those are good! They remind
me of hanging with a captain when I was at Tallil...watching a movie.
R/Chris