21Nov10 The war is winding down, I now have to empty my own trash....

21Nov10 The war is winding down, I now have to empty my own trash....

I returned to Balad on Thursday night a few days ago.  Fortunately my boss let me have next half day off so I didn't have to be in the office until noon.  Did I sleep in?? No...I got up at 8 AM (slept in a little) and started cleaning.  The dust was everywhere.  I usually clean on a continual basis (a little here, a little there).  And so after cleaning for 3 hours I then got dressed and walked to the office. 

Now the 'sights and sounds' at Balad are much different from Irbil.  You'd think that a small camp like Irbil would be quiet but just the opposite is true.  Since there is no power grid there, everything must run off a generator and there are generators everywhere (big and small) and each is a engine running at full power.  So at Irbil there is a lot of generator noise but Balad is frankly quiet.  Since Balad is also bigger there is more 'stuff' always going on.  At Balad you'll hear general auto traffic and people but fortunately no constant generator hum.
Friday night was in bed by 8 PM (as I was still bit tired from traveling).
Saturday night was poker night (Texas Hold'em).  Gambling (on anything) is prohibited by General Order 1A which applies to both civilians and soldiers here in Iraq.  So all that all we can play for is pride.  I came in 5th which wasn't too bad considering we started with 10 players that night and I ONLY won 1 hand the entire night!
Also in an effort to appropriately prepare for drawdown and eventual departure from Iraq, we've been told that several services will soon be reduced in the coming months.  The first to be reduced will be the office custodial services.  Currently some facilities have trash removed and are swept twice a day and others once a day.  As of Sunday 24 October 2010, office facilities now have trash removed and are swept/mopped every other day (it used to be once a day.)  We've further been told that "You are encouraged to empty individual trash cans into larger trash cans and dumpsters in and around the office buildings if needed between scheduled custodial services.  Extra trash bags will be placed in the trash cans on the days when trash is collected." 
As the 'war' winds down, the Army is seeking to reduce costs (of course), so I now have to empty my own trash (but only every other day.)  Such is life in Iraq...
R/Chris