041311 Iraq sucks but Afghanistan sucks more!

041311 Iraq sucks but Afghanistan sucks more!

The last few days have been nothing but blowing dust.  It's miserable to be outside and even inside at the DFAC you can see a lot of dust in the air.  Last night at the DFAC all the fire alarms were going off since the dust is so thick  the fire alarms think that it is smoke and thus it's a cacophony of beeps.  The  dust isn't good either.  Next week there'll be a surge at the TMC (troop  medical center) for upper respiratory infections (aka Iraqi crud or Kuwaiti crud.)
The pics are from a nearby camp that a friend took.  They go through the same thing in Afghanistan but they live in tents or SEAhuts there.  At least we have sealed hooches in Iraq.  So yea, Iraq sucks but Afghanistan sucks more!
R/Chris

040511 Mud, dust and incoming mortar rounds

040511 Mud, dust and incoming mortar rounds

 

The last few days have been dusty and last night was very dusty (see pics.)  This is pretty typical and when it's dusty and windy but still not too hot (summer just started), it'll also rain (which really falls as mud)  but only enough to get the ground wet.  And even then any moisture immediately dries up.  Soon there'll be afternoon lightening shows and we'll see and hear the rain but the ground will never get wet.  And as usual, when it's dusty, we get incoming.  Above are a few pics of one sprung that got 'hit' the other night.  In one pic the round came in the big hole on the left, and struck the concrete in the middle and then produced a large exit hole on the right.  And all those little holes?  That is shrapnel.  Fortunately the sprung was empty (this happened at night) and no one was hurt.  Otherwise a 'kill zone' is probably about 100 feet.
Such is life in Iraq.
R/Chris

040211 02 April - Run, bike and swim...

040211 02 April - Run, bike and swim...

For the last month I've been running off and on in order to lose some omentum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_omentum) but my efforts didn't seem to be producing  any results.  so a co-worker recommended a different program that is basically a mix of  running, biking or swimming for minimum of 40 minutes a day.  If I were mil or a DAC I'd get time 'on the clock' to do this and if I were really fat I'd get even more time on this clock to get in shape.  But as a contractor I have to do it on my time.  Yesterday was my first  'bike' day and I went to the track to ride my bike.  It's against the rules to go shirtless  while running (or biking) on base but the track is a closed area so some rules are relaxed there.  It also took me about 10 attempts to get any decent pic of me on a bike but I've posted a few here.  Also the pool was crowded last night after work.  There some swimming  races and a few night BBQs going on.  It'll probably be that way every weekend until the Army pulls out.
R/Chris

040111 01 April - The official start of summer in Iraq - the pool is now open!

040111 01 April - The official start of summer in Iraq - the pool is now open!

Today is 01 April and the outdoor pool was opened today.  This marks the offical start of summer in Iraq.  Not all the bases in Iraq have a pool and if they do they are not as big as the one here at JBB.  I don't think there is ANY base in Afghanistan that has a pool (indoor or outdoor!)  The Olympic-sized pool at JBB is where Uday Hussein shot many of the Iraqi soccer team when they lost an embarrasing World Cup game.
http://www.joshalley.com/node/120
Now is just a great place to chill and even when it is 120F outside, somehow it's still cool by the pool.  Today (Friday) there weren't too many people out (see pics above) but it should be much busier this weekend.  such is life in Iraq.
R/Chris