just messing around

Thanks Colleen for the letter you sent. It was real nice hearing from back home. I got the pictures of dad and his bike. He looks pretty happy with it. All is still well here. I went out this afternoon for another sweat fest in the bradley. They really need to put some AC in there. Luckily they still have enough drivers so I was riding in the back. The diesel engine is up front next to the drivers seat so it is about the hottest place you can find. Our rotation for the UN guard is coming next monday. Ill take some pictures this time so you can see the bombed out buildings.

sept. 25th-ish

Ill be home in late September. whooo hooo!

desert brown

From reading the past posts you can gather that we do 3 things, guard the base, go on missions, or wait around as a quick reaction force. I was working on guarding the base yesterday but got pulled off today. With everybody going home on leave the bradleys are short on drivers. Since I dont have any DUIs and still hold a civilian drivers license this somehow qualifies me to become a temporary driver. I ride in the back all the time but I dont know the first thing about working one so this should be interesting. Gulf coast catering served up some catfish, sweet potatoes, and corn on the cob for lunch. It was a good change of pace from the normal fare. Everybody came over here expecting to lose weight but its just not happening. During the first Operation iraqi freedom in 2003 all the food came from MREs and many say it was an effective diet. People who were here the first time around have commented on how much better the quality of life is. For the smokers, cigarettes are only 50 cents a pack. Free laundry service is available if you get tired of washing your clothes in the river. The swimming pool certainly is nice.

to the left

pool side

confused

I was dozing in and out of my siesta today when someone came down the hall asking if anybody wanted to go swimming. Waiting for the punch line I figured it was a joke. It was not. It turns out the Iraqi army base next to us has an indoor Olympic size pool. I heard rumors about this place but no one in our platoon was for sure it existed. They were looking for volunteers for a guinea pig run to go see if the pool was legit. Ten of us grabbed our shorts and flip flops and climbed in the LMTV (large truck). Before we got there I was expecting a crusty cattle tank for a pool but instead it was a remarkably nice setup with 3 dive boards, 10 lanes, showers, and cool water.

this link was on the drudgereport>
Baghdad suffocates as sandstorm leaves Iraqi capital breathless

These are some views from my window to looking outside at the orangish red dust. It is keeping the temp down to a nice cooling 75*F. Thank you Ed and Evelyn for the package you sent. The cookies and brownies were still fresh when I got them. Everybody who tried them said that they were righteous and that you know how to cook.

poser

Cattle crossing

illegal music downloading

Pics 2

Donkey Cart

side view

The back of my head while planning the best route to burger king

Pics

the local crowd

me looking down the street

gunner of the day

#78

Sorry I havent updated in awhile. I almost forgot my password to get in here. In between watching european music television at the coffee shop and walking to the chow hall nothing eventful has happened. No big missions have been going on except for a few security patrols at night. Went to the gym this morning and worked on some bench press and dead lifting. I stay motivated to go because my roomate who is 34 goes everyday. He is trying to lose weight and Im trying to gain. Aslo my run time sucks so Im working on that too. Walking back from the shower trailer there was a fire on the other side of the wall that smelled like burning tires mixed with aluminum. Whatever it was, it was straight toxic. I think its the town dump and it burns 24/7 but today the wind didnt help. The mp's next door were having a party ealier this evening, grilling meat, and running around with super soakers squirting people. Being in an infantry company, this is an all male unit, so when everybody saw female mp's running around with water guns we had to go outside and check it out. I guess I picked the wrong military occupation.

sparkling waters

If you click on the link below you can find the temp. in baghdad. I tried to stay indoors all day but had to go out for 4 hours. They were short on people for one of the bradley vehicles so I got to run the weopons system in the turret. We checked out some areas that have been getting hit with car bombs. I saw a lot of cars but none of them exploded. The bradley is next to indestructible so its not that great of a target. I drank one gatorade and 3 liters of water during the trip. Hydrate or get an IV is what they say out here. On ebay I ordered some battery operated mini fans for times like these but they never showed. Turns out shipping sent them to the wrong place but I think Jackie fixed the problem. Otherwise everything is going well and thanks to all for checking in on me.

THE BAGHDAD WEATHER REPORT

CLICK HERE FOR WEATHER

Dangle

I found this pic on a website.



Quick reaction force is what Im part of today. We are sitting in our rooms all day to be on a 10 min recall if they need us. This usually goes down with us not doing anything until we get relieved. Ive been watching the first season of Reno 911 to pass the time. Once 6 o'clock rolls past we are free again to roam the area. There is talk of setting up cable tv in our rooms next week. I probably wont subscribe but the people across the hall will have it so Ill just sponge off of them if I want. The first half of this deployment went by fast enough without t.v. Besides I still have some books that I havent got around to. You know how that goes.

Chillaxin

The box from the Strnads and Alkires arrived yesterday. The roomates were happy that the deoderant was included. Thanks to everybody for sending the letters, food, and manzines. It was nice to read the letters and hear what was going on back there with all the family. I have the day off and now Im trying to organize my piece of the room with all the supplies that were sent here. In the photo you can see its kinda messy. My bed is on stilts and I usually just throw everything underneath it. With four people living in the same room its a constant clean up process. Its pretty hot outside right now and we are waiting for it to cool down so we can play some baseball. There is normally a good turnout of people to play in the evening. Happy 4th to all. Im out

Mohammeds burrito palace

Areas of interest were searched the last couple mornings. We went into about 50 houses and apartments looking for illegal weapons and bomb making materials. It was a coop effort with the Iraqi army and we were there just to watch and help if needed. I found some artillery shell casings on one roof but nothing else. Over here every man in the house is allowed to have one AK-47 for protection. There were all types of people we ran across. One section of the neighborhood was Catholic.

pass the Spf

Turret

We drove around in the humvees yesterday for 4 hours and didnt see anything. I got a good hand tan out of the deal. The trip was to go monitor a couple places that have been used for placement of IEDs. The people driving by were watching us more than we were watching them. Anyways it was too hot out and I think the roadside bombers were probably indoors staying cool.

Unicycle wipeout

Oh My God

I used to work at Capital Records Inc at night while you kids were sleeping and then take care of you in the daytime. I sewed everything for you and did sewing and alterations for people so I could make extra money and save some money and buy things that you needed. Now I get flowers from you on my birthday. It makes me cry because I wonder if you have the money. Thank you Lord that my kids turned out really good and are good to me. I sit during my free time thinking and praying for all my kids always hoping that you are alright and healthy. Now I'd like to say Thank You so much to Jacqueline and Christopher for the very pretty fresh flowers. Jackie you sent me mixed roses and other different flowers and Chris you sent me a lot of white orchids. Thank you God for this blessing and please keep my kids strong and healthy. Amen

Love always, Mom

iraqi police/national guard

It was busy at the gate this morning. Lots of haji coming up asking questions on everything from claims forms to IP/ING recruiting. The claims forms are needed when a car is damaged by an army vehicle. At least 3 showed up this morning wanting their cars to be looked at. Usually there is a translator around but if not these people just have to try and understand my hand signals. I found out why sometimes the men walk around holding hands with each other. Tiger, our translator this morning, said they do this when they are good friends. Sometimes when I was on the ING side of the base, some soldiers were holding hands like it was San Fransisco in the park. This is a crazy site when you see a guy holding an ak-47 in one hand and another dudes hand in the other.