Skype!

Not sure if I have told everyone or anyone, but I have been able to communicate with Christina over here using a program called Skype. Not sure if it is very popular in the states or if anyone even knows what it is. For the sake of the blog, I'll just assume everyone is clueless about it.

Skype is a program you can download to your computer for free. Once on your computer, you can use Skype to make calls to other people who have Skype on their computers. These calls are completely free. To make it even better, if both of you have a webcam, you can make video calls so you can see each other. If that's not enough for you, you can pay a monthly fee and call home and cell phones. There are cheaper ways of doing those though.

Its a great service. It's perfect for military on deployment or kids away at college. We try to talk on there once a week. It's tough with the time difference, and our schedules. When it is good for both of our schedules, my roommate is usually sleeping, so we end up not doing it, or I resort to whispering. So we have only been able to do it a handful of times. The other problem has been that terrible Internet connection out here. It has gotten much better though. Below are a few pictures I snapped while talking to her. She will most likely be angry, so I'm sorry. I just couldn't resist. At least I didn't post them on your facebook ;)


Martini and Christina


Roo and Christina



Not sure what I said to get this reaction. If you have a good guess, please post in the comments.

Camel Races!!??

Three nights ago myself and another guy that I work with saw a poster hanging up advertising camel races that were going to take place at the base. It seemed far fetched to me, so I turned to him and asked if he thought it was for real. He looked at me and rolled his eyes as if to say "how gullible are you?". So I laughed, went on about my business.

We are currently getting in civilian contractor EMT's here on base. They have been riding around with us to learn the lay of the land. So anyway, the next day after seeing the poster, I already completely wiped it out of mind, this EMT asks me if I'm going to the camel races. I looked at him kind of perplexed, and told him I'm pretty sure someone was playing a joke. He assured me it was no joke and he knew of people driving more than 2 hours from other bases out here to watch the races.

So now I'm curious. So we drive out to the location on base where the race was supposed to be and there are at least a thousand Army soldiers converged around the track usually used for running. They are all armed with their cameras waiting patiently. No camels anywhere in sight, it's pitch black. To me, it's obvious someone played a joke, especially because of my job, I am always privy to things like this weeks and months in advance.

So myself and the guys in the car with me start trying to figure out who played the joke. About 20 yards from the group of bystanders is about 10 guys laughing hysterically video taping the whole thing. That must be them. I pull up and ask them if they knew anything about it, and they start laughing louder. One guy says "I don't know who it was, but whoever it was, they are a genius"

People actually waited out there for about an hour and a half before they finally realized it was a joke. An hour and a half. Seriously? A group of people stopped me during the mass exodus and accused the Navy of playing the joke on the Army guys since no Navy showed up. We didn't, but we sure didn't fall for it, and we sure enjoyed watching it go down.

Catchpenny

The band Catchpenny came out and put on a great show last night. They are from Minnesota, and it's there 7th time coming out to do shows for the troops in the last 2 years. They were really cool and down to earth guys.

Move over Humvee!

From what I've been seeing around here lately, It appears the Humvee may have fought its final battle. I'm seeing less and less Humvee's and more and more MRAPS (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected). These things are beasts. The only thing that I could see being a problem, although I've never driven one, is there shape and size. I can see it tipping over on uneven terrain more than a humvee would, and it may also be harder to navigate through an urban setting with one of these. But, that same size and shape is the likely reason they are mine resistant. I'm gonna have to do some poking around and see if I can score a ride on one of these!

The HA HA's

Olivia Arrington, Thea Vidale and Paul Myrchaus came out to Kuwait yesterday. They put on a great show. You might recognize Thea, she has been on quite a few TV shows. I'd have to say I found the lesser known Olivia and Paul a little more funny. Overall the show was entertaining, there was a good turn out and it looked like everyone enjoyed themselves!

Labor Day

Hope everyone enjoyed their Labor Day. For most, the holiday is a day of rest, reflection and relaxation. Maybe a BBQ or some housework they've been putting off. The Army, on the other hand, thinks Labor Day is the perfect time to add another 5k "fun run" to this weeks schedule. Now that I've been here for a few months I'm beginning to see a pattern that the Army thinks that's the best way to celebrate all holidays. For example, 9/11 is coming up, and to recognize the day, they've scheduled a 5k. So that's 3 for the week. We all know how much I enjoy these runs. In October they are planning a 10 mile run. I am really dreading that. It's gonna be tough to control traffic for that.

Also happening this week, I got a new supervisor. Our old one got a new job and was transferred to another base. The new one is coming from Camp Arifjan. He was in the training with Ft. Lewis with me, but I don't know much about him, or how he likes to run things. Hopefully he doesn't come in and make too many changes. From past experience, I've seen new leaders come in and make a drastic change to cement their place as the person in charge.

At the end of last week, I called all of the guys from the night shift in so I could hold an intervention of sorts. First because, we have had some deficiencies as of late, and second because the change in the chain of command. The deficiencies, while all minor, were occurring too often. Little things like being consistently late to work, not properly filling out paperwork, losing equipment, and just an overall lack of effort. So, I just got everyone together to try to get their heads out of the clouds and back into the game. My fear is that if others in the organization start to see a trend in these deficiencies, they will begin to micro manage the shift. That is the last thing I want, and most certainly the last thing the junior guys want because as we know, "it" rolls downhill. It seemed that everyone agreed that we need to put forth a better effort, and look out for each other. So hopefully the meeting worked and I don't have to turn into a dictator to get things done around here. But if I have to, to keep the brass off my back, and accomplish the mission then so be it.

PS: It's still hot during the day here, todays high was 115, but man, the nights sure have cooled off. Good thing I'm sleeping during the hot stuff.

Groundhogs Day

Not too much new to report out here. Ramadan has begun, but it hasn't really affected us much here on base. Most of the employees on base are from India, so it hasn't affected our eating times or trouble calls for maintanence related things. Other than that, it's pretty much the same thing different day. I guess thats a good thing around here though.