The Office

I thought you might be curious about where I work. So I took a couple of pictures. The second one is the view from my desk. Nice TV huh? War is hell.

The last couple of days have been like living inside a vacuum cleaner bag. Constant wind and dirt. The ONE cool thing about the constant sand in the air is it makes the sun look like white. It's hard to explain and the pictures I took didn't do it justice, but it looks like a paper plate in the sky. You can look directly at it without a problem. I have never seen anything like it before.

I am deep into my routine. Wake up, go to breakfast, take the bus to work, work, take the bus to lunch, lunch, take the bus back to work, more work, take the bus to my can, change clothes, go to the gym, shower, eat dinner, watch TV/surf the internet, then go to sleep. I have a couple of meetings and church that change the routine throughout the week, but usually it is the same every day......anyone ever see Groundhog Day? The routine helps the day go by quickly. It is not bad at all.

I hope all is well with everyone....and I hope the Vikes get some decent players in free agency.

Tony

Can You Spot The Diva?

Stephanie and her girlfriend took the kids to an aquarium. Apparently someone was cranky.....can you guess which one?

Guy got an award at school for "Always being on task and getting all his work finished." I can't get it to upload onto the blog for some reason. I am very proud of him. His Mom says he has been doing an excellent job as man of the house in my absence.

Everything is moving along here. The days are flying by. Valentines Day was just precious here. They made little heart shaped cupcakes at the chowhall.

I was wondering if anyone was going to visit Stephanie while I'm gone? I know it's not a Disney resort....but it's warmer than Minnesota/Indiana and the rent is very cheap.

How's the Weather?

One of my favorite things about Iraq is the weather. It reminds me of Forrest Gump, except here it is dirt vice rain. One day we woke up and there was dirt in the air....and it lasted for three days. All these pictures were taken at about the same time of day. At least it is warm.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Tony

Bow Down!!!

Stephanie took the kids to her friends house for a birthday party. Everyone had a really good time. Ava finally got to wear some clothing that is appropriate to her status. After a long day of ruling ungreatful subjects (her Mom and Brother).....even a Princess gets tired.

Beautiful Al Asad.

Guy's Article for the School Newspaper

THE SNOW DAY
I couldn’t believe my eyes last Sunday. My mom was saying “That they were so sure that it would snow but it didn’t.” But I proved her wrong. I went upstairs to get a better view. It was snowing so hard I could not see anything. I yelled to my mom saying” it’s snowing.” I had never known that it would snow in North Carolina. My mom was as surprised as I was. We eventually went outside. I stuck out my tongue and the snow tasted like water. First I made snow angels, then a snowman. Then suddenly my mom threw a snow ball at me. She did not know what she was getting in to. I quickly took cover behind the house it was too late to make a fort. I returned fire and hit her in the leg the snow ball fight raged on and I emerged victorious.

Technical Difficulties

I know it has been a little while. I have had problems with the text on the blog dashboard showing up in Iraqi....or Farci...or some other gibberish. I didn't know where to punch my name and password. It has taken me awhile to figure it out.

Everything is settling into a groove. The Marines that we replaced are gone. That has relieved a lot of friction. I am settled into my office and getting into a daily routine. It is almost criminal how little there is to do. I have 9 Marines that work with me and there is not enough work to keep everyone busy all the time. A lot of the work is warehousing. It is easy enough. The Marines I work with are good. I don't have a lot of problems working with the command. The rank of MSgt is pretty amazing. No one ever questions what you are doing or why. They pretty much just do what you ask of them without question. I dig it. Unfortunately, Ava does not recognize my rank.

I went on a tour of the base a couple of days ago. On the outer perimiter you can see smashed aircraft from the Sadam era. It reminds you of where you are. You can't get close to them. There are signs all over to stay away. The reason is unexploded ammunition. They don't want anyone out there trying to dig the artificial horizon out of an old MIG for a souvinier and getting blown up. ...sorry Jeff.

What is really amazing is how huge this base is. Besides Camp Lejeune I have never been stationed anywhere this big. They have a bus system for servicemen. Since it is extremely difficult for enlisted swine to get thier hands on a vehicle...the bus system solved the problem. The buses are driven by Iraqi's. They are the only Iraqi's that I have seen here. They are not rude...nor polite....they just kind of tolerate us. Come to think of it they are like most busdrivers.

The Super Bowl was a very big deal here. There was lots of junk food at the chow hall. They let everyone drink two beers. All Marines regardless of age. I slept throught ,ost of the game. We are 8 hours ahead of North Carolina so the game was on at like 2 in the morning.

There is nothing else exciting to report. The Iraqi elections went very well with little US support so that is a good thing. We are all unsure how Obama's intent will effect our stay in this desert paradise....but that doesn't stop everyone from guessing. I hope everyone is well. I will try and find something less boring to write about next time.

Love,
Tony

PS

I enjoy reading your comments on the blog. Please keep them coming....and will someone please tell my wife how to leave comments....she is technology challenged.