WEEK 11

January 15 - 21, 2007

This week starts off with Martin Luther King Day and for those of you back in the U.S., it was a holiday. I know most of the work slogans are now something like: “A day on, not a day off”. Well, for us here it was most definitely a day on. The dinner meal in the DFAC was the same as Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. We had sparkling cider, turkey, roast beef, chicken, ham, potatoes, et al. The difference was that the chain of command was not serving the food this time. They did during those other holidays, but not this one. I guess MLK Day doesn’t quite rate as important as Thanksgiving and Christmas to them. Oh well, slide me some more of that dark meat, I’m celebrating.

I shaved off my goatee today. It was about time I guess. After a couple of months, it had only grown to just less than two inches in length. I’m convinced to get the traditional long ZZ Top look; I would be growing that thing for 23 years. It’s not worth it; besides when I go running in the morning my goatee freezes up from all the heavy breathing and panting I do while running. I kid you not; my face gains another ten pounds of ice at the end of a couple of miles in this cold. Then I have to chisel it out and wait for the remnants to thaw. Nope, I’m back to baby’s butt smooth and I like it.

Last week Kris helped me pick out some new running shoes as we were collaborating online. Today they showed up and they are much better in person than on a web site. I love them! They are Nike Air Jagged Ice Trail running shoes with Gore-Tex. Of course I got them in black with the red and silver trim (I know, sounds a little gaudy, but they’re not) and cannot wait to strap them on tomorrow morning for a run. I’m wearing them around tonight to help break them in a little before the big run. I am so excited about these shoes that I am thinking about ordering another set right now. You know how it is, you finally find something you really like, but only buy one. Months or so later when you are looking for another of the same item, you find out it is discontinued or on back order from Zimbabwe and will probably not be shipped until sometime in March of 2009.

It snowed! I suppose I should say, it is still snowing. I got up this morning to go for my run with my brand new shoes and there was three inches of snow on the ground with a plethora occupying the air. Hey those shoes are Gore-Tex and are guaranteed to keep your feet warm and dry. There is no better way to find out if my investment is worth it than to try them out in these conditions, is there? Anyway, I started out on my normal route and came across a road grader doubling as a snow plow. I passed the grader which was on the left side of the road, there was a shuttle bus stopped on the right side picking up some people. Unbeknownst to me, another shuttle bus which was behind me attempted to go around the grader (as the grader is moving in the same direction) and just short of the stopped bus. The roads are sheet ice underneath three inches of snow and the bus driver in his haste to miss the other bus and grader bumps me as I am running. I caught this whole experience out of the corner of my eye and tried to jump out of the shuttle bus’s way just as he bumped me. I touched down on some icy spot, lost my footing, and crash landed into the rocky shoulder of the road and ditch. Before I had an opportunity to assess my injuries, I was up and chasing down the shuttle bus. I caught up to it and banged on the driver’s window as I shouted a multitude of verbose and well thought out statements that would have made Aubrey proud. Obviously the bus driver did not stop (I did get the number) and I eventually slowed back down to my pace to finish out my run.

Once back to my hooch, I assessed my shoes. I love them! My feet were warm and dry although the rest of me was covered in snow that was melting and dripping everywhere. I also took the opportunity to check myself over for any damage and although I had quite a bit of pain in my right hip and buttocks, there was very little noticeable damage. I’m sure I will bruise up, but other than that, I am fine. I will turn in the bus number and file a report with KBR later today or tomorrow.

It snowed all day long. We accumulated around 8” – 10” of fresh snow on top of our already frozen spots of ice and left over packed snow. It was actually quite beautiful, but very, very slick. To top off the snow, the sky cleared and the temperature dropped to negative temperatures. The last couple of nights have been -6 and -8 degrees F with highs in the mid teens during the day. The snow has that crunchy sound when you walk on it, but doesn’t pack. It just turns into a kind of snow dust.

Because of our new found white wonder, our internet and phones have been sporadic at best. Evidently it has been too cold for the Air Force to sweep out the satellite dishes and consequently too terrible to land planes at Bagram. I know this sounds like Week 4 all over again, but instead of waiting for Craig D we were waiting for our shipment of armor.

Our big armor shipment was due in Wednesday, but was delayed. We checked again on Thursday (Nope, the planes cannot land in the snow). Again we went to the FedEx office on Friday (Once again, no. Maybe tomorrow). On Friday there happened to be an American-looking guy behind the FedEx computer wearing a University of Delaware sweatshirt. I asked him if he was an American and he said, “Yes”. I asked him if he worked for FedEx and he replied he was the Regional Sales Representative out of Dubai. I then asked if I could lodge a complaint and then went on to tell him how much money we were paying FedEx for reliable shipments into Afghanistan and how disappointed I was with their ability to deliver. Obviously he told me the delay was not the fault of FedEx, but rather it was the Air Force who would not let their planes land on Bagram because of the weather. In any case, I was told in plain English to check back tomorrow. Well Saturday came and when I checked in at FedEx in the afternoon, the American was gone, but my normal Hajji was there and was excited to tell me a plane would land this afternoon. He asked me to come back after 1500 and he would hopefully have good news for me. I showed up about 1530 and the Hajji came up to me and told me my shipment was in, but they were still trying to find the second of two crates. He verified my cell number and said he would deliver tonight. At this point, I said it may be better first thing tomorrow morning.

This discussion confused the FedEx Hajji (one of these days I will learn his name, but until then I will refer to him as FH). He was present when I complained to the Regional Representative and now had a personal mission to deliver my shipment just as soon as he could even though he now had four days of shipments to sort through and track. FH told me he would deliver tonight and that he would call me. I tried to convince him any time after 1800 was useless. I learned a long time ago that raising your voice when trying to communicate with someone who speaks eleven words of English does not help the situation, however, my hand and arm signals combined with forceful pointing at my watch while simultaneously bastardizing Pashto with English and German words mixed in for effect were not convincing. I like FH, but his insistence to deliver tonight was not going to be denied and was only irritating me. I had no intention of waiting around the shop for hours hoping FH would bring my shipment, besides it was Saturday night and Saturday nights mean Poker. I finally had enough and told FH to call me if he was going to deliver tonight and then left. As I was walking away, FH called out to me: “We deliver tonight, Sir!”

The poker game starts promptly at 2000 L. Everyone who plays knows this and is surprisingly timely. I usually show up early to count out chips and get things ready. I was glancing at my watch just before the first hand kicked off and kind of chuckled that FH was not going to deliver tonight and I was glad I had not waited around. We were playing poker when my phone rang at promptly 2014. The number on the screen was not one of the few I have programmed so I surmised it must have been a wrong number and went back to having a successful night of poker by raking in a buck o’ five on top of my buy-in. Sweet! It may be a small amount, but I like winning and I am a very good winner!

I was knocking on the FedEx office door promptly at 0900 even though there was a sign on the door that said ‘Closed Sunday’. FH eventually opened the door, looked at me, and asked me for my cell number. He said he called me last night (here’s me beginning to feel bad) to tell me he was not going to deliver last night and wanted to know if I was available today (suddenly, I’m feeling wise!) for a delivery. In my best cavalier attitude (and trying not to smile too much) I asked him when he could deliver this morning. He pointed at the clock and said 1000. I nodded and said I would be waiting. When FH showed up with a couple of other Hajjis to help us unload our crates, he was very apologetic. He looked down-trodden and I could tell by his mannerisms that not getting me that delivery last night really bothered him. I almost felt bad again… not!

I’ve been limping a little the past two days because of my encounter with the bus and the ditch. I have this twelve inch circular bruise on my hip and ass and a bruise on my right elbow. I must be getting older because my enthusiasm to run right now is somewhere below going to Korea again. Maybe the weather has something to do with it. Maybe it’s because I don’t have Brian around to insinuate what a weenie I am. I have found another running buddy, but this guy is too nice. He wouldn’t chastise me even if I rounded up all of his personal belongings and set fire to them. He just runs; quietly. After one outing, I’m bored with him and back on the hunt for another person who can run the same pace and will chat simultaneously. Is that too much to ask for?

Well, it is Sunday and I’m gearing up for watching football late tonight and in the wee hours of Monday. That’s live TV for me. I’m actually pretty excited about it and I’ll take a little nap sometime this evening.

In case any of you would like some pictures of my experiences here and getting here, Kristine has a CD load that she can share. Of the few hundred photos that I sent I’m only in a few (thankfully). If you would like a little news about Kris and the kids with a few pictures, check out Kristine’s blog site: http://www.washingtonwithers.blogspot.com/

OK, since it is Sunday and this is page four, I’m finally gonna put an end to this one. Let’s see, teasers for next week: Will Craig break down and actually pay for internet? Hear how Craig becomes another year older and what he does on this historic day and finally, Mexican food in Afghanistan!

Craig