Depending on your version of great weather, mine has been too hot. It’s consistently been in the upper 80s with occasional 90 F days and has been absolutely arid. My hygrometer swears its 11% humidity outside, but I no longer believe it. I think I’ll order a new one from Radio Shack. I just want to know where the weather is that comes up on the Weather Underground website. That thing tells me we are overcast and in the mid to upper 70s.
Speaking of hot, Ed and I are preparing for the upcoming Cinco de Mayo celebration this week. We are acquiring foods and sipping beer to be in shape. Not that I need a special occasion to eat and drink a little beer, but when one comes along, I like to be ready. We are also throwing our trash and crap around and not pulling weeds and so forth. I want it to look just like Juarez for the 5th of May for the authentic feel.
Our fabulous J6 guys are no longer so fabulous. They have begun to reconstruct the interior of their building and no longer have a private little room for Ed and me to perform our weekly conversations with our company. They said they are sorry, but I think it is just a way to keep from helping us out. I know, I seem negative about a lot, but we’re civilians and we cause a couple of the soldiers to let us in and set up the line for us (we cannot do it ourselves because we’re civilians). Not that any of that is hard, it’s just inconvenient. I guess we’ll resort to using our 51 cents-a-minute cell phones.
We had a power outage! Ed and I were back from the shop for about a half hour; just enough time to start checking email and such when the power went out. Completely! Our internet went out with it. Since it was around 1930 when this happened, it was nearly dark. Fortunately we were armed with flashlights and could still function, but were somewhat limited. We decided to watch a movie on my computer and I went over to ask Ryan Biggs if he would like to join us. Biggs followed me back and mentioned that the power outage was planned to start at 2000 and was supposed to last until 0500 the next morning. He told me the information came out on SIPR yesterday. Hhhmmm.
In any case, we popped in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and were sipping some cool Bagram Backside Bitter when the power came back on. It was about 2200 and the lights were not helping us finish our movie watching experience so back off they went. The good part about the power returning was the ability to power the laptop as I was unsure if my battery was going to make it until the end of the movie. After the movie, we called it a night. I mentioned to Ed that we needed to acquire some light sticks for the next planned outage. Furthermore, why don’t they plan the outage beginning at a time like 2300 and run it to 0500. Hardly anyone would notice except for the night shift. Who’s running this place, the Navy?!
We are in a working frenzy to complete our vehicles. I was hoping to have them done by now (I targeted the end of April months ago), but the end of the week is promising. Nothing really happens around here before nine in the morning and the days seem to progress at a moderate pace until 1730. Ed and I find the evenings the best time to work as the temperature drops into the 70s and is much more bearable when working with air and power tools, not to mention a welder, which generate heat. Anyway, our work day starts at 0900 (this is after our 0600 workout/run time, shower, breakfast, etc. and runs until about 2100. Why the rush? Well, it’s primarily to put these vehicles into the hands of the soldiers who need them. Another reason is that we can see the end of the tunnel and I just want to be through it and done. Our departure from this seventh heaven has no bearing on how quickly we finish the vehicles, but it would be nice to have a couple of months with a lot of downtime.
When that opportunity arises, I’m thinking about taking a trip to the Northern end of Bagram. Maybe snatch a few rays, take in a little dust, and grab a moderately cool ice tea from the PX located in that area. I may even take Ed with me; who knows. Better yet, we could plant ourselves on top of our building in our nylon chairs and survey the goings-on. Obviously I would need a rather large umbrella or we would need to build some type of cover to provide a whole lot of shade. That could turn into a lot of work.
Our SF guys are out of here. They have been training with the U.A.E. who are about as advanced as our Boy Scouts. In any case, they have been packing for an extended mission away from here. They departed at O-dark-30, leaving one guy behind to maintain their remaining stuff and building and coordinate resupply of items forward. It’s back to being eerily quiet around our shop.
We still do not have our GWOT Trot shirts. The trot was on the 14th of April and we were told then the shirts would be available in 2-3 days. Ed and I have been checking weekly with the unit that organized the event. They keep telling us next Tuesday or come back Friday or next week. As nice as I am and have been, I am beginning to get a little irritated. I didn’t plop down $10 to run, I spent those dollars to get the shirt (oh yeah, and provide funds for the scholarships). I know there is no way I’ll get my $10 back, so I haven’t even asked about it. It’s not like the shirt is some stellar item that everyone who is anyone is wearing in Monaco. It’s just a tan, cotton, silk-screened shirt with babble on it that is a testament to my 42 minutes of suffering. I just want it.
Our U.S. death toll is on the rise here. Everyone told us that the Taliban come back out of their winter retreats in April and fight through the beginning of October. For some conspicuous reason, their resurgence coincides with the poppy growing cycle here in Afghanistan. Hhhmmm. I know we have a Poppy Eradication Team (PET) here (that is where and how the Taliban acquire much of their funds: through the sale of Opium either by buying harvested Opium or by stealing it and shipping it out of here). Anyway the PET destroys the poppy fields primarily by mowing them which means we have to get the equipment there to “mow” the fields. Yes, we know where the fields are, but do not have enough equipment to station our “mowers” throughout the country. Uh huh, the Taliban do not like the PET or the mowers, and by the way, neither do the local farmers who actually grow the poppies. We’re not winning many hearts and minds with this program. This means that our effectiveness (in my opinion) is nil.
You would think that a country that is as technologically advanced as we (the U.S.) are would have a better way to eradicate the poppy fields. Surely we could air drop acres of something like Round-Up specifically for poppies, but that would require slow, low-flying planes all over the country. Burning is out of the question as the locals live among their fields and we would not want to endanger a civilian who may sell his harvest to the Taliban. What’s a foreign power to do? I recommend my favorite eradication plan: incendiary 500 pound bombs dropped from high altitude. It is true that a few locals may perish however it would quell the poppy growing. It would take years to fill in the craters left by the bombs (especially at the rate that Afghanistan moves dirt). By the time the poppy fields are back in full swing, we’ll be long gone.
My $4 for the disconnection of my Giant Voice speaker only lasted a couple of days. Whoever noticed it was not functioning recently wasted no time in hooking it back up. I guess when it comes down to it; I had two days of relative peace and quiet for $4. Was it worth it? Sure. Is it worth $2 a day for the remainder of the time I am here? Probably not. I would like to tell you that I will grow accustomed to the announcements just like I have grown accustomed to those jets and cargo planes which take off and land at all hours of the day and night. I know that won’t happen so I’ll either have to continue living with Giant Voice announcements at 0230 in the morning or find another solution.
Our birds in the shop have multiplied. It would seem that they showed another bird couple their spacious digs and have invited them to stay. We now have at least four birds coming and going. With the increased bird activity we also have increased bird droppings. No longer content with leaving their remnants localized, they now seem to take delight in crapping all over the shop during the night. I made a comment to Ed about sealing up their opening to prevent passage into our building. I’m sure there are a couple of you out there that may think this is a drastic measure and maybe it is, but it is obvious to me that the birds do not want to work with us on our concerns. I’ll check the nest for eggs. If it has them I’ll reconsider; if it doesn’t, they’re out!
Cinco de Mayo came and nearly went without us noticing. We have been working so much lately that it practically passed us by. If I had not written it on the calendar we normally look at 73 times a day we would have forgotten about it (with the exception of our immediate grounds looking like Juarez). We did not have the meat thawed and ready for a BBQ. We did manage to grab a couple of beers, head back to our rooms, then over to the DFAC for a Mexican dinner (complete with decorations). After dinner we drank the beers and wished each other a happy Cinco do Mayo. Pretty uneventful. We were tired and in bed by 2200. I sure hope you guys had more fun than I did!
This week’s picture is an unflattering look at a portion of my job. Nope, it’s not as extreme as ‘Dirty Jobs’, but welding is certainly something I do not crave to do. Ed snapped this picture of me sipping some coffee during a quick break from welding. It’s only about 80 degrees outside and we have the shop doors open for circulation and better lighting. I am wearing a welding glove on my left hand and my ‘feel’ glove on my right hand. I’m wearing a long sleeve shirt although I believe a short sleeve is better. I have my iPod in the shirt pocket and am listening to some tunes. I have the ear muffs on because Ed is grinding and the noise created by the compressor and air grinder is loud. On top of it all, I have my snazzy welding helmet. Makes you want to trade places with me, doesn’t it?!
Next week I’ll attempt to astound you with assertions about (I love alliteration) foreign military summer uniforms, why tomatoes are still off my list (although many new items have been added since being here), and why I will never grow tired of ogling these mountains that surround us here.
Oh, Happy May Day and Cinco de Mayo!
Craig
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