Until now, I've had some sort of structured event or new thing to blog about. However, one thing I haven't really touched on is regular life. Since I'm finished with training and just beginning to turn over into my new job, which means there isn't a lot of other news right now, I thought I might let y'all in on what it's like here right now.
I'm still in my tent waiting to move down to my trailer with my new unit. Hopefully tomorrow but that's been the story all week. When I was in training the tent was full to bursting but as other folks have moved on to their units, there are only a few of us nomads still hanging out here. It's not too bad as far as tents go (it has very good air conditioning) and is surrounded by giant concrete walls just like everything else here (protection). As a matter of fact, in tent city it is one giant maze of concrete walls and tents and it isn't always straight forward to get to the laundry or shower trailers.
One perk of getting into my job is I finally have some wheels! Mom, see, I told you I was going to get a Hummer some day! (My mom is a tree hugger extraordinaire and thinks Hummers should be banned. I keep pointing out that the Hummer is a perfect symbol for a capitalistic society - it's fun to get her mad sometimes - he he he). My HUMVEE is one of the original non-armored trucks and is only for use on base to cart me around. I have to admit, it is a beast to drive and I'd much rather have one of the non-tactical vehicles (i.e. Suburban) rather than having to wear my kevlar helmet just to drive to the PX (that's a traffic law here - seatbelts and helmets in tactical vehicles).
Speaking of the PX, we have a few on the complex but the one closest to my tent is the largest by far. It has a variety of items but not necessarily the brand you might want. The other day I went to buy some soap and they had about a hundred bars of Dial. That was it. Dial. I bet there were 30 brands of shampoo but only one brand (and type) of soap. Such is life during war. I can't complain too much though, I did stop in at the Cinnebon trailer this morning and get a Seattle's Best Mocha Cappuchino this morning for my 'commute' to work.
That's about it for now. I'll add more 'normal stuff' in future postings along with (I hope soon) pictures of my new address.
Cheers, Pearl
