God's Sense of Humor

If you haven't read yesterday's entry, go ahead.  I'll wait.  (You really need to just read the first paragraph).

Finished?  Good.  So, I write yesterday that there are no April showers here.  As a matter of fact, we've had quite a few dust storms and 100+ degree days.  Yesterday, in fact, we had another dust storm.  But about 30 minutes after yesterday's post I hear something odd.  It wasn't explosions of incoming rockets (which I'm sad to say isn't an "odd" sound here; it's kinda normal) or anything of the sort.  It took me a second to figure out what it was.  It was rain on my metal roof!  Rain!  Can you believe it?

This morning it was about 20 degrees cooler than it has been in a couple of weeks and it lightly sprinkled on and off for most of the morning.  Fortunately it didn't rain enough to make mud again but just enough to beat back the dust a little bit.

I'm not arrogant enough to think that God reads my blog and takes specific note of what I write.  But I do know He certainly has a sense of humor about things!

Cheers, Pearl

April

The rhyme is "April showers bring May flowers."  I don't think little Iraqi kids learn that rhyme, or if they do, it certainly doesn't make any sense to them.  April has brought dust and heat and little else.  Last week was our first (for the rest of the summer I'm afraid) week of consistent 100+ degree days.  On top of that we've gotten a handful of dusty days again.  I can't say I'm going to miss this place in any way.  When I look at the weather back home and see highs that are less than our lows I just have to wonder what makes people build a "civilization" in a place like this?

On better news, Griff is aboard (I wonder what the Army equivalent of "aboard" is - I need to ask) and is soaking things up like a sponge.  Tomorrow will be his first day "in the seat" with me there like training wheels to make sure he stays upright.  He's very eager and I think the Regiment is going to really enjoy having him here.  Hopefully by next week I won't even need to be his training wheels and will just be an infrequent consultant over the next couple of weeks as I begin the packout process and he fully takes over.  It's kinda cool to be taking stuff out of the office and yet kinda weird as well.  But, it's definitely time for me to be heading home so I don't mind the weirdness factor.  17 more days in Iraq and 23 days until I'm back with the family.

Whoo hoo!

Cheers, Pearl

Sandbags

The sandbag is a ubiquitous part of any military installation.  Designed as a simple expedient to building fortifications of any scale, they are also used as door stops, simple dams, bases (on our softball field), and countless other uses.  And the sandbag is so very simple.  All you need is some bags, a few shovels, and a few Soldiers to do the filling.  Or so I thought.  My step-father was an artilleryman in Vietnam.  He was assigned to a small firebase just one mile south of the DMZ for a little over a year.  When he first arrived at his outpost, he spent many weeks filling sandbags.  How unfortunate he wasn't an artilleryman today.

This afternoon, walking back from lunch, guess what I saw?  Yes, sandbags, but they weren't being filled by troops, they were piled high on three flatbed tractor trailers driven by contractors!  You got it, there are one hundred and fifty thousand or so Soldiers/Sailors/Airmen/Marines in this country and we have contractors filling our sandbags.  Don't get me wrong, I'm glad some poor PFC isn't out there in 100+ degree heat, but still, contractors filling sandbags?  No wonder this war has already cost us over $500 billion dollars!

Cheers, Pearl

He's here!

Here's to the most important man in the Navy - "GRIFF"!

I met Griff in person yesterday and also spent this evening with him as well (I hijacked him to a meeting - I'm sure he'll thank me later)!  He has the rest of a week to finish a class (seems like forever ago when I was going through and learning about my job here) and we will begin officially making me unemployed starting Monday.  He seems like a great guy and I'm sure he'll be able to roll right into the Regiment without a hiccup.

One side effect of telling the folks in the Regiment about my relief being in Baghdad (I'm going to wait until next week to begin introducing him when he's able to be around full time) is the number of people who kid me about making sure he passes muster before they "approve" me leaving.  It feels really nice to have the friends I've made here over the past nine months rib me about not wanting to let me go because it means I have become a real part of the family.  I am so very excited about getting to go home but there is definitely going to be a part of me that will miss the Soldiers here very much.  I suppose the one constant in the military is change and unfortunately leaving old friends comes with the job.  (But that doesn't take too much shine off the fact that I'll be back home in 28 days!)

Cheers, Pearl

Dust

I'd intended yesterday to post about the dust storm we had Thursday and show you some before and after pictures.  Unfortunately, rather than clearing up, yesterday was bad too.  But today was a little more clear so here are some pictures of our last few days.

This is normal.

This was Thursday and Friday (same location and time of day - early morning).

And this was in the afternoon.  The color has not been retouched; it really was this eerie orange/yellow color.

I've been thinking about a topic for one of my last posts and I've decided one will be "Things I Never Want to Do Again."  Live in (or visit) a desert is definitely on that list!

Cheers, Pearl

Getting Closer

For those of you keeping up with "Griff" (my relief), he's in Kuwait right now getting the last of his Army training.  He should be here by the weekend, one week of Navy class on the specifics of this job, and then he and I begin turning over this job!  Whoo hoo!  Actually, "whoo hoo" for both of us.  I am, of course, excited about getting closer to home, but Griff should also be excited about the work he's about to do and the unit with which he will work.  It's all good.

I've been meaning to tell another story but I guess I was in mourning over the Tigers' loss last week.  If you go way back to when I first arrived in Baghdad, I wrote about meeting "Grease" who was both a source of information and inspiration to write my blog.  Well, the circle is almost complete.  I received an e-mail a few weeks back from a Chief on his way over here who'd read Grease's blog and my blog for info.  AND, he's begun writing his own blog of his tour here.  He says he's not ready for prime-time just yet, but when he is, I'll certainly give a shout out and post his link.  I think it's pretty cool to have the third generation of EWO Bloggers telling our story here.  The only thing more cool will be when there are no more EWO bloggers having to tell a story at all!  Here's hoping!

Cheers, Pearl

PS - I received an e-mail from my old Chief who's now back home.  All is well, he's retired now, and should be starting a new job with Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine next week.  Plus, he sent an enchilada recipe that I can't wait to try when I get back!

Sad Days in River City

Well, I guess it was everything a championship game should be, back and forth, lead changes, dramatic come-from-behind, and overtime.  It was everything it should be except the Tigers lost to the Jayhawks that is.  It is more tough in that even with the loss, Memphis still has the best record in NCAA basketball.  Oh well.

All of that aside, it has been a great season and I have been nothing but pleased to watch it unfold even from all the way over here.  As I was running today I was struck by the fact that with every win, I noticed my day was just a little bit brighter here in the land of so many un-bright things.  Odd that something as ultimately silly as sports could have that effect, but it did for me.

So, thank you Tigers!  Thank you for a great season.  Thank you for doing something that no other team has done.  And thank you for bringing me just a little light in this awful place.  GO TIGERS GO!

Cheers, Pearl

Contact!

Over the weekend a wonderful thing happened.  I received an e-mail from my relief!  Whoo hoo - he's a real person!  We've exchanged a few more notes as I've tried to answer the many questions he (like everyone) had before he gets over here.  He's finishing up his mini boot camp in South Carolina the first part of this week (they added a few days from when I went through - ugh) and will head over to Kuwait toward the weekend.  Training in Kuwait, a short flight up here to Iraq, and he'll be just down the street attending the one week professional course on being an EWO.  And then...here!

"Griff" is another aviator so I don't think he'll have too much trouble fitting into the mold I've established for the Navy here in the Regiment.  He too has been busy deploying recently and I know he can't be too anxious about coming out here any more than I was nine months ago.  But, the consolation for having to be here is that he will be with an outstanding unit and a great bunch of Soldiers.  I told him I am certainly ready to head home, but leaving the guys and gals here will be bittersweet indeed.

19 days until the beginning of the end for me here!

Cheers, Pearl

Favorite Things

Earlier in the year, my wife was telling me that my daughter was up for promotion in JROTC (forgive me if I've told this story - I looked back and didn't see it but that doesn't mean I haven't mentioned this before).  When the year began, my daughter was a Sergeant and my wife was trying to remember the next rank (we're a Navy family after all and this Army stuff is confusing).  She was telling me that our daughter was up for "Sergeant Plus" or "Super Sergeant" or something!  (Staff Sergeant, by the way).

Well, today I got to do one of my favorite things and attend a promotion ceremony.  We promoted a Sergeant to Super Sergeant today!  (The Staff Sergeants here love the story I opened with and get a kick out of being called "Super Sergeant").  It is always a pleasure to watch someone get rewarded for working hard and the Regiment's latest Super Sergeant is a great guy who I expect will be a great leader.  He has a wonderful sense of humor, a likability that makes him easy to approach, but a professionalism that comes out just at the right moment.  The Army sure did a good thing today and I was proud to be there, wearing my cavalry Stetson and everything, to see it happen.

Cheers, Pearl

P.S. My daughter did make the next rank and is a Cadet Super Sergeant too!

April Fool's Day

Unfortunately, my April Fool's Day did not have a joke but rather a disappointment.  I found out today that I will be here an extra week longer than I originally expected.  In the grand scheme of things a week isn't that long, especially compared to my Army comrades who are here for 15 months - yech!  But still, it is disappointing to have a return date in mind and then have it changed, even by a week.  So, I will not make it home on my anniversary and I will miss one more Memphis Redbirds game (our minor league affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals - we have quasi season tickets for ten games over the summer).  But, as I turned the page on the calendar at work today, I could say loudly and with an ear-to-ear grin, "My relief arrives THIS month!"

He's here in 25 days, I leave in 45 days, and I should be home just in time for school to get out and enjoy the beginning of the summer break with my family.

Also, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the University of Memphis beat Texas and is in the Final Four for the third time in school history!  We have a not-too-good record against UCLA in the tourney though, but I just feel it this year.  But regardless, we're one of the top four teams in the NATION!  Whoo hoo!  Go Tigers!

Cheers, Pearl