Cleared to travel

I have been informed that I am 100% healthy! I should be cleared to travel this week, and I should be able to leave on Friday. Being stuck in the barracks at Camp Atterbury IN, is not too terrible. The food in the dining hall is decent, there is cable TV. Just relax, and enjoy the free time.

week 2 at Camp Atterbury

I am enjoying the hospitality of the US Army for a second week at Camp Atterbury. This morning, the dining hall was closed. I walked over to the Subway, and got a sandwich. I will find out this week, if my medical paperwork is completed, or if I need additional tests. I should be able to fly out on Friday.

Stuck in Camp Atterbury

I am 40 miles from Indianapolis, in the Indiana prairie. Cold and desolate, and the wind whips right through you. I had a minor medical problem, and I had to get some paperwork submitted. So I will be spending another week as a guest of the Army.

With luck, I will fly to Kuwait on Friday, and spend a week in the tent city of Ali-Al-Saleem. I have been through that place a dozen times. Then on to Bagram. My new duty station is Camp Nathan Smith, a former Canadian base, near Kandahar in southern Afghanistan.

Back to Afghanistan again.

I am flying to Indianapolis on Saturday Morning. I will spend a week there, then on to Camp Nathan Smith, Afghanistan. I hope to stay for a long time, maybe a year. We will see. If I can do the work properly, and I can tolerate the lifestyle, I may make it longer. The USA and NATO forces will be in Afghanistan, maybe through 2014.

back in the USA

I am at a training conference. I will be in the USA for a couple of weeks, and then back to Afghanistan. It is good to be back in the USA, but I am getting tired of fast food already. I had Burger King for Lunch, and Taco Bell for dinner. I do enjoy watching TV, I have the cable TV on as long as I can. I also enjoy the films. Yesterday, I saw "War Horse". I am anxious to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie ,and "Tinker Tailor Soldier, Spy". I went almost 18 months without seeing a film in a movie theater.

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Been here a month

Greetings all! I apologize that I have not written more until now. I have had an interesting ride. I got a call on 20 Oct, and the man asked me, if I wanted to return to Afghanistan. I said yes, working in Afg. is better than being unemployed in the USA, even the USA food is better. (We have cheese in aerosol cans). I did the interview, and it was pretty much toast. They asked me questions about European software, and I bombed. No harm done. I will NOT lie on an interview, not only is it a question of personal integrity, it is embarrassing to get a job, and then not be able to do it!

Anyway, I told the firm, that I did not have the qualifications. I got a call on 22 Oct, and the firm said to pack my bags, I was heading to Afghanistan. I flew to Dubai, and checked into the hotel. (very nice- BTW).

The firm presented me to the client, again, and they still did not want me. So I was told to prepare to fly back to the USA. Then the firm asked me if I was interested in a different job. So I said OK. The firm showed my impeccable qualifications to the client, and the client agreed to hire me.

I then flew from Dubai to Bagram air base. About a three hour flight, not bad. Then I had to grab my bags, and get a 20 minute hop to the Kabul Air Base. I arrived there, and I was met by a man from my new firm. I was taken to the barracks(nice), and checked in.

I am now working 10 hours a day, 7 days a week, as a communications consultant. The work is nice, and the people I work with are terrific. Only problem is, all of them are "short timers", and will be leaving for other duties in a couple of weeks. If the new crew is half as good, I will have an excellent time. I am continually impressed by the excellence of our people here.

About my life and work:

I live in a concrete barracks. I am in a room with an Army sergeant. He is a fine man, and a good soldier. My only nitpick, is he calls me "sir" and "Mr. Martin". I wish he would drop the sir, and use "yeah", and call me "charles". I guess all of the courtesy is a habit of military service.

The barracks is QUIET! I am not next to a roaring generator. The water in the shower is HOT, but the water is salty. You scrub and scrub and scrub, and you cannot get any lather. Then you rinse off, and try to get all the soap scum off. The shower stall is tiny, and I can barely turn around. Last week, I bumped into the wall, and said "I hate this place", and someone in the next stall said "I hope you are having a good time down there".

The food in the military chow hall is ordinary. I have had better, I have had worse. It is better than the slop they served at Kandahar. That food was so gross, that I was living on Ramen noodles and cookies. I could not even bear to walk into the chow hall.

I get a small breakfast. two boiled eggs, bread, some fruit, milk, and juice. Then I will get some corn flakes and milk. Sometimes there is a newspaper I can read.

I catch the carpool at 0730am, and ride to the office. I must wear my helmet and flak-vest when I am in the vehicle. I must have my helmet/flak not more than 5 minutes away from me.

I get a ride back to the chow hall at 1130, and I must meet the carpool at 1220. Then I go back to the office. I get off about 600pm, and ride back to the barracks. I almost never get the supper. Two days ago, I got a Pizza, and it was good.

The television in the barracks is a wide screen, but the cable has been down for a couple of days, all you can see is the TV guide channel.

Around 900pm, I crawl into the rack, and try to sleep. Last week I went to bed at 900pm, and I slept all night, without having to get up and go to the men's room. I consider this a major accomplishment.

Then at 0600am the alarm rings, and I am back to it again. I started work on 31 oct. I am on a one year project, but I would like to stay longer.

arrived at Kabul

I spent a week in Dubai. I arrived at Kabul Air base on Oct 30. It is a typical NATO base, people from many countries are stationed here. Even Outer Mongolia.

Final morning in Dubai

I must go to the airport at 0700am. I will fly on to Afghanistan this morning. It has been a very pleasant week in Dubai.

Sunday 30 Oct

Well, my last night in the Trader's Hotel in Dubai. I will by flying on to Afghanistan on Monday. I am always apprehensive about a new job, but maybe this one will work out. I sure do meet the qualifications.

I hope that I can participate in Freemasonry there. If there is no lodge, I want to set up an informal "Square and Compasses" club. As long as we are recognized by the base commander, there will be no objections from anyone.

I have a terrible case of jet-lag. As I get older, I guess my physiology is taking longer to make the adjustments. Your entire physiology takes a whacking when you fly to the other side of the world. Your sleep habits are upside down, and your eating and digestive tract are also working on a different schedule.

I have been hanging out at the hotel, I dislike wandering about the dirty hot streets of Dubai. I may take the metro-train to the mall, and do a little shopping.

In Dubai

I am sitting in the hotel in Dubai. Waiting for an Afghan Visa. I like this hotel, it is nice.

Traveling tonight

I have a flight tonight.

Back to Afghanistan

I completed the work with the old firm, at Camp Leatherneck. I am now working for a new firm. I will be posted to the "Green Village" in Kabul, the capital.

Two weeks here

 

Life at Camp Leatherneck is about what I expected. I work 9am to 7pm 6 days a week. I will get Wednesdays off. At my last base I worked 7pm to 7am 7 days a week, with no days off! The food here is light-years ahead of the slop they served up at Kandahar. Here is a USA food service provider, and they have Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream 7 days a week, lunch and dinner (Hoo-Ray).

 

I live in a trailer, but I do not spend much time there, except to sleep. I get up at 0700am, and walk to the shower house. The shower house is VERY clean, spotless, and modern. The water is VERY hot, so I can get a hot shower every day. Then I walk back to the trailer, and get dressed. There is a dress code here, the Marines could care less what I wear, but the firm requires long pants, and the shirt must have a collar. I catch the bus from the trailer camp, and ride to the chow hall. After a breakfast, I walk to the office. I prefer not to get lunch, and supper is served at 5pm. Then I walk back to the office, and I am off at 7pm. Then I ride back to the trailer camp, and go to the trailer, and peel off my clothes, and crawl into the rack. There is some background noise, due to the generators, and the air conditioners. The porta-john is about 50 yards from the door. I go to sleep, and then get up at 0700am the next morning. Same every day, like the film “Ground Hog Day”.

 

 

Camp Leatherneck one week

Well here we are. My duty station is Camp Leatherneck, located in southern Kandahar province, Afghanistan. It is a desert environment, and it is HOT HOT HOT. 43 degrees Celsius, 130 degrees Fahrenheit. DUSTY, you ain't seen such dust. At least the place is quiet, there is virtually no combat here, and no hostile attacks on the camp.

The base is laid out in a grid pattern, and the streets are numbered 1,2,3, etc. and the cross streets are lettered A,B,C etc. My first day here, one of my porcelain crowns snapped off,and I went to the dentist, and he refused to re-cement the crown back on, there was not enough tooth, to anchor it properly. So I will have to get bay with one missing crown until I can relocate back to the USA.

I have been assigned to a CHU (containerized housing unit), which is a trailer. Just four walls and a roof, no bathroom, There is a porta-john about 25 yards out the door. And the shower house is 100 yards down range. My mattress is a train wreck, wires pressing in my back all night. The food here is excellent, much better than the European fare at Kandahar (my last duty station).

There is one Prince Hall lodge here, and I cannot meet with them. I hate the fact that the Grand Lodge of Kentucky has not yet recognized Prince Hall Masonry. I know they will some day, but I will be out of Afghanistan by then. I am considering starting a "Square and Compasses" club, so that we can have informal Masonic fellowship. That will probably piss some people off as well.

I work as a computer help-desk technician. I assist people in getting their internet accounts, and when they are locked off, I get them back on again. The office is small, and there is not enough room for all of us. Fortunately, I get one day off a week, it is Wednesday. I have been working 7 days a week, for most of my time in Afghanistan.

I spent four months between my last position and this one. I do not enjoy unemployment, but I did enjoy the break. I like normal living, eating when I choose, and cooking my own meals. I enjoy setting my own hours too. But, I also enjoy working, and when there is work overseas, I am there.

I am feeling the effects of age. I have been working in Afghanistan and Iraq for 7 1/2 years, and I am 57. Face it, I am just not as young as I used to be. But I am in reasonably good health, and I am cancer-free. I had a prostate needle biopsy in June, and it was 100% free of any abnormalities. Just that the test is rough. Not as rough as the needle biopsy I had two years ago. At least this time, the doctor used an anesthetic, and the needle sticks up my bung-hole were not as painful.

I am doing work, that I have never done before. Such is war, men are pushed into careers, where they had no training or background in the past. This is a great opportunity to expand my knowledge and skills. The men and women at the help desk all appear to be fine, so far. Young marines, just out of high school, then pressed into the Afghan desert, before their pimples cleared up.

This is the worst case of jet-lag I have ever had. I am woozy at work, and then when I am off, I go to the chow hall, and eat the food. Then I ride the bus back to the trailer, and then peel off my clothes, and crawl right into the rack. I pass out, and then I wake up at midnight, unable to get back to sleep. I try to sleep, but then I wake up at 0700, and then go to the shower house. Then I ride the bus to the chow hall, and the office is right next door. Then I go to work, and I am woozy again. You normally need about one day per time zone, to get over the jet-lag.

The summer is passing, and the cool weather will be here soon, and I say not soon enough. I cannot understand what this country is worth, and why our combat forces are here, but I am just an electronics man, and I do not make foreign policy.

test message

TEST MESSAGE

On Leatherneck for a week

I had an interesting last two weeks. I drove to Columbus Georgia, and took the CRC school, which is required for all deployees for the sixth (6th) time. I drove back to Atlanta, and then flew up to WashDC to catch the flight to Kuwait. I got on the airplane at Dulles field, and fortunately, there was no surcharge for my luggage. The flight took off at 6pm, and we flew up the East Coast. They served one of those low-grade meals, three beef nuggets the size of your thumb, in curry sauce, and a serving of rice. I wanted to watch a movie, but I was fast asleep, before we left the Canadian coast. I woke up just as they were serving the sandwiches, prior to landing. We arrived at Kuwait, and it was 120 degrees. I cleared customs, and got my entry visa for Kuwait. I then went into the main airport area. It is Ramadan, when all muslims must fast during the day. So all of the restaurants were closed in the airport. I then caught a bus to Ali Al Saleem airport, which takes one hour from the airport to the base.
 
I got my luggage, and then I turned in my passport for the Kuwait exit visa. I got to a tent, and crawled right into the rack.

in Kuwait

I am in Kuwait. It is 115 degrees Fahrenheit. It is RAMADAN so it is forbidden to drink water (where a Muslim can see you). This is a HOT country.
 

WORKING!!!!

I accepted a job offer, from a major defense contractor. I have been on the payroll for some weeks. I don't like to announce jobs, until I am actually getting on the plane.

I am being posted to Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan. I will fly out of Washington DC airport, on Sunday.

I am grateful that so many people enjoy my blog. I enjoy keeping it. I am looking forward to another excellent adventure. I have been working in SouthWest Asia for 7 (seven) years. Tally Ho.

New Masonic websites

Please visit:

http://www.trestleboard.us

Trestleboard

and check in, and make some posts.

ALSO-

visit:

http://www.burningtaper.org

Burning Taper

and check in, and make some posts!

Freemasonry in Georgia

Been visiting some lodges around Atlanta. Enjoying the fellowship immensely.