In training school

Been feeling 100%. Training school is underway, fortunately some of my training has already been completed, through my work in Fort Wayne IN, back in Jan/Feb 2008. I am learning some new systems, video mostly. Looks like a great project.

Medical tests

Delivered more samples to the lab here. They all checked out fine, and I am feeling 100%. I had a colonoscopy exam this morning (25 June). Not the most enjoyable experience, but there is nothing wrong with my inner workings.

I am going to a training conference in July/August, and it will be good to get a break. Then back to work. I love working in Iraq.

Feeling better. More medical tests

I am grateful for everyone's kindness and good wishes. I am much improved, and feeling better every day. I am not 100% recovered yet, and I must go in for a medical test on Weds 25 June. I am having some more laboratory tests run this week. The results are slow to return.

I am changing to a new employer, that I do not wish to disclose at this time. Once my employment is official, I will post the information here.

Feeling much better.

I am feeling much better. I am going in for more tests, and the lab results look promising. Please do not send any packages here just now, maybe later. I am grateful for everyone's good wishes. Iraq is an unhealthy place, and the medical care is substandard.

Still no lab results

The little clinic at Taji, ran out of the reagents necessary to run a white blood cell count (CBC).
I have been able to see a more advanced medical facility. I turned in lab work, and they drew blood (etc), on Wednesday. By Friday 30 May, the results had not been completed. The preliminary results showed me to be dehydrated ( no surprise), and that my tri-glyceride level was high (been high for years).

I am too ill to work, and I am not going to work for some time.

24 May 2008

Been feeling some better. Still not 100%. The Army doctor had some tests run, but the lab here is inadequate to run sophisticated tests. I read on the internet, how some US Soldiers are coming back to the USA, with parasites. I hope I do not have a parasite. There are sand fleas here, and a bite can give you leishmaniasis. They call it the "Baghdad Boil". You get red spots and inflammation on your skin. At least I have not noticed any of that.

Still hot and dusty. Fortunately, there is unlimited water, and I can get a shower daily. I must force myself to drink water, I am up to about a gallon a day. I will keep taking it easy, and get myself well.

Still on sick leave

Been feeling bad. Only able to eat once a day, just no appetite. This is one good thing, maybe I can lose some weight here. The dining hall (American) has unlimited baskin-robbins ice cream, and soda pop. There is tons of fried food, french fries, etc. All the stuff that goes right to your hips.

HOT here, make no mistake, when the sun goes down, the temperature drops to 90. I must drink a gallon of water per day. The sweat evaporates so fast, you dont even notice. At least I can sleep easily. I usually do not need the air conditioner.

I miss cable tv. I sure enjoy CNN, and history channel. I also like having a daily newspaper. When I was in Fort Wayne, I bought two newspapers every day, and read them. Here, the military paper is hard to locate, but it is free.

I miss Freemasonry. There is no way to attend lodge, and it is impractical to set up a Square and Compasses lodge. I have never been to a lodge meeting in Iraq, but there are lodges at some of the bases. Once in a while, I run across a Freemason, there are some in the US Army. But it is seldom.

When I return to the USA, I want to get back into the Oriental Shrine. I had a ball with the Shriners, when I was in Columbus OH, back in 1990. I was in five Shrine clubs, and president of one of them. Maybe when I get my vacation, I will be able to attend lodge. I got to attend a lodge in Moscow Russia, and it was terrific. The lodge is not wealthy, they have no lodge building, so they meet in a meeting room in a hotel. This is in our splendid Masonic tradition, when we used to meet in taverns and inns.

Still feeling sick

I got so sick, I had to go to the American Doctor. The Army runs a clinic on the American side, and the doctor there saw me right away. The Army does not have to help us, but they give us medical care on a courtesy basis. I have been given some powerful antibiotics, and I had to give some blood,etc. so that the lab could run tests.

Being sick in this country is bad news. I work outside in 110 degree weather, and I must run to the porta-john often. One good thing, I cannot look at food, maybe I can lose some excess weight. When I was living at Al Asad and Tall'Afar, I ate too much. Unlimited Baskin-Robbins ice cream will pack the pounds on.

I put together a package of my winter clothes, I am sure not going to need them here! I will send the excess clothing back to my home, and if I need any warm clothing, I can get it here, or from an on-line store.

I did not stay up all night, to see the Preakness Stakes. But I read all about it, on the Daily Racing Form internet page. It looks like Big Brown, is on the way to racing immortality, he might have the right stuff to win the Belmont Stakes, and then retire undefeated. What a horse!!

Tuesday afternoon

Been feeling a bit ill. There is a virus going around, and I have it. The nurse here, gave me some antibiotics, and started me on one a day, then increased it to two a day, now the med-tech wants me on three a day. My appetite is gone, food is impossible. I sip water, and juice all day, just to keep my fluid balance up.

A dust storm blew up quickly, ths afternoon. There will be a slight dribble of rain, which is not a problem, the dust will settle, and the air will be a bit cleaner. Aircraft cannot fly in these storms, so it will be quieter. I must say, I do not like the choppers flying over my trailer at 0500am, and getting woken up!

One of the team here, has a birthday, so there will be a little celebration, they set up a charcoal grill.

Work is slow, the team rotates their day off, and I get Tuesday off today as well. Work will pick up.

My address

My precise location is not disclosed. I do enjoy getting comments, and emails. I get some bulk mail, and books, etc. through a forwarding service in the USA. If anyone would like to email me, my email is cemab4y@hotmail.com if anyone would like to send books and reading material to the troops, just email me, and I will provide you with the address. The troops love to read. (So do I)

Sunday afternoon

Sunday. It has been unseasonably cool the last couple of days. Last night was very clear, I actually saw some stars. It is hard to believe that astronomy began in Mesopotamia, the nights are so dusty, that it is difficult to see the stars on most nights.

Work is excellent, I am so grateful to be working here. We have some slow days, but we will pick up soon. I have been picking up junk parts at the junk yard, and recycling them for use. Now, the resource is about depleted. I went to the wash rack yesterday, and collected some junk parts there. Scrounging is part of life in Iraq.

Still trying to lose weight. I would love to drop 10-20 pounds while I am here. If I can stay away from ice cream and soda pop, I might make it. Last night, there was shredded beef stir-fry with onions and green peppers. They feed us good here. Today for lunch, some of the work force went to the American chow hall on the American base, and ate T-Bones and lobster tails. I don't like to travel all the way to the main base for lunch.

I hope that I get some mail today, the APO has mail almost every day. I could sure use some books. If you like to read, this is the place. I got a bunch of paperbacks at Al Asad, and read every night.

7 May my day off

Slept in late this morning. Got a shower, and a shave. Picked up my laundry, and ate a small beefsteak for lunch. Temperature not too hot, around 90. The environmental dust, is not too bad, but the high-level dust has blocked out the sky for weeks. I have not seen the stars for some weeks. One thing about Afghanistan, is that being up in the mountains, away from any light pollution, the sky was clear.

Biggest problem here , is the loneliness. I do not have TV in my trailer yet, but soon. Only leisure activity is surfing the net.

Monday morning 5 May

I was sad to hear about the euthanizing of Eight Belles, on the track on derby Day. Horse Racing is the king of sports, and the sport of kings. Sometimes, the sacrifice has to be made. Big Brown, looks like a real champion horse. He may go all the way, in the Preakness and Belmont.

We had two more engineers arrive from the USA last night. These two guys look to be real fine men, I will not work with them, but I wish them well.

Saturday Morning, 3 May 2008

Cold this morning. The desert does not hold the heat, so by 0500am, the trailer is cold. The firm wants us on the job by 0700am, not a problem. I like getting to work early. This morning, I went down to the junk yard, and I picked up some parts.

The desert winds, sometimes cool the place down. By noon, the temperature was 75. The chow hall served grilled prawns (shrimp) and beef fried rice. The chow hall food is fine, no complaints from me, except that I eat too much.

The Kentucky Derby is tonight, I may stay up and watch it on the CNN. The greatest horse race in the world.

Friday afternoon

Got up at 0615am, same as every day. I prefer to take my shower in the morning. Ate a breakfast, eggs, chicken sausage, pepper bacon, tea, mango juice. The mornings this time of year, are cool. As long as the dust is down, the mornings are the best time of day. I went to the salvage yard, and collected some parts.

Back at the office, then I found out about some more parts, so I went over to the recovery yard, and collected some more parts.

The afternoons are getting hotter, I have been through two of these summers, and they are HOT. We had a drill today, they sounded the sirens, and we all had to run to the concrete bunkers, and wait for the "all clear", then we had a head-count.

I need to collect my clean laundry, but the laundry has been closed all day. I have enough surplus clean clothes to last for a week.

I spoke with my mom on the phone, she asked if I was reading. I told her, I did not have much appetite for reading. I read the newspaper here, and keep up with the news on line, and watch CNN in the dining hall. We are getting TV run into our trailers, but it is not on yet.

Monday afternoon

Very busy on Saturday/Sunday. I got a set of coveralls, and worked with the guys, installing the equipment. Hot, and dusty, but I enjoy it very much. The work here, will help the American forces come home sooner. Been feeling rundown, I have some kind of virus, I went to the medical clinic, and he gave me some tablets.

In Iraq, you have a whole new "family" of bacteria, and germs, which you ingest everytime you breathe or eat. I drink only bottled water, but you still get bacteria, from the environment. Without going into too much detail, I have had to keep a straight line for the men's room. You have do drink extra clear water, just to build up your fluids.

Since we are ahead of schedule, today is a bit slow. Wednesday is my scheduled day off, but I am on call, so I will probably have to do some work, I don't mind. Work is very good here, and I want to remain in Iraq for some years, if possible.

We got a very bad duststorm on Sunday. You could not see 100 yards. All of the helicopters were grounded, so it was quiet and spooky. Imagine the worst fog you ever saw, and everyone wearing surgical masks, that is Iraq in a duststorm.

Last afternoon and evening, the sky was pretty clear,we thought the storms were behind us, but the air is getting dustier by the hour, and we will probably face the storms for the next two days.

Just found out, about the tornados in Suffolk VA. I worked in Suffolk 2001-2002, and I lived in nearby Franklin. I really liked that job. I supervised 5 cable TV systems in two states, and some days I drove 300 miles in one day. I was on call 24/7, and I got a lot of call ins. Cable TV is an interesting industry.

Writing to me directly

I posted my email elsewhere on the board. If anyone is interested in writing me directly, please send email to:

cemab4y@hotmail.com

I am always delighted to answer any questions, if you leave a question or comment, and you want a direct response, please leave a return email address. I will not disclose either the question, nor the address.

Another Hot Saturday

This morning started out fairly cool. I got up at 06:15am, and ate a small breakfast. I drove over to the junkyard, and picked through some equipment racks, that had been stacked in a pile. I recovered some parts, that may prove useful.

By 10:00am, it was getting hotter, so I just started drinking more water, and trying to keep cool. In this climate, you have to drink 3-4 quarts of water per day, just to keep even with the perspiration. I used to take extra salt tablets, but I think I have enough salt in my system, because we eat so much canned and processed food here. The dining hall has packets of powdered gatorade, if you need to keep your electrolyte balance up.

Keeping clean in this dusty hot environment is a challenge. I keep a bottle of hand sanitizer on my desk, and I use it frequently. There are plenty of places to wash your hands, and with the solar heat, the water is always hot. I got one of the Iraqis to give me a haircut last week. He did a tolerable job, but I just hope he keeps the electric razor properly sanitized, so that he does not spread head lice. The Iraqis are great people, but they do not practice Western standards of personal cleanliness and hygiene.

When I was at Al Asad air base (Aug 2005-Nov 2006), I kept my hair very short. In this climate, and this dust, and the outdoor work that I do, a military haircut is more serviceable.

The work flow here goes in "waves", there will be a large amount of work, and we are all very busy, and then there will be some days, where there is very little to do.

Back to work

I have decided to hold off on most postings. Life in Iraq, goes on. My scheduled day off is Wednesday, but I work if needed. The mornings are warm, the heat really builds up in the afternoon. Nights are warm, but I can sleep without the air conditioner. The camp is getting television cabling installed, and we will have TV in the trailers. The dining hall gets CNN, and couple of English TV stations. If you want to give up TV, this is the place.

I am very impressed with the food here, the dining hall is excellent, but some of the guys hop over the American side, and eat with the troops in the Army dining hall. There are some fast-food operations, Burger King, Pizza Hut, taco bell, Popeyes, etc. I ate the Popeyes chicken one time, it was excellent.

I am very impressed with the men I work with. They are all kind, and work hard. I have been in Iraq for two years, and I never worked with Iraqis before.

For the record- I am not in the "green zone", I am out in the boondocks, in a very safe area. I am forbidden from traveling to Baghdad, I have no wish to go there at all.

Freeze on new postings

I have decided to freeze any new postings, on the situation, and delete all comments. I do not wish to embarrass anyone. I will read all comments, but in the interest of fairness, I have decided to hold all comments from publication.