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Sunday, 16 May 2010

Update 4

EMEDS

EMEDS is our clinic. After lunch the other day. I was in stomach pain. I have had food poisoning and stomach issues in the past, but this was different. I had eaten a piece of pineapple that had felt like I had drank acid. It hurt bad and burned. On the drive back to the Heavy Shop I had the Boss drop me at EMEDS. I had only been in twice before. Once for a Anthrax shot and for missing with a sledge hammer and hitting my knee. I walk in and wait for 10 minutes before somebody walks up and asks what I need. I quickly explained my situation, as if he could not tell I was having issues me holding my stomach and grimacing in pain. He said sorry you can not be sick until 1600. The look on my face must have made him decide to elaborate. Our hours for Sick Call are from 0800 to 1000 and 1600 to 1800. It was 1230. I walked back to the shop. I vomited 7 times between 1245 and 1600. I did feel somewhat better, the pain had lessened. I went back for sick call and there was I wait. I guess people do get sick before 1600. When it was my turn I explaind the situation to a guy who entered my issues on the computer. When I saw the Doctor, he without preamble said I must have gotten some bad pineapple and handed me to baggies of drugs. No examination. I tried to explain that this was not like food poisoning. He just ushered me out. We just need to understand how hard it is to work two 2 hour shifts a day. I think they even rotate the Doctors.

Helicopter Rotor Blades

The locals have acquired two new Russian made Helicopters. They were brought in by plane and assembled here. We helped out by using our crane to lift the rotor blades into place for them to be attached. A ground crew of Ukrainian workers was doing the assembling. I will get pictures put onto Facebook.

Heat

I think we hit 119 last week. It is usually 80 at 5:30 in the morning, 110 by noon and 115 by 5:00. It is over 100 in the shade most days. All you can do is drink water and sweat.

Wednesday, 05 May 2010

Update 3

Sleeping
I need to premise my story by letting you know that we found a little black Scorpion under a T-Wall a day or two before the following happened.

I was asleep in my bed, when I felt something on my upper leg near the opening of my boxers. I was not even fully conscious when I reached down to brush it away and got stuck. At this point I snapped awake like a rubber band smacking your wrist. In that spilt second I know it felt hard and it had a stinger. My reaction was to lift my butt off the bed and out of harm’s way. As I was lifting my butt I felt a weight at the edge of my boxers. Oh crap! Oh crap! Oh crap! As I was contemplating how I was going to extricate myself from the situation… (Can I pull my leg out fast enough, can I reach my knife and cut them off) Pop, the weight was gone. With my hand that was not supporting my upper body I flung the blanket off and was reaching for anything I could find to do battle with what had to be a large scorpion. As my hand was knocking everything on to the floor I saw a needle that was stuck upside down at a 45 degree angle in my bed. It had stuck me and I must have pinned it to the edge of my boxers. Try sleeping after your heart had beat its way into your throat.

Helping the Natives
We are under a new command. Our new mission is to train the locals and continue to do our other jobs.
The other day we went to Area 4 to help the Natives learn how to use a crane. They or we bought them a brand new Grove 30 ton crane. We went over to do a class and show them the basics. When we arrived the hook block was on the ground, the reel that holds the cable looked like it had a wire birds nest on it. What do you say. Oh, we had a interpreter with us. We looked over the crane and decided we could go over how to maintain and check the crane for safety. This was done through the interpreter. One young man seemed to be the one who knew the most and was the one who did the damage to the cable. I gave the class with the help of another guy and the boss sat back and smoked with a higher up native and the coordination American. They really wanted us to show them how to operate. After some issues I managed to get enough cable out to do a set up and show them how to do it correctly. The young man was enthusiastic he watched closely from the cab latter. At one point in what he thought was a effort to help he reached over and was trying to turn the override key. The override should only be used in emergency's or when the crane is not working correctly. I reached out and smacked his hand away. I tried to explain through the interpreter. Now I knew how the crane was able to get in this condition. I finished my lesson and let my eager student operate while I watch him. He did well. We were very adamant that the crane cannot be used until the cable is changed. The American asked us to re spool the crane. yea, we walked into that one. I think we will be doing that next week. The locals seem intelligent just not educated or refined. Yes I have meet some that seemed less than average. The young man that was my student was the most impressive local that was in the group of 10 that I was teaching. As we were leaving he shook my hand and in broken english said you my friend. I Smiled and said yes I am.
The American took us and his interpreter, the one we used, to a secrete squirrel Defac (Dinning Facility). Only special people get to eat there. It was the same food, but the place was immaculate. The servers spoke english, it had windows that looked out over a march. The intelligent conversations with the American and interpreter were great. We listed to stories the interpreter told. We stayed after we had eaten and hung out and talked. It is one of the more pleasant experiences I have had here.

Just Dumb
First I must let you know that this story was relayed to me by my boss and later confirmed by the 20 or so people involved.
Late one night a frantic radio call went out on our (Civil Engineering) frequency. Anyone in CE I need help this is, at this point she said her name and rank and that she was with the Security Forces. You never blurt out that kind of information on a radio. She had by passed normal protocol my changing to our frequency and not using normal procedures to contact us. Oh, I have to let you know that she is 3 pay grades above me and a person in charge. At night there is about 8 people that monitor the radio. Someone gets on and asks her where she is and the problem. She gives her location and says "I need a plumber and a dozer! I am in this building number!" The person she was talking to said we were on our way. The Plumbing Shop Supervisor calls in all his people. My two Supervisors, to their credit did not call us in but went to see what would constitute a dozer. No less than 8 trucks pull up. People are trying to get the person that called, back on the radio. What she had done after making the call was to turn off her radio walk back to her room and go back to bed. It must have looked like a episode of Cops. Everybody jumps out and starts looking around inside and out of the building. Then they figure she must have given them the wrong building number. They keep trying to get her on the radio and start searching the Base. They wake people from higher command to get her room number. They finally get her on the phone. Apparently a showerhead broke and was leaking some water onto the floor. The plumbers had not even noticed the problem on their first inspection because it was so minor. People had to be recalled from all over looking for this person and her problem that required a plumber and a dozer.

Saturday, 06 March 2010

Update 2

This blog is intended for mature audiences only. People with strongly
held beliefs, are easily insulted or hold any preconceived ideas of any
kind should not read this blog and may have inadvertently identified
themselves as terrorists.
What you must understand as you read this is that I am weighed down with
a constant underling stress. I am away from my family and friends. I
was thrown in with a group of complete strangers. Given additional
stressful duties above my regular job. And to top it all off, people
near where I eat, sleep and work want me dead. Nice, huh.
What you are going to get is short stories that are only exceptional in that
they deviate from the normal day to day operation.

Live from the cradle of gods armpit (Where I am).

Class
3 day Combat Lifesaver (CLS) Class taught by the Army and the Army ran
CSH Combat Support Hospital located on the Base.
Ever since my Army days I have wanted to take this class. This class is
the only way you can be taught to do a IV without at least 3 semesters
of nursing school. When I found out this class was taught at the CSH I
started making calls and sending emails. I found other Air Force people
that were interested in taking the class. It took a couple of months to
get the class set up for us. On the first day we learned from the
Training Coordinator/Lead Instructor that IV are to no longer be taught
in CLS or to first year nursing students. She said that no one
understood why this was and the Doctors though it was just wrong. A
simple IV of saline given for loss of blood can be a life saver. At
this point I asked if we could do it anyway. With little hesitation she
said yes. She had not informed the other instructors of IV ban so it
would be taught on the last day of class before the test. And so the
class went; tourniquets, sucking chest wound, nasal breathing tubes, and
long chest needles to relieve the pressure from a collapsed lung.
Bloody Adventures
The last day arrived. Intra Veins catheter insertion day. We had
different instructors for each block of instruction. Most were combat
medics that had recently gotten back from Outside the wire and were
waiting to go back out and asked to teach. On this day we had a staff
member from the CSH. He quickly described the equipment then ask for a
volunteer. Being me I was thinking ahead and jumped to be the first.
My logic was that I would have a professional, that works at the
hospital and done this hundreds of times, stick me so I would not have
to be stuck by another student. Sometimes I even impress myself with
how clear I can think. A few of the other students realized what I had
done and grumbled. As usual the universe has something to say about my
logic and clear thinking. He missed. He pushed right through and into
the muscle. Yea, it hurt. I tried not to, but I grimaced. The
Professional switched arms and did it again only this time he went
fishing for it because he was after all a Army Professional and he did
not want to look bad. Yea, my butt came out of the chair from pain. He
was setting up to do it again when the Lead Instructor came in. I
quickly asked her if I could do it myself. My class mates explained
about the misses. With an amused look on her face she said sure. I
figured what did I have to lose. I grabbed the needle/catheter and
stuck it right into the vein. The class gasped. I quickly pulled out
the needle leaving the catheter in place. I had very little pain. It
started flowing a lot of really dark blood all over the table. Several
students commented on this fact as one of them turned white and had to
sit down before he fell down. You see, it had not yet been demonstrated
on what to do next. Luckily the sight of blood does not bother me,
apparently even my own. Both of the medics to their credit did not help
but explained to me what to do. I put in the stopped set up a Saline
bag and started the drip one handed. I gave myself my first IV. The
class was in awe. The lead instructor said she was impressed. The rest
of the class did well with their IVs. There was joking around with
bubbles. Your body can absorb a lot of air bubbles. Someone had been
watching too many movies and when a few bubbles flowed down the tube he
stated saying bubbles. Bubbles? Bubbles! Bubbles!!! The Lead
Instructor almost peeed herself. Then to the same guy she lowered the
IV so it ran backwards, blood flowed up the tube. He was not happy, but
the rest of us had a good laugh. Then we took our test. I only missed
one. I think I missed it because of blood loss.

END

Reality Check
I do find it amazing how adaptable we are. After a few weeks, enough time to find a routine, everything falls into place including you. However, this becomes your only reality. You cannot think about the rest of the world because not too far away someone is contemplating your demise. At times you can lose that focus and something will snap you back so fast you need to re-screw your head back on. Example I was driving the 50 Ton crane to a job and as I was driving by the Combat Support Hospital (CSH), that is ran by the Army, I just glanced over and saw a nice young man in a body bag that was being zipped up. SNAP! This is your reality.

Area 4
That is where I go to play. I can seem to make contacts and find people that can help me to occupy my time. I now have a Buddy who works there training their Special Forces. I help them out by taking equipment over and working on jobs that they need done, in turn he sets up shooting for my Squadron and I get to shoot whenever I can get away. The other day we got trained, re-trained for me being former Army, in the use of rockets. I got to fire a LAW rocket. I have shot the SR-25 sniper Rifle, sterling, AK-47 and a lot of the berretta 92 9mm. When other people from our squadron visit, I act as a range safety and trainer on the SR-25 sniper rifle. I do love the long shot. The other day my buddy pulled out a Glock 9mm and was firing while I was doing some work for him. When I was done I watched him shoot. He did good. Then he handed it to me ping, ping, ping and so on 15 times. He put the gun away. It is nice to outshoot a SF guy. Although next time I might miss a few so I can keep shooting.

My buddy to Air Force girl "next time you can fire rockets" Air Force guy standing next to her "cool" my buddy to Air Force guy "Females only" Air Force guy to my buddy "there are better ways to pick up girls than that" Me "not here buddy" all nod except Air Force guy.

The Italians over with the Army, training their police, have a few of us, the guys that went over and swept their streets, invited over to the every two week party, for oven baked pizza. The sauce and the crust are awesome.

Overheard/Random Stuff:
You can’t be sick until 1600.
This is National Geographic bitches. As he takes photos of water rushing into a hole I made.
I need a Dozer and a Plumber.
Did you read farther down?
The locals love the Street Sweeper.
If we would have just swept the Capital with a fleet of sweepers they would never have fought us.
If you have not guessed I am the wheeler/dealer, I get things and get
things done.
I do not feel passionately about strong ideas.
Did that kick me.
I thought the sweeper would just glide over that.
That made my nipples hard.
Shooting that made me wet.
Really! No Really?
Are you being serious right now.
Bubble? Bubble. Bubble! Bubble!!!
Can I just do it myself
That is a lot of blood
If Al Sotter says kill Whitie we might be in trouble.
Coffee takes on a whole new dimension when it is your only vice
M other O f A ll C offee MOAC
Unconditional positive regard.

Starting soon,there is a big push to remove uniformed personnel. All will be catered by KBR and its subsidiaries. Fat contract. I do not remember seeing a bid request in any of the papers.

Driving on the flight line is stressful enough. Add not understanding the guy in the tower because he does not speak English. Accident waiting to happen.

New day dawn dust of war/ heat and fumes I feel no more/ the needle is
in the drip is set/ the chopper dusts off but I aint home yet / patch
you up and on your feet/ this night they will feel my bullets heat.

As I sweep butterflies keep flying in front of the windshield, I am
reminded of the show Kings. Makes me smile.

Sunday, 28 February 2010

End of January 2010

This is basically what I put out in a e-mail letter.

I am doing well. Things have settled into a routine. Wake up at 4 am and talk to Rebekah and Teagan on the computer. Shower, shave and go to the Chow Hall to eat bad food. The contract for the food obviously went to the lowest bidder. The guys making the food are Indian. I like Indian food but when they try to make American food it does not work. The people that are guarding the Chow Hall and some perimeter areas are Ugandan. It is odd because they hold AK-47s and have no real uniforms. It takes time to get used to the fact that some of our security also went to the lowest bidder. People who come here to work for our government at called TCNs Third Country Nationals. There are a lot of civilians around. We allow local workers here. Most work at shops video stores junk shops, coffee shops and eating places. There are quite a few US civilians. I deal with several as the VCO Vehicle Control Officer. This is a duty as assigned, in other words I was chosen because I arrived late do to my flight schedule and got volin-told I had a extra job. It is on top of my regular work. VCO is taking up most of my time managing all the Squadrons 73 vehicles and equipment making sure they are maintained, oil changes etc. And I need to support the civilian contracts so they can barrow my equipment as needed. This job does give me a desk but it means I (should be) a slave to it. I have jumped at jobs to get out of the office. I have done a few forklift jobs and a frontend loader job. I have been going out on a track hoe job filling HESCOs. HESCOs are large boxes that are filled with dirt to protect buildings. I did a small crane job on Area 4. Area 4 is in the Victory Complex but is run by Iraqi Special Forces. These guys and their families need to be protected. They do not draw lines based on religion or governmental connections. They go after law breakers. They are hated more than we are. I have been putting myself on jobs more lately. I am trying to keep busy. I went out to operate a 50 ton crane moving T-walls. T-walls are 12 foot high, four foot wide, 15 ton concrete wall sections used like a fence to protect buildings. I won the Chief’s Excellence Award. I have been helping out a Chief in EOD get trucks off-loaded. A group of Chiefs presented it to me in our shop. I like these types of awards. They are personal and I get a coin. I find most awards insulting. It is just placating the plebs. If you want to acknowledge me, promote me. I did not deploy with my own unit. The Squadron I am assigned to is out of New Jersey. Good group of guys but they cannot promote me. My own unit cannot promote me because it says there are no slots available… Sorry, as you can see it bugs me. I went bird hunting with the Pest Management guys. They keep critters out of the living area and off the runway. I had to teach them how to sight a rifle-in. They are from Jersey. They only have a BB gun. The .22 does not have any ammo. I shot the first thing killed in anger here for a long time. It was a Magpie looking bird. They have been chasing a Jackal but do not have a way to kill it. We cannot shoot big guns on our small Base. I forgot to mention my other duties as assigned job. I am the Airfield Driving Program Manager. So for the first two weeks I was testing and training people on how to drive on and around the runway and talk to the Tower. Locals run the tower and are hard to understand.

Sunday, 07 February 2010

Forward

Why a blog? As you will quickly notice I am new to this format. You will be forced to suffer with me, not only with my poor grammar, spelling and thought process but with learning how to blog. I have made the leap to blogging because facebook limits how much you can post and sending out emails can be tedious and time consuming. I am hoping this way when people are curios how I am doing it can be the quick read to see what is happening in my life away from life. That is how I have come to understand my situation. One life stopped along with time when I entered the Airport the other life began. The realities of each are so different that only similarities can be drawn. Also as I write this I can see that it will be a outlet, a way to relese, reflect and come to terms with this life this reality.