Boots on Ground

I haven't been able to post for awhile, since I flew out of the states. And I'm not sure when I'll be able to post again. We'll see.

We flew into Qatar for a few days (actually longer than I thought we would.) We stayed in a tent (don't get the wrong idea, it was a huge sturdy tent that holds about 50 people.) I kind of equated the area with Club Med (I used the swimming pool, the media center, won money at the rec center, at nice at the dining facility.)

We finally flew out again yesterday (25 Mar). Now I'm on the ground in country. I still haven't made it to my final destination, yet. But it should only be a few days now.

I'll touch base again when I can,
Eric

Bring Down the Lights

For the last year or so my wife, Susan, and I have been going to this bar for karaoke. Susan doesn't sing (or at least she hasn't yet.) I do a lot of singing. Some of it, probably a lot of it, isn't too bad. Some of it, I probably should've left alone. Oh well, that's the way it goes.

A few days from now, I fly out of here. The Karaoke Jockey (KJ) at our local likes to say I'm going to be pouring sand out of my boots. He's probably right.

This past Saturday night was the last time I'll visit my little karaoke place for quite a while. It is sad. It's only been a day and I'm already missing it.

It remains to be seen if karaoke exists in the land of sand. If it does, I'll find it. I'll record it. And my local KJ says if we can put it in DVD format, he'll even 'put me in the rotation.' That's my goal.

Ah, the hopes and dreams of the excentric (or hopelessly insane.)

So, for my next number...

Here I Sit

It's been awhile since I posted to this blog. I got back from training, had relatives in town, took some leave, and goofed-off a little. So, the blog got left behind for a time. Now it's back, and I promise that it will come back strong in a week or so.

Keep checking back from time-to-time.


Eric

Headin' Out

I head out tomorrow to return home. Susan, check your cox.net email for details.


Outta here,
Eric

It's the Final Countdown

It's kind of late here and I'm writing this blog. The rest of the guys in the open bay barracks have hit the sack and it's pretty dark. I thought about not posting, but I think I should.

Today was our last day of training. Technically, tomorrow could have been another training day, but we finished up everything early. Now, I have to see if I can change my plane tickets to an earlier date. I hope so.



It would be nice to spend a little more time with family. My mother-in-law is supposed to be in town then and my parents are coming up during that time, too. Maybe fate will be with me on this one.


That's it for this evening. Over and out,
Eric

On the Road Again

It's been a few days since I last posted comments here. But I'm back and ready to update you on my latest adventures. Those adventures would include some urban ops, as well as some convoy stuff. Again, I'll remind you that I don't expect my job to involve any of the above-mentioned items, but who knows.

While most of my group have been hoofing it around little fake villages, I've been in my HMMWV. As they went through this little town, building by building, I sat there with my engine idling. Whenever they needed us, they'd call us in.

Yesterday and today, however, we did some convoy stuff. Yesterday was a lot of instruction (under a tent, no seats, so it was stand, kneel, or sit on the ground). That was fun. Today, they ran us through a bunch of scenarios, in which I also drove my HMMWV, a lot. It really was pretty fun.

Now I'm down to two more days of training. I'm not sure what outbriefings we'll have to attend after that, but my return home date is still the 1st.


See you peeps later,
Eric

Urban Cowboy

So, for the last three days we've been learning about clearing rooms and marching in formations into cities, etc. Today would've probably been okay, but it was so looooong. We had the old death by powerpoint in the morning for a few hours and then we went into the "field." We had to march around, dive onto the ground, jump up, run around some more, yell a little bit, run around a little more, avoid running in front of any weapons (which were not loaded), and then stand around out of breath while we rehashed everything we did wrong. Fun, fun, fun.

It's the final countdown here, now. Just over a week to go and I'll be headed back to home-sweet-home. Can't wait.


Eric