12/04/10 1426

Ironically enough, I’m finally finding a chance to write just because it’s too busy in here right now.  Too many people around.  Too many irritations.  Granted, that’s almost an everyday occurrence but they’re almost hovering right now.  It’s really cramping my style.  I can’t watch a movie, I can’t read, I can’t do my “farming” on Farmville.  What is that all about?  I mean, really… this is work, after all…

I guess I may as well try to get you all caught up on the latest here.  It’s been a while.  Perhaps I’ll go back to Thanksgiving.  For those of you who keep up with me on Facebook, you probably saw my post about what an awesome day it was.  Of course I missed my family and friends at home, but I have such wonderful friends here and it was great to be with them.  The day started out with a killer workout.  Early morning workout, since I’m on a 7am to 7pm shift now.  Very early…  Work wasn’t too spectacular that day. Pretty mellow as usual.  Chilled and watched movies.  Dinner was absolutely spectacular.  It was delicious.  I was hesitantly hopeful that our Thanksgiving meal would be something that wouldn’t disappoint.  I was afraid to get my hopes up too far, but there was no need for that.  I was blown away at how nice it was.  It was delightful, and the company was awesome, and it was actually very beautiful.  Ice sculptures and everything.  Isn’t that crazy?  There was the usual—turkey, smashed potatoes, dressing, etc., plus macaroni & cheese (which always inspires a happy dance from me), shrimp cocktail, and they even had eggnog.  It was awesome.  After dinner, I headed back to finish my shift and got to relax for the rest of the night.  It truly was a perfect day in Afghanistan.  The food prep guys really worked hard for us, and they did a spectacular job.  Even the table cloths and decorations were beautiful. 

And as for the work part of my life here…  it is amazing how things can change in just a matter of weeks around here.  Make that hours.  It seems like every time I turn around, there's a new plan, a new rule, a new cause for panic.  It's all rather amusing, actually.  Especially since I don't see any reason to get worked up over things that are either only going to last a year for me or will work themselves out in a matter of days.  Eh, but I guess I just have a different mindset than many.  Understatement, I know.   

Anyway, since I last wrote, the FD has been deemed a semi-official FD.  That's very good news.  It's only semi-official since we're lacking a lot of gear still, but that'll come with time.  As of about two months ago or so, we can respond to medical calls, the air station with crash crew, fires on defensive tactic only... all sorts of fun stuff. And we’ve gotten 5 whole calls in that time!  Which brings us back to the aforementioned movies, books, fake “farming”, and even cross-stitching that I’ve been doing.  Lemme tell you, 12-hour shifts can be long when there’s no calls going on.  But I sit here at the desk and wait.  We get visitors, which is a huge change from my prior dispatching job.  It’s a mix between being a receptionist and a dispatcher here.  “Hi. How may I help you today?”  “Please sign in and have a seat.  The doctor will be right with you.”  Okay, so we don’t go quite that far, but it’s close. 

Aside from that, not too much is new.  It’s getting a lot colder.  We were in the upper 20’s last week.  Not a big fan of that.  There are few things to make using a port-o-potty uncomfortable and un-fun like having to go outside at 1am in 20-something degree weather.  Wait, wait… at least we have port-o-potties, right?  Sure.  I’ll go along with that.  I’ve been sick for the past few days, and showering at 6am or 9pm in weather like this isn’t great for a cold, so I’ve given up my breakfast for shower time lately.  Hopefully I’ll be able to get back on track soon.  I had been getting up a bit before 5 to walk to the gym, get a workout, turn into an icicle on the way back, shower in a refrigerator, and come back to my plywood ice box, but I thought it best to give that a break while I’m sick.  I don’t need to put the door mat out for pneumonia and bronchitis. Oh, and for those who have been wondering if you can send me anything—WARM STUFF!!!!!  J 

Actually, I have had a lot of people asking lately what I can use.  I’ve come up with some ideas for those that are interested.  Like I said before, we have a little PX here and can get some basic toiletries, but it’s really limited and things sell out quickly.  Especially the food.  Rumor has it, the Taliban has been wreaking havoc on our food supplies, which would explain the few weeks of no bread and empty shelves at the PX, but I wanted so badly to take a picture of the two jars of salsa that sat on the shelves in there for a while.  It was really amusing to me.  Even more amusing was the day when I went back and even they were gone.  I hope someone got a care package with chips in it as opposed to getting desperate enough to eat salsa all alone…  But who knows?  Anyway, the list.  Fruit rollups, crackers, cookies, easy mac, drink singles (Propel, True Lemon, Kool-aid, etc.), canned oysters, packets of tuna, sausage & cheese gift packs, wipes of all and any sorts (make-up remover, Huggies, Wet Ones, Cottonelle, all are very well appreciated!), paper plates & bowls, paper towels.  Oh, and warm stuff.  Actually, I just ordered a jacket and a pair of gloves that I hope arrive very soon.  I cannot wait to crawl into them!  You’d think that flannel-lined pants that I wear every day would help but I’m not entirely sure that they do.  It’s amazing how serious the cold is over here!  It cuts through everything, to include plywood walls, doors, and floors. 

Alright, I should be heading to dinner soon.  I need to find a few pics that I can throw on here for my dear readers.  I hope you all are doing well.  Feel free to drop me a line, especially if I haven’t heard from you in a while.  I’m getting much better at writing back.  Much.  

Afghanistan sunsets.  I want so badly to take these pictures every day. 

Such beauty in the desert!

Hard at work, right?

BBQ Master hard at work.

A wonderful day of steaks & BBQing.

Just to show how mail can be, note the date on the watch  and the date of the election.

One of my favorite shopping places. Check them out!

Delicious s'mores. This beats the desserts in the DFAC!

Our flagpole at the station.

Another sunset from another day.

My buddy, Schroeder.

My room

Afghanistan chickens lay eggs with dates on them. How cool is that?

R.I.P.

10/14/2010 1148 PM

Tonight, at approximately 1800, my stepdad traveled into the gates of heaven with much of his family by his side.  It was by far the most touching thing I have ever been a part of, and while I wish we still had him here, I am eternally thankful to God for allowing it to happen as it did.  We held him and held each other as we sang to him, and we can rest easier knowing that he went from our gentle loving hands into the even more gentle loving hands of our Maker.  He went from our songs to His songs.  And even better than that, he went from a damaged body to a perfect body.  We miss you, but we are so happy that you’re in the best of hands now.  Ronald A. Mayo, you are so very well loved. 
More to come soon. 

10/08/2010 9:43 PM

Alright, it’s now 9:43 PM. I’m back home so it’s back to normal people time for a bit. It’s 9:14 AM at my other home. I’m sitting at my mom’s house, gonna sleep on the sofa tonight & tomorrow night. It has been a long time since I’ve slept here. Kinda different but then nothing has been normal today. On my way up here, I realized that I couldn’t find my wallet. Suddenly I remembered that it had been under my leg on the plane. I was holding my book between the wall of the airplane and my leg and it fell at one point. I picked it up and must have knocked my wallet off the chair at the same time. If that’s the case, who knows when it’ll be discovered or beyond that, if it’ll have any of my money left in it. I sure hope I do!


I realized something on this journey while walking around the airport. I do not miss being constantly surrounded and bombarded by “stuff”. We have a little PX at Dwyer and we go in almost every day just to see what’s new. And when I want something, I can go online to get it. I don’t have to pass hundreds of different shirts, watches, shoes, or anything else that can distract easily distractible people such as myself, which is really nice. It really has been a great experience over there so far. I’m lucky, I guess. It’s not the same for everybody. I’ve been listening to people constantly talking about their frustrations and annoyances with the company or with being overseas. What is the point of all that? If you can’t be happy, why not just go home? One of our guys had a wife who broke her arm while he was here. I’m sure he was plenty frustrated about that. Another is sitting there while his wife deals with a bout of breast cancer. He is very unthrilled about that. He and I joined a “cancer f*ing sucks” group the morning I left as we were talking about his wife and my stepdad. He told me that his wife has heart problems too and is on medications for that. The money that he has to spend for her medical issues is the reason that he’s in Afghanistan. Given the expression on his face yesterday, I have no doubt that he’d much rather be home with her but he’s doing something very important to take care of her from a distance. I do not envy that man. It must be awful to be so far away.


I like getting to hear about people’s reasons for being over there. I’m about the only one I know who isn’t doing this primarily for money. I’m not planning out college for kids. I’m not trying to buy a house. I’m not dealing with medical bills. I’m having fun. I wonder if that’s why I have nothing to complain about. Who knows.


So the latest on my stepdad. It was believed that he was coughing up blood last night so they rushed him from the convalescent hospital to the ER. Did a scan and didn’t find anything that could be causing it. He wasn’t eating much but it still coherent and was able to talk to me a bit. I am very glad that I got here when I did. It’s very good to see the family and to be with him right now. I wouldn’t even have begun to expect something like this happening when I left two months ago. Not my stepdad. He was such a healthy man. I think, to put it mildly, this caught a lot of us off-guard.

Anyway, I should get to bed. It’s so weird to be sleeping back here again. The houses mostly look the same, but many of the people inside of them are different. Many of the stores have changed. Restaurants are gone. There are now stop signs where there weren’t before. My bank has changed its name and look since the last time I was in there. But some things are a total time-warp. Some things show absolutely no evidence of 15 years passing since I lived here. What an odd feeling. This sofa? Not an ounce of change. I love it.

10/07/10 1820 local time

I am currently sitting in the airport in Dubai. I’m frustrated that there’s no internet connection. I have a sneaky suspicion that I’m not going to have much communication with the outside world until I get back home. Of course that would happen when I most need it, right? So I decided yesterday morning that it was time to go home to see my stepdad. He’s been diagnosed with cancer in the time that I’ve been gone. I can’t see what’s going on there, and I don’t know what the future holds, but I do know that this was a good time to get home since the fire department isn’t up & running yet and I should probably take advantage of it while I still can. Besides, if anything goes terribly awry and I need to get home quickly, there is no guarantee that it’ll be doable. Juli will be going on vacation next month and this just seemed like the right time. I sure do hope it is. I went in to the chiefs yesterday morning telling them that I needed to get home, thought it would still be a few days, but everything turned into the usual whirlwind that it is around there and off I went. We headed to HR inquire about what it would take and they said that they could get me onto the flight going out that day. I had to rush back to the station and pack, with the help of my dear Juli. She managed to keep my head on straight somehow. Handing over stuff that I needed… luggage locks, small toothpaste, baggies, even a couple reminders of my temporary home there. I didn’t have a clue how much I was going to miss it. Miss the people! If I’m like this after a few weeks with those guys, how am I going to be after a year?!? This can’t be good. I had to fly back to KAF yesterday and go through the usual out-processing there before I could head on. This morning, I was having breakfast with our fire liaison that I got to spend a lot of time with the first time I was there, and as we were going through the lunch line, I realized how much Dwyer has gotten to me. The omelet maker at KAF wasn’t nearly as sweet and charming as the one at Dwyer. And I missed my little cutie that always gives me the bacon or sausage or pancakes or French toast. That man has got to have the sweetest smile ever! I don’t know what it is about him but if I’m not careful, one of these days, I’m gonna climb over the counter and get a hug. I’ll have to get a picture with him so you can all see what I’m talking about. Trust me, you’ll know. And the one at the end of the breakfast line that always knows that I’ll want syrup. He always looks so crushed when they’re out and I express any disappointment. Seriously, that is a very good place to work. I really do enjoy it there.


Alright, I’m back on the plane and using a napkin to write. I’m flying over a beautiful mountain range right now. Wish I knew which one it is but I don’t have a clue how long I’ve been flying so I can’t even begin to guess where I am. All I know is I’ve watched two TV shows and one movie, not to mention quite a bit of reading. The movie for this trip was Toy Story 3. Yep, I cried. At least 3 times. What is it with Disney? What is it with toys?


Ya know, this trip has definitely not been easy. I go from deciding to go home to suddenly going home in a couple of hours. I pack, I say goodbye to people I care more about than I ever thought I would. I take a flight to Bastion. Another flight to KAF. Stayed overnight and went through out-processing the next day. Flew to Dubai. Flew to Kuwait. Flew to D.C. Flying to San Diego. That is just about 10 more hours more flying than I want. It was about a total of 22 hours. The 13 hour was definitely the worst part but I had a very charming companion the whole way. Natalia. She was in Kuwait teaching. Lasted 2 weeks before getting fired. She was so thankful for that fact. She had never been more miserable in her life. She was told she’d be teaching at an American girl’s school. What she wasn’t told was that there were no American girls. They didn’t teach the truth. The children had no respect at all. She was at a major disadvantage from the get-go. Very glad to be going home. San Francisco area. She actually cheered and clapped when the plane touched. It was quite adorable.


Okay, my dear friends, I’m going to put this napkin I’m writing on away and go back to my book. I’ll be in touch soon. Wish me luck and send major prayers toward my family. Especially my stepdad. He needs it the most.


Much love,
D

09/27/2010 1345

Well this has certainly taken longer than planned.  I apologize for that, especially to those of you who keep asking when the next installment of me is going to be here.  I can’t exactly say that I’ve been inundated with work, but I have been trying to keep as busy as possible.  As I said before, I’m going to have to give you all an idea of what the day-to-day stuff is like around here.  It’s definitely not what I thought I’d be getting into.  It’s another world entirely.  Some good, some not so much.

Let’s start with the house.  I’m living in a plywood rectangle.  Everything inside the large plywood rectangle is another smaller one.  My room, the training room, the day room, the offices, all of the firefighter’s rooms… everything is plywood and everything is rectangular.  At least it’s visually appealing.  And when we go outside, everything is tan.  Tan tents, tan buildings, tan sand… I thought that I’d take as many pictures of colorful stuff as possible before I left so I could have my screen saver to remind me of all that I miss.  That was one good idea.  It really stands out in the monotony of tan.  I was pretty amused the other day when I saw a guy washing his truck.  Really?  Here?  It’ll be tan again in minutes. 

I know a few of you are watching the weather here.  Lemme tell you, it ain’t what it appears to be.  I just saw my online weather for Kandahar as 63º.  Not a chance, kids.  Not a chance.  It’s not even 9 am and it’s already rather toasty-good.  I went for a walk two days ago with my darling roomie.  When we took off at 1500, it was 96.8.  When we got back around 1730, it was about 93.  Granted, while we were out, the dust obscured the sun a few times for us, but for the most part, it was a warm walk!  I saw clouds the other day.  That was really big news for us.  Quite a few people, me included, went out to take pictures.  There have been some impressive sunsets & sunrises.  I woke up the other morning and started laughing to myself.  I saw the beautiful sky and thought, “red sky in the morning, sailors take warning” then wondered who is supposed to take warning when there’s nothing on which to sail.  Does that warning still count for us when we’re completely landlocked?  What is a red sky here trying to tell us? 

The days, right now, aren’t terribly exciting.  We wake up, go to roll call, & go to breakfast.  Honestly, I think that’s the best meal of the day here.  Not only do the guys who work the breakfast line always brighten my day, it’s also the best food.  After breakfast, we head back then try to figure out what we’re going to do with our day.  Laundry?  Work out?  Hit up the PX?  Get ready for being operational?  Oh the choices are so plentiful.  But we manage.  Sometime around lunch, we get lunch.  Now you’ve got to understand that we need to find a way to confine our hunger and food needs to certain hours of the day.  The DFACs aren’t open all hours, though we do have a sandwich bar open 24 hours a day… but that’s a bit more of a walk.  There are 5 DFACs on this camp and all taste the same.  Actually the food in them tastes the same.  But it’s food.  Some of the FOBs over here don’t even have that much.  Either they eat MREs or food from the PX.  Not my idea of a nutritional existence!  We actually really do have it good.  Sometimes we try different DFACs just to vary it up a bit.  Whatever works, right? 

After lunch is often much the same as after breakfast, only now we’re more off the radar.  There’s more time to clean our rooms, organize stuff, play around a little bit… that’s when I usually work out.  Either a walk around the camp, which is really quite nice, or soccer, or the gym.  We’ve got two of those.  Sort of.  One is split in two, so I guess it could technically count as three, but that one in two is still mostly one.  Just cardio in one tent and weights in the other.  The other has both together.  Either way, it’s nice to have those available to us!  There are a few MWR tents around here as well, but I’ve only been into one of them.  It’s probably really lacking for the military men & women, because they don’t typically have as much stuff over here to keep themselves entertained as we do, but it’s still something.  Again, I think we’re all on the lookout for diversions. 

Sometime after our afternoon, we go eat dinner.  It often looks, tastes, and smells suspiciously like lunch.  Sometimes it is lunch… just at a slightly different time of the day.  I don’t quite get it.  After dinner, we chill.  Just because that’s all we have left to do.  Games, talking, playing on our computers, reading… it’s really not too exciting at all, but we look for smiles where we can.  Some people have nice, elaborate sound systems in their tiny rooms.  Some have video games.  Some have their music.  That’s why I bought a keyboard.  It’s a great option to help pass the time.  Monday through Sunday is always the same mostly, but Sundays are technically down days.  It’s a relaxing non-work day.  Those are nice. 

So that’s pretty much my day to day life right now.  As I think of new stuff, I will definitely let you know.  If I can pull this off the right way, I’ll start writing things to you all as they happen so hopefully there’ll be more shorter entries.  But who knows what tomorrow brings!  

Thanks for reading, my dear friends.  I miss you all.  I am definitely having a great time here, but you are all still in my heart.  Hope all is well for everybody.  

09/13/2010 2200

It is a very strange feeling to know that the place you were staying one week ago was hit by The Enemy. So many times I’d wonder why things were going at the pace they were, but I knew that it was all for a reason. Why did I have to sit in Kuwait so long? Maybe it was to keep from getting hit while I was in Kandahar. Why did I get out of Kandahar so quickly when some of my buds are still there? Maybe it was to keep me alive. This world is so finely tuned, so perfectly run. We wonder all these things but it’s really not up to us. Nobody got hit in that particular attack, but what if…? And when people do get hurt, that’s always for a reason too. Boy do we understand very little about the big picture!

So these past few days have been a lot of fun. I had my first birthday truly away from home and everybody that I know and love, but I didn’t feel any less love at all.

The present with the most amazing use of duct tape
I've ever seen.  Cutest bow ever!

My roomie bought me some awesome socks (that I really needed) and some fireballs that will likely get me through the rest of the year. I love these things so much and was really excited to see them in the PX here. She actually bought all but two packages of them and only left those because she figured someone might want them.

Socks & fireballs. I'm set!

The entire station sang to me on my birthday morning. It was priceless. They all signed a card and though I’ve only been here for a week now, I really do feel like I’m a part of the family. There are caring people here, and I like that a lot. Drama, of course, but I guess that can happen anywhere. Especially when there are three crews in a station, all of whom live together day after day after day… It’s bad enough when crews have to see each other at shift change. This “constant companion” business is a totally different world! But now, and for the next 11 months, it is my world. I had better get used to it.

Within my first few days, I got involved in a very entertaining, very frustrating project that took my roomie and I all over the camp… a few times. That was how we got our ride the other day, and that also gave us a chance to see the water bottling facility here. I had no idea how cool it was! We were just going around looking at buildings when we started chatting with the people at the facility. He asked if we needed to see inside, and we told him that we didn’t need to on for any professional reasons, but it would be cool to see if he was offering it in a civilian way. Juli and I were totally impressed. The bottles start off as something that looks like a test tube then it gets blown up and shaped, then the water goes in, the blue light of death purifies it even more, then it gets capped, labeled, and sent out for packaging. Then we got to see the water purification area. It was all so neat! We totally had a new appreciation for the water we’d been guzzling for the past few days. Who knew they could do something so cool in the middle of the desert?!? The whole time we were seeing this, I kept thinking that Mr. Rogers should have had something like this in his show! Maybe he did and I just missed that episode.


The weather has been sweltering hot. It was pretty rough to be out in it all day, during the heat of the day, with very little relief from the sun. We went into one building and the guy said it was only 100 outside. We told him that we saw a thermometer that said 120 and he said that was only in the sun. We pointed out that we, too, were in the sun. We were a good, comfortable 120. Well, we were 120. Not sure how good and comfortable it was. But we had a blast being out. You’re looking at two “dispatchers” who are paid to sit for 12 hours at a time, neither of which enjoys sitting at all. Being out and doing things all day was completely thrilling to us! We got to see real people, cool sights, feel the sand and rocks beneath our feet… Oh, and speaking of sand. Whew. This deserves another paragraph of its own.

Yesterday morning, I woke up early and had to make a trip outside. I feel like a dog—being sent outside to do… business. :) Anyway, I was a little confused with the morning sky. The sun was out but something wasn’t quite right, but that early in the morning, nobody can really tell what’s what. About an hour later, Juli headed outside and just stood at the door. That’s when I realized that the surreal sky was, in fact, sand. Yes, my dear friends, I got my first Afghanistan sand. Wow. So we had to brave the day a couple of times, but we had a day “off” so we didn’t have to be out walking in it for hours on end. Part way through the day, things calmed down a bit. Today was a different story. Wow again! Not only was the wind blowing harder and the sand thicker, it was also chilly because the sun was so obscured. The good news is that I came somewhat prepared for sand storms. Not too big a deal. I’ve grappled in the sand, and am no stranger to the feeling of sand in the ears, eyes, up the nose, all over the skin, inside clothes, on everything… but this stuff is vastly different from normal sand. It isn’t even visible on the skin, but you can sure feel it! When I went to shower tonight (somewhat pointless given the fact that by the time I got back to the station, I was completely covered in sand again), I untucked my shirt and just laughed at the difference in the color between what was tucked and what was exposed. I pointed that out to my chief a bit later and he checked his too. Sure enough, the tucked part of his shirt was rather white. The rest was definitely yellow. Once again, it’s a different world here!

Oh, for those who are interested, since it looks like I’m stayin’, I’ve got an address for you all to use.
Dana Veca
Dyncorp Fire Dept.
FOB Dwyer
FPO/AE 09373
Letters will be answered in the order they’re received, and any and all correspondences will be so appreciated!

Alright my friends, once again, it’s bedtime. I wanted to write so much more, but I’m a tired bunny today. These long days are great and they’re really helping me sleep well at night… eventually. I’m at that eventually. I’ll try to write more soon and give you a clue of what things are really like. The daily stuff. It’s so much fun. At least by my standards. I have to laugh at the guys who whine about this from our company. We all asked for it! What is there to complain about? The military has every right in the world to complain about their conditions. I’d say about 75% of the time, they don’t even really want to be here. Us? We signed up. Hardly seems a fair balance, does it? Heh, speaking of the military, I saw a guy today in the DFAC who used to work in the same building I did at Pendleton. What are the chances of that??? I’m actually somewhat surprised that I haven’t found more that I know here, but I may before the year is out.

Happy Monday to all of you at home. I hope it is as delightful as mine was.

09/07/2010 2315

Now this was officially one fun day. It started out inconspicuously enough. We got up, started the day with roll call, did the usual stuff. Then Juli & I had a visitor. It was more stuff about the mapping system. There are quite a few people involved in this, which make sense… it does affect the entire Camp, after all. We ended up meeting a few people yesterday, one of whom was from Long Beach and knows a few people that I know. I’ve been looking for one of those people for ages and he thinks he can get me in touch with him. Great news! Then I got onto my computer and found a message from a long lost friend of mine. Awesome! And then we found out that our request for a ride around the Camp was going to be granted. We got to go on a convoy around here to see the different areas and buildings. We had to wear our PPE, of course, and were in an MRAP. It was nothing short of awesome. It was really neat to see that side of things. There’s so much more to this camp than I’d ever have guessed. It’s amazing! After our ride, we came back, had dinner, and relaxed for the rest of the evening on our little “veranda” with the delicious beverages I’m going to refer to as beeries. It’s near beer, and all that we’re allowed here… but when you’ve got a good enough imagination, it’ll do. In fact, if you concentrate hard enough, you can feel the gentle cool breeze just off the ocean right behind the station. Sometimes you can even hear the waves crashing into the rocks. Seriously! It’s all about the imagination. Some of the guys think we’re nuts, some come to join us for a bit. I guess when you’re going to be here in this situation for a while, you may as well learn to accept it.

Alright, I apologize for the short entry, but I’m going to go ahead and pass out in a minute. I hope. Still having a rough time getting onto this time zone. Maybe. I’m not even sure what it is. I used to absolutely require at least 7 hours of sleep a night. Now I’m averaging 5 and surviving. Worse yet, I get this second wind each night, but I still have to wake up early! No fun. I hope it’s just the newness of it all. I guess we’ll know in a few more weeks.

09/06/2010 2222

I've gotten a lot of inquiries about what things are like over here for me now that I'm at a semi-permanent location.  And I say semi because there's still a possibility that I may move again, but hopefully I'll know soon enough.  I want to start getting mail!  Plus I'm thinking that I'll need some warmer clothes pretty soon.  The nights are already getting cool.  Of course comparing that to days, 80 could feel cool.  I was walking with the other dispatcher here, Juli, to a few places today and she glanced up at a thermometer and said, "No wonder it feels warm."  It was 120.  Yep.  Comfy.  And for some reason, we thought it wise to walk back to the station quickly.  Where was the logic in that?
So where to start?  I arrived, uneventfully, by helo.  It was a neat ride.  Just under an hour or so.  I got a bit of a nap.  Having a kevlar helmet on really helped cushion the movement and noise.  Of course there was a brief moment where I dreamed that I was in a washing machine, but it was quick.  The process for checking in here was even less impressive than at the other places.  Plus I was tired & getting a bit on the irritable side.  Being shuffled like cattle can do that to a person.  After a short wait, the assistant chief & one of the firefighters came to pick me and my luggage up and take me to my home.  And a pretty home it is. 
My room is a shared room, pretty good sized right now but the more people move in there, the smaller it'll get.  The beds are solid as rocks.  I'm okay with that with one little exception.  The edges can actually bruise us if we happen to hit 'em wrong.  No bed should cause bruises.  At least not the mattress!  But it's better than a cot!  Better than a lot of things. 
Things will be very odd for a while.  At least compared to what I thought I'd be doing.  That's totally okay though.  I'm up for whatever they throw my way.  I'm on an adventure (any references to Candy Mountain are intentional) and that's a part of it.  See, I thought I was coming over here to dispatch.  That was the job title & description.  Only there is no dispatch center so I get to help make one.  Juli has a lot of dispatching experience, as do I, and we're both smart little cookies, so we can really make good things happen.  Besides, we get along well.  No egos, just a good plan.  It's cool.  The guys here are great too.  All have been very kind and welcoming.  I feel like I just got adopted into a very fun family.  They even got me to play soccer with 'em.  Good times. 
As far as the daily routine, we have roll call at 0730, do whatever work they need for us to do, find some work for us to do, then have our time.  We have a bit of a walk to the DFAC, the PX, most of the Camp.  We have showers that are a bit away (not bad at all, just not down the hall), a real bathroom near the showers, and port-o-potties outside the station.  None of this is a big deal now, but in a few months, I'm already sure I'll have a few miserable moments.  Times when I'd rather suffer than go outside in the middle of the night (the middle of the cold) to use the bathroom.  When I'd rather have to get my sheets washed an extra time than shower and have to walk in the cold all the way back to the station... I'm sure it'll get brutal but I knew that when I signed up, right?  No complaining.  I'll just have to try to find a way to get sympathy out of you all. 
The Camp here is pretty cool.  It's a nice set-up but it's all close enough that it feels small without being cramped.  It is definitely a desert though!  These dust devils I've seen are downright tornadoes!  They're neat to see when they're just starting to form.  Very cool. I'm going to try to get some good pictures of that too.  I want to go camera happy out there!  Actually, I really want to go sit at the air field for a while and just watch.  I could do that for hours!  Really, there isn't much to do here, but that's okay.  We can always find something. 
What else?  People have asked about my schedule.  When the department is up & running, we'll likely be doing two during the day, one at night.  The dispatch center is in the station and all parties live here so we should get meal/bathroom breaks.  I hope so because there really isn't much to cook around here. 

09/04/2010 0119

Hello my friends. It is currently a ridiculous hour of the morning to still be awake, especially after getting only around 4 hours of sleep last night, but I want to write one last time from Kandahar. Tomorrow, somewhere around noon, I leave for FOB Dwyer. I was told the other day that I’ll be going there and I’m very curious about what it’s like. There is only one bad thing I’ve heard about it and that was the fact that it is in the middle of the desert and it’s hot. Well I just don’t know what to do with that fact. I know that Afghanistan has a variety of terrain but from all I can tell, it’s actually a bit toasty here! Not sure if that is supposed to be worse… Actually, I’m really not too sure of anything about it so I’ll just give you a little bit of my past couple of days.

Yesterday was nice & pretty mellow. I was able to get to the internet with the help of a friend/ IT guy who was in our class in Texas. In fact, Derek & I met on the bus going from the airport to the hotel. He’s a Southern Cali resident as well. He’s going to be stationed here at Kandahar and his room is a few rows away from mine so he let me use his room during the day. I was able to get a few things done during the day—got my uniform plus a very lucky pair of boots (I’m so thankful I didn’t buy them the day before like I almost did!). My dear roomie was told that she would likely be leaving today and would need to plan on being there at 0400 so she was in borderline panic mode given all that she needed to do. We ran by the PX to get some last-minute things she needed, had dinner, ran by her temporary office, then came back and started getting her stuff organized. She was later told it wouldn’t be until at least 0800 so that was good news for both of us. We didn’t finish until close to midnight then we headed to the showers. I was out & had just gotten my shirt on when the sirens sounded again. Awesome! Headed out to the bunker and was very thankful I hadn’t been asleep like most of the guys & gal in there. The security guard in there was with us in Kuwait. Pretty funny guy. He got here the same day I did. The same day a lot of us did. After what felt like an eternity, we were cleared to go home.

Today was a lot of fun. Went to breakfast with Katrina then went for a great walk with one of the fire guys, Clint. He was talking about it yesterday and invited me to join. We took off around 0830. It was already very toasty but I’m okay with that. We walked around the perimeter, sat & watched the planes & helos for a bit, continued on, saw camels (!!!), goats, some dust (I’ll be trying to get it out of my shoes as long as I keep them) and quite a few nifty sights. We got back to his office around noon, at which point it was downright hot and when I finally got back to my room, I saw that Katrina had taken off. I was so bummed to have missed her. I really wanted to get a pic with her for all to see but at least I got her email address. She really did make a great roommate. I had a fun couple of days getting to know her.

After an amazing shower, our fire new-hire guy here picked me up and took me to do laundry. Mine, that is—not his. After I got it going, we went to lunch then I got to accompany him on errands for the rest of the day. Part way through that, he got the word that I would be flying out today. Oh how I look forward to getting out of bags, but I’m very sad that I’m going to miss my bud. I wanted so badly to see him again before I took off. All I can do now is hope that he gets stationed where I am. At this point, none of the firefighters that I know are going to Dwyer. But that may change—I don’t know.

I tried to have dinner with some more of our class but I missed them. Just hope I have a chance to say goodbye to them tomorrow! I have to wonder if every group that goes through Dyncorp is as lucky as we were to have so many amazing people in the group. This process has been very convoluted sometimes, but the friends have been so stable, supportive, and consistent. They are, to put it simply, awesome. I’ve been so blessed to have these entertaining, selfless people by my side the whole way and I’m going to miss each one of them very much.

So with that, I will bid you all a fair adieu and curl up in my sleeping bag one last night. If all goes well, tomorrow I’ll be on sheets! Yay :)

09/02/2010 1314

Just a quick update on the basics, I have a buddy here who has internet access so I can get on and check things occasionally, but I just found out that email has been blocked so that's out.  Facebook is currently still working and I can still get to blogger but that's about it right now.  I'm going to see if I can get creative but in the meantime, leave me notes here if you're so inclined or get on Facebook if you're not already.  As soon as I get settled, I'll post my mailing address and if emails still won't work, I'll need to figure out a way to start collecting physical addresses so I can write to you all.  
Thank you all for the love & prayers I'm getting so far.  I really appreciate it.    

09/02/2010 0710

Well. I am just blown away right now but things are starting to get a little bit better. Last I reported to you all, I was at the airport waiting to get to Afghanistan. We arrived without incident. As we were flying (actually, we sorta spiraled, which I must say was rather fun given that it was intentional) above, I was blown away at how deserty everything looked! That might sound kind of dumb considering that this is a desert, but it was utterly gorgeous. There is a lot of brown, sure, but the patterns in the ground and the other colors were pretty spectacular. I wished I had my camera on me but I didn’t have enough room to reach under the seat in front of me. It was a cozy little charter plane to say the least.

After we landed, we proceeded to stand outside and wait. And wait. And wait. Aaaaand… wait. Apparently they were having issues unloading some of our stuff. We finally got our bags and all the fire personnel met up together. We were carted off after doing yet more paperwork. We got to meet the fire chief, drop our stuff off at our temporary residences (oh and I use that word loosely) then gather again for more paperwork. I actually have to wonder right now if that paperwork will ever end. Doesn’t seem likely. Since I’m the only girl in the group, our fire liaison took me to dinner since the guys are staying pretty far away from where I am, and I’m close to the office. The original plan was for me to get a bit of a new-hire briefing that night alone in the room since the boys were having their own in the tent but that never happened. They just handed me the PPE (personal protective equipment for the non-fire/military/electrical/any other profession that uses PPE readers) and said if you hear the rocket or the sirens, hit the ground, wait 30 seconds, then proceed to the nearest bunker. Uh-huh. That made for a jumpy shower a bit later…

I'm at the door in this picture.  Couldn't even capture
the whole bed.  It was less than roomy.

When I finally made it back to my room (using that term pretty loosely as well), I was so thankful to see that the roomie I have here is a gal that I went through the original processing with in Texas. There was a sigh of relief from both of us that could probably have been heard in the US. We’re in a 10’x10’ connex box with AC.

The room from the end of the beds to the wall.
Note that box in the lower left.  That's a shoe box.

Getting a bad roommate here could be a few days of hell at best. Katrina is not a bad roommate. She’s adorable, smiley, and sweet. And she’s done this before a few times. I’m in good company. And the silly lady thinks I’m adorable, smiley, and sweet too! Either way, it sure beats what the boys are in. Their tent sleeps anywhere from 100-150 men from all different countries, some of whom don’t always think it’s a great idea to shower once a day. And their AC is questionable after about 1000. Of course the dudes that sit on the top bunk can actually sit on the top bunk. I can hunch over with my head perpendicular to my body while on the top bunk. But I’d rather take my option. This wouldn’t be too awful a residence for one person for a year. It’s possible to make it comfortable. And for a few days, it’s not too shabby at all to share. We’ve got the bathrooms down at the end of the row and on the other side are the showers. We don’t even have to walk downstairs for them. Definitely a plus.

Yesterday, I started off the day with our fire guy. He picked me up for breakfast then took me to the new-hire orientation. He is very particular about his breakfast. Said it’s his only time all day to be calm and enjoy life. He’s not getting paid for the services he does for the fire new-hires. He will be with us all day until we get our paperwork done and get settled. And he does this for each new group. It’s crazy, but we’re all really thankful for it. Breakfast was delicious. Their dining facilities (DFACs) aren’t bad at all. The food can range from very mass-produced to great. Some people get creative and make salads, sandwiches, anything to have a different meal. Others just stand in line and get the basic stuff, whatever it happens to be at the time. They usually have noodles. That’s enough to make me happy.

Our new-hire orientation was pretty cool. Some great knowledge, some moments where I wondered why we kept hearing about generators again, but by the end of yesterday I was feeling a lot better about things. Of course there was more paperwork to fill out. Ironically, we had our first sirens in class when they were talking about that very subject. I’m just really hoping that those never go off when I’m walking outside and have nowhere to land but on the rocks. Or in the sun on asphalt. Or the gratings outside of our rooms. Is that too much to ask? Probably. Okay, so a few scratches or a little bit of a burn isn’t much compared to the alternative. I guess I can deal with rocks. Shortly after that, I heard another phrase that I never thought I’d hear: “Wow, these are really nice bunkers!” Yep, it’s a different world here.
I found out that I’m going to a different place than I was originally told. I’m not surprised at all. This one sounds pretty tiny, hardly even a PX to talk about, but that’s okay. Of course I’m not even really banking on that until I unpack and put my pictures up. The amount of change we have here on an hourly basis is almost impressive. But if I do end up there, apparently I’m literally in the middle of nothing at all, which means that anything/anyone approaching can be seen long before its/their arrival. That’s good news. I can’t remember for sure but I think some of the fire guys referred to it as the desert of death because of the “pleasant” weather in the summer. Aww, and I’m likely going to miss the best of it this year. Shucks. By the time I’m ready to leave, however, things will be a different story!

The view looking toward the main part of camp at night. 

A view of the "houses" at night.

Oh, for you guys that work at Pendleton, you’ll love this. You know how almost every station is strategically placed within smelling distance of the “treatment ponds” depending on wind direction? Yeah… I was warned a few times about the stench of Kandahar but not even time near the facilities at Pendleton could prepare me for this. Truly, nothing compares. Our “pond” used to be on the outskirts of camp until camp expanded. Now camp is on the outskirts of the “pond”. The aroma is overwhelmingly unpleasant just when driving by it. Last night, we had an unfortunate wind shift at which point walking outside makes you instantly gag. The wind shifted away again last night but was back our way this morning. I can think of about 50 more pleasant ways to wake up and that’s not even trying to get creative! I doubt that it’s even possible to get used to this one. I wonder why camp didn’t expand the other way.

Alright, my friends, I have to get ready for breakfast. Being without internet is really rough right now, but I’m going to try to do something to get this blog updated. Just know, no matter how long I have to go in between actual updates, you all are on my mind and in my heart. I’m having a great experience here (okay, I’m making it a great experience) but I definitely look forward to going home again. Of course, given the current state of wind, I really look forward to getting to my candles, plumerias, perfume, kitty’s fur, incense, ocean air, veg fires, delicious meals, and anything else that smells good! Aah, funnel cakes at Knott’s. Waffle cones at Dairy Queen. Jasmine. That wonderful smell of a freshly carved pumpkin with a candle burning inside of it. Cinnamon rolls. Oh I need to stop this! I can’t handle the teasing :)

I’ll talk to y’all soon!
Much love,
Day

08/31/2010 0625

I am currently sitting in the airport in Kuwait, getting ready to board a flight soon that will take us to Dubai to pick up a few more people, then to Afghanistan. I just found out yesterday that I’d be leaving today. I haven’t been to sleep since, but I did have a good time for my last day in Kuwait. And a delicious dinner!
To rewind a bit, I was feeling a little frustrated the other day when my bud, Scott, showed up. It was very good to see him, but more than anything, just nice to be around someone with a good attitude. That night, after check-in, a few of us got a taxi and headed out into town for a hot night. I was the only girl in the group with a few firefighters, an HVAC worker, an electrician, and some other various jobs. First we grabbed some of the guys who are staying in another hotel, then we headed to yet another mall. We ate at Chili’s (very, very disappointing, I must say), then headed over to a Hookah lounge.

I’ve never been to one before—they don’t really seem to be a dime a dozen around southern California, but I was just so thankful to be out of the hotel that I didn’t care where we ended up! I haven’t laughed as hard as I did that night in a long time. Since I’m sick right now, the laughter sent me into coughing fits every time, but it was so well worth it. It was truly a fun evening in spite of the heat and humidity. Just standing outside for seconds, we were covered in sweat because we were so close to the sea and it was probably the hottest night so far. But it was great. Definitely boosted my spirits in a big way.

Sunday night, we headed to the big mall, the Avenues again, with only four of us in the group. We ate at PF Cheng’s. So delicious! Once again, there was so much laughter. I drink a lot of water. I mean, apparently it’s an inordinate amount. Between these two nights, I was the subject of ridicule most of the time… though now that I think about it, the ridicule may have been more like awe. Regardless, that was the brunt of many of the jokes. Those boys tried so hard to get me to spit my water out, or spray it out of my nose, but thankfully I was the stronger of the bunch. We did a smidge of shopping after dinner then headed back to the hotel.

Monday night, last night, to be specific, after I did my check-in, which was later than the normal time, I met up with Scott and he and I decided to hit up the Japanese restaurant in the hotel and treat ourselves to a nice dinner. And a very huge thanks to him for paying part of my portion!

He wasn’t going to be leaving with me today (once again, had to leave him behind!) but at least we had a fun time for our last night. We were in the restaurant eating amazing sushi, laughing, and talking about work stories until about 11, at which point we finally decided to hit the spa for our final gathering to watch people slip and fall. Actually, the night before, there was a pretty impressive injury, but 99% of the falls resulted in immediate and heartfelt laughter from the kids. That was one huge difference between Kuwait and America. It’s my experience that when most kids fall, they cry until they’re coddled and “fixed.” Not these kids. They get up laughing and hoping people saw them. It’s actually very funny. So Scott & I got there around 1115 or so, and didn’t leave until about 230 this morning. As was the case for the past few nights, we had some very entertaining visitors and conversations while we were there.

I had hot plans to do some laundry in the lounge before I left, but that didn’t pan out. By the time I got my stuff together and headed to the lounge, I only had 45 minutes before we had to meet in the lobby and check out. So that means that I get to travel with a bag of dirty laundry. Awesome! Anyway, since it was so late/early anyway, and since there were a few of us in our group heading out this morning, Scott headed down with me and waited with us until it was time to say goodbye. I’m so not a fan of those. Hopefully he’ll catch up and get to Afghanistan before I get shipped out to my FOB. From what we were told, we’re not going to be going to the same one, but like everything else, I’m not banking on ANYTHING until it happens.


After our final role call at the hotel, we boarded a bus then headed to the airport, which leads me to now. I’ll give Dyncorp a few things—they do take care of us, even when situations arise like what we’ve been going through for the past few weeks. They gave us meal vouchers for McDonald’s in the airport so we’ll be able to board with happy bellies.

Part of our hotel lobby

I had to say goodbye to my roomie last night/this morning as well. I know that we’ll definitely keep in touch on Facebook and all, but it was quite fun getting to know her. She is one entertaining lady. We missed a few naps because we got so wrapped up in our conversations. I hope that I get along with any future roomies the way I did with her. I said a goodbye to Tim last night as well. He was a total lifesaver for those first few days getting to Kuwait. I know he’s so frustrated with being there, and he wants so badly to get to work… Hopefully that’ll happen on the next go around.

The group in Kuwait on our last night all together.
From left to right: Chris, me, Tim, Rog, Champagne.
It was a fun bunch. 

One other guy in our initial group that headed from Texas to Kuwait, Chris, is sitting right next to me. There are a few of us who processed in Texas together, but he was the only one out of all of us in the airport right now that I’ve spent the past 10 days with. I was really hoping not to be the only one and thankfully I’m not. I’m not positive, but I’d guess there are about 6 of us here today that were in the same class in Texas. I’m interested to know how many are already in Afg and how many aren’t going to make it at all. It really hasn’t been a very easy ride so far. Everybody says that this has been the toughest part. I guess I’ll know in a few months.

More part of the hotel lobby.  It really was a pretty place.

So from what I can tell, I’ll be landing in Kandahar, going through some more processing, then after anywhere from 5 days to a few months (I really hope I’m being sarcastic…) I’ll be taken to my FOB, where I finally get to do a job! You know it’s bad when you miss working!

08/28/2010 4:46 PM

Still here. Still gonna be here a few more days at least. Still ready to go. Quite honestly, nothing has really changed at all, except for the fact that I’m losing out on a few more dollars each day, and one of my buds from Texas showed up last night. That was a bit of refreshing news for me. I was sitting down in the lobby, chatting with Joe on Yahoo, and watching an episode of NCIS on the computer (for the record, casttv.com is a new lifesaver to me) when I noticed three people walking through the big revolving doors and heading toward the front desk. I wasn’t quite sure at first because he had a hat on and wasn’t looking toward me, but I was pretty sure it was Scott. I just sat and waited for him to get through at the counter when he turned around and saw me. Definitely him. We sat and chatted for a while in the midst of him checking in, getting the work-related stuff taken care of, and trying to get his luggage up to his room. I really hope that having him… and his related optimism here will do me a lot of good. I’m usually a pretty optimistic person, but this situation is getting even me down. Not only that, it seems that every time I try to be positive that we’ll get out of here soon enough, someone is very quick to hit me back with at least two negatives for each comment. That’s getting very old.



I actually had a good conversation yesterday afternoon while trying to get out of my room for a while. I was sitting in the lobby again (I’d love to say that it’s a great place to hang out, but it has what I need) and a rare American came over and sat down in one of the chairs near me. He pulled out a book and started to read when he glanced over at me and commented on my shirt. It has a brewery on it and that sparked some conversation being that he was wearing a shirt from a brewery as well. He asked what I was doing here and I told him that I’m waiting to be sent to Afghanistan. He told me that he had been in Iraq and was heading home after a 5-month stint. He works for the DoJ and this was definitely not his first time overseas. He gave me some pointers, some fun things to know, some things to be aware of. He was actually a really nice guy and that conversation couldn’t really have come at a better time. It’s so helpful for me to be around normal, optimistic people.


Three times a week, the manifest is posted in the afternoons showing who will be flying the next morning. So far, that’s given us four times to be disappointed already. The next we’ll find out about is Monday. We were told last night that the reason for the holdup is that flights are not happening from Kandahar, where we’ll be initially taken, to the FOBs. They can’t keep stacking people up in Kandahar so that means that we’re being stuck here. Earlier this past week, we were told that there were over 350 people waiting to go. Scott said that when he was in Texas, he was told it was closer to 1000. It truly is insane to me how this could happen. It would stand to reason, at least in my mind, that if they didn’t have room for us, they wouldn’t have hired and/or processed us so quickly! But then I know that there is a reason for everything. Whatever it may be. If we’re not flying right now, we’re not meant to. I just wish that made sitting here a bit easier.


Technically speaking, there is a lot to do in Kuwait. They’ve got a gorgeous beach from what I hear. There are museums, theaters (including an IMAX), tons of shopping, an aquarium, a science center… all sorts of stuff. I just have nobody to do these things with and for some silly reason they don’t really want us out there in the big world traveling alone. I’m okay with that, but I’m also very ready to get out of here! Too bad we don’t have a bulletin board where we can post things here: “Fire dispatcher seeks companion/body guard for a taxi ride to war museum.” “Help break the monotony… let’s get a group to the aquarium. Will pay half the ride fare.” “Someone help get me out of my mind!!!” Perhaps I’ll have to offer that suggestion. I can think of worse ideas. Cabin fever can only last for so long before the mind starts to crumble. Anybody want to come visit for a few days? Just keep me company for a bit while I’m stuck here? Eh, I suppose not. The flight is awful anyway. It’s alright.


So that’s where we stand right now. I’m going to say goodbye for a bit since we need to go check in soon. Why we have to do that on weekends, when we’re not getting paid, I’ll never know. I hope you all are doing well and much love to you all.

08/27/2010 somewhere around 1am

We are officially one frustrated group. The entire lot of us. Those of us who arrived in Kuwait last week, those who have been here longer, even those who just got here yesterday. We have no idea when we’re going to be released into the big brown desert and all we can do is sit and wait. I don’t get bored easily. Years of being an only child have provided me with one awesome imagination and a flair for self-entertainment, but this is a totally different story. This is nothing short of maddening! I’m trying to make the best of it. We all are. It’s just very trying. We want to get out of bags, have a schedule, have something to do. Every day is the same ol’ thing. Same faces, same food, same smells, same everything!



So here’s the scoop as we know it. Yesterday, our little group was able to find out where we’re going. None of us are going to the same place. That’s a major bummer, but quite like going from Texas to Kuwait, I’m sure there will be more guys & gals that will make the time bearable. I was told I’m going to FOB Frontenac. That’s just a bit north of Kandahar, and from what I read on the internet, it’s a rather nice FOB. And for those that don’t know what the military version of FOB stands for and don’t want to look it up, it’s a forward operating base. There are so many of them all over the place. According to Wikipedia, there are over 90 in Afghanistan and Iraq alone, with a few more in the United States. So It’s nice to know that I’m currently assigned to a good one… BUT. Of course there’s a “but”. We have actually had a good laugh about some of the similarities of the contractor companies to the military over the past few days. The most glaring similarity is the unreliability of any and all information given to us at any point in time. Our recruiters must have been former military! Not one of us has had what has been promised, and likely with good reason. Who would sign up for this if we actually knew what it was like? Heh, okay, that might not be technically true. I’m not sure. Anyway, the “but”. So far, of the group of us who arrived in Kuwait together, one has already gotten to Afghanistan and he’s already being told that he’s not going where he was told he would. And another has already gotten word that she’ll not be going to where she was assigned. Needless to say, I’m not getting my hopes up at all. I’ll go where they tell me and enjoy every last moment of it, damn it! Now why can’t I do that now?


Apparently, the reason that we’re not going to Afghanistan yet is that there just isn’t room for us. We would have to go to Kandahar for a few days then be taken to our respective FOBs if that, indeed, is where we are to go. They don’t have anywhere to put us at any given point. A few people have already headed over. One construction worker, a manager or two, an HVAC worker, and an electrician amongst the others. They have a major need to be there. The construction worker needs to be building places for the rest of us to live. Somewhere to lay our head at night. The HVAC workers? Yeah, in the desert, they’re about the top of the list. AC is the best thing possible. Same with the electricians. They can’t have an AC without electricity. Some of the FOBS apparently haven’t even been built yet. Those will be the more miserable ones, but everything is relative. There will be perks and downfalls to each of them.


We got the news the other day that between here, Dubai, and India, there are over 350 people waiting to get sent over. That’s a lot of people who are earning paychecks for literally doing nothing all day but check in twice a day. And a lot of people who are not earning what we were told we would. Overtime may make that up in the long run, and one month isn’t much in the grand scheme of things, but we came here to work! This is just crazy. I’ve got a major case of cabin fever. We all do. There are only so many times one can go to the mall in a week before even that gets boring. I guess the best thing is the ride to and from the mall. That’s more excitement than your average amusement park can provide and the ride is free. It’s still very hilarious to me how things work around here. The lack of rules and regard for people. It’s great to observe from a distance, not necessarily from the middle of the game.


Regardless of how frustrating this is, how much we all feel that our hands are completely tied, we did sign up for this, all for different reasons. We’ll make it. Some have gone home already. Some are considering the possibility of taking other jobs or going other places. Some have been sent home for not complying to the company’s standards and rules. Even if we can’t do our job, we still need to remember that this is a job and we are getting paid. There is still good to be found here, and I’m still with good people. I saw a few more from our original Texas group come in last night. It was good to see them. I just hope to see a few more. Word is that they’re holding people in Texas now. Wonder how long it’ll be until the Marriott is filled also! What a major backup this is. All I know for sure is that I do not look forward to spending my birthday here. It’s a definite possibility, but we’re all hoping and praying for the best.


Alright my readers, it’s quickly approaching 3 am and I think I should probably head to bed. I’ll write again tomorrow and add some pictures and hopefully a bit more optimism. It’s tough not to let this get to us but I’m still fighting it as much as I can. I hope you all are doing well in your respective time zones and many different environments. Heh, it’s moments like this that I realize how lucky I am to be doing this at a time when technology is so advanced and available for us. How isolated we would feel if that weren’t the case. Goodnight, my friends.