Finally Scored Some L.S.D.

That’s right; I was finally able to get a Long, Slow, Distance (LSD) run in this morning; the first time since arriving in Afghanistan.  I woke up at 5 am, even though Friday is my so-called day off and hit the road at 5:45.  I ran in a counter clockwise direction around the airfield and made it about ¾ of the way around when I hit the one hour mark, then turned around and returned to my little compound.  In all, I covered about 11.3 miles in exactly 2 hours so ended up running about a 10:30/mile pace.  The air was a cool 65 degrees and relatively free of dust.  Earlier in the week, on Tuesday morning, I ran all the way around the airfield.  This was the first time I had tried this.  I was a little uncertain of the route because there are quite a few twists and turns.  The total distance around the airstrip is 7.8 miles which took me about an hour and 15 minutes.  So given everything I had going on this week, I have to say, it was a pretty good week of running.  Let’s hope I can build on this and get ready for Honolulu in December.

In other news, Ol’ Dusty is no longer my primary vehicle.  For certain operational reasons, I have switched to a Toyota Land Cruiser.  I guess I’ll call this vehicle, New Dusty.  New Dusty and I spend quite a bit of time together and I have the radio tuned to 97.5 which is the Armed Forces Network’s Country and Western music radio station.

On Wednesday, I made my first trip “outside the wire” and travelled by helicopter to one of our bases where we have a Provincial Reconstruction Team.  It was a pretty warm day, and I had to travel in my full set of protective gear.  I went out to see how our folks were doing with regards to their quality of life and to see what I could do, if anything to support them.  I learned a lot on the trip, met some great folks, and have an improved plan to help them out in the future.  I hope to get out to all of the sites we support here in the southern part of the country as I get the opportunity.

The final piece of good news is that I was able to receive some new fitness equipment for our folks here.  We received two treadmills, two elliptical machines and two stationary bikes.  This afternoon I have to assemble all of these machines so, picture in your mind a tired father of about 40 kids assembling toys on Christmas Eve and you’ll have an idea of my life later today!

This last section is where I am going place my count-down clock.  59 days till my first R&R and only 326 days remaining in country!

New Hooch!

One month ago today, I left the U.S. to begin this little adventure.  So, I guess it is fitting that I finally moved into what will be my permanent residence here.  The room is small, about 90 square feet (8'x11').  It has a twin bed with 4 small drawers underneath, a double-door wardrobe, two small night stands, and a plastic storage thing with about six drawers, a small flat-screen TV and a DVD player.  I took some photos of the room before moving in and I'll be taking some afterward so, next week I'll post the before and after pictures.  After moving all of my stuff over to the room and finding a place to put everything, I went over to the PX and bought a few small carpets, and a night/reading lamp.  I also grabbed a folding chair but I am actually using the chair to put the laptop on.  I need to fashion a small desk so that I can sit in the room and work on the laptop without being hunched over, but that will have to wait.  Now, instead of having my own bathroom, I have to wander down the hall a bit in order to shower and shave.  No big deal.

My running has suffered again this week.  While I think I am doing well at getting 8 hours of sleep every night, My days are so busy that I am realizing that they are a work out in and of themself.  I did get out four days for runs of 30-60 minutes, but didn't get the required long run in yet this week.  I had every intention of going out this morning but, since it is Friday (our only "day off") I decided not to set the alarm.  I slept straight through to 9:00!  I must have been tired.  Well, by that time the sun was high in the sky, traffic was kicking up dust all around the base, and I had to get my gear packed and move into my new hooch.  I know what it is like to run marathons without having the proper training under my belt, and I can do it, but its not fun.  I may be able to get out Sunday morning and go for 10-12 miles.  Folks around here are allowed to show up for work later on Sunday mornings.  So, "in shala" I'll get 'er done on Sunday.

The final piece I want to share this week is what I call "DFAC Roulette."  The dining facilities (DFACs) here are all run by the same contractor.  However, the food served in them the can vary greatly.  There are seven different DFACs on the base.  They go by names like the Monty, the Independence, the Far East, the Luxemberg, Northline, and Niagra. Some are within walking distance.  You need a vehicle in order to get to some others.  So, the question at meal time is: Which one this time?  The DFAC closest to us is actually the least favorite of the six.  The Independence is know for its Sunday morning omlettes.  The Monty has a killer sandwich bar.  The Far East, as you would suspect, has some great oriental food and pretty good Indian curry dishes.  The one that is the farthest away, has soft-serve ice cream machines!  Wouldn't you know it, that I have to travel the farthest, just to get my ice cream.  So, tonight I got a ride with a friend in the office next to me and we went to the farthest one.  It was steak night there.  I ate fried scallops, sweet potato, corn on the cobb, tossed salad, and a piece of cherry pie.  No ice cream tonight, just didn't have the room.  Mark had both the steak and the ice cream!

That's it from my end of the world this week.  Like I said, I'll get some pictures of the hooch posted in next week's blog.  Bye for now!

Me and “Ol’ Dusty”

As I type this, I am suffering through a nasty head cold so this may be a short post.  It started yesterday afternoon.  I thought I would take some Nyquil when I returned to my hooch at the end of the day.  Well, when I got back, I discovered that I didn’t have any Nyquil with me.  Prior to leaving the U.S., I had grabbed the Zzzzquil rather than the Nyquil.  So, I slept but still have a severely runny nose, watery eyes and am sneezing all the time.  This morning, I walked over to the PX to see what kind of cold medicines they had.  I bought some stuff similar to Sudafed PE, took a double dose and am waiting to see if that is going to help dry my sinuses up.

I’ve named my truck Ol’ Dusty for obvious reasons.  The dust around here does not let up.  We had two evening dust storms this week.  Every morning, I have to use the windshield washer to clean off the overnight dust that had collected on the windshield.  I took Ol Dusty to the wash rack this week to knock off some of the nasty stuff.  Of course, the road leading away from the wash rack is not paved so clean vehicles coming off the rack are immediately coated in the stuff.  Here is a picture of me and Ol’ Dusty.

My son Chris will note that I am sporting the Wiley-X ballistic shades and the Oakley boots he gave me.  These items are quite necessary around here.

I had a pretty good week of running until this cold hit.  I was planning on running my weekly long run of ten miles this morning but, the cold and work got in the way.  Some of you may have seen my Facebook post after Saturday’s race.  It was billed as a five-miler but the evening before the race; the base MP’s disapproved the route.  So, I went out thinking I had to run five miles.  Instead, right at the three-mile mark, the route turned right into the finish line.  They had shortened the distance of the race to 5km or 3.1 miles.

The meds seem to be drying up my sinuses so I can at least function.  This afternoon, I scrounged some much-needed office supplies from a unit that was closing its doors here.  Flashbacks of my old supply sergeant days.  Anything I can do for the folks here and in the field pays off.  The DFAC also had a surprise dessert - blueberry crumble.  As my family well knows, I love blueberries.  So, this was probably the highlight of my day!  Even though I am sure the blueberries came from a can, it sure topped off the meal in fine fashion!

Finally, I should probably mention something about the recent killings of U.S. diplomats in Lybia.  The loss is a tragic reminder of how dangerous a world we live in.  My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the victims and I must also emphasize how much I love and cherish my family and friends throughout the world.

Till next time...

First Set of Pictures

As promised, here are the first few pictures I've taken.  This first is taken in the room I stayed in while in Kabul.  Shared w/2 other guys.  I bunked in the far top bunk, right under the A/C unit.

Here is the building I currently reside in at Camp Valdes, Kandahar Airfield.

Next two are the room I am living in for the time being until permanent housing becomes available.

Here is my office!

If you look in the back left corner you;ll see my body armor and helmet.  For those of us fighting this war from an office, this is a major piece of office decor.  Everyone must have the basic patch plus something "cool" on it.  I was told by an unnamed special agent that for me to be really cool, I should have all of my patches subdued brown/tan.  Oh well, I guess I'm not that cool!

A little warm, but whose complaining - it could be worse!

Greetings from an extremely warm office here at KAF.  The air conditioning system for my floor of this little building has broken.  It is 94°F with a nice dusty breeze flowing through the windows as I type this.  On Wednesday, a maintenance crew came through to service the outdoor units of our A/C systems here in the compound.  They used a pressure washer to knock the dust and dirt off these units and as a result of washing the unit that provides A/C to my floor, they caused a fuse to blow and well as the killing the compressor in the unit.  Since the system is made in the U.S. it may take a few weeks to get the necessary parts required to repair it and cool things off here.  So, in the mean time, I’ll keep chuggin’ away on my dusty keyboard in a pool of sweat with a smile on my face! ;-)

Fortunately, the days of triple digit temperatures appears to have passed as fall approaches.  Also, our maintenance team is trying to install 3-4 smaller A/C units and hook them up temporarily to the floor’s ventilation system today.  If this works out it will provide some relief temporarily.  If that doesn’t work, I can always dream about a cold wheat beer!

I also discovered another shortcoming to working here.  Now I have worked in combat zones and have always been able to reload my ammunition pretty quickly, no matter what weapon system I was using from 9mm pistols to 8” howitzers.  One of the weapons I use in this job is the standard stapler.  When I ran out of ammo in that weapon, it took me almost five minutes to reload!  I had no clue as to where our ammo stores were!  Fortunately, no one was firing staples in my direction or I would have been toast!  I now keep a basic load of staple within easy reach.

The workload has been pretty heavy.  I’ve been starting each day at work about 7:45 and finishing up anywhere between 8 and 9:30.  I am still making time to get my meals and runs in.  I’ve been getting up between 5 and 5:30 and hitting the dusty road for my morning runs.  That is the time of day when the air is cooler and because there are fewer vehicles on the road, less dust in the air.  Tomorrow, I’ll be running in a 5-mile Race for the Fallen.  The race starts at 6 am and it will complete a 24 mile week of running.

As promised, I’ll post some photos later today!