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...