My Desk

So, this is what I see each day when I sit at my desk.

Some of the things you may notice are:
1) Many Hello Kitty postcards (My sister, Kathleen)
2) A shirt that says "I am here for the party" which has gotten many laughs from people stopping into my "office" (Moriah and Ken)
3) A "The Slomin's Shield" insurance company magnet (Mo and Ken)
4) Photo of Laura and I and of the 2006 BSSC Football Team (Laura)
5) Cards from MD, PA, FL, DE, LA- both Los Angeles and Louisiana (Various awesome people)
6) Frolf comic strip. Heh (Kristin M.)
7) Valentine's Day card that says "Always be alert!" inside. (A frighteningly aware third grader from Ohio named Alita.)
8) Card from a Cub Scout Pack in New Albany, Ohio that was in a care package to "Any Soldier, Afghanistan."
9) Wedding day photo of LT and Josh

The common theme? I know a lot of thoughtful people. Thank you to everyone who has sent me letters, email, postcards, prayers or even just good vibes. They are always always appreciated. There are way way more than are on the wall here, (because you all are awesome) so if you do not see your card up here, it is just that I ran out of magnets. Perhaps I should not have used so many on creating...

...Baseball Standings! You may be saying to yourself, "Those are all wrong!" Well, these were my pre-season predictions/hopes. You will notice that the Phillies and Reds are at the top of the NL East and Central and that the stinking Blue Jays who beat the Phils in '93 in the World Series are the bottom of the AL East. Yes, I still hold a grudge because the next year was the strike, and I have not felt the same way about baseball ever since. Not everything is personal though- some are just smart calls. For example, the Royals being at the bottom of the AL Central, and the Cubs already being eliminated from the post season. I update these every day as a part of my morning routine. Climb the ladder, Phillies! Or if not you, then the Mets! Just not the Braves! Never the Braves!

See You At The Party, Richter.

So, there is a town/city/village here named Deh Chopa. Given that most vowel sounds here are the long version, it is pronounced like Arnold saying "The chopper!" As in "Run! Get to the choppah!" If you have no idea what I am talking about, go watch Predator. I assure you, it will be much funnier.

And here is one bit of trivia:

Predator blood = KY jelly and the stuff from inside of glow-sticks. Awesome.

And I Raaaaan...

So, many places, around Thanksgiving, have a run which they call a Turkey Trot. That is not how we roll here. We have a Global War on Terrorism run, called a GWOT Trot. Plus, we add a chili cookoff to the festivities.

Given that we need to be at work, and that it is already getting really hot here, the run happened at 630am. This meant that the cookoff happened at 8am. Mmmm, nothing like spicy chili for breakfast. There were two running options- 5K (3.1 miles) and 10K (6.2). As is often the case, my mouth got me in trouble because either I challenged someone to do 10, or they did the same to me, or someone called me "chicken" but like I was saying, I opened my big mouth and it resulted in me running six miles.

I did not however get the shirt that I was supposed to because they ran out. So, they did not have shirts for the people that pre-registered, but they did for those that signed up that day. I think that makes the kind of sense that is non. This is why there are supposed to be TWO lines! Ah well, no big deal, I am supposed to get it sent to me in another week or two.

As for the run itself? Well, the highlight was probably the team of contractors who made "The Anna Nicole Smith Memorial Team" shirts. Hee. The lowlight was getting smoked by my 50-something Colonel, and by Jeff (who you may remember from football highlights) who has not run since getting here, yet still managed to pass me in the last quarter mile. I guess some people are meant to be runners, some are meant to hold out cups of water. Me? I will be at the next one holding out cups of hot coffee, because I am a jerk.

Milestone!- April 12, 2007

This is for the sabremetricians and countdown timers out there.

So, April 10th was my 100th day in Afghanistan. I have been gone from home for 158 days.


As of today, the 12th, I have 60 days left until I come home on vacation. Or, 1453 hours. Or, 87,200 minutes. Or, 5 million seconds, give or take.

Just call me Dilbert.

To catch up those who do not know what my job is here, I make sure that the computers and communications systems work for the couple of hundred people I work with. This often gets extended into anything that runs on electricity (copiers, shredders, cameras) but one that makes sense is the Video Teleconferences (VTCs) we have here, all the time. So, these sometimes have technical difficulties- the picture freezes up, the call does not go through and so I come over and fix it, or call someone that can fix it. Yesterday was one of these times.

"Why is the VTC not working?"

"I... I don't know yet, let me check."

I walk over, getting chewed out the whole way. I arrive to a room full of people looking at a black TV screen. I press POWER. The screen immediately filled with other people wondering why we were talking, but not responding to what they were saying. Yes, the TV... was off. Now, some would call me a hero. Some would call me a jerk. I prefer to just be called "Dilbert."

Football Part 2

So, we had a second game the same day, but it was not nearly as exciting, so I will just put in a highlight reel... of ME!!!! Graceful? Check! Blinding speed? Double check!! And I in no way look like I am about to fall over when I make my "athletic moves." I even juked two people, which had nothing to do with slippery conditions or them overestimating my speed and missing ahead of where I actually was. Perhaps someone in the NFL should see this and sign me up immediately.Yeah, you know you love it.

This was the end of the fun, as football was cancelled forever once my boss heard about what happened to Ted. This is about how that "conversation" went. [From Remember the Titans]

You're smiling.
Yes.
Yes, sir. Why are you smiling?
'Cause I love football. Football is fun.
Fun, sir? It's fun?
Yes.
You sure?
I think...
Now you're thinkin'. First you smile, then you thinkin'. You think football is still fun?
Uh, yes.
Sir.
Yes- no, sir.
No?
Um, it was fun.
Not anymore though, is it? *Is* it?
Not right now, no.
No, it's not fun anymore. Not even a little bit.
Uh... no.
Make up your mind. Think since you're thinking. Go on, think. Is it fun?
No, sir.
No? Absolutely not?
Zero fun, sir.

Earthquake!

So there I am at breakfast, and all of a sudden the coffee in my cup starts sloshing about. I tell the person I am there with to stop shaking the table. He is not. In fact, my chair is kind of shaking too. And the walls. And everything. Was that a quiet plane flying low (actually, that happens here from time to time and shakes things right off the walls... not quietly, of course)? Are some people outside pushing on the walls of the building? Everything here is kind of flimsy, so that is not too ridiculous of a thought. Nope, it was an earthquake! Forgive me for my foolish suggestions, because this was the first time I had ever been in one, so I really had no idea what it was at the time.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2007asas.php

Here is the info on it. Apparently what I felt was about a 3.0 or so. Stine is probably commenting that that should have barely ruffled my sundress, so let me respond that I am not saying it was anything bad, just... very odd. Definitely nothing I have experienced before. I will hold off on calling it totally cool until I hear if anyone got hurt. Hmm, I don't have any pictures to go along with this post. Let me see if I have any that are taken out the window of a moving car on a bumpy road...