rain and thunder

There will be periods of time when I'm cut off from the outside world, they call it going to Minimize, our phone and internet is cut off. It's a way to keep the rumor mill under control when something bad has happened or we're about to do something. It sucks to be cut off from our families and friends when all you want to do is let them know you're alright but I personally know of family back home that was called about someone's death and another about a supposed death when it wasn't true.

This is a program which I actually agree with. Unless the incident is happening to our unit, all we hear about is something has happened and it trickles down to us by word of mouth. So the tale that reaches our ears has been stretched by numerous retellings until the final product has nothing to do with reality. Some of the better retellings become stories in themselves.
When there is death involved, it's best to let the professionals handle it and do their job. Yes, it is a form of censorship by not letting us contact the outside world, but believe me the alternative is worse for everyone involved. For the family, they get to hear a partial story from an unreliable source and the person telling the story will get everyone else's privileges taken away and the entire base will tell stories of that asshole who called home to so and so's wife, mother, husband and told them that they heard that this happed to your loved one before the facts had came out.

Monsoons have arrived, there have been periods of rain that were as bad as any I've seen in Florida in the middle of a hurricane (wind wasn't quite so bad but close). Two big thunder storms (of course I took pictures). There was a 5 ton that was washed away on a bridge during one of the storms and the news story can be found here. These guys weren't in my unit and they haven't released the names. I can tell of it because there the military has already made a statement. It goes to show you there are many things out here that we need to watch out for other then insurgents. If you're the praying type, please hold the families of these people in your prayers.

As far as my life goes, it's good. Don't waste too much of your worry on me. I ride a bus back and forth to work (my luck with bicycles is bad and all of the bicycle accidents I see look fairly painful and some serious) My building is concrete and I'm super careful about what I do. But then again, if you read a story about a corpsman getting stuck by lightning while taking pictures, yes that could very well be me.

Take care everyone!

PS a story about our trip out here