Turning up a cold one:)

You wouldn’t believe what happened to me last night….

I went to a bar and had a beer and today, I’m blogging from my own laptop! Why would this be?

No I’m not at home yet but that date isn’t too far off. I’m on R&R for the next couple of days! 3 beer limit per night, there’s a nice pool here, Chili’s and a lot of military people wearing civilian clothes acting like they didn’t just come from a war zone. Actually I think this place would be a better stopping off point then Kuwait. Get us used to civilian life a bit (I’m not going to have a problem except for missing the sawing log sounds of my roommates).

It’s strange not to feel the comforting weight of my 9 on my hip and wearing shorts and a tee shirt makes me feel awfully naked. What can I say about this place, there’s a huge beautiful gym that looks underused, you can plug in your laptop at the internet café unlike my regular base, they serve beer, the chow is good, there's a nice pool with girls in bikini's (not looking, just noting that for you single guys). Haven’t taken any trips out in town yet, just winding down after the stress of being in Iraq.

Whew!

Not that I was under a huge amount of stress other then having to look at the same places and people, that can even catch up to the calmest guy. Here I don’t have to see anyone I don’t want to for 4 days!

My recommendations if you’re coming here? Don’t try walking anyplace using the map given, what looks like 2 streets over is actually a couple of miles (we missed breakfast were almost into lunch by the time we got there, they almost found a pile of bones, maps far from being to scale) there’s a bus running around base, use that. Heading off to war anther 2 items to add to your seabag, make sure you bring some long shirts and pants to go out into town on R&R, so you don’t get stuck buying cheesy clothes here that you’ll never wear again (not a good selection at the PX). Gamers will have a blast, there’s an internet café set up just for that. Moral phones are free and plentiful, call home a lot. You need a pass to take pictures, make sure you get one, they’ll tell you how in the brief, it’s easy. Wear sunscreen, it’s super bright and hot outside.

After 3 trips to the Box, it sure is nice to get some R&R right before I go home, so far having a good time but it doesn’t replace being in my wife’s arms. Take care everyone and thanks for reading.