Yesterday, while cleaning our room after KBR spread dust all over the place replacing our heater (thanks!). We fried our power cord, I guess the shop vacuum pulls to much wattage for the Iraqi brand cord that I had purchased from the local hajji mart and all of the smoke came out of the wires and it wouldn't work anymore.
So I wasn't able to plug my super loud alarm clock into the wall and we were forced to use a dinky travel alarm clock that my roommate brought with him. We went to bed and I woke suddenly and glanced out the window and saw light shining through the sandbags. Eek! I grabbed my watch (which I took off to take a shower) and put it on my wrist, it said 8:45, ack, I jumped out of bed, said to my roommate in a panicky voice "It's 8:45!" While trying to buckle my watch, the dumb thing wouldn't buckle right.
He glanced over at his watch and said....
"It's 2:15"
I had put on my watch upside down and the light shinning though the window was from light in the lobby.
No, I’m not a morning person and yes, I am a dork.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
Paint Fumes
My roommate lasted less then a week with the pink walls before he went out and found some Navy Blue Angel blue and white paint for the trim and went all out with painting our room. I showed a remarkably total lack of interest in him painting, personally, I have no issues with pink, I’m used to waking up with a pillow of it next to my head.
Unfortunately the only kind of paint he could find was probably banned in most civilized countries due too the heavy metal content and how would he have known, the can was written in Arabic. So one afternoon, I get off of work and am walking home when I start smelling paint fumes in the air and I’m a couple hundred feet away from the building. I wonder who’s painting outside I think to myself. The fumes just get stronger and stronger till I step into a sauna of fumes and there is my room mate a bit glassy eyed telling me with a slight slur in his voice that our room isn’t pink anymore.
The fan is going full blast out there door and our room is now a dark blue (almost black), the paint looks thick enough to stop bullets and the smell instantly makes me feel light headed and after a minute I had to step out. That night, I cover myself in my blankets making an elaborate filter of cloth so I don’t have to smell the fumes and wake the next morning to find my top layer (the sleeping bag) stuck to the paint on the wall beside the bed, 16 hours after he painted, the walls are still tacky and the smell hasn’t gone down at all. Perhaps I should go tell safety, oh wait, he’s the safety guy!
What in the hell is this stuff? Spiderman’s evil black costume?
It takes the better part of two days for the tackiness to go away and hopefully before too long the fumes will go away too. I think I might be doing damage to my possible future children just being in here typing this, let alone sleeping here.
Blogging news is that I’m going to be going though the PAO for my pictures and letting registering my web sites which isn’t that big of a deal for me since everyone locally already knows about it anyway. I have a new camera on the way, a Canon S3 which has gone down a fair bit in price and I’ve wanted one for years, so expect more pictures and writing in the future. Sorry about the last week, I’ve been in a paint induced fog while my brain cells have self destructed from the smell and haven’t felt up to writing. Hopefully the damage isn’t permanent.
Take care and thanks for the support!
Unfortunately the only kind of paint he could find was probably banned in most civilized countries due too the heavy metal content and how would he have known, the can was written in Arabic. So one afternoon, I get off of work and am walking home when I start smelling paint fumes in the air and I’m a couple hundred feet away from the building. I wonder who’s painting outside I think to myself. The fumes just get stronger and stronger till I step into a sauna of fumes and there is my room mate a bit glassy eyed telling me with a slight slur in his voice that our room isn’t pink anymore.
The fan is going full blast out there door and our room is now a dark blue (almost black), the paint looks thick enough to stop bullets and the smell instantly makes me feel light headed and after a minute I had to step out. That night, I cover myself in my blankets making an elaborate filter of cloth so I don’t have to smell the fumes and wake the next morning to find my top layer (the sleeping bag) stuck to the paint on the wall beside the bed, 16 hours after he painted, the walls are still tacky and the smell hasn’t gone down at all. Perhaps I should go tell safety, oh wait, he’s the safety guy!
What in the hell is this stuff? Spiderman’s evil black costume?
It takes the better part of two days for the tackiness to go away and hopefully before too long the fumes will go away too. I think I might be doing damage to my possible future children just being in here typing this, let alone sleeping here.
Blogging news is that I’m going to be going though the PAO for my pictures and letting registering my web sites which isn’t that big of a deal for me since everyone locally already knows about it anyway. I have a new camera on the way, a Canon S3 which has gone down a fair bit in price and I’ve wanted one for years, so expect more pictures and writing in the future. Sorry about the last week, I’ve been in a paint induced fog while my brain cells have self destructed from the smell and haven’t felt up to writing. Hopefully the damage isn’t permanent.
Take care and thanks for the support!
Paint Fumes
My roommate lasted less then a week with the pink walls before he went out and found some Navy Blue Angel blue and white paint for the trim and went all out with painting our room. I showed a remarkably total lack of interest in him painting, personally, I have no issues with pink, I’m used to waking up with a pillow of it next to my head.
Unfortunately the only kind of paint he could find was probably banned in most civilized countries due too the heavy metal content and how would he have known, the can was written in Arabic. So one afternoon, I get off of work and am walking home when I start smelling paint fumes in the air and I’m a couple hundred feet away from the building. I wonder who’s painting outside I think to myself. The fumes just get stronger and stronger till I step into a sauna of fumes and there is my room mate a bit glassy eyed telling me with a slight slur in his voice that our room isn’t pink anymore.
The fan is going full blast out there door and our room is now a dark blue (almost black), the paint looks thick enough to stop bullets and the smell instantly makes me feel light headed and after a minute I had to step out. That night, I cover myself in my blankets making an elaborate filter of cloth so I don’t have to smell the fumes and wake the next morning to find my top layer (the sleeping bag) stuck to the paint on the wall beside the bed, 16 hours after he painted, the walls are still tacky and the smell hasn’t gone down at all. Perhaps I should go tell safety, oh wait, he’s the safety guy!
What in the hell is this stuff? Spiderman’s evil black costume?
It takes the better part of two days for the tackiness to go away and hopefully before too long the fumes will go away too. I think I might be doing damage to my possible future children just being in here typing this, let alone sleeping here.
Blogging news is that I’m going to be going though the PAO for my pictures and letting registering my web sites which isn’t that big of a deal for me since everyone locally already knows about it anyway. I have a new camera on the way, a Canon S3 which has gone down a fair bit in price and I’ve wanted one for years, so expect more pictures and writing in the future. Sorry about the last week, I’ve been in a paint induced fog while my brain cells have self destructed from the smell and haven’t felt up to writing. Hopefully the damage isn’t permanent.
Take care and thanks for the support!
Unfortunately the only kind of paint he could find was probably banned in most civilized countries due too the heavy metal content and how would he have known, the can was written in Arabic. So one afternoon, I get off of work and am walking home when I start smelling paint fumes in the air and I’m a couple hundred feet away from the building. I wonder who’s painting outside I think to myself. The fumes just get stronger and stronger till I step into a sauna of fumes and there is my room mate a bit glassy eyed telling me with a slight slur in his voice that our room isn’t pink anymore.
The fan is going full blast out there door and our room is now a dark blue (almost black), the paint looks thick enough to stop bullets and the smell instantly makes me feel light headed and after a minute I had to step out. That night, I cover myself in my blankets making an elaborate filter of cloth so I don’t have to smell the fumes and wake the next morning to find my top layer (the sleeping bag) stuck to the paint on the wall beside the bed, 16 hours after he painted, the walls are still tacky and the smell hasn’t gone down at all. Perhaps I should go tell safety, oh wait, he’s the safety guy!
What in the hell is this stuff? Spiderman’s evil black costume?
It takes the better part of two days for the tackiness to go away and hopefully before too long the fumes will go away too. I think I might be doing damage to my possible future children just being in here typing this, let alone sleeping here.
Blogging news is that I’m going to be going though the PAO for my pictures and letting registering my web sites which isn’t that big of a deal for me since everyone locally already knows about it anyway. I have a new camera on the way, a Canon S3 which has gone down a fair bit in price and I’ve wanted one for years, so expect more pictures and writing in the future. Sorry about the last week, I’ve been in a paint induced fog while my brain cells have self destructed from the smell and haven’t felt up to writing. Hopefully the damage isn’t permanent.
Take care and thanks for the support!
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Living in a pink room with a chick
Well actually his last name is Chick and the girl that lived there before painted it a bright pink color. Being married to a girl with pink hair, I didn't even notice till he started complaining and said, "oh". He wants to repaint, I could care less but if it keeps him happy then I'm all for it, cranky roommates suck. (I have pictures that I'll post once I get my own connection and pictures of the trip)
It looks like I'll have my own internet connection in a couple of days, today is just going though base indoc and getting used to the time change. Actually, I haven't had a single problem with the shift. I'm getting used to this world hopping gig.
The base is full of improvements and new stuff, attacks are down and it seems like we're in the middle of a busy growing community. Believe what you may but for the first time, it feels like we're making a difference out here. There is change in the air.
Take care everyone and thanks for the support.
It looks like I'll have my own internet connection in a couple of days, today is just going though base indoc and getting used to the time change. Actually, I haven't had a single problem with the shift. I'm getting used to this world hopping gig.
The base is full of improvements and new stuff, attacks are down and it seems like we're in the middle of a busy growing community. Believe what you may but for the first time, it feels like we're making a difference out here. There is change in the air.
Take care everyone and thanks for the support.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Kuwaiting take 7
I'm in the wonderland of Kuwait checking out my first sunrise in the middle east of the year. Just got done hitting breakfast where they had kimche as one of the side dishes! As usual things have changed towards the better with each trip.
I just got off a 23 hour flight and my brain is reeling about with a full tummy so I think I'm going to try finding my way back to my far off tent. Enjoy America everyone for you could be in this sand pit. Yawn!!
I just got off a 23 hour flight and my brain is reeling about with a full tummy so I think I'm going to try finding my way back to my far off tent. Enjoy America everyone for you could be in this sand pit. Yawn!!
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Bout to turn 4
It’s hard to imagine that I’ve placed 4 years of my life on the internet, I wonder how many words that is (the old blogger tracked how many words you wrote, the only problem I have with the new one). Not many bloggers, let alone milbloggers have continued on so long, my secret? I wrote when I felt like it. I have more sites up then most but a majority of the info cross pollinates, they’re just reaching different audiences. I’m like the cable company that offers cable, phone and internet, I have a monopoly on the Doc in the Box corner of cyberspace.
It all started out with my fotopage way back in the dark ages of 2003, I was taking pictures of my Marines going through training and hit a lazy spurt and got tired of making hundreds of copies of the pictures I took every week so I began posting them online for them to get when they wanted to. Lately, I haven’t posted there as much considering I’ve killed 5 cameras over since 2003, one of the cameras was a 1000 dollar model (I could get a laptop that’s 3 times as fast as my current one for that!) I’ll get back in the photo groove once I get a new (good) camera and maybe clear the 9000 picture mark.
Eventually I went to check out what this Myspace was about and copied some of my information from the blog over there and found a new audience of people that I actually knew (most of my analog friends aren’t blog readers unless the blog is on myspace). There isn’t a month that goes by when I don’t get someone from my dark and shadowy past shows up and we connect again. They have great tools for keeping you up to date on people in your immediate circle and I enjoy the heck out of it. Laugh all you want non myspace users, it’s pretty cool, yup, another internet addiction.
One day I discovered YouTube and suddenly had a place to upload the numerous videos I put together over the years. Marine Vs Camel Spider has received more hits then everything else I have put on the internet, 500 thousand plus and the comment section has taken on a life of it’s own. Even with all of the attention, it’s just a side effort when I have time, a place to put the funny little bits about my life here and there.
But all of my online efforts circle around the Doc in the Box. Here I have laid out the mundane, the funny, the boredom and definitely over the last year the pain for the entire world to see. I’ve made lifelong friends that I’ve almost known since day one and this blog has literally taken me around the world. I’ve gone to meet ups everyplace that I’ve gone, from home in Prescott to the other side of the word in Iraq, Kuwait and Thailand.
Occasionally I get offers for people to host this and move over to another service but why would I need to? (thanks for the offers though) The machine isn’t broken and does everything that I’ve ever asked it to, I’ve had maybe a week out of 4 years of blogging of down time. I’ve grown up here and I can’t really imagine moving to different digs with other rules and having to tell all of the people that link me to change their addresses would take forever, sounds like taxes with a pen and paper. Plus its totally free, out of all of my internet ventures the only thing I pay for is the premium haloscan. This place fits me like a favorite pair of jeans.
I’m sure there are people out there who wished they were getting a more impressive product in this milblog but face it, I’m a low pressure dude and most of my military job involves the murder of trees, sticking unwilling Marines with needles and sometimes the pulling of some diabolical prank. Not the stuff great epics are made of unless you wanted a blog version of MASH.
Thanks for support over the last 4 past years (in two weeks anyway) and here’s to the next 4 years.
It all started out with my fotopage way back in the dark ages of 2003, I was taking pictures of my Marines going through training and hit a lazy spurt and got tired of making hundreds of copies of the pictures I took every week so I began posting them online for them to get when they wanted to. Lately, I haven’t posted there as much considering I’ve killed 5 cameras over since 2003, one of the cameras was a 1000 dollar model (I could get a laptop that’s 3 times as fast as my current one for that!) I’ll get back in the photo groove once I get a new (good) camera and maybe clear the 9000 picture mark.
Eventually I went to check out what this Myspace was about and copied some of my information from the blog over there and found a new audience of people that I actually knew (most of my analog friends aren’t blog readers unless the blog is on myspace). There isn’t a month that goes by when I don’t get someone from my dark and shadowy past shows up and we connect again. They have great tools for keeping you up to date on people in your immediate circle and I enjoy the heck out of it. Laugh all you want non myspace users, it’s pretty cool, yup, another internet addiction.
One day I discovered YouTube and suddenly had a place to upload the numerous videos I put together over the years. Marine Vs Camel Spider has received more hits then everything else I have put on the internet, 500 thousand plus and the comment section has taken on a life of it’s own. Even with all of the attention, it’s just a side effort when I have time, a place to put the funny little bits about my life here and there.
But all of my online efforts circle around the Doc in the Box. Here I have laid out the mundane, the funny, the boredom and definitely over the last year the pain for the entire world to see. I’ve made lifelong friends that I’ve almost known since day one and this blog has literally taken me around the world. I’ve gone to meet ups everyplace that I’ve gone, from home in Prescott to the other side of the word in Iraq, Kuwait and Thailand.
Occasionally I get offers for people to host this and move over to another service but why would I need to? (thanks for the offers though) The machine isn’t broken and does everything that I’ve ever asked it to, I’ve had maybe a week out of 4 years of blogging of down time. I’ve grown up here and I can’t really imagine moving to different digs with other rules and having to tell all of the people that link me to change their addresses would take forever, sounds like taxes with a pen and paper. Plus its totally free, out of all of my internet ventures the only thing I pay for is the premium haloscan. This place fits me like a favorite pair of jeans.
I’m sure there are people out there who wished they were getting a more impressive product in this milblog but face it, I’m a low pressure dude and most of my military job involves the murder of trees, sticking unwilling Marines with needles and sometimes the pulling of some diabolical prank. Not the stuff great epics are made of unless you wanted a blog version of MASH.
Thanks for support over the last 4 past years (in two weeks anyway) and here’s to the next 4 years.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Grand Canyon Pictures
I was using the new camera on simple mode and it automatically defaulted to putting the date stamp on each of the pictures. Which wouldn't have been a big deal if it was the right date, but it was stamping 2007/01/02 and I didn't find out till I uploaded the pictures that night. There's nothing like sharing a bunch of pictures with the world that you knew you screwed up. You can see the pictures here. Not too bad for a 6 mp 99 dollar camera.
Small side note, my son was feeling under the weather that morning and didn't make it.
Small side note, my son was feeling under the weather that morning and didn't make it.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
One of the reasons to be a milblogger.....:(
is that it gives you a place to leave your mark on the world, rest in peace Andy
If I were a horse I wouldn’t bet on me
My life seems to be falling apart a bit in the last month. First my truck starts making funny sounds right before my training trip to Yuma, forcing me to drive the old and slow suburban while there, my body spontaneously breaks down. I’m bleeding out of my lungs which turns me into a guinea pig for the local medical professionals for most of a week before they let me go back home.
Back in San Diego, being somewhat under the weather, I decide to drop my truck off at a shop instead of fixing it myself and spend my Christmas resting in bed. The shop says it sounds like the U-joints and I tell them the fix it and they have it done the same day I’m going on leave to Arizona and I find as I’m driving out of the shop that it’s doing the same thing. Grr, this is what happens when the shop doesn’t test drive the vehicle before giving it back to the customer. So I limped out to Arizona at 65 miles per hour and turned it over to the care of the Chevy dealership in Prescott.
I borrowed my mom’s van and make a run down to Phoenix with the nephews and nieces to pick up the son at the airport. We stopped by to see my dad (their grandfather) and he sponsors a Dave and Busters trip for all of them (except for my son, his plane hadn’t arrived yet) after spending the 10 dollars my dad gave to each of them, we make a visit to Scottsdale Fashion Square (a high end mall) where I do some late Christmas shopping then eat dinner at a Oriental Buffet on the way to the airport. My son’s plane arrives early and I get a call from him so we rush out and pick him up and drive back up north.
The next morning I get a call from the dealer telling me that the drive shaft is out of balance and I give the okay for them to fix it but it needs to go to a machine shop and won’t be done till a day after my leave is over. So I buy a plane ticket back to San Diego and tell my half sister she has an extra car till I get back from the desert.
While adventuring with my son and nephews and nieces, my only working camera goes south along with the battery on my laptop and 2 out of 3 of its USB ports. Still working but I have to be plugged in.
Sheesh.
Well leave was good at least, I’m feeling better and did a temporary fix for the loss of the camera by buying a 99 dollar Polaroid digital. Went to the Grand Canyon and forgot to set the date stamp so I have 60 or so pictures of the Grand Canyon with 1/1/2007 on them. I’m a dork.
This morning my son and I left my mom’s house at 5 and arrived at the airport to stand in one of the longest lines I’ve had the pleasure of standing in (worse then any time at Disneyland). Two and a half hours early and we needed every minute of it. With the drive down from Prescott, that could have been half of my drive to San Diego (if I had a car that was on the road out here).
Now going home start my pack up for my next Iraqi journey and get some rest from my vacation, take care all and I wish you all the best for this New Year. SSM I’m sorry I didn’t get to see you, next dinner is totally on me!
Back in San Diego, being somewhat under the weather, I decide to drop my truck off at a shop instead of fixing it myself and spend my Christmas resting in bed. The shop says it sounds like the U-joints and I tell them the fix it and they have it done the same day I’m going on leave to Arizona and I find as I’m driving out of the shop that it’s doing the same thing. Grr, this is what happens when the shop doesn’t test drive the vehicle before giving it back to the customer. So I limped out to Arizona at 65 miles per hour and turned it over to the care of the Chevy dealership in Prescott.
I borrowed my mom’s van and make a run down to Phoenix with the nephews and nieces to pick up the son at the airport. We stopped by to see my dad (their grandfather) and he sponsors a Dave and Busters trip for all of them (except for my son, his plane hadn’t arrived yet) after spending the 10 dollars my dad gave to each of them, we make a visit to Scottsdale Fashion Square (a high end mall) where I do some late Christmas shopping then eat dinner at a Oriental Buffet on the way to the airport. My son’s plane arrives early and I get a call from him so we rush out and pick him up and drive back up north.
The next morning I get a call from the dealer telling me that the drive shaft is out of balance and I give the okay for them to fix it but it needs to go to a machine shop and won’t be done till a day after my leave is over. So I buy a plane ticket back to San Diego and tell my half sister she has an extra car till I get back from the desert.
While adventuring with my son and nephews and nieces, my only working camera goes south along with the battery on my laptop and 2 out of 3 of its USB ports. Still working but I have to be plugged in.
Sheesh.
Well leave was good at least, I’m feeling better and did a temporary fix for the loss of the camera by buying a 99 dollar Polaroid digital. Went to the Grand Canyon and forgot to set the date stamp so I have 60 or so pictures of the Grand Canyon with 1/1/2007 on them. I’m a dork.
This morning my son and I left my mom’s house at 5 and arrived at the airport to stand in one of the longest lines I’ve had the pleasure of standing in (worse then any time at Disneyland). Two and a half hours early and we needed every minute of it. With the drive down from Prescott, that could have been half of my drive to San Diego (if I had a car that was on the road out here).
Now going home start my pack up for my next Iraqi journey and get some rest from my vacation, take care all and I wish you all the best for this New Year. SSM I’m sorry I didn’t get to see you, next dinner is totally on me!
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