December 30 (Day 81)

Well, Christmas is past, but the new year is right around the corner. Of course, a new year here will not be all that impactful. Days here just blend together, with nothing to really tell them apart. A new start will have to reside in the noggin'.

It has been an interesting week, work-wise. My Commander has decided to revamp/collate all our current reports. The result will be, I believe, a more cumbersome product. I do get what he is trying to do, which is get a handle on all the different operations, but sometimes what happens is the opening of Pandora’s Box. In this case, that means chaos!  Of course, all the other postal personnel at KAF hashed this out without my input or involvement. I am at a distinct disadvantage, not knowing the rationale behind some of the requirements, or the benefit of notes or examples of what the requirements are. 

I was able to coordinate a lender 4K forklift for our operations. Since ours is broke down, it has been an ordeal to get work done in an efficient and timely manner. We are left with a 10K which is not nearly as maneuverable, and is just too large for handling small pallets weighing in the hundreds of pounds. Our 4K is awaiting parts, and is not likely to be fixed until the middle of January at the earliest. That means I need to line up another loaner, since the one I have now is for our use until the 6^th. I am hoping we catch up on our late mail, and the volume decreases, so the impact of not having our small forklift is minimized.

Hope you all noticed the pics I just posted. They are from my helicopter ride last week. A short description of the pictures is found below them.

I have been downloading books and games onto my new Kindle; will actually start reading a book on it today, while I am eating my lunch. I will be sure to pass on my impression. 

Until next time...

December 25 (Day 76)

Well, it is Christmas! Unfortunately, from where I stand, one could hardly tell. It doesn't feel like it. The festiveness is missing I think. Of course, it could be that I will do the same thing today as every other day, with the exception that I will not stay at work all day.

Just got done Skyping my family, who are spending the holidays at my sister's home in Arizona. I had several gifts sent here, so opened them in full view, or at least what they could perceive over the webcam! As usual, there were thoughtful presents. Got a couple pair of lounge wear, Christmas-themed rug and scissors, DVD, chocolate (with "classic wheels" wrappers - cars that is), devotional book, couple of Christmas ornaments (one personalized with my name, the other of a real cool Corvette), a desk calendar of napping kittens (cute!), and a Kindle.

I have been reminded, and I would be remiss if I didn't say something (must have forgotten) about some young people I know. I have a great group of friends from my church who sent me a care package, including some edible goodies and DVDs, as well as a card with notes from them all. These young people (and some parents!) are like my second family, and I am extremely grateful to them for thinking of me. Thank you to the youth group at Laurel Heights! Love you guys!

Well, looks like the weather has cleared, so mail has started to flow into Shindand once again. The APO is likely to be busy for quite some time trying to catch up. If it wasn't for not getting some Christmas mail in time, I would look at it as the Lord giving us a break when we needed it, since our 4K forklift is down. We were able to more or less clear the yard this week.  Stay tuned for gray-hair inducing details about the volume overload we are going to get.

Hope all who read this have a very Merry Christmas, and are able to spend time with family and friends.

December 23 (Day 74)

Well, it is almost Christmas Eve; my how time is flying! It is Friday afternoon here (Thursday in the U.S.), and I am actually bored. Can anyone believe it? Well, there is one “good” reason for that – we have not had any mail come in for three days. That has brought the entire sorting operations to a standstill, relatively speaking. There was still a little work to be done on the yard, dealing with retrograde mail, that is items heading back to the states, but otherwise…yawn! Evidently there was bad weather upstream from us, so a LOT of mail is sitting around. I heard somewhere in the 100K pound range. That is a lot of mail. I heard this morning that the weather broke, so we can expect to be REAL busy through the end of the year, and probably beyond. Time to roll up the sleeves.

Finally went “outside the wire” yesterday, with a trip to FOB Stone. The helicopter flight was fine, and actually pretty short. I had not ridden that far in a helicopter before. The only other time was when I attended SERE school in Washington State. During our “escape” phase, we trainees were hoisted into a helicopter, and we went for a short ride, maybe a couple of minutes. This time around I got a better feel for it. Even took a few pictures. The reason for the trip was to visit a couple of my troops before Christmas, while taking a look at the operations. They have a small APO there with just four personnel. I was in something of a rush (more on that in the next paragraph), so just received a cursory overview. I plan on another, longer, visit next time.

Can’t get into flight details here, but suffice to say, I was told to be back at the flight-line about 45 minutes after I landed. I thought that was a little ridiculous, but if I wanted to get back “home” the same day, I’d better make my visit count. I did arrive on time, and waited for some time, then waited some more. Did I mention I waited for my ride home? Anyways, some activity occurred on the flight-line while I WAITED, and when it was over, I was still, you guessed it, waiting. Almost three hours pass. You must understand that the offices for the flights is not actually located on the tarmac, so I would have to leave my “post” to figure out what was happening. As it happens, I finally got tired of sitting around and went to the office (about a minute’s walk). As I was inquiring to the status of my flight, what doeth my ears hear, but inbound helicopters! I had to rush back to the tarmac, and just barely made it there to get someone’s attention that I needed a ride. I could have spent some quality time with my troops, but instead ended up upset. Needless to say, the set-up there leaves something to be desired.

The weather has taken a turn for the cooler. It hasn’t gotten sub-zero or anything, but for a “southern” boy like me, it is plenty uncomfortable. My understanding is that it will be getting much colder, and I can only hope the heat, that is generators with fuel, continues to run.  Otherwise I will be a cooked goose, or rather whatever the opposite of that would be. 

I managed to get released from my weekly conference call this week. I guess the Commander wanted to resolve some issues at KAF first, and since I am more or less self-sufficient here, I was not needed. I was kind of dreading it, and not for the reason you might think. I do not actually dislike the actual meeting, but there have been a lot of changes to reports and such, that I am not sure I have the most current revision. I sometimes am not kept in the loop with the happenings at KAF, which still affect me, and things are sprung on me last minute, or even later.

Well, gotta go. Until next time...

December 17 (Day 68)

Woke up really worn out this morning. I realize not having a day off is draining, but didn't think I would get to this point this quickly. I have my evenings to relax, so I figured I could last longer. I guess going strong all day, often working through lunch, is more detrimental than I thought.

Had a slight hiccup with the Chagcharan mail this past week. A smaller plane was provided, so not all the mail went out when it was supposed to. Fortunately, I was able to coordinate for a flight the next day to take the remainder. Speaking of flights, I am trying to coordinate flights for the 24th to get out as much mail as possible before Christmas. Don't know if I'll get it all out, since I can't foretell the volume, but will do my best to support the troops.

I have been volun"told" :) to be the primary postal voting representative. Guess what that means...more training! LOL I need a hatrack!

We had a courtesy inspection a couple of days ago. We would have failed if it had been an official one. Fortunately, the corrections are easy fixes. There is a fine line between military and contractor responsibilities, even though I will ultimately be held responsible for any shortfall. I do have to monitor things more closely now; it is just hard when I am stuck in the office, preparing reports, answering phones, working the upcoming move (as well as other projects), etc...etc...

A new week starts tomorrow, so guess I will try to start fresh - reset.  Until next time...

December 14 (Day 65)

Where does the time go? I wonder if age is getting the better of me? J  I know it has been a few days. However, to my defense I offer the following – monitoring the movement of our ID section (as well as one of my Soldiers), preparing for my PT test, my validation audit as the (assistant) contracting officer representative, dealing with postal voting representative assignments, and of course Christmas shopping.

Got by the ID section, of which I am the OIC, yesterday for a visit. They are not located at the APO, so I have to borrow a vehicle, grab a valet driver, and hit the road. The two personnel working it seem to be doing well. They told me they do not have all the equipment they need, since some went kaput on them. They have put in orders, so I am on the lookout here. I would like to get the section to 100% as soon as I can. They are staying in transient quarters for the time being, but will (hopefully) be put in hard buildings within the next couple of weeks.

Working on my validation audit took some time. It basically is an assessment of how the contractors are doing their job as it relates to their contract and military regulations. The audit is quite long, somewhere in the neighborhood of 180 “questions.”  The validation comes into play in that I will be doing it now, versus the quality assurance rep that did it previously. She basically needed to know I was comfortable doing the audit. I have been nominated as the ACOR, but still need to be designated. This audit was the last step, after all the online training I went through previously.

I am evidently going to be the primary voting representative. Of course, this entails more online training. Sure hope it is not as intensive as the ACOR training, which took WAY too much time out of my harried schedule. I will have one of my Soldiers be the alternate voting representative. I have the same set-up at the two FOBs we support. Rightfully so, the brass at our HQ and beyond are pushing this. No doubt this will be a pivotal year, and personnel will have questions regarding the procedures, timelines, etc…

I wonder how many hats I wear now?

Took my PT test yesterday. Overall I did pretty well. Fell off a little on my pushups (60 out of 73 for max), but was on par for how well I was doing on situps (67 out of 76 max). The run, which I ALWAYS dread, went quite well. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t feeling the after effects! My unadjusted time was 14:36. That is off from my last record test (14:00), but have not run as much recently. The track we use is rocky, and potentially can hurt someone, so speed is affected. To compensate, we adjusted the time, essentially allowing an extra minute for the given age group (or conversely subtracting a minute from their run time). That put me at the max score for my time. I ended up with a 280 (out of 300 possible). Still have some improvement to make to get back to my last score of 295.

Christmas shopping is hard for me under the best circumstances (read – back home), but here it is even harder! Everything is online, and just coming up with a general idea is difficult. It is not like I can just walk past stores, and something would come to mind. Now that time is running short, I am under TOO MUCH PRESSURE! LOL  Seriously though, I need to finish it no later than tomorrow, which would be about 10 days out. My sister earns the distinction of being the hardest to figure out this year. Don’t take offense sis (I still love you, wink, wink). Someone always fits this bill. On the positive side, I look forward to Skyping my family and opening presents. Technology is something! I imagine what previous generations endured during holidays away from home, with no communication with family/friends.

Recently I have been blessed with gifts from “home.” Some of the best ones are from young people in my church, as well as the youth group there. Homemade cards and other graphics are wonderful; I have drawings, paper cut-outs! I am truly blessed to be thought of by my young friends. Many thanks go out to them for their thoughts and prayers. Knowing this is the future of my church makes me feel good.

Did anyone catch the eclipse of the moon the other night? I did, and for the first time that I can recall! It was weird watching the moon disappear and then reappear. Since the sky is typically clear here at night, it was hard to miss.

Broke out the stainless steel (tea) tumbler I bought from Teavana while on block leave in October. I happened to also purchase some Earl Grey White and Gyokuro Imperial Green teas. The weather now stays fairly cold, so it is the perfect time to have my hot tea! The tumbler works excellent! Even after hours, with the lid off, the liquid stays hot. Of course the tea is great (it should be since it is the “good stuff”). I can reuse the tea, it’s loose, 3-4 times without losing much efficacy. I can see having some everyday, which means I will probably try to order some. Hope they ship! What? I am not an addict. I can quit anytime I want. I just choose not to. Ha!

Continue to watch “24” and NCIS, alternating every time I change discs. This activity is the norm in the evenings, but will change somewhat when I get some more books in. I do enjoy a good read, and once I start, it is hard to put down a good one. I also just received a XBOX yesterday, including several games. Imagine my surprise! Of course, that means I will probably look for a few games, which should be cheap, since the system is of the original variety. It works for me!

I will leave you with this - Sarcasm, just another service I offer! LOL  Until next time...

December 8 (Day 59) Part 2

I am back. Where was I...oh, yeah. The yard is still a work in progress. Some things have been cleaned up, but there is still a lot of work to do. I have to take the pictures I have on my camera, put them on my computer, email them to myself, then load them here. Then you will see what I mean.

The weather has gotten considerably cooler. It did not help that the generator for our tent was not working properly. The (warm) air was not getting blown/circulated, so it was uncomfortable to say the least. I had my sheets and two wool blankets, and still slept in sweats! Let me tell you, it was no picnic getting out of bed in the morning either. Exposing oneself as needed to actually put on clothes, and mine were cold of course, was not a fun chore. This went on for the last week! Fortunately, the mechanics finally got it fixed, so now it, if not pleasant, is at least warm.

I do not remember if I mentioned it already, but three of my Soldiers were promoted as of the 1st! I was so excited to be a part of the ceremony. I am also proud of them. They all work hard, have great attitudes, and represent the military honorably.

Just finished having my lunch. Today it was beef kabobs, corn, mashed potatoes, and onion rings. Of course, no meal is complete without dessert, so had some chocolate cake. Aside from the food being cold, or getting so rather quickly, it was not bad. My mother sent me some microwave-safe plates and bowls to remedy this problem. I just have to wash them off first.

My skype account went haywire this past week. Tried to open the dialog window, and all I got was a login one. This only allowed me to access the home page, which does not have a link to chat. Even after resetting the password (I think I was given a new login name), it still did not work. Only after finally finding a way to email the company was I able to get it set up again. Along electronic lines - I bought the last Harry Potter movie, which of course came with a digital copy. I like the copies, so I don't have to carry the actual disc along when on the road. Unfortunately, it came in some new format called Ultraviolet and is on Flixster. I was sorely disappointed in it. Not only did the download take forever (I know I am deployed), but even when I was notified it was complete, it wasn't. I think it did set up for streaming, which is not helpful to me right now. I actually could care less about that capability anyway. I emailed the company and actually got a response. In the reply, they mentioned that new technologies have issues. No surprise there! But I figured not actually being able to download would have been an issue resolved before releasing to the public. They are offering me a code to download through iTunes. Will let you know how that goes.

I recently got hooked on Kakuro. Rather than explaining here, it would be easier if you did an internet search. It is quite the addictive number puzzle game. Received a book of them from Operation Gratitude, an organization dedicated to helping deployed servicepeople. My book has 100 of them, four sections of 25, from "easy" to "danger Will Robinson." Okay, I made that up, but you get the drift. I have started the moderate (second) section. If you like Sudoku, you will like this one. Also have started watching the show 24 (again) from the beginning. My NCOIC bought the set, and when she is done with a season, she lets me borrow it. I am into the second season right now. Also purchased the first six seasons of NCIS during the Thanksgiving sellathon. They were about 70% off, so could not pass them up. I am alternating it with 24.

Need to send out some Christmas cards, so will go for now. Until next time...

December 8 (Day 59)

I can't believe how time is getting away from me regarding my blog! Time was passing so slowly when I first arrived, but now, as everyone said it would, it has sped up. Things have been going pretty well this past week. The mail has been getting out on time, so overall that is a mission success.

I did get the extra containers I have been fighting for day before yesterday. I have already incorporated them into the convoy cycle. Not that it was hard decision, since we had more than enough mail to go around. We had several days of double inbound volume, due to the delays I mentioned earlier.  I did have to smooth talk the trans company, since the change  was last minute, and our transportation request paperwork had already been turned in. Fortunately, they are good people, and we made it work.

I am still working on cleaning up the yard; the generator is still the big issue. I really need to get it on someone's property book! My parents just Skyped me, and now I have to get to work. Will pick this up shortly.

December 2 (Day 53)

I can’t believe it has been a week since I posted! Now that I look back, I realize it is mostly because my Company Commander came in Sunday night, and stayed four days. He had a lot of work to do on the computer while he was here, so I did not have continuous access to my office. I fell way behind on my agenda, let me tell you. Of course, I could have done some blogging while at the USO, but I did not take my computer for a while, opting to read a book instead. So, I now have to catch you up on the events of my wild and exciting life. J

As far as work is concerned, post turkey-day brought (apparently) new changes. Mail flights did not make it out this way for several days, due to weather, so there is a backlog of mail sitting at Bahrain. That was supposedly going to be remedied by bringing in two flights a day, instead of the usual one. The result of that, of course, would be significantly more volume between convoys. Extrapolate from there, and I would end up with having to rely on flights to pick up the slack, and if you have been keeping up, that is not ideal. One flight each day (from Bahrain) has been cancelled, which can be good or bad, depending on the point of view. On the negative, there is still a lot of mail waiting for transport to Shindand, and we will eventually have to pay the piper. The plus side is I might be able to finagle a couple of containers to use for the holiday season before the mail flow is forced downstream. I hope to know later today if containers have been delegated for our use. I am crossing my fingers.

Found out the ID card section at FOB Stone, one of my subordinate APOs, is moving here, along with one of my Soldiers, and an airman. I am working on getting them lodging in my tent, which entails moving postal contractors to another tent, thereby dislodging more contractors (non-postals) to another location. Is your head spinning yet? The non-postal contractors should not be in their current tent anyways, since the tent is supposed to be designated for postal employees. More crossing of fingers.

We had a cold snap in the weather over the (extended) weekend. Moisture was in the air as well, so it was more miserable. Fortunately, it has warmed up, relatively, to the upper 50s or so. At least the sun is back, so the edge is taken off.

We have managed to remove some items off our yard. As I have mentioned, I am trying to do some rearranging, and clean-up is the first step. The 30K forklift sitting back there is my priority on that front. Once that is taken care of, there is a P.O. drop box that has to be disposed of properly, as well as some other larger items. I am thinking there is probably a similar process here, as when houses back in the states get rid of large items to the waste management people.

Well, one of my Soldiers has to use my computer, so I will close this post and pick it up later (hopefully) today.

J Until next time…