Back in the Sand

Hello again, faithful readers. Regrettably, I am posting this, my latest entry, from my command tent in the blazing sands of the Arabian Desert. My days of enjoying time with my lovely wife and amazing children at our compound in Wasillastan are behind me. No worries. Our time in Alaska was incredibly well-spent and enriching. As with any vacation, there are a few things I would have liked to do that we were unable to get to, but overall it was fun and action-packed. More importantly, I accomplished the thing I most wanted to do, which was to spend lots of time hanging out with the clan.

I managed to fly in and out of nine airports in two weeks - Kuwait International, Leipzig-Halle in Germany, Dallas, Salt Lake City, Anchorage, Houston, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Atlanta, then Leipzig Halle and Kuwait International again.

The high point of the traveling was probably Dallas. The American Airlines' Admirals Club in Dallas allows Soldiers traveling on R&R to use their facilities for free. Joe simply walks up to the reception desk in uniform and presents his DA Form 31 (the ever valuable leave authorization paperwork) and boarding pass to the clerk and he or she is granted access to the inner sanctum. The high point for me was the private shower room. Fresh towels, soap, shampoo, and a shaving kit in a nicely decorated and freshly cleaned private shower. After spending more than half a day sweating in the heat at Ali Al Saleem Airbase in preparation for leaving Kuwait followed by another thirty-six hours of trans-Atlantic traveling, I was more than ready for the relaxation of a hot shower. The coffee there was excellent, as well.

The low point of the traveling was definitely in Atlanta. After we boarded the filled-to-capacity charter flight that was going to take us back to Babylon, we experienced one delay for an equipment malfunction (repaired on site) and a second due to heavy congestion on the runway. All in all, we sat on this crowded airplane for two and a half hours prior to take-off. Thankfully, the folks in charge didn't feel the need to let us disembark the aircraft and wait the two and a half hours in the comfortable and air-conditioned terminal. It was much more character building to wait it out in my cramped airplane seat with no air-conditioning.

Finally, we got airborne and worked our way back across the Atlantic and into Arabia. I spent the first half of the trip working on a paper for school. By the time we reached Germany, my laptop was dead. After that, I finished reading Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut while drinking cup after cup of black coffee and listening to the Ramones on my iPod.

It didn't take long to settle back into the daily grind of desert life. Bland food on plastic plates, my messy and hygienically-challenged roommate, waking up to the sounds of Blackhawk and Apache helicopter rotors, and, of course, walking through the blinding sandstorms that leave tiny particles of sand embedded in your eyes, ears, hair, clothes, and every exposed wrinkle. On the positive side, I brought back a little bit of Alaskan delight with me - six beautiful bags of Raven's Brew coffee, one of the most delicious blends of joe ever roasted.

That's enough for now. I've got to check out of the net for a while. Tonight is grilled steak and crab legs night at the DFAC (Dining Facility, the facility formerly known as the Chow Hall. That's another thing I missed during my brief stay in America...the art of knowing what day it is by the dinner menu!