Army planes are the worst

Okay, I know it has been a long time since I last posted a blog. Let me catch everyone up to speed. In the last four months work was busy, some stuff got blown up, I ripped up the carpet in my room (it smells better now), we got some new soldiers, had a few sandstorms, they started serving a new kind of ice cream (Jomocha Almond, it is good), they built a coffee shop for us (but it got blown up during it's 2nd week open, so sad) and now I am at the airport in Baghdad for the 4th day trying to get a flight out of here for R&R. Anyone who has had a bad experience with airline cancellations and layovers (this should be everyone) be glad it wasn't an Army flight out of an Army airport. I think because we don't actually pay for the ticket (in fact, we don't even get tickets) the flight operators figure a 96-hour layover (so far) is just part of the normal flight process. Uggghh. As of now it is looking like I will be getting into Austin 4May, probably in the evening. I should be around the city most of the 18days I have home minus a few in the middle (see my mom for details.) I hope I get to see everyone who is in town while I am on leave but if not I'll see you when I get back (only 9 months to go WooHoo.) Till then...

Some unexpected weather

Last week I got to see a rare occurrence in this part of the world. Snow in Baghdad. It lasted for about four hours during the early morning. Most of the locals who have lived here all their lives said that it was the first time they had ever seen snow. It was commonplace to hear people saying that "hell must be freezing over" for something like this to happen. Unfortunately it all melted once it hit the ground so I didn't have a chance to make an Iraqi snowman. It is even colder now and there was ice on the ground this morning when I was going to chow. In spite of my Texan roots I managed to walk on it without falling over.
We were recently given ECWCs (extreme cold weather clothing) which came in two boxes consisting of about nine layers. I wore three of them the other night while on guard and although it is quite drafty up in the towers I was nice and toasty in my 3-layered coat.
Everything else here is going well with the exception of some bad news we got yesterday. The contractor who fills the tanks that feed our showers is either out of water or out of town or something. We will be without showers for an indefinite amount of time but it could be worse. It could be summer which would be a much worse time to be going without a wash. Just consider yourselves lucky that you don't have to be around me and my stinky friends.

My work day

Two weeks here and boredom is beginning to set in but, I've found the best way to deal with this is to work more. Today I arrived to work 2 hours early because time goes by surprisingly fast in the office. My schedule is the same everyday of the week (which I like.) Wake up, eat, go to work, eat, work out and sleep. I might throw a movie in there or a hundred pages of a book every few days too. Gotta keep things spontaneous you know. Here in the office (yes I am writing personal emails whilst at work) we have a little Christmas tree with lights which we have to hide every time the top brass decide to pop their head's in. At night when everyone who cares has gone home, we light up the tree and play Christmas music (right now Frank Sinatra's Let It Snow.) Played in our weekly poker game last friday where after four hours of hard work I managed to win a single dollar. I'll leave you with a funny story. One of my buddies got into a bit of trouble yesterday. The chow hall got hit with a rocket yesterday ( a common occurrence although not at all scary due to the insurgents extreme inaccuracy.) My friend was on his way to breakfast when it hit, bounced off the roof and landed a few feet from him. Unharmed and undeterred he continued on his way to get his morning omelet. Protocol would dictate that he return immediately to our HQ and report this "close-call." An hour later he returned from breakfast to find our entire command searching for him and contemplating the possibility that he had been "blown up." Now he has to guard the computer lab for the next week as punishment. He says he's catching up on his reading and emails and doesn't seem to mind. Thought that was funny and hope you did too. Till Christmas.

My new home

After a few more flight delays (this time waiting on helicopters) we have arrived. The base is a lot smaller than I expected and not quite as nice as Kuwait (no Starbucks or fast food.) On the upside however the dining facility here is open all but six hours a day and the food is awesome. Last night I had steak and shrimp for dinner which is a regularly scheduled meal here. If the Army is short on funding it certainly isn't coming out of the food budget. Right now I'm sharing a room with five other people but, after a month or so it should be only two per room. The buildings aren't much to look at from the outside and a lot have the top floors blown out from the initial invasion in 03'. The insides are the exact opposite having been home to thousands of soldiers over the past four years. The walls are all decorated in letters and pictures put up by previous units and their are several bookshelves filled with books that have been left behind. In our room we already have a 1-foot tall Christmas tree with lights courtesy one of my roommates family. Other than that we haven't done much because we will be rotating rooms soon. I don't know much about work yet and probably won't be able to write much here in this public forum. Most details will be limited to the antics and misadventures of me and my platoon. Hopefully those alone will be enough to keep you reading. Lastly, I do have my physical address now but, I can't give it here. You can contact me at danieledowd@gmail.com or get a hold of my mom. She has it. Till then.

A long trip

4 flights, 14hours in delays and a 2 busrides later and we are here. This is my 3rd day in Kuwait and it feels like a vacation so far. The base here has all the amenities an American requires, Taco Bell, Starbucks, 31 flavors and Subway. It is almost like a food court except instead of being in a mall, everything is in the middle of a giant desert. We are sleeping 50 to a room and I am currently on an internet connection with about 1/10 the speed of dial-up but hey, it's free. I've never seen such a flat and empty landscape as here, the horizon goes side to side for as far as I can see with nothing in between. It makes for incredible sunrises and sets. We work for about 4 hours a day and then sit around for the remainder. Needless to say video game and poker marathons are a mainstay here in the barracks. Yesterday we went driving around in the desert and found a pack of camels, everyone got out and took pictures. I will have some posted once I get to connection that will allow it. I should be in Iraq by next week and actually start working. But till then, I'll enjoy the downtime and you taxes hard at work.

Before I Go

Haven't left yet and the anticipation is killing me. It's been 6 months since we got word we would be leaving in November. The date seems to be settling on the 22nd. I will be back in Austin for the second half of October and I hope to see all my friends and family (and tell them about this blog.)
I'm not big into the public forum's but, seeing as I will be out of regular contact for the next 1.5 years, I figured this would be the easiest way to keep everyone updated. While I am in Iraq I will post all my goings-on to this site. I say this with the caveat that I will be busy ocassionaly and unable to post for quite possibly weeks at a time. Although I anticipate this being a rare occurrence, I bring it up as a preemptive strike against all the worrier's I know. If you haven't been paying attention to anything so far, please make note of the following sentence. IF I HAVEN'T POSTED IN A WHILE DO NOT WORRY, SEND FRANTIC EMAILS OR CALL MY CHAIN OF COMMAND. I'M PROBABLY JUST BUSY.
Now that that's out of the way. Welcome to my blog and your window into my life while I'm on vacation at The Baghdad Desertside Resort. I should have pictures up soon and keep checking for updates. Thank you, come again.