Tough to leave

A friend of mine, Brad, just came back from two weeks of R&R at home in the U.S. He told me a story about when he was driving to the airport with his family on his way back here to the middle east. His 4-year old son was digging through his wallet and took something out of it. Brad was driving, so he couldn't see out of the corner of his eye what his son had taken. He told his son "Buddy, I need you to put that back in my wallet. I need it to get on the plane." Something distracted Brad from following up on that until he was already at the airport. When he was at the airport, he noticed his son clutching something in his hand.
"What do you have there? Is that what you took out of my wallet? Can I have it back, please, so I can get on the plane?" Brad asked his son.
His son opened his little hand and there was a crumpled $1 bill in it. "If I don't give this back, will you have to stay here?" he asked.
That was it for Brad.
Hearing that would've broken my heart, too.
I'm really looking forward to seeing Sarema and Hunter during R&R in May, but I already know that it's going to be very hard to leave them again to come back here.

New Office

New Office
Originally uploaded by Rob Wooldridge.

Last week I moved out of my old trailer into a new office about 50 feet away. Here I actually have a free-standing desk instead of a cube. The chair is pretty comfy, too. Both were left by the previous occupant, the HHC commander. He moved across post, but the chair and desk stayed. Bonus for me!

Thanks, Denise

An old friend, Denise, was going through her photo albums and figured that I might like a photo that she had. So she sent it from where she lives in Japan to me here in Kuwait. I guess she found this blog because she wrote that she "found [my] address on the internet."
She's right, I do appreciate having the photo.
It's a picture of me, Troy Carpenter, John Sai, and Eric Reilly all standing on top of the Architecture building at Cal Poly conducting rappelling for WOW Week in 1990. It was taken at the beginning of my sophmore year at Cal Poly and brings back fond memories of college.
Thanks, Denise. Hope things are well with you, Kyle, Mia, and Noah. I wish you the best of luck.

Blogging from the rack

It's about time we got something working in this area, but the the wireless internet in the barracks isn't fully functional yet. The service is functional enough, however, that I am typing this from my new bunk. fyi, I moved out of the swamp, about 20 feet away, to ease the crowded conditions there and get some more elbow room for myself. My former boss moved up near the offices on post, so I was next in line for his bunk. Now I don't have to share bunkbeds with anyone and I get two lockers to store my stuff in (instead of just one).
I left my XboX360 hooked up in the swamp, though, because we are all used to sharing it, the TV, and the refrigerator. I'm still able to hang out in the swamp and play video games like I used to. Once a swamp-mate, always a swamp-mate, I guess.
Speaking of hootch-mates, my new roommate is the chaplain. So far, everything is working out fine with the new arrangements.

Godspeed, Uncle Ross

My mom's uncle Ross, who was battlefield commissioned in World War II and retired from the Army as a Major, died Friday night just before midnight. He was the only other member of my family to serve as an Army officer, so we had a special kinship. Uncle Ross and I were on the "same page" on so many issues about life, the military, and politics. It was always good to sit down and chat with him when I visited.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Mary; she was a very classy lady and I'm sure he's glad to be back with her. Here's a salute for you, MAJ Conklin. Thanks for everything you did for your country and for me. Godspeed.

The Peak

As you can see from the counter on the right side of the blog, I only have about 182 days to go here. Yesterday was just short of halfway through 365 days, but today is the top of the peak. From here, I can see all the way down the 182-day-long slope in front of me. Waayyyyy down at the bottom is my family waiting for me to come home.
I'm on my way, babe. I'll be there as soon as I can.

How cool is my wife?

Coconut
Originally uploaded by Rob Wooldridge.

...she's so cool that she sent me a postcard from Hawaii written on a coconut. I can even shake it and hear the milk inside. You can't see what's written on the back side, but this picture shows the address and postage, just how it arrived here straight from Hawaii.
Sarema also sent a box of skydiving magazines, two months of photos, and some chocolate... all much-appreciated.
Finally, I received a card from Alex & Carly, my brother- and sister-in-law with some great photos of Christmas. There were two great pics of Hunter in the photos included with the card and I'm going frame them today.
Thanks for all the mail, everyone. It has really made my week.

Catching the Freedom Bird Home

Two of the swamp-mates are one their way home for R&R in the next couple of days and the other just returned from skiing and a trip to Hawaii for his R&R.
For the guys leaving soon, "bon voyage." Enjoy your time with your families and try to forget about this place for 15 days.

You Got Mail

I received a bunch of mail upon my return to my home camp. Here's a quick, consolidated thank-you list:
Kim, got the mass amount of snacks and the Xbox game. The fudge made it mostly intact and is now recuperating in the freezer. Thanks for all of the "lickies and chewies". I got a serious head rush after swallowing too many wasabi peas at once!
Maarten, got the converter (you're right, it is HEAVY) and will put it to good use shortly... I'm switching bunks and moving out of the swamp soon to my own bunk 15 feet away. I'll need a new converter over there, so thanks.
Dad and Mom, got the valentine's day cards. I especially liked what dad had to write. It's a whole different deal being on the other side of the father-son fence for a change.
Supplies for Soldiers also sent a care package with some candy and hand-written notes. Good, salt-of-the-earth folks at Supplies for Soldiers. They're HQ is Paso Robles near home.
That's all I can remember. Thanks again for all the mail. I appreciate it more than I can say here.

36 Holes of Golf

After coming home from a month of 16-hour days, I took a couple of days off here at my home camp. The most relaxing part of the weekend was getting to play 36 holes of golf and making numerous practice shots and puts.
No, they don't have a golf course here, I played all that golf on Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2006 for XboX 360. Jim and I played 18 holes at Pinehurst and then played a skins game with (and got schooled by) LTC Gee at Pebble Beach. It's a pretty addicting game and even if I was getting schooled, it was nice to listen to the realistic sounds and view the virtual ocean at Pebble Beach.

Back in the Saddle

I made it back to my home camp yesterday... and then was awakened at 0200 this morning by a call from a user who needed help with the computer system I built for the airport. It's tough being a one-man 24-hour tech support help desk!
Anyhow, I'm back in the land of milk and honey (well, starbucks and movies at least) and it's good to see my friends and my troops.

Holy Mackerel!

Hail coming down
Originally uploaded by Rob Wooldridge.

So there I was last night at 0330, sleeping like a baby in my tent. Something was getting louder, so I thought one of my earplugs had fallen out (I sleep with earplugs all the time because it's noisy here in Kwuait: either Dave is snoring at my home camp or here I sleep next to the Gator superhighway).
anyhow, back to the story. I felt for my earplugs to put them back in, but they were already in. And then it got LOUDER and LOUDER. For a half a second, I though a C-130 had rolled off the tarmac and was rumbling next to my tent. I took out my earlplugs, put on my flip-flips, opened the door to my tent and....
HAIL! nickel, quarter, and golf-ball-sized hail was pelting the crap out of my tent and the rest of camp. Luckily, the tent held together, but I don't know how.
I've never been in a hailstorm like this before (certainly never in a tent in a hailstorm). It lastest about 30 minutes, but I was finally able to go back to sleep after it was over.

Some perspective

Hail perspective
Originally uploaded by Rob Wooldridge.

Check out the size of this hail I scooped up in front of my door. This was the small stuff. While taking the photos, I got nailed in the melon by a golf-ball-sized one!