Spring Has Sprung

Good Day Campers,

Yes, it’s that time of the week. Tune your BLOG's channel right here for another exciting episode of "Zirbes in the Army". This week we will talk about the new game Dan got, called Rock Band, the work done to keep the mission going, and his final thoughts. So, stay tuned......

You read it correct; I bought Rock Band for my XBOX 360. For those of you that don’t know what it is, you get a guitar controller, drum kit and microphone and you do the actions the game tells you to do to the music. It is so much FUN!!!! I am still on easy setting for now and that is tough enough. They even had a competition for prizes at the MWR for the people that are much better than me. I'll take a video of myself playing so that you get the idea. Just to let you know again......IT'S SO MUCH FUN!!!!!

This week has just flown by because of all of the work I had to do. I do like keeping busy and completing projects and I had plenty of them this week. I can't tell you much about some of them but I did have some aircraft work along with the other projects I was on. I changed out an engine on one aircraft and on another one some seals were leaking and I had to replace those also. I'm going to be the only engine guy for another week till my other guy gets back from leave so I’m on call 24 hours a day till then. They haven't had to come and get me but I have been putting in some long hours down at the hanger. I hope I can keep busy like this for a while so July comes faster than I realize.

Now as you see in the picture above, I'm wearing flamingo glasses that Sarah sent me. She said that she used them at work for a function and sent me a pair because she knows I like flamingos. That got me thinking..........maybe I could do a video with the glasses.........so I'm getting everyone to wear them and get their picture taken and i'll come up with the theme later. It will be so cool. That will give me something else to do to pass the time. I'll be sure to show all of you what I did when it is done. Maybe, if any of you have some goofy glasses that you would like to send me I could use them in the video. The more the merrier is what I always say.

That’s it for now........Tune in next week when Dan talks about all of the things he does on deployment in "Zirbes in the Army".

Good Night and Good Luck,

Dan

Happy Easter

Hello Everyone,

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend. It got to 100 degrees here on Sunday. I just can't get used to the hot temps in March. I guess I only have to deal with it for a few more months then it's back to the cozy confines of Minnesota. Otherwise, it was uneventful. Which is good if you’re in Iraq, if you ask me.

This week as been a busy one for me at the hanger. I had quite a bit of work because one of my troops is on leave and the other one is on guard duty. It sure did make the week go by fast. Also with the heat and the longer days, the bugs are coming out!! They are horrible here. There are flying ants that can get as big as an inch long, mosquitoes, and sand flies. It's ok during the day, but come dusk they are everywhere. The ants will land on your head and it is just creepy how it feels. They say that it will last till about May then it will be so hot all of the time that they die off and it will be like when we first got here. Till then, I'll be using a whole lot of bug spray.

That's it, I can't think of anything else to say. I could ramble on and drag out your reading experience, but I wouldn't do that to you all. It wouldn't be fair to have you keep reading absolutely nothing except big words I can conjure up and expound on. That's just not right of me.

Have a good week and I'll chat at ya later.

Dan

Lawnmower Coin History

The Lawnmower Coin!!!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day Everyone

I hope that you all get to drink some green beer and have a good time tonight. Me, I plan on playing poker in our "Pot O' Pogs" tourney tonight. Speaking of things green, I am going to tell you the story of the "SPC Chris Rogers Lawnmower Coin". In the picture above, that is the coin I am holding up with Gabe next to me with his. This coin is a very special coin to those that get to receive it. You get one for being able to "Cut" through all of the "Grass" that is the Army. I will have the induction video included to this post so that you may understand how special this coin is. We had this coin made here in Iraq and there are only 50 of them to hand out. All of them are numbered and as you will see in the video, they are hard to get. The next time you see me, I will gladly explain to you how I earned mine because I don’t want to brag about my greatness here on my BLOG. Let's just say that I wouldn't trade this coin for anything, it means too much to me.

Now I don't know if I told you all, but we only have about 4 months left before we get to come home and be with the ones we love. There is already talk about what to do with our equipment and stuff when we come home. It is very encouraging to here talk like that. As I look back over the past 7 1/2 months, I come to realize all of the things we have done here. All of the missions the flight companies have gone on. All of the maintenance we have performed on the aircraft. We have our slow days and we have our busy days, but all-in-all I have to say the time has gone by fast and we have done our mission well. I am proud to be here and of the work we have done to this point, but I still can't wait to get home and be in the arms of my wife.

That’s it for now. Again, have a Happy St. Patrick’s Day and also a Happy Easter next week. Don't have too many Easter eggs next week either, that could be worse than a hangover. Take care and I'll talk to you later.

Dan

This One Time, On Camp Anaconda......

Howdy All,

I hope everyone had a good week last week. As for myself, I had guard duty all week. 24 hours on duty, 24 hours off duty for 8 days. It was a nice change from my normal duties. I got to sit in a guard tower in 4 hour increments during my duty day. By the end of the day, I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open enough to chat with Sarah for a couple of minutes before I fell asleep. I was a good experience though, and I'm glad I got to do it. Also last week, I put a poll on here to see what look everybody liked me in the most. The resounding winner was "Hair & No Mustache". I have to say, I was rooting for that one. Now in the future, keep your eyes to the right of this page for more exciting polls that I will come up with. You just never know what I will ask your opinion on.

Another thing that is happening is Matt, Sarah's cousin, is leaving for Korea for a little over a year for his first duty station. Matt joined the army last summer and has now completed all of his training and is ready to serve. I am so proud of Matt and his decision to join the Army. Now, not only is he family, but also my brother-in-arms. Have a good time at home Matt before you leave, and I look forward to seeing you after my deployment is done. HOOAH!!!!!!

Now, I do want to say thank you all for the great care packages I have been getting. My Mother-in-Law sent me a package with treats and some bike accessories, like a set of dice to hang from my basket. I just LOVE them!!! Jill sent me coffee and some DVDs (By the way, I liked the Eric Estrada DVD the best). Wendy Pettus also sent a whole bunch of DVDs that I shared with everyone in the platoon. I did snag up the copy of Hudson Hawk though (One of my favorite cheesy movies). Also the Shea family sent a bunch of Easter goodies that I shared with everyone. In that one I did keep the Whoppers Eggs (I need something to snack on at poker night). Last but not least is the one from "Scottie To Hottie" and Cindy. They sent a bunch of stuff for my bike, treats, and other items like a autographed picture of Jerry Rice (TY Scott). So I say again, Thank You all for your support.

Now, be sure to check out the picture of my bike I posted down below so you can see all of the neat additions to it. Peewee Herman has nothing on this bike. The other picture is from the Turkish Cafe here when Jesse and I went for lunch last week.

Everyone have a great week and I'll talk to you later.

Dan

10 Sceonds Of Comedy

The End Of The Stache......

Good Day and Welcome!!

This is it, kaput, finished, no more mustache! I don't know how some guys have one all of the time. It drove me crazy having it. I would bite my upper lip and play with my whiskers and it itched all of the time. Now I’m back to my clean shaven self. It was fun though to see everyone that grew one during the month. Some guys look natural with one and then there was me. Of my last photos with the stache, I decided to do it right. I shaved my head and tried to dress like your 3rd grade gym teacher. Since I didn't have the tube socks, my green socks had to do. I got ready to do a proper push up and had my picture taken. Don't I look mean? Tough? Rough? Maybe not, but it was fun to take the pictures. I'll put the other ones I took down below so you can get your fill of the last day of my mustache.

Now that I'm back to normal, except that I'm bald, we are trying to think of the next thing to do to occupy our time. I tried to have everybody shave their head, but they wouldn’t go for that. I'm sure we will come up with something and I'll be sure to let you all know what it is. For now, SGT Pool is working on a slide show with all of the pictures we took with the mustaches. So far it looks really funny. I'll get that to all of you when that is completed also.

This week I have another duty going on so my day off is today and not Monday like normal. That is why I am updating early, if you were wondering. This new duty is a nice change of pace from the norm. You all know how that is. You get in a rut, so anything new is nice to see. After I'm done with it I should be able to give a couple of more details, but till then I have to be vague about it. Because, if I told you I'd have to kill you and we don't want that to happen, right?

Because I had today off, Jesse and I went over to the East side of the post. We checked out the PX, the Iraqi Bazaar for some movies, and then over to the Turkish Bazaar to look at trinkets. It's like going to an organized Mexican Bazaar with overpriced stuff. You really have to haggle with them to get them down in price. I do like haggling!!!! I didn't get anything this time, but I do have my eye on a couple of items. I have them right where I want them for the next time I go. Don't worry Sarah, I'll be sure to get something for you.

That's it for now. Have a wonderful week everyone and I'll talk to you all next week at my normal time.

See Ya,

Dan