Working Out Is Hard To Do....

Hello my little girly-men and women out there,

Glad to have you back checking me out. I am trying to get myself buff before I come home and this is a picture of myself doing a decline press at the little gym on the airfield. It is nice to have it there for when it gets slow at the hanger. I have been working out with SPC Hoff who aspires to be a personal trainer back home. I volunteered myself to be his test subject and I am paying for it. After one week of working out, I am so sore that getting up from a chair hurts. He calls it hell week, I just call it HELL!!!! He is a good motivator and I am doing exercises I have never done before. He is working all of my muscle groups and now I know which ones I don't use because they are the ones that are sore. After the soreness goes away, that’s when I'll start looking like Hans and Frans from SNL.....I'll be here to "Pump You Up!" So watch out because in 3 months when you see me again you might not recognize me (Unless you visit my BLOG every week because you will see the pictures....hehehe).

I also got to go to the pool again this week. It was so refreshing because it was over 100 degrees and the pool water was just right. Sarah sent me one of my swimming suits for me to wear so that I didn't have to wear my Army shorts. The pool allows us to wear normal suits so it feels a little more like normal (For a couple of hours anyway). I also have been busier at work also this week. it sure does make the time go by faster when I have work to do.

That’s it for another week here in Iraq. Now, don't forget that my birthday is only two weeks away so get your shopping done. Not that I'm expecting anything but I did get a package from my Mother-in-Law and it had 36 Salted Nut Rolls in it. One for each year I’ve been alive (Guess my age…). That was nice to get and also they didn't last very long. They are so good!!!

Take care everyone and I'll talk to you next week

Dan

Is It Fixed Yet???

Good Day Campers,

I hope your week has gone well and you are going to have a good one this week. As for me, I am now on night shift. It is taking some getting used to as my sleep schedule is all screwed up now and dinner is now my breakfast. As I write this, I just got off of work and wanted to make sure that you had some fresh content first thing Monday morning before I go to bed. Also this week, I got some work down line where the aircraft parks. That is where this picture was taken. I was working on an APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) that wasn't starting. It is always a challenge to troubleshoot problems like that because of all of the variables that go into starting an engine. That is why I do like working on them, they are a challenge sometimes. What fixed this one was a faulty check valve not closing all of the way and flooding out the engine. It was a good catch and we got it up and running for the mission. So see, it isn't all fun and games here......I do work sometimes.

Also this week we have had 4 sand storms, one right after the other. There is nothing like breathing sand to get your day going. I'll put a picture of what one looked like down below. I took one picture without flash so you can see it how I see it and one with flash so you can see all of the dust in the air (Very Thick!!). All I can say is I can't wait to get home and breath non-sandy air, while drinking a beer, and kissing my wife. I do love kissing my wife.

That is it for this week. As a reminder, my birthday is the 12 of May so get your ideas ready and then act on them because I do love getting things in the mail here. The best deal in shipping is the large pre-pay one that is normally $12.95, but to send to Iraq it is only $10.95....What A Deal!!!

Everybody take care and I'll talk to you next week.

Dan

I Miss Golf......

Hello All,

As I sit here watching The Masters, it makes me long for the green grass of a golf course, swinging the clubs, the smell of dew in the morning, and enjoying a nice sunny day on the course. They have set up a little driving cage in our battalion area to keep the swing loose, but I have yet to venture over there to try it out. I probably will when it gets closer to the time we get to come home. I am looking forward to playing a round when I get back home this summer, but till then I get to watch it on TV. Just thought I'd let you all know that.

The rest of the week went by quickly, which is nice!!! I got back to the pool a couple of times this week and my tan is coming along. I had some aircraft maintenance to keep me busy at work as well as helping other people get some work done. I also got a package from the wife with some goodies in it and a fun hat that you see me wearing in the picture above. It is a hot dog hat and as you can see it is quite flattering. She got it for me to wear when we have a cook out, but it is too cool to only wear then. I go around wearing it and everyone wants to touch my Weiner Hat. I just think they are all jealous of how nice and large my Weiner Hat is. They all want one but they know that I was the first to sport the Weiner Hat. I exposed it to the world!!!!!

On that note, I will bid you all farewell. Have a great week and just remember my motto........If you have a big Weiner Hat, don't be afraid to show it off.

Thank you......I'm here all week.....Try the veal........Tip your wait staff and I'll talk to ya later,

Dan

Too Cool For The Pool

Hello again everybody,

Hope all is well with all of you. Things here are plugging along. Today though, I went to the pool on the East Side. I went with 3 other people and spent the afternoon there. It was a nice way to spend the day. It was the first time going to the pool, but it won't be the last that’s for sure. I played a little water basketball and got some sun before the clouds moved in. For just a minute I didn't feel like I was in Iraq, then I saw the big "T"-walls and it brought me back. Just to let you know, it was 90 degrees here today and the water felt oh so good.

Also this week I have gone to Taco Ball, The Turkish Cafe, and Green Bean Cafe. The chow hall gets kinda boring after eating there for the last 9 months so I will venture out and hit the food court by the PX. They have a Burger King, Subway, Pizza Hut, Church’s Fried Chicken, and a new Cinnabon also to chose from. They are all in little trailers and don’t resemble a fast food place at all unless you were looking for it. It is nice to have these creature comforts around to break up the day to day life. You can only look at so many "T"-walls and sand and rock before you get little stir crazy. This is why I do like being a "Fobbet" (one who lives and never leaves the FOB).

Just to let you know, I might go to the pool again before work tomorrow because I liked it so much. I hope I don't burn myself out on it, but I’ll sure in hell try to if you know what I mean. Otherwise, Everyone have a great week and keep thawing out from winter.

See Ya,

Dan

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