It's June Already??

Hello all and welcome back.

WOW!!! What a week. I have been so busy at work that the week just flew by. I had an extra duty of watching the MWR phone center, work in general, and getting ready to move into a new room tomorrow. Thats right, I said move to a new room. It means that we are one step closer to coming home. We have to clear our rooms so that when the new group gets here, they have the same place to stay. It's a pain in the butt, but I have no problem doing it. I am getting so excited to be one more step closer to home.

Durring my time at the phone center I was able to chat with Sarah for a long time and get some plans together for my return. After I get back from school, I have set up a crew to complete the basement of our house. I am so excited to finally get it done and I know that Sarah feels the same way. (Although I've given her a lot of tasks to do and I'm not sure she's so excited about that part.) I also have a friend that does landscaping and he is going to help to get the yard into great shape. Because I dont have to be back to work right away, this is the perfict time to get it all done. I can't wait!!!!

Sorry so short this week. I'll make it up to you all next week when I get settled into my new room. Take care and I will talk to you all later.

Dan

Happy Memorial Day

Hello everyone, and Happy Memorial Day.

Today is a time to reflect and think about all of the men and women that have served and given their lives for our country. When I was younger, I just looked at it as another day off from school, or an excuse to go to the lake, but it is much more than that. Being in the military and now having my experiences here in Iraq, this day means so much more to me. I see kids around base everyday that work outside the wire and brave the real war and I shake their hand and thank them for what they are doing. I have seen the medical helicopters flying over to the hospital and you know that only means one thing. You see, Memorial Day is more than a federal holiday, it is a day we thank the men and women of our military past, present, and futures for keeping us safe and keeping our country free. I salute all who have came before me and all that will follow me. Thank You!!!

Now on to my week.

Our Battalion held a luau on Friday in honor of Pan-Asian American Month. As you might know, we are a combined Battalion from Minnesota, Washington, and Hawaii. All of our Hawaiians participated and ran the whole show. There was a roast pig, burgers, hot dogs, chicken, coconut wiped pudding, and other Hawaiian foods for our dinning pleasure. There was also 2 bands that played during the event. One was a Hawaiian band playing softer music and Hawaiian music to put us in the tropical mood. The other was a rock cover band that sounded good and played a lot of classic rock (which i find out includes Guns 'n Roses and Nirvana......UGGG) and a couple of their own tunes. The whole day was wonderful!! I swam and jumped off the high dive, played water volleyball and catch with a football. For the afternoon we all forgot about the outside world and just enjoyed the tropical atmosphere (it was 110 out.....HOT!)

Well, that will do it for now. I may be losing my internet here next week so I may not be able to update on Monday. I will try to find a computer somewhere to be able to upload my pictures or it just might be a text version......we will see. Take care everyone and I'll talk to you later.

If you want to learn more about the history of Memorial Day, visit http://www.usmemorialday.org/.

Dan

One Week Closer

Hello Everyone

It's another week closer to going home and I'm starting to get ready for it. I started to sell my stuff and send some stuff home. You don't know how much crap you collect till you have to move. I am finding food and snacks everywhere like we are going to lose our chow hall and not have any food to live on. I have brought 4 bags of food and snacks back to the hanger to share with everyone there. That way it doesn't get wasted and if I still want some of it I know where it is. I also have found a pound of dust and sand on things that we haven't moved all year.....GROSS!!! I can't wait to get home and just have normal dust to deal with.

It is nice to start thinking about home but we still have a job here to do. The picture above is of a sunrise a couple of days ago between sand storms. I was able to get a jet taking off in the picture on the left side. We have had so many sand storms over the past 2 weeks it was nice to get a break for a little bit so we didn't have to breath sand. Other than the sand, not much else has happened since my birthday. Oh, I almost forgot......I did cook out on Friday night with a few people. We hung out and had some burgers and chicken on the grill. It’s just a little taste of home that we can have here. I do love a good cook out.

Just to let you all know, if you plan on sending anything here be sure to do it before June 15th or else it might not get here. I have loved getting all of the care packages and letters from all of you. Now after I go home be sure to find another soldier that will enjoy a care package while they are here. A great website is http://www.anysoldier.com/ to find some soldiers that want some pen pals.

Take care all and have a wonderful week and I'll talk to you later

Dan

Today Is My Birthday........36 And Still Going!!!

Hello all and welcome back.

If you didn't already know, today is my birthday. The big 36!! Just means that I'm one day closer to being home and one year older. I have received some great packages for my birthday so far. The latest one was from my wife’s office team at Cargill Treasury. I am wearing some of the items in the picture above. It also has some super balls in it (That we have lost in the hanger already) and a ton if treats and party favors (Thanks for test driving the nut rolls for me Norma and making sure they were safe for consumption). I do love celebrating my birthday and I wish I was back at home doing it right. Cake, candles, and my wife standing there......looking at me and saying those three little words..........YOU ARE OLD.

I also want to say Happy Mother’s Day to all of the moms out there reading this. The thing with my birthday being on May 12th is that it falls on mother’s day about every 7 years. When I was younger, my Mom and I would celebrate both of our birthdays and mother’s day together. She got it good because she would get 2 gifts compared to my one. As I got older I would just give her one gift and say it was for both days, kinda like what happens to Christmas babies. You see, today is my birthday and my Mom's would have been tomorrow. She would have turned 72 this year if she was still with us. Happy Mother’s Day and Happy Birthday Mom, I love and miss you.

Now I’m getting all emotional, time to liven up this BLOG.

It has been a very busy week for me here. I was able to fly 6.5 hours this week in one of the helicopters I was working on. I do have to say, that I like flying around and seeing around the base. We do test patterns in circles around the base, so I took lots of pictures to show people where I have been living the past year from an birds eye point of view. Also I have been making plans on coming home in July. I started selling my stuff here so it doesn’t wait till the last minute and also sending home stuff so I don’t have to carry it all when we leave here. The days are going by faster because I have been busy so July will be here before we know it. What will all of you do without my BLOG every week? I know, you could call me at home and we could have dinner or something and I can tell you how my week was then, or something like that. We will have to cross that bridge when I get home. Till then, continue to visit my BLOG and I thank you for your continued support of me and my fellow soldiers here with me.

It's poker night also tonight. We are celebrating my friend’s birthday and mine tonight and we are going to take pictures and I will be sure to post them when we are done. His birthday was last Monday and he is 2 years older......hehehe....HE IS OLD!!!

So long for now and have a good week. I will talk to you all next week.

Dan

Up, Up And Away

Happy Cinco De Mayo Everyone,

Now everyone go and crack open a crevesa, put a lime in it and sit down to enjoy this little posting I do every week. On a day like today I do miss going to the parade in St Paul and hanging out with Rory and Peggy. Hitting the beer gardens and watching the live music was oh so fun. Instead, some people here are having a cookout down at the hanger and drinking fake beer. I just can't do it to myself on such a great drinking holiday that I have adopted. Plus it is poker night and that takes precedence. For everyone else I hope you can go out tonight and have a Corona for me and don’t forget the lime......Cheers!!

This week was a busy one for me at work. There is this problem child aircraft that has the oddest issues and I was assigned to help figure it out. Well, with all of the things we did to it, it needed a test flight and I got to go on it. It was my first flight since I have been here. Besides trying to listen for any problems or helping in the discussions, I took a ton of pictures. It was cool to see where I have been living all of these months from the air. On the maintenance side, the problem wasn't fixed but we knew which direction to go and on the next flight it was fixed. I do like troubleshooting the aircraft because you have to think outside the box to come up with a solution that fixes it that the manuals don't talk about. It sure did make this week fly by.

Now, I know I have told all of you that my 36th birthday is a week from today........and you know that I don’t expect anything for my birthday........But just to let you know, I do like receiving boxes and cards:) Not that you have to send anything other than your support and pledge to have a crevesa with me upon my return home. Take care everyone and I'll see ya next week (May 12th......My Birthday.........36 years old......hint, hint).

Dan

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