Saturday, February 14, 2009
Go west my young son
Heading westward for work, but I am gonna make a quick pitstop n LA for some soapbox racing tommorrow. Gonna school the westerners on how we do it in the east.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Friday, January 2, 2009
Being happy and the Army
It has always amazed me at the level of expectations Soldiers have from the military.
When you have a bed you are glad you're not sleeping on a cot, when you have a cot you're glad you're not sleeping on a duffel bag, when you have a duffel bag you're glad that you're not sleeping in a tent, and when you're sleeping in a tent you're glad that it's not raining outside you're tent, and when you don't have a tent you're glad that you found a comfortable spot of dirt to sleep on.
Through this whole "glad thought process" it is completely acceptable and expected for everyone to complain, the bed has a spring that sticks out, the cot is kinda old and wobbles, the duffel bag is lumpy, the tent leaks, the rain makes you cold and wet, and the ground is cold and hard. If soldiers aren't complaining and that means that there is really something wrong.
When you have a flight tomorrow, you complain that you have to wake up early to move heavy bags without any help.... Sometimes it's good to complain.
Remember kids, the Army isn't satisfied until you're dissatisfied.
When you have a bed you are glad you're not sleeping on a cot, when you have a cot you're glad you're not sleeping on a duffel bag, when you have a duffel bag you're glad that you're not sleeping in a tent, and when you're sleeping in a tent you're glad that it's not raining outside you're tent, and when you don't have a tent you're glad that you found a comfortable spot of dirt to sleep on.
Through this whole "glad thought process" it is completely acceptable and expected for everyone to complain, the bed has a spring that sticks out, the cot is kinda old and wobbles, the duffel bag is lumpy, the tent leaks, the rain makes you cold and wet, and the ground is cold and hard. If soldiers aren't complaining and that means that there is really something wrong.
When you have a flight tomorrow, you complain that you have to wake up early to move heavy bags without any help.... Sometimes it's good to complain.
Remember kids, the Army isn't satisfied until you're dissatisfied.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
The sand sucketh to the N-th degree
Yes! A sand storm! If youve never been through one you really dont know what youre missing. Imagine a snowstorm, but intead of snowflakes you have little grains of sand pelt you everywhere. They get in everything, ears, nose, mouth, lungs, eyes, nails. I tightened down my belt a notch or two to make sure my undies don't fill up. Add to the tight belt, I'm also wearing a set of balistic glasses, and a nice piece of cloth around my face to keep the sand out of my mouth, all in all a fun day.
Every day seems to be a new experience, not bad, just different.
Every day seems to be a new experience, not bad, just different.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Derf does Kuwait
So whats a boy to do in Kuwait when hes let out of the cage?
Deliver rice to starving under privliged Kuwaiti third country nationals. These are the indian and philipino servants who are misstreated by their employers and run away, so they go to a special place that helps them get new passports (usually held by the employer) and get them back home. Problem is that this place doesn't have enough supplies to feed everyone so we brough more. Kinda a feel good thing to do.
Of course on the way out I made a stop at a local eatery to partake in some of the culture. Yeh Kuwaiti style take out (traditional kuwaiti food) and coffee. I have yet to eat the food, but will be doing so very soon, that is my new years meal, sounds like a treat to me. Then some shopping, I bought a few local things, not much, but local style stuff (a good burka should teach kelly her role in life).
Tonight is the trip back to the other base, maybee some more internet, then bed, proably at 1201 local time, which is 8 hours ahead of eastern time.
Derf dun did and will comtinue to do kuwait.
Deliver rice to starving under privliged Kuwaiti third country nationals. These are the indian and philipino servants who are misstreated by their employers and run away, so they go to a special place that helps them get new passports (usually held by the employer) and get them back home. Problem is that this place doesn't have enough supplies to feed everyone so we brough more. Kinda a feel good thing to do.
Of course on the way out I made a stop at a local eatery to partake in some of the culture. Yeh Kuwaiti style take out (traditional kuwaiti food) and coffee. I have yet to eat the food, but will be doing so very soon, that is my new years meal, sounds like a treat to me. Then some shopping, I bought a few local things, not much, but local style stuff (a good burka should teach kelly her role in life).
Tonight is the trip back to the other base, maybee some more internet, then bed, proably at 1201 local time, which is 8 hours ahead of eastern time.
Derf dun did and will comtinue to do kuwait.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Purgatory ain't all that bad
Having fun, taking names, doing some sight seeing, it's all good in the Kuwaiti hood.
I got some plans, it looks like I might be here for a little while, so I'm really just looking at what my options are. I really cant talk about specifics, but for at least one day i will be going out into the wilderness of kuwait and exploring some of the finer parts of the city.
Most of the rest of the other days I think I will be doing some exploring of the military bases in the area, It's just neat to go out and see the sights on the drive around the country. The way these people live is amazing, the class system rules supreme. The upper class is the prince Amir's imediate family, they are the bid dawgs, then comes his extended royal family (talking tens of thousands of people). After that is the Kuwaiti citizen class, who are also very wealthy. up to this point nobody works, and are paid very handsomly by the governemt for being who they are. After that you have third country nationals, US citizens are generally held in a much higher regard than indians or philipinos who are world cents a day for work, while americans are worth more here than in the states.
Everyone who is a Kuwaiti citizen lives in a mansion. A big honking mansion. They all have "workers" who work for cents a day being slaves and doing whatever they are told. Then for a summer house these rich folk set up these little camps in the desert and go party there for a few weeks at a time, sorta like a return to nomadic times, with slight modern amenities, like generators and all the stuff that makes being rich fun, like computers and stuff.
All in all a very cool country, plus the best part is that men get to choose their wives, all of them, so I can have a few if I really want to.
I got some plans, it looks like I might be here for a little while, so I'm really just looking at what my options are. I really cant talk about specifics, but for at least one day i will be going out into the wilderness of kuwait and exploring some of the finer parts of the city.
Most of the rest of the other days I think I will be doing some exploring of the military bases in the area, It's just neat to go out and see the sights on the drive around the country. The way these people live is amazing, the class system rules supreme. The upper class is the prince Amir's imediate family, they are the bid dawgs, then comes his extended royal family (talking tens of thousands of people). After that is the Kuwaiti citizen class, who are also very wealthy. up to this point nobody works, and are paid very handsomly by the governemt for being who they are. After that you have third country nationals, US citizens are generally held in a much higher regard than indians or philipinos who are world cents a day for work, while americans are worth more here than in the states.
Everyone who is a Kuwaiti citizen lives in a mansion. A big honking mansion. They all have "workers" who work for cents a day being slaves and doing whatever they are told. Then for a summer house these rich folk set up these little camps in the desert and go party there for a few weeks at a time, sorta like a return to nomadic times, with slight modern amenities, like generators and all the stuff that makes being rich fun, like computers and stuff.
All in all a very cool country, plus the best part is that men get to choose their wives, all of them, so I can have a few if I really want to.
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