The Trip Home

17 February 2009

It’s that time again, time to leave my winter home and return to my storage facility in Cheyenne WY. This last week has been very hectic with the flying and moving into the tents, so much so that it has taken its toll on me. I have gotten sick =( yea my nose has been running and because of that it is making it harder for me to clear my ears so today I canceled a flight because I was not fit to fly.

It really sucked as today would have been my last flight out here but I knew that I was not up for it and as much as I wanted to fly I didn’t want to blow out my eardrums either.

I should be home on the 20th if all goes well. I was told by Josh that my house is warming up for me (for about 10 days, so it should be warm) and my Jeep is in the parking lot at work for me to drive home. It won’t be the same without Josh at the Olive Garden but I am sure that it will work out just fine.

OK I don’t know if I will have time to post this but I thought that I would try and type something up just in case. Aloha!

19 February 2009

Ok I know I just posted the last post but I figure since I wrote it I might as well post it when I can. I am now in England on my way home!

The flight was long but well worth it to get out of the sandbox. As far as how I am feeling, I am doing better. I did not fly out of Iraq as I was still not feeling 100% or even 80% for that matter. I used the flight to catch up on some sleep. I got a nice 4 hour nap on everyone’s bags in the back and that made me feel like 800,000 bucks (almost a million but not quite). It’s key to bring a sleeping bag as it makes the trip soo much better!

I am feeling pretty good now after another night sleep and an easy first night away from the blowing sand and screaming jets. I know “easy night”??? Yes I did have a beer when I got into billeting but that was it, I went for dinner but decided not to have any more beverages as I was not ready for a long night.

I am going to fly today (it’s 0600 as I type this but who knows when I get to post this) as we cross the Atlantic. The winds have been a little strong in the wrong direction so we are looking at about a 8 hours flight =( into St. John’s.

20 February 2009

Well I made it across the pond and into St. Johns. I had skipped eating at the Keg the last few times through so I decided to try it again. Yes I know that I love the food but I don’t want to overdo it as I would hate to not enjoy the incredible food and service.

So what did I have to eat… well I had the ribeye and it was wonderful! I had tried to get some shrimp on the side before with no luck but this time they were very accommodating and I got my skewer of grilled tiger shrimp as well =)

The rest of the night went well as I had some drinks with friends old and new.

24 February 2009

Getting back home to my own house was really nice though it doesn’t really feel like home, maybe that is because I spend more time away then at home. But non the less I have a bathroom that I can walk to in the middle of the night if I so choose (but I never will as I never have to use the bathroom when I am home, must be something about knowing that it’s 200 yards away that makes you have to go)

Today I spent the day getting settling in and cleaning the house and Jeep. I got about everything put away and now I am working on getting my new phone all setup. It’s a blackberry and I have no idea how to work it but I am trying. I think it will take some getting used to but as long as it doesn’t drop calls like my old phone I will be very happy.

So my plan for tomorrow is to get the internet turned back on at the house, buy new shoes, maybe some pants too, buy some food for the house, call about some plane stuff, and relax!

Oh I almost forgot, I about killed myself today! Well at least that’s what it felt like. I have been running 2+ miles almost every day as I was in the desert so I thought that I should continue the tradition and go for a run today. Well I started off running up hill against the wind and in case you didn’t know we are a 6000+’ elevation here in Cheyenne, well I would like to blame as many things as I can on the fact that I could only run for about 2 miles and I felt like I was going to die! Yea I would like to say that I was hurting after the 2 miles, but no, I way huffing and puffing about ¼ of a mile into the run. So yes even though I thought I was in pretty good shape I was reminded that being at altitude makes a HUGE difference.

OK I just wanted to get this last post of the Balad Xmas trip up and to close that small chapter of my life so we can all move on the next one. Thanks for reading and I’ll keep posting as things happen but most of the info will hopefully be on my other blog as I will be working on the plane. Aloha!

Updating iTunes

OK I should be heading to bed soon but I wanted to try this internet thing one more time. There is really nothing that I want to do but right now I am downloading the itunes genius thing right now. I have never been able to use the genius with my ipod after being in the desert and I really like that feature as it creates playlists for you. I hope this works because I have not made any good playlists after I lost my last ipod. Now I hope to please the people in the back as well as the crew as I play some tunes for everyone when we are on/off loading our passengers.

Other the this internet thing I sat out in the sun today and even fell asleep listening to some Norah Jones. I don’t think that I got too much sun but I bet I will feel it a little bit tomorrow.

Ok it’s been about 40 minutes and I am about 75% done downloading. I will wait for this to finish and then take a shower and head to bed. I got another early flight and am told that I will fly 2 days in a row… Yep they are getting their money out of me!

OK itunes worked! Time for shower then bed, Night!

Tent Living

Well its official I slept in the transient tent last night so let’s hope that I am able to get out of here soon! Because I don’t have the internet in my tent, I had to find a place to use the computers and I found that there is a passenger terminal pretty close with free wifi so that is what I am trying now. It’s not fast but so far its working.

I forgot my camera in the room but I will be uploading some nice pictures of some of the cargo that we had the other day, BEER! Yep we flew 10,000 lbs of MGD and Coors Light out of here. I don’t want to think of how much we are spending on getting this left over Super Bowl beer out of the country. I mean would it not be cheaper just to let us drink it???

The rest of the flight went well yesterday, I had a real short leg, like 7 minutes from takeoff to landing! Yea that’s like catching a flight to go from Haleiwa to Wahiawa! I know the sky has been safer then the roads but if you would have ever ask me if I would be flying the C-130 for .2 hours to move people I would have thought you were crazy! Oh well I am glad to be keeping our service members safe!

I will try and keep you all posted on my return but if you don’t hear from me it’s because I am busy trying to get out of here and don’t have the web access that I am used to having. Keep smiling and know that I will be back soon! Aloha!

Birthday Flight

Today was AWESOME! Yes it’s my Birthday so that helped but the day just went great. It started with having a nice long breakfast followed by a brownie Birthday Cake during our brief before my flight. Then we loaded a 2 Star and a dozen diplomats from Japan on the plane and took them to Baghdad. The flight went well as there were puffy clouds to play with =)

Then we took off to another field were my buddy Shalin has been living. The weather was very bad there and we shot an approach to minimums, and I mean minimums! Johnny did a great job with the approach and landing with a quartering tailwind of 21 gusting 30 knots! Yea can you say sporty! After we off loaded and uploaded our new passengers we were told that the weather where we were going was down to 200 meters visibility. We needed 800 meters, they said to wait but we didn’t want to wait at our current location as we thought we would get stuck if the weather got any worst. So we departed and headed home to wait out the dust storms. When we took off for the 20 minute flight home the weather was VFR (over 9000 meters of visibility), by the time we were over the field it had dropped to 1000 meters and on landing roll out after I shot a cross cockpit approach (because my instruments failed) they called the field 600 meters and closed the field. Yes we just got in!

This little video is of the flight back to Balad, it was a dream. This is what I love about flying, playing with the clouds and getting the mission done. I could not have wished for anything better!

We were released early as the weather everywhere was poopy and getting worst. We ate dinner at DFAC 3 and I had get this, Steak, Shrimp AND Lobster! I know it’s rough over here. Sure the steak was ok and the shrimp fried and the lobster was a rock lobster that was over cooked but you know what who cares, it was a great meal and I enjoyed it. I even had a slice of carrot cake because I could.

Now I am letting the food settle before I head to the gym and then to bed. Oh Karyn thanks for the card, it made it on time, in fact perfect timing as I got it after my flight. Everyone thanks for everything and I’ll chat more later when this smile wears off of my face, Aloha!

Just had to Share

I just got this picture from Matt and I had to share, go ahead and laugh out loud as I did. I hope this brightens up your day.

Date night at Balad!

And they say deployments are rough!

It’s Raining Mud!

Ok so we just got back from dinner and it has been way dusty and windy but it sure didn’t look like it was going to rain, well it did. So we ran back after just eating and when I got back into the room I looked at my clothes and they were covered in mud! After closer examination I was covered in mud!

I had just gotten back from the gym and showered before dinner so being covered in mud was not what I wanted. So what are the options… I could go out into the rain to walk over to the showers to walk through the falling mud on my way back to the room OR take a “combat shower” I chose the combat shower and used a bunch of moist towels and got cleaned up. It’s kinda gross but seemed like the best option.

Ok well now that I am free of mud I can tell you about the rest of my day. I landed this morning from an all night flight with another crew. Actually Johnny and I got to fly with another crew because both of their pilots couldn’t fly. It was a good flight, but long as it was an all nighter. I got back to the room at 0500 and slept till 1400 and now need to go back to bed as I will have to wake up at 0530 to do it all over again, yea are we having fun yet… But hey at least tomorrow is MY day =)

I couldn’t think of anything I would rather be doing tomorrow then flying, I mean maybe flying my plane or somewhere else but getting to play with the clouds defiantly puts a smile on my face. This will be the 3rd birthday that the Uncle Sam has had me somewhere on my day. It’s ok though, I am surrounded by great people and even a Brownie B-Day cake made by my sister Amy, THANKS!!!



Time for bed, keep smiling and I’ll chat with you all later, Aloha!

PS Got some Marshmallow pic's posted! See below =)

Time to Fly Again

I am back from a shorter day in the office, I was there a mere 10 hours. I was relieved by Johnny so I could go for a run before the sun went down. I ran 2 laps so about 4 miles, this time I tried to step up the pace a little bit, I don’t know how fast it was as I don’t wear a watch but it felt fast. Once I got my breath back I took a shower and headed to dinner. I stopped to drop off the laundry on the way and chatted with my buddies that work there.

The guys that do my laundry are from Bangladesh and work 12 hours a day with no days off. After talking to one of the guys that in processes the employees, he said they make about $20 a day. This sounds like nothing but you have to realize that $200 a month is good money for a lot of these people so $600 is crazy cash. One of the laundry guys I talk to has been here 4 years and thinks he will be going home soon. Imagine that 4 years without a day off! Do you think anyone you know could handle that?

Then I had some dinner, I was so happy that they brought the healthy bar back! Yea I got to have chicken, rice, broccoli and some pears and pineapple. I know I didn’t need any but I did have a slice of pecan pie too =) The funny thing is I am eating nonstop and still can’t gain any weight! I guess I should not be complaining and just enjoy my crazy metabolism.

After dinner I picked up my laundry, no not the same stuff as it’s a 3 day turn around, and then I headed back to the room. I tried to upload some picture of the marshmallow blast but with no luck.

So now it’s off to bed as I get the chance to fly for a buddy as he is sick and that means he will cover the desk and I will play with the clouds =) Ok I’ll chat later, Aloha.

Marshmallow Blast!

OK it was not as cool as I thought it was going to be but I went to the Balad Marshmallow Blast 2009! I thought it was going to be like laser tag with marshmallow guns but it ended up being like an old western target shoot out with cans to knock over and moving targets to hit.

I went with Matt and Loren and we had fun. We were about to give up as they were running the event very slow but as we were going to leave they called my number so I had to try it out. I can’t lie, shooting marshmallows was a blast! OK eating the ammo was pretty fun too =)

After I finished Loren’s number was called then Matt so it all worked out. I got to be the target in the end for the other 2 and Matt actually shoot 2 marshmallows in my mouth from about 10’ away, I was impressed!

I have also been putting in more long 12 hour days on the desk and worst I am being told that we will be moving to the tents soon, i.e. I have to be moved into the tents on my birthday =(

I was always told that my birthday is my day, I mean you only get one a year and this is it. I can understand that I need to be in the desert, and I hope to fly but moving out of my room and into a tent where I will get poop for sleep for the last 8+ days is a little disappointing to say the least. O’ well I know that there are people that have it a lot worst then me so I’ll stop complaining, but once I am out of the room the emails and updating this thing will really slow down.

OK hope the photos load, till next time, Aloha!

P.S. Marshmallow is a hard word for me to type, but yet so easy and yummy to eat…

Duty Screw

Well it has started I am sitting duty crew. This is normally a painful process but this week it is extra painful. I get to sit the desk for 12 hours a day for 8 straight days, yea! I know I know how did I win this wonderful schedule, well I did nothing wrong, in fact I think I did a good thing. JD my Nav was having some family issues so I had let him know that I can head home and he wisely said yes. Because that leaves us down to 2 people to cover a 24 hour shift it kinda makes the math easy…

But I am doing fine so far on this desk, just means no free time. I did manage to hit the gym this morning and that was awesome. It makes all the difference in the world to be felling good when you come in to work. I also got to use my new ipod for the first time today. Yep it came in the mail and I got to put a few songs on it and try it out, pretty slick if I do say so myself.

Today at the office I put a bunch more music on the ipod and also updated my outlook contacts as they also transfer to the ipod. Oh it’s a nano for those that want to know. I also backed up some movies on my computer and organized my pictures, yes 12 hours is a long time. I don’t know what I am going to do tomorrow but I am sure that it will take 12 hours =)

I will try and load some super bowl photos but no promises as this internet is still slow at best and I only have a few hours away from

Super Bowl

Last night something totally unexpected happened, something that I did not see coming nor would I believe would ever happen. I had legally had 2 beers in Iraq!!! Yep for the Super Bowl they let everyone have 2 beers during the game.

All the happy faces, except for Ben s he gets grummpy when you tell him he can only have 2

Who would have thought... but they had an Army dude get a DUI so I bet this is the last beer we will see here for a LOOOOONG time.

The day started out with us flying to Qatar and then trying to race back in time for our beers. We tried to takeoff early but were delayed because of a weather recall for the “fast movers”. Once we got airborne we enjoyed the tail wind and landed 30 minutes early. On the ground we had to reconfigure the back of the plane so we could take some pallets back and that took about an extra 30 minutes so we were back on time. We had gassed up so that we would not need any gas for the flight home so that saved us an hour and we were heading home.

The tail wind we enjoyed the first half of the mission became a head wind but in all we landed about 50 minutes early and it was now half time so we had to rush to get to the game.

We got everything done and then walked in the door where we traded our IDs for an ice cold beverage =) It was funny because the lady that handed us our beers said we better drink fast because this as last call and if you want a second beer the first one has to be gone. I am not one for arguing with ladies so down the hatch the firs beer went and it was time for a second.

By the time we got there the choices were dwindling but I managed to have a Miller Light but earlier they had Guinness so I felt a little cheated but I didn’t cry about it. I just enjoyed my two beers as we watched the Cardinals try and comeback. It was a good 4th quarter and it felt pretty cool to be having a beer after a good flight. The game ended and it was 0600 here and now I had been up for 23 hours so I promptly headed to bed.

I got up at around 1100, yea after only 4.5~5 hours of sleep and sat out in front of my pod trying to catch some sun. I know it’s a long shot but I figure if I am going to the beach in the beginning of March it would be nice not to glow in the dark.

The rest of the day was spend being lazy and chatting with friends, this is my 3rd day off from the gym since I got here, I am pooped and felt I could relax for a day. I am also waiting on the internet to come back, our guys are installing new stuff to make it faster and wireless so we’ll see what happens.

Well I’ll post this when I can, have a great week and I will see you guys soon. Aloha!

Flying High

I am up doing left hand turns right now, yea nothing too exciting. It was funny that I used to think that flying to/from Hawaii was a long flight and now I do that on a regular basis and I don’t even go anywhere. But like I told my Mom my seat is a lot better than that ones that you get in couch =)

Today was nothing to special; I got to sleep in a little bit and then hit the gym. I had to rush with the shower to get out the door for this flight on time. This is two days in a row for us but it really doesn’t feel that bad. I know I know right now you are saying “What! 2 days in a row, I work 5 days in a row!” Well this flying thing gets a little tiring and yes our days are over 8 hours, in fact when we double turn like this, if you play the numbers don’t lie but liars use numbers game then we only had 18 hours off in a 46 hour period. Enough whining, I am having fun.

My plan for tomorrow is to see if I can get some pictures to upload to the other site that I maintain www.kidsofiraq.org It’s for the kids that are over here and are unfortunately stuck between a rock and a hard place. It’s an organization that was started last summer by some friends that want to make a difference in the lives of the kids over here. It has really taken off and I am trying to relay that to the world via the site. The only problem I have is that the internet is so slow here that I have issues uploading the pictures that I know everyone would like to see. I’ll keep trying and if not will upload the pictures in a month when I get home.

Ok, I should get back to flying… OK honestly I just need to pack up as it’s getting about time to head back. Hard to believe that 8 hours in the air has just flown by, flown by… get it… Ahh I kill me!

Have a great one!

Call me Forest

Today was another pain train but this time out of the 7 stops the longest flight was a .6 hour leg! Yea let’s just say that we were flying VERY short trips, almost as short as stopping for milk on the way home (ok we all know no one does that, it would have to be for beer!) The short legs were fun for me but a lot of work of Jr. and Matt as they spent most of the time on and off loading out cargo.

We kicked butt and got home about an hour early so I made it back to the pod before the sun set and decided to go for a little run. I was planning on running 1 and ¾ loops around our housing area. A loop is 1.89 miles so this would give me about 3 miles and I would end the run at the gym for sit-ups. Once I made the first lap I felt like I was a little tired, oh wait I was as I had been up 13 hours and flown for 11 of them. But I pressed on and kept running.

I started to get into a grove and thought, maybe I will run 2 full laps and swing by my room to get my jacket as I can then go to dinner after the gym and not be cold. I thought that was a good idea but then there was the distraction. There was a girl running the loop in the opposite direction and when we first passed she smiled big and waved. On our second pass it was a bigger smile and we laughed. So I really wanted to see a third pass so I decided to keep running.

This time she said “just 10 more laps!” I laughed and said that I am already on lap 10. Then I didn’t pass her by my ¾ turn off so I decided that I could finish the 3rd lap and see if she was still running. Turns out I ran into her just after my ¾ point, I told her I was going to run till she quit so she better quit soon, she said this was her last lap. So what do I do… Yep finish the 3rd lap and start a 4th!

It was weird, I was just in this grove and I felt like I could run all night. The sun had now set and it was starting to get dark. I yelled at someone prior to my 4th lap to see what time it was and I had 30min to meet my crew for dinner so I knew this should be my last lap. I ended up running to my turn off point and thinking I would walk I just kept running. I ran through the gate and all the way to the gym where I told my crew I would be. I could not stop running, ok I did but I felt like the energizer bunny!

I met Johnny at the gym and decided that I did enough and I skipped my sit-ups. We waited for the crew then ate. I am now back at the room after a shower and just wanted to share my “Forest” moment with you all. I don’t know what has happened as I have never been a runner but lately I have been running a bit. Hope I get this running bug out of me cause it’s like 10 degrees Fahrenheit back in Cheyenne and I don’t think I will be doing much outside running there.

Off to bed as I got another flight tomorrow, yep double turning! Got to love it!

More Pain Train

Yesterday was a long day but a good one at that. I had an 8 stop day all over the country, ok not really as the longest leg was .9 and second longest was a .6 (that’s hours for the non flying type). We made Balad to Baghdad in 12 minutes, yes that’s shorter than most instrument patterns and we have to run the after takeoff, descent, and before landing checklist all as we say good bye to tower, then Balad Approach, then Baghdad approach, then Baghdad tower. So yes they are short but very busy flights and at the altitudes that we are flying I try and spend all of the available time looking outside and minimize the inside for changing all the comm and nav radios.

At Ali Base we stopped for some pizza, I am against spending any money when I am over here but I offered to buy the crew the pizzas but JD and Johnny picked up the tab, thanks! I don’t know why I got in a silly mood and didn’t want any pizza, then I finally tried it and wow it was good!

I also got to say hi to an old buddy that was flying with the Iraqi air force (teaching them how to fly the C-130). It was awesome to meet the Iraqi crew and they were all extremely grateful and thankful for what we do over here. It was really humbling that everyone wanted to shack my hand and say thanks. I am glad that they are getting back on their feet as they try and rebuild an air force.

After we were done with our pain train we headed to dinner and I had some well deserved carrot cake =) It was a long day but I was just glad to finally fly in the day light.

I hit the gym for a little 3.5 mile run on the tread mill as it was dark outside. The gym was packed but I lucked out as I just walked onto a machine. By the time I got back to the room and showered I was up for 19 hours and ready for bed!
Now I am just hanging out in my room as we are on standby duty. I am catching up on emails and getting some paper work done that I have been putting off. Oh I also transferred my bath room kit to my new DOPP kit that uncle Bill sent, if I do say so myself I think I am going to like this new roomier bag =)

OK well time to write more emails and such. I am also trying to plan a trip to FL the first week of March to see Scott and Karyn. Ahh to sit on the beach again with a nice cold beverage in my hand… almost brings a tear to my eye.

Aloha!

A Train

I had a great day, all 9 hours of it! Yep slept in because we landed late and now going to bed early because I have an Odark 30 flight. It sure seemed like I had more time last deployment, I guess they are trying to get their money out of me. Well I would like to chat more but this A train is leaving the station (inside joke for all the ambien takers out there, and yes these are issued and flight doc approved). Goodnight!

Flying over Iraq x2

So I am writing this as I am flying on another wonderful flight that involves lots of left turns… Well the funny thing that made me want to write this is that as I walked to the back to take a leak I saw one of the dudes in the back of the plane playing on his computer. This is nothing out of the ordinary as these flights are extremely long and there is not much to do but what made me laugh out loud was what he was playing, MS Flight Simulator! So here we are FLYING IN A PLANE and one of the dudes in the back is flying a plane with his computer as he is flying in a plane. I just thought that was the funniest thing. So what did I decide to do… Yep you got it, check out what I am doing, flying a C-130 over Iraq as I am flying a C-130 over Iraq =)




What a crazy world we live in!




I just had to show you this!

Well it looks like I might be heading to Fl when I get back as Scott and Karyn are inviting me out that way and being that they have a beach down there and it’s still winter in Wyoming I don’t think it is a real hard decision to make =) Also I do still have my season pass for Winter Park, Copper Mountain and Steamboat so if anyone wants to come play in the snow come on down!

OK well I should really get back to flying the REAL plane. Hope you all got a good laugh out of this as I did and I’ll chat later.

Who said fire...

Well it happened, we finally broke off station and got to spend a night in a lovely tent =) So the story…

First we landed at the Deid and the APU would not start, not a huge deal but it set us back 2 hours as maintenance sprinkled some holy water on it and got it started. The flight to Salem was uneventful till short final.

About 2 miles from the end of the runway I saw a flicker of the FIRE light. It went out then back on again. The #2 Fire Handle also flashed and then stayed on for a few seconds. As everyone else was engrossed in checklists and my co was flying the plane I quickly asked my load Junior to scan the #2 engine. As the light went out again my mind was running through all the possibilities, could be a real fire, could be a false indication, but it could be real and it burnt through the fire detection circuit so that’s why the light went out… and on and on. With no secondary indications and Junior saying that it looked clean I elected to let it run for the remaining 30 seconds till we were on the ground.

Johnny did a great job landing and then as we slowed down and transferred aircraft control to me. Once we slowed down and started to taxi clear I had him shut down #2 and then we taxied back to give the plane to maintenance.

With the time that Mx needed to trouble shoot we did not have enough day left to fly home, and the last thing I wanted to do was rush Mx so we called it a day and headed to our tent.

I had not spent the night at Salem for a few years but the funny thing was the last time I deployed there I flew with Andy Salcido and well guess who was the first person to grab my rear when we landed, yep you got it Andy!

We caught up on old times and got me squared away in a wonderful tent and then we tried to get some sleep. When I woke up 7 hours later I went for a run around the base like I used to do in 2005 and then we headed back out to the plane for another fun filled adventure.


Living large "Tent" style

The plane was fixed as they found some bad fire sensors and we were on our way. I was just really glad that they found something as so many times they can’t duplicate the problem and just sign it off as good to go.

Today’s mission turned in to a full 12 hours day so that meant that we were “at work” 30 hours out of the last 41! So yes you could say that we were a little on the tired side.

When I we got back I had a box from Uncle Bill and THANK YOU!!! Not only did I get a new kick butt DOPP kit but a history lesson as well =)


I am sure that I will get at least another 10 years out of this bathroom kit.

And last here are some shots that would make any mother proud… Yes that’s right this is what Americas finest eat for breakfast.




Have a great day I hope to see you all soon, KC

Now that's flying!

So last night’s flight was a little interesting… Our normal trim switch (on the yoke) failed and thus we had to use the emergency trim switch that is mounted in the center section down below the throttles, you would think this is no big deal but… Without normal trim the autopilot will not engage. Again not a big deal as I normally don’t even turn it on over here as the flights are so short, but last night I was flying 7.0 hours of left hand turns. Yes that’s right, we would flight straight for 5 minutes then do a 180 degree turn back around to fly for 5 minutes then turn back around. So doing this really cut down on the movie time! I would fly for 30 minutes then Johnny would fly for 30 minutes, it’s amazing how fast the night went by when you have to work your butt off. It would not have been such a big deal but at night and at the higher altitudes and slower speeds that we were it was some pretty good instrument flying and well the USAF got their money out of us that’s for sure.

Once we were back on the ground we headed to chow and I had some wonderful French toast and then promptly fell asleep as I was up for over 23 hours.

When I woke after about 6 hours of sleep I looked outside and the weather was great so I went for a run around our housing area, it was the first time that I got to run outside since our 12 mile run. I really like running outside so much better than that stilly treadmill but sometimes the burn pit / temperatures are not so friendly to running outside. Anyway the run was great and I was thinking about an email that I got from Scott and Karyn about there being a welcome home party in Florida for me. Yea I think I could handle some beach time with them, kinda just like the last deployment =)

I sent out an email pleading for someone to return my ipod, I am pretty confident that I left it on the plane to other day but it’s nowhere to be found =( I guess that the fancy shinny music players grow legs here and walk away. I hope it shows up as I have gotten used to using it at the gym and to replace it is not free. I will give it till tomorrow when we go in to fly and then have to make a decision on what to do.

The power was out today and the internet is still down so I will post this when I can, the plan is to go to some movie called Australia or something tonight. I sure have seen more movies this time than ever before.

Ok well I need to split, I’ll chat later and have a great day wherever you are, Aloha!

PS I tried for about 30 minutes last night but was not able to upload this but I think it will go now… The movie was good, of course the good guy wins and the bad guy losses and everyone is happy in the end but it did make me want to go and visit Australia, any takers…

Busy Bee

I am enjoying my 17 hours off between flights right now. Yes that’s right, I will have flown 5 times in 7 days. That’s normally not to bad but over here that is a lot of flying. I can’t complain too much as that is what I am here for and it sure helps me fall asleep at night. Today will be our 20th mission in a little over a month so I don’t know if we will get to 40 missions before we leave but it sure looks like it will be close.

I just finished putting on my sheets after washing them, so tonight will be extra nice as I now have a nice clean bed to sleep in. Too bad I have to wait 18 hours before I get to try them out…
The mud has dried up and the weather has even gotten a little warmer. My back is still a little sore but I think it will be good to go. I am heading to the gym here in a bit for a leg work out and then a shower, maybe a 45min nap and then off to go fly.

Off to the gym, have a great day and I’ll chat later, Aloha!

Catchpenny & Cool Toys

The internet has continued to be a pain in the okole so I can’t update this as much as I would like. I type this all out in Word so I can spell check it and save it when the computer farts when it’s trying to post because the internet is so slow. I was told that our provider changed, don’t know what else they did but it’s a lot slower than the last 2 deployments. Still I can’t complain because even if it’s only able to connect one out of 3 days that is still more days that I have the internet in my room then zero, but it does cost me $40 a month OUCH!

Ok on to the fun stuff. I flew a band called Catchpenny the other day, they were pretty cool and gave us a bunch of CDs. We also moved over 25,000lbs of ammo (all kinds, big and small). I had to tell Matt my youngest loadmaster not to play with the stuff as he got pretty excited when he saw all the “toys” that we were carrying. I have to admit from the stories that my dad told me about detonation cord I too wanted to open a box or two and see what that was all about but I refrained.

The mud is drying up and we are out of MUDCON so I don’t have to carry a second pair of shoes to the gym. Oh the other day we were reconfiguring the back of the plane from carrying pallets to passengers I kinda tweaked my back a little, it has been a little sore but today doing some crunches I think it popped back into place, I hope it holds.

Today is about the halfway point for me; see I told you all this would be a short trip. I need to order some stuff for the plane so it’s there when I get back though there is plenty for me to work on already.

Ok I hope this uploads. Have a great day and I am off to go fly some more, Aloha!

Blue Sky

Well just getting ready to go and have lunch. The power just came back on and I will have to wait till someone resets the router/internet thing before I can send this. But at least I will have it typed up and ready to go.

When I woke up this morning it was nice and quiet, so silent that I knew what was going on. The power was out and for once you could hear yourself think. No sounds of generators, no air conditioners blasting heat into the rooms, no sound at all (ok there was still the 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 decibel fighters taking off but it was still nice and quite).

They shut down the generators on a scheduled basis to do maintenance on them and such, most people complain but I enjoy it, it makes everyone open there doors and socialize outside where there is light.

It was a beautiful morning too. There was not a cloud in the sky but yet it was a little warmer than it has been, about 50F I would say. With the silence I could almost hear the birds in the back ground, almost. I will say that the beautiful sky has put me in a great mood.

I got to log 18.0 hours during the last 2 flights, yes think about that. That’s like someone saying “hey it’s Friday, do you want to catch an evening flight to Europe (starting in the states) we’ll party all Saturday and then fly back Sunday so we can be back to work on Monday” I mean would you do that, well of course but that is how much flying I did in 48 hours and I didn’t even get the partying part =(

Let’s see what else, oh it rained so we still drying out. It’s amazing how long it takes for the mud to dry up around here, hopefully most of it will be gone today or tomorrow because I don’t like having to carry an extra pair of shoes to the gym.

Ok time to eat now, you all have a wonderful day wherever you are and I will do the same over here. Aloha!