December Here We Come!

After a rather uneventful Thanksgiving here everyone is getting on their merry way to prepare for Christmas. See, if you just keep focusing on short increments of time here, time can pass by rather quickly. It's a trick we use and it works rather well - so bring on December!

Oh night shift, how cruel you are to me - only Ranch flavored sunflower seeds can get me through your time of dark, cold nights. I don't know how other people do it, but to change shifts every week can be a real strain. The night shift is the worst, we all seem to struggle and when we get back in the morning we can't sleep because the sun is up.

I don't have any really exciting stories for you guys this week. I was racking my brain for ideas but nothing popped into my head. We did, however, find a ton of unexploded ordinance from some bunkers of Saddam's army the other day. As you can see we had a little bit of fun playing archaeologists for the day.

Don't Play With Unexploded Ordinance!

Have a great day,

Nick

Post Scriptum- Next post I will be sharing some thoughts about someone near and dear to me. She knows who she is.

Turkey Day in Iraq

Well, it's Thanksgiving finally. This is the second Thanksgiving in a row that I have been away from home as a result of this deployment. The good news is that it will be the last.

As you can imagine, I won't be having the day off but will be out and about "detecting and deterring enemy activity", as it has been stated. So, the holiday season starts today and although our team is away from home at least we are here together. We go out together every day and so we give thanks that we have each other to watch our backs. And although we are here, every day we see the conditions that people live in around here and we know that we are truly lucky to have the conditions we take for granted.

I give thanks for my family and friends that haven't forgotten about me while I have been gone. I say thank you to all the soldiers that are here serving instead of sitting idly at home questioning and criticizing this war. American soldiers are helping people here in ways that no one in the world could or would, dare or choose to do. We couldn't do it of course without the support of our family and friends at home, so thank you to everyone back home.

So as I have promised my truck that we can start the Christmas carols after Thanksgiving, today will be the last quiet day (Eric has been whistling them since July). Time to shower and put on my boots, it's time for work.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Nick

Brrrr. . . . .Winter is here.

Hello everyone,

I just switched my blog over to the new style so if there are any problems viewing the page let me know.

I haven't written in a while because there hasn't been a whole lot going on around here to talk about. My birthday was a few days ago, but it wasn't anything real significant. Thanks though to those people who sent birthday wishes and cards. I must have received over 30 cards in the mail mostly from people in Arizona. Hmmm, I think my mother must have been out telling people to write me again. . . .

We are halfway through the month, and if calculations are correct we will be heading home in about four months. Four months left out of an eighteen month deployment! The good news also is that we will be de-mobilizing at Fort McCoy, WI so we will be close to home. I guess most of the focus around here is on the time because we can see the home stretch coming.

It took me quite a while to read the first book I ordered from B&N last month: The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature. It was a very thought provoking book that contained many interesting conjectures on the theories of the why humans reproduce as they do. More interesting to me however were the thoughts on human nature and how we develop the human characteristics that we have. The reading level is elevated as you need some biology background to grasp some of the concepts presented, but if you take your time you can still enjoy the book. I'd recommend it to those of you interested in or studying biology/anthro/etc.

I am 3/4 the way through A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking and I will let you know how that goes. So far, it has strained my theoretical physics capabilities and sometimes I find myself having to re-read and spend a lot of time visualizing some of the concepts.

Oh yes and the weather of course. I mentioned a while ago that we were heading into the winter months and I can safely say that we are there now. It was down in the 40's the other day with highs in the 60's! Combine that with the rain and the mud and we have had some miserable days out on the road. Our gunners have had some miserable times up in the turret and the inside of our trucks have been full of water. You have to love the weather here, going from too hot and dry, to too cold and wet. I guess that is just the way it goes in the desert. No need for the air conditioner any more!

Have a great weekend!
Nick

Post Scriptum: I haven't mentioned the Vikings because I am worried about the comments I will receive from the Packers fans. Does somebody want to tell me what's going on with our team?

What? That's my seat!

We as homo sapiens share a lot of characteristics with our animal ancestors. Humanity is filled with habit and routine; all you have to do is take a look at the things that you do every day that just come naturally.

Every day I wake up and go to the bathroom, this is a given for most people also. I eat breakfast, go to work, eat lunch, back to work etc. Granted these are things that must be done and almost everyone does, however, let's take a look at some other things that sociology takes interest in.

When you go to a class you generally pick a seat located in the room for a reason. Whatever reason that may be, you will generally choose that exact seat the next day if no other person is sitting there. It is so innate in the desire to choose the same spot that I have found myself upset to find someone sitting in my seat. Of course I can adapt and take a seat nearby and just scowl at the individual for the whole hour until they get the point, "hey dude, you're in my seat".

Alley cat brown Sketchers shoes, crest toothpaste, New Balance 717s, and Listerine. What do they have in common? When I run out of these things I simply go to the store and buy the exact same thing again (Particularly with the Sketchers. I have bought that same pair of shoes since freshman year of high school). Oddly enough, they are either shoes or hygiene products, but that's besides the point and I'm sure Freud would have something to say about that.

It is that drive to be comfortable that makes people want some things to stay the same. Change can't always be good; sometimes you just want to order that same great meal every time you go to the restaurant. The list goes on and on and everybody has their particular habits.

One of my habits here has been to use the same bathroom stall and shower every day that I have been here. It's like the classroom, "What? There's somebody in my shower!" Sometimes I just have to go and wait somewhere and then come back so that I get the stall that I want. Call it what you will, but I know that everyone has their routines also.

Well today, after getting off of work, I headed to my bathroom. I did the usual routine, I put on my flip-flops and trudged through the rocks and went to the third stall from the end; my stall. Luckily it was empty, so I went in. About five seconds later there was a knock on the door and I heard this Indian accent, "bathroom cleaning". I know you are picturing this guy in a turban with his cleaning gear knocking at the door.

I promptly answered, "Yep, I'll be out in a sec'". He asked again and I replied the same way but he still would not listen or come into the bathroom to start cleaning. I was confused but just washed my hands and walked out, that I when I saw the smirk. Oh yeah, one of those, 'I am smiling because you are about to be embarrassed' looks. He points to the freshly painted sign next to the door and it read "Female Latrine". Not to be made fun of I asked when they put the sign up and they said it had been earlier in the day. I made the remark that they needed to put up some yellow caution tape or something because I think most guys will probably do the same thing I did.

I rounded up the other guys and we started a protest:
"There aren't even any females around here!"
"So I have to walk to the next bathroom? Thanks!"
"Yeah, nice"
"Nice signs, I am sure everybody will see those. . ."
"Give the women the other bathroom. This one is ours!"
"Yeah, give em' that smelly one over there (pointing)"

As you can see, it wasn't just me who was concerned about losing their bathroom, it is a human phenomena. Anyways, I guess I will have to find a new stall and make it my new routine. Let's just hope I don't stumble in the wrong bathroom in the middle of the night and scare some girl when I go to the urinal.

Adapt and overcome,
Nick