Blather

Today the schedule was a bit different. It seems that Fridays are no-work days for both the Iraqis and the Americans. Not entirely a goof-off day, though.

The day started a bit sparse- breakfast was almost non-existent, consisting of cold cereal and milk. That was OK, Muesli kept me going until 10:30 when brunch was on the schedule. I spent some time scouring my toilet and sink, then swept my rug. I went a bit late to brunch because I was looking at emails. Brunch looked a lot like a combination of breakfast and lunch: French toast and hamburgers, bacon and salad.

After Brunch, I took a walk around the camp. My trailer is against the west road so all I did is go around back and begin walking. The camp is small, maybe a five minute walk. As I walked around the perimeter, I smoked a small cigar. The walk is so short, I didn’t quite finish the cigar. Walking was good but the wind was so cold that I got chilled. I came inside to warm up a bit, straddling my heater and letting the heat rise up to keep me warm. It got so cold, I took a shower. Then I went to look for my laundry again with no success.

I plugged my new speakers into my iPod and listened to the music Richie loaded into it for me while I used my laptop to write more of “for Caitlin,” a continuation of Bube in which the main character is a small girl named Medlitsa. Heck, in this story, Bube was there, too. As I wrote, the story seemed to need a woman that I saw in my mind as Sue, so I named the character Oma Mama. And Bube’s Uncle Vincent sorta became me. Aida, Green Riding Hood’s mom, was a sort of Aida that I met in Kyrgyzstan and Sue’s daughter Donna. Hey, this is my story, so I can people it with whomever I want. Paul, Medlitsa’s dad, isn’t anyone I know personally. Not yet. I’ll give him some time to become someone real. One strange thing- in the Bube story, I was his dad. But in this story, I seem to fit Vincent, Bube’s uncle. No, I’m not vain. But some parts of me seem appropriate for each character. Ah, maybe I am vain.

After I wrote, I saved the story to my thumb drive and went back to the Spawar café to check emails. I sent some photos to Jason Actis, one of which was a really good photo of him, with the Syrian gate behind him in Tower One. I tried to save some stuff from DynCorp but couldn’t. And then I uploaded the story to Sue, asking her to tell the story to Caitlin. I’ll give Sue a few days and see what happens. Me, I like the story. I hope Caitlin does, too. If Caitlin likes it, then Sue will like it and tell me so.

I stopped by the haji shop and told the man that one of my movies didn’t play well. He said to get another. So I came back with “Australia” with Nicole Kidman.

On the way back from getting my movie, I went to the laundry bin and there was my missing laundry. Woo hooo! I came back, put away my clothes and went to dinner.

Ate dinner, which was a bit special. The table reserved for officers and senior NCOs had wine glasses and white tablecloths. I felt awkward sitting there. MSGT Smith was behind me and I asked him where we were sitting. He found a “regular” table away from there. Even the Navy commander sat with us and he’s the highest-ranking officer here.

I liked the lamb. Some rice and veggies and a few crackers with cheese went before I got two dishes of apple pie stuff. MSGT Smith said the cream behind was good, so I put that on my second helping and he was right- it was delicious.

Been thinking about this place. It feels almost like stealing when I think of the money I’m making here and the comfort I’m enjoying. I’ve got my own hooch with shower and toilet, my own bed and furniture. I can watch all the $4 movies I want. And the work isn’t even challenging. Tonight I asked one of the majors when he would like to have a Customs Inspector go to the port. Apparently tomorrow will be a slow day- only going around two PM to check on passenger stuff.

I compare the work and the living here with what I did in Husaibah and Camp Gannon and the difference seems unfair- I earn the same here as there but I work less and suffer a lot less.
Pretty soon I’ve got to think about where I’ll go for vacation. Not right away but I can’t let this matter slide indefinitely.

Well, back to the movie. Maybe another time, I’ll re-read my first Gannon entries anc compare them to this one. I seem a lot more at peace with everything. My divorce seems more like an inconvenience than a tragedy; living here isn’t half-bad; even my Pensebaby and Schaffemann’s behavior seems to bother me less. Yep, life isn’t so bad these days.