Good bye 2011

So it's finally that time of the year were we all get ready to say goodbye to yet another year! 2011 has been a crazy ride. I only spent two months out of the year actually in the states and the other 10 in a foriegn country. There have been many ups and downs good times and bad.

Tonight I'll be spending the time with my BF and my ex all in the same night, which should be interesting. I'm secure in my relationship and my ex is secure in his new relationship so I don't see why there should be any drama involved. Now all I have to do is run to the mall and try to find something that looks dressy enough to go out and bring in the new year.

I'm just wishing April would hurry up and get here so I can finally head home and get back to San Diego, which is odd because my first round in San Diego was somewhat unsucessful so I'm not really sure why it's going to be any better the second time around. But hey it's New Year and new hopes.

Merry Christmas

I was a little worried that this year would suck mainly because I wasn't going to be near my family, but then I realized that I've made a nice family here. So last night we all got together and I cooked up some food and we all sat around the table and had a good time. Of course now my place looks like a dump but it was well worth it!

Today I went over a Keiths with Gabe, Hussain and Rod and it was an amazing evening! Rod cooked a turkey and a ham and now I'm soooooo full that all I want to do is go to bed! I couldn't of asked for anything more.

But yes now it's time to get ready for the New Year and once that's over it's time to get ready to finally end this deployment!

Thank you yet again Amazon!

Okay if there's one thing I hate about living on this island is the fact that everything has to be imported, meaning it cost an arm and a leg. That's where Amazon comes into play. Not only can I buy things that I normally would in the states, but I get to pay that price. For instance today I bought the new Iphone for $350 bucks and it comes with AT&T which means I won't have to worry about anything when I get back to the states. I could of gone to base and bought the damn phone but there are two issues; first the phone hasn't been released here yet, and second the fact that the regular iphone 4 is $858 I can only imagine what the 4s is going to cost.

In other news I'm still waiting on my Iraqi medal and all the other awards I'm suppose to get since being here. We shall see if I ever get it lol.

4 months til Liberation!

Well the apartment is all decorated for the Christmas. I fought with the idea on whether or not I wanted to do it, and finally I decided that if I couldn't be home I would at least bring a little bit of home to me. Besides I couldn't imagine not putting up a tree and lights.

Not much has been going on here. It's getting to the point that it's literally work sleep eat. Which I'm totally fine with because it only makes the days go by faster. On my off days I tend to watch the morning news and then head to the gym, order up some food and then just chill out. All in all it's not such a bad life.

My friends are still all here for the most part. The first round of them leaves on Friday but that's only going to be TJ, and then the second round in January and then it's mine and Jesse's turn in April. I've already started looking for places in San Diego, and I think I've found one the only down fall is that it's in El Cajon. I'm going to hit up Christina sometime over the next two days and see if she likes where she lives and how much they charge to live there. It's hard to believe that it's been almost 2 years since I stepped foot in SD so as you can imagine I'm REALLY looking forward to getting back.

Starting next month I begin the checking out process at work, you know taking care of the medical and dental stuff. Also I'm going to start shipping home the small things that I really don't need like the endless amounts of DVD's and minor things that I've acquired while being here. Lord knows I stocked up on bathroom stuff before I left so I'm going to start burning through all of that so that I'll have room for clothes and things when it comes time to start packing that all up. The good thing is I'll have no need to bring all the desert cami's I have here because you're suppose to leave all of those behind for the next guy.

Well hope all is well out there with you and I'll be home before you know it!

Opps I sorta forgot.

Okay I know it's been a while since I posted, but I tend to get scattered brained and completely forgot that I started this thing.

So where to start... Well I finally got off the oil platform. That's three months of my life that I'll never get back. I mean it wasn't completely horrible but I'm glad to be back in my own place surrounded by no one except those I pick. I have noticed that since I've been back I've been watching a lot of Fashion TV. The tv shows here suck and it doesn't help when all the good shows they do show are like 3 season's behind.

I finally lapsed and bought my first IMac. It's a nice 27 inch single unit. Meaning I don't have to put with a tower and I can type on this and watch Star Trek at the same time! The only thing that sucks is the internet is soooo SLOW!

Work is going alright. I'm finally on the watchbill so that means I only work 15 days a month, which is pretty nice. I'm starting to get a little annoyed with the work load, mainly due to the fact that half the stuff I need in order to do my job is so scattered across the command that it makes it nearly impossible to do it sometimes.

But all along things are alright. It's hot as all get out but that's expected and should only last a couple more months.

ABOT Day 22

Man oh Man! Well unfortnately I'm starting to mind this place to much. Don't get me wrong it sucks but I've sorta found my niche here and so i'm getting comfy. I mean hell I made it to my 22nd day which is pretty amazing lol.

Not much has really changed except for the fact that the command is getting ready to switch over which means I'll have to get use another CO and group of officers. I"m going to miss my current ones because they are very approachable so we will just have to see how this next group goes.

Also Saturday I'm going to find out some really big news and as always there's the 50/50 chance that it may not go in my favor...I'm going to go with not in my favor seeing as nothing has since I've moved here lol.

8 more days and I get my OEF medal!

ABOT Day 10

Well it's offical I've lasted 10 days out here without trying to kill anyone! The past 4 days have been pretty uneventful other than the fact that I have been busy.

Today I took a rib over to the USS Higgins to take a tour and to just get off of ABOT for a couple hours. I got to meet my counterparts over there. The Navy doesn't put AG's on small decks so the guys that brief my weather are all IS and CT's. They were all pretty cool. I got to see parts of the ship that most people never get to see which was even cooler! Everyone was really nice which caught me off guard because just by judging the ship off thier boat crew I was thinking they were all dicks. By half way through my tour I ended up giving them the low down on ABOT and Bahrain which always seems to happen lol. Let's face it 99.5% of the Navy will never get to see ABOT or spend time on her so it's interesting to them to hear how we live out here. OPS was telling me that the Higgins and the Hamilton are going to send ribs over some time next week and it will be my job to give them a tour of the place, which I'm totally cool with now that I know the entire history of the place.

ABOT was built in 1973 by the Texas Oil Company and has been taken over by Americans twice. Of course there's more to it but I can't ruin the suprise. This place is something you'd have to see in order to believe, she's beast unto herself.

Over the past few day's I've decided that I don't really mind being here, and that's mostly because of the people I work with. Everyone here is stuck and we know it so we try to make the best of it. I spend the majority of my day working hand in hand with officers which is something that's new to me and I have a CO who actually listens to what I say and isn't afraid to ask questions which I really enjoy.

The Iraq's however are becoming restless. You can tell that some of them want us gone, and trust me we'd be out of here in a heart beat, but thier goverment and thier military drags thier feet on everything. I've been asked by some officers about what I think about it (yet another odd thing because let's face it officers hardly ever ask enlisted for thier opionions) and I flat up told them that we should set a hard date and tell them that on that date we are gone and they can either sink or swim. WE have done everything we possibly could to train these people and the fact that they are lazy and don't give a shit is not our problem. I've already placed a bet however that we will be back at ABOT within 6 weeks of turning it over. Iraqi's are lazy and Iranians want this place so bad! The Iranians will literally sit outside the exclusion zone for hours on end just waiting to jump at the chance.

ABOT Day 6

Okay so Bin Laden is dead...good for the folks in America but tonight I have to sleep in kevlar. It's one of the many great things about being 30 miles from Iraq and 45 miles away from Iran and 2 hours away from Kuwait. And another thing it's kinda tacky with the whole dancing in the streets thing that's going on over there. Don't get me wrong I'm not a Bin Laden fan, but do you remember how tacky we thought it was when they danced on 911? Well anyway the CO put it out in the Departement Head meeting tonight that everyone is to be on high aleret. The Secret Squriell shit that happens out here has been amped up to the point that it's out of control.

One of the interesting things about being out here is that you get to work hand in hand with the Iraqi Marines. Most of them are an alright group but like everything else you have a couple that spoils it for it everyone. They're head officer General Hamad is super awesome. He knows about as much English as I do Farsae but he finds the most interesting way of communicating with you. Every morning I have to brief him and my CO about certain issues (yes I do A LOT more than just weather out here) and every morning when he comes in the first thing he does is kiss me on the cheek and call me friend. Don't worry that's just how they do things. There's also a Pvt Ali with whom I join outside every now and then for a quick smoke and he actually knows enough English to carry on a converstaion. For instance I know that he's from Baghdad and he's 18...lol. Another weird thing and I was talking to one of the officers about it, is the fact that the higher ups use to serve under Sadam, and I got the back story on General Hamad, he actually was the first General to defect and help us out. The more you get to know these people you begin to see that things might be coming full circle for them. They love to talk about America and how they hope that one day Iraq will be the same, and to be honest after centries of operstion I think they deserve the chance.

Well enough reflection for right now I have to be up early in the morning...Oh and I don't have to shave for 15 days! We are having a contest to see who can grow the baddest beard! GAME ON!

ABOT Day 4

Well my day started off with a big WHAT THE FUCK! I walked outside and we were down to about 2 miles in dust and the seas were out of control! I totally did not forecast that to happen. Apperantly while I was sleeping there was a downburst in Saudi Arabia which kicked up a ton of dust and just dumped it right on the top of us. So as you can imagine I was pretty upset for the first half of my day. It wasn't til around noon when it started to rain that my spirit's picked up, mainly because I had forecasted that part. The CO told me that he actually preffered the weather the way it was for stratgic reasons, something I didn't even think about. I'm not going to lie I spent the first half of the day just waiting to get yelled at, and to my suprise I never did. The chain knows that weather out here is often unpredictable and that shit happens.

So tonight I told them that we were going to have Thunderstorms tonight from this system that kicked up over Kuwait, I even informed everyone who needed to know that, and yes some of them laughed. Sure as shit we are currently in the middle of a thunderstorm, and it happened exactly when I said it would! The XO passed me on the cat walk and said "Nice weather huh?" I of course replied "I told you" "That you did AG2 That you did".

Like I've said the folks out here are really nice...at least so far seeing as I haven't had a major fuck up yet. Most of the people are only out here for 45 days and then they go home but there are a few of us who get stuck out here for 80-90 days and those are the ones that tend to be more chill than the others. Mainly because we have accepted our fate lol.

I was also talking to MEC Flouge today about the history of this place because I've only heard bits and pieces so he filled me in on the rest. Apperantly the US blew this place up during Deseret Storm and took out all the Iraqi's. Well after the Gulf War we gave it back and then during OEF we took it back again. I've been walking around and I've noticed all these holes in the floor, and yeah that's from the Attack Choppers and SEAL and Special forces taking this place over. Two of the ME's (Coast Guards version of the military police) were actually here when it happened (and yes they have proof lol). I honestly had no clue that this place had a history like that. In a way it's a little creepy. That and the story that the other MEC told me about the Iranians ran sacking the place and killing all the Iraqi workers.

Well it's time for bed!

ABOT Day 3

So today seemed to go off without a hitch. It was our "off day" but everyone still works. Boat movements were at the lowest I've seen them since I've been here (mind you only 3 days). Tomorrow however is going to be a differnt story. I have at least 4 hours worth of boat movements. Also tonight I forecasted rainshowers for tomorrow and I"m hoping that it actually happens! Everything seems to be there for it to happen but as I'm quickly starting to figure out about this place is that none of the weather rules I've learned are any good. One minute things are calm and clear and the next second everything as gone to shit. I'm finding pleasure in the small things like today when the winds and seas shifted like I said they would! The CO today took some time to train me in some old school Navy knowledge which I thought was really cool. Like I leanred that using the constellation Orion (Mintaka) is easier to find your way in open waters as compared to the North Star (Polaris). Orion will point you East where as the North star of course points you north. I mean this is shit that they don't even bother teaching you in C School. He has explained to me the differnt phases of the moon and thier meanings which I knew most of, but he was able to throw me a curveball or two. After that the OPs oic had a chat with me (seeing as he and I are going to be here about the same amount of time) and just basically tried to get to know me. He seems like a really cool guy and I'm actually starting to slightly feel that maybe this won't be so bad. Slowly but surely I'm starting to get to know all of the officers which is a good thing seeing as 14 hours of my day is spent working right beside them.

I was on my own most of the day, better to get use to that now seeing as Moye leaves tomorrow. I'm not going to lie it's tough. Like tomorrow I have the CO's brief at 0800 and at that sametime I have 4 ship movements, so it's going to be one of those times that I'm going to have to be at two places at once, and I don't have anyone here to help me which I wish I did. I emailed Bahrain to inform them that OPs OIC suggested that they send a tech out here (which we could easliy spare) for a couple weeks at a time. I personally feel that it's a good idea mainly because this is something that they wouldn't be able to experince anywhere else. I mean this place literally get's all four seasons in a matter of just a few days.

Over the next month things here are about to get hot! In June of last year they recorded temps of 125 with a heat index of 145 so as you can imagine it's going to suck! One good thing is I am the tannest I've ever been in my entire life lol.

Well it's time for bed. Hope things are great where you are.

ABOT Day 2

It seems like every since I have come out to Iraq, things back home have gone to hell! It first started with the whole Brandon thing and now it turns out that my hometown was wiped off the face of the planet. Luckily I was so busy today that I didn't even have to think about the fact that I was "Dear John"ed.

Today I basically ran things by myself even though the chick I"m replacing was here. Which is fine by me because it helped me learn exactly what all I need to do without having someone holding my hand. The morning brief that I have to do every morning is pretty simple. It's just the current weather and my forecast for the day, and only the Comodore (my CO) and the CF2 (head Iraq officer) and his interpeter sit in on that one. When I'm done with that I have to go down to the dock and recieve ships that are coming in and that basically on a regular day takes up about 4 hours of my day (on fridays it's not so bad because it's our "off day", which I still have to work haha). When that is all said and done I go upstairs back to my office and type out the Plan of the Day and send it to the XO for him to sign (which he normally does at like 5 min before it's due lol), then it's time to prep my evening brief which normally takes about an hour or so. Finally it's time to go grab some lunch and then it's back to work finishing up my evening brief and recieving any last minute ships. Around 5pm I do the daily muster and make sure everyone is accounted for and then I email that off along with my slides for the evening brief. Promptly at 630 I have to be in OPS so I can brief the Comodore and the Ward Room (which consist of 5 LT Comanders, 3 LTs, 2 Ensigns and 2 Chiefs). Once that is done I then have to email out the POD to everyone and then make sure that there are no last min changes to anything. Basically I've inherited a shit ton of busy work because the chick I'm replacing wanted a nice bullet of her chiefs exam. There are about 20 people on this platform and I in one day do the job of about 10 people. I'm sorta pissed because I'm out to forecast the weather, not to be a secretary, and I was told by my OIC to let him know if this was the case. The only thing is I don't want to do it because I know it will get back to my CO and how do you tell a Captain (who when he's not out here is the CO for Destroyer Group 2) that this is a waste of your time? I'm thinking that I'm going to wait til when he turns over in mid May to inform my OIC that this is a complete waste of my time and that I could provide them the exact same support from my desk back in Bahrain.

It's honestly not because I hate it out here, because I really don't mind it. I mean not that many people can say that they served on an oil platform in the middle of hostile waters (yes they are considered hostile because Iranian ships will drive up the edege and stare at you, and that's only 25 miles away).

Needless to say I've seen and now know things that would blow the average persons mind. It's is absolutely insane with the amount of shit we put up with.

ABOT Day 1

Well needless to say that in the past 48 hours I've done more stuff military wise than I have in the past 4 years. On Tuesday I hopped a helo (which was awesome!) to the USS John Hamilton where I was stuck onboard for four hours til I was able to take a rig to the ABOT. Talking about a tiredsome experince. Well I finally get to the ABOT and let me just go ahead now and say that I can't wait to get off! The fumes from all the Oil Rigs and sewage floating in the water has been giving me miagranes left and right. Also the chick that I'm replacing just had to go and be little Miss I'm awesome and sign up for about 7 colateral duties which I have now inherited. I literally do maybe 2 hours of weather and my other 10 hours is receiving and casting off boats, writting the plan of the day, I'm in charge of the muster report, ordering supplies, briefing the CTG, and the list goes on and on. I'm literally living in a cargo hold that they put wood paneling and a bunk bed in, and there is little to no shade so I sweat like a whore in church 24/7....taking showers does you absolutely no good because you only end up sweating more afterwards. Thankfully you can't go back in time so I"m currently having to serve 2 months 2 weeks and 2 days.

On a more personal note I also found out that the person I actually fell for when I was back home has now gone back to thier ex. Of course I never recieved an email or anything along those lines. I just happened to check my facebook and saw that they were no longer single and had be-friended thier ex again who just happened to have a picture of the two of them together. How lovely is that. The one person who said they never wanted to break my heart or hurt my feelings has just done both of those and at a time when I'm already at my lowest. Thank you facebook for helping to relize that I'm doing nothing more than wasting my time. Anyways I have a long day ahead of me so I'm about to go to bed.

Up up and away!

Well tomorrow starts my ABOT stint. I'm really not looking forward to it, but according to the chick-a-dee that's out there time should fly by. I get to spend a week with her and I've decided that my anger that was directed at her is misplaced. I found out today that my OIC is the reason for the major fuck up. I think that it's convient that while I'm out there he's leaving and being replaced.

So yeah tomorrow I have to take a 2 hour helo ride in full kevlar out to the middle of the ocean. NOW THAT'S GAY! Well anyway I need to get ready for bed. I have to be at the AV unit at 6am ready to go.

A view from the top!

Well it's offical I'm now in my new flat! It's really really really nice and I think I'm going to be pretty comfy living here for the next year. I have an amazing view of Bahrain which let's me see all the interesting buildings downtown, my favorite being the one that lights up Purple at night...before you judge it's actually really cool. I'm also glad that I have a king size bed that's long enough that my feet don't hang off the end. Oh and I now have more TV channels than I know what to do with!

I'm currently trying to wash clothes in my laundry machine. It's a European styly washer and dryer combo. Let's just say there were some issues trying to figure out what all the pictures mean. Once it's finished washing my clothes (which we are heading on the hour mark because it cuts off 30 min if it doesn't detect motion...weird I know) it will atomatically start the drying cycle. The Apt manager is bringing me an addtional dryer on Sunday because I told him that this wouldn't cut it.

Speaking of the manager. He's a nice guy and all, but today when I moved in I noticed that my apt had not been cleaned. Even though it's a new place and no one has lived here, there was sand everywhere (it get's in the AC unit and well when no one turns the thing on in over 6 months it tends to build up). So he comes up here to take care of that and starts yelling at his house cleaning crew, right about that time I open the washer and about 4 gallons of water spills all over me and the apt. This of course sends the guy over the edge! Things were so intense that I debated leaving but at the time I was soaking wet and was trapped in the puddle with no where to go. Well they finally get things cleaned up and he starts to apologize and at that point I was so whatever about the whole thing. I honeslty couldn't get him out of here fast enough.

Well now I"m sitting at my kitchen island typing away and well it's time for me to pass out because I need to go do some shopping for items for the house. I can't wait to pass out in my new bed!

Adagio for blah

So I didn't recieve a phone call today...guess what that means?!? If you guess that means that I'm coming home early...you're wrong, but if you guessed that it means that my new place passed it's security inspection and I get to move in tomorrow, you would be correct! Ding Ding for you! All that's left to do is be at my lease signing meeting tomorrow at 11፣ and move out of my hotel.

Also as it turns out my flight to Iraq has been delayed a week due to weather, so instead of leaving on the 26th I'll be heading out on the 30th. My relief should be there by the 20th of July meaning I'll probably leave on the 23rd once our turnover is done...that is if everything works out, and well it's probably not going to. In any case I've prepared enough stuff to last me at least 4 months. I'm going to be really pissed if I'm there for my birthday. The whole stress of the situation is really starting to get to me. I'll only be working with 11 coaliation forces directly but I'll be surrounded my military personal both UN and Iraqi. Which by the way means I get the Operation Iraqi Freedom and UN medal! And here I thought I was only going to walk away from this place with 2 medals.

My co workers want to come over tomorrow to break in the new place but I was honest with them today and only invited 7 or the 8. One guy I work with is so annoying when he's drunk and the last thing I want is a bolgerant ass wipe. To be honest leaving this hotel couldn't of come at a better time, because it's almost the weekend here and well the Saudi's are coming. They are some of the MOST annoying/rude people you will ever meet! Even the most annoying ghetto person in the states couldn't even hold a flame to these folks!

Well now that the bags are packed and everything seems to be in order for the big move, I do belive that it is my bedtime. I have a long day ahead of me and I'm going to need all the strength I can muster.

It is what it is part 1

Okay so I'll be the first to admit that I was a bit testy yesterday. I am by no means going to apologize because I meant every word of it. I was just completley over stressed to the point that I finally had a break down.

Today on the other hand is a differnt note. In order to appease folks I now have a skype number that you can feel free to call and as long as I'm online I'll be sure to answer. The number is 205-216-3109. Don't worry I have unlimited minutes so we can talk as long or as short as you'd like.

Also today I finally signed a lease on a new apartment. I was going to post the link on here so you could see it but alas I can't find it. The building is brand new and so is all of the furniture (which is all to my liking). It took me going to about 7 places and seeing some "alright" things, but this place blew me away and the guy who showed it to me could tell. First off it's around the corner from my hotel so that means the walk to work won't be any differnt. It has two bathrooms and an amazing shower! The joint also comes equiped with my own high speed internet connection and premium cable. I had a chose between the apt with ocean view or the one that over look Jaffair, I decided to go with the one that over looked the city because it looks amazing at night, and well the ocean here isn't really anything you'd really want to look at and even more so when your view of the ocean includes looking at the oil refinery across the bay. It also comes with two gyms and two pools, of course there's one for males and one for females because let's face it this country doesn't jive like that. Oh, and did I mention that I'm on the 17th floor!

The sad part is I'll only get to live in it for a week before I head out to the oil fields, but at least I have something to look forward to when I come back. I finally got a hold of the chick that I'm taking over for and she laid out the fact that the job is cake and that there's enough to keep me busy that I won't have to worry about being bored. I also talked to my command and told them that after working 2 months solid with out a break that I would be taking a week off as soon as I get back, I'm thinking either Paris or Barcelona.

Oh and just as a "sucks for you" today I filled up my co workers car with gas because I had to borrow it and well it cost me all of 5USD to fill up his tank that was empty. That's right folks, while you're paying 4 for just a gallon I filled up an entire car for 5....fishy much?!?

So to sum it all up...I'm on edge, I move tomorrow, I hate oil rigs, Europe in the summer, and gas is crazy cheap here.

I wasn't even done with the first assignment!

Okay so it's offically offical, on April 26th I will take a helo from Bahrain and land in an undisclosed location in Iraq where I will be briefed on my next and new tour while I'm here. I'm taking over for an AG1 who has been on an oil platform for the past 9 months. It's only a temporary assignment, but it's deffinatly one that I'm not really looking forward to. It's a joint operation and I will have a NATO officer in charge so that will be differnt. I've seen the brief that she has to put together and it really doesn't seem that hard, so the issue is going to be what to do with all my extra time. I've been told that I'm strictly out there as a favor and that I'm only to do the METOC portion of everything but as I've been briefed that only takes an hour lol.

They are telling me that it's only going to be for 2 months while I wait for her permenant replacement, but I"m not stupid. The guy I'm waiting for is a Navy Chief and let's face it they never show up on time or do what they are suppose to do which means that I"m going to go ahead and call it now and say that I'll be out there for 4 months...meaning that I will spend yet another birthday thousands of miles away from anyone that I care about only this time I'll be the only person I know.

To make the pit in my stomach grow even more, I've already been told to get my affairs in order. I know it's a precationary messure but still it creeps me out. So tomorrow I have to go and prep my will and update my page 2. Also I asked about what I'm suppose to do with the fact that my TLA is running out and I still don't have a place, and this little detour is going to royally fuck me when I get back, and I was told to go ahead and go apt hunting tomorrow and see if I can't find a place that will hold me a spot and if I can't they are going to try to extend my TLA but on the 26th I have to get all of my stuff out of here and find somewhere to store it til I get back.

I had really thought that I was comfortable and looking forward to a life of solitude, but it's moments like this that I wish I had someone to talk to and of course everytime I try to call someone back home they never pick up. It's a shame that I can't get a hold of anyone! Normally it's the person on deployment that is hard to get in touch with but I have made every attempt to stay in touch with everyone, heck I even downloaded skype which I can't stand, bought and expensive ass phone card and a cheap Nokia phone. Pretty much the only thing I haven't done is take out a tv ad out in the states. Those of you who know me, know that I HATE BEING IGNORED, and even though that might not be the case, it's exactly what it feels like. I would rather you tell me that you didn't want to talk.

As you can tell I have a lot of time here to sit and reflect and I've come to the conclusion that somethings just aren't worth fighting for, therefore I'm not going to anymore.

I would like to thank Leona Lewis for being the soundtrack to this post.

And it's almost time to start yet another work week.

Well it's Saturday and for me that means my work week starts tomorrow. This whole Sunday actually being the first day of the week thing really throws me off lol.

Last night a couple of my co workers came over to hang out and watch TV (I remember how bad it use to suck living in the barracks all the time). Of course there was a bottle or two of wine involved which was not only the best wine I've had but the most expensive. Just as an FYI 26bd=71USD. I'm trying to be really quiet because they are still passed out in the bedroom part of the hotel...and don't worry my hotel has two king sized beds.

I'm thinking that today I'm going to go buy a flash drive so I can transfer files off the old Toshibia that way it would clear up some space on it (yes I got it fixed for REALLY cheap). The folks on base have no issue fixing stuff for you mainly because they know how bad it can suck here when you don't have an outlet aka the internet.

This week is going to be packed full of stuff that I need to get done. On Monday I have to go house hunting, on Tuesday I get the yah or nah on the oil platform and on Wednesday I have to brief the admiral. I'm hoping that on Monday that I find a place because I really want to get out of this hotel.

Well the boys are waking up so it's time to hop in the shower and get ready to head to base to do some shopping.

I can see that some really bad weather hit the South yesterday (Yes I'm just now hearing about it because I get yesterdays news today) hope everyone is ok!

And another one bites the dust.

Man oh man am I glad that this week is over! After a week of cramming anything and everything in my head and being frustrated because I couldn't get some of it, I'm just happy now that I can sit back and watch Tron lol.

On Monday I'm going to give the apartment hunting another go. Hopefully it will turn out better this time!

Oh and yeah I almost forgot I found out today that I will be working on an oil platform in Kuwait for two months. Yeah I was shocked as well. Apperantly there is a first class out there who's been out there for almost 9 months and I'll be taking over for her while the Navy starts to pull it's people off of it. On the plus side I get a couple of ribbons for doing it and well who knows what else I might get. It will also be a great oppurtunity to save up even more money seeing as you're basically stuck out there and can't go anywhere. They do have wifi so at least I'll be able to browse the internet.

Well it's time for me to hit the hay. There's no need in going out and doing anything tonight because we just got hit by a really bad dust storm and you can't see jack shit outside.

Let go and let God

Whew!

So today I got my crash course on actually building the briefs. The upside to being here for a year is the fact that I'm ONLY here for a year and then I get to come home and be with my love ones, the downside is I'm having everything crammed down my throat. I'm slowly (and I knew this would happen) finding out that what I learned and the time I spent in C school was a waste of time! The things I had to go to get my 7412 and they are pretty much useless. Let's just say that it takes the techs about an hour and half to get everything done and well I finished just shy of 3 hours lol! I know that getting faster will come with time and that gives me some hope.

I"m on week 3 of giving up smoking! At times there are moments that I think that it's probably not a good idea lol. I've never felt so stressed and I don't know if it's the fact that I'm not sleeping well here or if its just the go go go of everything. I have never seen the inside of gym as much as I have here. Not only does it take my mind off of smoking but it's also a good way for me to take out the stress I'm feeling at work.

I honestly can't wait to get my own apt! I"m so tired of eating PB&J that I've already decided what I'm going to cook the moment I move in. That Turkey bacon and eggs is going to be amazing!

DADT training Tier 1

So today I received my first Dont Ask Dont Tell repeal training. The command had to pick two people who would receive the training so that we would be able to brief the rest of our command about what we learned.

Today when I walked into the training room I must say I was a little nervous...nothing freaks me out more than being locked in a room with a bunch of Admirals and other offers. I must say I was quiet impressed when the conversation started. We started the day off from hearing from our CO who pretty much laid it out in simple english "Accept it our get out of my ward room". He then went on to talk about how he though it was stupid that this law was ever put into effect, and that he had proudly served with homosexuals through out his military carrer and owned them all is respect and time.

Pretty much the military is taking this issue head on and letting the troups know that no matter how you feel or what you think you either need to start jiving with this or you need to get out of the way and find something else to do with your life. Most people wouldn't think about this but the military is usually the forrunner when it comes to social issues. The military was the first to offer you a form of Miranda rights and was also the first to offer intrest free loans to it's members. Those are just a couple of the many things they offer.

From what I got from the brief is the fact that you are allowed to serve openly as long as it doesn't conflict with your duties (which is exactly how they do things for straight members). Now as far as partner benifits goes, now that's a differnt story. You can get married and recieve domestic benifits as long as you marry someone and are a resident of a state that allows same sex marriages. When we got to this part of the brief a civilain raised his hand and said "This is bullshit! We are telling them that they are equal, oh but wait not so much because you're not legally married. What are we going to do for those members who are in a relationship with someone and they've been in a committed relationship for years?" At the moment the goverment doesn't really know what it's going to do. Which didn't really suprise me, you can't expect something like the military to have all the answers right out the gate, and contray to what many of my other fellow gay military member family may feel, I think they're doing the best they can at the moment. This isn't something that you can expect to change over night.

They did make it very clear that intolerance and hate crimes would not be tolerated and would face severe punishment.

Personally I think they should think about what they are going to do when it comes to issuing orders to places where (like Bahrain) it is still illegal and you could be killed for being gay. I mean should they completley take those orders off the table or should they say what the hell go for it? Many of the countries we are in at the moment don't even have a SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) which basically states that when a service member fucks up they are returned to base to face punishment. If I were to go out in Bahrain and get in trouble the Kingdom of Bahrain can either send me through thier system and thier jails or they can return me to the base, which is what they normally do for lesser crimes; but don't fool yourself there ARE service members currently in Bahrani jails serving long term sentences.

I must say that I feel honored and excited to be in the military at this moment and time. Today it felt as if I had a front row seat to history, and I felt and intense pride hearing from top brass to another stand up for the fact that this law was unjust and not needed.

Another week of PB&J

Well it's about (at least thats the feeling I'm getting) our wonderful goverment full of fat cats and dumb ass's is about to shutdown.

I've already checked my LES (that's what they call the military pay stub) and my next check has already been cut in half. This sucks because I still have a car payment and my oversea's pay hasn't kicked in yet which means I'm going to be scraping up pennies for the next while trying to survive in a country who's currency is worth 3 times more than the USD.

What pisses me off even more is while I'm living off of crackers for the next two weeks (and btw if this isn't fixed fast I won't get a paycheck on the 15th according to the military) congress will still be collecting a paycheck. These old farts who can't get along and do what's best not only for the military but the country will keep getting paid! Talking about a slap to the face.

I've honestly had it with the Richard Shelby's and John Kerry's out there. I don't understand why we as a country don't recall our leaders and elect new folks who can actually look past all the fighting and do what's right.

Luckily for America the military has to show up for work even though we aren't getting paid, so while you're sleeping at home all safe and sound we have yet another thing that we have to worry about.

If you are reading this write your senator and your represenatives and let them know that when you go to the ballot box when their term is up that you won't forget this and that they should pay for the fact that they can't tell their ass from their elbow.

House Hunting 101

Ahhh so I've started the hassle of trying to find a place here, and well so far no such luck.

The nice thing about Bahrain is most of the places here are fully furnished and the furniture is actually really nice. A major hang up here is that only 25% of the residence in a building can be military and for some reason the housing office won't tell you if the building you're looking at is on that list until you go in to sign the lease.

Yesterday I had an agent show me around and she took me to 7 places. 4 were on that list 2 were holes in the wall and 1 I couldn't go see because my agent was a woman. Talking about an eye openeing experince.

The command gave me the day off so I could continue my search but my agent had a family emergency and had to bail on me, so I"m pretty much sitting in my hotel watching yesterday's news (everything here is a day behind).

Guess that means when the sun goes down I'm going to make my way to base so I can do some laundry and that's going to be the highlight of my day.

At&t is worthless

The tittle says it all! When I bought my iphone I was told that it would work over seas and that it would use my min and rollover min that I had accumlilated, well the sales person lied to me!

I just got off the phone with Att and was informed that I would have to enroll into an international plan and this is what it all boiled down to:
Phone calls: 5.99 for the plan and then 2.49 a min
Texting: 50 outgoing text and 100 incoming
Data plan: 20mb (meaning you could log onto face book once every three days) 24.99. The plan that would of matched my last months use of 500mb was 699.99 (that's right 700 bucks!)

Even canceling my unlimited texts and dropping all my other plans to the bare min was going to cost me 153 a month.

This is what gets me, ATT doesn't even have a military plan like most companies do, and when I called to see if there was something they were willing to do they told me "Sorry I can't help you with that". I replied with "Well this is what it boils down to, do you want to make money off of me or have me cancel my plan". Of course there was nothing they were willing to do so my iphone and service has been cancelled.

Personally I WILL never use ATT again. It seems that the entire time I've been with them it's been one thing after another. Also I'm currently in the process of emailing the president of the company (tht's the only thing I was able to get out of customer service and who knows if it's even correct).

So do not call the 619 number it won't work and don't shoot it a text unless you want to pay out the rear end for the text. If you need to get intouch with me, you can email me at heycaptinjack@gmail.com or you can reach me on skype under heycaptinjack.

Week 2 Day 1

Ahhh well I've offically started my second work week...sorta. I'm stuck in Indoc for the next week so I don't think you can consider that work.

Indoc went exactly how I thought it would...long...boring...and lame. We started this morning at 8am and shortly after that it was one presentation after another. The only one I found interesting was the one where we had a guy come and explain the culture and the region to us. The Muslim world is more complex than you would think. I also found out the reason why I have yet to see a protest is because the goverment here has set up a blockade before you get to Juffair (where I'm at) in order to keep protesters out of our area. From what I've heard from everyone is that things are starting to calm down, but you can tell on the look of some peoples faces that it's far from over. They have opened up the malls again and apperantly it's really cheap to take a taxi to the downtown area in order to go shopping which sounds like something I might do this weekend. The malls also provide securtiy guards for all military people while the shop.

On Tuesday the class is going to take a tour of the Grand Mosque, the Bahrain Fort and the National Muesuem. I however will not be going because those are things I'd rather do by myself or with a friend and not feel rushed while doing it, so I will take Tuesday in order to sleep in since I don't have to be there lol. I just find these classes to be an absolute waste of time. The majority of the time is spent explaining stuff to people who have families on thier way and it's hardly ever directed to those of us who are single sailors. In fact I was so bored today that I ended up signing out after lunch and never went back lol.

I'm actually looking forward to this week being over with mainly because I want to get back to the office and get started on what I'm actually here to do.

HOT!

I promise that you'll never hear me complain about the heat in the South again!

I had to make a quick run to base today to pick up some much needed items so with me not thinking I went ahead and took a shower. The moment I stepped outside the sweat started! Luckily on my way back home there was an amazing breeze which made everything seem to not matter.

The party last night for my coworker was pretty cool. I got to take my first look into an apt here and even though it was a bit older it was actually pretty cool. I would like something newer but I'm only here for a year so I'm not going to be to picky.

Bahrain at night is differnt than in the day time. When the sun is out people don't get out unless they have to, but at night there are people everywhere! Buildings that look dull during the day time are all lite up and the streets are brighter here than anywhere else I've ever been.

While people in America have grown use to buildings and inferstructure that is realtively old here in Bahrain it's the opposite. Old here is anything that was built in 2002, and the life rate of a building here is about 10 years before they bulldoze it over and build something newer.

Next week I have base indoc, and I'm really not looking forward to it! Indoc is pretty much a bunch of people sitting at a table for 5days 7 hours at a time trying to figure out why they wanted to come to the base that they are at. Indoc here is a bit differnt because they are going to take us on a tour of the Grand Mousque and the Bahraininan National History Museum. As cool as that sounds I would rather do it on my own time instead of having to do it with a bunch of people I don't really care to get to know.

Death of a laptop

So the good ole Toshibia finally kicked the bucket. He was a good laptop but he lost the will to go on. So, I bought a Sony Vaio from the exchange, and I'm pleased with it! Besides it was on sale and I needed one lol.

Well I've been here for a week now. 51 more to go! This work week hasn't been hard, but I have been busy running around the base trying to get checked into all the important places.

If you ever come to an Arabic country DO NOT FLUSH your toilet paper down the toilet! It took me a week to figure out that little tidbit. You're suppose to throw it away in this little trash can next to your toilet. Yeah it's pretty nasty. I came home to a nice little note on my toilet telling me that they'd appreciate it if I wouldn't do that. In fact I'll one up it and post it on here!

Tonight I'm going to go to a co-workers 21st bday party...this should be interesting lol.

Disclamier part 2

Yes I know my grammar and spelling is off. This heat would boil your brain and make you not care to...I promise!

Back into the grind

Well I've officially started working again. I"m not going to lie it took some getting use to seeing as I haven't done anything military in over a month. The command seems really cool so I"m excited about that. For the first time in my military career I have my own desk! It's weird not having to share one with about 5 other people. The only down side is the gut that had it before me was messy so I've used some of my downtime at work cleaning it up.

One thing I'm glad about this command is that PT is a group thing and it's mandatory every Sun Tue and Thur so that means I'll be back in shape in no time (yeah that's right folks I didn't so much as raise a finger when I was at home). For some reason I always get stuck with the muscle heads and boy they are hard core. When I was in MS the folks there were more worried about running so that's all I did for 8 months, these guys however are worried about the full spectrum which isn't something I've had to put up with since I was in San Diego.

The heat here is out of control! I have never sweated so much just walking a mile in my entire life! It's getting to the point that I'm probably just going to shave my head and be done with it!

I"m thinking that I"m going to buy a new computer because this lap top is acting up. I want to be able to use my webcam when I skype and well it only works half the time and the microphone on this thing went out as well. I'll just take another college class and then write off the new computer on my taxes ;).

The protest here in Bahrain have somewhat calmed down. They never really made it to where I'm at. The base however is still on high aleret so that means as soon as I get off from work I have to go back to my hotel and stay there til the next work day. I was kinda upset when I found out that they tore down the Pearl Monument because it was one of the few things I wanted to see while I was here. Apperantly in my Indoc class we get to go to the Grand Mosque which is the largest in the area. I think it will be pretty interesting but we shall see.

Good Morning Bahrain!

Okay so I've been here officially for 24 hours and I'm apparently still in the honeymoon phase.

TV channels here are going to take some getting use to, for instance Desperate Housewives is on the FOX channel here (yes FOX has a channel here). They also combine all the news channels onto 1 network called  OSN, that is except for CNN which of course has their own station. But I will say this they play recent movies and it's free so that's a major plus!

They hotel however is another story. As nice as my room is and I'm not going to complain about that, however there is a night club right below me and I was awoken this morning to Techno music. Luckily I was way to tired to care and was able to just roll over and go back to bed. The bathroom is really nice however they over looked one detail...not everyone takes a bath and the shower curtain doesn't cover the full run of the tub so water get's everywhere, they did however put a drain in the floor so I'm pretty sure they figured that someone might take a shower.


I do need to get out of the hotel here soon and go to the store to get some basic necessities such as diet coke and junk food lol. Base is only a mile away and the walk is somewhat nice so I don't mind doing it. One thing is for sure...I'm going to need some sunscreen.


I was able to finally get skype to download, and if you want you can add me on there under heycaptinjack also I'm on yahoo under gorgatron83.

Yes I'm alive!

Well it took me 32 hours but I've finally made it to Bahrain! My flight here was actually quiet pleasant even though it took forever! When we left Norfolk it took us five hours to get to Lejas which is in the Azores, and I must say that I will  be taking a free flight out there because the island chain was beautiful! After we left there we went to Naples which did absolutely nothing for me, and last was Suda Bay which is in Crete.

I finally got to Bahrain after my island hoping flight and let me say I was completely caught off guard! Everyone here is so nice and helpful, and they are very approachable. For instance when I was walking around and got lost a gentleman actually walked me back to my hotel lol. Speaking of which my hotel is REALLY nice! I have my own sitting room that connects to a huge bedroom and an even bigger bathroom!

The base here in Bahrain has to be the nicest base I have ever been on! It's well taken care of and somewhat easy to get around. I met my entire command also and they seem like a good group of folks! It's a small command which I actually enjoy and the work space has to be one of the best layouts I've seen.

As you can imagine I'm compltly worn out and well it's time for me to lay down and catch up on some sleep. Hope all is well in the states!

Oh yeah AT&T lied once again! I can't call anyone from my phone so tomorrow I'm going to get a phone card.

Itinerary for my flight to Bahrain.

Well it's safe to say that the next 48 hours is going to be full of nothing but jet setting around the world.
Round 1: Birmingham - Charlotte, North Carolina
Round 2: Charlotte - Norfolk, VA
Round 3: Norfolk - Azores (mind you this flight doesn't take off til Midnight)
Round 4: Azores - Rota, Spain
Round 5: Rota - Naples Italy
Round 6: Naples - Bahrain

In Summary March 23rd will no exist in my book because I'll hopefully be knocked out the entire time thanks to my friend Nyquill! I'm actually looking forward and dreading this trip at the same time. Personally I wish I was already there so I can get this ball rolling. The quicker I get there the quicker I get to come home.

Well I need to get finished packing. I've some how managed to get everything into 2 suitcases, a carry on, and one personal item...security is going to earn their paycheck tomorrow, that's for sure.

And in the begining there was rambling.

Hello everybody!

Okay so I started this blog as a way for everyone to keep in touch/keep up with what's going on while I'm overseas and while I'm at home. As by now most of you know that my alter ego is Captin Jack (a mild mannered sailor who hasn't a clue where he's going or what he's doing half the time, but always seems to have a good time). So please feel free to post any comments that you may want to share but keep in mind that everyone will be able to read them. I would like to keep this limited to friends and family only, and not to friends of friends. I figured this would be much easier than me trying to type up 40 emails a week. I will also have to get a local number once I'm there so phone contact will be limited unless you want to pay for call lol.

If anything was to happen while I am away you MUST contact the American Red Cross/Cresant and they will be able to get in touch with me, this is for emergencies only.

**Disclaimer- I am in the military therefore I may use: colorful language, references that you may not understand, and also if I don't post for days at a  time that doesn't mean that I'm hurt or in danger, it could just mean that I'm busy or the internet has been cut off for some reason.

I hope that everyone will be safe while I'm gone and don't worry I will do my best to stay safe as well. Also I'm going to post some links that you may want to follow. If you decide that you want to "like" the facebook pages I'm going to add please don't post anything that might embarrass you or me.

Links:General Information about Fifth Fleet, http://www.facebook.com/NAVCENT.C5F, A few Facts about 5th fleet