As promised, but a little late (like everything else around here) are more pics from my PRT trip courtesy of the boys from the team. There are a couple good ones too (I think).
Also - I posted a couple of fresh project pictures in BAF10.
The guy in the contracting office finally got to me. I was a little ticked off today as I still don't have any of the three vehicles we ordered back in MAY - and the order made it to contracting (final stop) the first week in June. Still no trucks!
Nothing in the mail today - but it sure was nice to get the 56 boxes (count'em) from Eastside Community Church in Wichita KS! (I didn't know there were nice people there either! :-) All the boxes had GOOD stuff in them too!!! Useful stuff! All the guys/gals that opened them were happy and had big smiles. VERY nice of them to do that! All for Independence Day too. They wrote a nice note in each of the boxes of thanks and gratitude for our service. Nice touch!
The wind picked up significantly today for the first time in a about 2-3 weeks. It's been breezy, but today was straight WINDY. Lots of blowing dirt to eat. The shower will sure feel good tonight, but we are still limited to 3 min! That will be a real treat when I get home... Taking a LONG 5 min shower. (see, I told you my perspective on things has changed). How many of you women think 5 min is a long shower??? Try 3 min - goes for the gals too. Now granted there is nobody checking the clock and many do not abide by this rule, but most do because they respect the rule first, and 2nd, there is a water shortage on BAF - all the water is trucked in daily. Also, there is limited HOT water for so many folks - so those that abide are helping those who take advantage (and don't care) and shower as long as they like. Drives me crazy, but what can you do with these kids? Just remind them once in a while... I do.
Not much else to say today... I'm fine. Really. I'm still in the same routine. Walk to/from work and most places around BAF when time permits. I only drive to the far out places when I need too.
Hope you enjoy the pics - I'll post some from the party coming up - that should be a LOT of fun. We are holding a Cornhole tournament. Lots of interest in the game - 24 folks already signed up! should be a good time. Structures guys put together the board sets for us and the EA (engineering assistants/surveyors) team is going to set up the official courts!!! :-) It's fun to be an engineer!!!
Mark.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Good/Bad News
That all depends on your perspective - and while I'm on that topic, let me tell you my perspective sure has changed in the last 5 months since I started this back in JAN! Yes, believe it or not, my orders started on 29 JAN. That's when my perspective on things started to change.
More on that in a different post - it's not what I planned to tell you.
Good News/Bad news - The good news is I didn't miss RIB NIGHT!!! The Bad news is I didn't miss RIB NIGHT - I would have if my trip wasn't cancelled this morning - bummer. But it's still not out of the question - so - hopefully sometime soon. Also, I got the two disc's with the pictures from the PRT trip (good news), but I forgot them in the office so you will have to wait till tomorrow night till I can post them (bad news).
Also - more bad news - I missed church today cause I was working so hard... :-) Seriously - something came up just before 1430 (J-Time) and I couldn't make it. Next Sunday, J-Time moves to 1030 so that will work out a LOT better for me anyway.
I wish you could see the Chapel NeXt website! Not many web pages around here are kept up to date, but THAT one is! I think God is updating it Himself! It's very professional and lots of good information! Looks good too!
So I planned on getting in bed early - that's didn't work out too well - I'm sitting here keeping all the people concerned about me up to date - Oh, yeah - that's not such a BAD thing to have a few friends who love you! That's GOOD NEWS for me!
Thanks to all of you!
Mark.
More on that in a different post - it's not what I planned to tell you.
Good News/Bad news - The good news is I didn't miss RIB NIGHT!!! The Bad news is I didn't miss RIB NIGHT - I would have if my trip wasn't cancelled this morning - bummer. But it's still not out of the question - so - hopefully sometime soon. Also, I got the two disc's with the pictures from the PRT trip (good news), but I forgot them in the office so you will have to wait till tomorrow night till I can post them (bad news).
Also - more bad news - I missed church today cause I was working so hard... :-) Seriously - something came up just before 1430 (J-Time) and I couldn't make it. Next Sunday, J-Time moves to 1030 so that will work out a LOT better for me anyway.
I wish you could see the Chapel NeXt website! Not many web pages around here are kept up to date, but THAT one is! I think God is updating it Himself! It's very professional and lots of good information! Looks good too!
So I planned on getting in bed early - that's didn't work out too well - I'm sitting here keeping all the people concerned about me up to date - Oh, yeah - that's not such a BAD thing to have a few friends who love you! That's GOOD NEWS for me!
Thanks to all of you!
Mark.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
More pics comin
This is a short post - just wanted to let you know I got some pics from TSgt Lajoie and I posted them here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mark.schubert/BAF10
I also added a couple pics from the Blackwater project in Baf9
http://picasaweb.google.com/mark.schubert/BAF9
I stopped by to get some more PRT trip pics - the guys said they had two full CD's for me - but I couldn't find them late this afternoon so I'll try again to tomorrow.
More interesting pics coming very soon!
Mark.
http://picasaweb.google.com/mark.schubert/BAF10
I also added a couple pics from the Blackwater project in Baf9
http://picasaweb.google.com/mark.schubert/BAF9
I stopped by to get some more PRT trip pics - the guys said they had two full CD's for me - but I couldn't find them late this afternoon so I'll try again to tomorrow.
More interesting pics coming very soon!
Mark.
Friday, June 26, 2009
PRT Trip
Had some more excitement! I was tasked with a trip off base to do an engineer analysis of a generator installation. I took one of my Power Pro guys who is a Master Electrician in his civilian occupation. We were on our way and we ran into a little snag. That's about all I can tell you. We did get to complete our mission, but it was a very long day and I'm certainly not getting any younger. After ALL DAY in all that gear, my back was telling me "You know, your not as young as you used to be!!" I thought when I came back into my hooch and took off my stuff... I was light as a feather and if I wasn't so sore, I'm pretty sure I could have dunked a basketball... Now - I know SOME of you thought that was funny!!!
I posted some pictures here: Yes, I'm even IN some of them!
http://picasaweb.google.com/mark.schubert/PRTTrip
Not to mention - it was over 100 degrees in the shade... Yeah, Yeah - low humidity... It was still HOT! I was on my feet for the better part of 6 hours.
Great assignment though - got to get out and meet some locals and try and further our cause with a little HA (Humanitarian Aide) - you see the picture with the two little kids, we gave them some pens, pencils, and crayons - and they came back with a wheel barrel full of Pepsi/Juice/cookies, etc - of course, not for us!!! But to SELL! And not cheap either! $1 per Pepsi - and it wasn't cold! Someone needs to teach these little ones about entrepreneurship!
All in all - a good week - well, since it quieted down a little after the rocket attack that seemed to make the news pretty fast.
Still don't have my Truck!!! And on top of that, some idiot decided to put the generator (it's a big generator) for the Cherry Beasley Camp in MY PARKING SPOT!!! The power went out the other night and was out for about 10 hours - the problem?? Well, a transformer blew. That's not so bad - happens all the time right?? Well, you'd think SOMEONE making a little more money than ME would have thought about that- but apparently not. So - the only solution was to "ORDER" one - which as we all know, EVERYTHING around here is "ON ORDER" - and we wait. So there's no telling how long that stupid generator will be in my parking spot - but - that's OK - cause I don't have a truck to put there ANYWAY! :-)
Mark.
I posted some pictures here: Yes, I'm even IN some of them!
http://picasaweb.google.com/mark.schubert/PRTTrip
Not to mention - it was over 100 degrees in the shade... Yeah, Yeah - low humidity... It was still HOT! I was on my feet for the better part of 6 hours.
Great assignment though - got to get out and meet some locals and try and further our cause with a little HA (Humanitarian Aide) - you see the picture with the two little kids, we gave them some pens, pencils, and crayons - and they came back with a wheel barrel full of Pepsi/Juice/cookies, etc - of course, not for us!!! But to SELL! And not cheap either! $1 per Pepsi - and it wasn't cold! Someone needs to teach these little ones about entrepreneurship!
All in all - a good week - well, since it quieted down a little after the rocket attack that seemed to make the news pretty fast.
Still don't have my Truck!!! And on top of that, some idiot decided to put the generator (it's a big generator) for the Cherry Beasley Camp in MY PARKING SPOT!!! The power went out the other night and was out for about 10 hours - the problem?? Well, a transformer blew. That's not so bad - happens all the time right?? Well, you'd think SOMEONE making a little more money than ME would have thought about that- but apparently not. So - the only solution was to "ORDER" one - which as we all know, EVERYTHING around here is "ON ORDER" - and we wait. So there's no telling how long that stupid generator will be in my parking spot - but - that's OK - cause I don't have a truck to put there ANYWAY! :-)
Mark.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Time Out
Hi!
Just posted some interesting (IMHO) pics - a mixture - one from the exciting night.
Also - had a going away roast for Col Reed today - he will be leaving soon and at one time was in control of over 1600 Airmen! (wow)
He's a great guy and great leader and it's always great to go to these things and get another piece of wisdom to add to my battle book.
And a couple of updated project pictures for the engineers! I'm sure they can appreciate all the hard work that is being accomplished.
Should be an exciting day tomorrow - look for some even MORE interesting pictures tomorrow night (my time).
Mark
Just posted some interesting (IMHO) pics - a mixture - one from the exciting night.
Also - had a going away roast for Col Reed today - he will be leaving soon and at one time was in control of over 1600 Airmen! (wow)
He's a great guy and great leader and it's always great to go to these things and get another piece of wisdom to add to my battle book.
And a couple of updated project pictures for the engineers! I'm sure they can appreciate all the hard work that is being accomplished.
Should be an exciting day tomorrow - look for some even MORE interesting pictures tomorrow night (my time).
Mark
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Bagram in the News
Well, last night Bagram made the news. You can go to Google News and search Bagram for the details. Needless to say, nobody got much sleep last night and there was a lot of excitement! I'll definitely be going to bed a little early tonight!
I'm OK and everyone in our group is OK. We had a good Sunday - Father's Day. I hope to Skype with both my Father and my Father-in-Law today - hopefully here in the next few minutes.
Chapel NeXt service was very good. There were 3 other guys from my unit that have been attending - it's nice to see them there.
I'm in charge of putting together our 4th of July Celebration for the unit. I can't give away too many details here, but it's going to be a lot of fun and I've arranged it so we will get some time off of work - something our Airmen really seem to like.
I'm fairly confident I'll be getting my truck back tomorrow - of course, there is no reason to really believe that the way things go around here - but I'll be happy to post again tomorrow if in fact I do get it.
I watched a movie on Friday - Enemy at the Gates. It was OK. Pretty good story about a Russian and German sniper duel. Supposedly a true story - I'm not sure about that and I didn't have the energy today to verify.
I got a very nice envelope filled with three HUGE patriotic cards today from some nice people in CA (and here I thought the only nice people in CA were my sisters family!)
Of course that was a joke - I don't need a bunch of hate mail about all the nice folks who DO live out there. When we went to the Yurok Reservation for a reserve project several years ago, I met some very nice people!
Hopefully we get some sleep tonight - please say an extra prayer it's not as exciting as last night! And for those of you who can, please pray for the families of the ones we lost and those who were injured last night . I have been and will continue to do so.
Happy FATHER'S DAY to all the Fathers reading!
Oh, that reminds me... I wanted to share a quote with you I read earlier today:
War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made so and kept so by the exertions of men better than himself. -- John Stuart Mill
Mark.
I'm OK and everyone in our group is OK. We had a good Sunday - Father's Day. I hope to Skype with both my Father and my Father-in-Law today - hopefully here in the next few minutes.
Chapel NeXt service was very good. There were 3 other guys from my unit that have been attending - it's nice to see them there.
I'm in charge of putting together our 4th of July Celebration for the unit. I can't give away too many details here, but it's going to be a lot of fun and I've arranged it so we will get some time off of work - something our Airmen really seem to like.
I'm fairly confident I'll be getting my truck back tomorrow - of course, there is no reason to really believe that the way things go around here - but I'll be happy to post again tomorrow if in fact I do get it.
I watched a movie on Friday - Enemy at the Gates. It was OK. Pretty good story about a Russian and German sniper duel. Supposedly a true story - I'm not sure about that and I didn't have the energy today to verify.
I got a very nice envelope filled with three HUGE patriotic cards today from some nice people in CA (and here I thought the only nice people in CA were my sisters family!)
Of course that was a joke - I don't need a bunch of hate mail about all the nice folks who DO live out there. When we went to the Yurok Reservation for a reserve project several years ago, I met some very nice people!
Hopefully we get some sleep tonight - please say an extra prayer it's not as exciting as last night! And for those of you who can, please pray for the families of the ones we lost and those who were injured last night . I have been and will continue to do so.
Happy FATHER'S DAY to all the Fathers reading!
Oh, that reminds me... I wanted to share a quote with you I read earlier today:
War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made so and kept so by the exertions of men better than himself. -- John Stuart Mill
Mark.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Fishing in Afghanistan
I couldn't take it any longer. I was walking around today and it just looked like the perfect spot. So I set up my pole, tied on a rock, and went FISHING!
http://picasaweb.google.com/mark.schubert/BAF9
Well - I didn't catch anything. Of course, what the heck did I expect to catch using a ROCK for bait! :-) But I thought you all might enjoy the pictures anyway.
I'm doing OK - I was supposed to get my truck back today - but that didn't happen - much like many other things around here. One day you think things are going to go a certain way, and it seems too often something completely different happens. That's OK though! It's all in God's plan. Like I've said before, I'm not here to figure OUT God's plan, just execute it.
Rib night again tonight - just got back in my hooch and I think I'll enjoy some homemade cookies that Heidi sent - Umm, Umm GOOD!
Hope you all are well!
Mark.
http://picasaweb.google.com/mark.schubert/BAF9
Well - I didn't catch anything. Of course, what the heck did I expect to catch using a ROCK for bait! :-) But I thought you all might enjoy the pictures anyway.
I'm doing OK - I was supposed to get my truck back today - but that didn't happen - much like many other things around here. One day you think things are going to go a certain way, and it seems too often something completely different happens. That's OK though! It's all in God's plan. Like I've said before, I'm not here to figure OUT God's plan, just execute it.
Rib night again tonight - just got back in my hooch and I think I'll enjoy some homemade cookies that Heidi sent - Umm, Umm GOOD!
Hope you all are well!
Mark.
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