One more time

Hello again,
I am back in Kuwait. I had a great vacation. I was amazed to find Rosie such a different person than the baby I left even at Thanksgiving. She is constantly talking and singing. She seems to be always happy and never seriously upset, though she is definitely a two year old. Now, let me take this opportunity to say two things: I have the benefit of being a novelty to Rosie so she spends a lot of time trying to charm me (almost like she is courting me, and to my shame I allow it and return the favor with ice cream and chocolate milk like a grandparent spoils a grandchild), secondly Rosemary's charm is truely due to the hard work and parenting skills of her mother and care taker. I am certain that Erin has some disagreement with me here because she gets all of the difficult stuff, but this is what I see. Anyway, we had a great time in Mexico and Rosie and I played away our days at home. We even got a chance to go sledding and to build a snowman (I know there are some out there that believe that storm was my fault, not so).
Kuwait will prove to be a real obsticle this time. There were quite a few sandstorms just before I arrived and that has backed up traffic quite a bit. Erin and I have already started planning our next adventure: Japan. I will have less than two months to go when I finally get in country, WOO-HOO! I have a much lower stress level than my previos visits here and am looking forward to saying goodbye to this place forever.
Well, my computer time is just about up here, so until I get to Iraq, take care and I'll will see you all soon,
Cliff

American Airlines sucks!

Yep, you guessed it, I am stranded. They managed to lull me into thinking that the flights would be fine. No one once indicated that they could cancel at the last minute, but that is exactly what they did. I was one 45 minute flight from home and I missed the opportunity to go. They said it all looked great so I hopped on board a plane full of irritated passengers and dead-heading flight crews to Dallas from Chicago. When I got to Dallas the big board said "on time" for my flight to Mexico. When I got the gate the sign said delayed half an hour (this is half an hour before take off). I walked away to grab a beer (oh, wonderful beer!) and when I turned around the sign was blank and there was a huge line at the gate. Oh s---t! Check the big board, "canceled." They couldn't tell me that before I got on that airplane. So I stand in line for about an hour with some very irritated people. Apparently, they had all been through this at least once before. They don't say anything, they don't tell you what they think might happen or help you plan ahead even when you give them every opprotunity to help; nope, they just drop the bomb. They don't give the agents any information, either. They just book you on the next flight and say, "Good luck!" Well, I planned some buffer time just for an event like this, I guess. Erin and fam will not be there until Saturday (it is now Friday) and they have me booked out today. We shall see.
I really screwed up this whole plan, I should have just gone home and flown with the family; I have been kicking myself since I boarded that flight in Chicago. I knew it right away. I sat down next to this really nice couple with a a little girl, Abby, who was just a darling and I instantly thought, "Cliff, you are an idiot!" I never should have tried to go any where without my family. I should have gone home first and then it wouldn't matter where we are, at least we are together. So now, I sit in this very nice hotel room with a big bed and my own bathroom and a bar downstairs and cable TV and I can't help but think to myself that it is no better than that tin shack back in the desert. I know I piss and moan about how nasty that place is, but the real matter is what isn't outside the door. You could plop this hotel right over that rat hole I live in and it would be only a marginal improvement. I miss my wife, it's that simple.
Don't fly American Airlines,
Cliff

Sitting here in limbo...

Come on, sing along all you Dead Heads! OK so that's only Erin, well maybe Chris too. (Hi, Benda!) Ali Al Slem, ah what an incredible place of boredom, dust and frustration. I have spent some pretty miserable days here awaiting transport into Iraq. Now I sit here waiting for my flight out. This is the transportation hub for most all "coalition" soldiers and civilians in and out of theater, including Afghanistan. I sleep in a tent during the day (attempting to stay on schedule with home and work), with ten other contractor and DOD types, on crappy old mattresses that I spend a lot of time trying not to think about. There are no sheets or bedding unless you bring them along. By now, I am prepared for all of this and have opted for this rather than the Kuwaiti "hotel" option. Spending a hundred dollars a night for significant but modest improvements in living conditions just wasn't in me this time. I would rather spend it on the other end where the beer and water have the same effect.
I had trouble getting out of Speicher because of weather and Army bureaucracy, but that is behind me now. In approximately 24 hours I will be even less comfortably sitting on a Boeing 777 headed west. I was going to see about trying to go "space a" out of Kuwait ahead of my reservation but the flight is long and has many layovers, so I chose to to wait it out and be more secure in my travel. I am slightly concerned about the word that United has grounded their entire fleet of 777s for inspections. I am not concerned about safety just that a small delay in my first flight could derail the whole train later on down the track. Oh well, wait and see, I guess.
I'll see you soon, baby!
Cliff

Almost home

So maybe it wasn't really, really soon, but hey, its here. We are in the middle of a massive dust storm. I don't know if I have described these before so I will give a brief description now.
There is usually a forecast (the Air Force handles the weather forecasting) a few hours in advance. Sometimes the dust accompanies other weather and sometimes it just settles in like a fog. When it blows in there is a strong wind and if it is daylight you can sometimes see it like an approaching wall; it can be like the movies at times. Tonight it rolled in with a strong wind. We were prepared and had the aircraft moved inside before it hit. Our hanger has an open entrance with no door; this allows the outside air to flow freely through. So, if it is hot outside, it is hot inside, if it cold outside, it is cold inside, if it is dusty outside, it is dusty inside. And when I say dusty, I mean dusty, there was about 10feet of visibility. The storm hit about six hours ago and when I just looked at the aircraft, they all had a coating of dust that looked like a cutting board floured (whole wheat) up to roll out a pie crust. The dust stays suspended in the air just like fog on a humid Wisconsin morning. Often times you can look out and think, “Boy, its foggy!” then hold your hand out to an aircraft to draw a line in the moisture and be startled by the dry surface. This suspension creates a lovely breathing atmosphere. It takes all of about a minute to start coughing. Shortly after that you get short of breath and feel that heavy chest feeling you get with a persistent cold. All of this leaves after a day or so and left behind is that rolling board coating over everything. As Corey says, I am definitely going to need a good “nook and cranny” cleaning when I get home.
On the bright side, I am within counting distance of leaving here. I am scheduled out on Friday. We leave here 4 days in advance of our scheduled leave departure date so there is adequate cushion time with the unpredictable weather and only slightly more predictable Army/Kuwaiti bureaucracy. I also scheduled a couple extra days ahead of meeting Erin and family to adjust and sleep prior to our time. On my last leave, I felt hung over for the first few days home as I adjusted. We will be in Mexico for a week and then home for a little more than a week before I come back again. The good news is that by the time I get back here it will be a short two months before I go home for good. If everything works out I will be taking the last three weeks of that off as well, but that will take a small coup on my part. I am not entitled to another leave until 360 days in country, which is essentially the end of contract. So, if it does not work out Erin and I will be home in mid-July.
Well, that is all for now, I hope to write again from the comfort of a Kuwaiti “hotel.”
See you all soon,
Cliff

soon, I promise

Yes, I am still here and will try to spit out a few words in the near future. There is nothing to report but I will come up with some drivel for you soon.
Cliff

Snow

Yep, that's right, snow.
I emerged from my CHU yesterday morning, after my day off, to find a lite dusting of snow. So apparently the Vikes are destined to win the Super Bowl. It has been very cold lately. I will say it again, the weather here is unreal.
Well, I almost got out of here. I can say that now because it is no longer a possibility and I am finally over it. My buddy, Doug, quit as my peer back in Sparta. There was a great deal of hope that this would mean I could return home and our location would no longer be responsible for a position in Iraq. Well, that got the nix from my corporate structure, I love them. But that is passed now.
So now we focus on vacation. Three months to go. Erin has never done the sit on the beach thing so, we are going to Puerta Vallarta, Mexico. My first requirement for my leave time was that Rosie be included. I am not about to spend any real amount of time away from Rose or Erin. Well, that poses a problem if we want to do anything away from home. So we twisted my Mom and Dad's collective arm and they agreed to spend a week in the sun with us. Hopefully, I can get Erin to relax just a little. I am not sure she spends any of her waking moments truly relaxed. After that we'll come home to enjoy the start of spring in Wisconsin, my favorite time of year.
That is three months away. A long time but once there, it is all down hill. I won't be back in country until a few days before May and that leaves just enough time to ramp up and coast to home in July.
I want to say thanks to everyone who sent Holiday wishes. It was a hard time to be away from home but your cards and gifts help bring me home in spirit.
Well, it's time to go. I'll try to come up with something a bit more interesting for next time. Until then,
Take care and I'll see you all soon,
Cliff

Merry Christmas

Hello Everyone!
I hope you all are settling down after a beautiful holiday meal to football game, a card game, present openings, sledding, skiing, hockey, watching the kids wreck there new found toys, or even some liquid holiday cheer enhanced karaoke (save the Kung Foo Fighting for E). Those are some of my favorites. My wish for this Christmas is that you all get to do those things and live in the happiness they bring. Remember to appreciate them.
Here I have a lot of time to reflect on Christmas past. I find myself telling the same thing to people which clues me to tell all of you about it. My Christmas memory.
I remember getting a lot of presents; I love presents and Mom and Dad always made sure we had more than our share. But it is not the gifts I remember, it's Christmas Eve. I love Christmas Eve; of course here it is Christmas Eve. When I think about Christmas what I remember is the glow of candle light on our family dinning table. Mom preparing the most delicate dishes she can imagine for five of the least delicate boys (yes Dad that is you, too) to grace a table. Mom and Dad worked so hard all year long to give us, me, this one moment and it resonated so intensely for me. Erik, Chris, Art and I would laugh and misbehave while Mom tried to culture us and Dad tried to contain our enthusiasm. We would sit at the table and as casually as possible, try to blow at the candles to just within a hair of extinguishing them, without giving away that we were actually blowing at all. Sudden and exasperated sighs would come from the four of us directed coincidentally at the Yule Log in the center of the table. That was quality fun. Then there was the discussion about whether the boys should be allowed to open a present tonight or we should wait until tomorrow. It was a rhetorical question, of course, but one that never ceased to entertain Dad. Then later we would sit in the living room with a fire going and the enormous Christmas Tree lit up like Rockefeller Plaza. I would sit close to Dad and play the perennial game of "Guess the Ornament." What a moment! Then the obligatory cookies and milk for Santa and the struggle to stay awake; why didn't that ever work?
I love that story. I love to think of it now, here in this nasty place. It makes me smile and fills me with happiness. Thank you, Mom and Dad. For that memory and all the rest.
I would be remiss if I did not mention my other Christmas memory. It was only six years ago this weekend that I asked Erin to marry me in a terribly clumsy and unromantic fashion. Didn't stop her from agreeing. Thanks Honey, I love you. I regret that I can't be there to help build those memories for our little girl. This will be a great year for her. She is just starting to understand about the rules to the season.
Well, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday. Play a game of QDR for me guys. And mention Daddy to Rosie for me.
I'm off to watch the Vikes play the Skins, Go Vikes!
Love ya',
Cliff
p.s. There are some new and newly added old photos on my picasa page. The link is on the right.