So I'm sitting in my office....

.... eating my breakfast of a Harvet Bar and a cup of coffee, pondering the secrets of the Universe. (Reading the funnies online) And it comes to me that I am going to be home relatively soon. How soon is hard to say as I've been bumped, dumped, resorted, and reprioritized a few times now. But that's not the point. The point is, that I am going to be going home to my beautiful little boy and wife sometime fairly soon.

Of course there are several tons of baggage that go along with that. I am very busy right now (well.... not this instant) with getting things ready for turnover. You know how it is, old guys leave, new guy come, new cusses the existence of the old guy because he forgot to pass some important secret of the job along. It's a tale as old as time itself.
In my case, there is project information to tunr over. There are last minute bills to pay, accounts to balance and get in order, and some last minute new project items to work out for the people who have to stay here. Oh, yeah, the funding justification for the buses too. How I love being the guardian of taxpayer money.

But I'll slog through this and press on as I always do. My ears will redden as the people who come to replce me curse my name and say what a worthless piece of jackal crap I am. But I don't think I will mind all that much. I am going home soon. Thay have a wonderful 6 months of Iraq to look forward too.

~Josh

Boobs, Injuries and Dr. Pepper

Boobs, Injuries and Dr. Pepper

Read this Blog, it is hilarious. :-)

Rebecca's Blog

Rebecca's Blog
Check this blog out. My sister rocks!!!!

The court was not exactly sand, and it wasn't all that soft. It hurt pretty badly the next day. 

Saturday night volleyball. There were about 80 people at this cookout/volleyball tournement. 

Kristin's Blog

Kristin's Blog

This is an interesting shrapnel pattern in the roof over my back door. This happened long ago, probably back during the war, but I see the sun streaming through it sometimes, and I think how interesting it looks. 

This is the view from my back door. As you can see I have a little dirt garden going. I thought this particular morning was bright, clear, and cool. So I took a picture. 

New comment posting procedure

I have just had my first run in with comment spammers, so I am turning on an option that BlogSpot has made available, and that is to make people who are posting a comment to verify they are actually a person and not some spambot.  This is done by simply typing in a series of letters that the system will show you.  Simple.  Sorry for this additional step to post, but we don’t need to see comments about someone’s Penis Pill site.  LOL
~Josh

Volleyball in a K-span Building. Fun was had by all. 

Extension Celebration Picnic

In light of the news that we have been extended to support our brother and sister Seabees in Gulfport in this difficult time, we decided to throw a party. So using one of the newly finished buildings that we built, we played volleyball and cooked hamburger, hotdogs, and chicken. I think a good time was had by all. Of course we couldn't break out the beer, but what can you do?
~Josh

Extended.....

We just found out to day that we are going to get extended on our deployment by 28 days or so. The troops weren't to surprised by this move, as we were warned about the possibility. But it's kind of a disappointment as we are SOOOO looking forward to going home.

But when you think about the hardships our sister Battalion, NMCB-133 is going through right now, its not a big deal. They have 80 members who do not have homes right now, and they are aiding in the storm clean up in Gulfport. So they haven't had the time they need to prepare for their mission here and other places. If they came right away they would not have a successful deployment.

This is me and my family's contribution to the hurricane relief effort. It is the least we can do for our brothers and sister in Gulfport.

~Josh

This is the famed camel spider. Not really a spider at all. It's not even poisonous. 

Running

I actually ran out side today for the first time in a couple of months.  I think we are through the worst of the summer heat over here.  I have been noticing that my walk to the gym in the morning has been accompanied with a slight feeling of chill.  So last week, I decided that I would start running outside again.
Of course I haven’t been running at all in the gym.  There are three treadmills, but alas, all we have here is the Iraqi gym, or rather the shared gym.  And with the Iraqi soldiers using the treadmills, they do not last that long.  Of course the fact that they were probably factory seconds, or what we would call seconds in the states doesn’t help anything.  So the last of three treadmills gave up the ghost last month sometime.  So I have been doing my thing on the elliptical.  Sure you can burn some calories on those things, but it’s easier for some reason than running.
So I went outside this morning, and it was comfortably cool outside.  The air had the typical Baghdad malaise in it, but the birds were chirping away cheerfully. (You have to love the birds)
I ran for a grand total of 26 minutes.  I little more actually.  My knees are not going to thank me later today.  I think they actually rebel.  We’ll see though.  
A couple of the Iraqi platoons were having their morning football match out behind the HLZ like they always do, and there were a couple other American soldiers running the .6 mile running look with me.
I didn’t turn an ankle, or otherwise hurt myself, so I’m glad for that.
The morning was beautiful, and blue, and hazy, so I guessing that day is going to be ever so hot and scorching.

~Josh

Time Keeps On Slipping

Can you believe it. I am inside the 8 weeks mark to coming home finally. I don't want to take anything away from my Army friends, who have to do 12 month deployments by the way, but it's almost been a half a year since I left Port Hueneme that dark April morning.

Everyday brings me closer to my beautiful wife, and unbearably cute little boy.
My family is going to be getting together this week in Portland to visit and see each other, and I am very jealous because of all the good time I am going to miss with these great people who happen to be family.

I just thought I would share this wonderful revelation with everyone.

~Josh

This is a great picture of a monstrous 'Super Mousque" that is being built in downtown Baghdad. As you can see I was "on the road" again. 

Red Skys All Around

Well, I know I said I would post a picture a day thing. I guess that's either to much work for my schedule, or I just don't have what it takes to be a daily poster. Lately its been taking a long time to look at anything having to do with the internet. I'm guessing it has something to do with the weather. Last night sometime, a nice north-westerly wind blew in and brought its friend, the dust with it.
As you can see from this picture, which was taken at 0830 this morning, the day did not dawn bright and cheerful. I have not messed with the color of this picture at all either. It was kind of like being on Mars or something.
That's it for now.

~Josh

A picture of a village that we flew over. If you look closely you can see people still sleeping on the roofs. They do this because they don't have a consistent power supply for their AC's. 

Looking out over Baghdad on a sunny morning. Approximately 8 million people live here. 

Yet another picture from my flight. You can see two children on the bank of the river near the bottom. They were waving at us.