Back In Iraq

Well, I'm back in Iraq. Leave was great. I thoroughly enjoyed my time home and it was great to see everyone. I am going to steal a play from Hammer's playbook and post a couple of pictures from back home for the next few days. Here is one of Benjamin and me hanging out in the kitchen.

Here is one of Benjamin out the patio playing with the hose. He got a little bit wet.


I started compiling a list of the not so obvious things that I enjoyed about being home. Of course you can guess that the best things about being home were spending time with my wife, son, family and friends, eating good food and drinking real beer. Those are the no brainers. But, there were some little things that I really enjoyed and am missing now. In no particular order:
1. Taking off my sunglasses and then leaving them on my head. Not authorized in the Army, in fact you can't have them anywhere visible except for on your face. I have to stick them in my pocket which then they get all dirty, etc, etc. By the way if anyone picked up a pair of Wiley X shades I seem to have misplaced them.

2. Putting my hands in my pockets. You can't do this in the Army, believe it or not, it is considered unprofessional.

3. My bed. I had forgotten how comfortable my bed is. I splurged in college on a really nice King size, and we've since added one of those memory pads that really makes it soft. One word: Awesome. My bed here is a crappy twin that squeaks everytime I so much as cough so that is no fun. Better than a cot, but not as nice as the homefront.

4. Not going outside to go the bathroom in the morning or middle of the night.

5. Not having to use a portajohn in the morning or middle of the night. After sitting out in the sun all day, they don't smell so good, to put it mildly.

6. Driving to the gas station and buying a 6 pack. You don't know how great this is until you can't do it for 8 months. I actually purposely bought small quantities of Blue and Chrome so that I would have to go back more often. I know I already used this word once, but it was Awesome.

7. Walking 10 feet instead of 3/4 of a mile to get something to eat.
7a, Not walking past the pit where they dump the "water" from the portajohns on the way to eat. You can't understand how bad this smell is without experiencing it. Horrible beyond belief, and it never gets any better. We analyze the wind path and do out best to walk around it, but are not always successful. You would think this would be on some little used corner of this base, but you would be wrong.

8. Wearing different clothes everyday. ACUs and PT uniform are the only items authorized for wear. Boooorrriiingg.

9. Being able to go to Scheels to pick out a new pair of running shoes and then actually try them on. The internet is nice but not always the best as you buy stuff sight unseen.

10. Showering with Nebraska water. The water here comes from the canal and although filtered, has a little bit of a stench. I was used to it but after showering with normal water, for 2 weeks, I can definitely smell it again. Luckily we are in a water shortage so we are taking combat showers (get in, get wet, turn off the water, soap up, rinse, get out) so I haven't noticed it as much.

Okay, well that is all for now. I have some more that I will post next time. Take care.