Small Pleasures, Steaks, Castles

Before you do anything else today, go read this story I found via a link from ROFASix. A few excerpts:

I've said it before - we've forgotten the days when we called for blood. We've forgotten the days when we listened to the President tell us that this would be a long war, would have many fronts, and would not look like any war we'd seen before, and our only response was the rallying cry of that horrible day - "Let's roll."

I have always believed, always known, that no foreign power would destroy my country. I have always known that my country was something amazing - something unique, and possessed of an innate will, an innate strength, which would always make her a fearsome enemy.

Our enemies - all of our enemies - hate what we are. They hate that we continue to snub convention. They hate that we flourish, because it exposes their failures. They hate that we exalt the individual achievement, because they see their own weaknesses. They hate that we do not apologize for greatness, because they see their own inadequacies. They hate our courage, because it exposes their cowardice. They hate those of us who speak plainly, who call terrorists and murderers and cowards what they are, because it exposes the thin veil of their lies.

Half a world away, men and women willingly risk their lives for a country that we would simply give away. To do so is the ultimate betrayal. It is an offense that is unforgiveable.

Go read the rest, it is well worth your time.

A few posts back I mentioned SSG Johnson's new toaster oven. Here is a picture. Not sure what that Goldbond is doing there. This is what passes for excitement for us now a days, making sandwiches and pizzas in our office.


Turkey/bacon/swiss hot out of the oven.

SSG Johnson enjoying his well made sandwich.

Here are the steak(s) I enjoyed for the Super Bowl. They didn't have any big enough to meet my standards for the Super Bowl so I had 2. Who needs sides?

The LSA Anaconda Consolidated Legal Center has a pretty neat paint job that I thought I would share. Right before the 3rd Coscom group left in September, they repainted the t-walls to look like a castle. Every building here is surronded by these cement barriers to help protect from mortar attacks. The paint jobs can be quite cool, but usually they are limited to one or 2 barriers right in front. Some poor joes got to paint the whole thing.

We know call it Castle JAG.

Branch crest.

Still No Love

Well, we are still locked out of our blogs and I am beginning to think it is permanent. It is really annoying, because the majority of mil blogs that I read are highly supportive of our effort over here and in my opinion help to counteract some of the bias from the media. I really don’t understand why they don't want us telling us our story and keeping our friends and families up to date on what we are doing. It is especially aggravating for me and the guys in my unit, as we got another 4 months added to our sentence and our blogs were a nice break from the day to day grind that is our 16 month vacation.

To add insult to injury, I went down to the MWR lab to post a story and the server was down, so I can't even go that way. So, I'm pretty frustrated with the whole thing. The MWR route takes at least an hour from start to finish, for a task that used to take about 10 minutes. I'll do my best to keep the posts coming but I've been pretty busy lately and it has hard to find the time to sneak away for an hour. I do most of my posting at night on my off time, and most nights the last thing I want to do is make the hike down the MWR building and wait in line for a computer. I know it isn't that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things and I could have it much worse, but this blog was one of the few things about Iraq that kept my in touch with those of you at home so it is hard to have it taken away without any explanation.

We grilled some steaks tonight in celebration of the Super Bowl. They were pretty tasty. I would put up a picture, but, well you know. SSG Johnson's parents sent him a toaster oven so we had some cheese bread for a side item. We also toasted some sandwiches today and that was a nice change of pace. We are getting up at 0200 to watch the big game. Tomorrow will be a long day for sure. The only negative is no commercials for us. Just an endless loop of the same crappy AFN commercials we have seen 10,000 times.

Theater policy allows for a 4 day pass to Qatar every 6 months in theater. Our Brigade originally didn't allow anyone to take a pass due to manning requirements, but since we got extended we all should get the chance to go. I am slated to make the trip sometime in March. Flecker was supposed to go today and be the guinea pig but the flight got cancelled so he isn't going for another week or so. You can go jet skiing, go shopping in a mall, see the town, and drink 3 real beers a day. Most importantly, you get away from the office for a few days, which will be nice. The guys I work with are great, but after 10 months of seeing them everyday, all day, a break won't be a bad thing. We haven't started fist fighting yet but the verbal sparring has increased.

Can’t really think of anything else exciting to share. I better go try to grab a few hours sleep before the big game. Have a good week.