It's Been A Long TIme

I got back to Abu a little over a week ago. Leave was amazing; it was too short in fact. I will put up a travel log later this week. I am sorry for the lack of communication. I'll try to shoot out some stuff now...

-I finally read/listened to the Da Vinci Code while on leave. It was an OK book. I didn't think it was really all that great. I can think of at least 25 books off the top of my head that are better. I think that its subject matter is more the reason for its sales than its writing. The book presents a lot of unprovable arguments as facts. I don't know how I feel about all of it. Hell, I could write 50 blogs on that. But in regards to the main themes and historical conflicts in the book, think about this:
History books and bibles are written by the winners.

-It hit 120 freaking degrees today!!!!!
You know what?
It actually wasn't that bad. Granted I wasn't pacing around in it all day like the poor guys out at the camps. But I know I could go running or play basketball in this weather. Now, come July when it is 140 degrees outside? THat is most likely a completely different story.

-The Sharks choked against the Oilers. They were up 2-0 and had a clear path to the freaking Stanley Cup and they choked. That loss hurt man. Hopefully next year, after a full season of Thornton and Carle and maybe a free agent or two, they will finally get that freaking cup in California.

-As a Giants fan there are two things that I crave in my baseball. I want to see the GIants win and Barry Bonds hit home runs. Both don't even have to happen at th esame time. I'll settle for one or the other. Now when neither happens, like last year, CHarlie is an unhappy Giants fan. This year Bonds isn't hitting a lot of home runs, but the team is competitive. So I am alright with that. I can't wait for Alou to come back too. No one really talks about them outside of Barry, but they could win this division. Quick side note... The National League West is the only division in sports where every team has a winning record. Just thought I would let you all know.

-There is someone here who we are all pretty sure doesn't have a job. Seriously. I have no idea what his title is. He doesn't have an office. I am not sure if he has work hours. All he does is walk around from here to there and play solitaire on our computers. You guys probably think I am exagerating, but I promise you I am not. We have spent many a morning trying to figure out just what the hell this sergeant does. I told him he could hide out in his room for a month and no one would know. Everyone would assume he is just walking around to a different part of the camp "working." I wish I had his life. Don't get me wrong, 12 hours indoors in front of a computer ain't bad. However, I could be essentially collecting unemployment benefits like the other guy.

-The day I got back from leave my air conditioner broke. Well it didn't actually break, but it would only run for less than an hour before I would have to flip the breaker. No big deal though right, because there is a breaker in my room.
Jokes on you Charlie!!!
That breaker doesn't do shit. You have to downstairs, outside, and around the building. Oh, and it's over a 100 every day now.
Lovely.
But sure enough, they came and fixed it. Now I can crank my AC and shiver in my room. It is wonderful. But I had quite a few sweaty nights while wiating for it to get fixed though. And all they did was clean it a bit and change the breaker.

-We leave in roughly a month whether our barracks are ready or not. Some general or civilian in an air conditioned office with a fishtank and a mini bar has decided that even if the soldiers have to sleep in tents on the side of the road, we will be out of Abu Ghraib on schedule.
Thanks Sir.
Really appreciate you looking out for us and all.
What Sir?
You say that back in Nam you would have been happy for the sleep, let alone the tent to do it in?
Well I don't know about you Sir, but I don't trust any sort of Vietnam era recollections from Americans. True historical accounts are written by the winners.