Things are slowly getting back to normal

Well it has been almost a week since it happened. So I guess it is OK to talk about it since it has been in the news. We were rocketed last Sunday morning. They got lucky and hit right between two B-huts. The blast was way too close for comfort; it hit around 85 meters from my B-hut.

At first I thought it was a Controlled Detonation. That is something that we do whenever the Mine detection team finds a land mine here on Bagram. There are still miles of land here that are not yet cleared of land mines form when the Russians pulled out. I heard that they have found several hundred this year alone. Anyway, as I was saying, I thought it was a controlled detonation. I heard 2 big booms and did not think much of it until a second later when I heard shrapnel and debris falling on my roof. I ran out to make sure my soldiers were OK when I saw where it hit. It was right where some of our guys were staying. And as the news said we lost 2 people and had 6 injured. I will not go into any more detail than that out of respect for the soldiers and their families.

On a more uplifting note, I have finished yet another project. I was asked to build a storage building for the incentives that we pass out to the villagers. Things like Rice, Beans, Cooking Oil, Blankets, and Toys for the kids. I ended up building a 4 compartment structure that is 4 feet deep by 12 feet wide, with each compartment being 3 feet wide and 4 feet deep. That way each team can secure their things without getting them mixed up with any of the other teams. I will post some pictures next time. I have not yet taken any pictures of the finished project.

Every time I do a project, someone else sees what I have done and a new project is born. I was just asked by a supporting unit’s Commander who saw the doors I built and now wants me to build her a door for her room in her B-hut. All I said was “too easy,” especially since I just finished building that exact thing for one of the Sergeant’s Major from the 82nd, just last week. At this pace, I might never be done here. I might not get to go down range and help out the guys there.

It was Christmas in JUNE

I woke up rather sick this morning. I was nauseous, with a headache and could not stop sniffling and sneezing. I was sure that the rest of the day was going to be a complete mess. I went to sick call just to find out that sick call was only a half hour each morning and again in the afternoon. The rest of the day is for appointments only. I had missed the morning's half hour window. I was just about to come back to my room and lay down when I was told, by the mail clerk, that I had some packages come in. He said, "Some tools and stuff" and I suddenly felt like a million bucks. The fever was no longer and issue, the sniffles dried up and I was no longer feeling sick. The nausea was the only thing that did not fully go away. I can live with that.

I had asked Adam, a friend of mine, to purchase some tools and supplies for me. I 10" RIGID compound miter saw, a Milwaukee circular saw and an assortment of Deck Mate screws and an assortment of Paslode nails for my DeWalt Nail Gun. I received it all today. Adam, you are "THE MAN." thanks a million.

One more project in the history books

Last week the Battalion got some new furniture to replace the stuff that was falling apart. The furniture is made here in Afghanistan by the locals. The commanders office received a new wall locker. It s about 4 feet wide and feet tall and has two doors tha swing out with three shelves inside. It looks really nice, but, the stain that was used to stain and seal it has a really strong odor to it. It was causing the commmander to have headaches is was so strong. He asked me if I knew of a way to get rid of the smell and so we put it outside in the sun for a few days to bake it. Well, that did not work, it was still too strong. I then suggested that I could build him one if he wanted. He did not hesitate on second. Thus, a new project was born.


I finished it today. I did add a bit of a personal touch to it. The colonel asked if I could put some shelves on the outside of the wall locker to fill the space on either side of the cabinet, where it is going to be sitting. It worked out better than I imagined. I think I am going to start building things at home once I get there. I think I can refurnish my entire house with some really cool stuff. LOL

My inspiration comes from a friend of mine back home, Don. He lives across the alley from me. He is constantly building things in his garage. His entire house is full of furniture that he has built. I go across the alley regularly to visit him and watch him work. It has paid off. I have accomplish something that even I was not sure I could do. Thanks Don. I learned a lot from watching you do your magic.

It is the Army's bithday this weekend

It looks like we are going to have a cookout this weekend. I am really close to finishing the Alamo Forward. I am still waiting for the lights to arrive so that I can set the wires in the correct places.

Being the Battalion R&U is a great job. I am rather happy with what all I have on my plate now. The only problem is the new mayor. He is on a real power trip. The first thing he did was change the combo on the front door of the mayor cell. Now he is parking the John Deere Gator where I was parking my truck, just to be a pain in my A$$. I think he hates the fact that I got a job that I enjoy and he just sits behind the desk. He hated the fact that I worked while I was the Mayor. It meant that he had to work too.

I can not count the number of times he complained about my projects. He constantly said "That is not the Mayor's job. Turn in a work order and let KBR do it." I saw all the pending work orders and some of them had been pending since we got here. I just went and did the work and cancelled the work orders. That made him mad, but, he has no spine, though. He never tells people anything to their face. He always just talks crap about them to others behind their backs. And when I confronted him about throwing me under the bus a few times, he pretended that he did not know what I was talking about.

Any way, these are the pictures of the latest updates to the project.

We have an interesting predicament.

Today, I was shocked to find out that all of the lumber that I have worked for was gone. I built the Marines a gazebo so that I could have the left over lumber that they ordered. That was the deal I worked out with the Major that was in charge. Imagine my surprise when I went back there to see how much lumber I had to work with for the next project and I found that there was not even one of the 2x10x16s left in the stack. I promptly went on a search mission and found that the lumber had been used to build a deck in between a row of B-huts. And it was not even a deck that is worthy of being called a deck. He nailed the 2x10’s to some pallets and called it good. What a waste of quality lumber.

Imagine my surprise when I found out that the person who had taken all that lumber, without even so much as a please may I, was a soldier in my own unit. I had a talk with the man and he seemed to have no remorse what so ever. He will be surprised to learn, tomorrow, that the lumber will be returned to me one way or another. Especially since that lumber has been planned for this other project for more than a month. The IEW shop has been waiting patiently for their outdoor work platform and I am not about to let them down.

It appears that this person has been known to do things like this in the past. He has no regard for other people’s property. If he wants something and he finds it, he takes it, as though it was put there just for him to take it. Not much I can do about that at this point. I blame it on a poor upbringing. He is too old to retrain now. LOL Not to mention that he, too, is an NCO.

I finally picked up the last of the materials for the completion of the Alamo Forward. I hope to have it done in a few days so I can move on to that project for the IEW Shop. After that one is done, I will probably end up going down range to fill an order for some construction on a few of the FOBs that we are manning. I am kind of looking forward to getting out of BAF for while. I really want to see the country side. It is really beautiful here in the valleys where the water keeps things green this time of year.

Another project complete

While I am waiting for a resupply of materials for the completion of the Alamo Forward, I decided to take care of some of the other projects that were put on the back burner. I make a weapons rack in the arms room to store the 240 Bravo machine guns on. Up till now, they have been just stacked on the floor and constantly in the way. It seemed that every time we needed something out the arms room, it happens to be just where the 240B's are setting. Well that is no more. I made a rack that can hold 26 of them and not be in the way of anything else.

Once I was finished with that, I started on a "shore board" I am not sure how to describe it except that it is a device that is used to measure babies' and young children's height. It is a board onto which you place the baby in the correct position and once you lower the top, the medics can determine the correct height of the child. I do not have any pictures of it yet, but, I will get some and post them at a later date. I will say this. I just saved the Government over $1000.00. As it turns out, the boards that I made cost around $425.00 EACH and it costs $150 a pair to ship.

The only reason this even happened was because it was going to take too long to get the company to ship it out here. I was approached by one of the medical company NCO's and asked if I knew any one that could possibly build a couple of these. I figured I would try. I turned out to be a real success. Just so you know, I love saving tax payer money. There is nothing more frustrating, to me, than to see how much we are charged for the simplest little thing once the seller discovers that it is the "government" that is footing the bill. The sad thing is that we are teaching this to the locals as well.

We have a new Commander

We had a change of command ceremony today. The Battalion Commander (BC) has been called to a new mission and has been replaced by the Executive Officer (XO). We did the formal ceremony this morning. It was not too bad. The speeches were held to a minimum by all the people involved. Of course they all started with the obligatory “I will keep this short" statement and then they all went into a monologue that lasted a little longer than they said it would, but, it was not too bad. And in most cases, the speeches were actually relevant to the ceremony. I have some pictures, but, not with me. I will down load them from my camera later and post them.

I also have some update about what is going on with me here at BAF. I am still the Project Guy here, but, I am also the Mayor again, just not officially. I still do all the Mayor Cell things that I did before, except for the stuff that involves dealing with the Billeting office. That is being handled by my assistant. I am, however, not in my office much lately because of the Alamo Forward. This makes things easier.

The Alamo Forward is coming right along. I have hit a stopping point due to supply issues. It seems that we have a thief on post. I was hit for 35 sheets of plywood and then I found out that the same night some other units also were hit and lost plywood and other things like 2x4's and 2x6's. I now have to wait for a resupply of materials to finish the Gazebo. I will get some pictures of that as well, once I am finished, and post them on here.

It also looks like I am going to be getting leave after all. This in not for sure yet, but, I was told that it is looking like some leave slots are going to open up either in August or September. I do not know if I even want to look forward to that right now with the way things are going. I hate to get my hopes up because things are so fluid here that nothing is for sure until it is actually happening.