The last time I managed to post to my blog, the debt crisis was in full swing, Republicans and Democrats couldn't get along, the President's approval ratings were in the toilet, and I was still in Baghdad.
Maybe things haven't changed as much as I thought. In the last 6 weeks it seems like a lot has been going on here, but the outside world seems to be in the same general state it was then. One big difference is that I've moved from Baghdad out west, to a base called Al Asad. I can't really go in depth regarding the reasons but suffice to say that someone in high places thought it was a good idea.
It's not bad here though. The weather is a bit cooler than in Baghdad due to lower humidity (and getting cooler every day), there aren't any rocket attacks (at least not yet), and my walking commute has dropped from 24 to 2 minutes, which is a SIGNIFICANT time saver. I'm also fully recovered from a tweaked neck suffered throwing around moderately sized weights, so I'm getting back into a good workout routine.
The base was one of the jewels of Saddam's Air Force. It's gigantic in scope, with a couple big runways, miles of taxiway, and several hardened aircraft shelters that used to house MiG fighter planes. My boss remembers flying over the base in his F-15 during the first Gulf War, getting shot at by surface to air missiles. Now we're here living in old Iraqi spaces 20 years later. Interesting how things turn out.
I'm proud to report that in the 5+ weeks since my last post, I've gone over the halfway point in this odyssey. In fact, I'm almost 2/3 of the way done. If I'm lucky, I'll be home to watch the NFL playoffs and college bowl games.
Speaking of football, let me spend a few minutes talking about the sports viewing experience over here, particularly watching football. As you are probably aware, we're 7 hours ahead of Eastern time, which means the noon college football games start at 7 pm. On Sundays, the NFL kicks off at 8 pm. There are positives and negatives to this arrangement. One good thing is that we're usually mostly done with work by 7 or 8 pm, so we're able to watch the games. Another is that we generally take the morning off on Sunday, which allows us to sleep in after a late night of football. The biggest negative comes from the primetime games, which start between 8 and 9 pm on the East coast which means they start between 2 and 3 am here. Most of you know how much I like to watch football, so you can imagine the extremes I'm forced to go to for viewing these games. Last night for example, I went to bed around 10:30 pm and woke up 4 hours later to lay in bed and watch the Buckeyes stink up the field against Miami. Tonight I will probably stay up until 1:30 or 2:00 am watching the NFL. Of course, all complaining about the schedule aside, one great positive of being here (or at any overseas base) is the American Forces Network, or AFN. Each week AFN gets its pick of college and NFL games, and broadcasts as many as possible. For instance, tonight at 8 pm we get the Cardinals and Redskins, along with the Bears and Saints. We're not locked into any regional games or subject to blackouts. For the late games, we'll get all three matchups while most areas of the US will only get 1, maybe 2 games. It's the next best thing to DirecTV. The only negative associated with AFN is its commercials. Because AFN is not a for-profit network, they can't show normal commercials. This means that they fill the time with public service announcements about everything from the Base Legal Office (Ashley's favorite kind!) to different events going on in US Air Forces Europe (the source of our feed). When we were stationed in Europe and Asia I always thought the commercials were horrible and couldn't get any worse. I was wrong. Seeing the PSAs on travelling around Europe, and knowing I can't go see any of the cities, is way worse than what we had to deal with before! Needless to say, I'm really excited for the NFL and college games to be back in full swing. The games give us something to look forward to each week, and it's nice knowing that as the season draws to a close that will be a signal that it is time to head home.
I think I've mostly caught you up to speed on what's been going on out here. There has been a lot of news regarding whether we'll stay here past 2011 and I can tell you that we are still planning to "go to zero", and that anything that comes from Washington will be a joint decision between the U.S. and Iraq. I don't think their citizenry wants us here any more than most Americans want us here, but leadership on both sides believes that the fragile gains that have been made will not be sustained without further training and assistance.
I plan to get back to a once a week posting schedule at the least, we'll see if there's anything more interesting to post in the interim. Until the next time, take a second to wish the Air Force Happy Birthday. The service turned 64 today...
