Still Alive!

Still in Iraq but going home sooooooon! This site was blocked on my government computer for awhile but, apparently, I can access it again, so I'll catch everyone up.
Here what has happened since I last posted, in no particular order:

Joe, that civilian contractor, ended up getting FIRED....I called that one, didn't I?

I went to another NCO of the Quarter Board and won! I get a 4-day pass, a coin (it's an Army thing), and a Certificate of Achievement (worth 5 promotion points).

I went to the Promotion Board for Staff Sergeant! No thanks to my lazy Platoon Sergeant, by the way. I talked to the First Sergeant myself and convinced him that I was ready. I was recommended for promotion with a score of 150 out of 150.

The new hangar that was being built is done and we have moved into trailers next door to it. I have a window AND an air conditioner. I haven't seen any mice yet.

I have moved out of my nice barracks and into the transitional barracks, since our replacement unit has arrived. It is made entirely of plywood and the bathroom and showers are about 100 feet away. Not too bad! There are a family of mice living there, though...

I will not comment on the deployment extensions the Army is implementing because I do not know how it is affecting my unit yet.

I do miss writing this blog. It has helped me vent about people in my unit and the stupid things I have had to deal with out here. Thanks to everyone that reads it, and I am sorry it took me so long to update. Take care!

Megan

Siccccckkkk

I am getting over an illness that lasted about 3 days. Some guy I had Guard Duty with last week gave it to me, I think. They let me leave work a few hours early yesterday, which was pretty nice. Tuesday was my day off and I couldn't even get out of bed to walk to the DFAC. I only get sick about once a year and, when I do, I am the biggest baby around. But I am feeling much better now!

There is a new batch of Air Force females living in our barracks and they are OUT OF CONTROL. The hallway and bathrooms are nasty, there is NEVER any hot water because they each take 30 minute showers, and one was caught sneaking around in my room the other day. She said she was "looking for a bed"....they are assigned rooms when they first get here and ours was NOT it (they don't mix the Army with the Air Force for a few different reasons).

My roommate is getting promoted to Sergeant next week. She wants me to pin her rank on her in the ceremony (well, I guess it's not really pinning anymore, because we have velcro with the new Army uniforms)...I will post some pictures if I can get my hands on some! I should be getting some accolades myself that day for getting that 2nd place in the Noncommissioned Officer of the Quarter Board last month. I will be very interested to see if the unit actually lets me take the 3-day pass that is one of my prizes.

Rainy Days

This is what happens in Iraq when it rains:

The average annual rainfall for this country is only around 4-7 inches. The ground over here is weird though; a lot of the rain just sits on top of it and causes huge puddles everywhere. There is a lake outside the hangar that used to be a parking lot. Below WAS a road made of rocks...you can't really see it anymore, though.

Movie Night!

No PT tonight! My roommate and I are watching Talladeja Nights and pigging out on Pizza Hut! It is still raining pretty hard and I volunteered to get the pizza tonight. Riding a mile, each way, on my bike in the pouring rain - not the smartest thing I have done out here!

I am leaving work right now to head back to the Barracks and put all my wet-weather gear on...

Yuck

It's been raining out all day and the hangar is leaking water everywhere :(

I am also pretty sure there is a dead mouse in my office somewhere. I smell "death" again.

Follow-Up

So, remember what I said yesterday about getting into an argument with that civilian contractor? Well, immediately following the altercation, I went and reported it to his boss. She had me write a sworn statement, which even SOUNDS serious. I guess she is going to report it to HER boss. I don't think anything is going to happen to him; I don't really care. My commander asked me if I wanted him to try to get Joe fired, and I said no. With his attitude and work ethic, he doesn't need anyone else bringing him down, he is doing that all on his own. His boss told me that she directed him to apologize to me yesterday, which never happened. I don't even want an apology. I just want him to do his job, that's it!

Just a little background about this weirdo: I don't know if he does anymore, but he was very interested in me before we came out here. EVERYTIME he got drunk, he would talk non-stop to our mutual friends about how the guy I was dating wasn't right for me and that I was being stupid. He piggybacked on a weekend road trip to Florida with a group of my friends, then proceeded to act like a psycho the whole time, which is a long, strange tale I won't get into. Almost a month after the Florida debacle, he called me, hammered, and apologized for his behavior because he was looking at me like a "girlfriend" instead of a friend. I never gave this guy any inclination that I was interested in him and, on several occasions, went out of my WAY to show him I was not.

So, I pretty much think now that he has been waiting for something like this to happen so he could flip out on me and get out his anger because I "rejected" him back in the day. Oh well, I hope he got it out of his system, because I already have enough to deal with out here.

I Heart Civilian Contractors

The only thing I hate about my job is that I have to depend ALOT on other people to do THEIR jobs. One of the things I do is send back unserviceable parts to the Depot. Each part has a tag attached to it (by the person that took it off the UAV) saying what is wrong with it and all that. If they don't fill out the tag, I have no idea what is wrong with the thing and can't do MY paperwork to get it out of here. In the past week, I have had problems with that on THREE different occasions with the same guy. His name is Joe*. Twice, I have had to search around the hangar to find the part I was trying to send back, and the other time, he took 5 days to fill out the tag. *Side note: it takes literally SECONDS to fill out a green tag* I run a tight ship in my section and, usually, the bad part is sent out the same day it goes bad.

Well, to make a long story short, I confronted him about it this morning and an argument ensued, to include him cursing at me more than once. That makes me so mad; why are you going to get mad at me because YOU didn't do YOUR job and I called you out on it? Especially since he is a civilian. He makes over 3x as much money as I do for being over here and most of the time I have to interrupt him as he is playing a computer game to get stuff done. Not to mention the utter lack of respect and professionalism. Do you really need to scream the F-word to get your point across?

Wheewwwww. Okay, I feel better now :)

*Names have NOT been changed to protect the lazy.

My Space

I was bored with my camera the other day, so I took some snapshots of my work area. Here is one of the ceiling of my office...whadja think I was exaggerating when I complained? The plywood ceiling (yes, I know I am spoiled) doesn't extend the whole office because that *wall* is actually a very large, tall, door. I don't use it anymore, though. It was starting to sway everytime I opened it and it was scaring me. That is a tarp that I installed to try and retain some of the heat my space heater is barely putting out. Oh, speaking of which, I have taken to storing that thing under my desk - it keeps my legs nice and toasty. I really doubt that it is hot enough to light my desk on fire or anything (I hope), but I turn it off when I'm not in there (if I remember). Anyway, if my office goes up in flames, it is just less UAV parts to pack up when we leave...Just kidding, taxpayers :-D I think it is about time for me to take that Christmas stocking off my door.

P.S. I lost the NCOQ competition - came in a close 2nd place. Boo!

Uh Oh

Today is the NCOQ Board! OMG, it's in like 3 hours. I should have studied more!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am freaking out.

In other news, how awesome is my Far Side daily calendar? =P

Time is FLYING!

I am definitely going through a period where time is flying (something like 120 days left!). It seems like it was just Christmas Day, and now it is New Year's Eve. I hope this continues for a while. I don't have much to say about Saddam's hanging except that, so far, it really hasn't changed anything about our daily lives - there have been no more and no less attacks on our FOB...business as usual.

Just when I thought I was almost done pulling Guard Duty, I went to a class yesterday to get briefed on pulling MORE Guard Duty. This time, we are pulling security at one of the gates surrounding our hangar. It has been closed since we got here because we didn't have enough people to guard it (and we still don't - trust me). The DFAC is almost right next door to the hangar, but the gate to get into our compound is ALLLLLLL the way around the other side. This gate opens up practically right in front of the DFAC and I guess the weather was getting too cold for the officers to keep walking that far way.

I am going to the Non-Commisioned Officer of the Quarter Board on Wednesday. This is where you go into a room, sit in a chair that is facing a table-full of senior NCOs, and they fire Army-based questions at you. It is pretty nerve wracking, especially since I have BARELY STUDIED any of the material yet. Yikes! If I win, I will get a Battalion Coin (the military is big on coins), a Certificate of Achievement from the Battalion Commander (not as impressive as it sounds), and a 4-day pass. The last time someone won the 4-day pass, they went to Qatar for the weekend. I guess they have a little base there with stuff to do. It would be a nice break!

Oh yeah, so tonight is New Years Eve? Means nothing to me out here; I will have already been sleeping for quite a few hours by midnight! I'll make up for it next year!