Had to tell..

OK so two posts in one day may be two many (get the pun?), but there were a few things I forgot. First, a story.

Everyday, we move stuff that is packed on pallets. These pallets are about an inch thick and made of solid aluminum. There is however, no space when they are laid on the ground, (this is an important fact). Usually, these are brought to us on forklifts who set them on the back of the aircraft's ramp and we push them over rollers onto the jet. Last night, we were supposed to pick up three pallets. There were only two forklifts, so each had one pallet, and the third was on the cement a ways behind the aircraft. The first two loaded easily and it was time for the third. The forklift guy couldnt quite get the two tines (the forks on the front of the forklift) under the pallet due to the aforementioned lack of clearance. so his idea was to get a running start at it and use speed to ram the tines under the pallet. As we saw him back up like 40ft, we all looked at each other like, 'no way is he gonna do this'. Sure enough, he kicks it into high gear and slams the gas. The forklift was surprising like fast and reached the pallet at about 15mph maybe a bit more. Unfortunately, the tines were not quite flat on the ground, so when they hit the pallet, it pushed back and they jumped up, ramming straight through the bags, boxes and cases loaded on the bottom of the pallet. He had enough speed that he buried the thing to the hilt before he could stop. Slowly, he did the back of shame and successfully retried at a slower speed. We couldn't help but break out laughing. When we got the pallet loaded, sure enough, there were two big holes in the boxes on the bottom. Wow, what a bad idea, but it was a nice change of pace for us.

Almost April..

Well, its almost April. Spring in Kyrgyzstan is very fickle. It snowed six inches the other day, then was 65 the next. Its actually quite a beautiful country when the grass starts to grow and things turn green. I really wish I could explore more here. Everyday we fly over this huge mountain range, (I think its the northern end of the himalayas actually), and there is one road that twists and turns its way from the valley of green all the way up and over to a basin still covered in the white blanket of winter. Its so foreign to see just one road cutting its way for miles through the white snow. It goes north up to another town which is only visible when we fly at night. I wonder what life is like in these little towns that sit 30,000 ft below me. Is growing up there anything like in America? Do they have awkward highschool years and do they dream about seeing the world? I would love to get a car and just drive around to see what its like at 3:00 on a thursday. Oh well maybe someday.

Life here on Manas is good. Lots of flying still. There's a lot of talk about what we will do for the second half in terms of location. They want to mix up the crews to avoid complacency so I will probably be moving. Hopefully to turkey. Keep your fingers crossed. haha. Operation "get huge" is going pretty well. Still hitting one or two protein shakes a day, but the cookies at the chow hall have slowly worked their way into my diet which cant help. Gotta re-steele myself, after all, its only month two!

The new-ness is definitely starting to wear off. I'm enjoying it still, because I worked so long to get here, but I am definitely starting to look at this life from a more objective perspective. No conclusions yet, I'm just beginning to see it as a job more and am trying to see what direction I want to go with it. Otherwise, I do love flying, and think I will be a pretty decent A/C...someday.

Night into Day

Last night on my way in to 'The Ghan', I noticed a bright light on the horizon in an otherwise pitch black night. I wondered, as we flew towards it, what it could be all the way out here. We had flown over numerous decent sized cities and they weren't nearly as bright. Then I thought, maybe the moon is rising from that direction. But as we approached the surreal sight, I realized that it was an American airbase. Lit up so brightly that I saw the hue from 100 miles away. It was pretty crazy to think about the impact of our presence here. So much technology and resources that this area of the world has never seen. It was impressive to see the strength of our country this far away from home. A full up city, built in the middle of nowhere. Hundreds of planes flying in and out everyday. I'm beginning to see a similar impact here in Kyrgyzstan.

Today we had some local talent come on base for st. Patty's day and we got to see some of their traditional outfits and hear some traditional music. It was actually pretty fun. But on the flip side, the people who do get to come on base get to see american culture, from espn on tv to the shop that sells clothes from the states. We have flat screen tv's and computers everywhere. Every tent has heating and a/c. It must be somewhat awe inspiring to see for the local Kyrgy. On a side note, there was a woman performing tonight who was one of the most talented people I have EVER seen. This woman started off playing Vivaldi's four seasons on the violin, perfectly, then played a traditional song on some sort of native guitar, and finished by singing Whitney Houston's 'I will always love you' note for note. Needless to say, it was impressive. it was so nice to hear such great music, and I really don't think i've ever seen or heard anyone play Vivaldi that well live. It was amazing.

And don't worry, I did get a green beer for St. Patty's day. As well as a cigar with a general and a full bird army colonel at this little officers party tent. It was pretty fun. All of the bases commanders were out behind the tent smoking stogies, drinking green beers and telling stories. Ahh the deployed life. Tonight, was a good night.

Back 'home'

So I made it back 'home'. I guess this place is starting to feel like home a little. Or maybe its just a heck of a lot better than being stuck in a tent sleeping on mattresses that are still wrapped in plastic. The weather here is getting a lot better. It snowed last thursday, but today it felt like it was up in the 60's, not too shabby for ol' mother russia.

The daily life is really starting to set into a groove, minus the always changing flying schedule. I started my masters class (basic finance for managers), which should be fairly interesting and give me something to do that is a bit more stimulating than watching another movie I have burned on my laptop-again. The flying schedule, which was nice and regular, has recently turned to chaos. Our jets keep having maintenance problems and we get cancelled at the last minute or pushed back a few hours. Needless to say this reeks havoc on our sleep schedules. The other day I'm pretty sure I was up for like 30hrs. I'm not sure because they all seemed to blur together at the end. Hopefully it'll return to a more predictable schedule soon or everyone is gonna get burnt out.

My big focus while I'm here (and everyone's because its really the only thing to do) has been working out. Everyone is taking this supplement called N.O. EXPLODE. Which is pretty awesome. Somehow it basically makes you have to workout whether or not you or your body wants to. I'm sure that it comes at some sort of cost to my liver, but hey it could use a work out too right? So it is that I have a small drug lab in my room of supplements, protein powders and vitamins. Every day I feel a little bit like a mad scientist mixing all my drinks up in precise amounts at specific times-anything to keep the mind focused. So far, I'm not the hulk, but I'm workin on it.

Its only 4 weeks in and I find myself already thinking about home. Seeing family, friends, and hopefully oregon in the summer. I'm really excited to spend summer in NorCal too because there is so much to do there. I'm wouldn't say homesick, but definitely more appreciative of what I have back there. I keep thinking about going sailing, even though I've only been like 4 times. I really enjoyed the purity of just me, the wind and the water. There's something very organic about constant push of the water against the rudder in your hand as the wind guides you across the bay.

Another task I've taken on while out here is to read Dostoevsky's 'The Brothers Karamazov'. Its about a million pages so I hope all this time off will give me opportunity to finish it. I have tried several times before, but never gotten past half way. So far, I really enjoy it. I seem to be getting a lot more out of it than I have in the past.

Otherwise not a whole lot is new here. The blazers are really close to a playoff berth, and I will have to find a way to watch their games if they make it in. The Braves have a lot of old guys on their roster, so I'm pretty sure its gonna be another season of being in contention till about 3/4 way through then they will all break down and we will slide into obscurity. Only time will tell.

Stuck.

Well, here I am stuck in Kuwait. Its not too bad at night. The weather actually reminds me of palm springs a little bit. Even during the day, if i werent surrounded by rocks, sand and tents, I might think I were there-if there were more mountains I guess. We were only supposed to be here 24hrs, but our jet didnt show up so we cant fly it back. So here I am, with nothing to do in a place where nothing to do is the real enemy. So I read. I surf the web. I facebook stalk people I havent seen in years. I go to the store and do ANOTHER shelf check, nope nothing I need showed up in the 3 hours since I was last here. Off to the gym. Another workout? why not. Kill one more hour. now to the chow hall. How amazing, the lunch food has been magically reconfigured into dinner food. yes! I really liked the mystery meat anyway. Well now i've used up all my time killers....I guess its off to bed....again.

The start...

Well, here's my blog. I'm not sure what to say, or if anyone cares, but I get a lot of thinking time out here and thought it might be good for my own records. So far, I've been here about 2.5 weeks. It's been really interesting living out here for sure. It seems like a lot of things have been evoking feelings that I didnt expect. How beautiful the snow covered mountains of Afghanistan are, or the million stars you can see with night vision goggles just prior to a tactical arrival down range. The real-time hard fact sight of dropping off 150+ marines in full battle gear to a rugged dirt covered airbase and the feeling of being in 'it'.

I'm currently at an old soviet base. It has been really interesting to see the history of the cold war all around me. The structures all have a similarity to the US, but not quite the polish. We are safe here. But we are also definitely in helping the cause. The food is ok, once a week we have a pasta bar and that is delicious, otherwise, pretty basic cafeteria food, (thank god its not MRE's tho). I live in a dorm room size room that I was able to bunk the beds in, which gives me a lot more space. The internet isnt bad. So far Ive got a pretty good routine going: Fly, workout, eat, sleep, repeat. Pretty simple life, which is enjoyable and we are flying everyday which is also nice. I'm getting a lot more comfortable in the jet and becoming a pretty decent co-pilot.

I guess that'll do for now, I'll try to post every couple days or so, cause I have not a lot to do.

-A