Happy Easter!!

Car & Roads: My job has me traveling to the adjacent FOBs and in order to get there, I have to borrow a vehicle. Unlike some of my buddies, I do not have a vehicle, so I borrow whatever I can get my hands on. Recently I have been driving a Toyota pickup truck. I know most of you think of a nice new truck when I say that, but no, this truck has seen some miles. I'll describe it: White, four-door, diesel powered 5-speed, 4-wheel drive with no radio and multiple dents. Wait, there's more: The seat is locked into one position (short), the inside rear-view mirror has been glued back in place but is very loose (everytime you hit a bump, it shakes like the dickens), the right rear window does not roll up, and oh yeah, the whole rear window is missing...so we always have good airflow when we drive. It rattles, humms and pulls to the left down the road and I think the shocks should have been replaced about 3 years ago. Other than that, it's very reliable and it gets me around (when I can borrow it). So, the other day, I needed to pick up my hard drive from HQ and I borrowed the truck. Remembering that it doesn't have a radio, I thought it might make for a better ride if I had some music. I grabbed my portable Sony speakers and my iPod shuffle. Now that's combat problem solving at it's finest! The ride was much more enjoyable and one of the gate guards caught me rocking out and had a laugh. The roadways over here are horrible. I live about 4 miles from headquarters, but because of the roads, the speed limit and the heavy trucks, it takes anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes to get from here to there. There are potholes big enough to mess up any front end alignment. Some of the roads are so bumpy, it's better to drive on the median. These are just the roads that are on-base....I can't imagine what the roads on the outside look like.

Cat & Rats: The cat has become a true palace KING. He meows loudly to get into any closed door and just the other day she caught a bird outside and delivered it to the Admin folks as a gift. We told him NO, go for the Rats instead. There have been no rat sightings since the arrival of the cat. The guys have been talking about naming the cat "Chuck Norris" that way they could apply all the Chuck Norrisism to him. If you haven't read any of these, you should, some are pretty funny. For example, the guy I am relieving made one up: "Chuck Norris doesn't Sh!t in the catbox, he IS the Sh!t in the catbox." If you have read any of the other Navy Bloggers from Iraq, one of them talks about a Chuck Norris Lattrine near where we did our CREW training. I've been there and some of the posts are pretty funny: "Chuck Norris doesn't sleep, he waits."

Surprises: Yesterday I taught a class at HQ and when I arrived I was told I had a package. I grabbed it and put it in the truck. When I got home there was yet another package sitting at my desk. My thanks to my Wife and my Mother....Not sure how they managed to get both packages here at the same time, but kudos. So, I had a feast of Girl Scout cookies and honey roasted cashews/peanuts. Thank You. I did share some of my Thin Mints and Cafe Cookies with the gang in OPS....the two boxes were gone within the hour. :) I'll share some more soon.

As always I am thinking of my loved ones and I miss you all. Oh yeah, Happy Easter!!

The pictures are of the "Chuck Norris" (the one with my buddies boots are to assess size) and the lobby of the castle.