Behind the Wall of Sleep
Tuesday, 22 January 2008
Waiting patiently... More or less.
It's 1558hrs here. Mandy's gonna pick me up at 2100hrs for the ride to the airport. I figure we'll get there around 2145hrs. So, that's about 3 hours that I'll sit in the Kuwait airport wating for my plane and my 14 hour trip.
Climbed out of bed today around 1030 or 1100hrs, give or take. Hopped on the elevator to the ground floor and made my way over to the sauna. Spent about 45 minutes in there before I stumbled out, all dizzy and weak-kneed... I love sauna's. I'm gonna have to have one built in the backyard. Showered and returned upstairs to get dressed.
Walked down to the beach again and took a bunch of pictures. I think I have enought to give Kuwait its own page on the website. I'll work on that when I get back to Texas, which will be tomorrow, 1445hrs Texas time.
Posted by Stu
at 7:06 AM CST
Monday, 21 January 2008
Monday's Road Trips
I slept for about an hour... Remember when, back at Taji, I mentioned my friend Carlton and his ability to snore louder than Pop and Bob both put together? Yeah, I met someone who might give him a run for his money. GEEZ LOUISE!!!! I got in bed sometime after midnight and I think I fell asleep sometime around 5am. Then of course everyone else in the apartment (who had slept peacfully in other rooms) got up, turned on the TV, made breakfast, walked around, talked, etcetera, etcetera, ad nauseum.
Mandy picked us up around 1030hrs for the hour or so nightmare ride to Ali Al Salem. Nightmare, you ask? I'm telling you... THESE PEOPLE CAN NOT DRIVE!! The most exciting moment was when the truck in front of us slowed down rather quickly and we went from about 160kph to 90kph, then the truck swerved to the left and I saw it. "Couch," I said rather calmly. Mandy swerved just in time to avoid it. A couch. In the middle of the highway. That definately got the adrenaline flowing and I woke up quite nicely after that.
Got to Ali, picked up our passports, ate lunch (McD's for me) and got back on the "frightway" for our return trip. An hour later I was safe in the confines of the apartment.
Called Mac and he picked me up about 2 hours later. We drove over to Fahaheel, another suburb of Kuwait City. It's a shopping district. Lots of shops, lots of people wanting to sell you "Rolex's", "Tag Heur's", "Prada's" and other knockoffs. I got some pics and we were back on the road headed to downtown Kuwait City to see the Grand Mosque.
The Grand Mosque is well, quite grand. It's the biggest Mosque in Kuwait. We braved the traffic on foot, Mac was almost killed but, I did get some decent shots of it.
Suppertime and we headed over to Chili's. I had fajitas, Mac had a monster fajita pita. It's right next to the Kuwait Towers so I got some cool night pictures of them (see below) after we ate.
He dropped me off at the apartment and we said our goodbyes (I miss my bro and wish we could spend a little more time together). I got on Skype and spoke with Tab and the boys for about 45 minutes. After, I called Mom and we talked for about 20 minutes before the line cut out.
I downloaded the pics from my camera, uploaded a few to JPG Mag, surfed through JPG looking at some of the other cool pics there, then took a shower and here I now sit, once again.
It's about 0043hrs and getting close to the time for me to hit the sack (my snoring roomie left tonight to catch his plane). Hopefully, I'll get a little sleep.
Posted by Stu
at 3:48 PM CST
Sunday, 20 January 2008
My Sunday in Kuwait City
Woke up and toodled around the apartment for a while. Grabbed the camera and walked around outside then over to the park at the beach on the Persian Gulf. Collected a few shells as well as pictures then back to the apt.
Mac picked me up and took me to the Kuwait Towers; very cool. We got our tickets and rode the elevator to the observation deck. You get a real good view of Kuwait City, it's just too bad that it was a hazy day and the windows were a bit dusty. Still, I got some 1/2way decent pictures.
We then went to one of the malls here. It's like going to the Galleria but everything is in Arabic as well as English. Went to the Harley store and picked up a shirt for my BL as well as a book for my beautiful bride.
After that we picked up Carlotta, Mercedes and her friend Paris. Then it was off to the the Hard Rock Cafe for supper. I haven't had a steak in over 3 months... It was good. Not great but good. But considering that I've had to go without for a while, it hit the spot. Picked up a couple of goodies for my boys then it was back to Mac's place to drop off the girls. Mac drove me back to the hotel and I'll see them at least once more before I fly.
Skyped with Tab, took a long shower, uploaded some pics to JPG Mag and now here I sit, just about ready for bed.
Posted by Stu
at 3:24 PM CST
Updated: Monday, 21 January 2008 5:45 AM CST
Saturday, 19 January 2008
Kuwait III
Well, I'm back in Fintas, Kuwait @ the ESP apartment. My flight was delayed so the team that was supposed to pick me up and bring me here had left by the time I got to Ali Al Salem. They said they weren't coming back and that I would have to stay there overnight and into the next day. I cannot begin to describe how cheesed off I was at this. So, what's a Stu to do? Well since Mac is here and he and I are presidents of the others Mutual Admiration Society, I called him. He was more than happy to come and get me (unlike my ESP brethren).
We talked and caught up on family events for the ride back and then he dropped me off here at the apartment. The apartment's ok but I'd rather be in Mosul with all my stuff and my buds. Too bad you've gotta come back through Kuwait to get back home (I do not like Kuwait).
The next few days will consist of me getting cleared out of Kuwait and then hanging with Mac, Carlotta and Mercedes before I catch my flight at 0040hrs on Wednesday morning. They want to take me to the Kuwait Towers. So, we'll be going over there either tomorrow or Monday. I am not however, looking forward to Kuwait City traffic... These people CAN NOT drive. And they do it rather quickly while flashing their lights and laying on their horns.
I'm tired... Going to bed now. G'night.
Posted by Stu
at 2:05 PM CST
Friday, 18 January 2008
Packed
Today was like any other day around here, with one exception; I packed my bags. I fly out of Mosul tomorrow morning and will arrive in Kuwait tomorrow afternoon. I'll be there until Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. I fly out of Kuwait at 0040hrs. It's a 14 hour flight to Washington DC. Then a 2.5 hour layover followed by a 3.5 hour flight to DFW. Then it's 45 minutes to Killeen. Tab and the boys are picking me up at the airport at 1415hrs. I'll be home for 2 weeks... And loving it.
I watched I Am Legend tonight, the Will Smith version. It's a good movie but it had some serious deviations from the book. Vincent Price's The Last Man on Earth is much, much closer to the actual story with one exception being that they changed Robert Neville's name. I think my favorite version is still The Omega Man with Charleton Heston. Yes, it also deviated from the original story but, I saw that movie when I was very young, before reading the book, and it has been one of my favorite SciFi movies of all time. As a matter of fact, ol' Charlie Heston has starred in 3 of my favorites. The other two being Soylent Green and of course one of the greatest movies ever, Planet of the Apes.
The Omega Man was finally released in special editon DVD last November and one of the first things I intend to do when I get home is buy it and watch it with Tab and Mike, CW is still a bit young to see it though, I think. He does however love the Apes movies, as do Tab and Mike. I am the head nerd of an all-nerd family... 
And we're cool with that!
Posted by Stu
at 1:09 PM CST
Thursday, 17 January 2008
My video conference with Tab's class
Today I spoke, via Skype, to Tab's morning and afternoon classes about Iraq. It was a lot of fun. She came up with this really cool idea last week and asked if I would be interested. "Heck yes!" was my response. So, I prepared a little slide show that showed them about the geography, population, geology, cuisine, culture, sports and art of Iraq. After the slide show we opened up the floor for questions. Man, what an array of questions. I had everything from big political questions, "How did this war start?" to the more ordinary question of "Are there dogs over here and do I like them?" The the typical questions of "What's the food like, How many friends do I have, Do I like it over here, What's my job" were also on the list. The kids seemed to enjoy and so did I. It was a fun way to spend the night and quite a change from just sitting here watching DVD's.
Other than that, my day was like any other... Cold. Once it starts to heat up I'm sure we'll all be wishing it was Winter again.
Posted by Stu
at 1:17 PM CST
Wednesday, 16 January 2008
der Mittwoch
Nothing exciting today. Woke up at 0645hrs to call Tab but she was a bit under the weather and already asleep so, I went back to bed. Woke up at 1100hrs, got dressed and went to lunch with Justin over at Diamondback. Picked up my stuff from the Alterations Shop and returned to Marez.
Stopped by 1-8's TOC for a quick check then over to 3rd ACR's for the same. All is well in the world.
Supper was breaded pork that was as tough as shoe leather, yyyyuuuumy. Picked up laundry and returned to the hooch. Tried to get Justin's X-Box to talk to the switch in his room so he could play online but it turns out that X-Boxes do not play well with switches.
A quick shower, which fluctuated between Artic cold and Mantle-of-the-Sun hot, then I returned to the hooch to watch 3:10 to Yuma.
3:10 to Yuma is a good movie. It's hard not to have a good movie when its got Christian Bale, Russell Crowe and Peter Fonda in it. And on top of that it's based on a short story by Elmore Leonard. Gotta love it. It's one of Hollyweird's better remakes. The original was made in 1957 and starred Glenn Ford and Van Heflin.
The original: http://imdb.com/title/tt0050086/
The remake: http://imdb.com/title/tt0381849/
Elmore Leonard: http://imdb.com/name/nm0001465/ and http://www.elmoreleonard.com/
Posted by Stu
at 3:47 PM CST
Tuesday, 15 January 2008
My room here in Mosul
I just realized that the only picture of a room I have posted is the one from Taji. So, here's where I'm living now. And yes... They are pink curtains. Two chicks lived here before me and I haven't got around to changing them yet. Bite me.
Posted by Stu
at 10:33 AM CST
My problem children...
Finally got our new unit up and running their ISYSCON's with a little help from my friends back @ Ft Hood. Thanks to Carlton, Dave, Jamie, Jim, Melissa and Mitch.
After that I had chicken fried steak for lunch... At least that's what they called it. I ain't convinced, yet. Afterwards I met up with Justin and we went over to the airfield to finish some business for Pop. Later we stopped by the PX and the Alteration Shop (however those idiots didn't have my stuff ready). We came back, hung out for a bit then made our way back to the chow hall for supper. I had the chicken stir-fry with extra cayenne pepper. Then back to the AO, shower and blog. Here I sit. Trying to think of something eloquent to say to you, my loyal readers. Instead, I'll leave you all with a quote:
"May God have mercy upon my enemies; They will need it."
-General George S. Patton Jr.
Posted by Stu
at 10:09 AM CST
Monday, 14 January 2008
Mail Service and the Army Post Office...
Is a nightmare. Granted, we're in a war zone but, dang!! I received 2 boxes from my lovely wife today (thanks honey). One box was mailed almost 2 weeks ago and the other was mailed 6 days ago. And I get them both on the same day... Geez.
Just finished talking to Pop and now I'm on the phone with PawPaw. Geez, that old man can make me laugh my @$$ off. The delay between here and Houston had him all befuddled. So he started ending his sentences with "Over."
Let's see, today... After coffee I hung out here in the hooch for a while and then Justin, Marvin, Tom and I went to lunch, dropped off laundry and returned to our AO. Then Justin and I drove over to the PX and Haji shops where I took care of some things for Mom (sorry, no fleece but you should be getting a large package in the mail in about 2 weeks).
Took the truck over to the welders to get the passenger seat welded so that I wouldn't fall over backwards everytime Justin "Ricky Rudd" Hunt decided that we were moving to slowly and put the gas pedal through the floorboard. One of the brackets was broken and was causing me mental anguish.
After that, I skyped with my bride for about 10 minutes before she and the boys had to leave for school, went over to the AMC and found out I had two boxes to pick up, came back here, took a shower, cleaned my room (pay attention boys, even Dad cleans his room), sent emails to colleagues @ Ft Hood and started on this.
My "job" kicks butt...
Oh, I've also uploaded new photos to the "OIF Pics" page. You can take the shortcut here if you want to save yourself two clicks of the mouse.
Posted by Stu
at 11:18 AM CST
Sunday, 13 January 2008
I told ya Homeboy... Can't touch this.
Well, after one too many times passing that stop sign I finally downloaded MC Hammer's Greatest Hits. Yeah... I'm too legit, to quit. ;)
Another lazy Sunday. Woke up early and talked with my wonderful wife for about an hour, have I mentioned lately how much I love that woman? No? Ok... I love my wife, dearly. Still unsure as to what I did to deserve her but I'll take it. After talking with her I strolled over to the AMC and had coffee with Tino, Lloyd and Patrick. Returned to my hooch about 45 minutes later and goofed off until I noticed that Tab was still awake. Talked to her for a little while longer before I convinced her to go to sleep and then went to lunch with Justin and Tom (new guy). Shopping at the PX, Haji shops, talked with Mike (our resident Irishman), tried to find a vehicle for Tom, went to the flight line to take care of something for Pop, picked up laundry, returned to our AO, hooked up the innarweb for Tom and now I'm typing this. Exciting, huh??
Oh, and I'm jamming to my new MC Hammer tunes... They put me in tha mix!!!
Posted by Stu
at 6:07 AM CST
Updated: Sunday, 13 January 2008 6:30 AM CST
Friday, 11 January 2008
Snow
It snowed in Baghdad this morning. Snow. In Baghdad. Whereas up here in Mosul (where it's supposed to snow)... nada. The mountains to our North have received snow and on a clear day you can actually see it but still nothing here at the FOB. It's freakin' cold enough but I guess we'll have to continue to wait for our "winter wonderland."
Below is a picture of a stop sign here on the FOB. Every time I pass it I break out with, "Every time you see me the Hammer's just so hype. I'm dope on the floor and I'm magic on the mic..."
Posted by Stu
at 8:44 AM CST
Updated: Friday, 11 January 2008 8:59 AM CST
Thursday, 10 January 2008
Sleep
Slept for 10 hours last night. It's been a long time since that happened. I think that my accumulated lack of sleep as well as the Tylenol w/codeine and muscle-relaxers contributed to my shutting down last night at 2000hrs and not waking up until 0600hrs. Of course now, I've been dragging butt all day because I slept too much... I can't win.
Allow me to introduce Justin and Marvin. They cry and cry because they haven't been mentioned yet in the blog so, this is to shut them up. Happy now, guys?
Posted by Stu
at 9:48 AM CST
Monday, 7 January 2008
Freaking. Cold.
It's all of 24 degrees right now. It was actually below 20 last night. The water tanks are frozen, it's a good thing I shower in the evening. Lot's of people going without today.
It's starting off to be another "fun-filled" day here in Mosul. Cold. Dusty. Boring. I can hardly stand it...
Posted by Stu
at 11:42 PM CST
Changes
Made a few changes in format to the website, makes it a little more easy on the eyes. Also, there is a link to Tab's Blog, some pics from over here and a short video when you click the "Click Me" link.
Posted by Stu
at 6:30 AM CST
Sleep is a wonderful thing...
Well my body finally said, "Enough!" and I collapsed Saturday night and got about 7 real hours of sleep. Last night I got 6. I feel much better now.
It was 23-friggin'-degrees last night. All the puddles from the day before were frozen solid. Walking out of a nice warm hooch with a t-shirt, shorts and sandals at 0100hrs in 23-friggin'degree weather to walk down to the latrine is quite the eye-opener. It is COLD here. And then Tab tells me last night that it's 79 there at Ft Hood... What a bunch of crap.
Posted by Stu
at 4:27 AM CST
Saturday, 5 January 2008
Rain
Rained last night and now the entire FOB is one big soupy mess (dang near busted my butt). It looks like 1072 tons of chocolate ice cream melted and God spread it nice and evenly over the entire area.
For any of yall that have a Skype account; my username is stuman17. Mom and Tab also have accounts. It works for the most part, there are interuptions and dropped calls every once in a while.
I love my wife.
Boston Legal is one of the best shows on TV. Mom and Pop were kind enough to provide seasons 1 and 2 on DVD for Christmas. I got seasson 3 over here. If I were a woman I'd want to have William Shatner's babies.
Posted by Stu
at 11:29 AM CST
Updated: Monday, 7 January 2008 11:25 AM CST
Thursday, 3 January 2008
Thursday... Or is it Friday?
Grand total of 8 hours sleep over the past 5 nights. Woohoo. Eventually I guess I'll start hallucinating (at least then I'll have something to do).
Here's a satpic of the greater Diamondback/Marez area. Mosul proper is too friggin big to squeeze it all into one picture.
Posted by Stu
at 7:43 PM CST
Wednesday, 2 January 2008
2008 Already?!?
Well, finally have 1/2way reliable innarweb. 1/2way as in it shuts down every night from 2100 till 0700 the next morning. I'm two seconds from crushing the windpipes of about three Turks (they run the ISP here).
Anyhoo... Here's your update:
I'm in Mosul. Look on a map of the Middle East, find Turkey and go South into Iraq about 70 miles. Yeah, we're waaaay up here. The Tigris River runs through the city (not that I've seen it except from the window of a C-130 but still,) that's pretty cool. Another super cool thing about Mosul is that Jonah is buried here. Yes, THE Jonah... As in Jonah and the whale. Thousands of years ago Mosul was the city of Ninevah. God was going to destroy Ninevah (much like Sodom and Gomorrah), Jonah interceded and told the people that either they straighten up or God was going to raze the city. They straightened up.
There is also a Christian Monastary here that was built in 632 AD. The Knights Templar used it during the Crusades. HOW FRIGGIN' COOL IS THAT?!?!? I walked through it a couple of weeks ago with one of the Squadron Chaplains who is somewhat of an expert on it and learned quite a bit. It was awesome.
Folks have asked, "What's a typical day like for you?" Well, I'll make it sound as exciting as I can.
0700-1200hrs- Wake up at some point. Get dressed and walk around for a bit. Visit the TOC and check the systems.
1200-1300hrs- Lunch
1300-1700hrs- Go to the PX and/or "Haji Shops", drive around, visit with friends, go to the TOC and check systems again.
1700-1800hrs- Supper
1800-0700hrs- Check once more with TOC, read, crossword puzzle, watch movies/tv, email/blog/skype (until it goes out), listen to music, on some nights we play poker, try to stay sane and at some point sleep for 3 or 4 hours and do it all over again. Everyday. Yippee!!
And every second of every day my mind remains focused on my wife who is 7000 miles away.
That's a "typical" day. Other days, well... I can't talk about them on the internet. Use your imagination.
Oh, here's my address, some of you have asked for it:
Stuart Lloyd
AMC-LSE-F
ISYSCON, ESP Inc.
LSA Diamondback
APOAE 09334
That's all for today. Laters...
Posted by Stu
at 10:27 AM CST
Sunday, 30 December 2007
Holy Shiite!!!
I finally got some innarweb in my hooch... It's on now!!
Posted by Stu
at 10:25 AM CST
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