Road is a road is a road.

What an extremely busy past couple of days!  Things here are really picking up as the surge approaches and it's screwing up my fun - no gym, sleep or decent food lately and it's taking a toll my friends.  I would kill someone for fresh veggies that I had not seen earlier be touched by other's bare hands or the vacationing fly.  I feel like a slug and the heat doesn't help!  Maybe I simply am anxious to get out of this place for two entire weeks, but I've got to come up with a new program!

I really don't have anything new to add to the blog today.  After this past weekend's events, I am pretty much tuckered out but finally not so jumpy.  We have all been on edge a bit but it's getting back to normal here.  People are just astounded at what we've read on-line or lack thereof - the reporting was wildly inaccurate and downplayed the entire situation if it was even reported at all.  Really quite interesting and makes you wonder what's going on behind the scenes.  I am thankful, however, to know how the contestants are doing on Dancing with the Stars and that Kim Kardashian once used Botox - truly fascinating stuff.

I just realized that this weekend is Memorial Day Weekend!  At home, I really look forward to this weekend and the official beginning of summer.  Cookouts, fun with friends and family.  I don't know what they do here - maybe pretend it doesn't happen or something.  We work and then get paid extra, so I will celebrate that while vacationing in a few weeks.  I found myself greatly envying my friend here who has a horrible dental issue that is causing him great pain - he has to fly out for several days for dental treatment in Manas where he can drink the allotted 2 beers a day and even leave base to go into town!  Now that the coup is over in that country,  that could really be some fun!  I can't think of anything that's wrong with me to justify such a trip, but believe me I am thinking hard.  I hope I just didn't hex myself by typing that so I will try to correct any bad mojo by saying I am envious of a voluntary-or-minor-medical-issue trip out of here as everyday the possibility of something really nasty happening exists.  I would also like to go on record with the mojo gods by adding that I would not like malaria nor any poisonous bites.  This is kind of like a reverse Christmas list.

Tomorrow brings another trip off of base - if it's not cancelled as they have been quite often recently.  I am really anxious for this trip and looking forward to it.  I have been planning layouts of both bases without having seen them yet, so I am curious to see if what I am envisioning will work.  I'm getting pretty good at this so far and have even developed a kind of signature for my FOB design - now I know you may be expecting something spectacular that could possibly be seen from space, but that's a bit too fancy - and mature.  In addition to my unique approach to base layouts, I try to spell low-brow words with my roadways and building spacing.  Think back to the early days of the  calculator ... these are my little messages to the Taliban, but since they don't have planes (unless they borrow someone else's) they will never really enjoy my nuggets of insight spelled out in road.  Nothing says I Hate You, like "EAT ASS" in road (thank you hilly terrain).  This feat is made much easier by the fact that our land agreements rarely end up as squares or rectangles.  Enough said about that.  Oh yea, here's my new "international" number - hint; its written in "beghilos"...

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful Holiday weekend and get to enjoy and abundance of fruits an fresh veggies minus the Sally Struther's Army.  It is Memorial Day and therefore somewhat of a somber occasion, but still a 3-day vacation nonetheless!  I will be over here in the hero factory trying to do my small part while simultaneously day-dreaming of steaks on the grill.  I hope everyone has a safe and fun upcoming weekend!

Drink of the night - an Ice Coffee, minus the ice - but chilled in the fridge!