Ramblings from Camp Leatherneck 2011-06-19

Ramblings of a Deployed Mind (Father’s Day Edition)
From the confines of Camp Leatherneck

It’s another Sunday in the A-Stan… no, it’s not; it’s freaking FATHER’S DAY! HAPPY FATHER’S DAY, DAD, I LOVE YOU. You raised a pretty awesome kid in me, if I do say so myself. I got your Father’s Day box, by the way… AWESOME!! THANK YOU!! I hope you enjoy your day with your kids! Wait… Chris and I are here, Mike is busy playing Doctor in Delaware, and Tammy is fishing in Florida… I guess you’re assed out! Have a good day anyway!

So I got to travel the beautiful countryside again this week and got a few more meals in with my kid brother, Chris. He seems to have settled in nicely with the hopeful chance that he’ll move out of his current closet into a bigger one, with a tad more accommodations, like a place to hang things, internet, etc. It’s always good to see him. I conducted a lot of business with my Army and Air Force counterparts in Bagram, so that’s always good too; keeping up relations with people from other services who dislike their job as much as I do is comforting. Chris doesn’t know it, but I only go to Bagram to get my coffee fix at Green Bean Coffee… don’t tell him. It’s also nice to run in 70-80 degree weather, unlike the 90-110’s we have here… ugh! It’s always nice getting back home here… I believe we have the best room accommodations in RC(SW). Not as good as the Air Force’s barracks, but I miss my own room, my blanket, my Bear (Love-a-licious), and just being by myself for 6 hours a day (sleep time).

As most of you know, my little Kirstin-bear was in the emergency room this week. She was in there overnight for some procedures, but she was an absolute champ about the whole thing! I expect nothing less from my little trooper! I want to also thank ALL OF YOU who helped Kirstin reach her goal of $2,000 for her Crohn’s & Colitis Walk yesterday in Raleigh, NC! She ended up raising close to $2,200 because of people who love her! THANK YOU! For those of you who have children with illnesses, you know the helpless feeling of watching your child in pain, and most of you would do whatever it takes for them. Kirstin will overcome this and go on to do great things. Her mother said they plan to do this every year with a different design on the shirt each time. I can’t wait to see my t-shirt, as I’ve been told it’s being sent here! Again, she’s fine now, and thank you to everyone who helped.

I hear my buddy Brian is on his way back after being delayed in the States. I’m sure leaving his wife and new daughter sucks, but he’ll be in good hands here. I’ll keep him so busy he won’t have time to think about anything else… JUST KIDDING, people! We kinda miss him here a little, and I miss having someone to run with. Speaking of which… DEAR NIKE, this is the THIRD Nike + that has shit the bed on me in 16 months… FUCK YOU! I can’t wait until my Garmin Forerunner 610 gets here… it’s supposed to do everything but wipe my butt from what I’ve heard.

So, we’re about hitting the “routine stage” of the deployment. The food is already becoming the same, and we finally have our daily, weekly, monthly schedules down, and things are settling. If there’s one thing I hate, it’s being reactive. Proactive is the way to be… why not, I have a year here, why not make it the best for the crew replacing me in 9 months (insert sigh). Besides, I know I’ll have my Master’s plan to keep me freakin’ busy all year, so maybe I should just relax and go with the flow. A few weeks back, I was given a nickname: Eeyore. Now, anyone who knows me knows I’m not a laid-back, tired, dragging-ass kind of guy… so how I got that one… I’ll never know. So last week, a few of my Brit mates were jabbing on, and one said I remind him of Sid from Ice Age. Seriously?!? Although, I’ll take it over Eeyore any day! Thanks a lot, Blokes!

Anyway, I’m out of here and will talk to everyone next weekend. BTW, the most requested item of the week: SMALL REFRIGERATORS. For a while, they were selling those tiny refrigerators, and now they’re not stocking them anymore… first come, first served sucks! They are about $50… anyway, if anyone finds a nice small refrigerator on a website that ships to FPO/APO addresses, shoot me the website, please!!! 🙂 Have a great week, all!

MSGT JOEL WEBER
II MEF FWD C6
UNIT 73920
FPO AE 09510-3920