Well, a month has gone by since I have arrived here. I'm reaching deep to try to find new and interesting things to talk about, but it is pretty much same ol' same ol'. I work everyday, see the same people and do the same things. It's a little maddening being stuck in one place for such a long time. I don't know how some people do this for a whole year.

Over the past couple weeks I have made a few notes of things to mention. I usually write them on my hands, then when I get back to the computer I put it on the "stickies" program. It's like digital post-its you can put on your desktop and they just sit there until you erase it. Here they are in order.

Street Sweeper. The first is sort of an irony. I was walking to the DFAC for lunch on a windy day. The camp had deployed the street sweepers to clear the sand and dust off the roads from the prior days sandstorm. The sweeper would sweep the dirt up and it would go onto a conveyer belt where it SHOULD have dumped into the back of the truck. However, the wind just blew it right off the belt and back onto the road. That guy probably had a frustrating day.

Melons. Everyday when I go to get food at the DFAC I enjoy looking at the wonderfully carved melons on display. One of the workers there has quite the talent, carving scenery into watermelons. Flowers, clouds, landscapes and even faces. One day he carved his buddy (one of the other cooks). His melon doppelganger was astoundingly real looking. Somehow he even got his mustache right. Every meal there is a new melon on display and the worker that does it awards somebody with the carving when the DFAC closes at the end of the meal.

Fire Alarms. Now, this is getting old. Every room has smoke alarms on the ceiling. Makes sense right? Well, it's posted everywhere around here not to put any aerosol spray on in your rooms. No AXE, hairspray, body spray, colognes, or anything that sprays. Why? because it sets off the fire alarm. Now, do people listen? Of course not. SO, weekly, at horrible times, I find myself outside waiting for the FD to come and clear the building. They are not hasty at all with an average 10 minute response time. It almost creates a "boy who cried wolf" situation. Not even half the people leave so if there was a REAL fire? Not good.

"Nice". I don't know who is in charge of marketing in the middle-east, but someone came up with the idea of calling the potato chips "Nice" chips. That's the name on the bag. Us Americans must see that and think, "I want to eat that because it's Nice!". Now this was mildly humorous to me at first because I found some "Nice" candy at the PX and some "Nice" Pretzels at the Shoppette. It finally became blog-worthy the day I was brushing my teeth in the bathroom. While I was investigating my brushing job I looked in the reflection of the mirror and saw the cases of toilet paper in a storage closet behind me. What do you think was on that box? You got it, we even have "Nice" toilet paper. Thank goodness the toilet paper is "Nice". I would hate to see "Upset" toilet paper or even worse..."Disgruntled"!

Unfortunately that's it for my random observations from the past week.  I will have to keep my eyes open for new and interesting things to talk about.

I got a great care package from Mom and Dad (THANKS GUYS). More coffee, trail mixes, poppycock, movie theater boxed candy and some Valentines treats. Much appreciated! Hopefully, today, Rachel's package will come! I am really looking forward to that because the contents include beef jerky and mini pop-tarts.

Tomorrow is Valentines Day and from what I hear, I should get a greeting from Rachel and the girls printed in the "Stars and Stripes" tomorrow! Maybe Rachel will get a surprise from me tomorrow too ;)

Well, that's about it for my rambling update. I apologize if it lacks many interesting experiences. Until next week!