Battle Royal

Things on base have been very busy. My supervisor is gone on R&R which leaves the environmental bulk of this 30,000 person base on me. To make things even more hectic there is a DCMA woman here on base who is giving my areas of operation at hard time. DCMA is the organization that keeps an eye on the contractors here. I wouldn’t mind if they were fair with there evaluations but they often make things up as they go, and state personal preferences as if they were written regulations. Not to mention their rank seems to be very connected to how many CARs (Corrective Action Reviews) they have given out.

This lady’s pet peeve seems to be chemical storage and environmental issues. She is also a self proclaimed “Environmentalist.” She has gone to all my sites and my coworkers and has been trying to turn things upside down. She is scaring the dickens out people by saying things like, “You can’t store Windex and Alkaline batteries in the same building, and they are not compatible. One is a flammable and one is a corrosive.”

I have been pouring over Army, Air Force, OSHA, and KBR regulations gathering information to help “battle” this lady. She is just making things up as she goes, but I have to have the hard “black and white” to show her that she is wrong. It has been four, twelve hour days trying to prepare for her next oddball comments. And it turns out she has been making things up as she goes and using regulations that do not apply to get her personal opinion across.

What makes it a little harder is that I have to do this all myself because my coworkers here don’t know how to read the army regulations. I’m pretty sure they have never even opened them.

It hasn’t been that bad though, there are a lot of good things about this “battle royal.” For one, it forces me to become better acclimated to the nitpicky info in the regulations which will help me in the future. It also makes the day go by fast. I don’t seem to have enough time in a day anymore. I am also proving myself to the bosses. They get to see who really knows what they are doing, and who is just riding the clock. Finally, it is kind of fun. It is like a game to see who can top the other in nerdy regulation battle.

“…O YEAH?!? Well how bout you look in OSHA 1910.106 of Subpart H, and tell me that isn’t the correct way to store flammables.”

“Well well, that isn’t what TM38-410 Chapter 4 part 4.20 says, where are you getting that information from?”

“How about you go look at DLAI 4145.11 figure 6-3 and then tell me that I am wrong? Then take that clipboard, turn it sideways and shove it up.……”

Well in any case, stuff like this keeps me busy, even if it turns my head to mush. It can also be kind of fun and funny sometimes.

Haven’t had a lot of time to take photos, so I added a funny poster I found online.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter Everyone, hope you all got your fill of yummy candy. I know I did thanks to my family back home, thanks again Mom and Nana.

I have a few interesting stories and events that have occurred the last few days. The first that jumps to mind is that I went to Church on Easter Sunday. It was interesting seeing passages being read by people wearing side arms and whose job is killing people for a living (an oxymoron that I don’t wish to get into). The service was nice, the Priest was funny and intelligent, and the message generic. And it also gave me an hour to sit down and relax with my radio off (Heck, I might no next week).

Easter Sunday on base is like any other holiday here. Everyone goes to work, but no one actually does any work, it is sort of an accepted thing. I just realize that it was the last holiday that I will experience on base; the end is near my friends.

On a somber note my buddy demobilized (went home). The management here is getting funny due to the reality our contract is winding down. They have started to make up ridiculous rules and many people are just tossing in the towel and heading home. JG is one of those people. Three and a half years here is enough and he decided to head on home to be with friends and family. He stayed long enough to pay off a house, car and to live it up for a few years (got his “bling” on, for lack of better terms).

I am already missing him. We ate breakfast, lunch and dinner together, and he taught me things that I couldn’t have learned from anyone else. He grew up in a NYC ghetto during the 70ies and got out. He couldn’t read or write well due to the fact his schooling was probably subpar at best, but his people skills were amazing. The way he received respect from these racist, bigot, Southerners still astounds me. He can walk into a group of people who make it obvious that they already hate him because he is black (and from the North) and still get his ideas and needs across. In no time at all he earned these guys respect and had them doing the work he needed them too. To add to the amazement, New York Ebonics is his first language I think.

I learned a lot of life lessons from him; everything from how to read people’s interactions to bullshitting like a professional. I could write pages of funny stories he told me about growing up in NYC, and leaving to join the military. I have already written down a few for my own records so that I don’t forget, ask me sometime and I’ll tell you one.

Other then that, I am just trying to keep my head above water. like I said before the management for my company is getting ridiculous. They are pulling every trick in the book to get people fired (it seems). One of the rules being enforced now is how to properly back you vehicle up. Everyone working for KBR has to “combat park.” Which simply means you back into parking spots, not pull in. But now you have to have your passenger jump out and guide you into the spot using hand signals which isn’t so annoying to do. However, if you are alone in the vehicle you have to:
Swing out and line up with the spot
Put on your hazard flashers
Get out of the truck
Lock the truck
Walk completely around the truck checking for hazards
Unlock the truck, and get in
Then put your seatbelt on
Honk Back the truck up slowly into the spot

Yeah, I know, a bit ridiculous. I think I have heard every curse word in every language on this base while blocking traffic to do this “back up from hell.” Anyone caught not doing that exactly as stated gets seven days off work with no pay and if you are caught a second time you are fired. Not to mention, no hat=fired, no lanyard=fired, caught taking lunch to long=fired. Also, if you truck is in a hit & run you get five days off work with no pay, how the heck are you suppose to control that? If you don’t like someone, you could kick in a headlight on there truck when no one is around and they would get penalized.

But I just have to last 70 something days, a walk in the park *knock on wood*

No elaborate decorations for Easter

They won't eat Peeps for some reasonCandy from Nana

Letter from Polish PenPal (Three months Travel time)

Me and my homeboy JG

Emergency Tank Empty Job

Krishna

Hey mom, ignore those danger signs. It's cool, It's cool.

Grrrrrrrr

AC

Well yesterday was the day I switched from Heat to Air Conditioning. The Iraqi summer heat is coming and I already hate it. It gets into the 80s during the day now and I very much miss those 35 degree mornings. On the bright side, the days have gotten long enough for me to catch the sunset on my ride home from work. I love tossing up my hammock for an hour at the end of the day before I go to the gym.


I’m down to 80 something days until I leave here and I already know I am going to miss this place. I have wanted to go home since I got here, it was weird when I realized that I am going to miss it here. I have a close group of friends that I will probably never see once I get outta here. Heck my roommate called my house when I was on R&R because it had been so long since we talked.


I have started a list of things I want to do when I get home, when I finish it I will post it up on here. But until then I want everyone to know I am looking forward to seeing each of you. I apologize for not calling or writing some of you guys back, I’ve been crazy busy here.

Happy Easter everyone!

Hey Mom, I'm thinking about a new job...

Photoionization (Fuel Sinffer)

Happy Birthday to Me

Today I turn 23 years of age. My Mother and Brother called me this morning which was nice. A few emails and IM’s have come in as well which has bighted my morning thus far. Before work I ripped open my presents from home and I got a book on Peru and a poncho for when I go. I also got a bunch of lottery tickets from my Nana (Mother’s mom). I had a stack of them and didn’t even win a buck, I’m almost afraid to hang outside to much today. I will keep in mind where the bunkers are just in case.

Your birthday in Iraq doesn’t really feel much different from any other day. The only difference for me is that I can justify not doing a gosh darn thing today, haha. After all it is my birthday.

Things here on base are way more hectic then usual the last week (hence why I haven’t written since the New Year). Without a supervisor or a secretary, or help, I am starting to stress out a bit. I now know why our supervisor is always a space cadet or looks like the undead from a zombie movie. Trying to make sure everything is under control, while at the same time making sure your co-make the department look like a joke is a lot harder then I previously thought it would be. It is sad that I am the youngest one here and have to babysit the persons with more “experience” then me.

For example, I sat in on the weekly conference call with “AS.” He was so nervous about the conference call that he kept dialing the number he uses to call his phone card. Once we did get on the line I had to explain to him that the conference call wasn’t a time to show off. He had a big list of things we have done in the last few weeks, and our yearly numbers. I had to explain to him that no one on the conference call really cared about the little things we have done on the base. He would have made himself look like an ass, not to mention the whole department. It was a good thing I was there to explain that too him. It’s really hard to explain that to someone without hurting his feelings or causing an argument, but I am getting good at handling those situations.

Because of situations like this I have to go the gym every night just so I don’t strangle someone. I really hope someday I am surrounded by fellow employees that are worth a damn. O well, I’m not on here to complain, this is just another one of those mild stones that comes with the working world I guess. It has helped me recognize that I am a good, valuable employee, and am going to do awesome once I get back to the real job market. I am looking forward to finishing school so I can work my way up that ladder (which might be a while now because I am interested in graduate school now).

The transition from the old food service to the new one is in swing right now. By the end of January the old company will be out and the new one will be completely in charge. I am nervous because I have seen the new company unloading MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) into their buildings. When the old company leaves they are taking all the kitchen equipment. The new company will not only have to learn this job overnight, but will have to set up kitchens that feed thousands of people a meal. I am worried we might have to eat MREs for a few days while all that jazz goes down! It will be an interesting event to say the least.

The pictures below are from today and yesterday. I somehow ended up wearing the same shirt both pizza party days so far, that's what the photos might look similar. Hope you enjoy.