Defiantone.com

Stink? If you guessed stink you would have the correct answer! Good for you!

The water provided to our base comes via a canal. A few days ago some Iraqis started maintenance on the canal upstream from us. As a result of the maintenance, the water dropped below acceptable levels. Initially we were put on restrictions like combat showers (3 min showers) and reduced laundry service. Some people blatantly ignored the rules and took 30 min showers. These individuals should be either flogged, humiliated, or put into the stocks in public.

We were told that they had a contingency plan and that it should resolve the problem in a few days. Unfortunately for us, the plan hasn’t gone into effect yet and the water was at a lower level than they had anticipated. As a result, we no longer have access to the showers nor do we have any laundry service.

I was thinking about doing a two bottle of water shower (one to wash and one to rinse) but they physically nailed a board across the door to each shower unit effectively blocking access to the entire building. I guess they had a feeling that if they didn’t go to extremes that people would cheat the system (as they had before).

So, because I share genetic traits with my father I am prone to sweating. I know that it does not make a difference if I exercise or not - I’m going to stink after a day or two. I decided to not let the water situation deter my daily activities (save for showering) and I went to the gym as planned. I have about 6-7 days of laundry before I start recycling dirty clothes. Lets hope that they get it all squared away before that point in time. Until that happens, people will suffer - and there is little that I can to prevent it.

Oh well - such is life

Unfortunately, it could get worse. If the water levels continue to drop they will block access to the chow halls due to the inability to provide enough water for us to wash our hands. As a result, we will be given MREs (meals ready to eat). They are edible - but, its better than starving.

I just have to remember that there are people at FOBs (forward operating bases) who have no showers or chow halls. Typically, their only hot meal and shower comes when they can visit a major base. I don’t have it bad - I just have it worse than normal.

I didn’t expect it to get into the low twenties last night but it did. This is supposed to be the desert and deserts are supposed to be hot - well, the Gobi desert isn’t for the overwhelming majority of the year. Qatar was quite warm and only got into the low 60’s at night - its a shame that we are so far away from the water and there is nothing to keep the temps high at night. I spent my first night working and it wasn’t all that bad - save for the cold. My problem - well, one of my problems is that I inherited my dads ability to sweat under any circumstances. So, I have thermal underwear that causes me to sweat while indoors. The second I move outside it freezes and makes me quite cold. After freezing for a while it evaporates or gets soaked back into the thermals and I get warm again. So, in order to get warm while working outside I must be forced to freeze. Something about this seems awry but there is little I can do to fix it. They don’t like us setting our flare on fire to keep us warm - mostly because all of the other items at work react poorly to heat and flame.

If only I could keep it up -

So, on Thursday night I spent the evening wearing a polo shirt that was provided to me as I stood directly next to the stage at a Faith Hill and Tim McGraw concert. For the evening I was a member of the security team. My only job was to be a visible presence, answer questions, and remove any fan that attempted to jump up on the stage. I only answered one question and nobody attempted to jump on the stage so it was a relatively boring evening. I’m not a fan of country music - save for Johnny Cash - so I almost fell asleep a few times. Jessica was with me and was watching from a different part of the floor. She was rather jealous of me and wished that I could have been sweat on by either one of them - I don’t quite get it. She had fun but it was an extremely long evening. If only it was music that I actually liked - Stevie Wonder would have been awesome.

Friday was another night of fun as we went to watch the Tacoma Rainiers play in a triple AAA game. I’m not a huge fan of watching baseball but when you go to the park there is a lot of other stuff to watch if you have little interest in the game. They also have two of my favorite food groups: brats and beer. I haven’t had a good brat in a while - you know, brat, bun, sour kraut, catsup ( or ketchup) - all the things that make it good. We were staying for the fireworks that were at the end of the game and I guess it was a good choice. The game was all tied up through the 9th inning and we gave up 5 runs in the top of the 10th. Three of them were from an unforced error… doh! Since the Rainiers hang out at the bottom of the standings I didn’t think they had a chance in hell of coming back from that one but a miracle happened and scored 6 runs. I was extremely tired by that point so I really didn’t care but it was one heck of an ending. There were fireworks after the game but I almost fell asleep. If I’m tired I’m willing to sleep almost anywhere.

Saturday - last night - I went to Katie’s house - she is one of Jessica’s friends. We imbibed large quantities of behavior influencing liquid. Needless to say…. I was inebriated. Good times were had by all.

The girl is making me pancakes right now - she could be a keeper. If only all of my time off of work was this enjoyable.

Today we went through the gamut of weather. This morning, when I got out to my car, I found it covered with frost; this is something of an oddity in my area. On the way to work it was raining here and there. Later on that morning I looked out the window at work and saw that it was snowing; this is yet another oddity for this area. I went back to my work and looked outside a few hours later to see the sun shining and nary a cloud in the sky. Twenty minutes later small chunks of hail was coming down. Twenty minutes after that sleet was coming down. Twenty minutes after that the sky was clear. Twenty minutes after that it was white-out conditions outside.

The Gods Must be Crazy…. or the weather machine that is being run by the Free Masons is broke.

My apartment building is normally warm enough that I don’t have to turn on the heat at all. In fact, I haven’t turned on the heat in the last month. Today, I was tempted to turn up the heat to get it above the mid-sixties but I decided that I had plenty of sweatshirts to solve my problem. Yes, I’m either cheap in the fact that I don’t wish to pay for heating or I’m just to lazy to walk to the thermostat.

The only person I have to impress in this world is myself. If I can keep that on the top of my mind I’ll do fine. When I feel the need to impress others is when I normally let myself down.

Did you ever think that sweatshops in other countries are popular because they are better than the alternative and provide a reliable job? If they weren’t I don’t think anyone would work there. Just think about it.

Its like constipation and no matter how hard I squeeze and struggle it doesn’t want to come out. I’m sure that you too have sat on the toilet until sweat formed beads upon your brow while tyring to excrete the evil that is residing in your bowels. No matter how hard you try there is little you can do than struggle with it until the devastation is over.

Other times you must run to a bathroom because its touching cloth and there is nothing you can do to stop what is coming. The second your ass hovers over the seat the evil is unleashed with such momentum that it nearly launches you into the air. You ass still has not made contact with the seat does the feces come with such force. Every 30 minutes all day long you’ll find yourself running to shove it all out only to find that there is more. How full of crap can a person be?

So, this is how I am with writing. I’ve been in a rather dry spell of late and I have not been able to come out of my rut. I hope it changes soon.

The large things in my life seem so massive that I never get a clear look at them. As a result, when I think about what is going on it never really seems to bother me. The small stuff, on the other hand, I can pick apart and chew on for long periods of time. The small stuff always gets to me in ways that the big stuff should.

Today I missed an appointment because they didn’t tell me the correct time and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. I missed the appointment because it was already too late. I was frantically trying to find out where it was only to find out that it had passed by hours ago. Normally I can just think about it and be cool with it but this time I was driving at yelling at the top of my lungs most of the time. I just felt shaken but that one little event in the day. It was my only thing that I had to do that day and in some way it got screwed up. It made me feel like I completely wasted the day and that, more than anything else, really pissed me off.

Bad karma boy is going out tonight in an effort to turn this day around. I hope I can make some progress because I’ve got to make some success out of it all.

I hate feeling useless. I hate failing. I hate those that never try… I never want to be like them.

Today was the first real warm day in quite some time and I’ve enjoyed it despite being indoors all day. Many people don’t like warm humid weather because it makes them sweat and smell.

I like to sweat. It makes me feel like I worked hard or at least worked hard enough to beat the weather. There is something good about sweat that lets you know you worked hard enough to break it, if you didn’t break it you need to work harder. Sure, you can break a sweat when its hot out just by existing but that has some gratification to it as well. The sun beats down on you and you survive it, you endure it.

Humidity just adds to the fun. Its a catalyst for the sweat and causes it to come out quicker and in greater force. You can always take a shower in the end and be clean but you won’t have that indicator showing how hard you worked. I like to work hard. I like to sweat.

The all american hero, Henry Rollins, has a past that constantly amazes me. Today I was reading one of his books, among some of the other stuff that I am reading right now, and found a great story. In it he talks about being so poor on the road that he had to do some rediculous stunts. He was in the middle of a show and wanted to do something to get a few dollars so he could eat. So, he took of his shorts and socks and wrung the sweat out of them into his shoes. He filled them to the top with his sweat.. he then drank it. Mmm… salty! I somehow miss that life where you are never have respect for anybody including yourself because you are just being yourself and not caring. I am required to be respectful here rather than let people know what color the sky is… I must remember patience.. and I must also keep my mouth shut.