He's alive!

As you can no doubt infer from my lack of posts these last three days, I've been in recovery mode. I really haven't been in a chatty mood (whether via blog or in person). As head colds go, that was one of the less severe I've had. However, having not been sick in over 5 years, it seemed worse.  In any case, I'm not quite dead yet.

The worst part of being sick this particular time is that it's thrown me a few days behind in preparation to go. For the first time since the UDM issued me all my shtuff, I finally went through it yesterday to see what I still needed to buy. For everything that I'm not required to take with me, I have to ask myself, "Do I really need this?" On the one hand, there's the urge to take as much as will fit in my allotted 4 bags. The idea being, "It's better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it." Well, that's fine if you're going camping for the weekend and can pack the car right there in your garage, then retrieve things from the car as you need them. But for a deployment, you have to tote everything while en route, so the flip side of the coin is: more shtuff means more weight. In engineer parlance, this becomes an optimization problem.  Maximize utility while minimizing weight. For me, a card-carrying member of the National Packrat Society, this is a tall ask. I fully expect to arrive in Baghdad and rhetorically ask, "What the hell was I thinking bringing all this shtuff?" I suppose the first step to recovery is to admit you have a problem.

This morning, I'm going to church where--rumor has it--they're going to do some sort of send-off for me. Tonight we have a few friends over for hot dogs. Memorial Day tomorrow will be my day to really hit the packing hard. This Memorial Day, like no other before, has the most meaning to me (including all those during my 26 years in the Air Force). Yes, I'm going downrange in a few weeks, but there are plenty of men and women (many barely so), who have it much worse than I will. It's my only hope that my contribution will, in some small measure, improve their circumstances, and, most importantly, help to bring them all home alive.

Sick and tired

It was a good run, but it's officially over. After more than 5 years without a cold, I finally got one. All I can say is, better this week than next week. It started about 3 days ago. Zicam didn't really stave it off, now I've got medicine head.  Joy.  I suspect I picked it up as a result of my many trips to the medical center to be poked and prodded in prep for deployment (how's that for alliteration?).  Whatever the source, I hope it goes away soon...much to do.

I had planned on spending the day sort of pre-packing, going through my checklists and seeing what I still need to procure.  I'm limited to 4 bags (3 of which were issued to me), so I must be judicious about what I take. I'm taking my laptop with me, and I bought a zippered cover for it. It has a strap for carrying on the shoulder, but it's small enough I can tuck it in my backpack if needs be (to keep my luggage count at 4).

As you read my blog, you may have picked up on the fact that the lead-up to departure is equal parts hectic and boring. Given that I'm definitely going, I really can't wait to get there.  It turns out I'll have more overlap with Ric than I thought. Twelve days instead of six, so I hope that will allow me to settle into a routine before he leaves. On the other hand, he may be so focused on going home that "quality time" with him may be less than ideal. In any case, more is still better.

As D-Day approaches, I expect that I'll be a bit more sporadic posting to this blog. Not my intent to go more than a day without a post, but things happen. In fact, for the 10 days of CAST training, which is in field conditions, I may not post at all. The other LIMFAC is connectivity. I'll be billeted on post after CAST as I wait to depart for the AOR, so strictly speaking, I may be offline for as much as 2-3 weeks. During that time, if I have no connectivity but do have my computer, I'll write my daily entry, then post them all at once after I get downrange.

I'm about to cough up a lung now...I better go take care of that.

FIGMO!

I suppose the final dose of reality settled in yesterday. I was given my orders. Sure enough, right there on top, in stark black and white, was the only word that mattered: "BAGHDAD". (Actually, a whole bunch of the other words mattered, too, but I suppose that would detract from the drama.)

I got some more good gouge from Ric: bring darts and a coffee grinder. I'm fortunate that I know ahead of time who I'll be replacing. It's taken away a lot of the anxiety that goes with uncertainty. I'm sure there'll be much that I can only learn from experience, but I think I've got a good sense of the big picture.

Again, not much real activity to report in terms of preparations. We're all still pretty stressed, but we'll muddle through it. I'm taking much-needed leave for almost all of the rest of the time until I deploy. I highly recommend it...I'm not sure I'd be as well-prepared (or sane) if I tried to work right up to D-Day.

Facebook import

Just a quick administrative note: I always figured there was an easy way to post to my blog and have it automagically populate FB, too. Well, I finally figured it out. So, if your more of a FB aficionado, then follow me there instead.

Otherwise, there's been no developments on the deployment front this weekend. Except, perhaps, that I've noticed J hugs me a little more tightly and is reluctant to let go. And last night at dinner, Deuce asked me how I felt about  leaving. Strange days when a teenager engages his parents in intimate conversation. Strange, but good.

Unclean! Unclean!

As for the leper who has the infection, his clothes shall be torn, and the hair of his head shall be uncovered, and he shall cover his mustache and cry, "Unclean! Unclean!" --Leviticus 13:45

I  got the smallpox vaccination today. After the tech briefed me, all I could think of was, "Ewww!" Basically, I am supposed to keep the festering, puss-filled boil covered, clean, and dry until the site finally becomes dessicated and the scab falls off thirty days hence. In the mean time, I have to treat anything that touches the site (bandages, clothing, sheets) like nuclear waste. Wash hands for a million minutes; put bandages in a Zip-loc bag before throwing away; wash infected clothes separately from other clothes. Oh, the inanity.

But at least (so I'm told) I get a really gnarly scar out of the deal...cool!

Finally got my itinerary...departing 6 Jun.  D-Day.  How apropos.

The pizza party/send-off today was outstanding. What impressed me most was the turnout. At most, 75 folks were expected, but I'm guessing at least 100 showed up. Very cool and most appreciated.

Well, it's getting late, and I have some bed sheets to infect.

"Unclean! Unclean!"

Down to the wire

So, I took my PFT today. Passed. Next.

J stopped by the office today to meet some of the folks. Since they'll be among the minions J can call for any assistance she may need while I'm gone, I figured it'd be good if she could at least put a face with the voice on the other end of the phone.

I completed my medical outprocessing today, save for getting my smallpox vaccine. That's tomorrow morning. They say it makes a festering boil on your arm for the better part of 10 days before the scab finally falls off. Joy.

Pizza party tomorrow for Muck and me. Should be lots of fun, and I think it's cool the folks in the office wanted to do this. When I come back, I'll return the favor for any future deployers we have. Pay it forward, as they say.

Short and sweet tonight. I'm a little tired and J wants me to put the clean sheets on the bed. I guess I better not disappoint.

So you want socialized health care?

Wow, I had to wait an hour for a 10-minute appointment so the doc could sign off on my pre-deployment medical checklist. I need that signature so I can go to another medical appointment to get another signature on another checklist. Once I get that, I then go to yet another appointment to get yet another signature on yet another checklist. Stop the insanity!! Is it really this difficult to go to war??

Cleansing breath....

My Unit Deployment Manager (UDM) issued me all my uniforms and equipment today. Some pretty cool stuff in there: Ruck sack, ballistic goggles, tactical knee and elbow pads, brown underwear (gee, I wonder why they chose that color?!?), a wheeled duffel bag, four complete new uniforms (minus occupational badge...don't ask), steel-toed boots, etc. Man, I should deploy more often!

Physical fitness test (PFT) tomorrow at 0730, then off to the hospital after lunch. I stopped by today to see Igeaux (he's my stand-in while I'm gone). He had a bit of a "deer in the headlights" look to him. I saw Spuds, too. Spuds (Igeaux's team coworker) has pretty much written off having Igeaux around to keep up with his "day job". It's through conversations like these that I realize how much deployments affect more than just the deployer. It leaves me with a twinge of guilt. Deployments are a fact of life nowadays, but I don't like being the cause of someone else having an added workload.

Idol comes on in a few, so I'm gonna go fix my evening snack (stale animal crackers and a tall glass of rich, chocolaty Ovaltine) and cheer for Lee DeWyze. Yes, I'm a huge American Idol fan, so what of it? I'm also a Gleek.

Shut up.

Well, I guess he's dead

Redemption. As I whined before, I can fire a weapon accurately if I can focus my eyes. Here's a pic of my target.The double-vision effect is because the backlighting caused the targets printed on the back to bleed through. I needed the backlighting to show the holes more clearly.  My only misses were one each at 150 m, 200 m, and 250 m. Score was 47/50. Note the 300 m target in the upper left. There are actually 6 holes where there should only be 5. The woman shooting next to me was woefully bad, and missed her target more often than not. I suppose the extra hole was created by one of her errant shots.

We fired 10 rounds in each of 5 different positions: prone supported, prone unsupported, over barricade, kneeling, and prone supported while wearing gas mask. I bet my misses were while wearing the gas mask.

For all my good effort today, I get nothing extra. I'm already an expert marksman, so no new ribbon. I would have been awarded a star device for my ribbon if I got expert on the M9, but no dice. (Can you tell I'm a bit tweaked by my near miss?)  Just for S&Gs, I'll post a picture of that target later. I asked the CATM if--after my deployment--I could come back and re-shoot the M9 qualification course. No dice. To toe the line, you have to have a reason to be there. (Isn't obsessive compulsion a reason?)

One thing about going to all these pre-deployment training classes is that I'm surrounded by folks in my same shoes (well, sort of...there are many young enlisted, so not quite same stage of life). It kinda helps to rant with others who are deploying than to do so at home.  And by rant, I just mean that the prep is sometimes a PITA and, therefore, worthy of complaint.

I suppose I've babbled enough. At least I've killed off the 30 minutes that Deuce has been in his bagpipe lesson. Time to go home for supper.

Snap

This whole deployment thing is not as easy as it looks. We're all wound tight as a fiddle string. I think the anticipation is worse than what the actual deployment will be. 

Funny thing happened today. When I called the folks who will cut my orders, they seemed to be oblivious to the fact I was even going. Imagine time ticking down to the wire and I don't have orders to go. I wouldn't have known of their oversight, but I figured I'd call them anyway--mainly out of paranoia. Remember: just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get me!

Tomorrow I'll be firing the M-16. I hope I shoot expert again. Especially since I came so close on the M-9 two weeks ago...damn my eyes.

I spoke today (via email) with Ric, the guy I'll replace in Baghdad.  He's been fantastic about helping me out, answering my questions, and telling me things I'll need to know as I prepare. In fact, he went the extra mile and offered to sell me his mini fridge and his TV at a bargain basement price. And he even gave me the bike he kluged together from parts...free! Based on his description, the bike sounds like a piece of work, but he loves it, and I'm sure I will, too.

With only a week left at work before I start my leave, it's becoming quite real to me now. "Deployment" in the abstract has now become "deployment in three weeks."  Snap!

Slow, busy day

No direct progress today on my pre-deployment preparation. I did have a busy day, though. Igeaux--who's taking over for me in my absence--needs to occupy my current office, so I cleared out my stuff and moved to my new office.It was convenient that we already had the move planned because I'll have a place to do touch-and-gos without interfering with Igeaux during the next week.

J and I have been talking lately about how this is affecting Deuce. He never talks about his feelings--ever--but I get the sense he's affected by the change (and the commensurate uncertainty) more than he lets on. I think he's equal parts nervous, proud, and perhaps a bit envious. He's got a lot coming at him right now, so I'm actually impressed he's no more surly than usual.

I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend. Hopefully the weather will hold so we can get some yard work done. Next week is the last full week I have before I start my leave, and I have a lot to do. If I want to have everything done by then, I best get crackin'!

Brother, can you spare a sharp stick?

Today I completed some computer-based training (CBT), the AF Culture General Course, which is required for my deployment. Not only was it mind-numbingly boring, I quickly got the sense it was written by some P-C, tree-hugging, tofu-eating Kumbaya-singing bureaucrat. Not that there isn't value in understanding other cultures, but sprinkled throughout were semi-veiled stabs at Americans and our overbearing, ethnocentric, racist ways. Anyway, it's done, and I handed in my certificate. Check the box.

Abi has a blog

Hello, world! In an effort to chronicle my upcoming adventure, I'm creating this blog (http://abigoestoiraq.blogspot.com/) to provide an asynchronous means of communication. I wouldn't exactly call it a diary...perhaps journal would be better. In any case, I know most who read this--primarily family members--will never visit Iraq, so I figured this is as close to being there as I can make it. Let me know what you think.

Cheers,
Abi

P.S. In case you're wondering, "Abi" is my call sign, and it's pronounced Abby. All call signs have a story behind them. Buy me a beer (or three) when I get back and I'll gladly fill you in on mine!