Adventures of Gumby and Duck - Part 3 (Final)

Duck and Gumby were in Qatar for four days, and they had a good time.

There was plenty of things that they could sign up for to enjoy while there. They went to the large local mall, and then they also hit up a trip to the local shops that were more traditional. They bought a couple of things, but overall it was just cool to see the different sights. There was a film festival in town as well, so there were things set up and caused issues with traffic. No celebrity sightings, but rumor had it they were in town.

When the boys weren't busy running around, they were able to relax on post. There was a pool, a Chili's, other food shops, and after 6pm until midnight, drinks were served. They couldn't go hog wild, as there was a three drink limit setup for the night, but it was nice to get that taste. The food offered wasn't too bad, and it was just nice and relaxing.

They happened to be in Qatar during Halloween. There was a party where a bunch of people dressed up. Our heroes didn't have anything to wear, so they went as themselves, and no one really cared. It was more about hanging out and just unwinding. There was a lot of other things to do. There was the bowling alley, the movie area with comfy chairs and a movie going all the time. There was also the tv's around that usually had sports or something on. Both were very happy to watch the Vikings kick the Packer's at Lambeau.

As they were sitting there knowing their time to go back was coming, Duck looked at Gumby and asked, "This was fun Gumby. I wish we could hang out here all the time."

Gumby just smiled and looked back at Duck, "Now Duck, you know we have our job to do back in Basra. You were right that this was fun, but now we get back to work and finish up this time in the desert. Soon we will be back home and relaxing like this all the time."

Duck just nodded and finished packing. "You are right Gumby. It will be good to get home in the end."

With that, the boys got on the plane and flew back to Iraq, via Kuwait. Both refreshed and ready to finish up this tour.

A couple of pictures from our heroes

Duck and Gumby at the terminal waiting for their flight out of Iraq

Duck and Gumby hanging out in the sand in Kuwait.

Adventures of Gumby and Duck - Part 2

Our intrepid heroes were pretty tired. It had been a very long day of travel and waiting. The first flight was short to Kuwait. As they got off the plane that morning, Duck looked over to Gumby and said "Are we in Qatar now Gumby?"

Gumby just smiled and shook his head. "No Duck. We are in Kuwait. This is where almost everyone goes first before they go to their final destination. We will be there later."

Duck just sighed, as he wasn't a big fan of flying. "Ok Gumby. I guess it doesn't look too bad here, as long as it is only for a little while."

They were to stay in Kuwait for most of the day. They picked up some food, and hung out watching a movie at the MWR. They were getting pretty tired as the day went on, as they had been up all night with their planning and excitement.

Finally, they were able to leave Kuwait. There had been a lot of waiting around, but the plane took off and they were on to Qatar.

"What will we do when we get there Gumby?" Duck asked.

"Well Duck, probably nothing, as we will have to wait around for a bit before we actually can get to where we are going. I don't know about you, but I am awefully tired" Gumby replied.

Duck nodded, as he was pretty tired too. They did sleep on the short flight and then waited around to get through customs and to bed. As they finally got to their room after what seemed like forever, Duck whispered to Gumby.

"This should be fun Gumby. All sorts of things to do for the next few days."

"You bet Duck. I think tomorrow will be rest and relaxation day, but we will have a bit of fun afterwards, that is for sure."

And they both drifted off with their own dreams of what to expect on this adventure.

Tune in next time for the latest.

The Adventures of Gumby and Duck - part 1

Gumby and Duck were hanging out on their shelf in Basrah. They lived in the office of Kristen Auge, Executive Officer of the NSC 34th STB. They had experienced some adventures when wiley lieutenants would take them out and around the COB for a bit, but overall, their life was pretty sedated.

One day, Gumby overheard a troop talking about going on pass to Qatar. Gumby looked over at Duck and said "I think we should go to Qatar, Duck."

Duck looked back with a questioning look. "Qatar? Where is that, and why should we go there, Gumby?"

Gumby just smiled and said "Qatar is away from here in a strange land. We should go there to have a little fun and live it up."

So Duck, being just a simple duck, agreed and said "How are we going to get there Gumby? You know I can't fly."

Gumby grabbed duck and they hopped into the soldiers bag when he wasn't looking.

"We are off to Qatar, Duck!"

So that is how they got on a play out of Basrah and headed to Qatar.

Stay tuned for more adventures, and pictures, with your friends, Gumby and duck

Now what?!?!?!

So, I realized it has been over two weeks since I last posted on here. The main reason is because I really don't know what to blog about. I can't talk too much about what is going on here, because of issues I could get into with the military. I don't really have much to say about things going on back home, because I don't know too much of what is going on.

I know I said I would start taking pictures of the food here to compare with the food pictures from Australia, but I keep forgetting to take the pictures, and it just lost interest. I could talk about my fantasy football leagues, but it is just too depressing. My team that looked good in one league is winless, and the other team is one and one, but doesn't look that great either.

I could talk about things back home, and how it looks like Kim is going to be getting us a house. I am pretty excited about that, but that is muted because I am not really involved in the process. I can look at pictures and talk to her about it, but I still am not there. It will be nice to finally have our own place though, and we have some big plans. We want a game/rec room where we can watch sports and hang out. Put a wet bar up somewhere for drinks. I want a place to store wine, as I plan on continuing that process.

So things are going about the same here, and things are going on back home. However, I still have no clue what to really write about on here. Do I talk about how I love winelibrarytv, and the videos that come out three times a week? It is what keeps me going with the wine and makes me excited to get home and really start diving into that whole process. Do I talk about history and the podcasts there I am enjoying? I got some more books to read here, but the reading is going slower than I would like. It is in spurts, as sometimes you just dive into something heavy like a history book, and other times you lose yourself in what I call 'fluff' reading for a week or two.

I will figure something out and try not to make it over two weeks until my next post. To everyone who checks this out, I wish you all the best.

Until next time.....

Fantasy Football Time!!!!

It is football season, and that is the greatest time of the year. I am not a complete nut about football where I can rattle off stats and won loss records the last decade or two, but I do watching it. I also enjoy playing fantasy football. I have been around it since the early 80's when my dad started up his league. That league is still going, and I have become a part of it in the last dozen years or so. It helps me become more involved with the league as a whole, instead of just tied to one team. Kim is very die hard for the Vikings. I enjoy the Vikings, but really enjoy the league as a whole.

So usually every year I get into a couple of online leagues, and then dad's league. This year, because my connection here in the desert isn't the greatest, I decided not to do any online leagues. Some of the guys here though decided to do a league, so I will be in two still this year.

The league here in Iraq is interesting because we did the draft auction style. I have been doing this draft in my dad's league for a while, and truly love it. Instead of just one guy getting a chance at the best player, everyone has a chance. You get so much money at the start to budget with, and then bid on players to fill out your roster. I didn't do that well in the league here, as I hadn't really done any mock drafts, and didn't know how anyone would pick. I blew my money early and had to scramble late. It isn't the worst team, but it isn't great either.

The next night I participated in my dad's auction draft. Kim was most helpful in going to the draft for me. I was able to use Skype to talk with her on the phone and through her computer and help her with the draft. The technical issues were frustrating, but I think we did really well in this draft. I won't post either team here, because I don't think anyone cares really. If you want details on the draft, feel free to comment. I can always post more info about each league and the rules involved.

So with football season starting, and fantasy football here to occupy us with a distraction, I have a feeling that time will move a bit quicker. And that is a good thing as we start the downhill stretch of this deployment. At least it seems like downhill for me since I got back from Australia.

That is it for now. Not sure what I will talk about next time, but I will think of something.

Until then......

Back in Iraq.....

So I am finally back in Iraq to finish up this deployment. The trip back was pretty straight forward thankfully. We did get stuck in Kuwait for a couple of days, but that wasn't so bad. Let me have some McDonald's and some KFC to round out the trip.

Looking back on the trip, I have to say that I had a really good time. I didn't go out and do everything that I could have, but that is probably a good thing. The point of the R&R is to unwind and recharge to get through the rest of the deployment. If I would have been doing things everyday, I would have been worn out from the vacation. Instead, I was able to rest a bit, have some good food, do a few things that I normally wouldn't do, and also see another country.

Australia was pretty cool. Very civilized, obviously, and no language issues. That is a big plus, because when I had gone to Belgium for a week, there was a slight barrier there. Most people there speak English there, but it was still 'out there' so to speak. I enjoyed driving on the wrong side of the road and the cars with the steering wheel on the right. The money was a little in the favor against the US dollar, which was nice as well, but I still wound up spending about what I expected to pay.

The food was good too. There isn't really 'Australian' themed food. The main standard dish seemed to be fish and chips (french fries). We had italian food as well as some american style food. Steak and potato, pasta, fish, and other things that wasn't DFAC food. If you have looked through my photos on facebook, you have seen some of the dishes that I took pictures of while out there. I am going to start taking some pictures of our meals here so you can see some of the differences. There is some good food at the DFAC. You can have handmade sandwiches, and they do stir-fry now and then. Otherwise, I usually just take what looks semi-appealing from the main line. I want to show you just what it is we are eating.

Now, if you want to keep up with this little game I have started, just join me on facebook. I am going to start a folder with all the pics from meals in Australia, and then I will do another folder with the DFAC meals.

Football season starts, and I am doing my league back home, with my lovely wife doing the auction for me while I talk intermittently online. I am also going to be doing a league with some people here in Iraq. We are going to do an auction here for that draft, and the interesting part is that for many, this will be their first auction draft. Will I get to take advantage of that? Probably not, with my luck.

And the time counts down closer and closer as we start downhill to the end of the deployment. I will try and post semi-regularly on here, but don't get too excited.

Until next time.....

Sydney Take 2 - The end

So today is the last day in Sydney, as we fly out tonight at 9pm. It has been a lazy last couple of days and now it is time to return to the desert and finish the deployment. It has been a fun trip, and I wouldn't mind coming back at all to see more of Australia. Here is what has gone on the last couple of days.

Franck and I flew down from Surfers Paradise, and I can't really comment too much about the flight. I slept through most of it, but it was nice. We flew on Virgin Blue Airlines, and they had the screens on every seat like on Emirates, but a little smaller. No complaints on the flight, which means it was pretty good.

Took a cab to the hotel, and checked in. The room is nice, but not as nice as the last room. Guess I was spoiled by the king sized bed, as this time I had two full sized bed. And for those wondering, there was no sharing of rooms on the trip except the first night where we were forced to. We hooked up with Hubred and went out for supper.

The next morning, I got up early in the morning and went out to get sunrise pictures. There were clouds again, so I didn't get much. I did go for a walk along the coast though and it was pretty cool. Some cool rock formations and the waves, while not as prevelant as Surfers Paradies, were still nice to see wash up against the rocks.

I wound up just hanging out in the room and the beach off and on through the morning and we went out again for supper. Supper was good at a small little italian restaurant, and then it was back to the room. The next day was pretty much the same except that we didn't go out to eat together. I picked up some food at a nearby place and brought it back to my room to eat. A lazy last couple of days, but that is what I was wanting out of them.

Couple thoughts about where we are staying now. This isn't a touristy area part of Sydney. We are right next to the beach, and that is nice, but we are surrounded by residential area. There is a small area with restaurants and shops close by the hotels here by the beach, but that is all there is to the area. It is nice with the shops, as there are a couple of small bakery shops that have fresh made bread and pastries every morning. Reminds me a little of Europe when Kim and I went to Belgium. It is just too bad that small bakeries like this can't work out well back home, as the big grocery stores have their lock in place.

Another thing is the sports. There are about four major sports here in Australia, that I have watched on tv at least. They are Soccer, Australian Rugby Leage, Australian Rules Football, and cricket. Now I know soccer, and have actually started to watch more of it. I enjoy watching the Premier League from England/Europe because these are the best of the best, and it is interesting to watch. Maybe I am drinking the Bill Simmons KoolAid, but I am starting to enjoy it. The Rugby is fun to watch. Very action packed, and I think I have it figured out. Now the Football is another thing. I get the very basics, and it is more fast paced than Football back home, but there are rules and things that I just can't pick up. And then Cricket is just goofy. I was talking with a local in Cairns about it, and he tried to explain a little, but it only helped a little. All of the sports though are have their die hard fans, just as we have our fans for our sports. Interesting to see the perspective of another country on their sports.

That is about it though. I figure I will hang out in the room until I have to check out. Then we will hang out down here for a few hours until we catch a cab to the airport. From there, it is the 14 hour flight to Dubai, and then another couple hours to Kuwait. Not sure how long it will be from Kuwait to Iraq, but there is that conflict where I don't want to go back, but I do so I can get that part of the deployment started and finished. I will continue to post here off and on, but probably not as often, as there is only so much you can say about the desert.

Until next time.....