"after" i arrived

i just wanted let you all know that i arrived safely in iraq.
i've been here for about two weeks now and am settling in just fine. i sent out an email to a few people about getting here but thought i should post a blog on it... so here's a quick synopsis of the last month or so:

"after" i'd finished my last bit of training, andrea flew out for a few days and we toured new york. it was a perfect send off and a much needed reuniting. there was a fun experience getting some handbags, but i'll save that story for another day.

"after" new jersey, my unit headed to kuwait and after many hours of flight and only 1/2 an hour of sleep we arrived at the hottest place on earth. i'm pretty sure even the devil summers somewhere nicer. kuwait is a million and one degrees and it's about 15 degrees cooler here, so 999,986 degrees. it really puts things into perspective when you stop and wonder why we fought over such an unbearable place (there's sarcasm in there somewhere).

"after" several days of no sleep and lots of foosball, we flew via military aircraft to iraq. there really isn't anything like flying in a plane while strapped in like a piece of luggage.

"after" experiencing ft.dix new jersey and kuwait... so far i love iraq. our office is in a building that has a free coffee shop plus a gym. the food continues to get better with each location i get to, as well as the mwr (morale welfare & recreation)facilities. i have internet, phone access and there's also a chapel just down the hallway. so far i've been bound to my desk here at cob (contingency operating base) speicher. they have me putting a newscast together and redesigning a news set. it's not the front lines nor is it all that dangerous... but it is highly stressful at times (i.e. micing up the commanding general northern iraq to do live interviews with cnn, c-span, abc etc.).

"after" reading this you're probably wondering why i titled this post the way i did.
oh well, until next time... in the words of corporal hicks... stay frosty!