since my last posting some big things have changed. we have a new division in charge. they're the 1st armored division out of germany. the actual transfer of authority ceremony was interesting/frustrating. first off... one thing i've noticed about nearly every public affairs unit i've ever worked with (not excluding myself even) seems to work at a reactive level rather than a proactive one. we were doing so much last minute work it was ridiculous. we even ended up cutting and gluing posters for the event. the most frustrating part was watching some of my troops get yelled at to take trash out by one first sergeant only to have another one standing by the door yelling at soldiers for taking the trash out. it was like being at boot camp again. the icing to the whole event was how non-newsy it all was. it barely made the news even after all our hype. all the media cared about was what we had planned if turkey crossed the border to attack the kurds.
the possitive piece to it all though is that our new division staff is really cool. regardless of rank they are all very approachable and actually listen to you. in our field it's important to not always flex your ego through rank and listen to your subordinate. some of the best ideas i've ever heard were from privates. our new general is as best i can tell awesome. major general hertling is really nice and very saavy with the media.
in other "news," i've really enjoyed the care packages i've received so far. i have lots of movies to entertain myself with... beef jerky, nuts, carmen's donated chips, pictures of home, music cds and homemade cookies. it all makes my stay in this sandy prison much more bearable.
in yet even other news... i just had my first bout with the crud. everyone gets it atleast once while in country... one nasty cold or flu. mine started out as just your average cold but quickly decided to hit me full on. from gooey phlem dribbling out of every pore to fever and chills that gave me some pretty cool hallucinations. cool but still safe since i didn't grab my weapon and charge outside after some tuscan raiders and their banthas.
i didn't eat much and i'm thinking based on this photo of me taken last night that i might want to start packing on the pounds through copious amounts of ice cream. the one bonus to the whole ordeal was that i got a day and a half off from work... something that's rare around here since we only get sunday mornings off to go to church.
so other than that and this really sexy picture of me i really don't have anything left to write about.
thank you to those of you watching out over my wife and actively hanging out with her. it's not easy being away from home but time is flying by so far and i'm sure it will just pick up even more.
peace
