October 2005

First Flight

October 3, 2005

I had my first desert flight yesterday. It is challenging flying over such a barren landscape. There are very few references to indicated how high or fast I am flying. The instruments, therefore, become almost as important as they are when flying in the clouds. It is barren but beautiful over the desert. The sand takes all kinds of interesting shapes that change with the shadows. We also see the occassional lizard and camels as we fly along less than a hundred feet from the sand.

I really appreciate all of the encouragement I get from those of you who read this. I apologize for not replying to everyone personally. I simply dont have much time to use the public internet terminals here. I will do my best to write back to everyone eventually. It is great to know that so many people care.

More about Kuwait

October 1, 2005

I am scheduled to have my first environmental training flight today. Everyone has to do a few of the desert flights before we move on to Iraq. Things here are still uneventful. I carry my M-4 rifle everywhere I go (but we havnt been issued ammo). Most of my time is spent waiting for our next meal and napping. I expect the pace to pick up a little now that we are doing some traiining.

My brother asked me who works in the taco bell, subway, etc. Its a good question. All of the facilities are staffed by foreign nationals. They are mostly pakistanis, indians, and neplalise. It seems that Kuwaitis do not do manual labor. I dont know who will be working at the facilities in Iraq.

I should be living in a CHU (containiner housing unit) in iraq within the next few weeks and have personal internet access. I just heard that we will have seven people per CHU. That is going to be very tight but pobably better than 50 to a tent.

Give 'em Hell Harry

October 1, 2005

Senate minority leader Harry Reid unveiled GiveEmHellHarry.com earlier this week. The website says its goal is "to provide Americans with the tools to make an impact on the fight for control of the U.S. Senate."

Meanwhile Nevada Highway Patrol has a new site that details traffic accidents NHP is working across the state. Updated every three minutes the site could be quite valuable to commuters and those traveling the state's highways.

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