I have been given several departure dates and times over the past few days. I dont want to get specific (since it will change anyway) but I am certain that I will be on my way to the middle east within the next seven days. The constantly changing itinerrary is, as you can imagine, frustrating for me and my family. I still need to get used to surfing the unpredictable waves that are military plans.

In the meantime, I will continue to pack my gear, clean my apartment, hang out with friends and family, and take short trips to occupy my time. I went to the Harrah's casino in Illinois last week with some other pilots from work. It was a good day trip. I did not lose much money. I also went to the Jack Daniel's Distillery with Adam. If any of you find yourselves in Lynchburg, Tennessee I recommend the tour. I have an even greater appreciation of Tennessee Whiskey than I had before (some of you know that I already had quite an appreciation).

I am attaching a photo from the trip. You can see me in the back row, five from the left wearing a blue t-shirt and sunglasses. Adam is standing to my right. Our tourguide is kneeling in the front of the group. He pronounced the word "tour" as "chore" and "fire" as "far". As the following story illustrates, he also did not have much of a sense of humor.

The guide showed us Jack Daniel's original office. On the floor of the office was a large, old safe. Mr. Daniel kicked the safe one day after he had difficulty getting it open and broke his toe. The toe became infected and he eventually died. Needless to say, I dared Adam to kick the deadly safe. Once he accepted my dare I, not willing to be outdone, kicked it too (albeit gently). Adam then said to the guide, "I kicked the safe. Will I be OK?" "Were you hurt?" the guide replied deadpan. "Nope," Adam said. "I reckon you'll be alright." The guide said without cracking a smile. I guess some things should simply not joked about.

My toe still feels OK so I suppose I have escaped Jack Daniel's fate. I imagine that if I had hurt my toe our company commander would have banned all safe kicking just as he banned all dirt bike riding after a pilot was injured participating in that activity.

If you dont hear from me for a while you can assume I am in the gulf and dont yet have access to the internet. Once I have access to the net again I will be sure to get you all a snail mail address so that you can send books and food and good wishes.