Ain't technology great?

Don’t you hate it when you get to work and realize you’ve left things at home? Today was one of those days. I had just finished my very first teleconference with some of my colleagues – that was kind of a cool thing, we were anywhere from ten miles apart to one hundred, and we were able to have a somewhat effective meeting … ok, ok, I know that most of you non-military types have done this tons of times, but the ability to do it in a combat zone where some of the guys might be talking to you from a tent was neat – and I realized stuff I needed to reference for follow up with these guys was in my ‘hooch.’ I had even laid it out so I wouldn’t forget it. Grrrrr (a favorite saying of my wife). So, I jumped in the mighty War Hummer and rolled for my trailer.

When you look on Google Maps, my office and trailer are just over two miles apart. The reality is, it’s a twenty minute drive. I, of course, chose the road behind the flatbed truck who was either lost or eating a sandwich. If the speed limit is 30, I can deal with 20 – you’re just being safe, but 10 … now that ticks me off. Normally, I would have passed, but this clown was driving down … you guessed it … the middle. Needless to say, I wasn’t too happy about using half of my lunch to get home. With no other options, I idled along behind my trucker friend and enjoyed the day. I was, however, met with quite the surprise upon my arrival at Casa Grease. It seems at least one of my ‘trouble calls’ was answered!

When I talked to the guys who got me the trailer, they said that they were using the wireless internet like champs in their trailer. Now I’m a HUGE fan of wireless internet, and reduction of wires in general (Ask my wife, she’s convinced that I want to replace all of the electronics in the family room (TV, Surround Receiver, etc) just to upgrade to HDMI capable (single wire does all audio/video) man-toys – and she’s right). When I arrived at my trailer, I tried to use my computer wirelessly, but could not get any type of signal. It would ‘see’ wireless hubs nearby, but alas no reception. I’m pretty sure I live in the only lead-lined trailer in Iraq. This would be good if I was a superhero who needed protection from Kryptonite, but when it comes to receiving wireless signals … not so much. The only way I could get internet in the beginning was to run a Cat-5 cable from the internet hub in the adjoining room, through the bathroom, across the floor to the laptop … not very efficient. On top of that, I know that the adjoining room won’t stay empty forever, and the new inhabitant might not appreciate me keeping the bathroom doors open all the time to surf when I’m home. The first night, I decided to go over to the internet folks the next morning and complain. Then the whole cold shower thing happened. My priorities rapidly changed. Eventually, I made it to Magic Island Tech. (our internet provider in the desert – I wonder if they outsource their customer service to the states – that would only seem fair). I asked the lady at Magic Island for some help with my problem, and she gave me a blank stare, thus indicating her limited conversational English did not extend to technical questions. She thrust a piece of paper at me and indicated that I should write my problem down. This was five days ago. After my experience with the water heater (still not fixed – getting old), I fully expected to never hear from the Magic Island again. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised to see a note on my desk when I returned today.

Not only had they been by, but they did exactly as I asked! I had requested that they swap out the wired hub in my trailer with a wireless one, and that’s exactly what I received. Now I have one less thing to stumble on as I make my way to the cold shower in the morning (the KBR guy did say that a team had been by and ‘cleaned out the water heater.’ I explained to him that the cleanliness of the water heater was not my big issue, the lack of HEAT was. Go figure, I’m still taking world-record speed showers in the morning. I’ve timed it; I have approximately three minutes fifteen seconds of warm water, then all cold). Maybe I’ll get lucky and they will come during the next two days (I’m traveling to Fallujah tomorrow morning for some meetings). We’ll see.

Before I sign off tonight, I want to make some shout-outs to some pretty cool people. A lot of you reading this have offered help with Karen, the kids and the impending twins. Please know that we appreciate every offer, and she will undoubtedly take you up on some. On a more selfish note, many of you out there have offered to send care packages out to me. This I really appreciate. Just last night, Karen’s cousin Helen E-mailed me. Now you have to understand, I met Helen at my wedding, and that’s about it. Karen keeps up with her, but I never expected to get her E-mails last night. It seems Helen works for a company that makes sunscreen and bug repellent (in some cases sunscreen that has bug repellent in it – cool), these are things that are in short supply in the desert. Helen gets free samples, and offered to send me a case! Now I love the typical care package stuff (cookies, brownies, etc) because they are made by the folks sending them, but Helen’s offer was pretty special – she looked on some of the blogs I have linked and noticed that one mentioned the bug problems and lack of sunscreen, and decided that this would be her niche – really thoughtful. Anyway, thank you again Helen for the generous offer and thank you all for all you do for Karen and I. Until tomorrow.

-Grease out.

P.S. For those of you who have requested, here is my address:

LCDR (Fill in my name here – OPSEC you know)
MNC-I IAG
APO AE 09342