End of week 21

Well on Wednesday, it finally happened...the first significant rain. We were to get close to an inch, I guess I will never really know. We survived this one. The ground became very muddy but held some of the water. The experts tell me that as we get more storms while the ground is saturated, we will see much more runoff and flooding. I am learning some things about soils and drainage while I'm here. The "soil" is actually more like moon dust - a few inches of it. Under that is a hard clay. This creates the recipe for lots of mud and mess. The moon dust gets like cookie dough and the clay underneath doesn't allow the water to drain or percolate. Luckily we have big enough drainage ditches now that it held the water like a pool. Hopefully the culverts I have been working on - that were to be started today - will help the water to flow and not pool during the upcoming rainy winter season....we'll see. Below is a picture from outside where I live and the other picture is from the landing outside the can where we work. The nice things about the rain are that the air is much less dusty and that all of the cars, containers and equipment that have been collecting dust-and therefore a tan color-have regained their original color. The color change really is noticeable.



This week we also had a visit from LtGen Reno..if you have been paying attention, how many stars does he wear? He is the A4/7. That is code for A for Air, 4 for Logistics and 7 for Engineers. That means he is at the Pentagon and is head with both of the departments that I am associated with. For those of you playing along....he is indeed a 3 star general.

His visit was very quick. He shook hands getting out of the vehicle and then we took him to our new conference room. Pretty glamorous with the picnic tables in a tent, but it was to show him where we are at with the new Expeditionary Prime Beef Area. I have not moved down here yet and still reside in my little tan can, but we are to move soon and you will see a post on the move for sure later.


The brief went fine. At the conclusion of the brief, we commenced with a military tradition of offering a coin to the General. We chose a young airman who was worthy because we were hoping that the General would return the favor. It is considered a big honor to get a coin from a 3- star General. He, unfortunately, did not return the favor. Incidentally, he actually did not receive a coin, but a poker chip. Because we are the 777 EPBS, it was decided that our logo could have something to do with gaming. Our commander ordered poker chips with our logo on them. They are ceramic and turned out to be really nice and unique. We will use these as our coins until our metal coins arrive – well after I’m gone.


While he was visiting the troops, I was able to capture a rare moment. The General approached one of our troops and asked for his name. He said, Airman Bell – the General looked at his sleeve and said “Airman Bell?” To which Bell replied, “Oh, sorry Staff Sergeant Bell, I just got promoted this week”. The General said “I think that warrants 10 pushups, I’ll do them with you”. It is rare to see a LtGeneral doing pushups on rocks with a Staff Sergeant so a good picture. I also included the friendly handshake afterwards.



The Tim Horton's on the boardwalk finally got ingredients for donuts again. I avoided it when I got here (when they had donuts) and then they ran out of ingredients a long while ago. Recently, I have been getting hungry for a donut. This week they finally are offering donuts again. You can get a medium cappuccino and a donut for 2 dollars - not bad. I took a picture of me eating my first donut here - it is a chocolate iced donut in honor of my son Andrew who loves chocolate donuts.


Getting close to mid December and we are starting to do administrative things to get ready to come home. Our replacements are currently at CST. The end is becoming a little more clear now. We certainly have alot of work to do still, but it is a nice feeling to begin to see/feel the end.

Thanks for following along...Until next time....