Heard the first airplane take off in days just a while ago, which would tend to indicate that the airport has finally cleared off the black sand Pacaya laid down last Thursday and Friday. Now all we need is a plane ( Read more... )

Volcano? Check.

Tropical Storm? Check.

What'll we get for an encore, do you suppose...?

Btw, fyi, SICK! of the teen-insy little biting flies/gnats/whatevers that pounce on your calves/ankles the INSTANT your bug repellant wears off. Mosquito netting? Are you kidding? Don't bother, seriously. Ugh. Just want my legs not to look & feel like I'm a victim of some pox or other. Soon, Precious, we hope ( Read more... )

"So, Big Sergeant, what's it REALLY like there on FOB Kaibil, in that hopping little town of Puerto Barrios, Izabal Province, Guatemala ( Read more... )

Looks like for the remainder of my time here, I'll be pulling the overnight shift, instead of the swing shift. Buddy I switched with just got whored out to the rest of the task force to do their haz-mat load planning and paperwork, and rather than make them come to him (he is, after all DOING THEM A SERIOUS SOLID), the NCOIC has decided he needs to ( Read more... )

Finally. We're at the location we've been aiming for for the past month, but haven't been able to get to because of the lack of proper prior planning and coordination by the task force. Now that we're here, though, we can finally start settling into shift work, a battle rythym, a routine. It's highly probable that other crap will go wrong, but now ( Read more... )

Apparently, we had an earthquake. Opposite side of the country from us, so I think I may be one of the few around here that have any idea whatsoever, certainly no one here felt it. Lucked out of that one.

But in the "¡Gana al Instante!" category, our ELM guy brought me back a package of Tang from the Maxi Bodega. Horchata-flavored Tang. I may have ( Read more... )

Last week we managed to cram absolutely everyone in our detachment into the house up here on the hill - four extra beds and two couches later, all of us have a place to sleep. Silly, really. Also silly: meals are no longer predictable things. What makes that silly, since the rest of the world is actually lucky to eat well once a day? The fact that ( Read more... )

( written entry for 21 FEB 2010 behind cut )

So, since the contractors haven't yet finished our billets we're roughing it in the unconscionable conditions to be found here at the local resort. Yeah. You heard me. I may have mentioned a "light at the end of the tunnel" earlier? Holy Smoke, it's bright ( Read more... )