On the Downhill Side!!

Only 5 more days in dispatch then back on the truck. FINALLY. My time in dispatch hasn't been bad. I have gotten alot of stuff accomplished. I have plenty of time to work on my reports here as well as keep ahead of schedule in my classes. I also have gotten to talk to Heather alot becuase I am actually up when she is. Next week when I get out of here I will be up, for the most part, while she is either asleep or at work. Oh well. I only have 45 more days until I get to go home anyway. I am really looking forward to getting back home at least for a few days. It will be hard getting back on a plane knowing exactly what I am coming back to and what I will be leaving behind AGAIN. I will cross that bridge when I get there. For now I am going to stay positive. Can't wait to get home and see some of you. Talk to you all soon!

Do you know the Muffin Man???

I have finally met the illusive Muffin Man. He lives in Baghdad. There are definitely some interesting people here and they make it a little more bearable. Last week was rough for me, but this week is looking much better. I have gotten caught up on everything and feel a little less stressed. I still would rather be home, but here is livable for now. Thanks to everyone for writing. It really helped a lot to hear from all of you back home. I plan to get around and see most everyone when I get back on my R&R. It is only 56 days away. I am really looking forward to it. I've got two more weeks in dispatch then finally back on a rig. I look forward to getting back on the truck as night dispatch here is completely ridiculous. Hardly any calls, everyone else is in bed while I am at work, then everyone is awake and loud while I try to sleep. Oh well I only have two more weeks in here then no more dispatch the rest of the time I am here. Talk to you all soon!!

Thought things were getting better....WRONG

Things just keep getting worse. I have so many responsibilities and just keep getting more. I can't catch up. I have no time for it and on top of that I really don't want to be here. I want to come home so bad that I can barely stand it. I know deep down that I need to stay for several reasons, but I have no desire to be here. I am going to stay because I have signed a contract and have an obligation to stay but it is definitely a hard thing to do. Any emails and phonecalls would be greatly appreciated as I miss everything about being home!!

Half way to my first R&R

I am finally on the downhill side of my first leg over here. I get to go home on September 27th. I am really looking forward to getting home and spending time with Heather and Teddy. I am staying really busy and didn't have a lot of time to worry about home until this last week. I have started my month rotation in dispatch and I got night shift. It gets lonely around here with no one to talk to. I have gotten to catch up on a few things though. I am current with Rescue Me and even ahead of schedule for my classes. I found out today that I passed Fire Inspector 1. Not much has happened around here the last few weeks other than the guys here being complete idiots. We have found interesting ways to keep ourselves occupied in the absence of calls and actual fire department things to do. That is about all I have for now. I will try to get better again about more current updates. See you all soon!!

Things are going better now!

These last couple of weeks have been a real rollercoaster for me. I have went through all emotions that you could imagine. I have missed home, hated here, loved being here, and not sure what to do about it. After talking to Heather and really discussing it with her, it is all better now. She is awesome! From half a world away she knows exactly what I need to hear to keep going. So now that I have found my "Big Boy Pants" I'm doing much better. We had another big fire at the landfill where I got extremely dehydrated. A few other things have happened over the last few weeks but because of OPSEC can't be discussed. Anyway, things are looking up here in the Burbs of Baghdad and I am looking forward to the next few weeks. There will be alot of things to tell about in the near future.

Where did the week go??!!??

This week has gone by very quickly. We started out the week with a training drill at our on-site training facility. Since then, I have spent the rest of my daytime hours in Inspector 1 class this week. After class, we have been going out and doing inspections, as well as our other daily routine. All of that with study time in the evenings and time has just disappeared. As far as the crew, We have all really gotten comfortable with each other. We had a cookout for Father's Day here at the station. There were also some military personnel that came. We had a good time. Not a whole lot exciting this week, but definately not a down moment in sight this week. All is well and going good here at Victory.

My First Fire in Iraq

We had our first fire since I have been here this last week. It was on June 4. Our whole engine crew was actually at the gym working out when the call came out. When we stepped outside, the smoke was very black and heavy. We found out on the way that the fire was at an MRAP(armored personnel carrier) yard. The fire had caught several pallets of stuff on fire as well as a few tanks of JP-8 fuel. Needless to say if the 120 degree ambient aire temp didn't make it bad enough, the fuel did the rest. We spent about 4 hours out there. Other than that, the week was very uneventful. I am being trained to take over as the Base Training Officer here at Camp Liberty. I will be responsible for diseminating the training material that comes from HQ to all of the stations here on the base. I will also be responsible for making sure all of the data is sent back to HQ after the training has been done. It is a handful trying to keep up with 4 stations and about 70 firefighters. Inspections is also another big task here every day. And of course, there is always alot of paperwork to be done. That is about all for this week. Oh, in the pictuer, I am the third from the left. Hopefully I will have more by the end of the week.