Well this is day three - got back into town n Friday, around 1730 hours. It has been a relatively mellow three days, just readjusting my internal time clocks, resituating and just doing a lot of catching up.



Friday night - i was exhausted! we left Baghdad on thursday about 0400 or some ridiculous hour and went to dubai, then there for 8 hours, then frankfurt, then another 6 hours in that airport. then the 10 hours to denver. all low key, no crazy in flight issues this time. I had dinner with Gay Bagel (my roommate, she calls me bagel why i do not know) and then went to bed, to be back up at 3 am - guess i wasn't reset quite yet. . .



saturday - repair day. it is really cold (0 degrees F!) so i had the following projects to deal with:



1. broken window - apparently, one of the cats pissed on my bed while i was gone - monica discovered this just friday, and went and got a new mattress (which is great! and a little over the top . . .) when she was trying to move the mattress out herself, it slid down the stairs, and through a window. so i replaced a pane of glass - probably a 1.5 hour job, but low cost. 35 at the most. lots of info on the web regarding this stuff . . .



2. frozen pipe - there is a water pipe that comes up to our kitchen that is near the outside of the building - in the basement, the pipe is exposed sort of due to the mortar just falling out. someone repaired it sort of before, shoving some nasty ass insulation into the holes. so, i took the hair dryer, thawed the pipe (recommended - torches are dangerous and can cause fires) to get the water moving again. then, i attempted to use one of those cans of foam to insulate the wall (and pipe jacket to insulate the pipe). that shit is messy - but it is now better insulated . . . cost about 6 dollars, and one hours time.



3. toilets. the valve on mine is leaking - replaced that (minor flood - there is a lot of water in that tank even after you flush it!) and i replaced the seats. we had those wood looking seats. monica's had a crack in it that definitely pinched her ass every time she sat down. she is very patient. so i got two white seats, at $ 5 a piece, and the valve at $ 6.89 another cheap repair. honestly, you should check your tank to see if it leaks - put food coloring in the tank, and see if it goes into the bowl. if so, replace the parts, they are cheap, and a leaking toilet can leak between 30-300 gallons a day! source http://denverwater.org which also has other conservation tips.



Saturday night I went to sushi sasa with Kelli - she and i had a long standing date for one year.  I had dinner with her when i left, and now when i returned.  we ate so many wonderful dishes - and drank a bottle of unfiltered sake (pearl sake?) definitely the best meal i have had in a year . . . we got to catching up, and talking, and laughing. . . then, back to home - again just tired tired tired still . . .



Sunday - lazy day.  shoveled a little snow, sat in my ski boots and my bathrobe, sorting mail (gotta make sure my boots still fit!), and watching a little TV - started to watch series 24 - another one i am going to be looking back at old episodes. . .



and now, monday.  more sorting, and organizing and rest today.  still catching up . . .



but i am glad to be home.  when i can't sleep at 3 am, i can actually leave my house, go for a walk, hop in my car and grab an ice cream cone at 7-11 - such a crazy notion, but i am free from that place - it was like a prison (not that i have been, or that i want to go) but my days are what i wnat to do.  i will go back to work at the end of January, and i look forward to that. 

0340 came fast - it is now 0510 am, on January 11th - thursday. We are on our way to Dubai in a few hours, where we will stage, and have that first drink, and then, 0250 on the way to Germany! then denver. the trip to iraq is over. it went fast, and really slow, was challenging, yet also almost too easy. so many polar views of what happened here. it was good to see our group i came through with - now 18 of us left from 20 - 2 demob'd earlier this year (i guess people thought i was going to demob also - someone owes me money!) This group grew up a lot - people are in better shape, more mature, just changed. a few, nothing has changed - is this the statistical norm for such a group of people?



I wrote a lot, and found a new love in writing. perhaps a book from this ordeal? where to begin - i am not sure.



what i do know is that i am going home, to my loving family (you all know who you are) and back to a normal life.



whatever that is for me.



See you all in a few days!



and thanks for being there, when i whined, when i missed you all, just to hear your voices from many miles away was such a relief, and kept me going on this journey.



Now, a new journey begins!

Here we are - at the point called the "wake up -#1". This is a countdown marker, to indicate where you are in going home. it is often referred to in conjunction with the number of days left i.e. yesterday, i would have been at time point "one day and a wake up".



so here i am. i wake up tomorrow, and travel. to baghdad. for another countdown (hence the wake up number 2). the final days here flew. getting moved, although initially kind of sucked, has been a nice respite from the hotspot. i visited today to say my final goodbyes. people are climbing the walls, and not happy at all. 3 months is a little long to be contained to that area. i encouraged them to ask to transfer, for their sanity. i think it finally sunk in. i was sad to say goodbye to a few - Rick, and justin, and even Littlejohn. the rest are workers here - i hope they stay safe, and attempt to keep there sanity. i know mine slipped ever so slightly at the end. you really have to look out for your self out here.



i started here at this station, and am ending here. we had an actual fire last night, and the fire kinda reinforced what is going on here. people try and put an effort forth, but it just isn't like working with everyone i work with on a day to day basis, in littleton, who know what the hell they are doing. I had to basically "ask permission" last night to secure the utilities to the fire building (electricity only out here)- no one had even thought about that, including the 4 incident commander (so much for ICS and span of control) on scene for this SWA hut fire.



we got lost going there also - i told them from the back where we were going, and the landmarks for the road. tunnel vision ensued, and before i knew it, we were past the fire, quite a ways. i told the guys up front, they turned around, now even more flustered driving faster. over tank tracks (speed bumps here in TQ). so fast the office went airborne and fell on the air horn switch. for a long while. long enough for me to laugh, a lot! i am sure there was some type of circus music playing in the background.



life will go on here, and i wish all these guys the best, in personal safety, and in mental well being. hopefully, people, including my self i know for sure, go home from here, a little wiser, a little calmer, a little more educated, knowing that they can do good out there, even in the mess that is going on over here.



I know we impacted soldiers lives in a positive way. the obvious - providing fire protection for them, on the suppression side, and also the inspection side. but more importantly, the biggest impact is saw was the personal interaction. often, we would be driving across the flightline, and even though we only had one seat left, we would cram 4-6 soldiers (marines usually. Hurrrah!)in the back. a lot of these guys and gals were 18-21 years old at the most, and they acted like little kids - riding on the fire truck to the DFAC. big smiles, that was the coolest thing they did while in iraq. and it was just a rescue truck to me, our conveyance that i rode on three times a day to go to dinner, but for them it was a mini-vacation - 3 minutes in length, but boosted morale. sometimes, it is the little moments and events that are bigger than you realized. there was always the trickle down effect, we could be having a not so good day, but seeing the soldiers ride with us impacted us just as much.



These rides (defintely in violation of our policies, but rules are made to be broken) affected the older marines also - the colonels that rode with us, the gunnery sargents, the lt's and captains. no matter what age, the small act of a ride on the fire truck, whether it be across the parking lot or across the base, had huge effect and benefits.



perhaps thats what we should be doing - giving rides to soldiers who are over here. hopefully our good will spread a little to the other crews and the rides will continue.



anyways, this is my last meal here at TQ tonight. a little stirfry, come home and pack my remaining stuff, and hop on Scare Air to baghdad tomorrow. see you all very soon. thanks for supporting me this year, giving me an oppportunity to explore and grow, and get ready for a new travis coming back. changed, in a positive way, ready to give it that 110 percent at work again. and to relax a little this year - this has been one long shift over here - not like the 120 days back home - been more like 300 days back home. i need a little vacation!

About 7 days till i leave the base. little glitch in my plans which always seems to occur. we have a new chief here on base, a temp chief who is making changes (this is not the plan the chief that is normally here had in mind) to make changes. he even said "I like pissing people off".



so they are moving me. to another station, with one week to go. i have been with the crash crew for my last 6 months, and actually (sick as it might sound) wanted to sit the hot spot for my last shifts here. Crash crew has a lot of pride and we do most of the work here, so i was slightly disappointed when I heard i would have to pack my shit up and move to another station. all in the name of getting about 4 signatures, which will take about 1.5 hours max.



So, i followed the chain of command - talked to the lt, and then the captain, wanting to know if i could talk to the chief about this - bend his ear. they said go ahead. so i called him.



the response :"have your captain call me". so then the captain came in and this was his response:



"I have to give you a verbal reprimand for having a negative attitude about the schedule." I guess the chief's other response was that "I don't talk to FF about schedules or anything." Honestly, i don't care about the verbal reprimand. Yes, my attitude was not the best, but i dare find anyone around here with out a negative attitude.



if the change made sense, as far as i was moving permanently, then i can see that issue coming up. but they literally can hold one of the other movee's for one week, as a courtesy to me.



but this place has some of the worst leaders i have worked with. This chief acts like someone stole his lunch money from him. he is angry at someone, and he acts like it.



luckily, i only have about 7 days left. these 7 days should help me right some more for the "book". I might write about this experience. not sure how well it will play out, but it is a thought - i have written about 20 or so "journals / stories" about the various, numerous and several (quote from Lt. Yates, or ODB) incidents and daily operations here.

all is quiet here in iraq, except for the occasional cargo aircraft landing, or helicopter taking of on a mission (usually to pick up wounded).



X-mas dinner was good - turkey and the fixings. egg nogg and near beer (0.0 % alcohol content - i thought i would never ever drink that stuff. it isn't terrible, especially when you don't have choices . . .) lots of food - gotta hit the eliptical for sure.



christmas day at the station - mellow, one episode of drama, which was caused by people imbibing in ETOH. that has been a frustrating part of being here, people who are on duty, although we never get any runs, drinking. just blows my mind to think that people can even think to do that, and that our leaders chose not to address the issue, often because they are wrapped up in the bottle also.



i haven't touched a drop of alcohol in country - on my R+R i drank a little, but never here. it isn't allowed, and i have respect and integrity for what i am doing here. there are a few of us who feel and act in the same fashion (rick, doug and justin). it is a relief to work on a crew that holds the same values.



but enough bitching. that day is over. today, a new day, tuesday. 13 days till i leave the base, 17 till i am home. jan 12th i am officially home. rest for a few days, then off to california to visit julie. to explore, see where the future leads to.



life is exciting, and a little scary, but overall it is beautiful. i look forward to working with the family back at LFR, and partying with the burners in Denver and beyond. and skiing. taking in the colorado freshies. i usually do this by myself - my travi time. in the woods, in the snow, moving forward.



miss you guys, and will see you all very very very soon. counting down the days. soon soon enough - and i will come back to the other place a better person, having a better understanding of myself, from being here on the island.