Have you ever had something good going then for some reason, it stopped? Well that’s what happened with my desire to keep up this blog. I don’t know what happened but it took an email from cousin to get me back into. Thanks Bee
I AM GONE….I AM BACK
That sums up the past 2 months since I last posted. A trip to NC and now I am back in the dirt.
I am once again apologizing for neglecting my blog, a source of information which got me a lot of attention while I was home. I was asked by different people why I stopped writing and the truth is, my life over here wasn’t really that interesting. I get up and go to work and come back home. What made things interesting was my commentary on different aspects of being over here. That’s what you guys like to read and that’s what I need to get back to. I enjoyed writing in this and now that they new year has started hopefully I can continue to bring you news from the back of the frontline.
I am not even going to pretend to remember what has gone on since I last updated. What I will say is that I am somewhat of a local celebrity now.
How???
Well as I have stated previously, people I didn’t even know have been reading my blog. A couple of whom where reporters for local News stations, both of whom wanted an interview the minute I stepped off the plane.
Wait a minute..interview for what? Who am I? Who would be interested in what I have to say? I thought it was a joke until I got home and I started getting phone calls and emails.
Man…Do I need an agent?
Well, Christmas Eve was an event at the house. Me and the wife get up at 4am to prepare the house for the cameras. There were no presents under the tree so we spent 2hrs wrapping presents. I have to admit, the tree looked pretty sad with nothing under it. And it would have been pretty embarrassing to have the whole area see an empty tree.
In a nutshell, at 10am, Valonda Calloway from WRAL shows up with her photographer to conduct the interview. I have discovered that there is a lot that goes into those small segments you see on the news. Lighting (boy were they hot), microphones and placement of bodies. And then the actual interview. During the whole time we were talking, I kept thinking to myself, “these folks don’t give a sh!t about me being in Iraq. I am not on the frontlines storming into an insurgent stronghold. I am in the driver’s seat of a Bradley. I am not in any real immediate danger, other than an occasional mortar or rocket attack”. I was nervous and searching for words, and really wanted to call the whole thing off. Writing here I can edit myself, take out things that are not important, enhance things that are. I am in control. But during the interview, I felt out of control. But after seeing the broadcast that evening, I thought, “Man, I look fat.”
That’s it. All the worrying I did about what I was going to say was for nothing. They edited all that BS into something interesting. Hell, I even wanted to know more about that guy and his family.
My only problem with that broadcast was that Ms. Calloway used the wrong pictures. She used some of the photos from my Yahoo page. I didn’t want a picture of my desk on the news. It doesn’t even look like that anymore. Nor did I want that picture of me in front of the palace on there. But oh well, what can I do now.
The second interview took place at noon that same day. The lady conducting this interview was the girlfriend of one of my boys. Now add that fact with the fact that I had already conducted one interview. A little cockiness came out. I was more relaxed. Hell, I could have been on CNN. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see that broadcast, because she is out of a station Greenville. But my boy told me has the tape, so I should be able to see it soon.
My time home flew by again. I got home on the 22nd of December. My welcome was much better this time than my welcome back in July. My youngest daughter actually remembered me and was happy to see me. That felt good.
I really didn’t have time to rest or relax while I was home. I stayed on the go the whole time and I spent way too much money. By the time I left I was more exhausted than before I left. I just needed a day to rest. I am still waiting on that day.
My trip back was pretty boring. Straight flight from RDU to London. London to Dubai. Dubai to Baghdad.
One interesting thing did happen on the RDU to London flight. I happened to be sitting next to a young black woman. Why did every stewardess on the plane think she was with me. She drifted off to sleep and when they came around with those damn peanuts, the stewardess asked me did she want anything to eat or drink. I looked at her as if to say, “ How the hell should I know? Wake her ass up and ask her?” When the guy came around to give out the customs form he handed everyone on our row one except for her. I asked him if she needed one and he said, “I thought you two were together”.
WHY????
If a white man and a white lady sit next to each other, do you automatically assume they are together? What about two Chinese? Hispanics? Eskimos?
Maybe I am tripping.
Anyways
I am back here in Iraq and the big news is the upcoming elections. They are determined to have them and I am glad. I am sure if they decided to postpone them, they would never happen.
Things have been pretty quite around here. We did have a couple of car bombs. I don’t know if I am becoming immune to them or what. Those damn cannons have been firing lately. Maybe to let the bad guys know we are still here.
As March draws near, the question on everyone’s mind is: Will he stick around longer or adhere to the basis of this blog to document a 12month stay in Iraq as a contractor.
Well….
Look at the title for the answer.
I am going to stick around because I am greedy.
But seriously, I am looking for a certain dollar amount to be in my bank account and it wont be there in March. And I want to make sure I never have to do this again.
Cant you see it now. JOURNEY TO IRAQ PT. 2 The Fool RETURNS!!!
Yes I am going to grab 2 more paychecks then call it quits. Head back home. But I will be coming home in March. Probably take the wife on a cruise. I have to come home on this 3rd R&R. The company will fly me wherever I want for free. So I may as well take advantage of it.
Looking back on this experience, if I had it to do over again, I don’t think I would. Things have been rough over here. Not just the stuff you see on the news but being away from the family. My kids have suffered a lot, whether they know it or not. I sometimes felt like a stranger in my own home. Like a visitor. I don’t want them to have to go through that again.
Enough of the mushy stuff
I am going to try to keep this updated…at least on a weekly basis.
Thanks for reading and keep the words of support coming
You guys continue to take care of yourselves and each other
In closing…..
Peace yall
RC
Dont forget to leave me a comment!!! I DO CHECK THEM
http://photos.yahoo.com/richcamp1973
Sunday, January 16, 2005
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
Are you guys still there?
Before you ask where I have been, let me first apologize for waiting so long to update this page. I have been too busy. And I still am, but I know I need to at least drop a few lines.
Most importantly, I am fine. Still counting down the days until I can leave this war zone. It seems like activities have picked up around here. We are constantly on alert and people are getting hurt. We are going through the month of Ramadan right now, which is a holy month for people of the Islamic faith. Its also a time when we expect for the level of violence, which it has. I will be so glad when I can pack up and leave. I know you are asking, why not just leave now. Well like I told my wife, if I left now, what would I do. The job market in NC is horrible and I am trying to build something, so I am going to have to stick it out. Its really not that bad where I am at. As I have said before, I feel safe about 90% of the time. But Baghdad in general is chaotic.
Enough sad of the sad stuff.
What have I been doing since august? Well me have been going through a major inventory for the entire country, and of course because of my position, I have been a focal point for the Baghdad area. It was rough. But its over now.
As you can see I really don’t have much to talk about.
All I have been doing is working. Get up, come to work, go home, go to sleep. Everyday.
I celebrated my 31st birthday on Oct 4th. My coworkers went out and got me a cake and a couple of cards. It was really nice. I have to say that I work with some good people.
In the news.
Its election time back home, and before you ask, no, I didn’t vote. I wanted to, but I kept putting off requesting my absentee ballot. If I was home I would have voted for ********** ( this is not a political forum!!!). Its gonna be interesting to see how the world changes based on the outcome of the election. Everybody is watching out for voting irregularities. That whole Florida thing was a mess the last time. I doubt anything like that will happen again. Too many people are expecting it. I juts hope that everyone that wants to vote will have a chance to exercise their right.
The rainy season started today over here. I am basing that on the fact that it’s been raining all damn day long. Now I am waiting for some decent weather over here. 2 weeks ago it was like 1000 degrees outside, now its cold and rainy…and muddy. Man its so muddy over here, my boots look like something out of child’s diaper (ewwwww).
What else is going on…….really nothing
I will be home for Christmas. I really should be getting ready to come now. It has been almost 4 months since my last R&R, but I just have to be home with my family. When this R&R is over, I will only have about 2 ½ months left here. I was thinking about extending until May, but I don’t know now. I am ready to come home.
This is a short post. I am trying to get back into the swing of this. I hate it took me this long to update this thing. Thank you guys for hanging in there with me.
I have 144 days to go on my 12 month contract. Time is flying.
So in closing……
Peace yall
RC
Dont forget to leave me a comment!!! I DO CHECK THEM
http://photos.yahoo.com/richcamp1973
Before you ask where I have been, let me first apologize for waiting so long to update this page. I have been too busy. And I still am, but I know I need to at least drop a few lines.
Most importantly, I am fine. Still counting down the days until I can leave this war zone. It seems like activities have picked up around here. We are constantly on alert and people are getting hurt. We are going through the month of Ramadan right now, which is a holy month for people of the Islamic faith. Its also a time when we expect for the level of violence, which it has. I will be so glad when I can pack up and leave. I know you are asking, why not just leave now. Well like I told my wife, if I left now, what would I do. The job market in NC is horrible and I am trying to build something, so I am going to have to stick it out. Its really not that bad where I am at. As I have said before, I feel safe about 90% of the time. But Baghdad in general is chaotic.
Enough sad of the sad stuff.
What have I been doing since august? Well me have been going through a major inventory for the entire country, and of course because of my position, I have been a focal point for the Baghdad area. It was rough. But its over now.
As you can see I really don’t have much to talk about.
All I have been doing is working. Get up, come to work, go home, go to sleep. Everyday.
I celebrated my 31st birthday on Oct 4th. My coworkers went out and got me a cake and a couple of cards. It was really nice. I have to say that I work with some good people.
In the news.
Its election time back home, and before you ask, no, I didn’t vote. I wanted to, but I kept putting off requesting my absentee ballot. If I was home I would have voted for ********** ( this is not a political forum!!!). Its gonna be interesting to see how the world changes based on the outcome of the election. Everybody is watching out for voting irregularities. That whole Florida thing was a mess the last time. I doubt anything like that will happen again. Too many people are expecting it. I juts hope that everyone that wants to vote will have a chance to exercise their right.
The rainy season started today over here. I am basing that on the fact that it’s been raining all damn day long. Now I am waiting for some decent weather over here. 2 weeks ago it was like 1000 degrees outside, now its cold and rainy…and muddy. Man its so muddy over here, my boots look like something out of child’s diaper (ewwwww).
What else is going on…….really nothing
I will be home for Christmas. I really should be getting ready to come now. It has been almost 4 months since my last R&R, but I just have to be home with my family. When this R&R is over, I will only have about 2 ½ months left here. I was thinking about extending until May, but I don’t know now. I am ready to come home.
This is a short post. I am trying to get back into the swing of this. I hate it took me this long to update this thing. Thank you guys for hanging in there with me.
I have 144 days to go on my 12 month contract. Time is flying.
So in closing……
Peace yall
RC
Dont forget to leave me a comment!!! I DO CHECK THEM
http://photos.yahoo.com/richcamp1973
Tuesday, August 31, 2004
How long were yall gonna let me go without updating this thing???
Its August 29, 2004, and I haven’t update this page in almost a month. August has been a busy month for me. We had a major audit around the middle of the month. We passed…….
I cant continue. I am a little upset right about now. One of my workers, Mark, was fired today. I didn’t fire him, but I did have to write him up twice, which is what I think was the final straw. This little guy was determined to get transferred to another department. I asked him several times what is so bad about working in our department. He would never tell me. I guess it was me, but I never bothered him. I did my work and he did his. We never had any problems.
I know for a fact that my coworkers didn’t like him. They said he was sneaky and greedy and untrustworthy. Well I guess I had blinders on because I didn’t see it.
He came in late on Friday. He was supposed to show up at 7am, but didn’t get in until 10am. When I asked him why he was late, his excuse was that he was in his room thinking about transferring. That pissed me off. So I had to document that. The other write up was because he was going around to different departments asking to be transferred. I explained to him that he cannot get transferred until he finishes his initial contract. No one can. But he persisted. He pissed off a lot of other managers, and I was the one getting an ass-chewing because of him. Well enough was enough. I gave him two counseling statements, one for being late, one for violation of department policies. I told him his work was fine but he has a job to do and he has to be here to do it. What I didn’t know is that he attempted to get one of the HR managers written up because she wouldn’t grant him a transfer.
DUMBASS
I feel bad. Not for him, because I told him on several occasions to chill out with his job hunting because he was doing it all wrong. I know people search for other jobs. Hell, I did it myself. But you have to have some type of secrecy about it. He was letting everybody know he wanted to be transferred. I feel bad for his family back in the Philippines. The reason why he was here. To support them. I know it will be hard to rebound from that.
Well, I am still moving up that ladder. My department has grown from 2 to 6. we are getting ready to move to another building where I will be getting an office. It feels funny being in charge. I used to always here in the military, “Rank has its Privileges.” Well rank also has its damn headaches. I sometime feel like I am the point of contact for this whole department. But with all the stress and headaches, my days are still flying by.
TODAY IN IRAQ
Things have calmed down in Najaf. That place was off the hook for as minute. Al Sadr is a complete idiot. This guys raises up his head every few months and starts talking shit. We slap the hell out of him and then he goes back down. Maybe this time he will chill for good, but it took the Grand Pubah of the Shiites to get him to calm down. So what does that say about the new government? I wonder how these January elections will turn out.
Let me tell you what happened the other night. I got a satellite in my room, so now I can watch the news and keep up with current events. Well all of a sudden…BOOOM…..what the hell?!?!?!
I get up and go out side. The sky is lit up with tracer bullets. It looked like WWIII. I quickly slapped on my helmet and vest. But my dumb ass stayed out side. So there I am on my doorstep with a tanktop tshirt, boxers, a 70lbs bullet-proof vest and a helmet. I must have looked like a fool. Then it hit me…no..not a bullet. I turned the tv to cnn.
IRAQI SOCCER TEAM WINS OLYMPIC MATCH
These fools are shooting up in the air. Well, what goes up must come down. I get back in the bed, vest, helmet, t-shirt and drawls. I eventually took it off. I am sure you are laughing, but you can kiss my assets. Those tin roof trailers aint gonna stop nothing but a warm breeze.
Speaking of warm breeze, it is still hot. 113 today. I finally figured out how to describe the temperature here. When you get a chance, take a hair dryer and put it on high heat. Then point it to your face. Pick up a hand full of dirt and throw it in your face. Close your eyes….WELCOME TO IRAQ.
I am going to post another picture on my webpage. This is a picture my team took about a week ago. 90% of the folk in the picture and the names of the folks not pictures, I trained. I have been busy. The itty-bitty guy next to me with the hat on, is the guy that got the dusty boot to butt today. I will miss him.
Well its 9pm. Time to go home. Yall hit me on the email please. I am getting lonely out here again.
THANKS FOR THE REMINDER, THERESA!!!
So take care of yourselves and each other.
In closing………
Peace yall
RC
Dont forget to leave me a comment!!! I DO CHECK THEM
http://photos.yahoo.com/richcamp1973
Its August 29, 2004, and I haven’t update this page in almost a month. August has been a busy month for me. We had a major audit around the middle of the month. We passed…….
I cant continue. I am a little upset right about now. One of my workers, Mark, was fired today. I didn’t fire him, but I did have to write him up twice, which is what I think was the final straw. This little guy was determined to get transferred to another department. I asked him several times what is so bad about working in our department. He would never tell me. I guess it was me, but I never bothered him. I did my work and he did his. We never had any problems.
I know for a fact that my coworkers didn’t like him. They said he was sneaky and greedy and untrustworthy. Well I guess I had blinders on because I didn’t see it.
He came in late on Friday. He was supposed to show up at 7am, but didn’t get in until 10am. When I asked him why he was late, his excuse was that he was in his room thinking about transferring. That pissed me off. So I had to document that. The other write up was because he was going around to different departments asking to be transferred. I explained to him that he cannot get transferred until he finishes his initial contract. No one can. But he persisted. He pissed off a lot of other managers, and I was the one getting an ass-chewing because of him. Well enough was enough. I gave him two counseling statements, one for being late, one for violation of department policies. I told him his work was fine but he has a job to do and he has to be here to do it. What I didn’t know is that he attempted to get one of the HR managers written up because she wouldn’t grant him a transfer.
DUMBASS
I feel bad. Not for him, because I told him on several occasions to chill out with his job hunting because he was doing it all wrong. I know people search for other jobs. Hell, I did it myself. But you have to have some type of secrecy about it. He was letting everybody know he wanted to be transferred. I feel bad for his family back in the Philippines. The reason why he was here. To support them. I know it will be hard to rebound from that.
Well, I am still moving up that ladder. My department has grown from 2 to 6. we are getting ready to move to another building where I will be getting an office. It feels funny being in charge. I used to always here in the military, “Rank has its Privileges.” Well rank also has its damn headaches. I sometime feel like I am the point of contact for this whole department. But with all the stress and headaches, my days are still flying by.
TODAY IN IRAQ
Things have calmed down in Najaf. That place was off the hook for as minute. Al Sadr is a complete idiot. This guys raises up his head every few months and starts talking shit. We slap the hell out of him and then he goes back down. Maybe this time he will chill for good, but it took the Grand Pubah of the Shiites to get him to calm down. So what does that say about the new government? I wonder how these January elections will turn out.
Let me tell you what happened the other night. I got a satellite in my room, so now I can watch the news and keep up with current events. Well all of a sudden…BOOOM…..what the hell?!?!?!
I get up and go out side. The sky is lit up with tracer bullets. It looked like WWIII. I quickly slapped on my helmet and vest. But my dumb ass stayed out side. So there I am on my doorstep with a tanktop tshirt, boxers, a 70lbs bullet-proof vest and a helmet. I must have looked like a fool. Then it hit me…no..not a bullet. I turned the tv to cnn.
IRAQI SOCCER TEAM WINS OLYMPIC MATCH
These fools are shooting up in the air. Well, what goes up must come down. I get back in the bed, vest, helmet, t-shirt and drawls. I eventually took it off. I am sure you are laughing, but you can kiss my assets. Those tin roof trailers aint gonna stop nothing but a warm breeze.
Speaking of warm breeze, it is still hot. 113 today. I finally figured out how to describe the temperature here. When you get a chance, take a hair dryer and put it on high heat. Then point it to your face. Pick up a hand full of dirt and throw it in your face. Close your eyes….WELCOME TO IRAQ.
I am going to post another picture on my webpage. This is a picture my team took about a week ago. 90% of the folk in the picture and the names of the folks not pictures, I trained. I have been busy. The itty-bitty guy next to me with the hat on, is the guy that got the dusty boot to butt today. I will miss him.
Well its 9pm. Time to go home. Yall hit me on the email please. I am getting lonely out here again.
THANKS FOR THE REMINDER, THERESA!!!
So take care of yourselves and each other.
In closing………
Peace yall
RC
Dont forget to leave me a comment!!! I DO CHECK THEM
http://photos.yahoo.com/richcamp1973
Sunday, August 01, 2004
I always try to open up with some type of clever saying, but I got a lot to post, so let’s get to it.
First of all I am back in Baghdad. Back in the heat. It is 113 out there now and its 930pm.
But you guys want to know about the time between this post and my last post, right??
Let’s start with
Monday July5th:
I get up that morning all packed and ready to go. I get to the terminal at about 9am. One bag contained my DVD’s (never leave home without them), my CD player, important papers and my Iraqi cell phone. In my other bag I had souvenirs (including two desert hats for my daughters with their names embroidered on them), my clothes, my palm pilot with all my folks contact info, my US cell phone, the chargers for both cell phones and my toiletry items. Now you may be asking yourself why am I giving you an itemized breakdown of the contents. I will get to that.
I get manifested on a particular military flight and was told the flight would be leaving in about 90min. I was also told to that I was only allowed 1 carry-on, so I had them place my bag with the clothes, etc on a pallet. I then go and sit in the devil’s asshole..i am sorry, I mean the un-air conditioned tent that already had about 200 soldiers sweating in there. I joined them. Eventually the devil pooted and there was nice breeze that floated around. Maybe somebody realized that it was 290 degrees in there and turned the air on.
The 90minute wait went way past 2hours, so I go back to the desk where I checked in out. Low and behold Glade 75 (my flight identifier) is having maintenance problems and they had no clue when they would be resolved. Here is a brief transcript of the conversation that took place afterwards:
Cool richcamp1973:
“If the plane is delayed, can we get on another plane since they all go to the same place?”
Terminal Employee:
“No sir. You cant change planes. We have you on this flight. When the plane is fixed we will let you know”
Cool richcamp1973:
“What if it never gets fixed? Do we just sit here and wait?”
Terminal Employee:
“They will eventually get it fixed and you will be on your way”
No-so-Cool richcamp1973:
“EVENTUALLY!?!?....whatever….what about my bag can I get that off the pallet in case I decide to walk to Kuwait?”
Terminal Employee:
“Your luggage is already in Kuwait”
Warm richcamp1973:
“!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?......What the hell do you mean my luggage is in Kuwait?
Terminal Employee:
“When Glade 75 got delayed due to maintenance, we put the pallet containing the luggage on the next available flight so it will be waiting for you when you get to Kuwait”
Heated richcamp1973:
“If you put my luggage on that flight, why couldn’t you put my ass on that same flight?
Terminal Employee:
“The flight was full”
After I choked the sh*t out of him (not really, but the situation warranted it), I went back to Rectum de Diablo.
Eventually (4hours later) they got us on a flight. As we are lining up to WALK to the airplane……BOOOM….BOOOM…sirens wailing…2 mortars hit near the airfield. I am not phased. I am just ready to go.
I get on the plane with about 60 of our troops. Well in case I haven’t mentioned it before, it is slightly warm here in Iraq. Well the plane didn’t move for 45min and there was NO type of air in that plane. Earlier, I referenced the temperature of the tent I was in being the equivalent to the devil’s asshole. Well if I had to give an analogy of the temperature on that plane, I would have to equate it to…sitting on the sun, wearing a wool sweater and corduroy pants and 6 pair of socks. I have never sweated that hard before. Now along with my sweat there is the sweat of the troops.
60 FLAVORS OF FUNK.. mmmmm tasty
That plane STUNK
Finally we take off…the decide to turn the air on and 60min later, I am finally out of Iraq. I get to Kuwait and I immediately call Derrick so he can come and get me away from these crazy folks before I become an insurgent. But as soon as I get off the phone, I realize I need to retrieve my luggage. Now I see the first of many dumb looks.
Have you ever been around a small child and tried to get them to laugh, and they look at you like you are retarded? My daughter amber does that to people a lot. Well that’s what happened every time I mentioned my bag to the entire country of Kuwait. No one had a clue about it. Without dwelling too hard on it, I spent the next 36 hours looking for my bag.
I finally hooked up with Derrick. He came and picked me up from Kuwait’s airport. Kuwait is not a big country. At all, but it felt good to ride around without fear of being sniped or ambushed. We finally went to sleep at about 2am
Tuesday
5am-up and at em.
Being without clothes, I had to borrow a few key items to maintain my level of cleanliness. So, it’s t-shirts and jeans for me. 30min later we are on the bus to go to his job.
I hate to talk about people’s shoes, especially since that is one of my weaker areas of the fashion world, but I saw a man with shoes that looked like chewed bubblegum every time he took a step. This man was actually walking on the sides of shoes. It was funny to see.
I also met two guys that worked for Derrick. Jack and Legi…I guess that how to spell their names. These guys are from India or somewhere like that, but check this out. They eat with their fingers. Not like how we eat pizza or fried chicken, these guys were eating rice and something that looked like stewed beef….WITH THEIR FINGERS!!!!
Oh god that looked gross. But they didn’t make a mess, other than the slobbery mess on their fingertips. I was actually impressed.
****SLEEP BREAK WILL CONTINUE TOMORROW******
OK..tomorrow turned in to 2 days, but I am back now…
I spent the majority of my day looking for my luggage. No one had a clue. It was like the thing vanished into thin air. I got those stupid looks all day long. I see now why there’s crime. I bet all those guys in jail lost their luggage at some point and when they go ask for help they get some person looking at them like it’s not their responsibility to find your luggage.
I was even told that I shouldn’t have put my luggage on the pallet.
NO SHIT
But how in the f*** is that going to help me now, you f***ing turd!?!?!?!
SOMEBODY GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!!!!!!
I eventually calm down, accepted my losses and went to the barbershop and got “clean” for my trip home.
My plane rides across the seas were pretty uneventful. I almost got into an altercation on the plane from Kuwait though. This guy got pissed at me because I had my arm on the arm rest. Here is the conversation that took place:
Candidate-for-beat-down: “Sir, Can you stay on your side of the arm rest”….(the arm rest is all of about 3” wide)
Far-from-Cool richcamp1973: “Excuse me? What are you talking about?”
Candidate-for-beat-down: “I need space and you are on my side”
Future-inmate-Cool richcamp1973: “Dude, you better leave me alone before I slap you”
He obviously didn’t know about the day I had, but he almost got elected to the office of President of the Boot-in-Ass Club
I have never seen a grown man pout. He pouted for 5hours. I slept.
We land in Frankfurt and because I was still with Derrick for the next 4 hours, we decide to see a little bit of the city. That’s when I got my first drink. Bacardi and coke from a convenience store. It went straight to my head and for the first time, I smile.
Frankfurt is nice, but I saw something I had never seen before. These bums were on the street shooting up. Actual public drug use. What the f….
5 hours in Frankfurt and I am finally ready to travel to the Home of Brave. Now being over here in a foreign land, I am use to people of different cultures that don’t practice the Western custom of the deodorant arts. And I have grown quite accustomed to the pungent odors produced. But you wouldn’t expect that from Americans.
There was a young lady from Pennsylvania on her way home from Ghana seated next to me. Now this was a white chick and she spoke with no type of accent to indicate she was anything but American. But if I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, I would have thought I was sitting next to a warm cup of garbage juice….(thanks VI)
She smelled like Bin Laden Toe Cheese. Like Saddam probably smelt when they yanked his ass up out of that hole. Like….dammit… she smelled
The poor parents of that child probably choked when she ran up to them. Damn..
But I cant hate on her that much. She was the first person to welcome me home. And I will tell you, I don’t care how much trash people talk about this country, after spending time in a dangerous place where you KNOW people are trying to kill you, you will be thankful to touch down in a “safe” place.
The flight to Raleigh was short. I had never been that happy to land at that airport. I come down the escalator and all of sudden I hear a piercing scream and everybody in the waiting area (including me) jumped. My wife showed out!!! She came running up to me and holding Amber and Ashley was clinging to my leg. I would be lying if I said I didn’t cry. I missed those crazy ladies. Amber would not smile…AT ALL. She just kept looking at me like she was saying, “I know I recognize you, but I am not showing you any love just yet.” Eventually she warmed up to me, but I had to feed her greedy butt first.
I wanted my first meal back home to be exquisite…something fancy…so we go to……IHOP!!!!
Since I had to help my wife find the car, everything was closed once we left the airport , so waffles for everybody!!!
It felt good to sleep in my own bed, after sleeping on the hard hotel mattress in Houston, the cot that felt like plywood and my coworker’s bed that was shaped like the letter U. I slept like a baby. It also felt good not having to worry about mortars falling on your head also.
The next day, I went to MCI. The first person I saw was my old manager, who looked considerably smaller since the last time I saw her. I guess it must be the fact she is no longer pregnant!!! Everybody showed me a lot of love and it felt good being there. I realized how much I cared for you crazy folks up there. Every one was telling me about how they follow my page and I was grateful..and still grateful.
People also kept saying how much weight I have lost. I couldn’t tell, but based on how folks were going on and on about it, I must have been huge, but thanks for the compliments guys.
The next day was uneventful. The family went up to my wife’s job and I got pretty much the same response, but this was from people I didn’t know.
Saturday
Today was picture day..the very reason I was home. Our church was taking family photos for the directory, so we get all pretty to take pictures. My plan was to have a family photo, one of me and the wife, one of the girls and then individual photos of the kids separate. Well guess who cried the WHOLE time…You guessed it…AMBER!!!
She was fine in the family photo (other than the fact she wont smile….for anyone), but when it came time for her parents to sit her down for her photo… AAAAUUUGGGGHHH. I said the hell with it. So we just got the family ones. When the Olan Mills guy told us the price I nearly fell out my chair. $400.00…for damn pictures!!!! Now I am making a little bit more change now, but I am NOT about to spend that kind of money on pictures. I got him down to $150, and I was still mad about that. I am going back to JCPenny.
The next day was beach day. I wanted to leave for the beach around 3pm, but my wife is chronologically-challenged.
She is ALWAYS late. She was late for our first date.
For our first date, we agreed to meet at 8pm. 945 she shows up. The ONLY reason I was still at our pre-determined meeting place was that I couldn’t get in contact with any of the other ladies that had my interest at that time. But it turned out to be worth the wait. But it wasn’t the only time she had me wait. But that’s another blog.
7pm we finally get on the road. We had a nice time at the beach. I found out my children are afraid of the water, just like their father. I used to be terrified of water. Ashley made up her mind that she did not want to go back to the beach…ever
Let me see…what else happened down there…..
Played the lottery…I was trying to find any and everyway not to come back over here.
Oh..i made an observation while I was there.
LADIES….if you put on a bikini and you look down and you cant see the bottoms due to a large gut in the way, go back and get the one piece. Now I am in no way in perfect shape and I know some people are not ashamed of their bodies, but if you pick up a bathing suit that looks like two bandaids held together by dental floss and you look like you can ……
oh nevermind..wear what you want.
Those ladies at the beach sure did. I tried not to gag in their face. Leave something to the imagination..unless of course you are Janet, Beyonce, or Vivica
We leave the beach on Wednesday. And the rest of my days were pretty boring. Briefly hung out with some more MCI folks on Friday. Also went to see Fahrenheit 911. VERY GOOD. I am not political, but based on that movie, there is no way I would vote for Bush. I wont go into details, but I HIGHLY recommend it.
****SLEEP BREAK WILL CONTINUE TOMORROW
OK…tomorrow turned in to 3 days. As you can tell I back in to the swing of things back here. My posts get further apart. But anyway, back to my R&R
I pretty much rested on Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday, I cooked on the grill, drank, and watched the kids play. I also packed my bags. My, how time flies when you are home.
Monday, I get the kids ready for school and take a few pictures, drop some tears and wait. I was sad all day, and believe it or not, I was ready to go. I thought about “missing” my flight, but why prolong the inevitable? I knew I had to come back, there was no way around it. And I was starting to get used to being home. I know this may sound selfish, but I kinda liked the fact that people missed me. I guess that is form of caring, and it was no secret that folks were glad to see me home, but it was time for me get back over here. The quicker I get back the quicker this year will go by.
I get to airport and I had planned to call my mother and my wife to let them know I was leaving, but I get to the gate with about 20minutes left to board. I reach into my pocket to scrape up some change and all I pull out is foreign currency. My lovely wife took my change to put in her ash tray, so I couldn’t call.
I get on the plane and I am seated next to some of Clay Aiken’s fans. So the whole flight to philly I had to hear about how excited they were about Clay’s tour and how they cant wait to see him.
*DAMN*
Ruben won the competition but you never hear anything about him. Clay Clay Clay. Who cares?
I have a little longer layover in philly, so I call my grandmother (my dad is from philly and all my family on his side is still up there). She was worried about me and probably still is. So I had to put her mind at ease and let her know its not as bad as what you see on the tv.
I wish I could tell you about the flight to Germany, but I was knocked out. The movie they showed was Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights. I was NOT about to sit up for that.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
As soon as I land in Germany, guess who I run into? DERRICK!!!
Now don’t go thinking that was some incredible coincidence. We planned it, so I wouldn’t have to sit in that airport for 7hours with nothing to do. We get back on the same train to see more of Frankfurt. It was COLD and Rainy there. Now cold was a sensation I am no longer familiar with, but it was pretty chilly there.
Nothing much happened after that. I get on the plane to fly to Kuwait and I am back in the land of heat. It was 103 when we landed..at 830pm!!! And I felt like I was home.
They took us to Camp Doha, which is a big military post in Kuwait. Now after the wonderful accommodations I had become used to while home, they put us up in a damn warehouse!!! With steel bunkbeds!!! I was so miserable. The dining facility was horrible and we had to pay for the food (Which is not the norm..we eat for free).
I was READY to get to Baghdad.
I stayed in Kuwait for 2 days. I finally flew out of that sh*t hole on Thursday. So where do you think they flew us next….give up?
DUBAI.
Now for those of you new to my page you don’t know this but when I left from Houston, we flew to Dubai. Now I have heard that Dubai is the Manhattan of the middle east. I didn’t get to see any of it while I was there the first time, so I am thinking that I would get to see it.
NOPE
We had to leave the hotel at 4am.
THE HOTEL
This was the most luxurious hotel I have EVER stayed in. It was call the Al Bustana or something like that, but this place was nice. Marble floors, a lady playing a grand piano in the lobby, waterfalls out front. It was incredible, but I only got to stay there about 10 hours. The next morning we get on the plane for Baghdad and I am SOOOOO ready to get back. Have you ever heard of anyone aching to get to Iraq? Well I was. I was ready to get to my room and my bed and relax. The landing was the same.
Circle…circle….circle…land
I got some pretty cool pics while circling, but I cant post those (Security and all that)
I finally get to my room and its just like I left it and I kick my shoes off and go to sleep…
Well that was my R&R. It only took me 5 days to document it. So what has been going on since I have been back? Nothing.
Work work work
I appreciate all of you guys that are still reading. I will keep writing. I hated to leave but yall need me here. To report what is really going on. You need a guy on the front lines, giving you the scoop. A guy with his nose in the dirt, going that extra mile to deliver that story. A guy willing to sacrifice life and limb to inform you about the real Iraq. Well that guy aint me!!!. I am back here at my little office job. Mortars are still going off and those same idiots are trying to hit us.
But I will continue to provide commentary on the situation over here and let you guys know what I can.
I would like to know who’s still reading, so, if you don’t mind, drop me a quick comment with your name (first is fine) and spread the word around to your people.
Anyways…be good to yourself and each other
Let me see if I still remember how to do this
In closing (back in the sand again)……….
Peace yall
RC
Dont forget to leave me a comment!!! I DO CHECK THEM
http://photos.yahoo.com/richcamp1973
First of all I am back in Baghdad. Back in the heat. It is 113 out there now and its 930pm.
But you guys want to know about the time between this post and my last post, right??
Let’s start with
Monday July5th:
I get up that morning all packed and ready to go. I get to the terminal at about 9am. One bag contained my DVD’s (never leave home without them), my CD player, important papers and my Iraqi cell phone. In my other bag I had souvenirs (including two desert hats for my daughters with their names embroidered on them), my clothes, my palm pilot with all my folks contact info, my US cell phone, the chargers for both cell phones and my toiletry items. Now you may be asking yourself why am I giving you an itemized breakdown of the contents. I will get to that.
I get manifested on a particular military flight and was told the flight would be leaving in about 90min. I was also told to that I was only allowed 1 carry-on, so I had them place my bag with the clothes, etc on a pallet. I then go and sit in the devil’s asshole..i am sorry, I mean the un-air conditioned tent that already had about 200 soldiers sweating in there. I joined them. Eventually the devil pooted and there was nice breeze that floated around. Maybe somebody realized that it was 290 degrees in there and turned the air on.
The 90minute wait went way past 2hours, so I go back to the desk where I checked in out. Low and behold Glade 75 (my flight identifier) is having maintenance problems and they had no clue when they would be resolved. Here is a brief transcript of the conversation that took place afterwards:
Cool richcamp1973:
“If the plane is delayed, can we get on another plane since they all go to the same place?”
Terminal Employee:
“No sir. You cant change planes. We have you on this flight. When the plane is fixed we will let you know”
Cool richcamp1973:
“What if it never gets fixed? Do we just sit here and wait?”
Terminal Employee:
“They will eventually get it fixed and you will be on your way”
No-so-Cool richcamp1973:
“EVENTUALLY!?!?....whatever….what about my bag can I get that off the pallet in case I decide to walk to Kuwait?”
Terminal Employee:
“Your luggage is already in Kuwait”
Warm richcamp1973:
“!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?......What the hell do you mean my luggage is in Kuwait?
Terminal Employee:
“When Glade 75 got delayed due to maintenance, we put the pallet containing the luggage on the next available flight so it will be waiting for you when you get to Kuwait”
Heated richcamp1973:
“If you put my luggage on that flight, why couldn’t you put my ass on that same flight?
Terminal Employee:
“The flight was full”
After I choked the sh*t out of him (not really, but the situation warranted it), I went back to Rectum de Diablo.
Eventually (4hours later) they got us on a flight. As we are lining up to WALK to the airplane……BOOOM….BOOOM…sirens wailing…2 mortars hit near the airfield. I am not phased. I am just ready to go.
I get on the plane with about 60 of our troops. Well in case I haven’t mentioned it before, it is slightly warm here in Iraq. Well the plane didn’t move for 45min and there was NO type of air in that plane. Earlier, I referenced the temperature of the tent I was in being the equivalent to the devil’s asshole. Well if I had to give an analogy of the temperature on that plane, I would have to equate it to…sitting on the sun, wearing a wool sweater and corduroy pants and 6 pair of socks. I have never sweated that hard before. Now along with my sweat there is the sweat of the troops.
60 FLAVORS OF FUNK.. mmmmm tasty
That plane STUNK
Finally we take off…the decide to turn the air on and 60min later, I am finally out of Iraq. I get to Kuwait and I immediately call Derrick so he can come and get me away from these crazy folks before I become an insurgent. But as soon as I get off the phone, I realize I need to retrieve my luggage. Now I see the first of many dumb looks.
Have you ever been around a small child and tried to get them to laugh, and they look at you like you are retarded? My daughter amber does that to people a lot. Well that’s what happened every time I mentioned my bag to the entire country of Kuwait. No one had a clue about it. Without dwelling too hard on it, I spent the next 36 hours looking for my bag.
I finally hooked up with Derrick. He came and picked me up from Kuwait’s airport. Kuwait is not a big country. At all, but it felt good to ride around without fear of being sniped or ambushed. We finally went to sleep at about 2am
Tuesday
5am-up and at em.
Being without clothes, I had to borrow a few key items to maintain my level of cleanliness. So, it’s t-shirts and jeans for me. 30min later we are on the bus to go to his job.
I hate to talk about people’s shoes, especially since that is one of my weaker areas of the fashion world, but I saw a man with shoes that looked like chewed bubblegum every time he took a step. This man was actually walking on the sides of shoes. It was funny to see.
I also met two guys that worked for Derrick. Jack and Legi…I guess that how to spell their names. These guys are from India or somewhere like that, but check this out. They eat with their fingers. Not like how we eat pizza or fried chicken, these guys were eating rice and something that looked like stewed beef….WITH THEIR FINGERS!!!!
Oh god that looked gross. But they didn’t make a mess, other than the slobbery mess on their fingertips. I was actually impressed.
****SLEEP BREAK WILL CONTINUE TOMORROW******
OK..tomorrow turned in to 2 days, but I am back now…
I spent the majority of my day looking for my luggage. No one had a clue. It was like the thing vanished into thin air. I got those stupid looks all day long. I see now why there’s crime. I bet all those guys in jail lost their luggage at some point and when they go ask for help they get some person looking at them like it’s not their responsibility to find your luggage.
I was even told that I shouldn’t have put my luggage on the pallet.
NO SHIT
But how in the f*** is that going to help me now, you f***ing turd!?!?!?!
SOMEBODY GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!!!!!!
I eventually calm down, accepted my losses and went to the barbershop and got “clean” for my trip home.
My plane rides across the seas were pretty uneventful. I almost got into an altercation on the plane from Kuwait though. This guy got pissed at me because I had my arm on the arm rest. Here is the conversation that took place:
Candidate-for-beat-down: “Sir, Can you stay on your side of the arm rest”….(the arm rest is all of about 3” wide)
Far-from-Cool richcamp1973: “Excuse me? What are you talking about?”
Candidate-for-beat-down: “I need space and you are on my side”
Future-inmate-Cool richcamp1973: “Dude, you better leave me alone before I slap you”
He obviously didn’t know about the day I had, but he almost got elected to the office of President of the Boot-in-Ass Club
I have never seen a grown man pout. He pouted for 5hours. I slept.
We land in Frankfurt and because I was still with Derrick for the next 4 hours, we decide to see a little bit of the city. That’s when I got my first drink. Bacardi and coke from a convenience store. It went straight to my head and for the first time, I smile.
Frankfurt is nice, but I saw something I had never seen before. These bums were on the street shooting up. Actual public drug use. What the f….
5 hours in Frankfurt and I am finally ready to travel to the Home of Brave. Now being over here in a foreign land, I am use to people of different cultures that don’t practice the Western custom of the deodorant arts. And I have grown quite accustomed to the pungent odors produced. But you wouldn’t expect that from Americans.
There was a young lady from Pennsylvania on her way home from Ghana seated next to me. Now this was a white chick and she spoke with no type of accent to indicate she was anything but American. But if I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, I would have thought I was sitting next to a warm cup of garbage juice….(thanks VI)
She smelled like Bin Laden Toe Cheese. Like Saddam probably smelt when they yanked his ass up out of that hole. Like….dammit… she smelled
The poor parents of that child probably choked when she ran up to them. Damn..
But I cant hate on her that much. She was the first person to welcome me home. And I will tell you, I don’t care how much trash people talk about this country, after spending time in a dangerous place where you KNOW people are trying to kill you, you will be thankful to touch down in a “safe” place.
The flight to Raleigh was short. I had never been that happy to land at that airport. I come down the escalator and all of sudden I hear a piercing scream and everybody in the waiting area (including me) jumped. My wife showed out!!! She came running up to me and holding Amber and Ashley was clinging to my leg. I would be lying if I said I didn’t cry. I missed those crazy ladies. Amber would not smile…AT ALL. She just kept looking at me like she was saying, “I know I recognize you, but I am not showing you any love just yet.” Eventually she warmed up to me, but I had to feed her greedy butt first.
I wanted my first meal back home to be exquisite…something fancy…so we go to……IHOP!!!!
Since I had to help my wife find the car, everything was closed once we left the airport , so waffles for everybody!!!
It felt good to sleep in my own bed, after sleeping on the hard hotel mattress in Houston, the cot that felt like plywood and my coworker’s bed that was shaped like the letter U. I slept like a baby. It also felt good not having to worry about mortars falling on your head also.
The next day, I went to MCI. The first person I saw was my old manager, who looked considerably smaller since the last time I saw her. I guess it must be the fact she is no longer pregnant!!! Everybody showed me a lot of love and it felt good being there. I realized how much I cared for you crazy folks up there. Every one was telling me about how they follow my page and I was grateful..and still grateful.
People also kept saying how much weight I have lost. I couldn’t tell, but based on how folks were going on and on about it, I must have been huge, but thanks for the compliments guys.
The next day was uneventful. The family went up to my wife’s job and I got pretty much the same response, but this was from people I didn’t know.
Saturday
Today was picture day..the very reason I was home. Our church was taking family photos for the directory, so we get all pretty to take pictures. My plan was to have a family photo, one of me and the wife, one of the girls and then individual photos of the kids separate. Well guess who cried the WHOLE time…You guessed it…AMBER!!!
She was fine in the family photo (other than the fact she wont smile….for anyone), but when it came time for her parents to sit her down for her photo… AAAAUUUGGGGHHH. I said the hell with it. So we just got the family ones. When the Olan Mills guy told us the price I nearly fell out my chair. $400.00…for damn pictures!!!! Now I am making a little bit more change now, but I am NOT about to spend that kind of money on pictures. I got him down to $150, and I was still mad about that. I am going back to JCPenny.
The next day was beach day. I wanted to leave for the beach around 3pm, but my wife is chronologically-challenged.
She is ALWAYS late. She was late for our first date.
For our first date, we agreed to meet at 8pm. 945 she shows up. The ONLY reason I was still at our pre-determined meeting place was that I couldn’t get in contact with any of the other ladies that had my interest at that time. But it turned out to be worth the wait. But it wasn’t the only time she had me wait. But that’s another blog.
7pm we finally get on the road. We had a nice time at the beach. I found out my children are afraid of the water, just like their father. I used to be terrified of water. Ashley made up her mind that she did not want to go back to the beach…ever
Let me see…what else happened down there…..
Played the lottery…I was trying to find any and everyway not to come back over here.
Oh..i made an observation while I was there.
LADIES….if you put on a bikini and you look down and you cant see the bottoms due to a large gut in the way, go back and get the one piece. Now I am in no way in perfect shape and I know some people are not ashamed of their bodies, but if you pick up a bathing suit that looks like two bandaids held together by dental floss and you look like you can ……
oh nevermind..wear what you want.
Those ladies at the beach sure did. I tried not to gag in their face. Leave something to the imagination..unless of course you are Janet, Beyonce, or Vivica
We leave the beach on Wednesday. And the rest of my days were pretty boring. Briefly hung out with some more MCI folks on Friday. Also went to see Fahrenheit 911. VERY GOOD. I am not political, but based on that movie, there is no way I would vote for Bush. I wont go into details, but I HIGHLY recommend it.
****SLEEP BREAK WILL CONTINUE TOMORROW
OK…tomorrow turned in to 3 days. As you can tell I back in to the swing of things back here. My posts get further apart. But anyway, back to my R&R
I pretty much rested on Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday, I cooked on the grill, drank, and watched the kids play. I also packed my bags. My, how time flies when you are home.
Monday, I get the kids ready for school and take a few pictures, drop some tears and wait. I was sad all day, and believe it or not, I was ready to go. I thought about “missing” my flight, but why prolong the inevitable? I knew I had to come back, there was no way around it. And I was starting to get used to being home. I know this may sound selfish, but I kinda liked the fact that people missed me. I guess that is form of caring, and it was no secret that folks were glad to see me home, but it was time for me get back over here. The quicker I get back the quicker this year will go by.
I get to airport and I had planned to call my mother and my wife to let them know I was leaving, but I get to the gate with about 20minutes left to board. I reach into my pocket to scrape up some change and all I pull out is foreign currency. My lovely wife took my change to put in her ash tray, so I couldn’t call.
I get on the plane and I am seated next to some of Clay Aiken’s fans. So the whole flight to philly I had to hear about how excited they were about Clay’s tour and how they cant wait to see him.
*DAMN*
Ruben won the competition but you never hear anything about him. Clay Clay Clay. Who cares?
I have a little longer layover in philly, so I call my grandmother (my dad is from philly and all my family on his side is still up there). She was worried about me and probably still is. So I had to put her mind at ease and let her know its not as bad as what you see on the tv.
I wish I could tell you about the flight to Germany, but I was knocked out. The movie they showed was Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights. I was NOT about to sit up for that.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
As soon as I land in Germany, guess who I run into? DERRICK!!!
Now don’t go thinking that was some incredible coincidence. We planned it, so I wouldn’t have to sit in that airport for 7hours with nothing to do. We get back on the same train to see more of Frankfurt. It was COLD and Rainy there. Now cold was a sensation I am no longer familiar with, but it was pretty chilly there.
Nothing much happened after that. I get on the plane to fly to Kuwait and I am back in the land of heat. It was 103 when we landed..at 830pm!!! And I felt like I was home.
They took us to Camp Doha, which is a big military post in Kuwait. Now after the wonderful accommodations I had become used to while home, they put us up in a damn warehouse!!! With steel bunkbeds!!! I was so miserable. The dining facility was horrible and we had to pay for the food (Which is not the norm..we eat for free).
I was READY to get to Baghdad.
I stayed in Kuwait for 2 days. I finally flew out of that sh*t hole on Thursday. So where do you think they flew us next….give up?
DUBAI.
Now for those of you new to my page you don’t know this but when I left from Houston, we flew to Dubai. Now I have heard that Dubai is the Manhattan of the middle east. I didn’t get to see any of it while I was there the first time, so I am thinking that I would get to see it.
NOPE
We had to leave the hotel at 4am.
THE HOTEL
This was the most luxurious hotel I have EVER stayed in. It was call the Al Bustana or something like that, but this place was nice. Marble floors, a lady playing a grand piano in the lobby, waterfalls out front. It was incredible, but I only got to stay there about 10 hours. The next morning we get on the plane for Baghdad and I am SOOOOO ready to get back. Have you ever heard of anyone aching to get to Iraq? Well I was. I was ready to get to my room and my bed and relax. The landing was the same.
Circle…circle….circle…land
I got some pretty cool pics while circling, but I cant post those (Security and all that)
I finally get to my room and its just like I left it and I kick my shoes off and go to sleep…
Well that was my R&R. It only took me 5 days to document it. So what has been going on since I have been back? Nothing.
Work work work
I appreciate all of you guys that are still reading. I will keep writing. I hated to leave but yall need me here. To report what is really going on. You need a guy on the front lines, giving you the scoop. A guy with his nose in the dirt, going that extra mile to deliver that story. A guy willing to sacrifice life and limb to inform you about the real Iraq. Well that guy aint me!!!. I am back here at my little office job. Mortars are still going off and those same idiots are trying to hit us.
But I will continue to provide commentary on the situation over here and let you guys know what I can.
I would like to know who’s still reading, so, if you don’t mind, drop me a quick comment with your name (first is fine) and spread the word around to your people.
Anyways…be good to yourself and each other
Let me see if I still remember how to do this
In closing (back in the sand again)……….
Peace yall
RC
Dont forget to leave me a comment!!! I DO CHECK THEM
http://photos.yahoo.com/richcamp1973
Sunday, July 04, 2004
LAST POST IN IRAQ
I just wanted to drop a quick update. I leave out in the morning. I want to thank yall who have hung in here with me on these first 4 months of my trip. I got 8 more to go on my journey. So much has happened, so much more to come. In these first four months, i have seen a lot of violence, had a lot of fun and laughs. I have been thrusted into a supervisor role with little experience in my field, but i stepped up to the plate and hit a homerun.
And you have been there supporting me.
Thanks
I hope i can see and hug each of you by the end of this week. My plan is to be at MCI on thursday, so make sure all of you are there. For those family and friends not at MCI, hit me at the crib or email me at rcnbc@nc.rr.com
Thats all for now.
Time to go to bed
IN CLOSING........(from Baghdad!!!!)
Peace yall
RC
Dont forget to leave me a comment!!! I DO CHECK THEM
http://photos.yahoo.com/richcamp1973
I just wanted to drop a quick update. I leave out in the morning. I want to thank yall who have hung in here with me on these first 4 months of my trip. I got 8 more to go on my journey. So much has happened, so much more to come. In these first four months, i have seen a lot of violence, had a lot of fun and laughs. I have been thrusted into a supervisor role with little experience in my field, but i stepped up to the plate and hit a homerun.
And you have been there supporting me.
Thanks
I hope i can see and hug each of you by the end of this week. My plan is to be at MCI on thursday, so make sure all of you are there. For those family and friends not at MCI, hit me at the crib or email me at rcnbc@nc.rr.com
Thats all for now.
Time to go to bed
IN CLOSING........(from Baghdad!!!!)
Peace yall
RC
Dont forget to leave me a comment!!! I DO CHECK THEM
http://photos.yahoo.com/richcamp1973
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
Here we are again…
Yall.. I have almost completed the first leg of my race. My first R&R, and boy has it been an interesting journey. I have 4 days left in Iraq. Leaving on Monday. Coming to the house. seeing my family and friends. Drinking. Basic necessities of Rest and Relaxation.
So, what can I talk about this time?
Imagine my, along with a lot of other people’s surprise, when they handed the government over to the Iraqis 2 days early. We have been in our PPE (personal protective equipment – helmets and vest) for the past 3 days. This shit is heavy!!! Imagine walking around, in the desert, triple digit temperatures, with two 25lbs plates attached to your shoulder, covering your chest and your back. Did I mention how hot it is? The plates are about 12” wide and 18” long. That’s about the size of a manila folder. If you have access to one, place one on your stomach. Doesn’t cover much area does it. It works out perfectly if you have a chest 12” wide. How many people do you know with a 12” chest. I think my youngest daughter, Amber has one. She is 1, so it wouldn’t work for my oldest daughter who is 3. Sorry, Ash.
I got off on a tangent again. Let me get back to what I was saying. The Iraqi government is now in charge. So where does that leave me and KBR and the military? Right the hell where we are now. The Iraqi government is not going to let us go anywhere. This place will go into civil war. At least with us, they have a common enemy. The American Infidels!!! It trips me out to read Aljazeera’s website (which I think everyone should – very informative), they always refer to us as the occupation forces, which we are, but I think it may be an insult, in some sort of veiled way. I like aljazeera though. They give an alternative view to CNN. So I read both websites about the same story and I get 2 different points of view. One thing I haven’t understood is why they hate us so much. We took Saddam’s boot off their throats and now they want to chop the foot off that in the boot. I don’t get it.
So, today, we got hit. Now normally I don’t talk to you guys about that, but since the shit is all over the news, I guess it would be ok. Click HERE or HERE . That’s how my morning started. Smoke was everywhere. Now how close was I to the actual location? Less than a mile, but that’s only part of the story. Insurgents are trying to climb the wall. We hear small arms fire all the time now. Where is the logic? If I am mad at someone, and the only thing I can get my hands on to fight is a hand full skin and they have f**king tanks (Several), why continue to fight? Give up, get a job and start (or maintain) a family.
Idiots.
Let me go back to PPE. KBR ensures all employees have this. But we have several thousand subcontractors from the Phillipines here with us. They have nothing, because the company they work for, Prime Projects International, refuses to purchase them. So picture 800 workers walking around you with a Kevlar helmet and bullet proof vest and the only thing you have for protection a broom…or a mop, or something. Those guys have nothing. Here we are sitting up here in full battle gear and the PPI employees have nothing. That would bother me. But on the other hand, compared to the average salary in the Phillipines, they are making about 12 times their salary, at about $650/month. That is a poor country. Mark is from the Phillipines, and I have to look at him with nothing on. But then I also realize that they were informed of the dangers of this area, and they volunteered to come. We are all taking on some form of risk. As one of my coworkers says, “everyman for himself, God for us all”
I am out of stuff to talk about.
I cant promise you guys that I will post again before leaving. I may post some while I am home, that if I can get my computer fixed. My brother-in-law has f**ked it up, so I have to put on my technician’s hat when I get home. If I feel like it, I will post. But really, the people that read, I will see you when I get home.
Well I am through. I will see you guys in a few days. Pray for a safe flight for me.
In closing…..
Peace yall
RC
Dont forget to leave me a comment!!! I DO CHECK THEM
http://photos.yahoo.com/richcamp1973
Yall.. I have almost completed the first leg of my race. My first R&R, and boy has it been an interesting journey. I have 4 days left in Iraq. Leaving on Monday. Coming to the house. seeing my family and friends. Drinking. Basic necessities of Rest and Relaxation.
So, what can I talk about this time?
Imagine my, along with a lot of other people’s surprise, when they handed the government over to the Iraqis 2 days early. We have been in our PPE (personal protective equipment – helmets and vest) for the past 3 days. This shit is heavy!!! Imagine walking around, in the desert, triple digit temperatures, with two 25lbs plates attached to your shoulder, covering your chest and your back. Did I mention how hot it is? The plates are about 12” wide and 18” long. That’s about the size of a manila folder. If you have access to one, place one on your stomach. Doesn’t cover much area does it. It works out perfectly if you have a chest 12” wide. How many people do you know with a 12” chest. I think my youngest daughter, Amber has one. She is 1, so it wouldn’t work for my oldest daughter who is 3. Sorry, Ash.
I got off on a tangent again. Let me get back to what I was saying. The Iraqi government is now in charge. So where does that leave me and KBR and the military? Right the hell where we are now. The Iraqi government is not going to let us go anywhere. This place will go into civil war. At least with us, they have a common enemy. The American Infidels!!! It trips me out to read Aljazeera’s website (which I think everyone should – very informative), they always refer to us as the occupation forces, which we are, but I think it may be an insult, in some sort of veiled way. I like aljazeera though. They give an alternative view to CNN. So I read both websites about the same story and I get 2 different points of view. One thing I haven’t understood is why they hate us so much. We took Saddam’s boot off their throats and now they want to chop the foot off that in the boot. I don’t get it.
So, today, we got hit. Now normally I don’t talk to you guys about that, but since the shit is all over the news, I guess it would be ok. Click HERE or HERE . That’s how my morning started. Smoke was everywhere. Now how close was I to the actual location? Less than a mile, but that’s only part of the story. Insurgents are trying to climb the wall. We hear small arms fire all the time now. Where is the logic? If I am mad at someone, and the only thing I can get my hands on to fight is a hand full skin and they have f**king tanks (Several), why continue to fight? Give up, get a job and start (or maintain) a family.
Idiots.
Let me go back to PPE. KBR ensures all employees have this. But we have several thousand subcontractors from the Phillipines here with us. They have nothing, because the company they work for, Prime Projects International, refuses to purchase them. So picture 800 workers walking around you with a Kevlar helmet and bullet proof vest and the only thing you have for protection a broom…or a mop, or something. Those guys have nothing. Here we are sitting up here in full battle gear and the PPI employees have nothing. That would bother me. But on the other hand, compared to the average salary in the Phillipines, they are making about 12 times their salary, at about $650/month. That is a poor country. Mark is from the Phillipines, and I have to look at him with nothing on. But then I also realize that they were informed of the dangers of this area, and they volunteered to come. We are all taking on some form of risk. As one of my coworkers says, “everyman for himself, God for us all”
I am out of stuff to talk about.
I cant promise you guys that I will post again before leaving. I may post some while I am home, that if I can get my computer fixed. My brother-in-law has f**ked it up, so I have to put on my technician’s hat when I get home. If I feel like it, I will post. But really, the people that read, I will see you when I get home.
Well I am through. I will see you guys in a few days. Pray for a safe flight for me.
In closing…..
Peace yall
RC
Dont forget to leave me a comment!!! I DO CHECK THEM
http://photos.yahoo.com/richcamp1973
Friday, June 18, 2004
Do you ever wonder what makes a man leave his family, wife, 2 beautiful kids, nice house, and a decent paying job to travel across the globe to land where he could be killed in the blink of an eye?
Money.
Money is the root of all evil. Or so they say, but money makes the world go around. Not people, not love. Money.
Money is the reason for everything. Why do you work? So you can afford to buy things that you want. What can you get in this world that doesn’t revolve around money? Nothing but I quick trip to the grave.
So that’s why I am here. For money,and the longer I stay, the more I make. But I am not obsessed with money. I just want to make enough so that I can climb out of the financial slump that all of us go through at some time or another.
So why am I saying all this? Shit if I know. I feel bad for not writing in such a long while. I need to add some type of commentary to this page. I also need to drum up business. I don’t think my loyal fans are still behind me on this page. I need to hear from yall. I need to know that yall are still reading. I need to know that yall are sticking with me through this..I need…I need..I NEED A DAMN DRINK!!!!!
I AM COMING HOME ! ! ! ! ! ! !
What is the happiest you have ever been? Well multiply that by about 40. That’s how excited I am about my first Rest and Relaxation trip. I am leaving this war zone in 16days. That is 384 hours; 23,040 minutes. And by the time I finish this post it will be 23, 020 minutes.
Ok here’s the deal. My last official working day is July 3rd . I am off on July 4th.. (Independence day….freedom…liberty…you get the idea). Then I fly down to Kuwait on the 5th. I will get to hang out with my boy Derrick. 2days in Kuwait, and then ….*insert your favorite airplane sound here*
RDU here I come.
But we can talk about that later.
Today in Iraq….
Car bombings…car bombings…car bombings.
Ok, let me see if I understand things. First we come over here and kick the shit out of the Republican guard. They scatter. They gather up some outdated (but effective) left over weapons. They continuously try to hit something inside the gate. They are successful about 3% of the time. Well not even that good. Maybe 0.3%. So they decide that harming the US troops isn’t enough, so they target us. Government Contractors. They constantly attack the convoys. And now, they resort to killing innocent civilians. Where is the logic? I cant kill the American infidels so I will destroy Fatima, and Mustafa and their store to show the American People our strength.
What the f***
It seems to me if you go out and get a job, leave the bombs alone, that you may be able to benefit in what is going on over here. The ONLY thing preventing this country from being prosperous are those damn insurgents. The only things you hear about are bombing and mortars and death. Take that out of the picture and CNN will have to go back to reporting on the presidential race. This is probably a beautiful country to tour, but we cant go anywhere because somebody out there wants to kill me. Damn. But it wont last for ever. Once things calm down, and security is tightened, this place will grow. Just like Kuwait. The Kuwaiti dinar is worth over 3 times the US dollar. The Iraqu Dinar will get there also.
Ok enough about that.
Let me look at my check list and see what I need to discuss.
First thing. There was some one named Elizabeth who left some nice comments for me on my last post, but I would like an email address so I can correspond. So hit me up at richcamp1973@hotmail.com
June 30 is coming. We are going to be on lockdown. For those of you that don’t know, June 30th is the day we give power back to the Iraqis. Some think that all hell will break loose on that day. They are opening up this road in front of our camp. They got thick concrete wall surrounding us now. They will probably try to find someway to scale the wall. Oh well.
What else?
I got my own room now. I was staying with this Hispanic guy, but now I got my own crib. And when I first moved in..it was filthy. Man it was gross. I had to do some serious cleaning. No sheets. Cold water. And one electrical outlet. ONE!!!! What the hell. I need about 3-4. I bought a tv..21” screen for $145. Had to get that. But I don’t have anything to put it on other than itty bitty dresser they put in the room. That dresser is about the size of 3 lunch boxes. And my ghetto-ass puts a big tv on top of it and since I only have one electrical outlet, the tv sits about 3feet in front me. Maybe I will take a picture of it and post it. I had to buy a rug cause I aint one for walking around on a cold floor. I guess I am spoiled. But the rug only covers less than half the room. So I need about 3 more.
But I am not complaining. I like my privacy. I can walk around butt-naked with one sock on and nobody can say a damn word to me.
Man I cant wait to come home. I can get a drink. I get to see my wife and kids (amber can say da-da now. It sounds so cute)
My only dilemma now is what do with my time. Certain things are obvious. But what else. MCI…. I will be there on the 8th..PROMISE. Feel free to have another potluck. Camille, get the crew together, cause we going out. But not to Bahama Breeze..Yall tend to get booted quite frequently from there.
What else can I talk about?
Nothing..i am going to bed. Actually I am going to go clean up my room, take some pics so I can post them tomorrow (don’t hold me to that do..may take a few days)…and I will probably watch Rocky II. I watched the first one last night and this morning. I purchased all 5 Rocky movies for $5. that’s a dollar each. Gotta love the bootlegs.
Well its 10pm, I am sleepy and Balboa is calling me
So take care of yourselves and each other. I will post at least once more before the big day.
If you are reading this, tell EVERYBODY you know to read also. Maybe when this is all said and done, I will be able to make a movie about this.
As always……
Peace yall
RC
Dont forget to leave me a comment!!! CHECK THE PICS BELOW
http://photos.yahoo.com/richcamp1973
Money.
Money is the root of all evil. Or so they say, but money makes the world go around. Not people, not love. Money.
Money is the reason for everything. Why do you work? So you can afford to buy things that you want. What can you get in this world that doesn’t revolve around money? Nothing but I quick trip to the grave.
So that’s why I am here. For money,and the longer I stay, the more I make. But I am not obsessed with money. I just want to make enough so that I can climb out of the financial slump that all of us go through at some time or another.
So why am I saying all this? Shit if I know. I feel bad for not writing in such a long while. I need to add some type of commentary to this page. I also need to drum up business. I don’t think my loyal fans are still behind me on this page. I need to hear from yall. I need to know that yall are still reading. I need to know that yall are sticking with me through this..I need…I need..I NEED A DAMN DRINK!!!!!
I AM COMING HOME ! ! ! ! ! ! !
What is the happiest you have ever been? Well multiply that by about 40. That’s how excited I am about my first Rest and Relaxation trip. I am leaving this war zone in 16days. That is 384 hours; 23,040 minutes. And by the time I finish this post it will be 23, 020 minutes.
Ok here’s the deal. My last official working day is July 3rd . I am off on July 4th.. (Independence day….freedom…liberty…you get the idea). Then I fly down to Kuwait on the 5th. I will get to hang out with my boy Derrick. 2days in Kuwait, and then ….*insert your favorite airplane sound here*
RDU here I come.
But we can talk about that later.
Today in Iraq….
Car bombings…car bombings…car bombings.
Ok, let me see if I understand things. First we come over here and kick the shit out of the Republican guard. They scatter. They gather up some outdated (but effective) left over weapons. They continuously try to hit something inside the gate. They are successful about 3% of the time. Well not even that good. Maybe 0.3%. So they decide that harming the US troops isn’t enough, so they target us. Government Contractors. They constantly attack the convoys. And now, they resort to killing innocent civilians. Where is the logic? I cant kill the American infidels so I will destroy Fatima, and Mustafa and their store to show the American People our strength.
What the f***
It seems to me if you go out and get a job, leave the bombs alone, that you may be able to benefit in what is going on over here. The ONLY thing preventing this country from being prosperous are those damn insurgents. The only things you hear about are bombing and mortars and death. Take that out of the picture and CNN will have to go back to reporting on the presidential race. This is probably a beautiful country to tour, but we cant go anywhere because somebody out there wants to kill me. Damn. But it wont last for ever. Once things calm down, and security is tightened, this place will grow. Just like Kuwait. The Kuwaiti dinar is worth over 3 times the US dollar. The Iraqu Dinar will get there also.
Ok enough about that.
Let me look at my check list and see what I need to discuss.
First thing. There was some one named Elizabeth who left some nice comments for me on my last post, but I would like an email address so I can correspond. So hit me up at richcamp1973@hotmail.com
June 30 is coming. We are going to be on lockdown. For those of you that don’t know, June 30th is the day we give power back to the Iraqis. Some think that all hell will break loose on that day. They are opening up this road in front of our camp. They got thick concrete wall surrounding us now. They will probably try to find someway to scale the wall. Oh well.
What else?
I got my own room now. I was staying with this Hispanic guy, but now I got my own crib. And when I first moved in..it was filthy. Man it was gross. I had to do some serious cleaning. No sheets. Cold water. And one electrical outlet. ONE!!!! What the hell. I need about 3-4. I bought a tv..21” screen for $145. Had to get that. But I don’t have anything to put it on other than itty bitty dresser they put in the room. That dresser is about the size of 3 lunch boxes. And my ghetto-ass puts a big tv on top of it and since I only have one electrical outlet, the tv sits about 3feet in front me. Maybe I will take a picture of it and post it. I had to buy a rug cause I aint one for walking around on a cold floor. I guess I am spoiled. But the rug only covers less than half the room. So I need about 3 more.
But I am not complaining. I like my privacy. I can walk around butt-naked with one sock on and nobody can say a damn word to me.
Man I cant wait to come home. I can get a drink. I get to see my wife and kids (amber can say da-da now. It sounds so cute)
My only dilemma now is what do with my time. Certain things are obvious. But what else. MCI…. I will be there on the 8th..PROMISE. Feel free to have another potluck. Camille, get the crew together, cause we going out. But not to Bahama Breeze..Yall tend to get booted quite frequently from there.
What else can I talk about?
Nothing..i am going to bed. Actually I am going to go clean up my room, take some pics so I can post them tomorrow (don’t hold me to that do..may take a few days)…and I will probably watch Rocky II. I watched the first one last night and this morning. I purchased all 5 Rocky movies for $5. that’s a dollar each. Gotta love the bootlegs.
Well its 10pm, I am sleepy and Balboa is calling me
So take care of yourselves and each other. I will post at least once more before the big day.
If you are reading this, tell EVERYBODY you know to read also. Maybe when this is all said and done, I will be able to make a movie about this.
As always……
Peace yall
RC
Dont forget to leave me a comment!!! CHECK THE PICS BELOW
http://photos.yahoo.com/richcamp1973
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