Technical Difficulties

There are times when deployment nuisances can be a real pain. I've been beset by those of late. My blog has suffered as a result. It started around three weeks ago. I was in my room late one evening checking email, skyping, and the other usual stuff. We have a very substandard Internet service here for personal use called Sniperhill. It isn't free. To the contrary, it is way overpriced for the service it delivers. But I digress. Back to the story, I was online when BAM! My crappy Toshiba laptop was frozen by a virus that completely locked it up. Multiple attempts to get it back in service proved fruitless. Thus ended my Internet access from my room. Unfortunately, I have never been able to get my wireless router to work with Sniperhill so I could not revert to using my iPad. Now this situation was not a hindrance to my blog, as I could still access it through my work computer. Fast forward two weeks and BOOM! Those crazy signal-OPSEC types that run our server decided to block the Blogger web page. This left me no option but to revert to my iPad for blog entries. Ah but remember the wireless challenge in my room? My only recourse for the moment is to walk over to the passenger terminal for the military flights and use the free SPAWAR wireless there. Using the touchpad on a mini iPad to write a blog entry makes for interesting fun. So now I hope you will understand why I've been silent of late. Well, a busy workload played a hand in that too.

Bagram is working up to a fever pitch of activity. Units are "ripping" out. New units are arriving. Facilities and billets are being torn down or relocated. Thanksgiving and Christmas are rapidly approaching, which adds to the general homesick feeling we all endure daily. And the weather is turning cold. The mountains that surround us are all snow capped. Every day is a blur of meetings that can last into the evening. Plans are proposed, approved, or sent back to the drawing board. The cycle continues.

However we do find time for community activities that break the monotony. This past week I spent a couple of hours at the Polish compound to attend their National Day activities. This included speeches, awards ceremonies, and military displays. It was culminated by a feast of Polish favorites. I can't say I enjoyed them all but I did like the cheeses, smoked meats, the strange egg dish, and the grilled chicken. I also enjoyed the grilled kielbasa but suffered later for it during my afternoon run.

At this point I'm about ready to give in and buy a new laptop. Technical challenges can always be fixed. Sometimes you have to pay for them in order to overcome. Stay tuned.