Friday, October 27, 2006

One Down And One To Go



Isabel sent me an email and it appears that Caelan has a girlfriend. I am so happy that my oldest son is not gay. Not that there is anything wrong with being gay, but I just do not feel like dealing with that. Her name is Jasmin and she is in his class (see picture). They exchanged phone numbers and my boy had his arm around her. Now I sit and wait for his younger brother to follow in his footsteps.

We have adopted a cute little dog around where we live. I have named her Sadie. The funny thing is, Sadie means sir in Arabic. She appears to be about a year old. Saide is pretty big and very playful. I started teaching her how to sit on command.

Caelan will be Mickey Mouse and Ryleigh will be Tigger for Halloween. I really wish I could be there with them to go Trick or Treating. I am enclosing a picture of them in their costumes. Of course Bailey wanted to be in the picture as well. Bailey is dressed as a very fat gerbil.

Later,

Randy

Posted by Randy at 8:54 PM | | Comments

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Taji Town


We went to Taji for three days. Basically we had to take care of some Team and personnel stuff. Of course being in Taji means I sleep with mice. I saw a nice size one the second night I was there running around my room. I also saw one run out of the shower before I went inside. One of the CPTs who drove up with us, said he killed four babies in his room. The next day the mother came back looking for them. So he had to kill her too.

The rain has returned to Iraq. The whole place is muddy now. I guess that means I have come full circle, because it looks like it did when I first got here. Still not sure when I am leaving. Maybe they will tell us in the coming weeks. To be on the safe side, I ask that everyone not worry about sending me any more cards, letters, or packages. At this point it takes about three to four weeks to get mail, and I do not want to leave here with packages being lost. Thank you for everything that everyone has sent me in the past. I really do appreciate it, as does my team.
Until I blog again,

Randy

Posted by Randy at 11:48 PM | | Comments

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Keep Your FInger Crossed

Time is growing shorter every day. I want to let you know there are some good things in the works, but I do not want to jinx it by talking about it. The only thing I ask is you keep your fingers crossed, because this would be the best news we have received all year. I will not answer any questions that you have on this either. So any specualtion, I ask that you keep to yourself. Thanks.

Right now I am doing OK. We will be going to Taji in for a couple of days in the near future. I am looking forward to that. I always like to go there to at least sleep in my own bed. Plus I can catch up with SFC I, my roommate.

Take care,

Randy

Posted by Randy at 7:04 AM | | Comments

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Rain Drops Keep Falling On My Helmet

Well the rainy season has started. The last two days has seen some rain in our area. Last night it was lighting and the wind was blowing it everywhere. It is nice for one reason, but bad for another. Of course the rain drops the temperatures down, but it brings back the mud. If you forgot, go back and read some of my early blogs in JAN and FEB to see what I am talking about.

We watched the latest Will Ferrell movie last night, Talladega Nights. I think it is his best yet. We put it on a laptop and showed it on the wall. It was like being at the movies. I also have watched a couple of the Tyler Perry plays recently. Those are really funny.

Last week we are this raid of a house. I stayed outside with the 240B (Machine Gun), but the guys told me the funniest thing. When they went into this house, there was only a young lady living there. She said her husband had died a couple years ago. She said her brother stayed with her. When they started searching her house, they found thousands of porno dvds. She claimed they where her brother’s. It looked like the team that she and her brother were copying them and probably selling them. The funny thing is she told the guys they were very religious.

PERSONAL NOTES

Joe Willie, I would love to co-ride the morning show. I have always wanted to do that. I still remember that one summer when I did some work for you guys, and I was able to watch you do your show a couple of mornings Just tell when and where dude.

Bobby, get better already.

Troy, the guys want some new BFD. So write some already.

John (Alonzo Hawk), Your idea for the Hall Fame was cool.

Posted by Randy at 6:51 AM | | Comments

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Sometimes I Just Wonder Why

On Monday we went out to check our area. On the way to one of the checkpoints a small IED (Improvised Explosive Device) went off. I was the third HUMVEE out of three. The blast occurred about 10 meters in front of the first HUMVEE. I was about 50 meters from the blast. Fortunately no one was hurt and hardly any damage to the front vehicle. The good Lord continues to watch over us.

Yesterday we went on a couple of raids. I stayed outside this time, because I was the gunner. When we were getting ready to leave, this Iraqi HUMVEE in front of me started backing up. I yelled at him to stop, but he did not. He ran right into a piece of equipment that is no our HUMVEE. After he hit it, he then started pulling forward and totally broke the equipment. He probably has never heard that much yelling in his life.

Once we got back we stopped for chow. When we were leaving the chow call, we received a call that one of our checkpoints had been hit by a SVBED (Suicidal Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device). Two of our Iraqi soldiers we killed instantly and several were wounded. One of the dead, I was very close to. His name was MAJ Faris. I cannot tell you how many times I played cards with him in Tarmiyah. I used to look forward to 9:00 pm when he would come back to the patrol base. I would stay up to 1:00 am talking with him and telling jokes. He spoke very good English, so I never needed a terp. We went back up there last night and helped secure the area. I will miss him badly. Just a great guy.

Randy

Posted by Randy at 6:10 AM | | Comments

Friday, October 06, 2006

Searching Houses

On Thursday we moved rather quickly and went and searched a couple of blocks in our sector. Did not find anything, but it helped kill a couple of hours. I was dead tired after going up and down stairs. Most of the houses were three or fours stories high.

I made a movie of my team. I will try and post it somewhere soon and let you know where you can see it. I used photos from the last year and a couple of videos.

Take care,

Randy

Posted by Randy at 10:19 PM | | Comments

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Hey Candy, Bang, My Foot

On Sunday the whole country of Iraq changed it's time. So we went ahead and moved our clocks back one hour. So that was an extra hour of sleep. The rest of you will catch up with us at the end of October.

We went out and checked on our guys on Sunday. This one Iraqi soldier shot himself in the big toe. Sort of funny incident, due to the fact his was looking though this bag of candy the Major gave him and was not paying attention to his weapon. The Doc (SGT) E said he bearly grazed it. To funny though. Also my driver that day was a very young soldier. He told me he was born in 1987. I was like, dude I gratuated from high school in 1987.

I am doing good overall, just really exhausted. This year is taking a toll on me. I am really feeling it the last couple of months before we go. I just keep my head up and watch my back when I am out in the city. Come on Decemeber.

Later,

Randy

Posted by Randy at 3:40 AM | | Comments