When it rains... it pours.

Well, the title is pretty self-explanatory. After 6 months of ridiculous heat and zero rain, I guess the rainy season came along, at least for a while. And when it decided to show up, it showed up in style! It rained like crazy all night, and this is what we woke up to:

Aside from that, everything's been pretty much the same lately. We're almost at the 6th month mark which is pretty nice.

And Happy Halloween to all.

Antonio

Thank you thank you.

Mail came in today. This little dude writing this post got 8 packages today! Talk about a morale booster! First of all: Sara, te pasaste! Ni sabia que Dan Brown habia salido con un nuevo libro! Great great present! Thanks. And the stress pillows are awesome! Thanks! Vivi, las tazas estan arrechisimas! Ahora tengo que tomar el triple de cafe, lo cual no creo que sea muy saludable. Sera que le sirvo menos cafe a las tazas! Gracias! And, as you'll be able to see from the pics, I got a pretty good assortment of venezuelan goodies! Thanks much to all. Titi, the new shipment of rumcakes arrived as well! I'll take one to Domino night tomorrow!

The new Dan Brown book looks pretty good. A new adventure awaits Robert Langdon so I gotta keep the post short! Can't wait to see how many crazy ideas he comes up with in this book and how many more people he's going to upset with it!

This definitely just made my day, probably my week and my month! I also got a trip coming up to Tallil so I'll be seeing Rafa next week (I should probably email him and let him know... right?)

Here are the pics!

By the way.

If you wanna get a good close up at the spider, click on the picture and you'll see the full size picture! Enjoy.

Not much to say

Like I said before, pictures can be worth a thousand words, so today that I got some time, I'll try to load some pictures and see what comes out of that!

Well, one thing. Yesterday I was sitting by my computer and this cute little spider (for some the spider might not be little and probably not cute either) comes out of the side wall, and continues to move until it was right by my computer. Then it proceeded to just SIT there. It gave me some time to call some people over and take some pictures before I did the right thing and put it to sleep (nice way to say smashed it!). Here are some pictures. We named the late spider Jimmy the Camel Spider in case anybody wishes to say their condolences.

The other pictures are from my new crib. You may notice my old computer, which I use strictly for work, since that's pretty much the only thing it's good for (there are some programs that dont have a version for MAC that I need to use in the Army, so the old computer is not completely worthless. It's got a "cheap" version of Windows that doesn't even let me set up a desktop background!) You may also notice the third screen, which is a monitor my company owns and nobody was using it, so I snatched it and use it to look cool and smart in my new home!

I got some in the other computer. I'll try to post them later. Till next one.

Better luck at dominoes and Virginia Tech wins again!

So... this Friday was Domino night again. Only one table playing, with a team waiting. The rules are a bit different from ours, but still the same principle. We're playing with "premios" for the first four hands. 100, 75, 50, and 25 points, plus you count every point left, not just the losing team. Obviously we don't play to 100 (duh!), but to 500, and capicua is worth 100 points. If you end with the double-O it's called "chuchazo" and it's another 100 points! Anyways, I did win 3 games Friday, which was WAAAAY better than last week. I took a few pictures, which will probably end in our facebook page (if you haven't checked it yet... you should, it's actually pretty decent. My commander already mentioned the fact that half the fans in the page have the last name Pazos... good job!)

Work's going. Going. The routine is actually not too bad. I only drink coffee right now. Now that I dont have a crazy mission schedule, I stopped with the energy drinks and I started working out again as well. My commander runs 3-4 times a week, and I "volunteered" to be his running partner (like many things in the Army, the word "volunteer" usually means "volun-told"). Long story short, I'm running 3-4 times a week now.

And... in a weekend full of upsets, Virginia Tech crushed Miami! After last weekend's last minute win, it was extremely pleasant to see Virginia Tech come out and absolutely demolish Miami (You could say I'm not particularly fond of the Hurricanes). Also, Venezuela won its first game in a final stage of a Soccer championship (sub-20 level, but still... it's a good start) against a pretty good Nigerian Team. Real Madrid also won and is leading the Spanish league. All I need now is for the Colts and Falcons to win and I can call it a weekend!

No Barbeque Sunday this week. Oh well, there's always next Sunday.

Oh... one last thing. We just got a Green Beans Coffee trailer delivered to our base. Green Beans is kind of like a Starbucks, but less fancy, and only in areas where the US is deployed. Most of their profits go towards helping Armed Forces, so it's pretty cool. The trailer is literally like 100ft from my tent and should be opening pretty soon! wooooooo wooooooo!

Bueno, that's all I got today! Un abrazo a todos!

Antonio

Moving

I officially took over my new job about a week ago. The way things work out here, your job comes with a new living area, mainly because the tents are segregated by Platoons. Well, the new LT that replaced me would take over my living area, and I would take over the XO's living area. The only problem with that was that the XO couldn't move out, because the guy he was replacing was still at Garry Owen. Long story short, I've been living in 1st Platoon's tent for the past week, waiting for this dude to leave Garry Owen so that all 3 of us could move into new living areas. That happened TODAY! Space wise, it's about the same, but I got a kick-ass corner desk and a new computer monitor (I'll post some pictures later this week). It's also quite nice since only 4 people live in this tent.

Aside from that, everything's pretty much the same. It's calmed down a bit, as I sink fully into my new job and responsibilities, which is nice. I can't complain really, I like it. It's very different, since I dont really work directly with Soldiers anymore, but there's more moving pieces, so the challenging part of the job, I do like.

Well, I'll wait for Titi to post again, since we're doing the tag-team approach to blogging these days (read her comment on my last post).

Cheryl: Thanks for the care packages! The soups have made my days! And I'll save the one with the cold weather stuff for later this year when the temperatures actually drop. If I pull that stuff out right now, people might laugh at me!

Antonio "Andronio One" Pazos

Training the Iraqi

Here's a link to a news article my Commander found about some training my Company's being doing with the Iraqi Army:

http://www.theredbulls.org/article333

Pretty good, simple article. Enjoy.

Domino night.

After a busy day, the one thing I looked forward today was playing some dominoes. We all had a good time, except for my partner. If there was a perfect "third" partner, that was me tonight! It was just amazing how bad I could screw my partner's game. And for all of you Pazos' out there, believe me when I say, it was a sight to see. Either way, I eventually realized it's a 2 on 2 game, and not 3 on 1, and we actually won a few games.

Time to sleep. For some reason, we don't get weekends off in Iraq.... bummer!

Facebook page.

As promised, here's the link to the facebook page my Company just started. Once you open it up, it has the option to become a "fan." By doing that, the link will show up in your profile and you can access it later. I think the page has public access so you can access it even if you dont have facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/El-Paso-TX/Eagle-Company-4_6IN/132615851657

It's a pretty nice page, there's tons of pictures of our Soldiers just hanging out. It'll give you a pretty good idea of how we live up here in Garry Owen.

Hey titi, how's that for consistency? I think this makes it 4 days in a ROW posting! woot woot!

Quick One

My dad forwarded this link to me today, saying I'm famous now. It's a teaser for a documentary my Brigade is preparing, I believe. Anyhow, they have a quick clip at the beginning of an interview I gave a while ago. I'm not sure if they plan to post the entire interview or a longer clip later on, but I'll be sure to keep you posted.

Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX19nALxZXI

Also, my new company commander is starting a facebook page for my company. It'll have random pictures of our Soldiers just having a good time, mainly intended for all the families back in the rear.

That's all I got today.

A Picture is worth a thousand words.

Typical question I get: So, how's the weather in Iraq?

Answer:

Enough said.

FINALLY, A ROUTINE AND SOME MOTIVATION!

Play drumroll.... tan tan tan ta tan!)

I'm back.

Not only am I posting again, I also changed the look of the blog, so if anybody were to "accidentally" type the blog's address, they will see the new colors, and maybe that'll force them to read what I have to say!

I sincerely apologize for not posting in so long (well, actually, not really. I'm not sorry, AT ALL) but I've been busy (lazy) and really stressed out (again, lazy). So.... here's a quick and short update of what's happened since I last posted:

I went on mid-tour leave (for those not familiar with the concept, it's pretty simple, you HAVE to take 2 weeks of vacation during the time you're deployed, it's not an option). Yes, I know it sounds crazy to go on leave after only 4 months of being in country, but like most things in the Army, it wasn't my choice. I was originally scheduled for March (the last month available), but due to some changes in personnel (I'll go into detail on that in a bit) I was forced to "choose" a different month. So it came down to how much of an asshole I could be, because everybody else in the Company had already picked the months they wanted to take leave on. My question was: Do I want to screw somebody out of their leave? Well, being the nice person and good leader that I attempt to be, I decided to take it early, which just happened to work out, since my parents' 40th anniversary was in August.

Sooooo, the time off was QUITE nice. The "two weeks" basically turned into a month away from my base, for which honestly, I can't really complain. Since my base is really small and there isn't a daily flight out of here, I had to take the Monday flight to a much bigger base still in Iraq. Well, this "base" is HUGE. It is so big that there are bus lines that run 24/7 to move people from one place to another. To put it in perspective, my base has a 20ft trailer that serves as a PX (where we buy candy, junk food, hygiene items, etc). Camp Adder (the one I spent 5 days in, while waiting for my flight out of Iraq) has 2 PX's, one that is almost as big as the ones in the States, a Pizza Hut, Burger King, Taco Bell, 2 Pizza restaurants, barber shops, and the list keeps going, and going. The point I'm trying to make is that those 5 days I spent there felt like a vacation already (compared to how I live in my current base). From Camp Adder, I flew to Kuwait, where I spent another 3 days waiting for a flight, and then... I finally made my way to Venezuela (which only took 5 more flights and 2 more days). I'll write a post later on about the trip itself, but basically it was 2 weeks of pure relaxation and rest. On the way back, it took me 7 more days to get to my base. I left GarryOwen on 27July and got back on 28August. Not bad, eh?

Getting back into a rhythm was pretty hard. We changed Company Commanders while I was gone, which for me, it means paperwork, paperwork, and then... some paperwork. Aside from that, I wasn't going to be a Platoon Leader anymore. I was changing duty positions and getting ready to be the Company Executive Officer (that's the personnel change I was referring to earlier in the post), which meant training on new things. A new lieutenant was scheduled to arrive to the Company at the same time I got back, so I was in charge of training him so he could take over my Platoon. Basically, instead of a smooth transition where I train the new LT, he takes over, and then I train for my new job, it all happened at once. I was training the new LT, still going on missions, helping train some Iraqi Army Engineers, and also learning how the supply system for the Company works, as well as all the maintenance issues that come up every week.

Needless to say, I dont think I've ever been so stressed out. I can remember weeks in college where I thought the world was going to crash down on me, or days at ranger school where I didn't think I could make it, and they dont even come close to the first 2 weeks after I got back from leave. It was that bad. I think I got like 12-15 hours of sleep just the first week alone, and something similar the next week. Good news is that it's pretty much over. The new LT took over my Platoon, signed for all the property I was responsible for, and now I don't go on missions as much. As the XO for the Company, I'm responsible for the Supply and Maintenance system for everything the Company has. It can be stressing at times, but with a good filing system and good time management, you can foresee a lot of the issues and prevent some of the headaches.

Oh, I also got promoted, so it's 1st Lieutenant Pazos now. I'm pretty excited, got a new job, a challenging and very different job, but I'm looking forward to it. Being the Pazos that I am, I love me a good challenge, baby!

Even though I dont have "troops" under my command anymore, please feel free to send stuff in mass quantities like before. I will still hand it down to the guys. I'm sure they'll appreciate it. By the way, my new Commander is from Puerto Rico and is an avid dominoes player. I'm his new teammate and we have domino nights once a week, where we form 4 teams, 2 tables, and play a little tournament. The rules are a bit different, but heck... it's still dominoes!

Titi: I hope your Antonio fix has been re-stocked. If not, feel free to complain, and I'll make sure to post a longer one next time. Love you!

By the way, this is my first post with my new Macbook Pro. I absolutely love this computer. The extra 300-400 bucks you pay for it compared to a PC is worth every single penny!

Well, that's all I got for now. Should've kept you reading for a good 2-3 minutes! Hope all is well back home and I will be seeing you all sooner than later!

Un abrazo,

Antonio

Quick picture. That's me with my Driver and my Gunner right before my last mission as a Platoon Leader. It's guys like these that make me proud to serve my country.

Oh, and Happy Birthday to Marco! Titi and I had a little argument. She says you're turning 27, I say 26. Which one is it?

Things that grind my gears.

Ok... apparently coming to Iraq is the easiest thing in the world. But ladies and gentlemen... getting out is a whole different ball game! For one reason or another, something or somebody has to add another obstacle. I was supossed to leave Iraq on August 1st, but due to whatever circumstances, I left reaaaaaalllly early on the 2nd... which is TODAY. I haven't slept in a while, waiting for flights and what not. No biggie. Sleep can wait. I get to Kuwait, and of course, my case is special because i'm not going to a city in the USA, I'm special because I want to go to Venezuela. Oh well, I'm cool with being special. The thing that really pisses me off, is that consulates dont work on Sundays, and apparently, we need a last word from them before they can work my full itinerary. So instead of leaving today... i'm stranded in Kuwait until we get word from the f#%$^ng consulate. Like I give a shit, I haven't had a clue what day of the week it is for 3 months now, because you know what? I work every day of the week.

So that ladies and gentlemen, is what grinds my gears. Anybody who's seen Family Guy will get the joke.

So yup, I get to chill in another place for (hopefully) not that long, and then, i'm on my way. Like Titi said, almost a direct flight to puerto ordaz. (it goes something like this: kuwait-germany-atlanta-miami-ccs-puerto ordaz) .

In the meantime, i'm going to try to find out if Rafa is still around. That would be pretty awesome, running into Rafa right now would make my day. Wish me luck.

Antonio

On leave!

Ok. Yes, I know it's been almost a month. I still dont have my new computer. Mail only arrives once a week at Garry Owen. And it'll be another full month before I even see my new MAC. Why? I'm currently on my long, long, long way to Venezuela for 2 weeks of leave. I left my base yesterday, and right now I'm in Tallil, which is where Rafa will be for his year in Iraq. The difference between the 2 bases is abysmal! There's even a pizza hut, a taco bell and a burger king here! Aside from cold water, real toilets, and the amenities I currently do not enjoy up in northeastern Iraq.
So yea, I'm taking leave 3 months into deployment. It's quite early. Originally I was scheduled for March, but I wont be a Platoon Leader then... I'm moving up to Company XO (executive officer) sometime in september. One of the main responsabilities I'll have is to prepare the company to be turned over to somebody else, including all the equipment we have. Come March, i'll be extremely busy, so I had to change my leave dates. And since August is a special month for my parents (it's their 40th aniversary), I figured might as well travel there when it's meaningful for them. So yup, 2 weeks in "not so hot" Venezuela, where I hear has been raining non-stop for a while! I can't wait for the rain!
On another note, I have been quite busy lately. I bought a pirated version of windows, which i'm currently running on my old computer. It works, but doesn't change the fact I'm sick of windows. I'll try to post some pictures while i'm at venezuela. I should be arriving there in about a week.

Antonio

viruses.

Upset. That word pretty much covers it for me right now (I'd use more ellocuent words... but I'm also tired).

My computer just crashed. I guess when you have 80+ laptops in a 100 foot radius, viruses become pretty common. Well... my computer found a couple, said it took care of them... but yea... NO. As of right now, I can't execute anything, my wallpaper is a bright blue screen that says WARNING and some other stuff on it. I tried reformating my computer and it won't even let me do THAT. I asked around, and two other people got the same symptoms, and so far, they haven't been able to fix it.

So... I made a decision that I've been considering for a very long time now. I have officially had it with PC. I'm sick and tired of it. I just bought a Macbook pro online. Since they don't ship directly to APO addresses, it's gotta get re-routed some weird way and it should be here within the next 6 to 12 months... (more like 6 to 8 weeks...).

Whatever. I'll try getting on other people's computers when I get a chance, but no promises. This really sucks.

And, oh by the way, Titi took the lead in the "care package" race (yes... it is a race, something about being a Pazos... I dont know). I received 2 from Titi & Co. yesterday and she is leading the pack with 5, followed closely by Vivi & Co. with 3.

Anyway, it's not like I need a computer or anything... or like I lost files that I need... nah.

On another note, we're doing alright. The big news about pulling out of cities didn't really affect us too much, since we (like most other units) were already working on it ahead of time, to make it go by smoother, i guess. We'll see how it goes.

That's all I got. Till next one (whenever that may be)

Antonio

Re-enlistment pictures and what not.

As a test to my high amounts of patience (anybody that knows me will laugh at that statement!) I'm just going to focus on loading some pictures today. A couple days ago I had the honor of doing the oath of reenlistment for 3 of my Soldiers, which to be honest, was awesome. It was their choice (I'd like to think) to have me do the oath, and needless to say, I was pretty honored. I'll also go through some the pictures I've taken and post them as well.

By the way, the pictures look yellow, because there was a small sandstorm going through. No biggie, but it does give the pictures a nice "effect." No photoshop required.

And that's me outside one of our tents. We're pretty proud of what we do. You can tell by the huge Engineering flag we fly on our living area.

And this is one of many pictures that just crack me up. So there's this billboard that we always drive by. It's a cigarrette advertisement for some french name. The box is blue, so the billboard has a picture of a guy with a blue eyebrow. Everytime we drive by it, we make up a new reason why the dude has a blue eyebrow. Any suggestions?

This picture doesn't need words, really. Just fuel for the ride.

This one, hmmmm, doesn't really need words either. What you see here is a picture of two donkeys riding on the back of what looks to me like a built-up motorcycle. And yes, there is a dude riding in the back with the donkeys!
And finally... just a glimpse of life through my eyes! I think when it comes to eye protection, you do get what you pay for. I bought myself a set of Oakleys before I deployed through their military website (yes, they have pretty awesome deals for the military), and the difference is amazing... the extra 40-50 bucks is most definitely worth it.

And Titi, I am so glad I read your blog. Thanks for the reminder. I didn't even know it was Sunday today.

Happy Father's Day, Dad.

New bed, new look

Been a while since I've posted, mainly cause of lack of internet. It's frustrating, to say the least, that I pay 85 dollars a month for internet, and not only is it slow, but it also goes out a lot... but, like I said before, at least I got internet, so complaining is not really an option. I have tons of pictures, but it takes so long to load them that it's hard to sit through the process.

As far as news, there are some. I got a real bed now, with a wooden frame and drawers underneath it, which is awesome 'cause now I can use that to store my stuff. I also hung my VT flag directly above my bed. You know, that "feeling" of being at home. Also, two days ago while driving around, I saw a pack of camels around a pond drinking some water. There must have been close to 100 camels. I know, I know... the small things that make your day in a place like this.

As far as the picture challenge goes, Marcella, you're gonna have to use the one I got on the right side of the screen. As an adition to the challenge, you can try adding a funny smile on the photoshop. Let's see you try that.

The weather continues to get hotter as we head into the July-August months. You kinda get used to it, but it's still annoying on the days the AC goes out. I got the care packages Vivi & Co. sent. Aside from the red bulls and baby wipes, the korean energy drinks and other korean candies are awesome. Too bad they moved to that small and humble house in DC now.

Can't believe it's almost 2 months. Time does fly out here in the desert.

Here are some pictures of the new bed and the camels!

Reasons

There's a combination of reasons why I haven't posted anything. Here's the top 5:

1) Internet has been down days at a time

2) I've been busy in the times when I have had internet

3) I've been lazy in the times when I haven't been busy and had internet

4) I was asleep

5) The dog ate my homework, a meteor hit my tent and blew up my 5 page draft where I had written on the times when I didn't have internet, and then a flood came through, washed everything away, but dried before I could take pictures because of the heat.

So, I'm going to admit that the top 5 is only 80% accurate. One of those reasons might be a little bit exagerated. I've taken tons of pictures of the town and people and stuff, so I'll be posting them little by little, but first is first. I did promise some pictures of my crib, so here they are:

Ok, the one on top is a picture of my area with the "curtain closed". The white thing in the right is our AC vent, which runs from that corner. You'd think that because i'm closer to the AC, my corner is cooler... no no nope. Think about the sun warming the tent, makes it very very hot. Well, i'm against two walls of the tent, which means i got more heat coming my way. Basically, my corner is warmer during the day, and cooler during the night.

The picture below is basically same as on top, but with the curtain open. I got a COT, with a small mattress on top. And a portable dvd player there on the matress. Helps kill some of the time.

The next two are the rest of the area, each picture turning 90 degrees. I got a 60 day calendar board to help me plan my stuff. The rest are the basics, coffee, goodies from the care packages, baby powder, etc... I also inherited a small desk from one of the guys that used to live here.

Well, there you go. That's where I live. It's got what I need and a little more. I got a small TV from the guys that we replaced and we placed it in the middle of the tent, where there's more room. One of my guys brought an XBOX 360, 4 controllers and some world war II style games. That's how they kill some time.

One last thing. We were driving through the town the other day and I had my camera out, taking some pictures of the locals. One thing I noticed, there's a lot of graffitis out here. So I took a picture of one of the graffiti's, and then I asked my interpreter what it meant.

The Interpreter read it a couple times, said there was a word or two he didn't understand, but this is what he came up with: "Chavez no se va!" (If you get it, you get it, if you don't, you don't). I guess they got one thing right over here.




So, that's all I got for now. I'll be posting some of the pictures I took from the people and the town on the next posts. Hope everybody's doing ok! Take care and i'll be reporting back soon!

ps. Vince, I got your package. I can tell you probably mailed a few to Neely when he was deployed. And the picture is hilarious, although I wouldn't show it to all my Soldiers though! Just the more senior ones.

Pictures... but not of my crib

First is first, I got tasked with doing inventories this morning, which obviously took most of my 'rest' day, so I didn't post the MTV cribs set of pictures. It'll come later. I will however, post some pictures, but before I do that, I gotta explain why.

Remember when I said I shaved my head? Well, the whole thing got popular and a few of my Soldiers did it. So this morning, I was in my Platoon Sergeant's tent (my platoon is split into two tents, and my PSG lives there) and I forgot what we were talking about, but my PSG told one of our privates he would shave his head if the entire Platoon shaved theirs. Well... when i get back from dinner about an hour ago, one of my Squad Leaders tells me my hair is getting long. I kinda get the hint and ask him where everybody's getting their haircut. So, by the time my PSG gets back from dinner, pretty much the entire Platoon is bald. I'd like to think they did it to make me feel good about my issues with being 24 and bald, but whatever; point is... we had some good laughs shaving people's heads.

Oh, I also got 2 packages yesterday. One from Tia Sara and another from Aunt Bonny. All I need now is to talk to one my interpreters so he can buy me a little electric stove to make some coffee in the mornings. I thought Venezuelans were bad... these Iraqis are ridiculous at bargaining. Thanks a lot! Again, getting mail is probably one of the best feelings when you're in a place like this, so thanks.

So, here are some of the pictures from our little haircut debacle!


The stereotypical angry Platoon Sergeant before getting his head shaved. He's not necessarily mad, but he likes people to think he's in a bad mood all the time. It's mildly contagious. I myself have gotten used to it, but it's always funny when we get a new Soldier in the Platoon. I guess it's good for discipline.

You might think the after picture looks like a smile, until you see the eyes. The fact that everybody was laughing at him probably didn't help. Either way, now my Platoon's got 25 angry, bald, ready to fight Soldiers. Life couldn't be better.

That would be me with the clippers. I was nice enough to volunteer to shave one of my Soldier's head. I thought I did a good job... and he looks pretty happy from what I can see.


That would be 1st Platoon, Eagle Company after getting 25 free haircuts. Needless to day, diversity is not an issue in my Platoon. It's been a long day, but at least we had some fun at the end.

Pics coming soon

Ok, I was planning on writing today, and posting some pictures of my "crib" but yeah... that changed. Some things came up and now I got a whole bunch of things to do today. Most likely Friday i'll be posting those pictures now. The only problem with my internet is that it's pretty decent during the day time, but sucks at night, when I usually have time off. That's why I gotta wait on those pictures, 'cause if I try posting them at night, it'll take forever.

Aside from that, pretty much the same... mail hasn't come in yet, but i'm sure i'll be seeing something when it comes! Looking forward to that. I think i've already lost about 5 lbs. Guess that's what happens when it's so hot out and you drink about 5 liters of water a day.

Oh, I just realized... I just hit 1 month deployed... TODAY. In fractions, for those of you that like that kind of stuff... that'd be 0.125/(0.75*2) or 1/12... whichever you choose.

Well, next post will be titled Iraq MTV cribs. On that note, I'm out.