It's Snowing

This morning when it first started.


Just after lunch.


Later this afternoon.

Working Off TG Weekend

"Linda"
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 reps (scaled)
Deadlift (115#)
Bench Press (75#)
Clean (60#)
22:45

What a gorgeous sunny day. Went for a short walk also.

It's Raining It's Pouring

It started on Tuesday evening and hasn't stopped yet.

Fingers Crossed the Weather Cooperates

We all hope that this "Dust Storm" is not a repeat of our Mars landing from the 4th of July weekend.

Dust Dust Go Away!! And "Can You Really Wear a Two Piece in Iraq?"

Ack! The dust is coming back! NOOOOOOOOOOO!

I had this all planned. Patient rounds in the morning (check). Meal ordering and inpatient education (check). Morning CrossFit class (check), eat lunch (check), and then do a swim workout this afternoon (hence moving my CF class to morning). But now it's getting dusty again. Sigh.

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Some people have asked about wearing a "two piece" at the pool. Didn't know that it was now legal (for civilians and for Air Force).

In the Air Force the rule is that men wear baggy shorts/swim wear (no speedo suits) and women can wear one or two piece *conservative* suit (i.e. no thong or itty bitty bikinis). But the Army rules say "one piece" only.

Joint Base Balad is just that, "Joint", and when AFCENT (Air Force Central Command) took over the base, one concession was to the Army swim suit standards. The other claim about the "one piece" rule is that it is part of our respect for the host nation (that doesn't fly with me since women in our host nation would not be seen at a co-ed swimming pool in ANY suit that didn't cover up arms & legs). And that is why when I arrived the rule was "one piece" at the pool.

When you are working out, it makes perfect sense to wear a one piece. But the outdoor pool opened in April and has plenty of deck chairs for tanning. Brigader General Bishop, as one of his last policies prior to his change of command, changed the swim suit policy at the pool - allowing for a conservative two piece. Heck, no one was really enforcing the one piece policy for the civilians anyway (pool employees weren't allowed to, only military supervisors). And don't get me started on the definition of "conservative".

Interestingly enough, one hour after the 332 AEW Change of Command, the JBB Command Sergeant Major of the Army (highest ranking enlisted) sent out a "new MNF-I Uniform Policy" to all AEW folks. While it focused on Army uniform policies it also included Air Force & "all military" in many portions - including the "one piece" at the pool (along with mandatory reflector belts with PT gear which would be redundant for Air Force since our PT gear has reflection built into both the shirts & shorts; we don't have to wear a belt). That same afternoon we were emailed by AEW Headquarters that any change in uniform policy would come from AFCENT, and we should carry on with our previous instructions at this time.

Man, gotta love politics - especially when it comes out into the open like this.

The End of the Sand Storm

Finally a break in the dust and sand. And by this afternoon there was blue skies and the air was heating up again.

With the improved visibility the planes are flying. Jets are taking off again. The mail arrived. The shelves at the BX started filling back up. We had lettuce & tomatoes at dinner. And our redeploying hospital folks have started leaving. Just waiting for our replacements to leave the states and move closer to Iraq.

Maybe I'll finally get back to the pool this weekend - one last opportunity to get a photo in a two piece suit before leaving the desert.

Today's CrossFit workout: 12 one arm pushpress R arm (20#), 12 one arm deadlift L arm (50#), run 1/2 mile. Do it again with L arm/R arm and run another 1/2 mile. Repeat both. for time - 21:48 (got the treadmill up to 7 mph - fastest yet). 5 pullups at the end.

It's Getting Hotter and Still Lots of Sand

I heard it's hitting 130 degrees in Qatar - I hope I won't have to spend more than 1 night there on my way home.

Results of the Sand Storm earlier this week:

It's Getting Hawt

107 degrees in the shade at 11:45a on Wed 3 June. We've only just begun the summer around here. Early morning (5a) is still comfortable. I'm not sure why I still see some folks with a sweatshirt on their way to the Cadillacs (showers/bathrooms) but there is no reason why anyone is still wearing the long sweatpants for PT (exercise) yet I've seen a few at the morning 5K events. Crazy!

It's Getting Warmer Around Here

Dust Storm

Normal, sunny day (the medical choppers moved to the pad behind the hospital)


Dust storm blew in on Tuesday.

Coughing up a Lung

Welcome to the Dust Bowl.



Spring weather brings wind and lots of dirt in the air. And that means it gets into our lungs (not to mention the coating of dirt that gets into all the nooks and crannies in your room, on your computer, inside your cupboard, on your stuff, in your drawers, etc). I try to dust weekly with antibacterial wipes. I sweep the floor and wet swifter after shaking out the rugs. But the A/C just blows the dirt into the room every day.



So when you are breathing this, your body tries to get it out, by coughing. Over and over again. I'm tired of coughing. How do smokers do it?

How's the Weather?

I arrived in Jan after there had been some serious rain. I was introduced to the puddles and the mud (to avoid at all costs).


Then we get mostly sunny days and never gets below 45 degrees at night. Is winter really over? Why do I have rain boots? Well, we did get a few windy days blowing the dust around.



Often the wind brings rain but the past two months it hasn't been more than just dirty sprinkles. We've had some nice sunny days. Sunday it was pretty darn warm.



Then it got very windy.



Which led to a large dump of rain (with thunder) after midnight and lots of deep puddles and thick mud all around the housing area and the hospital today.