Real = Reality

I’ve been in Afghanistan since July 3rd and at my actual duty station, Kabul, since July 4th.  I’m starting to settle in and so far so good.  The days are long, yet they go by quickly.  There is a kind of groundhogs day about being here which really just helps the time go by.  You know what to expect and you just go through the motions.  We usually start the day around 0830 which gives me plenty of time to work out in the morning.  We then work until about 2030 (8:30pm).  We are there for 12 hours, but those 12 hours include about a 2 hour break mid-afternoon as well as time to eat lunch and dinner.  I have nothing else to do so I’ve been working out twice which will come in handy once I start my full on Ironman training.  The altitude is bothering me and I have a hard time falling asleep at night.  Not only is there altitude to deal with, but it is extremely dry.  I’ve gotten a bloody nose every day since I’ve been here.  One time I was in the shower and that looked like a murder scene.  I will have to get a humidifier to make it through the winter.  At least here the temperature is cooler and I can walk outside without melting!

I have been in the military in some capacity since 2001.  In those 16 years I most certainly lived a sheltered existence to the reality of war.  There are people who are simply evil that wish to do evil on as many people as they can.  I am so saddened by these senseless acts of terror.  I know and I have facts that I am safer here on a base in Afghanistan than I am on my 74 mile commute each day to the office.  To be sure I looked up the statistics and there is a 1 in 17,725 chance one of us will die as the result of a car crash, or to be funny a 1 in 366,804 chance one of us dies falling out of bed, while there is only a 1 in 2.1 million chance something will happen to be here.  The odds are low, extremely low.  The problem is that every time I get into my car to drive to work or every morning when I get out of bed I’m not thinking about death.  Here in Afghanistan my senses are heightened.  I carry a loaded 9mm hand gun with me everywhere I go. (9mm and I are still not friends.  I need to get a more comfortable holster and then maybe I will become friendly enough with it to give it a name.)  Your senses are not heighten to death and I am thankful for you they are not.  I’m glad when you and I drive to work we don’t think about what could happen.  We believe we’re safe and living in that shelter keeps us all from going crazy.  For a few seconds you all thought about it and when you’re done reading this you will forget again.  Please don’t however forget that I can’t forget, at least not for the next year.

The days go by quickly and for the most part are predictable.  As I mentioned in a previous post you must have something to look forward to and then everything seems easier.  A couple of days a week we work a shortened schedule and don’t go in until noon.  Yesterday I took full advantage and slept in until 0800, ran 11 miles (on the treadmill, the air quality is too poor to run outside), had an awesome lunch (we even had roasted brussel sprouts and watermelon).  Days like that keep me going.  I’ve even starting planning our family vacation for when I come back for rest and recuperation at the end of March.

Please know I’m busy, safe, and distracted!  I am distracted enough to keep my head up and this reality is working, at least for now!

PS I lOVE MAIL!