Oh Afghanistan...

I'm sure we all remember hearing Dorothy tell Toto, "we're not in Kansas anymore"...I don't think any statement could ring more true here either. If you haven't had a chance yet, take a minute and read SSG Richardson's blog over at http://rchrdsn51c.blogspot.com, he gives some great insight to this country that I'll be pulling from here today.

For those that don't know it, Afghanistan is 9.5 hours ahead of Central Standard Time...or "Alabama time" as my Dad likes to call it. This time difference makes for a very small window of opportunity when calling home, it has to happen just after I wake up or right before I go to bed. I believe that Daniel and I are finally beginning to get into a routine. We get up around 6:00 a.m. and go to the office, eat breakfast around 8:00 a.m., work some more, eat lunch/dinner around 3:00 p.m., work some more, work out around 7:00 p.m., and then we'll either work some more or come back to our room.

The current command has everyone working a minimum of 12 hours per day, however we are required to be there during peak hours...the same hours as you would expect stateside. The Contracting Office is quite nice compared to where I worked during my first deployment; I'm in a building with central heat/air here, in Iraq I worked out of a tent, the back of a truck, or driving in a truck. It seems that if we worked according to our workload we could literally stay there 24/7, but we've been warned to pace ourselves since we'll be here for a year.

The office is broken down with construction and commodities contracts in one building and the services area (where I work) is adjacent. The entire area is surrounded by bunkers, sandbags, and blast protection walls...the doors stay locked and you have to code in each time to enter the area. In all honesty, working where we do could easily make you complacent with all the security measures in place.

The bad news about the area is that we are right beside an entry point to the base and yesterday we received credible information that someone had a VBIED (Vehicle-borne improvised explosive device...aka car bomb) right outside our area. Let me tell you, when someone tells you there is a car bomb outside you manage to get uncomplacent right quick. The good thing is that we were all quarantined, so to speak, until the threat was over inside our little area. Business went on as usual since we are inside such a highly protected area, except we couldn't leave.

According to folks who have been here for a while they tell us that the place is pretty safe with only minimal rocket attacks. I'm sure they're still using rockets from the 80's war with Russia. Anyway, the mountain passes around us are still packed with snow so they can't bring their rockets over the mountains yet. I'm not saying to scare anyone, I'm really saying it more to let you know the situation.

I've got to get to work for now, don't want to be late. I'll try to upload a picture or two later, but the bandwidth is low here and that could take hours. So for now, know that we're safe and working like crazy!