Sunday Morning in Taji

It's hard to believe that another week has gone by so quickly! Today being Sunday is normally a day to sleep in but here at Taji we had a 5K run "Harley Davidson 5K Hog Run" obviously sponsored by Harley Davidson who just happen to be from my home town of Milwaukee! Since I am finally running 5 days a week but with no speed work I figured that if I could run a sub 24 race and not have feel anything funny in my left quad that I would be happy with that! So for the first time I actually went to bed at a decent time since I had to be up at 0530 for my pre-race cup of joe and get ready for the race which started at 0700. I never check my watch when I have to get up in the middle of the night so I don't get depressed that I have only X hours more of shuteye before I have to get up. So when I got up I noticed that there was some light coming from the sand bagged window so I checked my watch and almost had a cardiac arrest. It was 0623 and I still had to shave, brush my teeth, change and drive to the start and sign in. I was flying and got there at 0645, signed in, did some quick stretching and bang the gun sounded at 0655 and off the pack went. I went out easy and since there were no mile markers (no big surprise here) I figured I was a little slower than 8 minutes at mile one, so I picked it up slightly and at about 12 minutes figured it was time to do start passing some runners and the last mile it was great picking off the runners one by one and I finished pretty strong. No pain in the quad, not thirsty since I had my handy water bottle that I use when I run back home and a 23:35 time, which considering it was the first time since my quad injury that I ran a sub 8:30 pace!! I was happy with that, I ran into some of the Aussies and a couple of the 104th guys at the finish area. The T-shirt is not bad either and is a good souvenir from Taji!

Got back and spoke with Carmen, Cheenie Peenie and my sister in law on Skype, they had just gotten back from their week in Tahoe. We reserved the cabin before I got mobilized and I told Carmen that life goes on and to enjoy themselves up there and from what they told me they all had a good time. They said that even though I wasn't there it was like I was there, since Javi was doing the usual stupid antics and things that I always do and Cheenie was planning the days events like I always do! That's good to know that the kids do take after their dad sometimes, or as Carmen always points out when they do something bad or stupid that they take after me!

Here at work we are soooo close to getting power turned on at the Maintenance Depot. We purchased fuel, the guys that run the generator farm are almost done getting the last minute details ready so they can crank up the generator farm and start running power to the maintenance depot and another part of the base. Once they do that, we will be able to turn on the lights, AC's, to see what doesn't work, run the sewage lift stations, turn on the water and see what part of the infrastructure needs to be repaired. The power will run for 48 hours so that we have time to inspect all the buildings, and various water and sewage lines. The bid is out for the Operations and Maintenance Contract for the Generator Farm and power lines, that should be ready to start in late August and the contract for fuel has been approved. You would have thought that fuel in Iraq is cheap since it is drilled and refined here, but with the transportation costs which includes armed escorts and the middle man profits a gallon of Diesel goes for $4.97 a gallon at a discount rate since I will be purchasing a decent amount!

Once we get the generator farm operating 24X7 then we can occupy our PMO Building and work side by side with our Iraqi counterparts daily. That alone is worthwhile, since there are so many decisions that we still have to make regarding which fleets we will rebuild at the Depot, order the repair parts for those vehicles, work manning figures, training plans for new incoming Soldiers etc. Robert and Larry have completed updating the designs and have forwarded that info to the J-7 and USACE so that they can review and buy off on the changes and send those designs to the Construction Services folks at USACE and the Army can send them the monies so they can start refurbishing the buildings. I know that folks back down at the IZ want to see bricks and mortar flying all over the place because that shows progress. I would not be surprised that once the construction starts to really pickup that the one star and three star Generals will be paying the Depot a visit.

We finally had our new priest arrive here at Taji, unlike the others that were rotating on a weekly basis because lets face it there just aren't enough priests back home and that affects the number or Army priests. This one will be based out of Taji which means more services and that fact that we now have someone we can go to if there is the need. He reminds me a lot of Father Jim the priest from back home; he likes participation wants us to feel good about ourselves and get involved here on base with the church. He's from Puerto Rico but lived a long time in Boston so he has a very peculiar accent to say the least!

Well I got a couple of hours left before it's time to go to work today and I have to finish up a couple of officer evaluations and hit the PX to see what they have on their shelves. I honestly believe that on my second or third day back home I will go to the mall and stay there from the time it opens until it closes just to walk through and stare at the shelves full of merchandise!

Before I close a big birthday shout out to Javier who today hits the big 16, and tomorrow starts his behind the wheel training for drivers ed! Happy birthday Javi enjoy your birthday and remember keep two hands on the steering wheel at all times! ;>)

The Colonel