Leaving Afghanistan

Hello everyone,

I am no longer in Afghanistan. Sunday night I finished work at about 6:30pm and had to run around for a couple of hours, doing my final outprocessing, picking up forms and getting signatures.

My favorite experience involved the computer geeks at the communications squadron. One guy took my form from me and then sat back at his computer staring and looking confused. Pretty soon another guy walks in - walks past me and says to the other computer guy "we are not doing these anymore" then he grabs my sheet and throws it in the shredder - goes and sits down. The original guy is still sitting at his computer playing with his contact lens for about five minutes before the second guy says to me in a rude voice "can i help you." I told him i was ouprocessing and he had just shred my sheet. He irritably told me - "you don't need that sheet anymore" - you are done. As if i should have known how they all work. I don't think the guy who was originally assisting me ever looked back up from his computer. Apparently i was supposed to have understood what they were talking about and just left. I think they all play way too many computer games and hang out on second life too much - they have forgotten how to interact with people.

I arrived in Kyrgyzstan yesterday morning. I will be here for a couple of days before I fly home this weekend. I will be stopping in Baltimore and be able to see my parents. I spend the night there and then fly home to Seattle the next day. It is painfully cold here - even in tents that sound like they are being heated by a jet engine that is connected to it. I walk around bundled up in no less than 4 layers of clothes and every choice to go outside is a tough decision between how freezing i will feel and how badly i need to use the toilet.

I have some pictures but the free internet here is extremely slow - I will try to pay for some upgraded service later today and upload a few pictures of me leaving and being really cold out here.

Maybe i can even get onto Skype and talk to my family.

I have worked with airmen who have stayed on this base in the past. They always complain about how horrible the deployment is - i think i am going to slap them next time - the food is great, there is free (slow) internet access - and the store is completely stocked up all of the time - there is no one launching rockets at your base. It is great and a nice place to stop and rest for a couple of days. My only complaint is that i want another blanket.

I need to take a picture of the dining facility - they have shelves full of free candy bars, they have a pannini grill and other great food.