DAY 143, 80%

That's right - I'm 80% done! I just blew through mile 20 of my 26-mile deployment. Today begins May. I get through this month, then I'm on my way home (after a handful of days in June).

More importantly, today is Taylor's 13th birthday. I can't believe I have a teenager. It doesn't seem like that long ago that Tiffany and I moved to Ohio from California. Taylor turned 1 in Colorado during our drive.

At one point during the move, she was riding with me in northeast Arizona / southwest Colorado. It had been a long day to that point and she was fussy. I sang the entire "99 bottles of beer" song to her. Every bottle. It was the first and last time I have ever done that. At the end of the last lyric ("Zero bottles of beer on the wall"), she looked at me, I looked at her, and she started crying again. It was good while it lasted.

Now she's 13, owns an iTouch, buys dresses for dances, and chats on-line with boys. I'll deal with it (she does get straight-A's), but I kinda' miss singing 99 bottles of beer.

Happy Birthday, Tay!

36 days to go.

DAY 139?

One quick link before the rant: http://www.ali.afcent.af.mil/news/story_media.asp?id=123145051

Now, on to the topic of the day: GOING HOME . . .

Today is supposed to be Day 139. I say "supposed to" because I have been locked in a colossal struggle with our Operations Officer (Ops-O) since Day 1.

First, a little background. I am currently assigned to the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA). As with most government organizations, DCMA has plenty of personnel stateside. Here in Iraq, DCMA has ~220 positions. Half of those positions are filled by people who belong to DCMA in the states. The other half are filled by military like me who belong to their respective service back home. In a sense, I am an "augmentee" to DCMA.

What that really means is I get treated like a stepchild over here. Regular DCMA people fly commercial airlines in/out of Kuwait and stay at a rented house in Kuwait City with very nice accommodations, eat out at restaurants, and generally have a nice transition in/out of theater (Iraq). Additionally, DCMA personnel can book their own return travel on United Airlines months in advance. They know date/time/and actual seat.

Us augmentees get shafted. We ride a military rotator in/out of Kuwait and stay in tents with many other humans while waiting for transportation into theater. We have no idea how long we will be in the tents.

In reality, the military style transportation and waiting game is normal for 95% of the troops over here. The DCMA people have it really, really nice. Augmentees . . . not so much.

Here's the problem: our Ops-O is regular DCMA. She already has her return date picked and her biggest concern is whether or not to pay for an upgrade to business class and what Kuwaiti restaurant to eat at the night before she leaves. Tough situation. For me, I have to get scheduled on a hop to Kuwait, then sit in a tent until the next rotator goes to Baltimore (about once a week). No upgrade for me. Every seat will be filled by sweaty, smelly GIs (myself included).

Meanwhile, I was supposed to be home on June 6th (Day 179). Our Ops-O informed me a couple months ago that my orders also include an extra 6 days for turnover with my replacement. So, that's 185 days, then I can leave Baghdad, which means I get home a week or so later (about 192 days) - two weeks later than originally planned.

I know it's only two weeks and others have it much worse -- Army guys usually have 365 day tours (or longer). But two weeks for me is pretty significant, especially when our Ops-O decided she can leave 2 weeks EARLY because her replacement will be here and she doesn't need to stick around. Then, she arbitrarily decided to leave two weeks LATE so she can qualify for a different medal. That's a honorable decision, huh?

Here's the bigger problem: my replacement gets here on May 22nd! So, following her logic, I should be able to leave around May 28th or so. Not so. She wants me to stick around until at least June 5th - which happens to be the day of a big event she's responsible for. I have been helping her do her job since I got here. I guess she now has decided I need to be here to continue doing her job. Just a perfect example of NOT taking care of the people who take care of you.

I finally broke down and mentioned the subject to the Colonel. I absolutely HATE taking personal issues to the boss. I much prefer solving them without leadership involvement. No reason to burden them with petty issues. But, I had had (yes, double "had") enough with the Ops-O.

The Colonel's direction to the Ops-O: "Get Bill on the June 4th rotator - we have enough to cover down." For you non-military types out there, "cover down" refers to having enough people to get the job done.

You would think that would be the end of it. The boss has spoken. Again, not so fast. Just yesterday, the Ops-O informed me that I have a special code that precludes me from being assigned to the rotator. I have to get to Kuwait and then the Air Force will assign me to a rotator.

What she should have said was, "I saw what the boss said. We'll get you on the June 4th rotator. Don't worry about it." Instead, it's like pulling freakin' teeth with her.

Does it really need to be this hard?

40 days to go (or not).

DAY 134, I.V.

There's nothing like requiring medical attention at the end of a race . . .

45 days to go.

DAY 132, PICTURES

Here's a little look at how I spent my last week. Admittedly, we didn't do much work, but it made up for working 125+ days straight without a break.

Waiting for a helo ride.

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Three of us had an entire Blackhawk helo to ourselves (well, plus two pilots and two door gunners).

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The Euphrates River from the helo (notice the door gun)

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The Great Ziggurat of Ur.

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Three Air Force Majors on the Ziggurat. Never thought I'd ever type that.

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Two Air Force Majors and one Army Major using Abraham's cistern. Never thought I'd type that.

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Pre-race, circa 4:45 AM.

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Almost post race, circa 8:58 AM.

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The end.

47 days to go.

DAY 130, I'M IN

Slowest marathon time in many years, but fast enough to get me into Boston in 367 days!

Freakin' hot here. I needed two bags of IV solution afterwards, but it was SO worth it.

49 days to go. (13 days until Taylor turns 13)

DAY 128, AT TALLIL

We made it to Tallil Air Base outside the city of Nasiriyah - really outside. We're in the middle of the desert, about 10 miles from the Euphrates river (and Nasiriyah).

We rode on a small cargo plane called a Sherpa and made stops in Al Kut and Basrah before landing here at 1 AM.

We toured the Ziggurat yesterday. Incredible place. It's a cross between an Egyptian pyramid and a Mayan temple. It was in the largest city of the known world in 2000 BC. For any Old Testament fans out there, we saw the site of Abraham's home (allegedly).

Today we were caught in a sandstorm all day. We couldn't see more than 10-20 yards. I hope it clears - only 36 hours until race time!

51 days to go.

DAY 125, 5 DAYS AWAY

Leaving on a helo for Nasiriyah in the morning - be back in 5 days with a spot in the 2010 Boston Marathon (hopefully)!

54 days to go.

DAY 120, ZIGGURAT

In one week I'm headed to Tallil Air Base near Nasiriyah, Iraq. While there, we're going to break away for half a day to tour the ziggurat. Ziggurats were built by the old timers of Mesopotamia as monuments to local religions. The one we're going to see is the "Great Ziggurat of Ur" and was built over 4,000 years ago. That was back when this area of the world kicked butt, instead of getting kicked.

Also while there, we're going to run the "Boston Marathon in Iraq." It will be my first time off this base since late December when I went to the International Zone in downtown Baghdad. I'm really looking forward to getting away for a few days. Of course, we have to do some work while we're down there, but the change will be really good.

In other news, Tiffany went to Albuquerque for a day and a half and put an offer in on a house. I guess she was so worried I'd pick a place in the mountains, she wanted to grab a place while I was in Iraq! It was my fault, though - I talked her into visiting Albuquerque to get familiar with the area. Little did I know . . .

59 days to go.

DAY 118, PLAY BALL!

Baseball starts today. As with all other live events, I'm stuck with the middle-of-the-night dilemma. Looks like I'll get my baseball fix via box scores and Internet reports for the first two months.

I love the Cubs and all, but I can't see myself staying up all night to listen to one of their games on XM. Speaking of which, of all the businesses I want to survive the economic crunch we're in, XM is at the top of the list. That stuff is great. Plenty of choices, no cheesy commercial breaks, sports, comedy, opinion radio that calls itself news, it's all there - well worth the monthly subscription fee.

BREAK

As I type this, Tiffany is in Albuquerque checking out neighborhoods, schools, etc. I called her yesterday as she was checking out the mountain community I want to live in. I think I'm going to get out-voted (the actual term is "over-ruled"), but I really need a mountain feel, especially after watching my Colorado dream disappear at the hands of some guys in San Antonio who claim to assign jobs based on the "needs of the Air Force." Whatever.

Back to baseball, the Cubs are loaded this year, but not as loaded as the Mets and Phillies. I swear every year in October that I'm through with the Cubs, but every April there I am glued to the TV. This April I'll be glued to the Internet, but you know what I mean.

I wish I knew why I can't let them go. I've lived all over the country and been immersed in the local team wherever we've lived. I was in Colorado when the Rockies were born - very exciting times. I was in Ohio where everyone still talked about the Big Red Machine. I was in Texas Ranger country, and now in Dodger town. For whatever reason, I can't shake the Cubs.

Maybe if they choke in the play-offs AGAIN this year, that will be what it takes.

61 days to go.