What's that smell?!

Hello All:

WHOSE READY TO PLAY: "What's-That-Smell"!!?

That's right, once again, it's time to play "What's That Smell" (international version).

Jodi loves playing "what's that smell" and she will tell you that you usually have to be in close proximity to me to play.  Well, this time you had to be at Camp Lemmioner this past Tues night.

I was outside Tues night and there was a bit of smoke and haze in the air accompanied by a foul smell, one which I had never encountered before.

Turns out that someone had dumped a couple of camel carcasses at the city dump (about 1 mile away) a few days prior.  Camels are fairly large animals and I am not sure how they got them there.  I am confident that they were not passing by and just keeled over.

At any rate, city workers decided that they couldn't just let camels rot at the city dump, not to mention wild dogs who were helping themselves to the buffet.  The solution:  dose the dead camels with diesel, light them on fire, walk away. 

I guess that is one way to handle it. 

Changing subjects, I just finished up my rather lengthy check-in process which included "welcome aboard" briefs from the CL Base staff as well as the CJTF-HOA staff.  I think some efficiencies can be gained as the two briefs were largely the same. 

One of the briefers was throwing out some factoids which inspired the next few paragraphs on the country of Burundi, which is east of Tanzania and providing thousands of soliders in support of the Transitional Federal Government of Somolia.

Burundi is a land mass of 10,800 sq miles which is the same size as Maryland.  By comparison, Sudan measures 967,0000 sq miles which is three times the size of TX (and throw in CA). 

Its population is 10 million which is double that of Maryland and equal to that of Michigan. 

It is also one of the 10 poorest countries in the world with a per capita Gross Domestic Product of $108 annually (US per capita GDP is $47,500).

Up until the past couple of decades they produced no electricity internally and purchased it from neighboring countries.  They now produce 43 Mega Watts of power with 32 MW coming from hydro-electric facilities.

Like Burundi, CL also produces electricity using a dozen or so Caterpillar diesel powered generators (not the ones you buy at Lowe's, these are the size of tractor trailers).

CL produces 27 MW of power, or about 62% of what the country of Burundi produces. 

Glad I live in the US of A.

Until next week,
Michael

Prison or Paradise?

Hello again to all.

This week we examine whether Camp Lemmioner (CL) is more closely aligned with a prison or a paradise.  While your initial estimate may favor one over the other, you may be surprised after taking a closer look.

1.  Lodging:  In my last blog, I noted the similar dimensions of my quarters compared to a prison cell.  My room is slightly larger but lacks a sink and toilet, which a prison cell has.  Sure, the door locks from the inside and not the outside but that is not enough to offset the sink/toilet upgrade.  Lock me in my room during the hours I am asleep, not a big deal.

Edge:  Prison.

2.  Access to the facility:  Both places feature very high walls topped with razor wire, tightly controlled access in and out, and armed guards.  Those at CL can leave the camp for the day with prior approval.  In prison, you can leave the facility but the best you can hope for is a chain gang or picking up trash along the highway.  At CL, I can move about freely 24/7.

Edge: CL

3. Alcohol:  At CL, you are permitted to have (3) beers or servings of wine per day but it can only be consumed on the premises in the two places that serve.  You need to have your ration card and ID; cost $3.50.  No alcohol in your room, hard liquor is prohibited.  In prison, all alcohol is prohibited.  However, alcohol is easily produced using fruit, sugar, and yeast.  The resulting "hooch" probably leaves something to be desired given how bad it probably tastes but it is free and you can make it in your room (cell).  Sure you have to hide it in your toilet so the "screws" don't find it when they toss your room upside down looking for contraband but at least you have a toilet.

Edge:  Prison (due to the permissive enviroment and low cost)

4.  Food:  3 squares at CL and prison might make this one a draw.  The food in prison doesn't look very good based on the movies I have seen.  I don't think they have a salad bar either.  CL has food available 22 hours a day, fresh cut fruit, salad bar, NY strip steaks on Sat for dinner (usually overcooked), and "seafood Friday" (I had (3) 4 oz lobster tails, yum). 

Edge:  CL

5.  Recreation:  If you have a captive audience and you don't give them something to do, they will find something to do.  Prison has the rec yard for various athletic activities, in room TV,  movie night, library, and knitting club.  CL has air conditioned gym, basketball/volleyball court, movie night, sports leagues, karaoke at the primary recreational facility where there are also pool tables, wireless internet, ping pong and darts.  I also play Texas Hold'em on Tues and Sat (they play cards in prison too). 

The kicker is that CL sponsors off base recreational trips to include restaurants out in town, scuba diving, snorkeling and shopping excursions.

Edge: CL

Weather:  Most prisons are in fairly agreeable climates except for TX and AZ and you only get limited time in the yard anyways.  CL is located in Djibouti City, Djibouti, which typically has some of the hottest temps on the continent.  Summer temps typically 110-120F and high humidity.  Let's face it, it is pretty damn hot here and most people walk wherever they need to go. 

Edge:  Prison (outside of TX and AZ)

Bedding:  As previously posted, I have sheets made from a 50/50 cotton polyester blend.   Fabric of prison sheets could not be determined through my research.

Edge:  Inconclusive

Well, an interesting result....3 to 3 with one going to neither. 

Given the fact that you don't have to join the Aryan Brotherhood/ Mexican Mafia/Black Guerilla Family to stay alive, not getting shanked in the yard, and dudes aren't getting raped in the shower, I'll have to give an extra point to CL, making them the winner. 

Now, if I could only get them to ditch the cotton/poly sheets, we would really be in business.

Cheers,
Michael

Greetings from Africa (again)

Hello all and welcome if it is your first time, welcome back otherwise.

As most of you know, it was time to deploy again (it had been over 2 years since my last one, so not too bad). I was sent to the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) in Djibouti City, Djibouti, to serve as the Deputy Director of Strategic Communications.

Strat Comm is defined as: Focused US Gov efforts to understand and engage key audiences to create, strengthen, or preserve conditions favorable for the advancement of US Gov interests, policies and objectives through the use of coordinated plans, themes, messages and products, synchronized with the actions of instruments of national power.

I can tell you that it has been quite a journey in the making. I detached from my previous command on 11 Jun to the Deployment Processing Center in order to begin and complete the required predeployment training. I had most of it done before I reported in so I had lots of half days/days off.

I thought I would be leaving around 25 Jul for Africa but the best the Marine Forces Africa Liason Officer could do with booking tickets was 5 Aug. There was really no "work" for me to do as I was simply awaiting travel. This meant that I just had to call in every day to let them know I didn't die in my sleep and was still ready to go.

WOW! 11 days of free vacation. I can say that it was time well spent in Sneads Ferry. Made a point to eat at places which I enjoy because it would be a long time before I got to eat there again. Additionally, I got to swim in the community pool which was supposed to be open at the end of Jun.

Ok, vacations over. Time to deploy.

I loaded up Jodi's vehicle with all my bags and we were off to the airport to catch a flight at 2:20 pm. Jodi sat with me at the airport for a bit and she then went on her way after a tearful goodbye.  Well...we didn't know it was raining in Charlotte, NC, where I was headed. My flight was cancelled which meant I would miss my connection to Paris. The entire itinerary was shot.

I called Jodi and told her what happened. She was really pissed having just gone through shipping her husband off for six months. Mentally, she had prepared herself and this was just screwing that up.

The flights I had were for a Fri and the trip got rebooked on the following Tues for Thurs (11 Aug) travel. I was again ready for travel that would span 3 days and 2 nights.  I left Thurs with a slight delay in Charlotte. I had a short layover and then an overnight flight to Paris.

I landed in Paris this past Fri morning and had 15! hours to kill.  Thankfully, I am friends with the Commanding Officer of Marine Security Guard (MSG) Region 5, which covers Paris. I contacted him and he put me in touch with the MSG Paris Det Commander. The Det Commander told me that they would be more then happy to host me for the day! I grabbed a cab to the Marine House where they all stay and was met by the Deputy Commander who was serving as my escort officer. He showed me to my home where I took a much needed shower.

After my shower, he told me he had about 45 minutes of work to do at the US Embassy and after that, we would be off to see the city. The embassy was really cool, if nothing else to say that I was there. Turns out that that it is pretty quiet there and nothing like what you saw in the Bourne Identity.

The guided tour of Paris was unexpected and we covered a lot of territory in less then 6 hours. Got to see Notre Dame (construction began in 1163), the Paris Opera House, The Eiffel Tower, the Arch de Triomph (the same one that division of Nazi soldiers paraded thru in 1940) and, of course, The Mona Lisa at The Louvre. The Louvre is huge and it would take you weeks to even glance at everything in there. The Mona Lisa was the rock star in the building with hoards of people surrounding the exhibit. The crowd must have been 25 people deep.

After a whirlwind tour of Paris, it was back to the airport and back to reality. I left on an overnight flight to Ethiopia and arrived at 0700. The airport was not as crappy as I recall but I think I was in a different terminal. Had a beer and cheeseburger for breakfast (you quickly lose the concept of morning, noon, night after spending a couple of nights on a plane where I get very little sleep).

I arrived in Djibouti around 1:oo pm and was happy to see that my ride was waiting for me (couple of guys from my shop showed up). After a short ride from the airport (Camp Lemmioner is on the other side of the runway), I had arrived at my home for the next 6 mos. It was getting late in the day so there really wasn't much time to do anything except get my room and get unpacked.

As a LtCol, I rate a single room with my own shower and toilet. I was shocked to find out that there is a 3 mos waiting list for this type of room. I'm on the waiting list for an appropriate room but a little pissed that any incoming LtCol is not slotted above the highest Maj no matter how long they have been on the list. I would gladly give up my room to house the enlisted Marines I lead but I will be damned if a Maj is going to have priority over a LtCol.

I am sharing a room with an Air Force LtCol . The room has no running water, so no toilet either. It measures 7'x18' for a grand total of 126 sq ft.  Research indicates that an average sized prison cell is 8'x10' for a total of 80 sq ft also shared by two. HOWEVER, a prison cell has a toilet, a pretty good trade off at 2 am when you have to take a leak.

How could things get worse I asked myself. That question was answered when I was making my rack (bed). As I unfolded the sheets, they just didn't feel right. I looked at the tag and sure enough...cotton/polyester blend. So long 600 count Egyptian cotton, hello cotton/polyester. What happened to the days of "only the best for our American service people??

So, as you sleep soundly tonight on your 100% cotton sheets, know that deployed service people everywhere are sleeping on cotton/poly blend.

The Time Has Come

Greeting All,

The time has come for me to pack my bags and return to the greatest place in the world...the USA.

My replacement, a USMC LtCol CH-46 pilot from the Left Coast, arrived as scheduled last Saturday, 24 Oct. This past week has been really busy with shuttling him around to all the places he needed to go to get checked-in. We are still not done but will be shortly. When not getting situated with the command, we have been conducting a turnover of duties IOT (in order to) ensure he is as best prepared to take over when I leave. I'm sure I will overlook something but he will figure it out as I have.

This next week will also prove to be hectic. I have to check out of my parent command and will have to travel to Djibouti to do that. Great....the last place in the world I wanted to go to again. I will leave Germany on Wed night and arrive in Africa on Thurs morning. I will leave DJ Saturday in the early evening and will have to endure an itinerary that spans 30 hours arriving in NC on Sun, 8 Nov, at 7:30 pm (1930 for you savy readers who use the 24 hour clock). If you prefer Zulu or GMT, that's 1530 Zulu (after daylight saving, which is tomorrow).

Jodi, my beautiful wife, has been far busier then me. This past Wednesday, Jodi got the keys to our new home. She has been busting her butt getting everything packed so our things could be transferred to the new place right away. If anyone has moved their entire household recently, you know what a big job this is. Between Jodi and I have move a combined 5 times in last couple of years. It will be good to settle down for a long while. We are luck enough to have friends and relatives who volunteered to help us out with the move. Our thanks goes out to Tim and Susan O'L, and Jarod and Sarah F.

As Jodi and I walk throught life together, we will always return to this place. A house that we will make a home of for ourselves and our children. We have plans to visit each state over the years but we will always come back to our home port in Sneads Ferry, NC. We hope that we will be honored with a visit from all our friends and family.

Once I get back to NC, I will have to report back to the command that I detached from and start inprocessing. Thankfully, Veterans' Day is Wed, 11 Nov. We will have off from Tues afternoon until we report to work on Fri morning. That will give me a few days to adjust to Eastern Standard Time. Please take the time on Wed to reconnect with those who have served this great nation and thank them for the role they played in that endeavour. In most cases, these people are our neighbors, relatives, and friends.

As soon as I get back, I will have to dust off my Dress Blue uniform as I will be escorting my bride to the Marine Corps Ball on base. The birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps is 1o Nov and this year, we turn 234 years old. Happy birthday in advance to all the U.S. Marines out there especially my Uncle Ed, a former U.S. Marine and Vietnam veteran. Semper Fidelis.

Well, that is about it for now. I am very happy at the thought of getting back to life in the states. I will not be posting next week as I will be traveling but will update everyone the following week.

Until then.........

Michael

One weekend to go.

Hello All,

Well, it is another cool, rainy weekend in Bavaria. Seems like it has been this way for the last 3 weeks, for the most part.

Not much to report. This is my last solo weekend in Germany. My replacement is scheduled to arrive this upcoming Friday morning. We will have about a week and a half to conduct a good turnover and then I am headed back to NC. The people I work for back at II Marine Expedionary Force (II MEF) are eagar to have me back which is good and bad. It is nice to be valued but I know that there is a ton of stuff that will be sitting on my desk when I get back. Guess the vacation is over and it is back to the daily grind.

Unfortunately, I will have to pass through Djibouti one last time to check out with my parent command. I am not sure why but it seemed pretty important to the admin people I spoke with. I was hoping to never go back but this will only be for 30 hours or so. I hope the city garbage dump nearby is not on fire like it has been every other time I have been there.

I was going to go to Zurich yesterday but after having conduct some internet research, there wasn't much I was interested in seeing and it is about 4 hours away. A long way to go to see one of the costliest cities in the world. I imagine a $15 cup of coffee in Zurich probably tastes about the same as $1.75 cup of coffee in Sneads Ferry, NC.

I can say that the one thing I wish I could have seen but will not is the Alps during the winter time. I think back to my trip to Hitler's "Eagles Nest" and can tell you that the Alps are spectacular. My be the Marine replacing me will get out there and share some snapshots.

Anyhow, I am stunned that I will be leaving soon. Being away for so long certainly sucks. But in another sense, I can't believe how fast the time has went by.

I took a trip out to a French military PX a few months ago and bought a bottle of inexpensive French wine which I had no intention of taking back with me so I decided to uncork it yesterday. It was a bottle of Chateau Saint Bonnet (2003) and is a combination of 50% cabernet sauvignon and 50% merlot. It is really very good and at $5 USD, represented a great value.

I used it to wash down a big hunk of cheese my boss shared with me. He has a friend who went down to a farm in Switzerland and performed 4 hours of labor to get a discount on cheees the farmer produces. This fella must have bought a lot of cheese because he was asking people he knew it they wanted to buy any from him. COL M, my immediate supervisor, bought 2 "wheels" of cheese (those are the big, bulk cheese things you see in the higher end grocery stores and are covered in wax).

The one wheel was really big. It must have weighed 25 lbs. It was 14 or 15 inches in diameter and 4 inches high. It is really good and pretty cool that it is straight from the farm. You just don't hear about that kind of stuff in the US.

I was going to go to a "Cabbage Festival" in one of the nearby communities today but never made it. All the roads my navigation system routed me through were closed for the festival and I could not figure out where to park. Oh well, it was drizziling a bit and kind of chilly anyways. Germans sure do like their festivals though. Now I will never know how much cabbage I could have eaten.

This is my second last weekend in Germany. Almost home.

Michael

Does anyone know........

that today is Columbus Day?

Nobody has the day off (expect employees of the Federal Government including the post office), the stock market is open, and the banks and schools aren't even closed. We keep adding federal holidays. Do we ever take any off the plate?

This will offend my Italian and Spanish readers, but, should we really be celebrating the fact that some European guy "discovered" a place where people have lived for hundreds of years. All he "discovered" is that someone got there before him.

Leif Ericsson and the Vikings made it to North America nearly 500 years before Columbus. And, we can remember human beings were in the Americas over 13,000 years before Columbus.

Columbus never landed in the present-day United States other than Puerto Rico. He sailed around in the Caribbean and on the coast of Central and South America some, but he never visited the contiguous 48 states.

At any rate, I have the day off. In fact, this is a 4 day holiday for us. Friday was a bust as I worked most of it. Due to operational commitments and GO/FO support requirements (GO/FO is pronounced "go-foe" which is short for General Officer/Flag Officer. Flag Officer is like a General Officer but it is the term used in the US Navy and US Coast Guard (didn't want to diss my friend Tim O by leaving that out).

I don't have any commitments today other then dinner with these two visiting Rear Admirals (Lower Half) later on today. No big deal as I had no plans otherwise. I have 10 days until my replacement show up and then 10 days of turnover. After that, it is back to the US.

Honestly, I am a little worn out of doing/seeing things without my wife so it is just as well that the last two long weekends have included work related requirements. At this point, I am just keeping my head down and charging ahead towards the finish line.

/

It is cool and rainy here as it has been for the last couple of weeks and summer have given way to fall. I have included a few snapshots I took over the last few weeks. Stuttgart is in a valley and the shots I took are of the city from an elevated position. Stuttgart has a number of wineries and you can see the vineyards on the hillside. Also included is a snapshot of some of the very tasty beer I have been drinking.

/

Remember, you can double click on the pictures for an expanded photo.

Hope all is well with everyone and I will be back in the states soon!

Michael

Even More of Nothing

Hello All, I am sitting here watch episodes of "The Office" on DVD and thought I would update my blog.

Fall is in full swing in Bavaria. The leaves are falling off the trees and those brave enough to wear sandals in the summer are now back to wearing proper leather shoes. The women who never wore sandals are now sporting fashionable boots. The handful of people who broke out the shorts are now back in jeans or trousers (thankfully).

Octoberfest is also in full swing in Munich and most major cities in the US. Little known is that Octoberfest originated in Munich to commerate the wedding anniversary of Crown Prince Ludwig (later King Ludwig I) and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen and that is the only place in Germany that Octoberfest is celebrated.

I walk around downtown in the pedestrian area on Saturdays and have noticed that people are wearing jackets when it is really not that cold out. I'm still in a short sleeved collared shirt or t-shirt. Maybe they are taking them for a test drive for when it really get cold.

I don't get it. It had to be really pretty warm out before I saw sandals and shorts come out but as the weather turns a little cooler, people are not hesitating to reach for the leather jacket. I wonder if Jodi will drive her Vespa when it snows outside.

It is an unusual feeling walking around downtown. If you have ever been "in" your environment but not "part" of it, that is how I feel. Have you ever seen "The Matrix" (the first one, not all the crappy ones that followed)? Do you remember the scene when Neo was on the ship and undergoing his initial training? Do you remember the part when he was inserted in the busy city scene when he on a NYC style sidewalk with lots of pedestrians? That is how I feel. Everyone was going on about there lives and I was the outsider looking in. I am "in" my enviroment but not "part" of it. I, however, do not turn around to look at the woman in the red dress. I am to preoccupied with thoughts of my beautiful wife, Jodi (spoiler alert: the woman in the red dress is really an agent).

Now I know how the illegals in the US feel. Did you know that "Big Mac" in a German McDonalds is still pronounced "Big Mac"? In the same vein, enchilada , is pronounced "enchilada" both in Mexico and the US. Neat, huh? Chicken is "polo" in Spanish, though. That is a good thing to remember for readers planning to travel to Spanish speaking nations. Interestingly (at least to me), is that nachos are rarely eaten in Mexico. I love nachos.

When all else fails, you can do what I do when ordering. It is kind of a "pointy-talky" thing where you point at what you want and keep saying it in English because if you say it enough, they will somehow learn English in the next 30 seconds and know exactly what you want. When in doubt, order the first entree listed on the menu and send it back if you don't like it. Repeat with items 2-14. Just kidding, I have never done that.

Well, at any rate, my time is coming to a close here and I will be happy to get back to the US. There are, however, several things I will miss about Germany.

1. Driving, most people do not do unpredictable things while driving and most follow the rules. This leads to very orderly driving with a spirt of "everyone is going somewhere and coopertation on the roads will permit everyone to get where they are going in a the most timely manner".

2. Go as fast as you want, ok, that is only in very limited areas but cool none the less.

3. Beer, it is better here then in the US and ok to drink it in place of water.

4. Shoes, people here wear proper shoes and belts and dress well.

5. Cars, lots of neat cars here you can't get in the US, also a lack of truck based vehicles.

6. History, old here goes back to the 1100s, in the US, 1700s.

7. Community spirit, even in the big cities, there is a sense of community. I don't get that vibe in most places in the US. Sneads Ferry, NC, is like that though.

8. Collective mentality, it is more important to be a good member of society then to enjoy your indiviual freedom to do whatever the hell you want.

9. Fitness, seems more important here and spans generations.

10. Bakeries, people like fresh bread and buy it at bakeries. I like the big outdoor mkts, too.

11. Recycling, expected here, an after thought in the US. Really, how hard is it to put glass, paper, and cans in one bin and everything else in another?

12. Safety, It's just safer here. Per capita world wide stats: a. Murder: US ranked 24th, Germany 49th, b. Rape: US 9th, Germany 24th, c. Robbery: US 11th, Germany 24th.

That's not to say I don't love America, cause I do. For every 1 thing I like about Germany, I can think of 5 things I like about America. However, if we had more of items 7, 8, and 12, that would be great.

Well, that is about it. One week closer to going home. My replacement should be here in a couple of weeks. Great news for sure.

Michael