I finally made it to Qalat, and am now resting comfortably at Forward Operating Base Langham alongside the unit I’m embedded with. I’ll be going out on a few patrols with the guys over the next week, likely traveling up to another new base they just started and also meeting with some reconstruction folks who are running vo-tech classes for the locals here.
The base is much more spartan than the previous ones I’ve been at – No fridge with cold water in the rooms (though boxes of warm water are still available), only one entrée choice at the chow hall, no post exchange for most of the week and no phones at my ready. The guys here know they have it rougher than most, and are pretty cranky about the cushy conditions that other folks get (and complain about). Still, we’re on a hillside in a pretty safe area, so no one is too cranky. And I did get a pillow, something that has been lacking at most of the other bases.
The biggest difference is for some reason everyone here is running on Zulu time (Greenwhich mean time for you civilians). So I’ve got to adjust my watch for the fourth time this trip, this time to correspond with London for no good reason.
Just to help you out:
Local Afghanistan time – 2 p.m. (where I am)
Germany time – 11:30 a.m. (where my editor are)
Zulu time – 9:30 a.m. (where these guys think they are)
DC time – 5:30 a.m. (where most of you are)
If I had known I’d need four watches for this trip, I would have at least bought one with a calculator.
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9 comments:
Very happy to see this post this AM!!!!Stay safe!!! Much Love!
After all this travel, does this mean that you're only going to spend about a week with them?
And since your trip out took so long, do you really think you'll be home before the NFL openers?
I've got a fantasy football draft on Sept. 1, and I've made it abundantly clear to my editors that the draft is much more important than any silly little war they come up with.
Hi Cindy!!!!
man tell me about it. for instance, it's like noon in pennsylvania, but my clock is set to 12:40 cause i am always late, and in my head it's like 7 am cause i just woke up, but my body is aching like it's tomorrow already.
glad to see you doing well.
I have three alarm clocks to wake me up, and still...and you can ask Mrs. Dingus this...I have a hard time getting up in the morning, and I'm on EASTERN time...God only knows how late (or early) I would be on ZULU time.
Congrats to Cindy for not causing the website to crash after her successful debut. I think that deserves a bucket party for Leo when he comes back, how bout it Cindy? That is, of course, after Leo and I consume about a case of Yuengling each...
You don't have to worry about setting your watch more than once where ever you go.
Wait until the middle of the night and start singing the National Anthem-- LOUD..
Don't stop until someone wakes up and yells out "What the ____ is wrong with you? It's x o'clock in the morning!"
Set your watch to the correct time and go back to sleep.
"...is this thing on?"
Just to make sure that you're keeping up with 'real' news while you're in the sandbox: CNN used the word SHIT today, which has to be a first and puts them up there with other cool users of SHIT like The Goonies, and the first Transformers movie (The dvd version, not the laserdisk).
AOL news used a series of astrises. Nerds.
CNN is now my most trusted news source.
All right, now you've all done it. All this talk about sand and heat. I'm leaving. Going to Maine for a few days to escape the heat. (Actually I am going to Maine for a few days) Lucky for me, they are still on good old eastern time. Not like some other places. Hey captain, if you're on Zulu time, does that mean you wake up at midnight and go to bed at noon? Come to think of it, that sounds like a great idea.
Stay safe, have fun.
Greets to the webmaster of this wonderful site! Keep up the good work. Thanks.
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