December is officially here. Its turned cold, rainy, and nasty over here. Which I've found is rather nice compared to what this past summer was like. The end of our stay in the middle-east is growing very near. We all are starting to get very antsy and showing signs of "short-timers" syndrome. I've already started packing a few bags, straightening up a few things, just to make those final couple of days a cinch when it comes time to load up the trucks and get the duck out of fodge!

Another holiday has passed, seemed to be just another day to me over here. Had some decent turkey and ham and mashed potatoes and all the good stuff for dinner last night. I found that after only 4 hours of sleep, a good Thanksgiving dinner just doesn't have the same appeal as it normally would.

*Sigh* So for any of you who may not know, yes, today is my birthday. Over here it's just another day. I will go to bed in a couple hours and sleep away most of my day, then get up and come back to work as I always do. Same-ole routine as any other day, except now I'm apparently one year older. Oh well... I did get a wonderful package from my mother the other day, three big bags of her amazing chocolate chip cookies and one bag of those brownies that disappeared once my co-workers found out about them. I think my mother is also on a mission to make sure I spend as much time crying as possible with every email she sends me anymore. I think I may have to implement some form of email filtering to prevent this.
On a side note, I've determined that burning poo really irritates my eyes. I've almost gotten used to the horrid stench, but my eyes are burning and my nose is irritated almost all the time now.
Anyhoo, its almost 9am now, I've been trying to write this for the past two hours or so, being constantly interrupted by inane chatter from our civilians... I'm going to stop writing now since they are determined to break any form of concentration I ever had.

Wow, so its been a while since I've been back to update this. Weather over here is starting to get brutally cold. Yes it's probably only down in the 40's or so, but when you go from 140 degrees just a month ago, that drastic of a change warrants the use of the term "brutally cold."
No, still no word on when we're coming home, things are getting hopeful though. Just gotta train up a few of these civilian numbnutz's who want to spend more of their time arguing about what shift they're going to work and telling me stupid and inane stories of their previous jobs that I don't care about than actually learning their new jobs, then I can go home. Er, maybe not home, but it will be one step closer to home.
Sleep is starting to become more and more elusive again. I stared at the ceiling for several hours today, still looks the same as it did all the previous times I stared at it. Then got rudely woken up around 5pm (after I finally managed to doze off) by some billeting Nazi who barged on in and started barking commands at me like I actually cared or knew who he was. I promptly ignored this waste of skin and tried to get back to sleep, but no, I then resumed staring at the ceiling until it was time for work. Lovely huh?
Well, I should get this posted before Mr. Southern Church Preacher, and Mr. Thick New York Accent get back from eating to bombard me with stories that I don't care about.

Last night was a beautiful evening for eclipse watching. From what I had read in the news we weren't going to be able to view it over in this part of the world. But I stood outside for a few hours and watched the moon completely disappear, then slowly re-appear. Its not like I've never seen a lunar eclipse before, and I don't know why it is such an awe inspiring event. When you stop and think about what is really occurring, its nothing special, just a shadow, we all have shadows. Granted I was a little drunk at the time, so a dog taking a shit next to a tree would have probably been an awe inspiring and fascinating event.

Now for my venting... Sleep is about the only part of life I value over here anymore, its the only time I truly get to be alone and I don't have to see any of these people that I'm truly beginning to hate seeing every day. Well Saturday is the one day a week that I get to "sleep in" because my supposed shift doesn't start until midnight. Well, what day do you think my roommate decides to test the hinges on the door to our trailer every five minutes... and YES, they still squeak, horribly... so Saturday I got even less sleep than I normally do, and a half hearted apology. "Oh, did I wake you up?" "No, the constantly slamming door woke me up."
Then today (Sunday), they decided to make it "fall cleanup" so the very same person who decided that I didn't need to sleep yesterday, decided I didn't need to sleep today either. He would find one piece of trash, take it outside (letting the door slam on exit and entrance to the trailer), then he would find one more piece of trash, and this cycle would continue... Today I did not even get the half hearted apology. I got to listen to him whine about some bullshit that I don't care about anymore. I've been listening to this person whine since February from everything about how much of a burden it is to be as smart as him, to how he's been gone for so long, to how his big toe hurts, and I'm sick and fucking tired of listening to his fucking sob stories. I did feel sorry for him at first, but as soon as he opens his mouth anymore, I stop listening, because I don't care. That's all there is to it anymore... I don't care.

I keep getting emails and letters from people asking what I want and or need... I don't know how to respond. The things I want and need can't be provided in a box with a few stamps on it. All the necessities for life are provided over here, granted a few more toilets that actually FLUSH would be nice. But I have a place to sleep, food, and clothes... What more do I need out of life? Some friends would be nice... Don't have any of those over here, nobody to talk to. Oh well, I think I've already covered that topic a month or two ago. No sense in beating that dead horse, wont change anything. Its just difficult to tell people to send all these things that yes I do want to have out here, but I just have no way of transporting home whenever the time comes that I may get to visit the U.S. again.

Quote of the night: "It feels like I just got mauled by Jesus" - Aaron

Okay, after a day of fighting and struggling with my iBook, I emerge victorious. Why all of a sudden she wanted to be a pain in my ass, I do not know. Thankfully I was able to get through this ordeal with only minor data loss, which ended up being birthdays from my calendar, and all my precious bookmarks. Eh, oh well, I'm sure I will find other interesting websites to visit, and as I forget your birthdays you will all yell at me one by one allowing me to put those birthdays back into my calendar where they belong.
Discovered tonight that Zippy our office mouse is still alive and well. We were starting to worry for his safety. We have not seen him darting around the office in several weeks now. We were starting to wonder if Bubba (the office sewer rat) had been dining on Zippy or if other foul play had befallen the trusty Zippy. But never fear, he is still alive and well, hopefully he will stop back and visit again tomorrow night.

Yet another long night ahead of me... I think I woke up around 7:30pm today, then just kinda laid there in bed staring at the ceiling not wanting to get out of bed until about 9pm. Bed was so warm and comfy, I could tell that the world outside of bed was not warm and comfy, but cold and drafty. Then the dreaded urge to pee took over, and forced me out of my warm and comfy bed. After that there was really no point in trying to get comfy back in bed again... I was already "late" for work, but nobody really cared. I don't know if I have a set schedule, all I know is that I work when its dark outside, everyone else works when there is light outside. This system has worked well for quite some time, it minimizes the amount of time I have to spend dealing with stupid people.

Cold weather seems to be here to stay. It's definitely a nice change from the oppressive heat but I don't know if I have enough warm clothes if we're going to be here for a while yet.
Finally got my copy of Goldeneye in the mail last night. Which was good for keeping me occupied for one evening. Now I need to figure out what to do tomorrow night.... Any suggestions?
Oh well, hopefully a chance to sleep will come soon, I think I'm going to sleep in tonight until whenever I feel like getting up.