Things are just rolling along over here. Our missions are expanding out as the guys at division get better at finding stuff for us. The action on the ground is also heating up with the weather. Consistently over the last couple of weeks our mission will change soon after we take off to respond to a TIC (troops in contact) or other high priority mission. Also, we now have an internet chat system in the aircraft where we can talk to division so they have been retasking us until we are out of fuel. It makes for longer days on our part but a much more efficient use of our time so no one is complaining. We are getting feedback from the guys who collect and translate that what we do is really disrupting how the enemy fights. A couple of days ago they heard one guy telling someone that he can’t use his cell phone so the plane must be overhead (thanks Stars & Stripes). It’s nice to know that at least you are making it harder on themJ. My new roommate is fitting in well. He sleeps a lot more than I do but I think he is still getting adjusted – it’s better than a roommate who doesn’t sleep. I had my first flight with him yesterday and he did well. It was a short flight because we were surrounded by thunderstorms. I told the unit we would at least try to get out there as I hate to cancel while sitting in the office when we can safely take off and land. Since it was daylight we could see and avoid the thunderstorms, if it was night I probably wouldn’t have gone. So we spent an hour dodging buildups and then when our only clear path was towards the Pakistan border and they were closing in behind us I decided it was time to go home. It was still a good training flight for Keith and at least we could say we tried. I had a very nice birthday a few days ago. I actually had the day off (except going in for my daily maintenance report) and I got a box from Wendi that had books, red vines, and a heart monitor – what else does a guy need? Speaking of books I am going to start a list of what I read over here so look for that on the sidebar.
Dust/wind H 96 L 74
I assume you don't fly if you can't see because there is no ground aids so you can fly instruments?? Glad to hear the feed back that your efforts are successful. Doesn't someone have some control over what the S&S prints??
ReplyDeleteTks for the book reviews. I wondered abt. killing Lincoln. What do you like abt. Foreign Affairs? I've tried some of the "conservative" mag. & have let the subscriptions run out due to lack of interest. Do you ever log on the Jazreel (sp), the Arabic news web? Only place I have found news other than US affairs. A little biased but better than most US papers.
Heard you got visit via Sykes with Hutchins group for your BD. Cheers!! ART
I don't want to go into too much detail about when we can or can not fly (that will have to wait until I get home) but flying in thunderstorms is always a bad idea. Even the big boys don't do it and there are conditions inside there that would make our little plane very uncomfortable. As for the S&S there are people who monitor their stories when they are given access to us but as I said in my previous post everything in the article was approved. Our concern was they didn't have the knowledge to approve it.
DeleteI didn't think of my reading list as book reviews but I guess they are very short ones :). I did find that book very surprising which is why I actually read the whole thing. I kept waiting for some deeper point but it was just a retelling of what happened and not a good one at that. I guess you might find it interesting if you knew nothing about it.
I like Foreign Affairs because of who contributes to it. As you know it is mostly a collection of essays but written by the big players of the day. A lot of policy and position type papers are put out in FA so you get a sense of where things are going and what the issues of the day are. They allow enough space that people get away from talking points and explain their reasoning behind their viewpoints. I will have to check out Al Jazeera - it is hard to find a non US perspective on things.
I did have four of the Hutchins sing me happy birthday which was nice and unexpected :)
Your Dad makes a BIG distinction between Red Vines and Twizzlers. Twizzlers out. As I think both are a good plastic substitute, I am not aware of these differences, but as I really like Franco-American spaghetti....(: Who am I to be a food snob?
ReplyDeleteOh there is a big difference between Twizzlers and Red Vines. I am instantly a little suspicious of anyone who likes Twizzlers - they can't be serious. It is about the only candy that I will not eat even when it is given to me :)
DeleteSay "Hi!" to Keith. Glad he is sleeping. It is a pain not to sleep when non-sleeping activities are few. (:
ReplyDeleteThat is too true - I will say hi for you.
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