Finally Getting Settled!!

Tiger Williams and myself at Canada House!!

So, its been a few days since the last update and I will see if I can do it some justice.

I have been able to get adjusted to life here even though I have been here before there are alot of new changes. We are now staying in modular accommodations instead of the tents, some say they would have preferred the tents, but in only 7 days I have taken a liking to them, no more LONG muddy treks to the showers in the morning, I have mine right across the hall. Tim Hortons is only a 3 minute walk from here and the line ups have not changed, still miles long, the best time is at 6:15am when the initial rush dies down and then the remainder of the day is nuts. There has been an influx of vehicle traffic here on camp, not sure if its more troops or just vehicles, but some (most) days its just easier to walk, besides I have some pounds to shed, its good for me!!

I went on a mission the other day to find the American BX, it also has moved and is bigger and better, lots of stuff including electronics. From the BX I carried on to the Boardwalk and it has also grown in numbers, it has many different shops like from local vendors selling nik nakky type stuff to afghan carpets and pashmina's. There has also been a very large amount of food vendors, some I will try, some I won't, had KFC today for lunch..meh, alright I suppose!  The latest food spot to show up still under reno is Coffee Time, they have taken over the old Tim Hortons trailer on the BW, curious to try their coffee. I was able to ship over from home a coffee pot and accessories for the shacks, that is just getting to be used now and should save on trips to Tim's and money!!


The weather here has been golden, up untill the day I got here the guys were saying that they had 3 weeks of crappy wet weather (winter) Since I woke up last Monday morning it has been hot and sunny, reaching high 20's, I'll take it, sorry about all your weather back home. :)  But you can have the sand and the smell of poo floating around this country (poo being the above ground septic system they have in place). So, as the days go by I stopped to think that tomorrow will have already been 1 week. I know Lana will difer, but the time here has just flown, before I know it I will be home enjoying the late spring helping Lana plant and get the yard ready for the summer, that which I will miss. So I will sign off for now, we are going in to work for a bit, Till next time Support Our Troops.

~M

PS, I forgot to mention, A large group of ex NHL'ers came for a visit, Lanny MacDonald was a highlight, but the above picture is with Tiger Williams. They spent 5 days here doing various things and was a real treat to see them all around at Canada House!!

The Beginning of a new Day!!

After a few very long travel days en-route to Afghanistan, I have finally made it here, arrived here late into the morning and all I wanted when I hit the ground was a Timmies, which in fact is Rolllllll up the Rim here as well. Well my Tim's was going to wait till the morning, I did get my fix of caffeinated Tim Horton's coffee and my day was off to a good start. It was very busy day with clearing in and getting all of the "paper work" stuff out of the way, picked up my meal and phone cards. Speaking of meal cards, its been 2 years since I was in one of the DFac's (Dining Facility) and my immediate reaction was that the food standard has improved. Lets just see if I'm still saying that in 4 to 6 months from now. On a brighter note, there is an increase in other eating establishments around the camp, just have to pay for them, KFC, TGIFridays, a burger joint, pizza place, and a few others that I'm sure I will sample over time. So, after a very full day of running around, after supper we headed to the boardwalk where Ex VP of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment Tom Anselmi and a group of NHL Alumni were gathered at the outdoor ball hockey rink to take an all girls team in ball hockey. It was very entertaining to say the least, especially tough guy Andre Roy, others on the trip are Tiger Williams, Lanny MacDonald, Mario Tremblay, Pierre Turgeon, Jamie MacCowan, Mark LaForest, Chris Nilan and a slew of others, including Canadian funny man...Tom Green. The show tour continues today with MMA fighting and oh, don't forget the Montreal Alouette cheerleaders....OK, enough about that, but in all honesty, it makes being over here very bearable and I thank them for that.
So today is another admin day and then I should be all set, I still have some setting up in my bed space but in a couple of weeks I will be changing spaces for the duration of my time here and that I am looking forward to, I need to be able to set up my space to be comfortable, after all this is "home" for the next 6 months. So I must get ready to start my day, I'm not sure how often I will be updating but keep checking back, I hope to do it every few days. Thanks everyone for the support and especially Lana and the girls. Lana came down with a nasty cold just as I was deploying and she is still on the mend, it never fails only when I go away. Get better sweetie!!!  So in signing off I'd like to say that this tour is likely to be an interesting ride especially with everything that is going on and I look forward to it . Till next time, continue to Support Our Troops!!

~M

3/175

A few moments in time!!

So here I sit in my nice cozy warm comfy living room, I only have 5 hours before I will be airborne and on my way to the Middle East, which from this day forth will commonly be known as "The Stan" as in Afghanistan. Unlike my previous 3 trips overseas, I will be spending my entire 6 months in The Stan. Some of you may remember I referred to the other place as "The Safe Zone". Well Kandahar is as safe as it gets for this trip. But having spent a great deal of time in KAF (Kandahar Airfield) and I am quite confident that we are well protected inside the wire!
I would be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to this trip. I am going to be working some of the best technicians that I know and we are going to be working on what could possibly be the best Aircraft in the world, and yes I am very bias. We will be working in the same area of KAF but living in a different area. We are moved out of the "old" army style tens and have moved into very comfortable Mods, picture 8 to 10 sea containers all joined together with some doors and a few windows in for good measure. There are a few other "nice" updates in the camp but I will update you all on stuff in later Blog entries. So before I sign off on this entry, I want to thank everyone for the ongoing support, I want you to remember that I am not the only one serving over there and your continued support of ALL the troops is needed. I want to thank my family for being there for me, I know its not going to be easy (at first) so just keep smiling. I love you Lana, Victoria and Vanessa. See you soon!!

~M