As far as anyone can tell, there is only one video clip on YouTube of the Veritas Preparatory Academy Honors Choir singing at the Fiesta Bowl (thank you, Clay!). It was taken from the top of the stands so all you see is a semicircle of white shirts and black pants waaaaaaay down on the field. But you can hear them a bit and get a sense of their experience. And even though you can't tell which one she is, Lauren is in the back row with her back to you. It's only 1:31 of the performance.
Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJ6DYmJDm9s
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Trigger gets a Time Out
It's just not fair. Just because Mr. Josh's bike gets all slimey and muddy when he takes it out, doesn't mean I won't be careful. He left me in today because it's a little wet and windy. Doesn't he know I'm in mourning? You see, my bunkmate, poor Mr. Fridge, went to sleep one day and didn't wake up. Oh, we used to pass the hours in the CHU just joking and belching... well, mostly Mr. Fridge belched. Oh he belched a lot! He had some sort of freon buildup or something gastro like that. Pretty bad stuff. Where was I?... But he just shut down one day and couldn't kick his motor into gear, so Mr. Poppy gave him a not-so-decent burial in the big dumpster out back. What a way to go!
Then, he went to the Haji store to buy Mr. Fridge II. I could have told him by the looks of that place, that no one should go in there. But did he listen to his faithful sidekick? Nooooo. Big mistake! The not-so-nice Iraqi salesman, Noar, sold him a NEW refrigerator in a NEW box. But when we got home, Mr. Fridge II turned out to be a USED fridge. Not even cleaned up inside. Oh, well. We gave him a try because Mr. Poppy has a way with mechanical things (hah!). Mr. Fridge II chugged, he churned, he even belched (that's never a good sign you know). He may have been "refurbished," but he was definitely ridden hard and put away wet! After 3 days... nothing. He would have made a better bookcase than a refrigerator. It took Mr. Poppy another 3 days of international diplomacy (and assistance from the Headquarters of FOB Delta) to finally negotiate a refund from Mr. Noar... the swindler. Heh, Mr. Poppy, with all that cash, how about a nice new speedometer? Lighted tail-light? Okay, cheapskate, how about some clothespins and cards for my spokes!
Because Mr. Poppy stayed up late last night (0300 hours) flying around with his Night Vision Goggles, he got today off. And he finally gave in. Yahoo! We went out riding today. Sunny day. Nice temperature. No headwind (I don't do headwinds, remember?). That's what I meant by "Time Out!" Let me show you the nice movie theater we rode by. Classy, eh? Avatar was showing a few nights ago. If not for the bad echo inside, I bet most people would have enjoyed that. Yep, that's me adding some class to the photo and posing next to the "Upcoming Attractions" sign. You know, I am an "Upcoming Attraction!" [Hey, let's play that old game. I spy with my little eye, something... white. Tell me when you've got an answer. I'll get back to you on that.]
Later, we rode to the PX, that's Post Exchange for you civilians out there. Here's what we saw. A Burger King with tent awnings and twinkle lights...
Later, we rode to the PX, that's Post Exchange for you civilians out there. Here's what we saw. A Burger King with tent awnings and twinkle lights...
...and a nice Haji store that was actually owned by some Sri Lankans. (And yes, Gunner, all military personnel on FOB Delta are armed. Mr. Poppy says he can read your mind.) The Sri Lankans were very polite people who Mr. Poppy would be happy to buy things from. As a matter of fact... Linda, Lauren, and Gunner, watch your mailbox! Speaking of mailboxes...
...Look at who impounded me for parking too close to a mailbox - two Ugandan contract guards. Pretty tough looking fellows. (Quick, Gunner, what weapons are they carrying?)...
Well, hope you all enjoyed our day off and my time out!!! Mr. Poppy sends his love and can't wait to hear from all of you. (Pictures?)
Happy trails,
Trigger, the Coming Attaction, Super-Stallion
Saturday, January 23, 2010
The Great Ziggurat of Ur
I’m stationed up at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Delta near Al Kut in the southeast part of Iraq. Sometimes we fly down to Tallil, located to our south. Please refer to my large map.
While I was down in Tallil near the town of Nasiriya, I was ASTONISHED to see something I had only read about. There, before my very eyes, as noted in my great travel guide, the Orthodox Study Bible, was a ziggurat. Not just any ziggurat mind you, but the Great Ziggurat of Ur, the city where Abraham, earlier known as Abram, was born. Ur was a former great city in Sumeria, part of Mesopotamia. The Euphrates River used to flow through the city until it changed course.
Abraham, in Arabic إبراهيم, is patriarch to Jews and Christians through his son Isaac (who’s mother is Sarah), and Muslims through his other son, Ishmael (who’s mother is Sarah’s servant, Hagar) an ancestor of Muhammad. (Whew! My young adult Sunday School group would have enjoyed that bit of history. Here’s the one picture I took.)
Because I didn’t have time to take a tour, I borrowed the following two pictures from the internet to show you.
Maybe someday I’ll get to walk these steps…
‘Now the Lord said to Abram, “Get out of your country…to a land that I will show you.” ‘ (Genesis 12:1). From my visit to the hot, dusty area, I can say that was a great decision to leave. Besides, of course, the fact that God told him to!
I’m visiting the land spoken of in the Old Testament. Sometimes I don’t think I’m on a deployment as much as a pilgrimage. Incredible!
C-M/P/3
While I was down in Tallil near the town of Nasiriya, I was ASTONISHED to see something I had only read about. There, before my very eyes, as noted in my great travel guide, the Orthodox Study Bible, was a ziggurat. Not just any ziggurat mind you, but the Great Ziggurat of Ur, the city where Abraham, earlier known as Abram, was born. Ur was a former great city in Sumeria, part of Mesopotamia. The Euphrates River used to flow through the city until it changed course.
Abraham, in Arabic إبراهيم, is patriarch to Jews and Christians through his son Isaac (who’s mother is Sarah), and Muslims through his other son, Ishmael (who’s mother is Sarah’s servant, Hagar) an ancestor of Muhammad. (Whew! My young adult Sunday School group would have enjoyed that bit of history. Here’s the one picture I took.)
Because I didn’t have time to take a tour, I borrowed the following two pictures from the internet to show you.
‘Now the Lord said to Abram, “Get out of your country…to a land that I will show you.” ‘ (Genesis 12:1). From my visit to the hot, dusty area, I can say that was a great decision to leave. Besides, of course, the fact that God told him to!
I’m visiting the land spoken of in the Old Testament. Sometimes I don’t think I’m on a deployment as much as a pilgrimage. Incredible!
C-M/P/3
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
The Southern Iraqi Countryside
Last week, we (meaning 2 Blackhawks) flew down to Tallil to drop off one of the helicopters for maintenance. It was a one hour flight each way, and of course, we always travel in pairs in case one of us needs to make a landing out in the middle of the desert. Since I flew the first leg, the other pilot flew the return leg and let me take pictures. Here’s what Iraq looks like southwest of FOB Delta.
The land is open, arid, lacking any substantial vegetation, and sparsely occupied by Iraqis living in small compounds next to water wells. Some attempts at irrigation canals appear to be made. They raise sheep and grow some crops that are irrigated by the water from the wells. White residue remains where irrigation and rain water have evaporated leaving salt-stained earth behind.
The further north we flew, isolated homes were replaced by small villages and larger tracts of irrigated land with small canals feeding the fields.
Occasionally, we flew by even larger villages adjacent to medium-sized canals flowing from the Euphrates River located to the east. Trees began to appear, though date palm groves weren’t anywhere near as prevalent as the land further north.
Some Iraqi towns were pretty well developed with a substantial road system and large unidentified compounds.
What was this? Definitely unusual activity. If you look closely you can see 2 white drums at the far end where the children were congregating around trying to kick a black and white ball through… Wait a minute, yep, soccer! If anyone wants to mail me a soccer ball or two, I’ll airmail it onto the field the next time we do a FOB sweep! And no, I won’t aim at anyone.
As we made our turn to downwind, out in the distance we could see the larger buildings of Al Kut, the city to our southeast.
Apartments, offices, and a grain silo complex could be seen.
Between us and them, sentinel Ugandan guards manned outposts on large, bunkered “termite mounds.”
The FOB has a expansive hangar at the east end for incoming and outgoing passengers and cargo. A large contingent of infantry and MP’s patrol the area in their Up-armored HMWVVs and MRAMPs, or whatever those armored trucks are called.
From the cockpit, this is what I should pay attention to once in a while… Umm, let’s see, from left to right, top to bottom on the gauges, we’re going about 120 knots, level attitude (that’s good), 740 feet above the ground on the Radar Altimeter, 700-some feet on the altimeter, not climbing, and headed about 350 degrees. Oh, and all those little chicklet lights are green. That’s real good…
And this is what I look like when I try to take a picture of myself. Note the nice black armor side panels next to the window. Extended and in place.
For the return trip since we always fly in pairs, we had a different wingman. An AH-64D Longbow came along. Kind of like MAJ Pat O’Toole and I used to fly, eh Pat? No one likes to bother us when they’re around for some reason.
Well, that’s the area to our south. The countryside to the north is much more interesting. I’ll try and get some pictures of that area later.
Love everyone and miss you,
C-M/P/3
The land is open, arid, lacking any substantial vegetation, and sparsely occupied by Iraqis living in small compounds next to water wells. Some attempts at irrigation canals appear to be made. They raise sheep and grow some crops that are irrigated by the water from the wells. White residue remains where irrigation and rain water have evaporated leaving salt-stained earth behind.
The further north we flew, isolated homes were replaced by small villages and larger tracts of irrigated land with small canals feeding the fields.
Occasionally, we flew by even larger villages adjacent to medium-sized canals flowing from the Euphrates River located to the east. Trees began to appear, though date palm groves weren’t anywhere near as prevalent as the land further north.
Some Iraqi towns were pretty well developed with a substantial road system and large unidentified compounds.
On our way in to land, we requested to do a “FOB Sweep” where we would descend to terrain flight and fly the perimeter looking for unusual activity. So we descended down to 50 feet and went in to get a good look at our neighbors. To the north of our FOB flowed the Euphrates River.
What was this? Definitely unusual activity. If you look closely you can see 2 white drums at the far end where the children were congregating around trying to kick a black and white ball through… Wait a minute, yep, soccer! If anyone wants to mail me a soccer ball or two, I’ll airmail it onto the field the next time we do a FOB sweep! And no, I won’t aim at anyone.
As we made our turn to downwind, out in the distance we could see the larger buildings of Al Kut, the city to our southeast.
Apartments, offices, and a grain silo complex could be seen.
Between us and them, sentinel Ugandan guards manned outposts on large, bunkered “termite mounds.”
The FOB has a expansive hangar at the east end for incoming and outgoing passengers and cargo. A large contingent of infantry and MP’s patrol the area in their Up-armored HMWVVs and MRAMPs, or whatever those armored trucks are called.
From the cockpit, this is what I should pay attention to once in a while… Umm, let’s see, from left to right, top to bottom on the gauges, we’re going about 120 knots, level attitude (that’s good), 740 feet above the ground on the Radar Altimeter, 700-some feet on the altimeter, not climbing, and headed about 350 degrees. Oh, and all those little chicklet lights are green. That’s real good…
And this is what I look like when I try to take a picture of myself. Note the nice black armor side panels next to the window. Extended and in place.
For the return trip since we always fly in pairs, we had a different wingman. An AH-64D Longbow came along. Kind of like MAJ Pat O’Toole and I used to fly, eh Pat? No one likes to bother us when they’re around for some reason.
Well, that’s the area to our south. The countryside to the north is much more interesting. I’ll try and get some pictures of that area later.
Love everyone and miss you,
C-M/P/3
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Trigger's Day Off
I feel like a toy poodle just back from the groomers!
Remember how I mentioned about Mr. Poppy and the nice shower stalls? Since we both had the day off, he dug into a package from Linda and started putting a bicycle lock bracket on me. The next thing I knew we were outside. It was a cold, blustery day with easterly winds out of Iran, but nothing could stop Mr. Poppy. He washed me, steel-wooled me, spun me, oiled me, vinyl-coated me, and even scrubbed me behind the ears, uh, gears. I sure hope he doesn’t plan to use that old toothbrush on his own teeth.
So hide the kids eyes, put on your sunglasses, step away from the computer screen, because…
Ta-da! Yeah, yeah. That’s right. I’m even hotter than before! Check out my sprockets! I feel oilier than a competitor at a Mr. Universe contest!
But, you know what happened next? In less than one minute, the dust had settled all over me. I can’t repeat the choice words Mr. Poppy said, but let’s just move on…
Since it was lunch time, know what we did next? NOPE! I told you I don’t ride into headwinds!
Mr. Poppy parked me in the CHU and walked to the dining facility! It’s a good thing I didn’t have to go with him because the way he dresses with all that “safety” equipment, he looks like a real NERD! He says he’s just following regulations, but I think he still looks funny. What a DORK! What do you think?
Well, back to my nap. It is my day off, you know.
Happy trails,
Trigger
Remember how I mentioned about Mr. Poppy and the nice shower stalls? Since we both had the day off, he dug into a package from Linda and started putting a bicycle lock bracket on me. The next thing I knew we were outside. It was a cold, blustery day with easterly winds out of Iran, but nothing could stop Mr. Poppy. He washed me, steel-wooled me, spun me, oiled me, vinyl-coated me, and even scrubbed me behind the ears, uh, gears. I sure hope he doesn’t plan to use that old toothbrush on his own teeth.
So hide the kids eyes, put on your sunglasses, step away from the computer screen, because…
Ta-da! Yeah, yeah. That’s right. I’m even hotter than before! Check out my sprockets! I feel oilier than a competitor at a Mr. Universe contest!
But, you know what happened next? In less than one minute, the dust had settled all over me. I can’t repeat the choice words Mr. Poppy said, but let’s just move on…
Since it was lunch time, know what we did next? NOPE! I told you I don’t ride into headwinds!
Mr. Poppy parked me in the CHU and walked to the dining facility! It’s a good thing I didn’t have to go with him because the way he dresses with all that “safety” equipment, he looks like a real NERD! He says he’s just following regulations, but I think he still looks funny. What a DORK! What do you think?
Well, back to my nap. It is my day off, you know.
Happy trails,
Trigger
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Trigger's Tour of FOB Delta
Hi, my name is Trigger.CW3 Pedersen bought me for $50, which makes me feel grossly undervalued considering my fine pedigree. Guess he liked my bright orange color. Seems it went with some weird “safety” theme of his as the A Company Safety Officer. I like to call him, Mr. Poppy. He even decorated me with a bright orange reflective belt like he wears at night. Makes me look hot, don’t you think? Why the name “Trigger?” Cool name. I have no idea why Mr. Poppy named me that. Must have something to do with horses or guns or something.
We ride past the new control tower…
… which replaced the old control tower (which kinda reminds me of the Leaning Tower of Pisa; Look out below! Someone dropped a few bombs on it before I got here, so it’s a little shaky on it’s foundation.),…
…We ride past the Iraqi Air Force hangar (I haven’t seen even one aircraft come out of that hangar!),…
…and up to one of his offices (separated by nicely colored concrete barriers. He’s gone a lot lately.).
We sometimes go visit the Chapel, hidden behind concrete barriers, of course. (Good thing there’s a steeple on top to let you know the chapel is behind the walls.)
We’ve even visited the Haji Shops. (Mr. Poppy keeps looking for something to send home. For some reason, he hasn’t had much luck, but he’ll keep looking, I’m sure.)
Mr. Poppy sometimes likes to duck inside these little garages. (I don’t really like them. They won’t let me park inside when the siren sounds.)
He usually doesn’t ride me over there when he goes through the car wash. (Mr. Poppy says they have real hot water and 12 stalls, no waiting. I could use a good hosing down myself.)
These big machines scare me, but they keep making nice new walls to protect us in our living “Pods.”
Come visit us anytime in Living Support Area 32, Pod 2, Room 75. Home is a Containerized Housing Unit or CHU, with real air conditioning. Let’s go inside our stall, uh, room…
When you turn right this is what you see. His decorating style is “Modern American Priority Mail.” Nice bookcases, eh? Keep them coming.
Mr. Poppy says his bed is quite comfortable with the new memory-foam mattress. Too bad the window view is right into a concrete barrier. And Mr. Poppy likes to shoot baskets into his laundry bag /duffel bag.
But best of all, he lets me sleep inside at the foot of his bed. Under that green head scarf on top of the fridge is where Mr. Poppy hides his food. Too bad little Mr. Fridge keeled over this morning. Guess the frequent power outages caught up to him. He was a bit shaky anyway and a budget buy at only $50… Wait! That’s what I cost! Good thing he just received some bike fix-up stuff from Linda. Maybe I’ll get a hot shower, too. And the box she sent will make a new shelf for the bookcase. Yahoo!
What a nice little stall, eh? Well, I hope you enjoyed our tour of FOB Delta. It was pretty hard for me to type with only handlebars, so Mr. Poppy did it for me. But since he took such a nice picture of me at the beginning, I took this shot of him. He says he misses everyone very much but at least he’s got me to keep him company. (Sniff, sniff.) He’s such an affectionate guy... Guess I’ll keep him.
Love,
Trigger
Monday, January 11, 2010
Baghdad or Bust
Got up at 0400 this morning. Took off at 0800. Flew to Baghdad International Airport then into downtown Baghdad, the Green Zone. We picked up a two-star general and his entourage, then flew them back to where we came from, FOB Delta, at 1100.
Baghdad is very large, dispersed and has some fairly modern buildings. We flew over the university, affectionately known as “Terrorist U.” It even had a soccer field. The city itself has a very nice, muddy river running through it. Didn’t look it up; Tigris, Euphrates, both? Not enough time to be a tourist. The air was incredibly polluted, smokey, and gray. Some very nice monuments passed underneath, surely built during Saddam Hussein’s reign. Most buildings were mud brick or some other gray/brown brick. They even had a very nice curved highway with it’s own traffic jam at a bridge crossing the river. Also, there were quite a few multi-story buildings. It was an experience, and I wish I could have taken pictures. Maybe next time.
After transporting the General, and a large group of Iraqi photographers (it turned out), we grabbed a quick lunch (kinda like grabbing our quick breakfast). Picked him up at 1200 hrs, without his photographers, zipped back into the smog of Baghdad, dropped him off in a very snug landing zone (LZ), named Washington (kind of an “In Your Face” name for a former Iraqi Palace now occupied by the U.S.), returned to Baghdad International Airport for fuel, picked up a few more passengers, then back home.
I flew most of the flight, nice and smooth, with some of my most gentle landings ever. I was hoping to keep the passengers peaceful and impressed with how friendly we fly. But then we decided to let the other pilot, a Captain, fly the last leg. One of our crewchiefs noticed some of the passengers starting to nod off from the “excitement” of the return flight. So the Captain decided to do a quick turn to the right to change position on the helicopter we were following. That got them back all awake and their eyes were much more open! I’m sure they weren’t too enamored with Army pilots at that point.
The worse was yet to come. Ten minutes later, my right front door flew open. That’ll get your attention! 140 knots, 1200 feet, and nothing but your seatbelt and a stark terror grip holding me in my seat (Not really that bad, but I like to embellish.) The funny part was the crewchief/door gunner behind me lept into action. We slowed the helicopter down, put it out of trim so the wind wouldn’t blow my door off, and he climbed OUT OF HIS SEAT, STOOD UP OUTSIDE THE HELICOPTER, & TRIED TO SHUT MY DOOR!!! It’s really a funny picture, me hanging onto the door and my crewchief outside pushing on it. Of course, he wears a monkey harness that keeps him attached to the helicopter, but I’m sure our passengers thought we were messing with them again. The door finally closed properly, and we landed without further incident. I’m sure those passengers are telling their friends, “Don’t ever fly with those Army pilots out of FOB Delta.” Can’t blame ‘em. I think they're all crazy.
Well, tomorrow I have the early flight again, this time having to be at work at 0300 with a takeoff at 0600! Yikes!!! My beauty sleep will surely suffer.
So, it’s off to La-La Land I go. And, no. I haven’t forgotten about the “Trigger” picture-story. I’ve taken all the pictures, I just haven’t had enough time to post it with this lightning-fast internet we use.
Lotsa love,
C-M/P/3
Baghdad is very large, dispersed and has some fairly modern buildings. We flew over the university, affectionately known as “Terrorist U.” It even had a soccer field. The city itself has a very nice, muddy river running through it. Didn’t look it up; Tigris, Euphrates, both? Not enough time to be a tourist. The air was incredibly polluted, smokey, and gray. Some very nice monuments passed underneath, surely built during Saddam Hussein’s reign. Most buildings were mud brick or some other gray/brown brick. They even had a very nice curved highway with it’s own traffic jam at a bridge crossing the river. Also, there were quite a few multi-story buildings. It was an experience, and I wish I could have taken pictures. Maybe next time.
After transporting the General, and a large group of Iraqi photographers (it turned out), we grabbed a quick lunch (kinda like grabbing our quick breakfast). Picked him up at 1200 hrs, without his photographers, zipped back into the smog of Baghdad, dropped him off in a very snug landing zone (LZ), named Washington (kind of an “In Your Face” name for a former Iraqi Palace now occupied by the U.S.), returned to Baghdad International Airport for fuel, picked up a few more passengers, then back home.
I flew most of the flight, nice and smooth, with some of my most gentle landings ever. I was hoping to keep the passengers peaceful and impressed with how friendly we fly. But then we decided to let the other pilot, a Captain, fly the last leg. One of our crewchiefs noticed some of the passengers starting to nod off from the “excitement” of the return flight. So the Captain decided to do a quick turn to the right to change position on the helicopter we were following. That got them back all awake and their eyes were much more open! I’m sure they weren’t too enamored with Army pilots at that point.
The worse was yet to come. Ten minutes later, my right front door flew open. That’ll get your attention! 140 knots, 1200 feet, and nothing but your seatbelt and a stark terror grip holding me in my seat (Not really that bad, but I like to embellish.) The funny part was the crewchief/door gunner behind me lept into action. We slowed the helicopter down, put it out of trim so the wind wouldn’t blow my door off, and he climbed OUT OF HIS SEAT, STOOD UP OUTSIDE THE HELICOPTER, & TRIED TO SHUT MY DOOR!!! It’s really a funny picture, me hanging onto the door and my crewchief outside pushing on it. Of course, he wears a monkey harness that keeps him attached to the helicopter, but I’m sure our passengers thought we were messing with them again. The door finally closed properly, and we landed without further incident. I’m sure those passengers are telling their friends, “Don’t ever fly with those Army pilots out of FOB Delta.” Can’t blame ‘em. I think they're all crazy.
Well, tomorrow I have the early flight again, this time having to be at work at 0300 with a takeoff at 0600! Yikes!!! My beauty sleep will surely suffer.
So, it’s off to La-La Land I go. And, no. I haven’t forgotten about the “Trigger” picture-story. I’ve taken all the pictures, I just haven’t had enough time to post it with this lightning-fast internet we use.
Lotsa love,
C-M/P/3
Friday, January 8, 2010
Beaumaris Castle
Project week has ended and Gunner has successfully submitted a scale model of Beaumaris Castle (located in the north of Wales). See the project unfold before your eyes!
Gunner cuts turrets into the top of the outer walls.
The fun part.
Ta da! The finished product.
You can't really see the water in this photo, but it's there. Pretty good likeness, eh? The photo is 180 degrees flipped from the model above, but you get the idea.
Janet helps Gunner with the ratios. Thank you, Janet!!
Gunner cuts turrets into the top of the outer walls. Bit by bit, the castle takes shape...
A few more finishing touches and then the fun can begin...
The fun part.
Ta da! The finished product.
We wanted to put moss down between the walls, but the paint was still too tacky and we weren't sure we had enough moss. Plus, the moss wasn't really to scale. (The water is crumpled and torn paper pieces glued down. Pretty cool effect. Gunner's idea.)
Compare to the real thing:
You can't really see the water in this photo, but it's there. Pretty good likeness, eh? The photo is 180 degrees flipped from the model above, but you get the idea.We sure missed you on this one, Poppy!
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