Monday run & wire search

The 5:30am run went as planned...still only one ANA participant.  I actually saw a group of ANA soldiers out doing some type of strange calisthenics, but they were doing something.  While running we noticed a black cloud rising in the distance.  Apparently some field full of debris or construction material had caught fire.  It doesn't belong to the U.S. as far as I can tell.

After the run, shower, and breakfast, I started my quest for concertina wire for the fence project.  I took one of our pickup trucks to pick up the wire and didn't realize how much it weighed or how big it would be for the amount I needed.  The truck was a little overloaded and the wire barely fit in the bed, so I used a cargo strap to hold it down.  I think the bundles must have weighed more than 500 lbs each and I was hauling two.  Lesson learned for next time, use a bigger truck!

On the way to get the concertina wire, I was stuck in gate traffic for about 1.5 hours.  We spent about an hour or so picking the wire up and then about 1.5 hours to get back to FOB Lindsey.  Didn't plan on it taking all day, but it did eat most of my day away.  Finally got back a little after noon, so I had time for lunch before the dining facility closed.

Here were some UK soldiers organizing on Kandahar.  Taken through my windshield, so not the best pic. You can see how dusty the inside of the vehicle gets.

After lunch, I was working on getting the generators for the base ordered.  I needed a legal review, so I had to bundle my paperwork into a pdf and then email it to Kabul for a lawyer's review.  The lawyer told me it should be no problem, so we'll see if it comes back tomorrow.  The process to spend money is difficult and paperwork intensive...seems like an effort to reduce spending :)

I heard we received a convoy of goods, so we went to check it out.  One of the guys on my team caught someone siphoning fuel out of a fuel tank.  He confronted him and asked what he was doing and the thief said he had to remove the fuel for safety reasons...absolute BS.  If it was for safety, he wouldn't have driven with it for multiple hours and siphon it when he arrived at the destination.  Corruption and theft do run rampant in Afghanistan, which makes our job that much more frustrating.

The convoys have a rough job and traverse some pretty bad roads, so they end up with damage on the vehicles and/or tires.  Of course, some of the damage to the vehicles is due to lack of proper training.  You can see he went as far as he could with this tire.

These guys have decided it's time for a nap under the shade of the truck.

We were supposed to have a conference call at 5pm, but it was delayed and then we were cut off.  Then we were supposed to be at a BBQ for a going away at main base KAF at 4pm. I had to stay for the teleconference and by the time it was delayed and disconnected, it was about 5:30pm. I called someone else and they said they'd been sitting in gate traffic for 1.5 hours and that was at 5:30pm and they were still in line to get on base.  We decided we'd never make it before it was over, so we missed the BBQ.

Here are some of the pics from the 1960s of Afghanistan:

I assume these men worked as some type of servants.  Reminds me of the Others on Lost for some reason.

This guy had a rough life!

Please let me know if you like the old pics or if you just prefer the current ones.