It's been how long?

Wow.... Time flies when you're working your ass off, day after day, slaving for "The Man" and not having any down time.... Yep the IR here with not so much for the scene in The Baghdad Cafe, formerly known as the Saddam-A-Go-Go. The only thing I've been doing is 'ye olde nose to ye olde grindstone.'

Seems that "The Big Boss Man" came to town... and I'm burned out for it... Yeah... The Corporate Head honcho showed up and I'm better for it in many respects, especially since he's carried the Corporate Checkcard and Pimp-Roll-O-Cash to smooth out the purchases and such that I've been screaming about over the past few months, it's helped me with my job SIGNIFICANTLY.

My biggest issue though is there's hardly any 'skate time' Not when the guy who's in the "make or break" side of your career is sitting right behind you for 12 hours out of the day. Considering the poor bastard is working AS much if not more, then I'd be amazed... He sits and works with us all day long and then he still has to go home and be joined to the computer, as the States are like 8 hours behind us.... meaning when the Corporate Pinheads schedule a 4pm Eastern Standard telconference, we have to be up at like midnight here... AFTER having already done a fucking 12 hour shift... But it's the reason I haven't had too much commentary to throw out there as of late. I've been flat the fuck out busy busy and to the point I haven't updated anything, to include facebook, myspace or any of the other bits of entertainment you loyal readers follow me and the Not So Much Lately Adventures of the Intrepid Reporter.

But, as of late, Baghdad is quiet. The changeover between 4th Infantry Division and 1st Cavalry Division is pretty much over with now. Yep... leave it to me to be 'back with the Cav' again like I was in 04-05. I just can't seem to escape 1st Cavalry Division... it's like a reoccurring cold, or actually, considering how the Cav annoys me, I'd say it's more like having a case of herpes... flares up and annoys the shit out of you at the most inopportune times... I mean it was being in the Cav that got me hurt many many moons ago, and it was the Cav that screwed me over every time I turned around during my Med Board, and then, in 04, it was the Cav that abandoned me, Lil Country, and the rest of the CACI folks when they 'pulled the line of battle' back during a particularlly hairy week, leaving us as "Fresh Meat" for the Dirty Haj if they felt so inclinded. The Cav... as I say of the patch

"The Horse Never Ridden, The Line Never Crossed, and the Color Right Down The Back."

That about sums up 1st Cav... and I've EARNED the right to bag on that unit... Having spent 4 years and all the shit I went through, I have DEFINATELY BT-DT-GTTS.

But yeah. Baghdad is quiet. Mosul now? Not so much. Reports filtering down through various 'shall remain unnamed' sources have filled the IR up with all sorts of tales... Seems that the Surge that the Media loved to lambast but now keep their mouths shut about worked in that the US Army, combined with a newly re-energized Iraqi Military, succeeded in driving the majority of terrorists and babyrapers right out of the Capital. They headed North into Kurd Kountry... Sunni Central from my understanding of it. We've taken some casualties (another thing you WON'T hear from the media as trumpeting casualties lays it on the Obamamessiahs Lap rather than George "I'm Outta Here" Bush.) but we're still winning.

Which brings me to my point of an earlier post. I didn't get ANY responses about beating on the reporters or such ideas. I mean "Beat The Press" is such a cute bit of wordplay, and the idea of taking some of these neo-socialist fucking hacks and feeling the impact of my "mighty right fist o' death" on one of their smarmy, mewling, puking, plastic-enhanced grills, and having the satisfaction of watching caps and teeth fly like so many chicklets from a goalies' mouth.... Damn... I need a cigarette... That would be OH so nice. To see Dan Rather get stomped (even though just pushing him over or hiding his dentures would be good enough) while singing the R.E.M song for all of his inordinate Anti-American Tirades... to see all of them Tarred and Feathered properly. Properly in that the tar is heated to such a degree that said victim(s) would usually die from the 2nd and 3rd degree burns even before all the feathers could be properly applied.

I'm now OFFICIALLY on the "Anti-Press Bandwagon." The country is broke, broken and we've got nothing to show for it than a neophyte president who's wholly incapable of stringing a coherant thought into a concerted sentence without the use of a teleprompter who was elected more by a festering neo-liberal bunch of malcontents who, rather than actually do their jobs, were content to be Democratic Cheerleaders and get a man elected who, in reality, scares the ever loving shit out of me. Me? I'd prefer if The Hillaroid had gotten in... better the "Socialist Demon You Know" than the "Closet Muslim Neo-Fascist You Don't." The Press succeeded in swinging the vote, and is now complicit in hiding the ABYSSAMAL job that their chosen one is doing.

4 Trillion dollars.

4 with 12 zeros.

4,000,000,000,000.00

God Help us. I'm barely making ends meet working my ass off for the "Imperial Federal Government" and I'll be lucky if they don't chop the 'tax free' duckets off of my tax return. It's like the ONLY reason I stay here. Tax free is the ONLY reason, and making 100K a yearhelps too. No such thing as that in the states now eh?

BTW: One last note: My mailing addy has changed to

"My Name"

MNCI-C6

APO AE 09342

DSN 485-5981

The DSN Number on the bottom helps the mailroom folks to call me when the stuff shows up. Please feel free to mail me anything and everything. My "other mother" Susan sent some of the most KILLER chocolate chip cookies, which actually made it here inside of 5 days of her mailing them... My thanks for those... they rocked!!!! Any booze drugs or anything else... well, I'm NOT supposed to get them, but at this point, any and all donations are gratefully recieved. Seeings that I'll be home in the end of the month, (R&R Baby YEAH!!!) I'm really looking forward to it.

OH One more thing. Let me know if anyone wants a job over here... working with me. I'm literally hiring another Logistician, so send me them resumes to all who are interested. Until then, I remain, the Intrepid Reporter.

It's Not Always Politics...

...it's also going to be my Travelog as well. Today was (Allah Be Praised!) My one day off that I get during the week. The work schedule tends to be hectic as all hell. Six days a week, Twelve hours a day, Total Enslavement. The 12 a day sounds bad, but is way worse when you figure that I'm having to actually CLOCK 12 hours... which means prep time, washing my nasty and commute time isn't counted. The day works out to being almost 18 hours long when I'm done.

Occasionally I get to go out... like today. I went down to the harbor to take some pictures with a buddy of mine and to see what was up before the heat of the day kicked in.

All in all, not a bad place. Just HOT. Like HOT HOT. I mean so hot my feet were being baked in my sneakers hot. The soles of my Adidas are/were an inch and a half thick. This picture was taken at 830am Local... it was approximately 127 degrees Fahrenheit. I could feel my tootsies being baked by the sun-drenched concrete I was standing on. Needless to say......I found some shade with a mega-quickness. This was provided at the Mall across from the nice harbor area. The Kuwaitis have malls everywhere. Every inch of retail space in Kuwait consists on malls or Suks. Pronounced "Soo-ooks", the Suk is a leftover of "The Good Old Days" that you see in 'Arabian Nights' or even in the Market scene in 'Indiana Jones.' There's only one Suk in Fahaheel, but I prefer to hit the malls as you don't get pestered by the salesmen chasing you down the street and alley with "Verry Good Barrrgain Meesta!!"This picture here shows my good friend Brian inside the Fahaheel Suk. If you look closely in the background you can see one of the local "Ninja Wimmen" walking around in full Islam Gear. Makes for an in teresting comparison when walking around in 130 Degree heat and seeing some poor chick walking around in 100% Black heavy layered fucking snowsuits eh? As you can imagine, Women's Liberation ain't got much traction hereabouts. The main reason is...
...everywhere you go, there's a Mosque. This one is ATTACHED to the back of the Mall that we were at. How many Churches in the States can say that they are part of the Great Consumer Movement in the US? Not many I reckon.

Anyways, for fun on the way home I noticed this one place that I HAD to take a picture of. Seems that a lot of businesses get their translation done by the same guy who does it in China. The picture I have below is of a Hair Salon... But man... what a bad job at translating they did on this one...

...Yeah... "The Bland Saloon." I really want to get my hair cut there right? And whats with the picture of the guy? Is it me, or does it look like "Evil Brandon" from 'Beverly Hills 90210' or something? I mean what a pug on that face, never mind that do you really want to get yer hair cut at a place that prides itself on being "bland?" Yeah... God love it... That'll do for now.

OK Theres a First Time for Everything...

...and I figured after about five or so years of bullshitting around, I should actually try posting the various insane ramblings that I've been taken to writing and put them 'out there' for the general reading audience.
For those of you joining for the first time, let me introduce myself. I'm Big Country, my nom-de-guerre as it were, that was given to me by one of my old bosses back in Iraq in 2004. I've been bouncing around the Middle East since the beginning of 2004, and have had quite the number of adventures, most of which I've written in the form of outrageous and politically incorrect emails to my friends and family. One of them hung the nickname of "The Intrepid Reporter" on me, and I've used that as my signature line for my emails ever since. In a thumbnail, I'm a 38 year old prior service vet of the U.S. Army with a backround in the Airborne Infantry, Armor and Logistics. I was a member of the famed 101st Airborne Division and also a member of the First Cavalry Division. I've got some Special Ops background too, but I can't talk about that, 'cause then I'd have to kill you. I'm currently married and have two children who probably wonder who Dad is, seeings that I'm only home 3 weeks out of the year. My long-suffering Wife, Household Six, tolerates me mainly because:

A) I send a LARGE paycheck home and
B) I'm not there making messes and being in her way.

If you are offended easily or are 'faint of heart' so to speak, then you DO NOT want to continue reading this. I'm opinionated, loud, obnoxious, and generally prefer to do my writing under the influence of chemicals, be they legal or, seeings that I'm in Kuwait EVERYTHING is illegal. I'm an equal-opportunity offender. I offend EVERYONE at one point or another. My Mother says that politically, I'm to the right of Himmler, and that I swear too much, but hey, fuck it. I can't please everyone.
Currently I'm enslaved...er...employed by a "Company That Shall Remain Nameless" seeings that the chickenshit bastards would probably fire me for spilling the beans of what a fantastic rail-job they've been pulling on me AND Uncle Sam. Either way, I'm still in Kuwait and enduring the whole fucking "Religion of Peace that is Islam"

HAH!!!

Oh? Did that slip out? Oops. Yeah... I may as well get that off my chest early. I'm currently dealing with Kuwait and "The Religion of Peace" TM. It's Ramadan, and that generally means that despite being a Neo-Catholic/Christian like myself, I have to follow the 'Local Rules' that the Mullahs and every other whackadoo are currently following. For the remainder of the month, there's no Food, Water, Sex, Boozing (not thats allowed anyways), Smoking or just about any other 'normal human activity' allowed during the time from sun up, to sun down. No wonder these people are poopy so much eh? Literally, they fast from oh-dark-early in the morning til oh-dark-late in the evening. Then they throw down and pig the fuck out until they go to bed. Even though I'm NOT a member of their cult...er...religion, but because I'm in a Sharia Run country, I'm expected/told that I WILL follow the Ramadan Rules OR ELSE!
Yep. Failure to comply will get you hemmed up and put in the slam. Makes me wonder where the fucking "Freedom From Religion" folks or Micheal Newdow or those other assholes from the NAACP or whoever the hell it is who tries like hell to banish all forms of religion from public view in the US? Oh yes... thats right... if they tried their crap here, they'd be lucky to escape with their heads still attached to their bodies... anyways...
Yes, I'm here for the 'now' as they say. I have no choice seeings that I'm waiting on a new contract, one that will HOPEFULLY, like Calgon, Take Me Away... to Japan no less. Then I'll be able to Blog about my experience with the Japanese culture, and insult the hell out of it while having my adventures there.

So this will be my latest, and hopefully regular update for you all. Stay Tuned!
Until later, I remain, The Intrepid Reporter
Big Country