16-30 Sep - As mentioned in an

earlier post an old acquaintance arrive with his colleagues and toys. It took them several days to make the last leg of the trip as the entire country was just about shut down because the sand storms were unbelievably bad. It was not until this mother of all storms rolled into town now that I finally realize why there were so many "dust masks" in the back of the desk drawers throughout our offices. The wind and dust was so bad that if you needed to go outside - even to walk 25 yards - you pretty much had to wear a mask if you wanted to avoid inhaling sand particles. The visibility was so bad you could hardly see 40 feet. Of course the best way to protect your eyes while walking outside was to wear sun glasses. However, although your eyes were more comfortable, you could only see about 15 feet which made moving very hazardous. After a few days of non-flying the weather broke and my classmate from years gone by arrived with his crew. Their arrival allowed us to meet and greet new members of our community; as an added benefit their addition to our team will ensure complacency does not rear its ugly head as we start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Until my nest post...have a great day.

15 Sep - Today we made

a donation of over 165 games to the recreation center here on base. When I say we, I am referring to myself, and my two other good friends Greg and Stefan. We are all working together to bring to life several games we have invented. Our first game ZIP! is on the shelves at select Barnes and Noble stores and on-line at www.BN.com. The game is also available through several other on-line sites like Amazon.com and AreYouGame.com. In the picture above are two of the employees from the MWR facility that graciously accepted our donation. Aside from the 48 Zip! games that were donated the company that licensed our game, Reveal Entertainment, also donated numerous other games that ranged from table-top football to trivia to strategy games; all in an effort to give the Marines, Soldiers, Sailors, and Airman a change of pace during their time here in Iraq. After donating the games I held a Zip! Game Night to introduce the game and answer any questions about our company, GaZima Games, and the nuances of the gaming world. Overall it was a very good night and a win-win for all involved. If you would like more information about our game company and our new games that will be debuting in the upcoming months please long-on to www.GaZimaGames.com. Thanks for checking-in on me and have a great day.

1-14 Sep - Over the last

few weeks there have been several changes that have occurred at our location. After a short but productive visit our new friends have been ordered to depart the area. But their leaving has opened the door for some new faces to come and play in our backyard. Truth be told one of the incoming personnel is an old face from my college years. He brings with him a talented group to help us continue our mission in the dustbowl of Iraq. The influx of equipment and personnel definitely breaks-up the complacency we were concerned was going to plague our operations as we cross into the last 1/3 of the deployment. After conducting missions for several months - day in and day out - its hard to avoid a complacency groove as we enter the "groundhog effect." However, the movement of new and familiar faces through our spaces definitely keeps the deployment rolling along. Until next time - stay safe and enjoy life.

6-30 Aug - I kow...I know...

I have been delinquent in my blog duties - sorry for the poor performance but I have been busy sleeping and eating ice cream. No not really but everyone knows I am busy fighting/flying in a war zone so there is no need to point out the obvious - or did I just do that?
Let me give you a run down on what has happen over the last 24 days. In the beginning of Aug I flew for 7 nights straight. According to the regs, "flying 7 days/nights in-a-row is to be avoided if at all possible," because it definitely wears on the mind and body as I am sure you can imagine. So why is it that I needed to fly for a week straight. Well...we had to send a few people and toys away from our location and despite our reduced numbers we still had a mission to accomplish; therefore, we needed to 'make it happen' the best way possible. After a few more work nights I transitioned backed to the day crew which gave me a scheduled day off. However, a situation reared its ugly head and I ended up working 25 hours before I hit the rack. Needless to say I did not have any problem falling asleep that night. But as expected the next few days were pretty tough as my body began the transitions back to daylight hours.
So let's see that takes us to about the 18th of August. The next week or so were filled with more flights over the desert as we had some visitors milling about the squadron that we needed to show around the area. On top of the regular flights we are now starting to prepare for our trip home. As we are well past the half way and approaching the 2/3 point the 'going home line' is starting to come into focus. As a matter of fact we are beginning preparation for our advanced party departure back to CONUS - this is a great sign. I will try to make more of an effort to communicate via the blog. I am also researching the files for some more pics because one pic is always worth a thousand word. Until later - Greg