Quit Smoking: Day 5

The urge to pick up a cigarette has pretty much gone away, but ( there always seems to be one) the nicotine urge hasn't. I had forgotten my patch yesterday and by 0800 I was hurting. By 0930, I had a new one on. On Sunday, I am stepping down to a lower patch and then the week after its bye-bye nicotine. Mid-February I should be completely nicotine free.

Just think, 18 years of smoking and all I got out of it....hold on...I got a bunch of shit because I was a smoker. I networked like it was going out of style. I received a bunch of stuff from good ol' Phillip. Phil even gave me birthday presents, hell, he remembered better than my friends.

Okay, I know what you are thinking, smoking is bad. Then again, so is getting your head chopped off by a rotating rotor of a 53 because you didn't listen to the crew chief for she was a couple of ranks lower than you and what could she know and you didn't wear your hearing protection 'cause you think that is for sissies so now you can't hear when she said don't go that way 'cause you'll get your head chopped off, is also.

I don't know maybe you should make the call.

Quit Smoking: Day 3

I am sitting on about 62 and half hours now, and I am only having problems when I drink coffee or I walk past a smoke pit. Unfortunately, there are many smoke pits. (Hard to avoid.)

Been having a little hard time sleeping. I think, when it gets warmer I may use my sleeping bag as my snuggle buddy.

My Corporal wants me to start smoking again. I have been keeping him busy since I have been keeping busy. Not that my job is hard to keep busy with, I have just added a few extra jobs that don't hurt to get done. ( My Sergeant thinks I am developing OCD.)

Next week, I will be lowering my patch to 7 mg. We shall see, what may come.

Quit Smoking: Day 2

So it's been about 33 hours since my last cigarette and all I think about is smoking a cigarette. In fact last night, I had a dream about smoking.

I admit I have been looking for a reason to have just a drag off someone else's cigarette, but since I warned everyone early they haven't indulged. I better off, right?

Quit Smoking: Day 1

Since I am in Iraq, and I can't drink alcohol, plus I hate spending the money on it, I figured it may be time to quit smoking. The whole last week I was taking a Zyban, a drug originally for anti-depression, to build up in my system. Today I am on the patch with the drug. The theory is since I have tried to quit using the pill and failed, and I have tried using the patch and failed. I should be able to quit with both of them.

Its the two negatives make a positive theory.

I am only about an hour into it, so I can't say whether I feel any discomfort by not smoking yet. Just so you all know, I am considered a 2 pack a day smoker. That's 40 cigarettes a day or about two thousand one hundred and ninety dollars a year for my smoking habit. Would make a nice house payment or a great gift for my girlfriend.

First Impressions

So I have been in Iraq for a about a week or so and it reminds me of the movie "Groundhog's Day" with Bill Murray.

I have read stories of many other military personnel with regards to their experiences in Iraq or Afghanistan and it seems they are all grunts, if you pardon the phrase. I am not. A grunt that is. I guess you would call me a "pogue", I like to think of me as a winger.

I work in an environment that is a cross between a very large CAX, part Futenma, and something about "Behind Enemy the Lines." I will explain:

CAX:
A quarterly exercise that happens in a desert. So if you looked at the map of the US it would be the center of the "O" in Mojave Desert. The airwing does the same job day in day out for 12 to 15 hours a day.

Futenma:
An airbase in Japan where there really no real entertainment and you need a vehicle to get to anywhere because of the vast stretches between one place to the other.

"Behind Enemy the Lines":
I picked this movie for the "hero" is wearing a flight suit, carrying a pistol, and is being shot at through the whole thing.

So I think that sums it up quite nicely.
I work 12 to 15 hours a day = long day(in fact I have no concept of what day it really is)
I have no vehicle = walk everywhere
On the base there is a gym = I don't need the gym because I have no vehicle
I wear something like a flight suit = a winger
I carry a pistol = Flak, plates, pistol, ammo, more ammo
Being shot = (I personally have not) Medivacs constantly, which in turn = give blood

Seeing Your Military Passengers

The TSA has put out a security directive pertaining to Military Passengers. According to Security Directive 1544-01-10w Access to Sterile concourse for non-traveling individuals.

"Military Passenger" Family Members may be given a pass
1. To escort the military passenger to the gate
2. To meet a military passenger's inbound arrival at the gate.

After talking to TSA for clarification the family member can go to the airline that the military member is flying on and receive a pass to go to the gate. You will be required to have a pass and a photo ID to get pass the security checkpoint.

This is especially a wonderful change for the military personnel who are on leave from Afghanistan or Iraq. It will be a better Welcome Home for you to get off the airplane and see your family at the gate and being able to stay with the family longer before having to leave.

Always check for a USO at the airport for a comfortable place to wait for your flight.

To Fly or Not to Fly

I volunteered to be "late" party to Iraq. No brainer there, huh? What seemed like a extra week in the states has turned into 2 weeks. Yea! I have come to realize is that there only so much prep one can do before leaving and the rest of the time is spent fucking off. Unfortunately, today I have spent most of it fucking off on the toilet, which plain sucks. The good thing is my bowels will be clean by the time I arrive.

I will try to enjoy my weekend fore I will be leaving via "birds" early next week. I will keep you all posted on my enema next time.