Friday, July 3, 2009

1 Jul 09 – They are finally gone

Hi everyone, how are you?

It’s been warm here highs hovering around 120 during the day and a cool 95 at night. I apologize if my postings have seemed down lately. I’ll admit there is not a lot to be happy about here but I’m doing OK, really! It’s just that writing this blog helps when I’m down. We have an exciting 4th of July weekend planned; starting on the 5th of July there is a cook out, horseshoe, volley ball, and softball. I’m guessing they are having a hard time with people signing up due to the heat. I can promise you this; I will not be partaking in any outside activities that day. Instead we are trying to organize a friendly cribbage tournament. Tell me if that doesn’t scream team competition! You can call me scrooge but a cook out sounds like great fun grilling hot dogs and brats on an open grill. Picture this, why not leave the brats in a vehicle in the 120 degree heat and let the sun cook it for you? A friend of mine said it best when he was here last year. On his way out of country he spied a McDonalds and ordered a Big Mac. It was one of those orders at the window type restaurants. As the sweat dripped off his face onto his burger he realized his food would never get cold again.

Speaking of food I have some bad news. Not just bad news, really bad news I’m not sure how to say this so I’ll just blurt it out “my taste buds died today”! Actually they didn’t just die overnight; the taste buds were first attacked by the less than desirable food all the way back in February of 2009. I remember the first day at Ft Lewis well, the food looked scrumptious and I loaded up my plate like a hungry hippo at feeding time. Little did I know that the cooks were not actually cooks, they were camouflage specialists wearing chef hats! The food wasn’t that bad considering it was free, had I paid for it my story would be different. What the civilian cooks in Ft Lewis lacked in taste they made up with their personalities. Ask any of the soldiers here if they remember Glen the omelet man. Every morning that he worked the first words out of his mouth were “Would you like an omelet my friend”, if you said no his reply was “Maybe tomorrow”.

The food here is plentiful and the civilian cooks try to change things up a little. Why just yesterday there was coleslaw made with red cabbage. The tuna salad without noodles was actually on the sandwich bar, not the salad bar. There are always salads with black olives on it somewhere in the serving line. Some days there are mashed potatoes without gravy, and other days there is gravy without mashed potatoes. I had a burger my first day in IRAQ and thought to myself “self if this was camel would that explain the taste”? I was assured it wasn’t camel, but if it wasn’t camel what was it?

But the day my taste buds died will be forever etched in my memory. This morning somewhere between the turkey sausage to the green eggs and ham my taste buds died. I tried to revive it with my warm milk in a box over my cup of cereal, without success. Then I tried the fruit juice in the box and that didn’t work either. My only hope is that when I get home I will have some great home cooked food and just maybe my taste buds will come back. I can only imagine the orgasm my taste buds will experience the first time they have Chinese food from “China Hope” or the first bite into “Casey’s” Taco Pizza. I can only dream about what my taste buds might do when they experience real food!

Out of fairness to the food service workers here they try hard. I know it isn’t easy trying to please so many people from so many places. The language barrier might be another issue if you ask for two pieces of bacon they give you a half of a pound. I now do the Richard Nixon thing and hold up two fingers like the famous peace sign. The cooks also have to take into consideration unique needs of the soldiers, so spices as a rule are out. The food here is seasoned by the soldier with either salt or pepper to individual tastes. Let’s not forget if worse comes to worse you can use a package of salad crème to mask the taste.

Some would say (Lomax or Ulmen) looking at me it’s obvious that I’m being fed; it’s not like I’m wasting away. If you want to try and revive my taste buds however homemade oatmeal cookies or grandma’s homemade chocolate chip cookies just might do the trick (hint, hint). If I have persuaded you to send cookies, send them soon and don’t tell Jacki!

Somewhere in the next 2-3 months I’m coming home for a short visit (14 days). Trust me when I say I’m ready to come home even if it’s just for a brief moment. 2 July is 5 months to the day that Susan dropped me off at the airport. I can’t imagine the thoughts that will run through my mind seeing my wife up close and personal for the first time in such a long time. We do not have a plan on what we are going to do exactly but I can say we will enjoy each day of our leave together. Whether it’s seeing the kids, or swapping stories with my neighbor. It could be taking money from Harriet at cribbage, or just chasing down my grandbaby and tickling her. Who knows what each day will bring, we just have to enjoy our brief time together for the moment. Soon enough it will be over and I will be transported back into this oven I now call home.

To all our friends and family that read this Happy Fourth of July!

That is all,
Dave

1 comment:

  1. Happy 4th to you to Dave. Sounds like you are truly in need of some good food! I know chuck had the same complaint when he came home. He ate so much stuff that he made himself sick!!

    Take care and hope to see you when you are home!

    With love,
    Heather

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