Newest here

Bertha,
Yeah, it's Monsoon season in Korea too. Luckily, when I was there, I was west and the monsoons went up the east and central part of the penninsula. Here, it's dry as usual. We're having a little bit of a "shamaal" (wind/dust storm) here today. It's funny, everyone here is like "Man, it's a real dust storm". Having been out west in the open desert I say, "Nah, it's just a little wind kickin' up a little dust. You can see more than 5 feet in front of you? It's not a real dust storm." They say the rainy season here is during the winter. Not to spread rumors, but I hope to be further south by that time. I'll let everyone know when the rumors have been officially confirmed.
Lately, we've just been doing the weekly escort trip down to the Green Zone. We've made a few trips elsewhere, Mahmudiayah to Fwd Operating Base (FOB) Mike, about 30-45 min south of here and somewhere out in 3rd Armored Cav Regmt.'s (3rd ACR) area to check out an irrigation project. After going to FOB Mike and hearing about FOB Roe, 20 min or so south of them in Yusafiyah, I don't complain about the tent life here. At FOB Mike, everyone walks around in full battle rattle unless they're in a fixed structure. They take fire all the time, small arms and mortar. Their dining hall and MWR (Morale Welfare and Recreation) facilities aren't nearly as nice as ours. Roe's got it even worse. They have one shower trailer with 6 showers in it for ~160 guys and the port-a-john service truck only comes once a week and that's only if it's ready at FOB Mike when they go to escort it to Roe. Yeah, it's not as nice here as Camp Liberty, Victory N, Victory S, or Tigerland (the other camps here at the Airport) but we've definitely have it alot better than others.
Well, that's about it for now. Talk to y'all later. Everybody take care.
Chris

Rick & I will be leaving for PA early Friday for a weekend away. One day will be spent at a Chrysler Car show. From the weather report, looks like we might get wet! The rest of the time, we'll just be resting and "goin' with the flow". I went to my pulmonary doctor yesterday and am back on Prednizone and Zithromax to get rid of congestion and sinus "gunk". Everybody watch out for Cindy and Dennis! Chris - I know this is monsoon season for my friends in India, how about Iraq?

I hope you all had a great 4th. Rick and I spent the day with his parents helping finish an 8ft fence to hide the excessive damage from Isabelle. We thought we were having a nice visit. Later in the day, Nanny said that one time when we weren't near, Rick's dad said, "Who are those people helping us?" But he never "let on" that he didn't know who we were. But he's healthy physically and happy. That's something to be thankful for. Love and peace to you all! Bertha