Days 57 - 66

28 Nov - 6 Dec. A happy Saturday to everyone not working today. Apologies for the extended absence, but you know how hectic things are this time of year. You would think it would be very easy for me. Beanie did all the Christmas shopping before she left. All I have to do is pack and ship, right the traditional cheesy Cross Christmas letter, and keep the kitties alive. But as always, getting "things done" has turned into another Beanie Appreciation Course. BTW, for those of you that have been breathlessly waiting, the 2008 TTCCL has been crafted and approved by Beanie so that will be going out soon.

Yet another positive development, Kathy's email "anomaly" appears to be corrected so you can email her at will. As always, Kathy will respond as best the work conditions will permit. I've been able to chat with Beanie on a reasonably regular basis. The workload is still unyielding, but it seems the better days are outnumbering the "less better" days. She's been working quite a bit with the Pay Agents. These are folks from the outlying camps that are tasked with the additional duty of traveling to FOB Fenty to secure the funds required to pay local business that support these outlying camps. These local businesses are critical to keeping the outlying camp functioning. Without them critical support functions such as translators, security, and general mission support can fail. It's very challenging as the Pay Agent is a supplemental job - you know, in addition to fighting the war and staying alive. The more I see our troops in action, the more amazing I find them.

The mail system also appears to be improving. The last two boxes I sent to her made it in less than two weeks. Though mailed the same day, they arrived 3 days apart. Kathy said it seems like the base continues to grow. Lots of construction and an extremely active OPS tempo. The more I talk to her and learn about what's going on, the more challenging I see her work becoming. It seems like the toughest part her job would be the inability to get way from the job and wind down. I know for me, after a few months of 7 day; 80 hour work weeks, I would start to wear down. I mean really - not even a golf day??

Well, we're over one third (Day 66 of 180) of the way through. This New Year's Eve will be more special than others as it will mark the first day of the downhill slide - we can start counting down from 90 day.

That's about all for know. I am on business travel to Charleston this week, but will try to get an update or two posted. Our best to you all. Cheers