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Somewherein Kuwait

By
Real Estate Agent with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage

My son in law's father Jon has just arrived in Kuwait with his reserve unit. This is Jon's 2nd tour in the Far East. The first was in Baghdad. Jon is a warrant officer in charge of a motor vehicle maintenance. He is 53 years old. To all of our service men and women and all the families with family members in harms way I never forget the sacrifices you are making. If I just had a home sale fall through and I am feeling sorry for myself I just think of Jon and those like him and I realize my problems don't compare.

Here is Jon's somewhat humorous take on daily life in the desert.

Camp Somewherein, Kuwait                                                                                      WK 2 July

122 deg F. in the shade and all the shade is man-made; sometimes only the shadow of a building or a truck.  But not so hot that jelly beans will melt, but time will test that pretty soon.   I left the air conditioned cool of the Post Exchange (PX)(department store) with a  solid Hershey Bar for my weekly chocolate fix.  Within half-a-block I had trickles of chocolate running down my hand and fingers - like a four-year old with an oversize ice cream cone.  Within a block, the wind from the start of the Daily Dust Storm (DDS) had long swirls of chocolate flying across the roadway.  M&M are a favorite here, so far I've never seen one melt, though they do tend to get mushy - the crunchy are definitely the best kind.   I should have stayed in the shade.

To say it is dry here (it is in the middle of a desert) is an understatement.  All water in Camp Somewherein is trucked into the camp.  Long tanker trucks, dusty from their daily pilgrimage across the desert, continually (24-7) circle the camp filling water tanks.  There are fiberglass and plastic water tanks of all shapes and sizes at almost every building.  There are tanks for the shower trailers, the toilet connexes and toilet trailers, the Dining Facility (DFAC), and some of the office buildings with indoor commodes.  Many of the maintenance shops (3 metal sides and a roof) have tanks to supply six foot tall evaporative coolers to keep the workers from falling out (falling over with some temporary medical condition).  The maintenance shops at least produce some man made shade.

I have figured out that there are four types of water: non-potable for vehicle cleaning and agricultural use; potable for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene use (showers); bottled water for drinking and brushing one's teeth; and sweat.  Two types are man-made and two are not.  There is bottled water everywhere - not fancy or designer in nature, just generic Arabian spring water.  (Think about where the camels have hung out and what they have done there for several thousands of years.)   At almost any building where people work there are pallets of boxes of bottled water.  Somewhere there are a corresponding number of empty plastic bottles.  Camp Somewherein is doing a pretty good job of recycling those bottles by supplying large cardboard recycling boxes for the bottles - but every day during the DDS (see above) one can see empties tumbling along in the wind toward Camp Somewhereelse. 

The Army, in their infinite wisdom designed a multi-layered seat in the uniform pants.  I suppose it was for comfort during those times in the field (out-of-doors on a training exercise or in combat) when one would be required to maintain some level of comfort while sitting on mother nature herself.  However I have discovered that the multi-layered highly absorbent seat is also a great receptacle for that man-made type of water called sweat.  While most of the sweat acquired during the day quickly evaporates during the DDS, the highly absorbent seat is highly efficient about not drying out.  The result is several hours in the office chair or the seat of a vehicle, sitting on one's personal wet area for hours at-a-time. (Reference early childhood memories prior to the pull-ups stage.)    I ponder this thought as I eat a jelly bean.

 

Kuwait water truck

Dan Quinn
The Eric Steart Group of Long & Foster Real Estate - Silver Spring, MD
Dan Quinn

Michael, Thanks for this post.  This was very cool to hear your son-in-law's fathers' take on the desert.  My son-in-law just came back from Kuwait last week to reunite with his family and see his 13 month old child, a child he only held for a few days after his birth.  I am going to have dinner with him tomorrow night and I will share your post with him.

Take a moment to look at my post: A Soldier's Precious Moment Holding His Son to see a pic of my son-in-law reunited with his son.  

Please tell your son-in-law how grateful we are for his father's service to our country.

Jul 16, 2009 02:37 AM