WELL, WE DO RUN SOME CALLS HERE. HOW ABOUT A FEW PICTURES!

GENERATOR VS. SLAYER TUNNEL

Back in April we ran a call for a flatbed that tried to go through Slayer Tunnel with a huge, $75,000.00 portable generator on the back bed. Needless to say the driver (KBR) didn't take notice to heights posted and the height of his cargo and BAM!!!!! Generator loses, guy probably loses his job and the tax payers definitly lose.

................Tunnel 1, Generator 0!

JIMS 41ST BIRTHDAY PARTY: 07JUNE08

OK, I took a bunch of pictures at the party but I should have got more, damn margaritas! I will try to get more from others in attendance. The party was a blast, it is so nice to see everyone and in less than 3 months we will do it again, hopefully in more mild weather. Thank you so much to Ben for the great party, to Mom, Dad, Charlie, Carlene, Saul, Paul, Benita, Josh, Robin, Lori, Kristy, Clint, Norman, Nick, Jess, the Kids, the Benfield entourage and everyone who came so far to be here. Also a bigh thank you to all the local friends as well, it is always a pleasure!! This was the highlight of the trip and I am looking forward to 42 (this time the theme is 80's hair-metal music!!!! Hehe!!)

This was Kates Birthday present to me, a signed cast photo from "The Family Guy". Her Uncle is a co-creator of the show. Thanks to both of them, it was the highlight of the party!!

Christine, Me, Daniella and Ken

Tyler and Madison in the Moonbounce

Tyler performing for M & D, Nick and Jess

Pap Ben with Nick and the kids


Definitly a good pool day!!


Kristy ans Lori keeping an eye on my nephew Avi


Bada-Bing gave Kristy and Lori the day off to come down!


I just told Lori about the corn in my poop, I think she mistook kernal for someone at the party with rank....oops!


Charlie came with Mom and Dad, what a cutie



Elvis with his scores of new, younger generation fans

Lori is big in the Middle East, she is constantly fending off Paparazzi

My Behnkes buddies, Miri and Andrew (I see the shirt Andrew!)

He grew his hair out just for the party

This kid is like Damien/Omen cute....but no Nannies hung themselves during the party

THE KING LIVES.........in polyester!!

In Bae, Kim, Me and Ben. When you die and go to heaven, Kims springrolls are there waiting!

A few more of these drinks and the suits come off!!! LOL!!!

The pool stayed full all day

Ben, Christine and Ken

A beautiful sunset to end the day

R&R #2: GET ME A FRIGGIN BEER!!!!!!

Well, R&R is always a good thing. Your second R&R is all the more sweet, it means you are within four months of your EOC (End Of Contract). There is a window of time you can take your R&Rs in, I pushed mine back as far as I could so now I only have about three months to go.

I have figured out, since beginning this venture, I am not a great world traveller. By that I mean physically. It takes roughly 30 hours to travel to and from Baghdad, including layovers, none of it falliing under the category of "Fun". Airports are no fun, while not terribly intrusive, they are large, crowded and at times intimidating. Some of the Middle East security people will walk up behind you, breathing in your ear, seemingly to try to make you feel uncomfortable (which actually works quite well because they are holding automatic weapons with fingers on triggers). It is actually childish and pathetic, but that is to be expected with ignorance.

Once you get past all that it gets easier, I have very much enjoyed my trips on British Airways, there have been no major delays, the staff have been great and I am a big fan of the British accent! Heathrow is enormous! I had a seven hour layover this trip and I was hoping to actually run out and see something "touristy", Stonehenge and/or Avebury in particular, but as it turned out it was too far away to make it in the alloted time. Hopefully during my second year I will be able to take a day or two and go on a photo tour of these incredibly mystical places.

STONEHENGE

AVEBURY

Back to getting home.........I finally made it. Ben picked me up at the airport which is, thankfully, only a short distance from the house. We basically did the same thing as my last trip home, stopped in at the house to see the pups for a while, had a few beers and then headed out to MEIWAH/Larrys for some of the best sushi in the DC area...........and more beer! You do see the re-occuring theme here, right? So when we returned home I tried to relax a bit by opening some of my new comic collectibles that came while I was away. Anyoe who knows me well also knows I collect Sci-Fi, Comic and Fantasy figures/statue. Star Wars and Marvel/DC Comics comprising the majority of the collection seen, in part, below.....

Prior to my arriving home the weather had been pretty nice apparently, wet, but nice. Things were about to change when I hit the ground, apparently in possession of the Middle Easts' heat.......and humidityfrom somewhere else! right off the bat it got hot, humid and rainy. It would have been really nice to have some mild weather but it didn't turn out that way. This weather, combined with some jet-lag made my first few days home pretty uneventful.

Ben had been telling me about the yard, with all the rain it had gone gang-busters! That and a lack of pruning the prior fall made it all look so huge and lush. Like it was on steroids!! There were not too many things in bloom, but man do I wish I were there to see them all pop. Here are a few pics of the Garden/Pool/Patio/Pups.

One of the highlights of this trip home was a party held on my 41st birthday. I have a lot of pictures so I will start a new post to minimize the crowding on here.