INTERNATIONAL LAMPOONS: CAMP SLAYER VACATION!

The past few weeks my buddy Mikey and I have been trying to plan a day to head over to Camp Slayer and check out the sights. Like Victory, there are Palaces and "Touristy" things to see and do......well, about as "Touristy" as you're gonna get here on the VBC. One thing is for sure, this place must have been quite a spectacle in its prime. So Camp Slayer here we come....also with a new addition to our Fire Crew, Josh. With my 41st birthday just around the corner I felt like a chaperone for these two at 21 and 23 years old. I felt like Chevy Chase in the "European Vacation" Movie......."Look kids Big Ben...Parliment!".

Through some pre-jaunt investigating, Mikey found out there is an organized tour of the "Victory Over America" Palace every Sunday that meets at the Slayer PX at 12:30 hrs.

We headed out to the bus-stop at 11:00 hrs and found out the next bus over to Slayer was at 12:34 hrs and we wouldn't make it for the tour. We decided to head on over anyway, there would still be a lot to see.

A couple of Pre-Trip pictures

Finally we were on a bus and headed over to the camp, it was a 20 min ride, nothing really seems very far away around here it just takes a long time because the roads are so bad you can't go very fast. We got off at the Slayer PX and started walking around the lake tword Flintstone Village. This was a very elaborate little playground Saddam had built for his grandkids, it was a series of apartments, tunnels, waterfalls and patios built to look prehistoric and very "Flintstone-like". I can't imagine what this place looked like before the war, it must have been amazing. Then we got to it and it is now a bombed out, delapitated, graffitti-ridden pile of crap. I will never understand why some things happen, eventually we will be gone and this place could have been for local kids to use but it has been neglected and destroyed. It is a total shame.

Very cool stuff, unfortunatly very run down as well. So we headed across the street to a little bombed out area to a popular photo op backdrop of the man Saddam himself. There was another building that could have beena school or daycare judging by the paintings we found on the walls, besides it was across fromm Flintstone Village.

Here we have a picture of the notorious "Perfume Palace" where Saddam kept his scores of beautiful virgins for his.........pleasure? Maybe even a few dudes too, who knows? The man was a bonifide freak so why not get a little freaky in the bedroom too?

So from there we continued around the lake, although you can't help but see it from everywhere i'll post a few pics of the "Victory over America" Palace. After the Gulf War, Saddam began construction on it to celebrate his.....victory....over....America?? Makes perfect sense. This puppy is HUGE and unfortunatly we didn't make the tour, but next time. As with many things here it is pretty F-ed up. There are still construction cranes up but I don't think there is anymore building going on.

Next we continued around the lake...and I don't care what Mikey says, its a big fuckin lake and we should have gone back the way we came, my thighs were all chaffed!! We came upon a small Mosque, great design, just a lot of really beautiful buildings here.

Here are a few pictures of a couple of bunkers on the shore of the lake, a houseboat that had seen better days and a draw-bridge.

Then we headed down home stretch back to where we started, found a few BBQ patios along the water that had big meat hooks on them. We figured they were for cleaning fish or hanging Saddams enemies from so we tried to see if we could get a pic of one of us hanging from them. Yeah, it's kinda morbid, but we are in Iraq!

I had to get this picture of Mikey for Lori (Surrogate Mom) back at the station. She always says he is her "special" boy!

Well, a good time was had by all. We ended our trip with a stop at the Slayer PX, I bought a Spider-man 3 game for my Wii so I can suck at that game too. Then we headed over to Slayers Greenbeans International Cafe and enjoyed some frozen coffee drinks while we waited for the bus home. I still need to get some pictures from Mikey and Josh, possibly some video footage too so there could be a sequal to this adventure coming soon!

WHERE WE LIVE

I've never really posted many pictures of our Firehouse. It's actually a very nice place to call home while here in Iraq, we have most all ammenities that will typically not be found at other sites. They don't call this place "Camp Cupcake" for nothing. We have our own internet service in our rooms (when it is working), a 42" Plasma TV (only about 12 channels though), private rooms and we have recently started a gym area in the back. Many of the sites do not have luxeries like theses so you have to appreciate them while you have them. So, sit back and enjoy these pics from around Station 2!

Station 2: South Victory Fire Department

The Truck Bays

Hose Racks

TV Room

Kitchen Area

Fake Snake in the hall

Dorm Days Revisited

Seating area

Coffee Station

Decorations

911 Memorial & Alarm Bell

Dispatch Dungeon...er, I mean Office

"Yens Den of Zen" Fitness Center

Company Computer area and mailing supplies

The Training/Phone room

THE LONG ARDUOUS ROAD TO A HEALTHIER ME

When I first began my preparations for coming to Iraq I had a few goals in mind that I wanted to accomplish throughout this endeavor. One of those goals was to lead a more healthy lifestyle through diet and exercise. It isn't hard to figure out that years of not eating so great, drinking beer and not exercising have taken their toll on my body. While I was researching this job I noted that the company required members to be on a physical fitness plan while in country. I also assumed, from movies and TV, that meals would be a ladel-full of unappetizing slop dumped on my tray by a nasty old cafeteria worker as he muttered and laughed, "Prime rib or lobster". That turned out to be quite the opposite. While four-star dining is not to be found here, there is a pretty impressive, albeit, not-so-healthy spread of food offered here at each meal. It is easy to go overboard. I left BWI airport at around 220# and within my first month I had reached 245#, my eating was out of control.

So we started working out, cardio only at first for me, I wanted to lose some weight before I started lifting again. Our Captain at the time, Todd, was a very health conscious runner so we did the gym almost everyday. He also understood the need to escape the daily firehouse grind to keep a clear head as well. Living on top of each other 24/7 can get to anyone, you need some kind of physical release to ease tensions. I decided to stick with only cardio until after my first R&R, then I would start lifting weights again. I had hoped to drop back down to around 210-220# before I went home for my first visit, but it wasn't happening. I did start weights when I got back, but eased slowly into it. I didn't want to be severely sore all the time, I needed to keep in mind i had spent the last 10 years as a couch potato and start a program accordingly. I have been back for just about 2 months now and I am feeling much better. I wish I had taken before photos prior to this point, I flaked. I will take some before pictures this week. I feel better, not necessarily lighter, but fitter. My pants feel more comfortable , my stomach does not get in the way when I tie my shoes and I can actually feel my chest muscles again. I still have a long way to go, but the good news is I am enjoying it again. I want to be fit and feel good rather than let myself go to shit again. I turn 41 this June and it isn't going to get any easier from this point on.

So now, Myself, Lori, Pam and Mikey are doing a diet competition of sorts. We are trying to see who can last the longest on a healthy diet and exercise program. I don't expect to win but I am giving it a good shot, I'd feel much better if I dropped 20#. I'd be exstatic if I could get under 200#, I have not seen that weight since after College. I will post pictures of my progress....or lack thereof. I think I will do ok, my next R&R is slowly making it's way here and I want to look better this time. My speedo awaits!!!

15-APR-08: Had a great day at the gym today, benched 250# 4x without help, might have been able to do 2 or 3 more, didn't have a spotter. Either way I am feeling stronger and happier about it! My boobs don't sag much now, LOL!

21-APR-08: Starting night dispatch tonight so I was free most of the day and spent 2 hours at the gym. Feeling very good, I have to say. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical and kept my heart-rate up to 130-140 bpm, much higher than when I do the bike or treadmill. Then I moved onto Chest and Triceps and again I was able to up my bench press up to 265# 3x. I am very psyched with how good I am feeling. We are still on our diet competition program and I do feel better still. i have become a little more laxed but keeping up with the guidelines for the most part.

THE C-RAM, MRAP AND OTHER HELLA-COOL STUFF!!

I wasn't going to post anything about this ultra-cool, futuristic defensive weapon, however, after some googling I found there is plenty of information on the net so it can't be but so secret. We had incoming the other day and the C-Ram fired once, we walked outside to see the tracers and "BA!!BA!!BA!!BA!!BA!!BA!!BA!!BA!!BA!!BABA!!BA!!!" , it went off again, then there was a loud bang and debis started falling from the sky, red hot pieces of the incoming. Now, aside from this being one of the coolest things I have seen here to date, it scared the living shit out of me! Inside it does not sound so bad but when we stepped out that door and it went off it caught me by surprised and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I moved 15 feet, twords the door, without even knowing it. When it goes off, firing up to 75 armor piercing rounds/sec. (thats 4500 rounds/minute!!) and you are nearby, you are gonna jump. I've heard them from inside the Firehouse many times and I don't even flinch, it sounds like a chainsaw. This thing is bad-ass so how about a little info and a website.......

C-RAM, stands for Counter Rocket, Artillery and Mortar system and you can check out the website here:

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/cram.htm

VEHICLES