MIKEY SWITCHED TO GEICO!!!!

Oops, that's Gecko, he woke up with a little baby bugger climbing up his wall. Several attempts to liberate this young reptilian only resulted in him jumping higher up on Mikeys arm. So now he is going to stay in Mikes room, probably lots of bugs for him to eat in there as well. Who knows, he may have a few brothers and sisters in there too.

IN THE EVENT WE ARE ALL SWALLOWED BY A BLACK HOLE ON WEDNESDAY.........NICE KNOWING YA!!!!

This coming Wednesday, September 10th 2008 marks the activation of CERNs Large Hadron Collider. This multibillion dollar atom-smasher will finally come online after two decades of planning and production. It will attempt to re-create the big bang, on a considerably smaller scale, to give scientists a better understanding of the make-up of matter, filling in gaps in knowledge or possibly reshaping theories.

The first beams of protons will be fired around the 17-mile tunnel to test the controlling strength of the world's largest superconducting magnets. It will still be about a month before beams traveling in opposite directions are brought together in collisions that some skeptics fear could create micro "black holes" and endanger the planet.

The project has attracted researchers of 80 nationalities, some 1,200 of them from the United States, which contributed $531 million of the project's price tag of nearly $4 billion.

Once the beam is successfully fired counterclockwise, a clockwise test will follow. Then the scientists will aim the beams at each other so that protons collide, shattering into fragments and releasing energy under the gaze of detectors filling cathedral-sized caverns at points along the tunnel.

CERN dismisses the risk of micro black holes, subatomic versions of collapsed stars whose gravity is so strong they can suck in planets and other stars. So, in the event we are not consumed by black holes there will very likely be some amazing discoveries in our future thanks to this incredible machine!

For further information check out these links:

CERN: http://www.cern.ch/

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory: http://www.fnal.gov/

Large Hadron Rap: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_on_re_eu/storytext/big_bang_machine/28998361/SIG=11b8oen0l/*http://www.youtube.com/watch?vf6aU-wFSqt0 , check this out, it is excellent!

Here are some pictures, serious and funny.............

JUST IN TIME FOR MY ARRIVAL HOME.......FANBOYS!!!!!!

September 19, 2008 is a day I have been waiting on for a long, long time. The movie "Fanboys" is finally hitting the bigscreen AND it will be released as originally intended. For those who are not familiar, the plot is basically centered around a group of friends, one who is dying of cancer. They plan to steal a copy of "The Phantom Menace" before it is release to fullfill their friends wish to see the movie before his imminent demise. There was a push by the film company to drop the cancer element of the movie which was aborted due to furious fans and the threat of a boycott if the film did not make it to celluloid as planned. Finally it's time has come and I am sure it will be a fun movie and I cannot wait to see it! Here is the movie poster and a cast picture.

Lots of info on the movie here, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanboys_(2008_film), check it out!

PEOPLE ALWAYS ASK ME....."WHAT DO YOU DO FOR FUN IN IRAQ?????"

Here are a few pictures of a particularly boring day. We got a bunch of free T-shirts from some guys at the motorpool and decided to try on the kids-sized shirts.........yet another proud moment in South Victory history!!

Actually I think Greg is wearing an x-large!!??

ENGINE 611 RESPOND TO....ER....THE QUARTERS OF ENGINE 611!?!?!?!?

It is every Firefighters fear that they will be called to respond to their own home, place of work or a friends home. Thank fully none of those situations happened to us but we did lose a generator on the 28th of August. We get our power from two large generators out behind the Firehouse. They alternate so one is working at all times while the other is being cleaned or maintained. I was sitting in my room at the computer with a fan running in the background when I heard the fan motor slow down....then speed up....then slow down again. This has happened in the past, generally it has meant the generator that is running has run low on fuel. I went to the sitting area and told the dispatcher what was happening. When I got back to my room my radio went off, for a generator fire behind the station.

By the time we got there it was put out by some KBR employees with a couple of extinguishers and there was a huge cloud of dry-chem obscuring the view of the generator itself. The incident was over before it started so I grabbed a few snapshots to share.

Extinguisher powder, not smoke

Captain taking control of the scene

KBR Fire dudes checking out our mess

Is life really that boring that we are taking pictures of this shit????

Greg, preceeded by his belly wherever he goes

Something tells me that hole is not suppose to be there

What a F-ing mess!!

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN..........

OK, today is 23-AUG-08

Aside from a song title from a Swedish Rock band, Europe, from the 80's/90's Glam metal scene (which btw is scheduled for a 2009 new album release! Yippee!!) it is also my final countdown to the end of my contract with WSLLC. I am now within the 30 day mark of completion and I can't wait to get home. At the moment I am hoping to be back for a second year, however, until I am actually re-contracted and scheduled to be in Houston nothing is written in stone. Of course I would prefer to be home but this is a good financial opportunity and it really is not that dangerous as some might think.

I am still waiting on my itinerary for my return trip, since it is the end-of-contract, the companys only obligation is to return me to my city of origin. So i know where I am going, just not exactly when and via where. I should be home on or about the 18th of September.

Today is 27-AUG-08, still psyched about getting the fuck outta dodge, just need to at least get into September before I get too excited. It may be a bit premature right now but I have started packing my things, some to be sent home and some to remain here for year two.

I must take a minute to mention one of our fine members here at Victory Fire, Cody Peterson, who will hereafter be known as Cody Provolone. The main reason for this alias is his uncanny, yet natural ability to sound so freaking cheesy. He was just in the background teaching the Fire Warden class and made one such dairy-based comment that forced me to tell you about it. Here is a picture of Cody when he fell asleep in dispatch and Mikey wrote on his forhead.

The writing said, "I Love Wolff", one of our Officers here at South Victory. Its proud moments such as these that make life in Baghdad tolerable.

THAT DIDN"T SOUND GOOD!!!

Well, Thursday the 21st of August will long be remembered as the day the VBC lost a dedicated emergency response vehicle........Engine 611 fell. Thankfully this will only be a temporary setback for her, however, she may not be back in service for the remainder of my stay here during year one. I was her Han Solo, she was my Millenium Falcon, my YT-1300, my modified Corellian Light Freighter! That was an over-the-top geek moment in case you didn't figure it out for yourself. Either way she is gone for a while waiting for some parts which, apparently are hard to come by on this side of the world. We'll see what happens. In the meantime we have a loaner from Camp Stryker, same Engine basically but not quite the same.....

I had to accompany the tow truck driver to the TMP, spent a good 6 hrs there. Thankfully the gentleman working under the cab, John, was kind enough to let me hang and watch him do his thing. He also explained a few things about the problem, the cause and the process of getting it fixed. Long and short of it is, these vehicles are not made to withstand this climate and since 611 is in her 5th year of service without any major incidents it was just her time.

I decided this was a blog-worthy event, however I didn't get any pictures of the tow or at the scene of the breakdown, I was upset about the whole thing. So here are some pics of the TMC, Mikey to the rescue and the trip back home.

John the KBR Mechanic diligently at work

Me killing time with the camera, I needed some good nosehair pictures

Mikey to the rescue

Fine, upstanding young Mike Mason

Low-riding, ghetto hardened, thug-life G-Mason

Covered in equipment from E-611