Update

On February 1st, Ryan is switching from 2pm to midnight shifts. He's now going to work 5 days on, 1 day off. He is also getting an award. He thinks it is dumb, because he just does his job. Ryan might be switching from his current job driving equipment to planes to repairing the high dollar equipment so he's excited about that. I should have some more pictures soon, he bought a card for the digital camera and had some regular film developed.

Birthday

Ryan was so excited on his birthday. Our community group from church mailed him a package with tons of gum (he said a buttload) and letters from everyone in the group. How nice for him to get a present on the actual day. His day off this week was on Friday, so he relaxed and read books, played PS2 in the community center (which he said was boring), and ran some errands. Today, there was a sandstorm which got all in his contacts but before that he said it was really cool

Dorm Room

This is the inside and outside of the dorms. It is not Ryan's specific room, and he took the bunks down for one bed. He does have the stylish drapes though :-)

First Pics

Here's some first pictures from Ryan - he did not take them. But he wanted me to share a little bit. You can see where he works, where he eats, and a beautiful sunset.

Fun at Camp

This sounds like a summer camp story more than an Air Force story :-)

The Aussies had a water war with the C-130 AMU today. They have one
>of those rubber band balloon launchers...the ones that take three people
>and they were launching them across the flightline at people. I almost
>got nailed coming out of the bathroom. The US won though when they
>stormed there tent with Super Soakers. It was funny. Wish I had some
>pictures of that.

Location

Doha is the city Ryan is in. For you geography buffs.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/travel/dg/maps/67/750x750_asia_m.gif&imgrefurl=http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-577484-map_of_asia-i&h=540&w=720&sz=432&tbnid=lZ9F_tUaU70J:&tbnh=104&tbnw=139&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dasia%2Bmap%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D&oi=imagesr&start=3

Ryan's Day Off

Went to the gym and ran. A 10K is 6.2 miles. It was a bit tiring towards the end, but I didn't
really push myself too hard on it. I took it as a lazy jog more or
less. After the gym and shower and dinner, I watched some cartoons
(cartoon network) and a movie (showtime). The commercials are in Arabic
sometimes but the shows are English with Arabic subtitles. After that I
went to the CAC (community center) and played some pool and watched a couple of people play
XBox and PS2. I may be done with video games altogether I think. They
still look fun but they definitely take time away from my wife and
family (eventually).

*Ha, Ryan be done with video games...to be determined...

TV

Ryan bought a TV from someone who was leaving, so now he gets cable. About 50 channels. They have regular stuff like Fox and MTV. They also have Arabic MTV and some other channels. Today he felt at home by watching the SImpsons and hockey on his day off.

Update

Nothing exciting has been happening lately. I have been driving for
C-130's for twelve hours a day. I have tomorrow off so that will be
nice. I plan on mailing some things out. I plan on going to the gym
for my 10K run tomorrow as well. The weather has been really nice. It
was a bit chilly today. Winds about 25-35 Knots and about 60 degrees.
It was good though. Overcast all day though so kind of made the day
gloomy.

Laundry

Ryan told me today that his laundry is sent out to the Doha Marriott. That's funny to me! I was wrong about him having Wednesdays off. He works 4 days on, 1 day off. So his next day off is this Sunday. His grass patch spells AGE, the name of his job, Aerospace Ground Equipment. He said he feels it everyday to remember what grass is like. He just sees rocks and dirt.

E-mail

ryan.windle@auab.centaf.af.mil

Animals

Thanks for posting on my blog. I don't think I'll have access to it at all from here. But, you can pick and choose what to throw on there whenever. I don't care. I've seen one camel spider, but it was a baby. It wasn't very big and I only got a glimpse of it as it ran behind a box. I have seen a bunch of field mice. They are all over the shop. And one HUGE lizard. The security forces guy caught it at the gate to the flightline. It was at least two feet long.

Ryan's First Comments

Excerpt from Ryan's e-mail...

Oh, get this...my favorite thing to do here is..take a bottle of water and pour it on the dirt. We have a small patch of grass outside the shop that we are growing. Well right now it is just dirt and grass seed but we have built a little greenhouse over it and water it daily, sometimes twice a day. And we remove the greenhouse at night so the grass can breathe. I'll get pictures of it.
We kind of walk everywhere. Everything is located around center here in CC. Think of it as a wagon wheel. Off of one spoke you have the BX and Subway,BK,Baskin Robbins,etc. On another you have the gym and movie theater. The third is a coffee shop and dorms, fourth is more dorms, fifth is a chow hall. And we do walk everywhere here at CC. We have to take a bus to Ops Town. That is where all the work takes place. It's about three miles from here, but don't worry. It is three miles from one side of this base to the other side. You never leave the base going from CC to Ops Town. The base is HUGE. And it's only going to get bigger. There is construction everywhere. They are building more flightline, more buildings, more everything. It is going to be a permenant base when it is all said and done I think. The next Korea; one year unaccompanied. No more deployed, just permanent party.

Recent

Ryan called and let me know that things are still going well. He's working 10 to 10 everyday but Wednesday. He's been going to the gym after work. He's enjoying free food and free laundry! They have a BX, Baskin Robbins, and Subway. Most things are in trailers or tents. No spiders yet :-)

Address

Here is Ryan's address

A1C Ryan Windle
379 EMXS/MXMG
APO AE 09309

Don't know what he wants yet, but his birthday is January 19th if you want to send him a card or note. Stamps went up to 39 cents this weekend, but you only need one to mail it to him. Thanks for caring about both of us!

Good morning! Ryan called me this morning at 5am, which was 1 his time. He is working already, driving things on the flight line to the planes that need his equipment. He is not sure if he'll be able to get on here, so I thought I'd post a little for him. He's already taken a ton of pictures since he arrived. He commented on how different the terrain is. Most of the buliding on base are permanent tents. The dining hall food is ok, and he has to walk to a seperate building for a bathroom. On the way over, he changed planes in Ireland. He sounds like he is doing very well. He is rooming with a guy he went to tech school and is stationed with at Langley. He hopes to be on to talk with everyone soon.

Getting Ready

Well, it's almost time and I've been packed now for about a week thanks to Kim. I'm nervous,excited, and bummed all at the same time. I leave Tuesday the third and not sure when I'll arrive there after my stopover somewhere in the eastern hemisphere, hopefully I'll be back and running on this page shortly after I arrive. I'm starting to realize some of the things
I'll miss. Stuff like a big bed, my dog, my birthday, anniversary, Hooters hot wings, and most importantly Kim. I'm sure I'll add to that list as the time drags on over there. I'll throw some more on here as soon as I can. And hopefully some pictures too.