Dec 23, 2004:  I am currently on vacation for the next 40 days.  So far, my daughter Tyler and I had been shopping for my wife Vickie.  She is very helpful on helping me decide what we need to get for my wife for this holiday.

Dec 24, 2004: Took my brother Nap to the airport this morning, he is going home to Maryland for a couple of days.  Later on, we will be going to an evening mass.  Also we got invited for dinner at Jesse's house (Vick's co-workers).  MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE!!!!!!!  Take it easy over there Fred and Steve......

Outcome:  The dinner was excellent over at Jesse's House.   We met Debra's parents for the first time and they are a very nice couple.  Also, Tyler made some new friends Brianna, Courtney and Jacob which are Debra and Jesse's kids.    Afterwards, after we got back from dinner, Vickie as always are wrapping Christmas presents at the last minute.  Tyler on the other hand left some milk and cookies for Santa.  

Dec. 25, 2004:  We got invited to a Christmas gathering over at PJ aunts house.  For entertainment, we decided to play Mahjong, I won the first two hands but soon after the streak had ended and Vickie took over my spot.  I had decided to call Joel (my old roommate when I was in Okinawa) but I cannot remember his phone number so I hit redial on my cell phone.  I did not realized  that I had called Matt at 1 am his time (my old neighbor from Louisiana) and talked his ear off for about an hour.  I guess the whiskey got to me and got phone crazy.  Hey Matt, sorry for waking you up so early and let the family know we said Hi.

Dec. 26, 2004:  Did not do much today.  We went to see the movie Lemony Snicket's last night.  The movie was alright but the time spent with the family, priceless. Also, Tyler got Heelys Shoes for Christmas and she was practicing how to skate with them all day. 

Dec. 27, 2004:  It's Monday, Vickie went to work early as usual while Tyler and I are still on our vacations.  It was almost noon when we started our agenda for the day.  First, we went to the Garden store for Tyler and purchased couple of plants for her school project.  Then, we went to FEDEX to drop off a package for my new employer.  When we got home, I went ahead and organized the garage a little bit and maybe for tomorrow, we will probably put the Christmas tree away.

Dec. 28, 2004:  The weather was not so pleasant today.  It has been raining and very windy.  I decided to take Tyler to "Boomers" to go ride the Go-Carts but the rides was out of service.  We end up playing arcade games and playing couple of games of basketball.  The games was tie 2-2, it was a tough game but I held my own.  I guess I need to practice more often to keep up with her.  Oh yeah, the Christmas tree did not get put away, maybe by the end of the week I will get it done...hehehehe

Dec. 29, 2004:  Woke up earlier than usual.  We stopped at my workplace around lunch time and picked up a friend of mine Charles.  We took him to lunch at a Filipino Restaurant and ordered their lunch specials adobo, barbecue and pancit.  When we got back home, Tyler challenge me to a game of basketball at the park.  After the game was over the score was 15-9, you know who was the winner.....Tyler.....She was hitting 3's left and right but off course their are limitations on where I can shoot the ball.  As always we stopped by blockbuster and picked up couple of movies for the night.  King Arthur and Anchor Man were the picks of the night.  Both were excellent movies.

Dec. 30, 2004:  Tyler and I finally went to Boomers and rode the Go-Carts.  She was so exited riding it because it was her first time riding by herself.  That evening, we went to dinner with Joel to a nice restaurant in San Marcos to celebrate the holidays.  We went home afterwards and hung out at the house reminiscing the good old days in Japan. 

Dec. 31, 2004:  Stayed home with Tyler during the day while Vickie was at work. Besides watching TV, I decided to study for my Cisco exam that I will be taking in a couple of weeks.  Tonight, I am taking a different approach on celebrating the New Year with no alcohol.  HAPPY NEW YEAR, PARTY ON DUDES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jan. 1, 2005:  Started my day early.  First, cleaned the garage and the backyard.  Then, took the Christmas tree down.  Last, we went to the mall and did a little shopping for Tyler's Birthday party next weekend.  After a long day, we watched "The Terminal (funny)" and "Hero (not so good)" on video. 

Jan. 2, 2005:  A couple of days ago, I found out that my old unit was selected to assist with the humanitarian mission in Asia.  I decided to stop by the shop and talked to my fellow Marines before they ship out to support the mission.  As always, they got their gear packed and ready to deploy in no time.   Good Luck Charlie Company and make us proud. 

Jan. 3 - 7:  This week had been a busy week for me.  Tyler's back to school and things are back to normal around the house.  As always, my day starts off doing a lot of house work getting our house ready for the movers.  Even though the movers do all the packing, I still need to inventory all our stuff just to be on the safe side.  This is our 3rd move since I been with the military and things seems to get lost for no reason.  The worse part is when we submit our claim it takes years for them to process it, no joke.  Well, I guess this is one of the things we have to sacrifice when you have someone else move your things for you.

                  Vickie's parents came in this week for a visit.  Tyler was surprised and happy for them being here, especially when her birthday is coming up.  This means more birthday presents for her, hurray.  We don't get to see them that much but it is always nice when they take some time off and visit us over here in California.  For an update concerning the weather, there's a song " It never rain in Southern California", well, that's not true especially this week, all rain. 

                   I got an email from my new employer this week stating that my departure for next week had been delayed for a couple of weeks, that's good because that means I get to spend more time with my family.  And the best part of it is that they are paying me anyway to compensate me for the delayed time.  Who would say no for a paid vacation before you start to work.  I like this company already. 

Jan 8 - Tyler's Birthday Party at Boomer's....We had a great time....Check out the link Tyler's B-day Party

I just wanted to share this with the rest of you.  I thought it was pretty interesting.....

The Brain is a wonderful thing....

You can read this -- trust me! I got it from a Manual.

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was
rdgnieg.

The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid. Aoccdrnig to a
rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer inwaht oredr the
ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat
ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can
sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm.

Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef,
but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh?

Yaeh, and I awlyas thought slpeling was ipmorantt!

Jan. 9-11:  Rain, Rain and more Rain.....Here is the outcome of the worse storm in the past 20 years of Southern California History.  There was a road here before, connecting both sides....Click on the picture to see more photos.
 

Jan. 12-15 - No more rain (it's about time)....These past couple of days, I can say that it had been really nice.   Debbye (Vickie's sister) and Mike (Debbye's fiancé) are here visiting for a few days.   I had added their picture on the Photo page (I don't have a picture of Debbye yet) if you don't know who they are.  Also, I finally got my itinerary for my flight going overseas, I guess my vacation is almost over.  I still have a couple of weeks until I leave and I have a lot of things I need to take care of before my departure.  So, I guess the next couple of weeks will be very busy for me.

Jan. 16 - We went to church today and we saw P.J., Kathy and the Family.  Today was just a relaxing day.  Played Mahjong, ate Filipino food and watched Football at Kathy's house with Jen, Henry and P.J.  The kids were having a good old time also playing video games.  While, Debbye and Mike went to San Diego Zoo for the day.

Jan. 17 - Tyler was off today because it was a federal holiday.  Debbye and Mike went to Los Angeles and gone sight seeing.  I fixed up some of the mess in the garage and I am trying to work on the backyard.  Still no progress, we only have 1 more week until the movers gets here.  No worry, I will get it done...  I think.......

Jan. 18 - Took Tyler to school in the morning then I took Debbye and Mike to Mexico and San Diego Harbor.  We got some pretty good souvenirs for cheap price (Pesos).  I took a couple of pictures. 

Jan 19-20 - Debbye and Mike went to Sea World during the day then we had dinner at Claim Jumper's Restaurant in Carlsbad, CA.  I will add some pictures once I get them from Debbye.  Today, Debbye and Mike flew back to Maryland and they were not looking forward on the snow storm that is coming their way.  Hope you guys had a great time here in California.  Debbye, can you send me some picture of the snow storm when you get a chance. 

Jan. 21- 23 - Nothing but packing is what we have for this weekend.  The Movers are coming on Monday to get everything pack up and ready to be loaded by Tuesday.  So this means that we need to sort everything we have before they get here.  *Bargain of the Week*........For Sale:  Red Honda Civic, Mint Condition* CarSoup

Jan. 24 - The movers are here...  But guess what?  They can't pack anything that can spill or flammable.  Tomorrow, they're coming back to pick it up and take it to the storage facility.  Check it out...  Movers

Jan. 25 - Well, today is the day.  Movers are head and they are ready to take our household goods to the storage.  This will be the last time we are going to see our belongings until they ship it to Maryland (we just hope they don't break out stuff).  The house is empty again, we had to do all the cleaning but it was not that bad because Vickie kept our house well maintain.  Takers  

Jan. 26-27 - It's only couple of days until I take off to go to Texas and then to the Middle East.  It took a lot of planning but things are finally falling into places.  For now, we are staying at Fred and Jen's house.  At least I know that Vickie and Tyler are going to be O.K. when I depart to go overseas.  I already confirmed my flight last weekend but just in case I will have to call the airlines again today.  I just have to make sure I have everything I need before I leave.....don't worry I got my checklist on hand....  Fred, here's Jasmine on Video

Jan. 28 - Tonight is my last night here in California.  As planned, we went to Bennihana's for dinner.  It was more an entertainment than the quality of the food.  We had a great time watching the chef toss our food around.  As usual the chef was not Japanese, it's really hard to find a Japanese chef in a Japanese restaurant cooking Japanese food  now a days.  It's seems like they are taking a day off when we plan to go eat at a Japanese restaurant. Hey I guess if you want to see the real thing you need to go to Japan.  Well, this is the best I can get for the pictures.......Benihanna's

My flight was delayed for 2 hours leaving Phoenix.  It was a long story but all it matters is I am here in El Paso.  The flight was short also, it only took less than 1 hour to get here.  Right now, I am in the waiting area of the airport waiting for the liaison for my company to get here.  I can't go anywhere without meeting this guy because he has all my paperwork to check in to Fort Bliss.  I am getting hungry so I think I will get some grub.

The mystery guy finally arrived.  I got my orders and he gave me his spill on do's and don't around this area for this week.  We went to KFC for dinner before checking in to Ft. Bliss, anything I need this week Mr. Mystery Guy will take care of it.  He is here to make my processing goes as smooth as possible.  I hope I got everything I need so that I don't have to bother this guy for anything.  He is very nice guy, he is a retired Army guy also from San Diego.  I am finally checked in to my living quarters, now I can relax and get some rest for tomorrow.

Jan. 30 - Everyone who will be training this next couple of weeks will be checking in today.  We got our check-in done early and as the day goes by more civilian and military personnel started rolling in.  The number of personnel quadruple in no time.  We didn't have to be back until this evening for the Commander's brief. So, I met up with the other guys that I will be working with overseas.  There were only 5 of us and the rest are from different companies.  We went on an early dinner to Chilly's restaurant and when we got back we headed down to the briefing.  The only good thing about the brief was, we were told that we would know who will be going or staying by tomorrow.  I made sure that I kept a copy of my medical and dental record so that I don't have to put up with taking shots all over again.  I guess I will find out tomorrow for the verdict of my records.

Jan. 31- We got our records back and headed down to the medical facility for more briefing.  Well, I got a yellow sticker on my folder which indicated that I was missing some records in my folders.  I forgot to put a copy of my physical exam in my record and that was the only thing missing.  What a relief, I thought it was something else.   One of our guys could not be process because he had health issues.  He said he might have to renegotiate his contract with the company, he will be leaving tomorrow morning to go back home.

Feb. 1 - Our day started at 5 a.m. for accountability.  Today, we will be taking care of dental and get our military gear supply (Only necessary equipment that a civilian would need in a hostile environment).  My records for dental were complete this time, I didn't have to go to Dental and I had the rest of the morning off.  I had to empty out my clothes from my luggage and swap them in to a sea bag.  I was told that  my bag is too big but on the other hand they FEDEX my luggage back home for free. 

Feb. 2 - Not a lot on our agenda today.  Pretty much we are on our own, today is the day for all the stragglers to take care of miscellaneous things.  I also got my ID card today, it's a coincidence that my military ID card expired today and I got issued my Civilian ID on the same day.....Here it is.....   Mug Shot

Feb. 3- I finally got cleared with Medical.  All I had to do as I said before was to show a copy of physical exam.  Tonight, I just had to make sure everything is pack and double check my paperwork.  I called home earlier but Vickie and Tyler are at the school for Tyler's Science Fair.  I went with Steve (a guy from my company) to a German Restaurant on base, we were told that the food were excellent over there.  It was not that far from our billeting so we decided to walk over there.  Once we got back from the restaurant, I decided to do some laundry and finish packing up for tomorrow.  One more night from this place and I am out......                  

Feb. 4 - Last day, everything is packed up and ready to go.  We staged our luggage outside and the K-9 unit stopped by to sniff the baggage, just to make sure that nothing illegal are taken overseas.  Then, everyone jumped on the bus and headed to the airport.  And when you thought the security check is done, they brought the dogs out again to sniff our carry on luggage.  Can't complaint, at least you know that they are doing their jobs.  Almost done right, nope......  We waited for the Base Commander which is an Army General to give us his thank you speech and he even shook everybodies hands as we were boarding the plane.  That's cool.....Ride on.....

Feb. 5 - There's going to be numerous stops on the way to the sandbox (Middle East).  I talked to Vickie right before I boarded the plane.  I told her that I will cal her when I get to my next lay over.  My flight routed to the East Coast and then to Ireland.  I got to call Vickie and Tyler while I was on the East Coast but did not get a chance to call when I got to Ireland because it was too early for me to call, I figure I will call them when I finally get to my final destination.  Did not get to see much of Ireland but I took a couple of pictures and exchange some money for souvenir.  I did not know that they are using EURO also which I already have when I went to Amsterdam couple of years ago.  There's 10 hour difference from TX and the Mid East, then the flight is approximately 22 hours with the lay over hmmmm.... Right now, I am on my last stretch of my flight.  Non-stop to my final destination, Kuwait...  If my calculation is right I will get to Kuwait early in the morning, I guess I will know when I get there.....

Feb. 6 - After 20 hour flight, I finally made it here in Kuwait.  Just like last week, I still have to put up with the in processing.  This means that I am not be doing anything until Wednesday for my mandatory briefing.  Then I will be moved to my new assignment which is down the road from where I am staying.  Not bad considering other workers will have to fly out of here.  Also, I found an internet cafe on base where I can plug my computer in and make an update on this webpage.  That's cool......  Well, it's time for me to roam around the base and check out what's in the area......  First, I need to find the mess hall so that I know where to eat for free.....  Somebody told me that it was not free for government contractor but I will give it a shot, as long as my company reimburse me.......

Flight Pics & Superbowl Party (Camp Doha Style) - taken outside our temporary billeting

Feb. 7 - We waited until 3 a.m. just to watch the Super Bowl game.  An Eagles fan from our company bought this TV just  for this occasion.  Check the pics above that was taken during the game.  Watched the game until the 3rd quarter ended and then I had to take a snoozed.  Too tired, my body still had not adjusted to the time over here.  Anyway, we don't have anything to do around here.  By the end of the week we will find out the location of our assignment.

Feb. 8-10 - Dealing with the military there are some things never change.  For example, their motto "hurry up and wait" still exist.  We been here for almost a week and we are still waiting to be shipped to our site assignment.  I am not complaining as long as I am on the payroll.  Well, I guess I will be waiting around until they decide to ship me to my destination.  I better enjoy it while I can.  I will not have this type of break once I start working.

Feb. 11 - Weather report - a little breeze and kind of chilly.  I would imagine that the this place would be a lot warmer.  Oh well, at least I came prepared.  I took some pictures of Kuwait while we went on a trip to another base.  There's not much to see unless you are in the city.  Desert

Feb. 12-13 - Not much going on around here, still waiting.  I am in the same boat like the rest of these guys. On the other hand I made the best of my down time here studying and playing computer games.  It's not like I am in the hurry to go to work but I just want to get settle down wherever I am getting assigned.  Not much to ask, I just wanted to unpack my suitcase, you know what I mean.....

Feb. 14 - Valentines Day.....  I made sure Vickie and Tyler got the flowers and balloons that I sent to them.  They were surprise because I told them that I only sent them cards.  Mission accomplished.....  Thanks FTD and FedEX for shipping them on time.....

Feb. 15 - I was told today that I will be getting picked up by my Site Supervisor, Cool.  I got my stuff together and did a load of laundry while I was waiting.  I went and picked up my laundry from the dryer and when I came back my bags were gone.  Then, this guy asked me my name and he told me that he is my site supervisor and he already took my bags out to the car.  He told me about the job site and he said that I should be getting my international license within the next couple of months.  By the meantime, I will be hitching a ride from the other guys.  It's cool because we have numerous company vehicles that we share to get around this place.  I finally got to my work site and met my co workers but for now it's time for me to unpacked.

Feb. 16 - 17 - Back to work.....  This place is alright.  I finally got to my work site and met the people I will be working with over here.  I can't ask for anything more, I got my phone and internet in my room that's all I need to keep in touch with my family.  This job is 10 times easier than in the military, I can't believe they pay me this much to do this.  Well, I guess it's what you know that makes you.  My schedule next week will be pretty short because we get holidays here also.  Maybe I will go to the city and check it out.  I haven't been there yet.....

Feb. 18 - Worked all day and as soon as I got off work I went straight to bed.  I am trying to get over this cold.  I hope I feel better tomorrow.

Feb 19 - It's Saturday, there's not a lot going on around here during the weekends.  Maintaining the network circuits and surfing the internet are mainly our job here.  If the circuits go down we fix it.....  Other than that everything is good.  After we got out of work, we drove to the city for dinner.  Just like what I expected a lot of Villa's, Mansions and Mosque.  The restaurant is by the water (Persian Gulf) and the food was very good. A lot of Filipino's working there too, feels like back home.  Just got home and I am hitting the sack......  I don't work tomorrow so I am planning to sleep in.......  Pimp Ride (Our Company Vehicles)

Feb 20 - I got to this camp last Tuesday.  Since then I been working 5 days straight on a 12 hour shift.  It all comes down to a lot of overtime.  This will be my schedule for the next year. Having a military background you work all day and all night but this time I am getting paid for all the hours that I put in.  I have read that "time flies by when you are having fun."  I been here for a couple of weeks and in my opinion it has past by pretty quick.  Not because this place is fun but I just kept myself occupied.  For others that are here for the first time, it might been a rough start for them but for me I have learned to manage my time.  I had seen other people leave because they got home sick after a couple of months but they just don't realize that there are soldiers out here that doesn't have a choice but to be here.  These guys have been here for a year or two not by their choice.  So my point is when the going gets tough, suck it up......

Feb 21- I had my palm pilot for almost a year now and there are some specs that I did not pay any attention to, for example the bluetooth connection and synchronizing my email.  The other day when we were at the restaurant, I turned the bluetooth connections and someone was trying to connect through me using text messaging.  I thought it was too cool that all this time I thought I needed to purchase this service that I already had.  So today, I went ahead and synchronize my contact list from my IPAQ (palm pilot) and guess what it works.  Now, I can send email through my IPAQ.  How cool is that.  I thought my IPAQ is only good for taking notes and downloading music.  But what a surprise it can do a lot more.......

Feb. 22 - Today is our Wedding Anniversary.  For a present to my lovable wife Vickie, I told her she can go on a shopping spree wherever she wants.  But of course there's a cap on how much she can spend.  My lead supervisor emailed me my schedule for the next 4 months.  So far so good, this means the schedule is good until June. This July, I am planning to go on vacation back to the States.  I didn't have to wait until then to take a vacation but it's better if I take it on my 6 month mark because I can take a longer vacation.  I am off tomorrow because of the holidays......  I am planning to take a drive downtown to buy some bootleg DVD's for cheap.....  I'll let you know what I got tomorrow...

Feb. 23 - I been bugging Vickie since I left to purchase the extended warrantee on our truck because it has almost 35,000 miles.  Well, she finally went to the Dealership to purchase the extended warrantee but we did not realize that we already bought it when we purchase the truck almost 2 years ago.  That's like an early Christmas Gift for us......  Anyway, since I been here, I always get an email from back home of how the situation is over here.  For short, I can compare this place to a place like New York, Los Angeles or any big cities back home.  Is it safe to be here?  My answer is, you have a greater chance to get robbed or kidnapped in New York or Los Angeles than over here.  We conduct business here just like as anywhere else but with an extra precaution.  When I see soldiers come here, it is like a relief for them to be here because they are away from harms way in comparison to up North which is Iraq.  I have been in a lot of different places and had a lot of security briefing that is why my outlook on things are different that other people.  My best advice is just keep your guards up at all times.  Better safe than sorry right....... 

Feb. 24-25 - After working 12 hour shift, all I wanted to do at the end of the day is to go right to sleep.  So that's what I did this past couple of days.  Weekends are my scheduled days off.  It's hard to get around on my off time because I am still waiting on my Kuwait license.  Once I get it, I would not have this problem getting around.  I bought some bootleg DVD's the other day, for 5 dollars you get 5 movies in 1 DVD.  The quality of the movie is what you would expect for what you pay.  I was watching one of the movies yesterday and on the screen you can see a silhouette of a person walking across the movie screen.  I thought that was so funny.  Man, this place got everything you can think off.  I also bought 2 video games for 10 dollars but when I got home I popped the games in and one of them was not the one that I picked out. 

Feb. 26 - It's the weekend already.  I hit the sack as soon as I got off work.  Woke up around 4 p.m. and got ready for the night.  Our plan was to go downtown and find a good restaurant to eat.  On the way there, we didn't know that today was Kuwaiti's Independence Day.  We were stuck in traffic for about an hour and the place we wanted to go to were blocked off.  Plan B, we went ahead and ate at a Chinese Buffet.  The selections was not that impressive but it will do for now because we were hungry.  Next time, I'm planning to find a Filipino Restaurant.........

Feb. 27 - Relaxed all day.  Finally made it to the gym and I got my workout schedule started.  With my busy schedule during the week I don't think I will have time to hit the gym. Especially eating at the Dining Facility, it is like eating in an ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT buffet everyday. I could gain some serious weight in a short time......

Feb. 28 - Chilled at the Air Base and did some laundry during the day.  Tonight, back to work again.....  I actually look forward on going to work, it makes the week goes by a lot faster.....

March 1 - I talked to Vickie and Tyler almost everyday either by phone or email.  It's not that hard because I am always on my computer or on the phone at work.  The only thing that I haven't been doing since I been here was watching T.V., I am definitely missing out on my favorite shows.  I also found out that I got my paperwork back from Veterans Affairs and they gave me 30% disability for my sunspot that I get on my neck.  Thanks for expediting my paperwork and now I will be drawing a paycheck from them for the rest of my life.  As I told Vickie, it's like drawing early retirement check (tax free)......

March 2-3 - Work, eat and sleep......  This weekend I'm planning to go to the city and buy some Iraqi Dinar.  The exchange rate is $1 = 1460 Iraqi Dinar.  Most guys here have bought Millions Iraqi Dinar already.  I might have to jump on this band wagon and see if I can make a profit from it.  I know this would be a long term investment but if everything goes well over there in Iraq, we will be banking some mula.   For now, I am getting some rest and wait for this weekend...... 

March 5 - I got off work and took a little nap before Steve gets here.  He's been here before so he knows his way around the city.  First stop, the electronics stores to get an external hard drive for my laptop for backups.  Steve on the other hand bought one also and a whole lot of hacking software.  Then we looked around for a decent price on cell phone for me.  I didn't need an expensive phone so I got myself a NOKIA low end type of phone.  Hey, it does the job.  Then we got a little hungry so we headed down to Ruby Tuesdays.  As always since I been here I kept forgetting my Digital Camera so I have not taken any pictures lately.  The mall was not that far away from where we were at so we went ahead and chilled over there also.  We stopped by at a gas station and this Ferrari pulled up beside us and it was NICE.  We drove all over the place and there's one more thing I have to get before heading back to camp, Iraqi Dinar.  We went to the Money Exchange and took care of that.  While we were there, we tried to get some bargains on the gold.  They have a lot of selections but you got to know the business before you buy.  What ever they say the price is always cut it in half.  They get frustrated dealing with me but that is the way business is done over here.  Mula

March 6-7 Not much going on.  I talked to Vickie and she said that tomorrow Fred will be stopping by here in Kuwait.  Fred and I always bump in to each other no matter where we go just like when we were in Japan a couple of years ago.  Then when I got station back to the states couple months later Fred got station in California also.  It's a small world and it is nice to see a familiar face especially when they are your family.

March 8 -9 - Fred got here safely with the rest of his unit.  We manage to hang out around the camp just catching up with the lost time.  He will be leaving this place and heading back to California in less than couple of days and I know that he is excited to go back home to see the family.  They definitely deserve it after a long deployment.  We took a couple of pictures while we were out buying some stuff.....  Kuwait City        Camel Ride

March 10 - I got up pretty early to start my day.  I don't have to work today so I decided to go to the city to buy couple of electronic things like memory sticks and external laptop hard drive (80Gig).  This gadget is sweet, it can even fit in your pocket.  Also, it's a lot cheaper over here than in the states.  I gave Fred one for a good discounted price and his co-worker wanted one sent to him back home.  This will cost you between $225-$300 back in the state but over here it's about half of the price that you would pay back home.  Some of the stores here would try to rip you off but we know where to get them for cheap.  I also got Vickie and Tyler some gift that I sent home with Fred.  I got a pretty good deal on the 21 karat gold bracelet (bling-bling) that I bought for Vickie.  As soon as I got back, I went ahead and shipped the package out to Fred's co-worker.  I was told that it would get there within 7-10 working days.  Enjoy.....

March 11-13 - I talked to Vickie and she told me that Tyler had a great game.  I guess she got the talent from me.  Just joking.  I have been receiving email from a friend of mine Jennifer from high school.  She had sent me a couple of pictures of our high school reunion (yeah its been that long) and I finally got to see some of the people I use to hang out with back in the days.  Some looks totally different but for the most part they are still the same.  We'll see how we all look on our next reunion.  Keeps sending those pictures Jenn.... 

March 14-17  I had been working for 7 days straight.  Same routine work, eat and sleep.  Sometimes I add my workout routine on my schedule  but it has not happen this week.  I got to make some plans for this weekend.  Steve will be stopping by here and we will probably go downtown as usual.  I got to find those Filipino restaurants down there because I got a craving for a Filipino food.  So far so good over here and it is getting close to this summer.  I been pricing some tickets online for my vacation and it's kind of expensive.  That's why it's good that the company will pay for it....  Not bad at all..... 

March 18 - I finally got to talked to Bobby from back home.  I was just bored one night at work searching the web and decided to look for his companys' phone number.  I found his company's website and that is how I got in touch with him.   I definitely will go visit him and his family this summer when I take my vacation.  Also, i got an email from Scotty K and I think today is his b-day (Man, you are getting old bro).  Just kidding.  Happy B-day Scotty Boy!!!!!      

March 19 - After a long week of work all I wanted to do is relax.  We end up going to Ruby Tuesday in Kuwait city to do a little celebration of my B-day.  You would not find a bar or clubs over her because this is a muslim country that has a lot of strict regulation.  Definitely no alcohol in this country but that doesn't mean that these people don't drink.  I was told that you can buy this stuff but you will be paying a lot for it.  For example, 1 bottle of hard liquor will cost you around $150 - $200 (hmmm.... i am not that thirsty to pay that much).  We were invited to an Invitation only "Karaoke Night", these perforners were no amateur..  I guess this is the closest thing you can do here to a party.  We definitely had a great time....

March 20 - Happy Birthday to me......   

                     Thanks for the emails and cards from everyone......

March 21 - Happy Birthday Cheryll......  Your gift is on its way..... 

March 22- My red Honda Civic.  Last weekend these 2 guys wanted to check out the Honda and they seems to be interested of buying the car.  I really took a good care of this vehicle and I know what's the face value of it even though it has a lot of mileage.  The two guys that suppose to look at it didn't even show up.  But one of them called yesterday and made a last offer but it was still too low for us to take.  This car has lasted for 10 years already and it's still holding a very high value plus we just spend $1,000 couple of weeks ago to have it in perfect shape.  I would not mind keeping it but it will cost me additional money to have it ship back to Maryland.  Either way, I am not in a rush to get rid of it because Vickie and Tyler are still in California until June.  It is still for sale if anyone is interested..... CarSoup

March 23- Tax time.  It's time to file again.  We got our paperwork back from Mr. John (the CPA that handles our taxes).  Most of our family had been going to him for years.  This guy is so good that even other CPA goes to him to get their taxes done.  Uncle Sam is definitely getting his share from everybody but if I am still here by next year, he would not be getting much from me over here because most of my income is TAX FREE. 

March 24 - I spent couple of hours today surfing this guys website talking about networking www.skullbox.net.  It is a very good site to go to if you want to understand networking.  For others, it might bore you to death.  If I just had a cable connection out here I would have it done a lot faster.  Oh well, I just have to settle for what we have out here.  This is how I get my updates on things that pertain to my job. Tomorrow, Vickie and Tyler are heading down to Arizona to meet up with my in-laws.  I know they are going to have a good time over there.

March 25 - Vickie and Tyler are in Arizona chillin with here parents.  I hope you guys enjoy your Spring Break.......

March 26 - I found a Filipino restaurant in downtown Kuwait City.  Between myself and Steve we ordered  Pancit, Kaldereta, Kare-kare, Tilapia and lumpia with steam rice.  Steve tried every single one of the food and he liked it.  With me, I just chowed down and enjoyed the meal.  This was a break for both of us from eating the same American meals on base.  Next week, we might try something else...

March 27 - Happy Easter Sunday.... 

March 28 - I called Dad today and I woke him up from his afternoon nap.  He said that they will be leaving Philippines this Thursday.  Mom was not home when I called, she was out shopping with Tita Bing-Bing according to Dad.  Everything else is good over there.  I will be seeing them this summer when I take my vacation. 

March 29-31 - It's just another day at work.  I took a drive down to Doha with a co-worker.  I was going to buy this pair of Timberland shoes but just my luck, they were out of them already.  I should bought them when I had a chance.  Anyway, Vickie said she would look around for a good pair back in the states and she would ship them over here.  Thanks hunnie.

April 1 - Mom and Dad got to Maryland just fine.  Fred and the family are supposed to be back from Hawaii.  Mildred and family also went on vacation to Florida.  Vickie and Tyler are in Arizona.  Man, I need to go on vacation myself.  Not far from it, in less than 3 months and I will be taking my vacation back to the States.  Specially when it is starting to get really hot over here.  It's starting to hit in the low 100's F.

April 2 -  I am off again.  Not bad, but check out the weather for today.....  Whoever is monitoring the temperature is not doing their job.... 

Currently: 108° Unknown High: 93° Low: 68°

April 3 - Today, Vickie and Tyler headed back to California from Arizona.  It was a short vacation for them but they definitely enjoyed the time they spent with her family. I just wanted to mention that I was in Bahrain back in 2002-2003 and it is pretty much the same as over here.  One thing that I didn't experience is the sand storm.  Summer time is just around the corner and from what I have heard it just gets worse.  The wind starts blowing really hard during the summer season and it blows the sand all over the place.  The other day I was walking back from the Dinning facility and the wind was blowing towards me.  Without my cool sun glasses I wouldn't be able to see what's in front of me.  That's how bad it is.  It doesn't happen everyday but you guys get the picture. 

April 4 - Back to school for Tyler.  Vickie is still on vacation. 

April 5 - It's Vickie's Birthday...........  "Happy Birthday to You"  How old are you? ............ 

April 6 - I am only suppose to work couple of hours today because I have to leave early tomorrow to get my new I.D. card from another base.  This is just a way for the company to compensate me for the time I will be spending taking care of this business.  Some people might ask why not take care of it on my own time?  Because it was not my screw up that did it in the first place.  A couple of hours turned into 7 hours because our guys at work encountered some problem with our network.  The problem was that they could not get the back up software to work for our servers.  Of course I have to step in and take care of business.  I guess I was the hero for making it work. 

April 7 - It took longer than we estimated for me to get my new I.D. card.  Again, I didn't have to come in until later for work.  I got some good news today, I finally got my Kuwaiti Drivers License.  This means that I am mobile and I don't have to depend on other people to drive me around.  Cool stuff.  If anyone is wondering how I look now a day...  Here it is....

April 8 - I got an email from my old neighbor Steve that now works in Iraq as a firefighter.  He just got back from taking his vacation from the states.  He said that his family is doing well and one of the things that he did while he was back home was skydiving.  That sounds great but I would not think of doing it myself.  I would rather be on the ground that jump out of an airplane.  Just thinking of that, I need to planned my flight arrangement when I take my vacation this summer.  It's about that time for me to get my workout on before I go to work. 

April 9-10 - We went to the city to check out another Filipino restaurant that one of the guys at work recommended.  We ordered the same dish that we ate a couple of weeks ago from a different restaurant.  On the way back, we saw a lot of kids just getting out of school.  You might be wondering why they go are in school on a weekend.  It is  because over here their weekends are Thursday and Friday.  Another thing, stores around here in exceptions of the mall are close from 1 pm to 4 pm.  They consider this as their lunch break in most Arab countries when they can do their praying.  This is what you call dedication to their religion.  I seen this happened before when they would just kneel on the floor and start praying. 

pril 11- Back to work again....  A day closer to the weekend...

April 12 - "Happy 15th Birthday Sydney" and "Happy 7th Birthday Katrina Martinez"

April 13 -15 - Work as usual.  This past couple of days had been busy for us over here.  Time goes by a lot quicker when you're busy.  Also, I have a season copy of that show Scrubs.  I never paid attention to it when I was back in the states but that show is really funny.  I always like to watch comedy/drama shows.  I figure by the end of this week, I would finish watching it.  I might have to see if they have another season available.  This weekend I am planning on sending out a package to Tyler and Sydney....  I hope you guys like what I got for you!!!!

April 16 - I got the cartouche that I had ordered  with name engraved for Vickie, Tyler and Sydney.  I will be mailing out the packages today and I just hope they don't get damage.  I also talked to Vickie today and she said that Tyler played an excellent game. Good job hunnie, you always make us proud.  I also added picture from Tyler's Spring break in Arizona on the picture page if you want to check it out.  Here's a sample of a cartouche in case you are wondering what it is..... 

April 17 - Happy Birthday Mama Carolyn!!!!!

April 18-22 - I received packages from Vickie and her parents this week.  Clothes, book, cologne and phone cards to call home are few of the things that I got from them, thanks guys.  For the past 2 weeks, we got 3 new guys at work, this means that I am not the newbie at work anymore.  I also got my 90 days evaluation from my supervisor and things are looking good.  I guess he is impress with my progress at work according to the performance evaluation that I got from him.  90% of my co-workers are prior military from all the branch of service, this made it a lot easier for us to work together because we got the same background.  Doing your job is expected from everybody here but the fact that you have to live with these guys, I'm  just glad we get along around here. 

  I had posted another advertisement on Auto Trader for my Honda Civic.  It should be on next weeks issue and it is available online plus on the magazine.  The only disadvantage using Auto Trader's is that they charges bi-weekly on each advertisement.  Time is running out to get this car off the market because I have to make an arrangement for the vehicle to get ship to Maryland.  Either way the car is still in good condition and it would not be a burden for us keep it. 

April 23-24 - Weekends are always busy for me taking care of my personal business.  We planned to go to Doha this weekend to purchase a refrigerator for my room and also to take a photo for my international drivers license.  When we got to the gate the guards didn't let us in because one of our newbie at work forgot his paper work back home.  So, I was not too happy about that because this means that I have to wait until next weekend to take care of this issue.  No sweat, that was over and done with.  We headed downtown to "Johnny Carinos" restaurant for lunch.  I haven't gone to an Italian restaurant for a while so that was a good choice.  Then we took newbie to get a phone and I bought a couple of video games for my computer.  Next door from the electronic store was a Money Exchange, I decided to buy some more Iraqi Dinar as an addition to my investment.  It was getting late so we decided to go home..............

April 25- I got an email from my site manager today stating that there's some changes made and as of today I will be the Shift Supervisor.  It had been brought up to my attention numerous of times before about this position but I didn't really pay a lot of attention about it.  All it came down to is that I am the type of person that still believes in "action speaks louder than words."  There were a lot of qualified personnel for this position but I guess they like the way I improvise things when it comes to work.  On the other hand, I still have things to discuss with my manager before I can stepped up for this position.  As a security, I still need to cover my behind and discuss the responsibilities that I will be performing.  This way I have something to refer to when it comes down to my performance evaluation.  I just got to think 1 step ahead of these guys in order for me to be an effective Supervisor.  Adopt and overcome just like when I was in the military.....

April 26-29 - Working as usual.  Tyler got my packages in the mail this week and she loves the video games that I got for her.  I also found out about her progress report at school and she is doing real good in all her academics.  Good job hunnie!  Another week closer until I take my vacation.  I been looking around for a cheap fare but leaving here to go back to the States is not cheap.  Even though we get allocated a certain amount for our fares it is always good saving some cash, right.  On the other hand, I found a way to fly  home in a commercial airline for free.  I found this out from one of our guys from work and he should be back this weekend.  Once I get it I will let you guys know.....

April 30- I finally mailed out my International Drivers License application.  It has just taken too long for my Kuwaiti license to get back to me.  This way I know I will be able to get my International license within 2 weeks.  I been here almost 3 months and the company is not giving me a straight answer on the status of my drivers license.  It is probably sitting on someone's desk collecting dust.  I submitted my paperwork the same time as Steve and he got his license within weeks.  So you know that I am not a happy camper.  But on the other hand, drivers here in Kuwait are very different than in the States.  These guys do not believe in obeying the speed limit and they will cut you off in a heart beat.  These people give their faith to Allah to save them when it comes to driving.  It is like if they get into an accident it is their faith that got them there, you know what I mean.  It never fails that somebody in the fast lane will just run everybody off the road, these guys don't believe in using their brakes and if you are in front of them, they will flash their lights until you move out of their way.  It is ironic that I still wanted to get my license out here.  

May 1 - Tyler won her game yesterday and she only has 1 more game to go which is next weekends tournament.  Time is just flying by so quick these days.  This is how I want the days to go by until I go on my vacation next month.  But when I get there, I know I will be enjoying myself spending time with my family and that is the only time I want the time to go by slow.  My co-worker just came back from a vacation and he didn't spend a penny on his flight home.  This is what I will be taking when I fly home next month.  It's all expense paid by the government, this is what I call a great deal!!!!

May 2-6 - Beginning of a new month and I only have 1 month to go until I go on vacation.  I am still waiting for my international drivers license to arrive and I also bought a couple of things for my room.  I been sharing a refrigerator with one of the guys from work so I decided it's time for me to buy my own.  Another thing that I got was a rice cooker, it just make my meal complete when there's an available steam rice on the table.  It's funny how little things makes a big difference when you don't have it in hand.  I also took a couple of guys at work at the Filipino restaurant and everybody here is hooked on going there.  The price is reasonable but the quality of the food is excellent.  We always have left-overs to take home when we leave that place.  Food on base is not bad but you can only enjoy so much steak, crab legs, lobsters until you get sick of having the same thing at least a couple of times a week.  At least now we have a variety of places to go when we go downtown.

May 7 - To be able to work in this country, each employer needed a sponsor for your residency.   But the process can take a long time and your contract might end before you can even be approved.  I took my physical today which consist of blood work, chest x-ray and fingerprints.  I have done all these back in the states but I guess this country wanted it done here and they do not take previous copy of your physical.  Anyway, my main point is the process here is very unorganized.  The clinic is very busy and the line is long.  They prioritize their service by citizenship and employer.  So being from the States we get in the front of the line but other guys has to wait in a line that is a mile long.  I don't even want to know who makes these rules over here but I know those guys that has to sit on that line were not a happy camper.

May 8 - Mother's Day!!!!

May 9-13 - Work was pretty busy this week.  We had to install new fiber connections to a couple of different sites this week.  In the process of doing it, one of the workers here cut a fiber cable.  This is installed underground and it is pretty much a nightmare because we loose services to the customer.  We got guys working 24 hour straight just to get this problem resolved with minimal affect on the network.  The only way to get this problem fix this is to re-connect the 2 cables using a Fiber-optic Splicing kit.  It took a lot of work but got it done after 15 hours.  Speaking about work, I got an offer to stay until the end of May 2006.  This would put me 4 months past my 1 year contract.  But instead of just giving me a 4 months extension, they wanted to renew my contract and start a new one beginning next month.  I read the contract and it was an incentive for me doing it this way.  They would pay me for all my bonus that I already acquired since January and they will restart my quarterly bonus and the monthly bonus that I am entitled.  Our company is doing this because they wanted to ensure that they have enough personnel here when the contract ends next year.  This was o 5 year contract that our company started in 2001.  Well, it's up for renegotiation and other companies are also bidding for this contract.  In case another company wins this contract the only thing that would change is the management and they would keep the personnel in hand to keep this operation rolling.  I was planning on staying until May of next year anyway so that I can take the whole summer off.  Don't worry they hold my spot for a couple of months after I finish my contract in case I wanted to work for this company again.  The money is about 2 to 3 times what I would make back in the states doing the same work and it is tax free.  This way I can have Vickie finish her degree and don't have to worry about working.  She had sacrificed a lot for me while I was in the military so this time it's her time to pursue her goal on finishing her degree. 

May 14-15 - I just found out that my webpage is being blocked by our Network Operation Center.  I could not do anything about it because our unit falls under their command.  Now, I don't have access to upload information to my site unless I take my laptop to an internet cafe that has no website filtering.  This has been the reason why I been slacking on updating my journal.  Also, I took my Honda Civic off the market, sorry it's not for sale anymore.  We got a lot of phones calls but either they wanted to finance the car or they changed their mind.  Well, I guess I still have my toy and I think I am going to trick it out and add some more gadgets to it.  Next summer its going to be hooked up.  Now, I am searching for a moving company to transport our vehicles to Maryland.  It's not cheap!!!!!  I took one of the guys from work downtown so that he can learn his way around the city.  Everything went well considering this guy has a bad temper when it comes to driving.  I warned him about this place because they get pretty crazy when it comes to driving.  For some reason they don't obey any rules here, it's ironic because I don't see as many accidents out here.  With the way they drive over here, the accident rate should be a lot higher. 

May 16-19 - This is Vickie's last week at work.  Her boss wanted her to work for another week but that would not give her enough time to get everything situated with the move.  She offered to come in 1 day next week just to train the new guys at her work.  Our old friend Monica and the family are back from Japan for a visit and they are staying at her mothers in L.A. area.  Her son Brandon is our godson just in case anyone is wondering how we all connected.  Vickie and Tyler will be coming up to see them this weekend.  Another week is down and it's getting closer to my vacation.

May 20 - Happy Birthday Nap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  He went back to Maryland for the weekend...  Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!

May 21-22 - It's getting hotter during the day over here.  I went to Camp Doha to do some laundry and it was in the 90's already and it was not even 9 a.m.  By the middle of the day, the temperature was 106 degrees.  This is the time to stay inside.  Got to beat the heat, maybe we will go ride the jet ski this 3 day weekend coming up at the end of the month. Sounds like a good plan.

May 23-27 - Too busy to keep up with my journal.  Mostly worked all night and sleep all day.  How about that?  I will be starting day shift next week.  Looking forward to it but the heat will be a factor.  I'm glad that I work indoors because the temperature has been around 120 this week.

May 28-30 - This weekend I went to the pool a couple of times to cool down a bit.  For the past couple of weeks I had been staying on base and I figure it's time for me to check out a different scenery.  I had gone to the Filipino restaurant with a friend and we ordered 5 different dishes.  The food is always excellent and our table was full.  It could probably feed at least 8 people but we only get to eat this good once in a while so we go all out when we get a chance.  Of course, we took the leftover and share it with the rest of the guys at camp.  We have a couple of Air force guys that's from Hawaii and they had Filipino food before.  You should see their face when I gave them the food.  But now, every chance I get to leave the base they always wants me to get them food.  It's a small favor that I do for these guys because they are not allowed to leave camp.

June 1-5 - My work schedule had changed from night shift to day shift.  Having a 3 day weekend made it a lot easier to transition between shift.  The only bad thing is that I have to put up with the heat in the morning.  We take care of the whole base and if they call for help we got to be out there.  The heat is not the only factor, sometimes the sand storm will make the day worse.  Just imagine going outside and you can't even see 10 feet away from you.  But the only good thing is it doesn't last that long.  This is also Vickie's and Tyler's last week in California.  The only thing that we are waiting for is our vehicle to be transported to Maryland.  The company that I had hired to transport our vehicle gave me a 7 day window starting from June 9th.  It would cost us double the price if we had a specific date to pick up the vehicles.  I guess that is what it cost for convenience now a days. 

June 6-10 - It would not be long until I go on leave. As a matter of fact, it's about 2 weeks from today and I got things lined up that I wanted to do while I'm home.  We will be going to the beach for about a week and hopefully we can find the house that we want to buy while I'm home.  We been looking online and we are working with a realtor to set a time to look at a couple of houses while I'm over there.  But most important of all is spending time with my family. 

June 11- My webpage is finally unblocked from our network.  Now, I can upload and update my entries more often.  I just want to let you guys know that this website is up and running again.   Thanks for your support.....

June 12-15 - I'm back.  Now, that my webpage is accessible from our network I won't be bored at work anymore.  It keeps me busy at work when there nothing for me to do.  It's not that hard to operate and maintain the network or in most cases just surfing the internet until something goes needed to be fixed.  This is one of the incentives that goes along with doing this line of work.  Not bad at all.  Anyway, 1 week left and I will be homebound.  This week I did a little shopping for souvenirs.  I don't want to mention what I bought out here but you guys from MD will see it when I get home.  Vickie and Tyler got to Maryland over the weekend.  Well, I been asked numerous of times of when they will be getting there from the folks in Maryland but I just have to keep it low because Vickie wanted to surprise everyone.  I guess they surprised them when they visited Mom and Dad on Monday.   It's good that they are enjoying it over there.  I was just checking the "Guest Book" earlier and I got a message from Cousin Bing-Bing.  Cool, now I know how to get in touch with the rest of the guys from CALIFORNIA.  I also checked up on my flight for next weekend and it looks like I would not have any trouble.  All I have to do is check in a day prior to confirm and make sure that I am on the list.  It's seems too easy to get a FREE flight home. 

June 16 - I'm still here for another week.  I got to plan out my weekend, I got a lot of things to do before I leave this place.  I don't have much to bring back because most of my clothes that I brought over here are my work clothes.  Saturday is my only day off so I need to make sure that I got everything taking care of before I leave.  Also, we are still waiting for the movers to pick up our vehicles from California.  I just hope that happen this week so we don't have to rent a car just to get around. 

June 17-18 - It's the weekend.  Today is the only day I'm off until I leave for the States which is this Friday.  I mange to take care of all the things I needed done for the week.  I'm just excited to come home and to spend some time with my family.  Tomorrow I will be going back on night shift, now I don't have to deal with the heat during the day time.  Maybe when it starts to cool down I will go back on day shift. 

June 19 - Happy Father's Day!!!!!!

June 20 -22 - Just waiting for the day I fly out which is tomorrow.

June 23 - Today is the day.  I will be going on vacation and see the family.  I had to buy my ticket at the last minute because I got bumped from the military flight.  It's alright because I found one available and I will be flying to Germany then Chicago and my final destination is Washington DC.  I will see you guys when I get there!!!!

June 23 - Flew home... 

June 24 - July 11- On vacation... I will change the entry when I get back from vacation.  Sorry folks but I got to dedicate my time to family and friends.  Just to mention the few familias from ASPEN HILL, GAITHERSBURG, HILLTOPS, THURMONT AND SILVER SPRING.... I will post a lot of pics when I get back to Kuwait.... Thank everyone... Happy Holidays and Happy Birthday Gerald....4th of July.....  G-money...............yeah yeah... you got to teach me the shuffle MOVE man...  You know what I mean!!!!  Later....

My Vacation:

I don't really know where to start because I had so much fun being home and enjoyed spending time with the family that now I had to recall the events that happened since I got back to the states.  Well, here it is.  I got greeted by my wonderful daughter and lovely wife Vickie at the airport.  I just watched the beautiful scenery driving home from the airport.  Man, what a relief looking at an actual vegetation instead of just sand all around you.  Our first stop was Montgomery mall.  Since all my clothes are packed up when I left California and it is sitting in the storage I had to stop by and get some new gear for the time being.  Tyler liked the new fashion of shirt that has characters from Napoleon Dynamite.  Vote for Pedro, Napoleon Rules Man!!!!!  After we left the mall we stopped by G Money's crib and gave a visit to Mom and Dad.  Just a coincidence that my cousin Alan and his family were there visiting, I haven't seen him since we left PI back in 1987.  Man that is a long time. 

That next day, Kim (Vickie's niece) came by and picked up Tyler to go chill at their house in Brunswick.  I was still trying to adjust to the time difference from being home.  Imagine I have to do this again when I get back to Kuwait.  Well, it was nice waking up at home.  We stopped by Cheryll's house and saw her and Sydney.  We didn't stay that long because we had to pick up Tyler from Debbye's house in Hilltop (Boonsboro).  I had a couple of booze their with Mr. Keagle (Debbye's fiance) and reminisce.  It didn't take long to get me buzzing cuz we don't have this luxury in Kuwait.  Bud light was my choice that night and it went down pretty smooth....

The following day, headed to G-Money's crib and the whole crew was there.  The Marasigan Family were there and Uncle Chuck and his  crew were there also.  As the day turn to night we needed some entertainment to keep the party rolling.  Angel came through with her Kareoke Machine.  Of course G has to break the ICE and showed everyone how it is done.  If you don't know, G has a band on the side and he gets a lot of practice.  But our cousin Sean came in the picture and showed that he has some hidden talent himself.    Of course, I was just a background singer because I just don't have that type of talent when it comes to Kareoke.  I was more like a spectator that night but everyone had a good time.  I had posted some pictures on the new My Vacation Page....

June 27-July 1- We went to Ocean City Maryland.  Too bad that I left my digital camera at G-moneys house the night before so I had to use the old 35mm camera that we bought from Wal-mart.  We went jet skiing and hung out at the boardwalk every night that we were there.  Of course we also had to hit the all you can eat seafood buffet at Bonfire Restaurant.  Man, they had a lot of seafood.  Then every day we chilled at the beach, Tyler and I rented out body board and hit the waves.  We also stopped by the Old Times Photo and got our picture taken as an old Gangster family. 

July 2 - We got back from the beach and time to take care of business.  We drove to Westminster MD to look for houses.  We went and checked out at least 10 houses and we got approached by a man that lives a couple of houses away from one of the houses that we looked at.  He offered us to looked at his house that he was planning to sell but it is not in the market yet.  Good deal, he said that he is interested of selling it without the realtor and he would split the profit to whomever willing to buy his house.  The house is very nice but Vickie and I still have some brainstorming to do on which house we liked the most.  I just had to get back with this guy on our decision.  That night it was G-moneys surprised B-day party at Marriott Hotel, special guest was Napoleon and man we got plastered that night.  I think I put some pictures on the My Vacation Page if you want to check it out.

July 3 - We went to Mike's House (Debbye's fiance) for 4th of July fireworks.  Vickie's family and some of their friends are there for the occasion.  Mike went out crabbing the day prior and he caught about 8 dozens of crabs and that was the main meal for that day.  Of course Vickie, Laurie and Debbye also prepared some food for the cookout.  There were also some fireworks that were lit from the Hilltop estate by Jeremy (Mike's son) with the assistant of Greg (Kym's boyfriend).  They also had a ping pong table downstairs and we had our tournament and it got pretty competitive even Tyler gave some competition with the rest of the players.  Some of them had to work the next day so we left a little bit earlier than usual.  Thanks for the grub, it was excellent!!!!

July 4 - G-moneys birthday party (part deuce).  Lechon and lots of food.  Man, I am definitely enjoying this vacation.  Lots of friends and family enjoying G-moneys birthday at his crib.  Everyone was talking about the cook for this party which was G-money.  He brought out his hamburger secret recipe and it was excellent.  Maybe next time we will get him an apron for the chef so that he would not get his Ricky Martin shirt dirty.  Just kidding bro!!!  I will add more pictures on the vacation page once I get it from Myra and G-money.

July 5 - 8 - Spent a lot of time looking for houses.  We decided that the house in Westminster that we look at is a good choice but just in case we went ahead and looked at a couple more just to make a comparison.  I just want to make sure that we are getting a good deal.  When we are not looking for house we went out and saw a couple of movies.  Fantastic 4 and Batman begins were some of the movies that we watched.  We always have Sydney with us all week and I think she got bored hanging out with us looking at house so that's why we gave them a break and took them to the movies.  Another placed that we looked at was Hagerstown, even though we didn't looked at much houses, we did go  shopping at the outlet over there. 

July 9 - Woke up pretty early because we had to go meet with the owner of the house that we are trying to purchase to make a deal.  Tyler took pictures around the house while Vickie and I were talking to the owner to finalize our agreement.  After the deal was done, he took us for lunch and we accepted the offer.  We didn't eat that much because we were scheduled to meet up with Debbye and Mike at the habachi restaurant for dinner.  The chef was pretty good, he was actually from Japan.  But after a while he lost the accent and we found out that he was really from Canada.  But the food was excellent.  Then we went and picked up Tyler from Kym's place.  We decided to chill over there for a while because we didn't really have any plans to go anywhere.  We just wanted to relax after a long day.

July 10 - Last day before I had to go back to Kuwait.  We chilled at G's house and had lunch over there. Hung out for a little while and then we had dinner with Vickie's parents at O'Donnell's at Kentland.  It was pretty good as.

July 11 - Time to go back and also today Tyler started her summer camp.  We took her to the camp but we didn't know that she's supposed to play paint ball with bigger kids.  We decided that she can skip paintball and just go with us to the airport.  We also stopped by G's house to have a little lunch with Mom and Dad.  Our schedule was pretty busy because we also had to meet up with Vickie's cousin Larry to fill out paperwork for the loan for the house.  We had plenty of time to get to the airport after we left Larry's work.  But as always the airport was really busy and being out here for a while does not make me want to go back to the desert.  Well, a little sacrifice now will pay off later right.  When I got to Germany, I had to switch plane and one of my co-worker was also in the same flight.  What a coincidence but I had to catch some zzzz's because I had to go to work as soon as I get back.

July 12-17 - My co-worker picked me up from the airport.  I haven't even unpacked yet and they told me that I will be moving to a different camp.  For some reason, they needed my expertise and skills over there to get the network organized.  I knew that I might be going there but I didn't know that it will be this soon.  There are a lot of opportunities over there especially when my 1 year mark is coming up.  This means a bigger pay raise.  So, I just relaxed and unwind for the entire week.  Did not do much at work knowing that I need to get my stuff situated for the move next week.  Even though this place had been really good to me especially the guys that I worked with in this camp.  When it comes to work we definitely the TOP camp in the country over here.  After work we get along as a family and even though I hate to leave this place there not much I can do. My site manager was trying to fight for me to stay but this is part of life out here.  I just need to adopt and overcome the obstacles.  It would not be that bad over there because I know a couple of guys over at the other camp that I hang out with over here. 

July 18-24 - I got my new place.  Not bad at all.   Living room/kitchen, bed room, phone and internet.  I can live here with no problem.  The only problem was that the gym and the stores are quite a distance from where I will be staying.  This means that I am just going to get more exercise walking around this camp, hahahaha.  My site manger which was the guy that requested me to come here gave me an extra day off to get my stuff organized.  He's trying to accommodate me with everything I need for my new home.  I use to work with this guy from the other camp so I know how he is and he's trying to get me to fit over here.  No problem, first couple of days I had to learn the ropes of how things are done around our worksite.  Then, I made a couple of changes concerning the network issues that they were encountering over here.  I am still on the planning stage of what need to get accomplished to get this place up to speed.  Once I learned the architecture of this place it is time for me to submit my plan of how this place should be when everything is in place.  Of course I always use my resources when things gets too complicated or if I need assistance.  Most of the time 2 heads are better than 1 when it comes to this line of work.  This is not an easy project but I just need to get the ball rolling on what needs to get done around here.  

July 25- Aug 5 - Yes, I been really busy for the last couple of weeks that is why I haven't been updating my journal.  Well, since I been here on my new camp there were some changes.  One of my co-worker here Ron (also Filipino) who just got out from the Navy about the same time frame I did is my new partner in criem.  Luckily we had the same days off and we been hanging out downtown with another friend of ours from Bahrain also a Filipino guy from Georgia.  We been chillin playing pool and hanging out at Starbuck downtown.  The most important thing is he found a couple more Filipino restaurant that I haven't visited.  Of course we had to hit that up before we hang out on our days off.  I guess I found my click down here and it's really good to have friends from the same roots.  I went with him the other day to buy his wife a hand bag "Louie Vuitton" and it shock me looking at the price of these bags.  Some of them are the same price of a new car back in the states.  He said that it is good for life which is cool.  As long as it is not coming out of my pocket...hahaha.  These bags are serialize and there are only few available.  I also got back to my workout routine with one of my room mates and I was feeling it after not hitting the gym for at least a month.  Things are going pretty good at work, I am always busy during the day so it made the day goes by a lot faster.  But the sand storm are crazy out here.  Just imagine windy but add sand blowing towards you, it is not a pretty site.  On the other hand Tyler is enjoying her summer camp activities like water rafting and going to amusement park.  Vickie is also busy taking care of all the paperwork and all the legal stuff needed for our new house.  Between summer school and taking care of all the paperwork for the house she is about to blow up.  But she is a strong woman and she can handle it.  Thanks hunnie.  Oh yeah, after I left my last camp we got recognize for our work.  The country manager over here put us up for a prestigious award for our Company.  We will see if gets approved. 

Here is the Communication Team being recognize for the award.

Aug. 6 - Tony's Wedding!!!!!

Aug. 7 - 13 - Not much going on and I just had been really busy at work.  I pretty much follow the same schedule throughout the week.  Between working 12 hours a day and going to the gym my day is always spent.  But on weekends I still get a chance to go downtown with couple of my Filipino buddies and hit up the Filipino restaurants.  Most of the time we play pool and just hang out.  Tyler has been going to summer camp since I left Maryland.  Vickie on the other hand has been keeping herself busy with her summer class and I think she only has a couple more weeks until its over.  I heard that Tony's weeding was pretty nice, I am still waiting for Fred to get me a copy of the pictures that he took so that I can post it on this site.  NFL is about to start and hope that the Skins will be a little better this year. 

Aug. 8- 31 - Yup, I been lazy here for a bit and I have not updated this site.  I heard that everyone that went to Tony's wedding had a great time.  I am still waiting for Fred to send me a copy of the pictures he had taken at the wedding.  Nap is also back in Maryland and trying to get back on the real estate business just like what he did on the West Coast.  Well, I had been back here in the Kuwait for almost two months.  The temperatures here has been dropping lately and we are liking it a lot.  The heat here is just terrible during the day and it just takes a lot out of me even though I work indoors.  Well, it is almost over and it should start to cool down soon around here. 

Tyler started her new school in Westminster, Maryland.  They had to commute daily until we settle with the house that we are planning to buy over there.  I know it is a big commitment and I am glad that things are just going smoothly.  It should not take long until we settle for this house. 

Sept. 1 -10 - It has been 2 months since I been back from the states.  The only thing that I missed the most is of course my family and the home cooking.  But on the other hand I am planning to go back home towards the end of November for the Thanksgiving Holiday so it is not that far away.  Tyler had her first soccer game of the season and she scored the first goal.  Mike, Debbye and Kim were there with Mom and Dad Moore to cheer for Tyler.  According to Vickie the game was really intense but not as competitive compared to Tyler's old team in California. 

Sept. 11 - 30 - Fred and Jen had moved out from their old house and they are living with a close friend in San Diego while they are waiting for their new house to be finished which will be in the middle of October.  Tyler have been dominating the score board on weekends and as you can see their team is undefeated.  Thanks for everyone's support and hope you will continue to support the "PURPLE PANTHERS" for the rest of the season.  Also, I just wanted to thank "G" for sending me photos from Tyler's Game and always keeping me posted of the events in MD. 

It is getting close to our settlement date for our new house in Westminster.  Our realtor is doing a great job taking care of all the paperwork and I am very please of her work.  By the middle of next month we if everything goes well we should be moved in to our new crib.  All I have to do now is to contact the movers to deliver our stuff from California.  Also, Vickie has been getting really familiar with the area in Westminster and I know she will be thankful once we are done with our settlement because she will not miss the commute everyday from G-burg to West-mini.  As I said just a couple more weeks and we are in there. 

There's not much to talked about that has been going on around here.  But we have a football pool at work and all I can say is that Redskins is 3-0.  Every game has been a really close but as long as we get the win that's all it counts.  So far I am 3-1 in standings but I am the current leader for the points on our league for those Fantasy football fans out there after week 4.  We will see what happens because there's a lot of games to be played out there and the season is not even half way done.  Next game at Denver, so we will see what the Hogs can do over there.     

Oct. 15 - 26 - Still waiting for our stuff to be delivered from California.  Tyler's team has been dominating the game, so far they are undefeated and she has been scoring on every game.  Fred is preparing to move to their new house also and that will keep them busy for quite some time moving their stuff into their new crib.  So far, I had been looking for a good ticket price for my Christmas Vacation.

Oct. 27 - Happy 9th Birthday Nathan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oct. 28 - Nov. 9 - I took over as the Site manager for our camp because our site lead went on vacation for almost a month.  This means a lot more responsibility and more hours at work but no extra pay.....ha ha ha....  It's alright, I will be compensated one way or another.  I also booked my flight for the Christmas holiday to visit the family.  I am definitely looking forward to this vacation, especially I am excited to see what Vickie has done to our new crib.  It's a big difference living from a 2 bedroom and moving to a 5 bedroom house.  There are a lot of things that we want to get for the house but we just have to take it a little at a time. 

Nov. 10 - U S Marine Corps 230th Birthday Semper Fidelis (Always Faithful)

Nov. 11 - Veterans Day !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dad fly's back to Philippines....  Have a safe trip!!!!!!

Nov. 12 - 19 - Tyler and Vickie went to go see the Black Eye Peas concert with Debbye and Kim.  This is Ty's first concert and she said that she had a great time.  Also, Tyler was the big winner for her school fund raising.  She collected the most money for her school and she was given a cd player and 2 tickets to go see the Baltimore Ravens game next month.  Great job hunnie.  Thank you for the ones that donated and I am sure that the school really appreciate your help. 

Other than working here almost everyday, I am glad that the weather had cooled down a lot for the last couple of weeks.  Now we can look forward to a lot of rain. 

Nov. 20 - 27 - Happy Thanksgiving day to everyone!!!!!!

The holidays are here!!!  Almost everyone is out there starting their Christmas shopping.  Stores open really early and stayed open later than usual.  I remember those day when I use to work at  Hechts Department store at Wheaton Plaza.  I was just reading something on the internet that people are going crazy just to get bargains for their money.  Some had been trampled just to get in to the store or others getting beat up for cutting in line.  This is crazy, that is why I use the newest technology for shopping.  I use the internet and order online, plus I am not at home and there's not that much selections here in Kuwait at their department store.  I saw something that would look really good for our new living room set and I had to get it because the price was a bargain.  I'm not going to mention how much I paid for the 61 inch flatscreen DLP (Digital Light Processing) TV but just like I said it was a bargain.  It is only 7 inch thick and it came with a lot of gadgets. 

So if you want to check it out come out to the crib during the holidays so we can watch some Football, Go Redskins......

Dec. 1 - 19 - Just waiting to go home on vacation.... Yeah!!!!

Dec. 20 - Flew out of Kuwait....  I can't wait to get there already!!!!!  Vickie and Tyler picked me up from the Airport.....  Home Sweet Home.....

Dec. 21 - 23 - We did our last minute shopping and set up my game room in the basement..........

Dec. 24 - Christmas Eve gathering at Gerald's crib....  Check out the Christmas Pictures...

Dec. 25 - Christmas Dinner at our house with Vickie's family.....

Dec. 26 - 31 - Started on my first project and that was painting Tyler's room.  Also, we checked out Whitetail ski resort and went tubing with Debbie and Mike...  It was lots of fun....  I got to see Scott, Ryan and their family when we went to dinner with them at T.G.I Friday's......  Everyone is doing great!!!!

Jan. 1st - Happy New Year Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Of course watched a lot of football games.......

Jan. 2 - We went to Ski Liberty to go Snowboarding............. 

Jan. 3-4 - Just enjoying time with family.....  I'm not too happy that I have to go back to work in Kuwait............

Jan. 5 - Flew back to Kuwait.....

Jan. 6  -  Back to work...  Nothing change around here...

Jan. 7 - New addition to the Justo family Fred Jr. is born today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Congratulation Fred and family......

Jan. 8 - I'm still trying to re-adjust to the time difference.  Once I'm off work it doesn't take long for me to be knocked out.....