One of three, in reverse

Okay, I've kind of come to realize that I'm kind of long winded when it comes to telling my stories. I'm going to tone it down now though. I know that most of you probably don't like spending forever just reading about my excursions, so I'm now going to just keep it brief and make them shorter. With that I now offer my first story to you.

Every Friday we have a bazaar on base, bazaar is just the word for market, it's where a bunch of vendors come and sell things. In other words it's nothing more than just tourist trap that is brought on base. I went just for the purpose of looking for a leather/fur blanket like what Danny and Mindi have. So I went down and actually found like 10 different vendors that sell these blankets. So I stopped at one and started the whole "traditional" negotiations. I pointed out the blanket that I was interested in and let the bidding war begin. Now the standard for negotiating is that the first to offer a price is already considered the loser of the deal, I was not the loser (well in that context anyways). I asked and demanded an answer from the man on how much he wanted for the blanket and he replied "$120". Sorry but I couldn't help but to start laughing. The guy was out of his mind. 120 bucks, no way was that blanket worth that so I rebuted 35 dollars. Of course he said no but I was just testing his prices. He than responded that he would go down to $80. That still wasn't going to cut it so yet again I fired back with 40 bucks. He shot me down one more time and he asked me "mister, final price how much for this blanket?" I told him that $45 was my final offer. I wasn't going to go more because the blanket wasn't really all that great. The guy of course turned down my offer so I thanked him and walked into his rival blanket sellers tent, they're right next door to each other. I went in and found the rug that I wanted and again asked how much for the rug, even he started out at $120. These guys are good, they talk and find out what the others are trying to sell for. Well, nothing new happend with this guy other than I finally told the guy that I wouldn't go any more than $50 bucks. He said no and again I left to find another blanket stand. I got about half way down the row of shops when all of a sudden I hear some one behind me yell, "mister, wait!!!" I turned to look and see who it was and it was the shop keep that I was just talking to was running after me waiving his hands in the air. "Okay, 50 dollars! I'll take 50 for the blanket" I agreed and walked back with him. The funny thing happened when I got back to his little shop. He started just throwing my blanket around while he was folding it and kept saying to himself, "No profit for me today. No profit for me." I didn't really care, business is business and if 50 bucks wasn't good enough for him I'm sure that he wouldn't have chased me down. So after he got my blanket all bagged he turned to and said to himself, "First sale of the day, I guess I'll just have to try harder." I guess so buddy, good luck with that whole $120 thing. I'm sure it's going to work out great. Now the good thing about the story is that I'm sure the guy still made a good deal off of my 50 dollars. I'm not to worried and that I was able to get it for about 20-30 dollars cheaper than one of my buddies just a few weeks ago. In the end though, I was able to get a really nice, queen sized, supposed "seal" fur blanket for just 50 bucks. That's what I said I'd pay and that's what I wound up paying. It all worked out.

Paradise, keep telling yourself that........

Hey everyone, I felt that I would get on and share a super fun story that I have for ya. It comes from one of my latet missions. Well it wasn't really a mission, just a trip to go and get some equipment. So here it is, hope you enjoy.

The other day my team leader came up to me and told me that we (my team) had been volun-told that we were going out on a mission to pick up a HMMWV (hummer) and that I had to pick one of the guys off of my fire team to go and do it. I decided that it's not really anything that any of us want to do, so I volunteered myself to be the one to do it. I was a little bummed about it though because it's not really my job to be a battle field repo man, but what can I do besides suck it up and drive on. Than he told me where the HMMWV was. I compare it to a uniformed officer going into the middle of Compton and and picking up a car. Yeah he's a cop but really I don't think they care, he's not well liked there. Well the same with where I had to go, the "Compton" of Afghanistan (AF). Just as a little side note, my superiors feel that they can call on us more than any of the other companies bcause they don't really trust the others to go out side of the wire. Kind of makes you think twice about being good at what you do. So the day comes and we go out. I got to at least ride in one of the new vehicles, it's called an MRAP (mine resistant, ambush protection). They're pretty nice. Well at least when it comes to keeping you alive. It's basically 18 tons of armor rolling down the road. Yeah, NICE!! Comfort wise is a different stroy though. The seats feel like they're made of armor too and you have a four point seat belt that basically pulls you into the seat. My butt fell asleep in 10 minutes easily and I still had plenty of ride left. The ride is about two one way. We finally got to the base and got the HMMWV ready to go. Now keep in mind the HMMWV belongs to one of the other companies so it's their responsibility to keep it in good shape and running. After things were ready to go they decided to make me the driver. I'm fine with that, if something happens I know that I have control. I jump in and get the truck going and I put in reverse. Nothing happens.... the truck just sits there. I gas it and the engine didn't even rev. "Great, I get to drive a broken truck." I put it in park and than back into reverse, it goes this time. We get loaded up and start to move out so I reach up and turn on what A/C it has and nothng but hot air blows out. I already hate this day. I now have to be a repo man that gets to drive a broken truck with no A/C. The HMMWV is about 6 tons of pure armor. You can't open the windows while driving or it doesn't do anything to protect you from exposions. Let me tell you that the armor sure heats up fast. Ten minutes after leaving I have a steady stream of sweat running down my face. It was tollerable until it starting running into my eyes. It got so hot in there that I had to wear my gloves to touch anything. I tried to grab my pistol with my bear hands and it burnt me. The guy that was sitting next to me kept burning his leg on the metal door. I'd guess about 150 to 160 degrees in the truck with no wind to cool you off. Fine I can still handle it. It sounds bad but I'm alive, nothing has happened to us in "Compton" yet and plain and simple I'm a soldier that is expected to just keep going when it goes bad. Than life just had to throw something else in there. My truck started to over heat and we hadn't even got to the hills yet. So I turned on the heater in the truck to try and pull some of the heat off of the engine. it started to work, just a little bit though. I seriously felt like I was going to pass out from heat exhaustion. IT WAS HOT! About 30 minutes later though we got to another small little base and we pulled in to give the trucks a break after climbing up some hills. We instanly jumped out of out the truck and went running to find a mechaninc to help with or truck. They came over and changed out a contol valve for the A/C and we put in some antifreeze because out truck was almost empty. It all took about an hour and a half to fix our truck. It as kind of fun though because I helped them the whole time just to get it done and out of there. So we take off again and start working our way home. Most of the ride is on narrow switch backs through the mountains. We got to one point where we were right by a river. As we came around a corner we ran into yet another problem. A big delivery truck with huge containers about the size of a train car was teatering on the edge of the road, blocking our path and also getting ready to fall off of the edge. I wished that we could have helped but it was part of the plan. We couldn't stop a whole convoy to help the truck. So we drove down the hill next to the river and went four wheeling through the Afghan country side. We had to go through the river a couple of times and one of those times my truck just happened to get stuck. Perfect timing for the transmission to quit again. I put it into reverse, nothing. I put it into drive, nothing. I tried four wheel high and low, but nothing. We weren't going anywhere. Finally as I'm getting pissed at the situation I put it into reverse again as I yelled a couple of words and it started to go. I'm not to fond of just sitting there and making a target of myself especially when my truck isn't even working. We finally got around the falling truck, the river and all of the mud. We worked out way back to the road and kept going. An hour later we finally go back. It was perfect timing too. I was hungry, tired, and ready to get rid of that HMMWV. I got back and called it quits for the day. I was done. it was a fun little mission, about 10 to 12 hours for the day. Now it's hard to complain though. I got to see how I would react in a crappy situation and other than not having any air in my truck for the last little bit it turned out just fine. I've still got all of my body parts and I'm alive. Not every day is like that though. That was just an every now and than event. It wasn't the first and I'm sure that it won't be the last but the main thing is that I continue to keep my cool and be happy that at least I get to have the opportunity to experience another crappy day. There's other bothers in arms here that don't get to because they paid the ultimate price. I love you all and I hope that you all are safe and well. No reason to worry about me, I make sure that I take every step to keep myself safe. I miss you all and can't wait to see you in a couple of months.

Yes, my face is now as hairy as my butt

Okay, so I've decided to add a new segment to my blog. Why? well I'll tell you why. There are some of you out there that don't think I can grow a beard. You think, "oh, I'm not even sure if he'll be able to grow as much as his younger brother going through puberty." whom, if I may, is quite freakishly hairy for a freshman. Yeah, I said it. I think that when it comes to testosterone flowing through my body, it decided to take a detour and focus it's efforts on my manly good looks. Disagree if you may, but the proof is in the pages. (writers comment: I'm pretty sure that's a real saying, "the proof is in the pages". If it's not I need to figure out how to make it one.) So for those select doubting few, or rather all please feel free to check back to my blog weekly and see the status of what I have dubbed as "My super sweet beard of 2008". Yeah I had to give it a year because I'm not sure as to the next time I'll actually be allowed to grow one. And to those of you who feel that you can do a better job at a beard, I extend to you an open invitation to try and out grow me. So as for this inauguration week, I would like to thank you for stopping by and supporting my new segment. Please enjoy what the pictures and also what the future has in stored.

Diamond in the Rough

Hey all, I know that by now I'm sure that I've lost alot of my readers. For that I apologize. I have been a very bad blogger. I know that it's been about a month but I now have internet in my room. So please just hang in there a little bit longer as the future of aronisagonegone2 is about to change. I promise that I'll be better at keeping you updated. Believe me there's so much that I want to share with all of you. So stay in touch and you won't regret it. While I'm on today I just want to share a little bit about what I've been doing. I'm not going to give details but I'll tell you what I can, so enjoy.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to actually go out and talk to some of the locals. Oh man was it the coolest experience ever. You come to a country with certain expectations, but when your expectations are exceeded it makes you sit back and re-think the situation. I'm still kind of in awe of how my trip went yesterday. Okay so, on with the story. We, my team and I, went to a local city to go out and meet with the people and see how they are doing and to see what we can do to help them. The other team that we roled out with is called the Police Mentor Team, PMT. So when we first arrived to the city we stopped by the local Afghan National Police, ANP, compound to see how they were doing and to just talk to them about the area. These policemen were some of the most dedicated personnel I've seen. They believed in what we are trying to accomplish all the way down to the core. These men stood ready to throw their lives in the middle of the fight just to get that extra step and foot hold in this war on terror. The Afghans in general are smaller people so these policemen's stature wasn't too overwhelming, but what really grabbed and demanded your attention was the heart these guys have. Their demeanor was bold and powerful and you knew that you were surrounded by some of the best men Afghanistan had to offer. They invited us to go out and do patrols with them. Of course we said yes. You think that we would pass up an opportunity to go out with men of this devotion. No way, or at least I wouldn't and didn't.

We were off. I jumped in the back of one of their Ford Rangers and held on. If you've seen the way the Afghans drive you'd understand why I held on. These ANP tore out of their compound with their engines roaring, lights flashing, and sirens screaming. They flew down the streets swearving through traffic, commanding respect of the road and making their pressence known. I couldn't help but to have a smile on my face the whole time. This was raw and powerful. The ANP lead us through the city on a high-speed tour/patrol. We had our interpreter tell the ANP sergeant in charge that we wanted to go to some of the neighborhoods and see the people. He was more than happy to oblige, he just told us in the back to hold on. The ride was going to get a little rough.

The shiney dark green ANP Ford Rangers turned off of the main road on to some dirt roads and picked up speed. The rear tires lost traction and just spit dirt with how much power these ANP's were feeding the engines. Bump after bump I held on to the roll bar in the back of the truck, making sure I didn't lose balance. After a turn here and and a turn there the ANP decided that the location was as good as any. They parked and blocked off the roads, or at least the dirt paths they had as roads. Everyone jumped out of the back of the truck and started getting together to talk about what the plan was. Everyone but me that is. I jumped out and caught my foot on a stupid tow hook on the back of the truck and almost fell on my face. The ANP were quick to laugh about it but they than came over and gave me a pat on the back and walked me over to the group.

It turns out that everone decided that I was in charge of this whole expedition and the decision was up to me. Well, let's not waste time than. We came to see the people so let's go and see 'um. On the corner there was a little stand that was surrounded by kids of all ages and a couple of men. I walked over to see what they had for sale. Once I got to the stand I was amazed at how the children and even the adults were quick to welcome us. Some of the children even did so in english. Wow, how amazing. Some had better english than the others but the fact that they tried was warming. I saw that they had a stack of fresh green cucumbers sitting in a pile for sale. So I asked how much they were and found out that they were two for a dollar. I talked them down to three for a dollar and bought six. I than broke them in half and handed a half to each of the smaller children. They were probably some of the juciest cucumbers that I had seen. They just dripped when I broke them in half. I than saw that they had cold sodas and candy for sale. So I bought six cans and gave them to the ANP that we went out with and bought three bags of candy and handed the candy out to the children. The kids went crazy, they surrounded me and just said "mister, mister" and put their hands out. Some just grabbed but most just stood there and asked. They're smart little buggers too, they play the sympathy card. They'll come over holding their baby siblings and give you a sad face. I dare you to say no to that. It's baiscally impossible. So we talked to the locals for a while. It was great to actually get out and see what we could do for the people, that is why we're there after all. So after saying good bye and thanking them for their time we were back in the trucks flying across the dirt roads. Working our way through the neighborhoods and finally back to the main roads. Once again we held on as they tore through the traffic back to their compound.

Once back we unloaded the trucks and I was quickly volun-told that I was going out on foot patrols with the ANP to go and get the best kabobs in the country. We loaded up our gear and headed out. We worked our way throught the streets. Stoping and saying hello to the shop owners and people on the streets. We walked a little ways through the business district of the city and found the kabob shop. It was awesome to watch these guys cook the kabobs. They threw the skeweres down over hot wooden coals and just sat there and fanned them until the meat was cooked. Once they were done they sasoned them and wrapped them up in some flat bread, called nan, and wrapped them up in newspaper for us. As we waited for the kabobs the ANP sergeant in charge bought a couple of bowls of fresh made icecream for us to share. The first bite was hesitant but quickly changed to a pleasing surprise. It wasn't what we're used to but had the same concept. It was just a little plane and sweeter than what we have. After the icecream we were off back to the ANP compound.

Back at the ANP compund our Humvees were fired up and ready to go. We got back and thanked the ANP for their hospitality and we took off. Rolling out for another long convoy back to base. It was hard not to think about the experiences that I just had but my attention was needed else where. For this convoy I was the truck commander, TC, and was responsible for the people in my truck. Making sure they're doing what they need to and keeping in commuication with all the other trucks. You have to be focused. The experience will never leave me though. It was definaely one for the books.

I hope you found yourself being able to actully feel what it's like to be here. It's a rough gig. There's not a day that I don't miss my wife and want nothing more than to just see her and kiss her, but I can't. Still life goes on and I continue to try and do what I came to this country for, to help them find their feedoms and give them a better life.

I hate Washington (the state)

Hello everyone. As I'm sure most of you already know I am now back in Washington and let me just tell you that I hate it. I had the amazing opportunity to be able to come home last wednesday night and stay for a couple of days, it was actually a four day pass. I had the best time with my beautiful wife. My flight landed at about 8:00 pm and I knew that Meg was going to be waiting for me when I got of the plane. So being the kind of guy I am I had to make sure that things didn't go exactly how she was expecting. My plane landed in the second terminal and SLC so Meg planned on meeting me at the bottom of the escalators by the baggage claim. I however decided that wasn't going to happen. I ran from the second terminal down to the first terminal, out side by the taxi's and passanger drop off, around to the second terminal and snuck inside without Meg seeing me. I scoped out the area and saw a beautiful, hot, sexy lady standing all by herself looking intently for someone to come down the escalator. So I snuck up behind her, put my hands on her waist, and whispered in her ear that she needed to look harder. Before I could finish whispering in her ear though, she turned and screamed with an amount of joy that I'm not sure that I have ever witnessed before. I loved it. After our wonderful greeting we jusmped in the car and headed to St. George. It was great we basically did nothing. We sat around and just enjoyed each others company (and for those of you with "adult" minds I really mean that we actually just enjoyed each others company). Also because we aren't going to be able to see each other for our b-days we did a little gift swap. My gift was super awesome, Meg made me an americana themed quilt. I loved it, love it, and will always love it. I also had a chance to see my family. It was great to see everyone. As great as it is though, it always comes with saying a good bye. I hate it. I want to just be able to be home with my beautiful wife and not have to worry about a thing. I guess that I only have a few more months to endure until it's over. Well it's actually ten but on the big picture scale ten months is nothing. I know, I know Meg, you don't need to tell me. I know that I'm full of crap and that these next ten months are going to be forever but I've got to stay positive. It's the only way to get through it. Well I love you guys and for those of you that I didn't get to visit with while I was home I should be back in about five months so we can get together than. Can't wait to see all of you again and take care. I love you Meg, more than you can ever know.

Uncle Aaron Redux

Well, well, well, it looks like lil' whit finally decided to drop by and join the family. The only thing I can really say to that is, "hallelujah". I am finally an uncle, well again. I've been an uncle since I was seven, yeah kind of weird when you're that young, but the thing that makes this time so freakin awesome is I know have an Aunt Megan by my side. And as I'm sure that all of you know, things are just so much better when you've got Meg with ya.

I've decided to turn this post into another one that just praises Meg and tells her how much I love her, and appreciate her, and miss her, and how I look forward to seeing her in 110 hours and 23 minutes, but before I do that I have a few other things I would like to address. First off is my beautiful niece, lil' whit. I just have to tell ya that I'm so sorry that I wasn't there to experience you passage into this wonderful world and your joining of your amazing family. And yes you truly do have an amazing family. As weird as your dad may seem he's still a good guy, I promise. I've also seen your pic's and you are one cute little baby. Just please don't cry when you see my ugly mug in about a week. I know that you're used to being around a good looking family however you're just going to have to get used to the idea that you've got an ugly uncle. Be happy though because my beautiful wife helps make up for it so it shouldn't be too bad.

Now to my family and that means all of my family, big (Danny) or small (lil'whit), near or far. I love you guys. You are seriously the freakin sweetest family that I could ever ask for, even the family that didn't ask for me (sorry Megan's family). Ya'll do the best in making sure to keep in touch, for your touching posts (Laurel), and just letting me know that the love and support is there. I can't wait to see all of you again. I really do miss ya.

Finally my wife, my partner in life, my BEST FRIEND, the only thing I can ever really say to you is that I LOVE YOU. I love you more every single day and know that there will never be a day that my love for you doesn"t grow. You always have a way of taking my words and breath away when I talk about you. I feel like a young naive high school kid that has found the girl of his dreams. I start to feel a shortness of breath when I think about you, my heart starts to rev up like a race car and jump out of my chest, and the only thing I can ever say when I get off this phone with you is "Ahhhh, I love that woman." You drive me crazy, especially when I get to see pics of you on your blog. Because let me just tell you that Meg Babe, you are looking so hot. It drives me crazy not being able to see you. At least I'll get a little taste in just a couple more days. So again I love you, I love you, I love you.

And to all of you friend, family, or even weird creepy strangers that just pop in to read my blog, Yes I love you too. Thank you for everything and remember to those about to rock..... We salute you.

Ode to Meg Ann (it's basically Megan)

I decided that I would make a post that is focused towards my amazing wife. I put a lot of time into it, so please enjoy. There's also so pics for your visual entertainment. Also if you are one of the wierdos that are later mentioned than please stop visually and any other way entertaining yourselves with the beautiful pics of my wife. Thank you and read on.



Ode to Meg Ann,

I'm pretty sure that I'm your biggest fan.

(if I'm not well than all of you sick wierdos out there better get out of here because she's MINE)

I also really love your can,

and to that I don't really know what to say other than I'm a man.



Ode to Meg Ann and all of her hair doo's.

I don't really like it when she watches me go poo,

or when she runs around and acts like she's two.

I guess that she is a woman so what am I to do?



Ode to Meg Ann and to putting up with... well, me.

I am a man and I guess that means I act like I'm three?

But wait I'm pretty sure that when you're two than you're younger than three,

and that doesn't make sense because she's way more mature than me.



Ode to Meg Ann and all of your cute little crafts.

They are always so awesome, even when you make me cut out the rough drafts.

Also because it rhymes, you're so cool because you went down the river with your family in some rafts.

basically you're just super cool, just end that with something that ends in -afts.



Ode to Meg Ann and the eternal gift that she has given me,

I get to be with her forever and that makes me so happy.

There's not a person that I love more and on a daily basis crave to see,

I couldn't ask for a better way to begin eternity.



Ode to Meg Ann and this one is true,

this little dumb poem can't even begin to explain how much I love you!

I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you.

and maybe just one more, I love you!