Blog Update

This is just to inform you all that I have changed the settings to allow anyone to comment, regardless if you are signed in or not. If you know what that means, then please continue to sign in, if you don't, in order to comment, you should be able to click the comment link below any post to post a comment for me.

I have also set up the blog to notify me via email whenever anyone leaves a post (hey, I'm new at this) so feel free to do so.

More to come on last night's EDG (English Discussion Group). I am also in the process of resizing pics so you guys can get a better look at life for me.

Morale = Bad

Well, as most of you know, the internet has been down since last Sunday (today is Wednesday), and let me tell you, I never realized how much I depended on the internet for everyday life. Seriously, try to go 3 days without any internet; no email, no RSS, no news, no bills, no games, or what have you. It's unreal how much happier life is with it, and makes you wonder, "How did I ever do without?"

Maybe it's just because I've been stripped of all other ammenities that I have been accustomed to, who knows? We have about 12 tv channels, but the only time I get to watch them is either during chow of when I'm in the gym (yes, I have officially started the 6 month work out regimine). Most forms of entertainment come via my laptop (everyone here has one, and without one, I have NO IDEA how one would survive), so thanks babe for letting me buy my beast Macbook Pro (I told you it was a good idea). Dvd's & TV series are the primary source, mainly because I have to walk to the rec center to get a Wifi (pronounced WHY FIE Pops, lol).

Back to the internet, we didn't even get an email PSA to inform us that anyone was working on the issue. Furthermore, upon returning to my clu (Containerized Living Unit), which is what I live in (pics to come), I sw a huge line outside the MWR internet registration room. I walked over to find out that in order to fix the internet issue, we needed to re-register our laptop's Mac Id's, however because they close at 8, and it was 8:19, I was not allowed to go get my laptop & return, therefore having to wait another day before contacting the outside world. UNBELIEVABLE! No notification whatsoever telling us how to fix the situation. This place sucks!

So, here's my update for now. I have also fixed the email subscription box, so feel free to sign up. I now realized why nobody was responding to my posts, so my bad.

Downtown Djibouti

Well, this evening, I went to downtown Djibouti, and I was amazed at how poor this country is. From the time we got out, individuals came up to us (women, men & children), straight begging for money or food. Some of the women had their babies with them, asking for food for their baby. One guy walked EVERYEWHERE we went to, talking to us, as if he was our guide, only to ask us for some money or a beer for his services, despite the fact that we told him, "No thanks you, we're good, we don't need a guide." He continued to "show us around," and it really is sad how these people live. I felt bad for the guy and wanted to help him out, but we are told specifically not to, reason being that if you give on person one thing, anyone who sees this will immediately flock to you, thinking that you will give to them to. This guy was helpful though because he did steer us shy of the "bad areas" that are full of crime and the like.

The unemplyment here is over 60%, and it definitely shows. From hundreds of people sleeping in the dirst, to children walking around barefoot, it's one of the most sad things that I have experienced. And to top it off, a guy tried to pick-pocket me, can you believe that? I felt his hand going towards my cargo pocket, so I grabbed his forearm and asked him what he thought he was doing. He apologized, but really?

I wanted to go around more, check out some more shops, and take somepictures, but the begging and heat starts to get to you after a few hours. It realy is a sad sight.

There are numerous volunteer programs here, from a baby & young boy's orphanage, to a cheetah refuge, and so on. They also accept donations, and the items that they request are diapers, clothes, baby food, soap, soccer & volleyballs, and more importantlyis school supplies, shoes & socks. If any of you are interested i helping out these people, don't hesitate to email me, and I wil get al the amplifying information.

Sleep!!!

So, I'm not sure why, but my sleep schedule is ridiculous right now. As of Saturday night/Sunday morning, I was up until 5am, but I spent the better part of five hours finally replying to all my emails, banking my Mafia Wars money on Facebook, and signing up for Skype. Let me tell you, $26.55/year to call anywhere in the US & Canada, prety sweet. I tested it out last night, and here I am at the smoke pit (only because nobody was there), with my laptop (no wires), talking to Jeannie as if I had a big ol' cel phone. Not too shabby.

I am now sitting in my favorite spot on base, which is the MWR (Morale Welfare & Recreation) Recreation center. I've got one of the sweet spots, where there's a desk, and a US power strip, so I can plug in, and get some decent Wifi to blog for you all. I'm working on the FHPC Reader page layouts right now, and learning Adobe Bridge at the same time. It's a pretty sweet program for organizing & arranging your photos. Best of all, it comes with Photoshop.

So, anyways, I just wanted to throw out a line or two to let you all know that I'm settling in ok, trying to get some sleep, and counting the days (only 210 to go).

By the way, I haven't recevied any emails to let me know if you guys are receiving my new posts in your inboxes or RSS readers, so I will wait another day to see if Feedburner just takes it's sweet time or not. I know I've emailed some of you about it, so let me know when you get the chance.

ps - Once I finish working on the Reader, I will try to resize some pics for the web for you to enjoy.

Finally!!

Ok everyone, I am finally able to get online, so I'd like to start this blog up. I have all kinds of info & pics to share, so I'm gonna try & backdate the stuff I've already done, as well as the current things. There will be more to come, so just check the header to see if I've already done it, or what not.

As for my second day here, it was pretty cool actually. I went to the galley for dinner, and I was sitting by myself watching some ESPN, when all of a sudded, two people sat down next to me. Much to my surprise, it was Joel Moore (Grandma's Boy/Dodgeball) and Christian Slater (you know him). It was pretty crazy, because they sat down right after me, and we all had dinner together. I pretty much got to talk to them both by myslef, as the other people there were their PR guys & escorts. I got to ask them all kinds of questions, as well as talk to them about the movies of theirs that I liked. Overall, it was a great dinner.

Later that night, they and Kal Penn (Harold & Kumar/Van Wilder) and Zac Levi (TV show Chuck) did a meet and greet for everyone on base, so I got to talk to them all, and take some pics. Unfortunately, I accidentally deleted all the pics (don't know how seeing as how I'm a tech-savy kinda guy), but Joel & Zach hung out with everyone afterwards for a long time, and had some beers with us. I asked if they minded taking another picture, and they were eager to oblige.

Later that night, like form 0100 - 0330 they and Kal Penn hung out with about 50 people, playing guitar and having a good time. I got to tell them how much I appreciated their visiting us, and they were more than happen to explain their gratitude for our service. Apparently, Gary Sinise heads up a conservative group of actors that do this kind of stuff, seeing as how Hollywood is so liberal, that's it's not always considered a good thing to do to mention their love for USA, military, etc. if they want work.

Overall, I had a great time yesterday. I will try to upload some photos when I can get some banwidth, but in the mean time, I'll try to update this as regularly as possible.



ps - Email me and let me know if you are receiving these posts so I can take accountability for who needs to get it. Thanks.

pss - I can go to Blogspot from my work pc, so that is pretty cool!!!