Nuff'nStuff, Only Hotter

My thermometer arrived. We're going to hang it up at the USO so people can take pictures. The day this was taken the temperature showed 127 degrees when the thermometer was laying on the table. Since the photo with Oneal and Majzer (taken on Majzer's birthday and last day at Camp Virginia) is in the shade, the temperature shows only 120, but believe me, it was HOT that day. I've stopped wearing my gold necklace because when I'm outside the chain (which is very fine) heats up and burns my neck. Bettie told me the thermometer showed 140 degrees the next day. I cannot wait for summer.

Someone messed with the AC in the ladies' latrine. It was at least 140 degrees in there. More like a sauna than a bathroom. Now there's a note telling people not to touch and the AC seems to be working, so it's only about 90 today.

One of my TC4ME Marines told me they had been given an exit target date of June 18th. "That's easy for me to remember," I said, "it's Paul McCartney's birthday." Well, you guessed it, the kid says, "Who's Paul McCartney?" If I had more strength and flexibility I would have turned my walker around and smashed him with my cane.

For some reason the bright light that shines near our bunk is collapsed. (See picture 1.) The light is located between me and the bathroom and is now something of a hazard. I always keep my eyes down when I walk since it's really bright during the day, and there's sand blowing, and I don't want to trip on the rocks. That means I usually look up just as I'm about to run smack dab into the contraption. (See picture 2.)

Although Steve, our new Center Manger has been around for about a week, his official start date is June 1. We're having a meeting at 0700 that morning. I should have lots to report; if not, I'll make up some stuff.

Berry and I are moving into B+ territory so now I can mention him by name in my blog. We're having scheduling issues though, with him working midnight to noon every day and me working either noon to 2000 or 1600 to midnight. Four hours is not enough.

Go Lakers!

USO at Camp Buehring

I visited Camp Buehring and their USO for the first time on Friday, 22nd May. The USO was closed when we were there, and of course it's impossible to compare a USO that I visited for 10 minutes with the one where I've worked for 14 weeks, but it's obvious the two USOs are very different. The USO at Camp Buehring's is huge. They are extremely organized and very well stocked. They have 24 computer terminals (we have 6), 12 phones (we have 4) and Lenolium floors (we have warn carpet that is long-past due to be replaced). They have many more visitors than we do, but, if I remember correctly, their hours are 1400 - 0200 (ours are 1000 to 0600). They are bright and open; we keep the lights dim and calm; we are casual and relaxed. Knowing me, I'm happiest at the USO where I am assigned and working, and indeed I am glad to be part of our homey, comforting and enveloping atmosphere. One of the troops told me that the USO at Camp Buehring seems like the airport; the USO at Camp Virginia is more like my living room.

Halfway to Home - Grill Yourself Silly Party (Part 2)

The reason we had the party was to honor these guys who are the nicest, cutest, most helpful, delightful and considerate men on the planet. Did I mention every single one of them is adorable? I thought it would be fun if they could wear civvies and they did have permission to do so, although some never did get that message, others did not have anything appropriate to wear or felt uncomfortable in civilian clothes. When the MEB first arrived Sgt. O was so grateful to me for something that I did, he said, "Man, if I weren't in my uniform I would hug you." (Marines always wear their uniforms; they don't ever go around camp in their PTs like the other services do.) Now I hug Sgt. O and many of his squad almost every day. These guys have totally loosened up at the USO and shown themselves to be the gentlemen that they are. Let me tell you a little more: One has a wife with a cyst that needs to be removed; she will probably require a hysterectomy. She's 23 years old. A few days ago one needed some alone time in the UTR room. He had just found out his close cousin committed suicide. One (who is now 21 years old) helped raise his younger brother and sister before he entered the Marine Corps. His brother was addicted to crystal meth and has since died.

You should know that most of these guys are 19-22 years of age and for some this is their 2nd or 3rd tour. A group of them is on the way to Afghanistan later this year. I took tons of pictures and included a few. As soon as I figure out how to post pictures on Facebook, I will put up the whole pile.

Halfway to Home - Grill Yourself Silly Party (Part 1)

Yesterday we had the party at the USO for my TC4ME Marines. There were a couple of glitches in that we did not go shopping for food in the morning, so the meat was bought the evening before without me; they bought four times more food than we needed, putting us three times over budget with plenty more supplies to buy.

Christine and I left at 1000 to go to the PX at Camp Buehring (which is larger and better stocked than the PX at Camp Virginia) to get condiments, utensils and cheese. (See separate post regarding Camp Buehring.) Luckily, following her suggestion, I showered before we left, because once we returned with the items and began to set up it was go, go, go until 2300. We had a Grill Master scheduled, but it turns out he had arranged to be there at 1700; the party started at 1430. One of the Marines (Taylor) and an army guy who just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time (Boyet) volunteered to take over so they set up the bar-b-que, lit the coals, and started to grill in the 118 degree heat. We didn't have proper equipment so they used metal spoons and wooden spatulas to turn the meat. Bettie drove over to Supply and brought back a huge ice chest with a dozen bags of ice so we could have cold tea, sodas and Monsters. (The water fridge was filled with the boxes of 150 steaks and 150 hamburgers.) The first shift of Marines (those who had to be at work at 1600) arrived at 1430 and the party got underway. There was a little bit of a lull at shift change (1600) but other than that Taylor and Boyet, along with Cunningham, Lyons and Steele grilled straight through until 2100. We had all this meat defrosting in the fridge and had to cook it. We invited everyone we saw on camp to come eat and a lot of them did. The Marines played hackey sack and cards; we had hula dancers and three Marines got leid. These young men also helped clean up, brought in cases of water, stocked the fridge, emptied the trash and took out scores of bags of garbage.

I'm dividing this post in two, to include more pictures.

Moving

Jose, our Center Director has been promoted, so he's moving into the Logistics Manager position for USO Southwest Asia. That means a guy named Steve is moving from Duty Manager at Qatar into the Center Director position here at Camp Virginia. Jonathan and Kevin are moving from their quarters at the Radisson in Kuwait City to barracks at Camp Virginia, which is also where Jose will be living. (They're big shots, so they each get their own room.) Sarah, the Center Director at Buehring is moving to be Center Director in Iraq; I think she's taking a couple of Duty Managers from Buehring with her to Iraq. Another Duty Manager from Qatar is being promoted to be Center Director at Buehring. The Center Director at LSA has been moved out for good. (Long story.) I don't know who's moving in to LSA.

And you thought the earthquake in LA was disruptive . . .

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When we have a line and I call people to come up for their turn at the phone or computer, sometimes they don't answer, they just come up. Other times they respond like the good soldiers they are: "MOVING!" So I say, "Jones for the phone; Jones;" and Jones responds, "MOVING!" or "JONES! MOVING, MA'AM!" It just cracks me up.

Harry & David

I got an advertising e-mail from Harry & David. Since we'd recently received a lot of Harry & David snacks at the USO, I wrote to their Customer Service. Here's the way cool e-mail exchange:

Customer (Bonnie Bachenheimer) 05/18/2009 07:10 AM I am Duty Manager at the USO, Army Camp Virginia in Kuwait. We received boxes of care kits which included bags and bags and bags of Harry & David snacks which I assume were donated by you. The troops LOVE the snacks, especially the pear chips, garlic pretzels, pretzel twists, roasted almonds, snack mixes, wasabi peas, etc. I just wanted to say thank you and let you know that your generosity is very much appreciated by the staff of the USO and especially by the hundreds of American troops passing through. Thank you so very much. Bonnie B.

Response (Andrea H.) 05/18/2009 08:59 AM Dear Bonnie Bachenheimer:What a great note to receive! Thank you for your kind words and taking the time to correspond with us. I have copied our press release below about the promotion Harry & David had with USO.

HARRY & DAVID SNACKS HEADED FOR THE TROOPS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN USO AND HARRY & DAVID PROGRAM MEANS TROOPS CAN SOON LOOK FORWARD TO SOME DELICIOUS TREATS MEDFORD, OR. April 22, 2009-Harry & David snacks are headed to the troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan thanks to the generosity of Harry & David customers throughout the U.S. Starting in early February there have been special drop off containers at each one of the 141 Harry & David stores in 38 states, where customers were able to deposit Harry & David snacks they had purchased for the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. In a partnership with the USO's Operation USO Care Package ("OUCP") program, Harry & David will now ship the packaged snacks to be included in the OUCP care packages for distribution to troops stationed in Iraq and in Afghanistan. Harry and David contributed additional snacks, packaging and shipment to the USO as their part of the program. "I am pleased that nearly 25,000 snacks are headed to our troops stationed in these distant countries. The value of these snacks exceeds $100,000. The thoughtfulness of our customers will be much appreciated by our men and women in uniform." said Bill Williams, President/CEO of Harry & David. He went on to say, "We thank our customers for their generosity and extend our sincere appreciation to the USO for partnering with us to make this possible."

"The USO is so grateful for the generous gifts that both Harry & David and their customers are donating to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. With little access to these types of delicious snacks while deployed overseas, every bite will lift their spirits and remind them of the comforts of home," says Sloan Gibson, USO president.

Harry & David snack items that were accepted for gifts for the troops included bagged non-chocolate snacks, bagged nut selections and trail mixes.

Again, thank you for the wonderful note. If we can be of any assistance, please let us know and we will be happy to help!
Best Wishes,
Andrea H.
Harry & David
E-Services

That Went Well

I was so looking forward to watching Bo’s graduation from USC on the Internet. I arranged with Mike-E to take a two-hour dinner break at 2030 instead of 1900, had Christine bring me food from LSA and reserved the computer in the USO office (the fastest computer in our building). I even brought my laptop to work, just in case. We got pretty busy, so at 2027 our time (10:27 a.m. PDT) I went into the office to catch the festivities. It took a really long time for me to log on (13 minutes) and the website to watch the ceremony would not load up. I plugged my computer into Jose’s desk, but that didn’t seem to work either, so I packed up and charged over to use the Internet Café at Starbucks. The place was mobbed; that is, there was no place to sit, not even on the floor. Of course, it’s now 2100, I’m sweating like a pig and fit to be tied. Since I regularly use a cord I had turned off my wireless connection and in my haste could not figure out how to turn it back on. I convinced my buddy Chester to say goodbye to his girlfriend so I could take his chair and use his computer, (a sleek, white model -- the computer, not his girlfriend) but that didn’t work. Woods gave up his seat and with his assistance I finally was able to log on using his laptop (the Cadillac of computers, with a shiny black keyboard, chrome accents and numerous bells and whistles). Unfortunately the hook up was very slow, and Woods wanted to go back to his tent. Since it seemed like the Internet was working, I took my computer (which Chester had packed up) back to the office where I was finally able to log on to the USO computer. I arrived in at the middle of Joe Mantegna’s speech (ironic, since he was the Celebrity Host at the USO Golf Tournament where I volunteered last October), but the feed kept stalling. Sometimes the picture would stop, but the sound would continue. If I did refresh, everything went off for a few seconds before the picture and sound started together again.

The students’ names were called in alphabetical order so they could receive their diplomas. The announcer also read a short message pre-written by the graduate. I waited/waded through the first 2/3 of the alphabet, sometimes refreshing the computer, sometimes waiting for it to catch up. I watched and prayed all the way through the Ps; there was even one Q – and just when they got to the Rs the MF computer stalled! I heard Bo’s introduction, but I did not get to see one glimpse of my son getting his diploma. I was poundFing on the F table, I FF F was kicking FFFF and screamUUing at the U top of U my U lungs, I UU was UUU yelling CCC at CC C the C C screen, I C was C KKKK cursing K K at K the gods K K K! I was disappointed.

I couldn’t call Bo after his graduation because by then all of the phones and Internet at Camp Virginia had gone to trash.* I hope I will get to see My Dude on the DVD which the school is providing to all of the graduates. I’m enormously proud of Bo, even though I didn’t get to see him in real time. ^&#>}%* Internet! (I did mean to say that out loud.) I'm sure this was the answer to all of my prayers.

Oh. And I have a cold.

*At the USO we had a 5-hour wait for 20 minute phone calls before everything crashed. I was not the only unhappy person.

Update: Toby sent some pictures!!

The Haps

Happy to report on lots more of nothing. It's been so busy at the USO that we don't have time to interact with the troops. Write the name on the computer, call the name, take ID cards, hand out games and controls, distribute movies, load the water, make coffee, pop popcorn. I'm not complaining about all that needs to be done, because the soldiers are definitely enjoying our services, it's just that we are so busy there's hardly time to mingle. SSgt. B says it's going to be that way for at least another week.

Finally took the soap situation into my own hands. Get it? If the soap dispensers in the bathroom would work, you could push the plunger up and the soap would come out. A couple of months ago someome decided to change to a thicker soap, so now nothing comes out when you push the plunger. It's suspicious to me that none of the maintenance people notice that they never have to refill the dispensers. Anyway, I just got so disgusted that I unscrewed one of the dispensers and now I can just pour the soap into my hands. I need to take it off a couple of times a day because the maintenance people keep putting the dispenser back on, but at least now my hands get washed. (They are never clean; too much sand.) The white shower curtains were replaced with these seascape blue things. Unfortunately the plastic is really light, so if you're in the shower, every time someone opens the door to come into the bathroom the plastic globs itself on to your wet body and sticks there. I'm convinced that male military officers are in charge of the ladies' bathrooms.

In addition to all of the new bunkers we are getting more and bigger barriers. The ones that were about 2 feet high have been replaced with barriers that are about 5 feet high and the ones that were 5 feet high have been replaced with 8 foot barriers. The barriers that were out have been moved in and the ones that were in have been moved closer. I imagine Camp Virginia viewed from the air it looks like a maze. From here inside it just looks like concrete walls everywhere.

The word for today: Commencement. My Baby Boy Benjamin (aka "Bo") is graduating from USC Friday morning. I hope to watch the ceremony on-line tonight. Bo is the first male from the Bachenheimer and/or Rodriguez family to graduate from college. I'm so proud of who he is, what he's done and the way he's done it, that I'm about to burst.

Planning a couple of excursions. "Respite" for a few days in the UK with Bevie at the end of July. Maybe see some of my British buddies who are leaving now and should be back in the UK by then.

R&R Mediterranean cruise on NCL from Barcelona with Leorit and Bo (and maybe Bo's friend) at end of August. R&R Turkey/Greece with Toby and my friend Cheryl in November/December.

Even I cannot fathom why I decided to take a self-portrait today. I'm really tired, on the cusp of a cold, it's extremely sandy and windy outside and I am desperate for a haircut. But I flatter myself.

Can You Spell W-T-F?

I went to the beauty shop to get my roots touched up yesterday. (Now you and my hairdresser know for sure.) It was pretty crowded because we have a lot of troops coming through Camp Virginia, in and out of theater. Here is my recollection of what I overheard during the 60 or so minutes that I was there. Please note that all of these conversations were between and among men.
A troop having his eyebrows threaded: "Please be careful. My skin is very sensative. Ow. That hurts. Please, can you be more gentle."
A troop (male) inquiring: "I'd like to get a bikini wax." The proprietor explained that they will wax backs and chests, but no bikini waxes. "I'm going home in a couple of days. Do you know anywhere on base I can get a bikini wax." The proprietor said that he did not know any place on base that does bikini waxes. The guy says, "Is there any way I can get y'all to give me a bikini wax?"
A troop getting a facial: "What is that? What are you doing?" It was steam. After the facial he said it was sort of weird, but his buddy says, "Hey man. You're glowing!" The guy is like, "Really! That is so cool! I'm going to have another facial when I get home."
I overheard one troop getting a pedicure, but there was a problem because his feet were too big to fit in the little bath pan.

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We have free phone calls at the USO + Yesterday was Mothers' Day = All Heck Breaks Loose. (Did I mention that it's been pretty crowded because we have a lot of troops coming through Camp Virginia?) The wait time for 30-minute phone calls during the day wasn't too bad. That's because when it's during the day here it's the middle of the night in the States. However, around our dinner time which is just after church time on the East Coast the crowds got ridiculous. We opened up the phone in USO office and the one behind the desk and we cut the talk time from 30 minutes to 20 minutes. Even though we had 6 phones available (18 calls every 60 minutes), we had a 3+ hour wait list. Unfortunately some of the troops were not particularly gracious. "I got here before him, why is he on before me?" (Because he put his name in before you did.) "I've been waiting an hour, why hasn't my name been called?" (Because there's a three hour wait; one hour is not three hours.) "The other guy said I was number four on the list." (I'm sorry, according to the computer, you have eighteen people in front of you.) "Where am I on the list?" "How long do I have to wait?" "Why didn't you call my name?" "How many people are in front of me?" (People, if you'd stop asking me where your name is on the list, I could take care of the people asking to be put on the list and then I can keep track of the phones and call your name sooner!) BTW - This is a free service that the USO is providing for your benefit. You don't have to be so freakin' rude. ahahahahahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So Mothers' Day is not my favorite day at the USO. Thank heavens today is my day off. Can't wait until fa la la la la la freakin' Christmas. Oops. Sorry. I didn't mean to say that out loud.

The Country Club at Ali Al Salem (aka Military Lite)

Danni (a Corporal in the RAF) and I went over the LSA/AAS to swim on Tuesday (or maybe it was Wednesday, I forget). The pool is beautiful and about the same size as the one at the AJCC . It’s not heated, but my (educated) guess is that the temperature is about 86 degrees. The pool is open 24/6 -- closed on Mondays (my day off) for cleaning and maintenance. There’s an indoor changing room with cubbyholes, flush toilets and showers. Lounge chairs and picnic tables are situated around the deck where people were lying around, socializing and sunbathing. The only things missing were drinks with umbrellas from the bar. I was happy to do 20 laps (about ¼ mile) and sincerely hope I can make a habit of driving over regularly to get in the swim again. (Hope to post pictures soon.)

Inspiration from a Most Unlikely Source

Perkins, one of my TC4ME Marines, often comes in to the USO with his buddies to play video games. When he came in last night he also signed up to use the phone. He said he wanted to call a girl that had contacted him through Facebook. He said he hadn’t seen her for about 4 years, but she had seen his picture on-line and asked him to call her. Perkins said that even when they knew each other she wouldn’t talk to him. I said that she must have seen that he’s a Marine now and suddenly was interested. He said that could be it, although he figures the reason she wouldn’t talk to him before is because at that time he weighed 310 pounds! I was flabbergasted. I asked him why and how he lost so much weight. He said he always wanted to be a Marine so he lost 120 pounds by eating better and exercising; (I’m so sorry; I can’t help myself; I must insert: Duh!) then he lost another 20 pounds after he joined the Marines. To me Perkins is an example of, “If that kid can do it, so can I!” and another incredible case of “Who’da thunk?!?” Good thing he's serious in the picture. If he was smiling he would look really young.

Truth is Funnier than Fiction

Last week Danni went over to the beauty shop at LSA to have her hair color touched up. She asked me to help her (since she did mine), but peroxide was involved, so we decided she should have the assistance of someone with a little more experience. Danni said that the whole time she was having her hair done there was an Air Force guy next to her having his chest and back waxed. This was a major event, took a long time, and the guy was obviously in a great deal of pain as all of his hair was being yanked off. Despite his continuing agony, Danni said they had a very pleasant conversation. So pleasant in fact, that as she left the guy asked if she wanted to go out sometime. “Oh, I don’t think so,” she said as the door slammed behind her. “I only date really hairy men.”

The One Where the USO Volunteer Saves a Life

Thought you might be interested in these recent e-mails from Amy Abramson, the Volunteer Coordinator for the Bob Hope Hollywood USO at LAX (and my wonderful and very supportive friend).

From e-mail, April 22, 2009:
I worked yesterday (Tuesday) at the USO and had the wildest night yet. We had around 250 Marines which is about normal for us. But we had a young Marine who had a REALLY BAD staph infection on his leg. I talked to him about it, but he didn't seem too concerned. But luckily, one of our volunteers saw it later on and realized how bad it was (the Marine finally admitted to being hot and cold). We called the paramedics and they took him to the hospital. I saw his upper thigh and there were red lines radiating up his thigh and I heard him say his urine has been really dark all day. GEESH - don't these guys recognize symptoms!!

Then we had the normal Tuesday night drunken Marine who was in the main room talking trash to some of the other Marines. One of our male volunteers talked to him, but it didn't help. He got into a fight a little while later and had a bleeding lip. I had one of the cops check it out, but he was ok.

Then we had the normal Marine whose garment bag was missing. He and his buddies looked all over and couldn't find it so I put all his contact info in our lost and found log. About 10 minutes later he walks in with his garment bag. One of his buddies found it lying on the sidewalk on the way to the terminals. Obviously whoever took it figured out it wasn't his and instead of bringing it back to the USO just threw it on the ground and walked away. GEESH!!! At least it was a happy ending.


From e-mail, April 25, 2009:
An update on our Marine with the staph infection. He is getting better. His mom came out on Thursday so I am sure that made him feel better. I don't remember if I told you, but the doc told him that if he had gotten on the airplane, he probably would have developed a blood clot. He was very lucky.

From e-mail, May 1, 2009:
[The Marine] is back at Pendleton until he is fully healed and they are launching an investigation about why he was allowed to leave. It turned out to be a bug or spider bite that started the staph infection.

Love Fills My Heart

I received this e-mail message last night from one of my TC4ME Marines. He said it was ok to post, although he did blush when I asked him. I'm sharing it not to brag about me, but to show you how wonderful our troops are. If you had any doubt before, now you know why I love it here so much.
Bradley sent you a message.
well hello
Hey Ms.B!! I know your probably tired but im gonna harrass you anyway. It is my job to let you know how thankful that I am for having a person like you working at the best USO ever. Me being the person I am is very observative"is that a word?" I cant help watching what you do here because your so active. I notice that your the Ms. Fix It here. You make sure that everything is organized and ready to go. For example, today you were calling names, bringing in boxes, Refilling the refrigerator with water. It was very difficult for me to keep track of you. I found out why I smile when I look at you, You Always remind me of the ENERGIZER BUNNY! keep GOIN AND GOING. Keep up the good work, I love how you do it. Personality wise your awsome. Keep caring for the military personal and trust me they feel the same way there just not here long enought to let you know that. xoxoxox love ya

Hydrating and Decorating

Since I've been here over 10 weeks, I figured it was finally time to get a chair so someone/anyone had a place to sit in my room. After much contemplation and finding that I had a choice of one, I finally went to the PX to put down my $10 and pick up a canvas picnic chair. I set it on the counter for Josh to ring up and the PX generator crashed. Obviously he couldn't ring up my purchase. So after all this time, I finally decided to buy a chair and then I had to wait until the next day to pick it up.

The next day I was hanging my murals and I figured that I could not stand on my chair to reach the high spots, so I went outside and "procured" a plastic chair from one of our picnic* areas. After I cleaned the thing up enough to bring in my room, I decided I liked it more than the canvas chair. Then a couple of days after that I saw a cane chair just hanging outside waiting for me. It was free-ninety-nine!! So for ten weeks I had no chair; now I have three. The canvas chair is rolled up in the closet. Although Curious George misses Berry feeding him cereal on the plastic chair (See "Life is Good"), that chair now looks lovely on Bettie's side of the room. George adores his new cane chair.

*For lack of a better description. One of the places with stacked chairs and maybe a table. There are no grills, benches, playgrounds or other amenities.

2=2=2=2=2=2=2=2=2=2=2=2=2=2=2=2=2=2=2=2=2=2=2=2=2=2=2=2=2

My back has been giving me trouble since I've been here. Lately it's gotten significantly worse.** I thought it was standing on concrete for 8 hours shifts; I thought it was my bed; I thought it was old age; I thought it was the dry desert air; I thought it was arthritis. Then two days ago my back was fine. I figured out that for that one day I had not brought water into the USO. The water bottles come in boxes and I had been bringing in 8-12 boxes every day to stock the USO refrigerator.^^ About 2 weeks ago we got a new water supplier. The bottles are bigger (.55 litre instead of .500) and there are 28 bottles in each box instead of 24. Also, the boxes are stacked higher. (See picture here and in previous post entitled "Mating Season.") Consequently, the boxes are more difficult to pick up and heavier to carry. So I finally figured out that my back was sore because I was carrying all these cases of water. No more carrying boxes. No more sore back. (Go ahead and say "duh!" It's ok with me.)

**Last night my back hurt so bad that I took 3 Advil and 2 Ambian before I went to sleep. Berry came over. Bettie answered his knock at the door and woke me up. Apparently I had a conversation with Berry. I don't remember any of this. That's the first and last time I take Ambian.

^^Yes, often the troops would see me bringing in water and they would help, but not always.

Significant, It's Not

More of the same around here with a lot more people. Apparently all of the new bunkers were built to accommodate the many, many troops passing through. The DFac doesn't look crowded, camp outside looks basically deserted (is that because it's 100+ degrees?), but the USO is rocking! We've had over 50 people at a time in line to use the phones. That's five people on five phones for 20 minutes each with 50 people waiting for their 20 minutes. I've even offered up my cell phone if it works with a calling card.

A couple of nights ago we were participating in the "Pros v. G.I. Joes" Call to Duty, World at War video game challenge on TV to start at midnight our time. We had more than enough people signed up and itching to play, all five X-box stations reserved, the "World at War" games set aside, back-drop hung, Monsters and near beer for refreshment and tons of people in attendance. The excitement level was peaking just as the telecast was about to start . . . then ppppffffttttt --- our generator conked out. Lights out, AC dies, games off . . .

Don't tell anyone, but I liked it. Almost everyone left and I just chilled with some of our volunteers and my TC4ME Marines. We found a couple of flashlights, hung and talked for awhile. I went home after about an hour (since I was supposed to be off at midnight anyway). The next day someone asked me why the USO was closed at 0400, so I guess the generator did not go back on until later that morning. The next night we were able to participate in the games. You can watch a snippet on http://g4tv.com/attackoftheshow/videos/38028/pros-vs-gi-joes.html. That's Becerra (very quiet, 20 years old in May) on the left; Hucks is Mr. Personality (and very funny) on the right. Hucks won't admit that he's afraid of Tom Morello on Guitar Hero, but that's another issue.

Updated: Hucks did beat out Tom Morello on GH3. I saw it with my own eyes. You rock Ryan -- literally.

Two days ago we received care packages from Amy and USO @ LAX and Beverly and Keesal, Young & Logan. Thank you to everyone for your kindness, thoughtfulness and generosity. As always, the Girl Scout cookies just vaporize. I put out a tray, refill, refill and refill until they're gone. It's usally a couple of hours and ten or more boxes have disappeared. The beef sticks, sour candies. War Heads and Peppermint Paddies are also very popular. We have some really fancy and delicious snacks in care boxes from Harry and David (which is really nice of them to donate so much), but it's the down home stuff that appeals, especially to the guys are in their late teens or very early 20s.