I have some new readers I want to welcome. When a person gets orders to a military assignment, the command he or she is going to assigns a person to aid in the transition. They provide information about the base itself, living arrangements, what to bring....things like that. This makes it a little easier to move, knowing what to expect. I have two people assigned to me that I am corresponding with right now who arrive soon. One of the people who coordinates the new arrivals at my command asked if they could give my xanga out, since I have lots of pictures of the area and it might help them know what to expect. So now they have xanga accounts and can view my pictures! Pretty cool. A friend of mine has some nice pics too...although he does not travel as much as I do. He was assigned here for a few years, and really knew his way around. Give his site a look..(I think he has some pics of when I was fat, so ignore those). You can find his site HERE     Yeah, he has alot of military stuff too, just like mine, .but tons of  pics. (yes, its Navy approved) Jim took me many of the places in the photos on my xanga. He and I worked together for 6 months, he taught me ALOT, and he is the one who prepped me to come to Bahrain. I told him I wanted to meet RADM John Cotton once, and Chief Shipp grabbed my arm, lead me up to him, and gave me a really nice introduction, managing to get us a dinner invitation with the RADM in the process. He is a highly talented person and I have never met anyone who didn't like him.  Lots of fun. I wish he (Chief Shipp) was still with us in Bahrain,but it was his time to come home.

And on the subject of home....I have been home a few days now, just got my internal clock turned to local time. I have been shopping and hanging out with family. (eating stuff I should not)I replaced my destroyed running shoes with some nice new Saucony's (thanks for the tip CM) and bought some toasty warm stuff from Timberland since none of my clothes from before I left fit anymore. I still need a new set of Dinner Dress Blues and a bunch of mini medals,  for an upcoming dinner party the day before my award. I think I will have my Service Dress Blues custom tailored to make them look extra spiffy too. I watched my son sing the other night in a program put on by the chorus he is in. They started with the Star Spangled Banner, before which Zeke came up to the mic and welcomed me home, which was sweet. He also did a solo performance right about the middle of the show that really pleased the crowd. Last night Becky and I watched Hindi movies and ate pizza. She had never seen any Hindi movies and was really amused...we started dancing and doing the melodramatic moves they do in the movies, cracking ourselves up in the process. We also did a sentry training program called "shoot don't shoot" which gives you scenarios and asks you if you would shoot the person or not. Becky didn't shoot anyone, preferring to give them the benefit of the doubt, and she was blown up or shot a few times. I had to do four of them, and knew the correct answers, so it was fun seeing the scenario play out after she decided the best course of action was "verbal command" or "wait and see".

All for now, and again, welcome to my new friends who are coming to Bahrain. I left this post in the open until I am sure they know how to sign in.