050513 How much does it cost to wash a bag of laundry in Kabul?

050513  How much does it cost to wash a bag of laundry in Kabul?

 

               In Kabul the drawdown continues.  The impact personally is that the office has been told everyone has to move off base.  This means moving to another base or even living 'on the economy'.  Renting enough housing in Kabul is expensive and the security for such is even more.  So that was not a feasible option (although some contractors do exactly that.)  Other options were Bagram (a base 30 miles away) or IJC (the base next to the airport).  Those are possibilities.  We don't know when or where we'll move since the Army doesn't know either since its dependent upon political winds and those can change directions quickly. 

               Another topic is costs.  The US has been in Afghanistan for about 10 years now.  There are whole industries that have sprung up to support US operations here and many Afghans have become rich in that time.  We were wondering how much the US pays to have a bag of laundry washed (see pic) so I did some digging and researching and I was quite surprised to find out that it's $100!  Just F$%#@ing amazing!  I rarely have $100 worth of clothes to even wash and the US Taxpayer is paying $100 to wash ONE bag of laundry for me!  THIS is another reason the US needs to just leave.  Urgh.

R/Chris

042913 A plane took off from Bagram AB yesterday...

Yesterday a plane took off from Bagram AB yesterday.  It was a 747 transport carrying stuff.  It didn't make it...  Thant's about all I can say.

 

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/04/bagram-airfield-crash-video/64730/

 

R/Chris

040813 Spring in Kabul and the Beginning of the End

It's finally warm during the day in Kabul but it's still coat-required at night.  the pics above show Destille Garden being set up for the women's bazaar last Saturday.  I'm working nights (8 PM to 8 AM, or there abouts) so I had to stay 'up' until 10 AM to get this shot.  The regular bazaars are on Fridays and are dominated by Afghan male vendors.  In so many parts of Afghan culture, male and female are segragated.  They (the military command here) sees it as good relations to help the women here too in their Public Relations efforts.  So this bazaar only allows women vendors.  But don't think the prices are any cheaper. These people are HAWKS when it comes to selling ice to an Eskimo!
The other two pics are me and a few coworkers.  The Government here recently reduced our hours and then required a 10% cut of personnel.  I made that cut (who-ho!) but there are rumors of another and bigger cut coming and I may not make that cut.  The point is, that it's the beginning of the end here.  Things are changing and ramping down.  Within 30-60 days we'll move to another base as part of the drawdown as well.  Some outlying bases have already gone to MREs for meals (MRE = Meal Ready to Eat.)  It's a meal in a box that was made years ago and will last for years.  This gravy train was not going to last forever and I'm cool with that.

R/Chris

PS. Dan, please send me another email.  The last few disappear when I opened them.

021913 New Housing and Dig in Kabul, Find a Tank...

021913  New Housing and Dig in Kabul, Find a Tank...

 

The housing area where I live (Freedom Hall) has been condemned and everyone has to move in about a month.   Actually the building has been 'condemned' for a year now

(as I found out) as the floors in the bathrooms 'squish' then you walk on them and there is black mold growing on surfaces that haven't rusted completely.  But it is a 'war zone'

here so a solid (Kevlar) roof over my head is good enough!  One of the pics above is of one of the new housing areas.  This is a NATO building so the NATO housing guy has wanted any US personnel to pay an extra 10 euro per day to live here.  This is regardless of the fact that the US funds NATO anywhere from 60%-80% already.  So there is 'contention' as to whether or not any US personnel will move in.  So far the Italians are living it up in there. 

A few other pics are just street scenes here today.

Also while digging (for some new construction that will last WAY past when the US departs Afghanistan by the end of next year) a Russian tank was uncovered!  Afghanistan

was 'invaded' by Russia in the 80s and doing any digging here will uncover something.  While I was in Iraq we were not permitted to dig ANYWHERE (without permission) since there was a good chance you'd find artifacts from a previous civilization.  Digging here will find you tanks and UXO (unexploded ordinance)! 

R/Chris

021713 Sunday is now a 1/2 work day.

021713 Sunday is now a 1/2 work day.

The war here is winding down and the writing is on the wall.  You just need to read it.  This week our hours were cut from 84 to 72 per week.  Some groups have had their hours cut back even more (so I've heard).  At 72 hours per week I've heard a few co-workers grumble that it's "not worth being here anymore", but so far, no one has quit.  In a way, it's nice.  Working 12 hours a day every day takes a toll and now I'll probably have a fair bit of 'extra time' and I've got a lot of professional reading and other reading I'd like to catch up on. 

Also there is building going on around the base and in one pic here you can see a 'house' that has gone up just outside the base.  Of course we've referred to the 'house' as the 'newest RPG launch point' and it's not a matter of if but rather when it will be used for that or a sniper point.  So soon there will be a 'sniper wall' going up (you can see part of it being built now in the pic) and a sniper wall is just a green nylon tarp that will be extended up from the current concrete walls so that a sniper (or anyone else) will again no longer be able see inside the base from over the wall. 

R/Chris

021413 Just about all the snow is gone...

021413 Just about all the snow is gone...

 

Last weekend there was a decent snow here as you can see from the pic below.  But now it's just about all gone and I don't think it will snow again here.  The nearby mountains are still snow covered and they'll get more snow but for Kabul (at 5800' elevation) last week was probably it.  The previous spring rains were downpours.   They were not at all like the dark, soaking to the core rain I know from Seattle.  The rain here was furious as if kicking winter out of the way to make way for the coming summer.  Afghanistan is not known as a green place but among the v-cut valley are oases of green and real trees.  So maybe it's good that just about all the snow is gone...

Here's a pic.

R/Chris

021113 I got my picture taken with General Allen (along with a few hundred other guys...)

021113 I got my picture taken with General Allen (along with a few hundred other guys...)

Today was General Allen's last day as Commander ISAF Afghanistan (ISAF = Internation Security Assistance Force).  The other day 'we' got the opportunity for a group pic with him.  The group pic started about a half hour before the general even showed up.  There were practice pics and then everyone had to 'scrunch' together, etc.  Finally 'we' were positioned and the general came out and one pic was taken and we (the main group) was told to ski-daddle as fast as possible.   Seeing the general in person kinda struck me.  The guy is only 8 years older than I am but dang...

The general that took his place is 4-star General Dunford.  Here's a write-up if you're interested.
http://news.msn.com/world/new-us-commander-takes-the-helm-in-afghanistan
The ceremony was held in the gym (probably the biggest building on base here) and that blue paint you see in the back ground is only about 24 hours old and still reeks of new paint.  They closed the gym for 3 days for preps and to paint it and now that it's over the gym is again open!  Back to life as usual here.
R/Chris