aadler | Entries tagged with afghanistan

9:05PM Central Afghan Time

Been awhile, hasn’t it? I’m busier at my new firebase than I was at Kandahar, but that’s not the reason I’ve been LJ-absent for so long. I have a laptop. I used it for months in Iraq. The moment I landed in Afghanistan (I had been using it on the plane flying us in!), it unaccountably stopped working. I don’t mean wouldn’t work properly, I mean totally inert: no lights, no noises, no evidence that it wasn’t a big, intricate paperweight. Six weeks later, it just as inexplicably returned to life, and I used it steadily for the next four months.

On arrival at Tarin Kowt, I found it inoperative again. Annoying. There is Internet access here, but it’s limited. Where before I could work up an entry at leisure and then carry it on a memory stick to the nearest ’net terminal, I now have to use an official computer for such. Not forbidden per se, but a potentially delicate matter.

Meanwhile, I’ve stayed occupied. Seven villages in ten days, two school visits, and a night patrol. Meanwhile, I’ve done 8,000 words on my next story; odds are I won’t quite finish it before February, but I’ll try.

For now, this ganked from

agilebrit and

selenak:

( Ten ways to know you’re reading a fanfic by Aadler )

Hope everyone is doing well. I’m not being unsociable, I’m just logistically constricted.

10:00PM Central Afghan Time

I’m packing my gear now to go out to one of our firebases day after tomorrow. This wasn’t a surprise, my OIC and I discussed it over a month ago, and I not only knew it was coming, I agreed to it. This is necessary for what I want to become and be, and I wouldn’t want to go home without having had the experience.

Still, I really wish I didn’t have to uproot right now. Don’t get me wrong, this IS something I want, it just happens also to be something I don’t want. I’m settled into a routine that suits me. Much as I need to break routine to grow the way I want to, I hate to abandon a routine that’s become so comfortable.

It also will probably cause a drastic cut in my writing output. (That’s one of the negatives of the U.S. Army: they don’t understand that fanfic is one of the basic human necessities.) I hoped to get one more story out before this time came, but it came suddenly, and there we are. I’ll make an effort, but the man I’m going to work with is a hard charger, not happy unless he can fill every waking moment with labor. I love the guy, but he’s not an easy environment.

Then, at the end of a month of that, I’m scheduled for my two-weeks’ leave in Germany. That I’m looking forward to, but it’s another thing that will slow down the writing speed. And I love the writing.

Well, I’ll just have to see how it goes. Even in my current laid-back circumstances, I can’t have everything my way.

I saw this from last year in

nemo_gravis’s space, and tried it out just for kicks. This is what I got:

The funny thing is,

nemo_gravis and I got the same names on the last two. He scored 98% to my 92% … but then, I had

liz_marcs pop up twice, so I’ll call myself the lottery winner on that one.

I plan to remember this moment, because I don’t expect ever to do any better.

6:40PM Central Afghan Time

It’s New Year’s Day in Afghanistan, and it’s snowing. You can barely see it, you have to look at the sky from the right angle, but yep, snow.

Everybody’s tossing out New Year’s Day wishes. Steak at the chow hall this evening. General Order #1 prohibits alcohol in-theater, but I’m fairly sure I smelled some here and there last evening. Christmas gets all the attention, but New Year’s Eve is the real party.

I’m done with “Beg to Differ”, though I continue to tinker with it, and await beta feedback from various sources before I’m ready to post. (Special thanks to bellatemple for promptly making herself available.) In response to a post by honorh, I bought a DVD of “The Producers”, but haven’t watched it yet. Maybe tomorrow. And I can now return to a steady diet of Alias episodes.

It appears that my daughter may need to take a week or so to recover from her holidays. Haven’t heard from my son lately, but he doesn’t really maintain an online presence.

I suppose I should work out some resolutions, but I tend to think more in terms of plans. I note that pretty much anybody who makes a list of resolutions includes an intention of losing weight. Whether or not I make a list, I need to do that.

So, other plans:

Write at least three more stories while I’m here. (I did eight in Iraq, I’d like to break my record this time through. Currently I’m at six.)

Finish the deployment, of course, and go home.

Take a cruise. I’m serious. I intend to do that.

Get on the list for Arabic classes at the Defense Language Institute in Monterrey.

Score 90% on the Army Physical Fitness Test. (The two-mile run will be the hardest obstacle to overcome. I can run it, I can run it in qualifying time, but I have a hard time improving on ‘just good enough’.)

Get a passport. No plans yet as to what to do with it, but I’m drawing motivation from bellatemple’s example. If she can jump out into the unknown, to teach in — where was it, the Czech Republic? — then I can consider doing something in that direction.

Go to WriterCon in Atlanta in July.

Anything else will have to be determined as I go.

Having a wonderful time. Not exactly “wishing you were here” (others might not enjoy this experience the way I do), but there are many whose company I wish I could share.

Happy New Year, all.

11:55PM Central Afghan Time

Yes, I finished “Beg to Differ”. It came in at just under 12,000 words, meaning I wrote nearly 3,000 today, and turned out the entire story between Christmas and New Year’s. I’ll probably want to play with it for a few more days, but that’ll just be refining and maybe a little extending; probably 95% of the finished product will be exactly what I have now.

I am so brain-fried I can’t even think straight. Not because I stayed up late writing (I finished my draft of the story before 9:00PM) but because I had to stay up late for other things. And now I can’t make myself exercise some sense and just go to bed.

bellatemple replied to my prior post and graciously agreed to give the story a lookover preparatory to its posting. (I had indicated that I intended to ask.) I still hope to enlist liz_marcs as well.

The calendar is set to turn. It will be another year.

Zowie.

11:45PM Central Afghan Time

The last few days have kept me busy enough that I had to streamline my activities (as an example, I haven’t watched any Alias episodes on DVD since Wednesday, and I was just about to start getting into new material). I’ve kept writing, though. “Beg to Differ” is at 9,000 words now; for awhile I thought it might stretch out to 15,000 or more, but I’m feeling the end drawing nigh, and it’s just a matter of what verbiage is required to get me there. I might very well finish tomorrow — and I’ll definitely try to do so, that being my original goal — but it certainly won’t take me more than a couple of days beyond that, if at all.

Once I finish, I may not post immediately; I’ll need to revise at least a bit, and I want to be particularly careful about character voice. liz_marcs and bellatemple have both friended me, and I believe I’ll investigate asking them to take a preliminary look and offer suggestions.

I feel good, though. I’m on the home stretch, and something that wasn’t even in my head a couple of months ago is now very near to being a completed product. I’m much more proud of my children than of my stories, but the feeling is very similar.

The next time I post will be on New Year’s Eve. Cosmic.

9:45AM Central Afghan Time

I just spent a few very uncomfortable minutes in the opcen: I went in for the morning shift change brief, and they were tracking the aftermath of an IED strike on a patrol in Gereshk. I have a couple of guys in Gereshk, and two casualties were being medevaced, one with leg amputations. I was able to establish that my people weren’t among the casualties, but to have to face the question at all wasn’t a pleasant experience.

I just read a news report that said, media coverage notwithstanding, peace on earth actually has been increasing since the early 1990s. Good to know, and may the trend continue.

10:00PM Central Afghan Time

Composition continues on “Beg to Differ”; another thousand words (I’m past 4,000 now), and I have to stay up late to take a couple of our guys to the terminal to start their leave, so I’ll probably break 5,000 before I get to bed.

That’s it. I’m not very interesting when I’m actually writing, it’s all word counts.

11:45PM Central Afghan Time

Another couple of thousand words on “Beg to Differ”. The thing is, I don’t seem to really have that much time to myself; but whenever I sit down to work, it goes fast. I’m still not entirely confident I can finish before the end of the year, but it could happen.

10:30PM Central Afghan Time

I’ve been feeling increasing pressure the last several days, but I had so many other things demanding my attention that I didn’t have time to focus. Finally, today, after juggling more stuff than I really wanted to, I sat down and started another story. I’ll be calling it “Beg to Differ” (unless I change my mind); I expect it to run ten to twelve thousand words, and I wrote a thousand tonight. If things go reasonably well, I may be able to finish it by New Year’s; if not, maybe the week after.

I wasn’t really expecting much this Christmas, so what actually came to me was a wonderful welcome surprise. This doesn’t even count the LJ response I got from my Christmas Eve posting (though I’m not about to forget that). Just as a quick rundown:

In mail, I got my Alias DVDs for Seasons 1 and 2, so I can begin viewing, and a “Dear Soldier” letter from a little girl in St Charles, Illinois.

From my daughter, several postings, brief but precious.

From one of our sergeants, traveling the helicopter circuit to pass supplies down to the guys that need them:

a Palm Pilot with MP3 capacity

a Blackhawk tactical vest

7 M-16 magazines, the new H&K models that look sharp and function more reliably

Additionally, the command sergeant major for the Special Forces group I’m supporting suggested (and you pay sharp attention to ‘suggestions’ from a CSM) that I put in a promotion packet for their board to consider. I don’t even know if it can be done — they’re regular Army, I’m in the Reserves, plus it would probably be a gross faux pas to go outside my own unit for something like that — but it doesn’t hurt my feelings.

I’m happy and grateful. I’m where I want to be.

11:45 AM Central Afghan Time

So, Christmas Eve. I’m nine hours ahead of U.S. eastern time, so I’ll be going to bed about the time most of the folks at home are eating or recovering from lunch.

I’ve had the habit, in times past, of doing a retrospective at the end of the year. Of course, that usually comes on New Year’s Eve, but I’m in the mood right now and it’s not as if it’s an official practice, right? So here I am.

( Long personal entry, skip if not interested )

I’m generally satisfied with the way this year has gone. I don’t think I’ll have the proper opportunities to make next year even better, but I’m going to give it a shot.

Merry Christmas to all, and my special thanks to those who welcomed me here. Trust me on this: it matters.

While I was continuing to polish and post “Glass Ceiling”, I didn’t really say much about what else was going on in my life. Some of the highlights:

My 24 Season 4 DVDs arrived by mail, and I’m now partway through the fourth of six disks.
Under the merciless impetus of yahtzee63’s continuing writings in that fandom, I bought Seasons 3 and 4 of Alias, and ordered Seasons 1 and 2 from Amazon. That should hold me for awhile (especially since, being a purist — not obsessive-compulsive — I can’t begin till Season 1 arrives).
I went out on a few more missions, half by helicopter and half by ground convoy. Nobody shot at me, and I didn’t shoot at them. It’s a working arrangement.
My OIC told me he intended to send me out to one of the firebases sometime in mid- to late January, to give me a paper record of the field experience that would facilitate my next promotion. To make sure I’m ready for the physical demands, I’ve been walking the compound daily, wearing full battle-rattle and carrying a 60-pound rucksack. Not really pushing myself, just general conditioning.
Our detachment commander departed for home leave yesterday, so I’m covering all detachment coordination by myself for the moment.
I keep getting story ideas. Nice to know the fount hasn’t dried up, but sometimes I wish I could get the chance to finish the current crop before I’m hit with another batch.

One more thing. A couple of months back, I grouped the Buffyfics I’ve done in alphabetical order, and got the sudden impulse to have a title for each letter of the alphabet. Progress so far:

( Titles: )

That’s eleven stories I’ll have to write in order to meet my goal. Eight in a year is my record; I’ll probably equal that during this deployment, but eleven in the next four months is a bit much to hope for. No, I don’t count drabbles.

A week until Christmas. That actually means less to me than the fact that we’ve been here almost six months already.

14:15PM Central Afghan Time

I said I would finish “Glass Ceiling” by the end of November. I had no idea, no idea, that it would run as long as it did. It is now officially the longest story I’ve ever written, well past 37,000 words, something like twice the size that I originally anticipated.

I did it. I had to write 5,000 words a day for three days straight (managing five hours of sleep a night), but I’m done. Of course, that’s the first draft, I still have to key it in and do the necessary polish, which tends to add a little bulk as I flesh out things I did too sparsely the first time through.

A week, maybe, before I start posting installments.

11:15PM Central Afghan Time

Yesterday, a little over 1,700 words.

Today, just under 1,500.

Current total, over 22,000 words.

And I think I actually feel myself approaching an ending. I always knew what the ending would be, it was just a matter of discovering what currents would take me there.

Tired. Bed. Another ramp ceremony tomorrow. Once again (fortunately), nobody I know.

11:30AM Central Afghan Time

A few days ago, an ANA general sent our CO a couple of boxes of pomegranates as a gift. The CO left them out in the lobby of the command post for anybody who wanted to try them. I got one, and spent some time picking out the individual seeds and separating them from the pulp and membrane. It’s been over thirty years since I ate a pomegranate … and let me tell you, they don’t grow them as big in Texas as you can find in Afghanistan, this thing would have been easily five times the size of the last one I had. Lot of work, not really worth it on an everyday basis, but a pleasant experience this time through.

On Thanksgiving in-country, the senior NCOs and command staff take turns serving the meals to the rest of the troops. It’s a little tradition that doesn’t really mean anything to me, but neither do I object to it. A marker for time passing.

Yesterday was occupied with me running around, taking care of one thing and another. Even so, I did 1,500 words (roughly) on “Glass Ceiling”. It will probably wind up totaling 25,000 to 30,000 words. Maybe a bit more, but I don’t think so.

sroni posted a very short story (which reminds me slightly of one she’d done before, but she’s added some elements) at this link. I would have preferred that she continue with the project we’re supposed to do together — my part beginning as soon as she completes a draft — but if she’s not tuned in for that, at least she’s produced something. Anyone willing to check it and offer her feedback is encouraged to do so.

writercon has plans semi-finalized for Atlanta, July 21-23, 2006. Promising. If my deployment is extended, I’ll try to schedule my leave to allow me to attend. If we demob on schedule, I’ll be back in the States in time for it. Either way, my odds are pretty good.

Time for lunch, and then it will be time for me to do some more writing.

12:55PM Central Afghan Time

I’ve decided to try something different. When I wait till the end of the day to post, I have the day’s events to report but I’m tired and rushed. So I’m going to look at posting morning/midday for awhile.

I was horrified, on checking my notes, to find that I hadn’t done any work on “Glass Ceiling” for a week and a half. I’m not blocked, there were just other things going on; nothing dramatic or important, just stuff that kept me occupied. (I note, for instance, that over the last several days I’ve posted more on other people’s LJs — agilebrit and nwhepcat in particular — than in my own.) The hiatus ends today. I’ll get back to work as soon as I post this.

My exercise program has resumed; I’m running just a hair faster every day, and that’s what gives me the most trouble so the progress is heartening. My weight remains the same, however, so I need to modify my eating patterns.

We had a ramp ceremony today; it had been awhile since the last one. Ramp ceremony is when a casket is loaded onto a transport plane to be taken back to the States, and the personnel (from all nations; once the ceremony was for a French SF soldier) form up to render honor for the departure. Afghanistan doesn’t get much notice in the news these days (which is not altogether unwelcome; the less attention the news media pay to us, the less they lie about us), but per capita it’s slightly more dangerous than Iraq. Unless you’re a base-camp weenie like I am.

Maybe I’ll do an addendum at day’s end to note progress in writing. Maybe not. Sometimes it’s a mood thing.

11:00PM Central Afghan Time

I’ve been out of touch the last few days, but I haven’t forgotten where I am or what I’m doing. Things have been happening (quietly and undramatically, I’m not talking about a major military offensive here) that have kept everyone occupied, and it may be several days before the mass of it blows past. Also, as I feared, I let myself get caught up in Veronica Mars, and watched the entire DVD set over about three days’ time. Even so, I’m almost up to 18,000 words on “Glass Ceiling”, and should have no trouble finishing it before the end of the month. (Maybe within a week, but then I’ll want to do a comprehensive edit — I always do — before I post.)

liz_marcs posted a Q&A in her LJ a few days ago. Because it took me so long to get an answer ready, and because I don’t have anything else to post right now, I’m placing it here as well as in a reply to her post.

( Who are you? What do you want? )

10:00PM Central Afghan Time

Another day, another 2,000 words on “Glass Ceiling”. I’ve done two dozen other stories; this one is already longer than all but six of them, and I’m not sure how much more it will grow. The length is immaterial, really, except as a mark of how consistently I can turn out copy, what matters is whether or not the story is properly told. After which, of course, I will promptly begin thinking of which project I want to tackle next.

This was also Veterans’ Day, and the people here take note of things like that. I got my Special Forces combat patch in a morning ceremony, and was happy to have it. (Theoretically I’ve earned it just by being here with these guys; I’ll still feel better when I’ve done something that allows me to believe I’ve held up my end of things.) We may or may not go out on a mission in the next few days, which will be a definite change of pace, I’ve been stuck inside the wire for close to a month.

Other things are changing. Where we are is a compound within the larger base at Kandahar Air Field; because of the organization of things, I’ve dealt on a regular basis with French SF and Australian SAS. Just in the past few days, we got in a contingent of Norwegian SEALs, and NATO is supposed to take on a larger role sometime in the immediate coming months. And, not very long from now, there will be the matter of snow. (High today was 75ºF. Not bad for November, but cold weather is coming.)

Some of our guys are going to Qatar for a quick pass. I saw Qatar during my Iraq deployment; nice, relaxing time, but not much excitement. Then, I was with six or eight other people from my unit, but we’re being spread out a lot more carefully this time through; so, when my time comes to make the trip, I might be out there without anybody else I know. I’m less comfortable in social situations than when I’m riding on a gun truck; there, at least, I know what I’m supposed to do.

I’m a little reluctant to start in on my Veronica Mars boxed set; remembering how Firefly took hold of me, I’m afraid I’ll get caught up in it to the detriment of writing progress. I do decent work, but forever have to guard against sloth. But I do like Veronica.

I don’t have a drinking problem. I’m quite good at it. Just haven’t gotten very much practice lately.

11:00PM Central Afghan Time

Several days when I keyed in prior writing, got other stuff done, but didn’t turn out any actual new copy on “Glass Ceiling”. Three days, actually, which is substantially longer than I should have gone, but I suppose everyone needs a break every now and then. I’m back on the move now — little over 1,000 words today, almost to 15,000 total — with nothing happening tomorrow that should prevent me from playing some catch-up.

Other news:

I got a letter yesterday (with a birthday card included), that was from 1) a woman, who was 2) neither a daughter nor a niece, and 3) not previously married to me. Three good things in one envelope. Okay, this is not an uproariously dramatic event, but it doesn’t feel bad. Letters are precious here; letters from not-otherwise-disqualified members of the opposite gender, more so.

I’ve gone back to working out in the gym in this compound on a daily basis. My goals are modest; I just want to be in decent shape. My largest problem on the Army physical fitness test (which is given at least once a year, or as often as anybody with the power to require it, does so) has always been the two-mile run. I can run just about forever, at my own pace, but the specified time is just a hair faster than is comfortable for me, so I always have to train up to it. I’m doing it right now, on a treadmill; when I can do a minute better than the required time, I’ll feel confident of my ability to pass the for-real test if it’s sprung on me as a surprise. I’ve lost eleven pounds since I arrived in Afghanistan; I need to drop at least fifteen more, and twenty would be better.

I found out, not an hour ago, that we had a rocket attack last night. Complete with sirens. I was totally unconscious of the whole thing. How can a guy brag about something he sleeps through?

Oh, and one of the reasons I let three days go by without writing: I got caught up in finishing out my Firefly DVDs all in a rush, and then watching the copy I’d been holding of Serenity. Thoughts below, including substantial spoilers for the two or three people in the U.S. who haven’t already seen the movie.

( Firefly and Serenity )

I’ve been a fan of Buffy since the first episode, and remain one more than two years after the series ended (over a year, if you count Angel as a continuation of the Buffyverse). But I see what’s been done elsewhere, and I think it’s entirely possible that the bar has been raised. I think the time may come when we look back and say, “Remember when we thought Buffy was good? Heck, remember when it actually was the best thing on television?”

It happened with STAR TREK. The original series seems almost like a parody now; but it suffers by comparison because it broke new ground, it got left behind because it opened the way for others to go farther. That’s not the worst fate a work of art can suffer.

On All My Motions

“All that is not eternal is eternally out of date.” – C.S. Lewis

Entries tagged with afghanistan

Back for a moment

Time for change

Don’t I wish …

… and All’s Well …

New Year’s Eve and mental deterioration …

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The writing continues …

Back in the saddle again

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Current events

Finally!

“Glass Ceiling” progress

Thanksgiving

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Half past November

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