Care and Feeding at the DFAC

An example of the food we get at the DFAC:

Allen in Fulll Battle Rattle

Dubai United Arab Emitates (UAE) Airport

Apartment

My apartment is a shipping container and 2 of us live in it. My roomamte is from the Netherlands. He speaks real good Englsih and we get along great. Here are a few pictures to give you some idea of how small it is.

Good News -- Contract Renewed

Just got news today that the contract that I am working under was renewed. They have funded it through August/September 2010, when the funds expire. New funding will be applied when the new appropriation is passed. So I should'nt have to worry losing the contract and my job. Right now I am planning on working on this contract till May 2011, but may extend another year. I am closing in on 11 months in theater, and will be in theater 1 year on the 25th of May 2010. I will be retruning home every 6 months to visit wife and family.

Family History

I am enjoying spending time doing Family History. Just got on line (Family Search - New) and saw someone had revised the Nelson line back at Thomas Nelson 1601 -- Grrrrrr. That's the problem with nitwits that don't know what they are doing!!! I don't like the fact people can change things without the original person's permission. I am working on documenting the Nelson and Nielsen lines. That is my assignment -- those two lines on each side of our families. Bought a book on the Royal (Saints) lines that we have and am researching them too. Thought I would be doing this in retirement but am enjoying doing it here too -- just don't have my files and library here. However, am building quite a collection of family history materails here as well. I'll have to ship them home before I return.

Picking up a lot of death certificates on relatives on both sides of our family. Utah has a good resource for them. I used to have to pay for them. Now you can download them from the internet. I have added a lot of the death certificates to Ancestory.com. So if you get on you will see a lot of pictures and death certificates have been added.

General Conference / District Conference

Was able to read a few articles about General Conference on the internet. It is on around 11:30 pm at night -- way past my bedtime, and you have to have high speed internet to have it stream correctly. Church headquarters mails us copies of the conference within 2 weeks of the conference and we can view it then. So we will be able to view it shortly.

We just received 1,000 copies of our District Conference in the mail -- it was a combined conference with Iraq and Afghnaistan leaders with Church Headquarters. We helped mail the disks to everyone in the hinterland at Family Home Evening last night. Families should get copies from church headquarters as well.