Josh's Blog

New Post

2010-04-23T01:54:00.001+09:00

Well, I am back finally from deployment. I am trying out a couple of new services that Blogger is offering. (New for me that is.) For example I am writing this from my email, and there is a new mobile phone post function... Though with the new smart phones, why not just email your post in and get over the 160 character limitation of the SMS.

At any rate, it's great to be back and I look forward to writing more.

Cheers,
Josh

New Post---- Unbelievable Enough As It Is

2010-01-19T20:33:00.003+09:00

Well, I am about four weeks from the end of my deployment to Afghanistan. Of course much has happened since the last post to this Blog.
So this last year in review;
2009 started with a great night featuring much good company and cheer with the Nakajima's. The friendship that we developed with them will remain even as time passes.

Work continued, and as I continued to learn how to manage major capital improvement projects I was struck how much I still don't know. But boy was it ever interesting to learn how to make things happen.
So in January I received orders to transfer to Gulfport, MS. To the 22nd Naval Construction Regiment. So the intent was to get close to Kristin's family and best friends from college. And it was the job that I wanted. I should have been suspicious because everything was lining up perfectly.
Sometime in February I got a call from the Detail er. It's never a good thing when the Detail er calls you... LOL

So there was an issue with PCS money, and the bottom line was that I lost my orders and would be going to the 30th NCR instead. The 30th is located in Port Hueneme, CA, which is the same base that we lived on when I was in NMCB Five.
Kristin was disappointment, but at least we were going to a location we were familiar with and we even had several friends still in Port Hueneme.

So in May, amid a whirl-wind of working at closing out my projects, building a turnover binder, and training my replacement, we started the massive sojourn of moving from overseas back to the States. We decided that we would not go directly to Port Hueneme. I had not taken a single vacation in the three years that we were stationed in Japan. I deserved some time off.

Off to Seattle we went. We spent a wonderful three days with the Bowsers in St. Mary, WA up by Everett. It was great to see the kids and watch Ronan reconnect with Sarah Bowser who was born four days before he was. We also had dinner with Sam Wirsching and his family before flying out to Gulfport, MS to visit with Heather, Kieth and company.

Gulfpot was a great visit. We were all able to visit with friends and family. I was able to see Tim James, one of my coworkers and best friends from Japan, Kristin was able to see al of the girls and even a new addition. We picnic ed out on the beach, swam in a pool everyday, and had a very relaxing time before renting a car and driving up to Shreveport for a week.
Shreveport was everything that I recalled. Hot, muggy, and .... wel that's about it. We stayed with Kristin's mother, Connie, and had a chance to visit Rourke and Mel, and their kids Erin and Haylee. (I remember them when they were babies.) During the time, we drive up to Bentonville, AR to visit with Tim, Vicki and their two kids. We spent a day out on the lake, hung out around the pool, and generally relaxed.

The next stop on our tour of the country was a visit up to my family. We flew into Spokane, and after picking up our rental car drove to Michael's house which is 15 minutes from the airport. During that visit we had the opportunity to hang out with Rebecca and her new boyfriend Jeff (As well as his two boys), Mom, Dad, Randy and Erin. Of course we spent plenty of time with Michael as well.
After spending a week up there, it was time to start our final let down to California. We had much to do before I had to report into my new job at the 30th.
So we flew from Spokane, to Seattle, then on to LAX, from there we flew to Oxnard. (That will be the last time that I ever fly into Oxnard again.)

We picked up the rental car, and immediately went to go pick up the car that we had ordered while we were back in Japan. we had bought a 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI. So it was back into a diesel with us. Full nav system and multimedia package.
It was ready and off we went to the hotel.
We ended up staying in the old BEQ on Point Mugu NAF until we could get into base housing at Port Hueneme. It was interesting staying in there with two little boys and two adults. But we got through it and moved into our new/old house, which is two driveway entrances down from the house we previously lived in.

I reported for work, and after four weeks, we deployed to Afghanistan.

And that, I will save for another post.

~Josh

Quick update

2008-10-19T11:59:00.002+09:00

Last weekend, my friend Mike Gabiga, and I embarked on an attempt to finish a grueling 72km endurance race. I decided to participate in this race at Mike's behest because he had attempted two other times and wanted to have company, and someone in his relative physical fitness. (At least I was able to provide decent company.)

We actually did not make it past the first checkpoint in the race, which was 22.4 km into the course. I found the course to be vertically challenging. Our elevation changes were impressive, with one ascent rising over 800m in close to 1 km in horizontal distance.

At any rate, I carried about 7 liters of water in with me, and drank most of it before we reached the 1st checkpoint. When I found out that there was no resupply of water at that location... well I went ahead and tapped out. There was no way I was going to hike another 22 km with less than a liter of water in my Camelback.

So that was our attempt at the Hasegawa Cup.

~jp

Hasegawa Cup

2008-10-15T06:44:00.001+09:00

These are some picture of the Hasegawa Cup, which is a 72km in 24 hour extreme cross country race. We were able to take a few pictures before Mike's camera battery died.

~jp

I couldn't let this pass without sharing

2008-08-27T08:45:00.001+09:00

We were cleaning out the baby's new room and I found my over night bag from my time in Iraq. The back pack is impressively large as you can see.

New Post.... As unbelievable as can be

2008-08-16T07:58:00.003+09:00

Well, I have waited about a year to post on the old blogsite again. Do I have a good reason for waiting so long?
Not really.
Sure, work has been pretty intense this last year with a huge range of experiences and types of work I have been doing during that time.
Let's see, how can I update all of the people who have kept up with my site, or still look from time to time?
I guess the best way is just to go ahead and jump into it.
The last time I wrote on this blogsite, I was about to go off to Huntsville, AL for a contracting class. Enroute I took a couple of days of leave and was able to watch a Georgia Tech Football game, and catch up with friends from school. The class on the other hand was terirble. It was Construction Contracting, which is one of my technical profeciencies, and the level of teaching was terrible. But I was able to get my contracting warrant from the experience and that is a big deal in my community. Well, it's a big deal anywhere, because it put me in the group of people who can legally obligate the government in an agreement. It's been pretty interesting. To date, I abligated close to $3.5 million in contraction actions.
The next big thing that happened is that my supervisor, LCDR Mike Comstock went to Iraq for 6 months. That left me as the only military in the Facilities Engineering, Acquisitions Division (FEAD), with a new PWO and base CO both of which felt that having a military person in change of this very important division of the public works department was crucial. So I stepped up and became the acting FEAD officer. That was a very trying time, as the entire division was understaffed, the work was ramping up, and the demands of my bosses continued to increase. To tell you the truth it was exciting, and while I can't say that I did a great job, I kept it all afloat and juggled the balance of executing construction which I was responsible for, and providing the leadership for the people who work the Division.
During this time Kristin and I found out that she is pregnant. (Still expecting as of this writing.) I was promoted, and commited to another five years in the Navy. (There was a healthy retention bonus in it as well.)
Now for the recent past; In June I changed jobs. I moved from the FEAD when LCDR Comstock came back from Iraq and became an Assistant Public Works Officer (APWO). This means that instead of executing construction projects, I am the person who works with the customers to coordinate and drive their requirement for a project in the first place. So far it's been pretty easy compared to running the FEAD. (Knock on wood, as I rap on my head.) Working with the different people on base is a lot of fun, and educating them on the hazards of trying to get facilities projects executed in the militay realm. It's been very interesting, and I am sure will continue to be interesting.
In the last month, I have been able to go to Hawaii for a Junior Officer's conference. That was interesting and all said and done actually productive. The senior management in the Civil Engineer Corps is still very concerned with the retention of junior officers and there was much talk about that. Right now it doesn't look like there are enough people to fill the future ranks of middle and senior leadership. Time will tell how the retention strategies work in the long run.

Ronan is doing great, he is very verbal and active. We have had him in swimming lessons for most of the summer, and he seems to love playing in the water. That is great. He is actually starting an active, organized preschool this fall. He's very excited about that because they get to do so many really neat things.

Kristin is about to give birth. I think within the next couple of weeks.

I am doing quite a bit of outdoor adventuring. I am going to climb Mt. Fuji next week, and the second week in October I am going to do a 24 hour, 72km hike up in the hills west of Tokyo. Thatr promises to be an interesting thing. Who knows if I will even finish the hike in 24 hours.

Besides the endless computer problems that seem to be plaguing our house, that is about it for right now.

I will update again in the near future, I promise.

~Josh

Against all Odds, Another Post

2007-08-25T16:23:00.000+09:00

Well, it has been a few weeks, so I thought I would go ahead and write another post.
It has been pretty hot here in Japan. The temps have not gotten into the 100 degree range, but you throw some 90% humidity into the mix, and you want to do nothing that involves walking around outside. (Unless it's early in the morning or late at night.)

I know it has been much hotter State-side, so my heart goes out to those that were affected by the heat wave. (Remember that global warming is nothing but a figment of our imagination.)

Work has continued to be a fairly rough endeavor every day. I am learning how to be a Contracting Officer right now, and that entails learning three seperate computer systems. I have made a few mistakes, and then people criticize me and expect me to be all ashamed. The look on their face when I look at them and blink then say, "So?" is priceless. You know the T-shirt that says , "Does it look like I give a damn?" comes to mind. If I could get away with it, I would wear it. Maybe I'll get a white one if I can find it, and wear it under my uniform.

Seriously people, it's not like I don't care, but with everything else going on at work, getting all of my contracting actions exactly right in the system does not jump to the front of the stove so to speak.

That's about all I have on that.

Later peeps.
~jp

Finally a new post

2007-07-17T09:10:00.001+09:00

I know it has been along, long, long, and even longer time since I have posted last, but I do have a good reason. Sort of. I have been working. The work has been getting pretty extreme. Not in the sense that I am jumping out of airplanes, or diving to the bottom of the ocean, or patrolling the streets of Baghdad with my trusty M-4, but inthe sense that I have been working 12 - 14 hours day trying to keep from drowning in the quagmire that is work right
now.

That being said, Rebecca and Peter came to visit us this last couple weeks. It has been the longest time that any of our family has been here to visit us. A couple of months ago, my cousin, Will Perry, came to Japan to study his martial art and he spent a aevening with us, and we drove up into the northeastern suburbs of Tokyo to hang out with him. It was interesting.

But while Rebecca and Peter were here, I actually took a couple of weeks off. So we took the opportunity to go up to Gotenba, hang out at Fuji-kyu Highlands Amusement Park, Go to Thomasland for Ronan, and of course sit in the Oonsen and drink beer.

The next week we took the train up to Tokyo, where we stayed at the New Sanno Hotel, which is a very nice military hotel located in central Tokyo.

It was great because hanging out with the Lines crowd is always the best! Of course Kristin, Ronan and I have not had a chance to really explore Tokyo at all, and doing with visiting family is all the better. We ate great food, we saw some pretty cool things, and overall is was fun.

Well, I need to get back to work. Later people.

~jp

Spring has sprung

2007-03-10T08:54:00.000+09:00

Well, almost. We thought we were there last week, and then it was hovering around 0 degrees Celsius at night this week. (But for some reason it didn't seeem as cold as it was earlier in the winter.) I suppose that just goes to show, that if you think it's cold, you are going to be cold.

At any rate spring is just around the corner here in the Kanto Plain area. So I changed the color to more accurately show the feeling of the season change.

Another item of note, I have updated the photo album. There are pictures of the trip to Hakuba on the Album site. The link is in the side bar to the right.

~Josh

Ronan, making friends

2007-03-06T07:58:00.000+09:00

The main lift from the room

2007-03-06T07:56:00.000+09:00

The Happiest Little Boy int he World

2007-03-06T07:54:00.000+09:00

March 3rd Yakitori Sale

2007-03-06T07:51:00.000+09:00

Quite the month

2007-03-06T07:19:00.000+09:00

This Feburary has been quite the month. The Seabee Ball committee had a very successful fund raising event. (Selling Yakitori at the main gate from 3pm on Saturday afternoon until we sold out at 1200 am on Sunday.) It's almost like taking candy from a baby, hitting up all of those drunk kids for munchies on their way back onto base. The one we held on the 3rd was very successful, raking in about $600 after all expenses were paid.

Then on the 19th, Kristin, Ronan, and myself went up to Nagano Prefecture to play in the snow for a couple of days. It was a beautiful trip, from getting on a train in Zushi, riding up to Tokyo for the first time, to getting on the Shinkansen (Bullet Train), and taking that up to the city of Nagano. It was a good trip. Most of the Navfac wardroom came, so there wasn't that much in the way of family time, but we had a good time none the less. The resort we were staying at had Oonsens (Hot springs), and karaoke. So Kristin went to her first Oonsen, which she admitted to being kind of apprehensive about. (We Americans are not used to walking around naked in front of other people.) But it turns out that she loved it. I think in the two days we were there she made three visits to the Oonsens. Of the two I have been to, this one was not that great, but after a day of skiing it felt really nice.
I also tried out karaoke for the first time. It a little different here. You don't go to a bar and get up on a stage, or in front of other people and make a fool of yourself. You get to do it only in front of your own party. So basically you rent out these big booths with the sound system and monitor in them. They typically have a couch in them and a phone to call the waiter for more beer or food. I was there with Mike G. and Wayne L. from work. These guys are pretty avid karaoke goers, so they jumped right in and started singing. I spent a lot of time flipping through the book, thinking to myself, "I am not drunk enough for this." I only sang one song, but by midnight everyone in the room was singing along with whatever song was up there. It was a good time.

A couple weeks after that a tragic even happened. The bases Operations officer passed away in his sleep. He was only 39, and it hit everyone pretty hard. Drew was a great guy. Very friendly and gregarious. He will be missed.

This last weekend, March 3rd, he held another Yakitori sale. This one made even more money then the last. I think we brought in about $1000 after expenses. The weather was warmer, and I was cooking. That had to be the difference. I was cooking.

At any rate that's it for now. I'll post a couple pictures of the Nagano trip and getting set up for Yakitori.

~jp

Noodle Junction in Yokohama

2007-01-18T09:15:00.000+09:00

This is a Google Earth shot of the rest area in the middle of the interchange. What you can't see is the fact that there are about 3 layers of highway spiralling down from the top level. Very interesting.

~jp

Crazy Rest Area

2007-01-18T09:04:00.000+09:00

During the trip to drop LCDR Velasco's bike off at the shop we ended up on the wrong side of the Yokohama Bay Bridge and decided to get off of the freeway to eat something and get going in the right direction.

This Rest stop is in the middle of this rats nest of interchanges and elevated highways. I'll post a Google Maps shot of the area. It was very interesting.
~jp

Kid in a Candy Store

2007-01-18T08:58:00.000+09:00

This is my supervisor, LCDR Velasco doing one of the things that he loves best, dreaming about his next bike. We recently drove up to Yokohama after loading his 1200cc BMW into his minivan to drop it off at the BMW shop. (It was not running at the time.)

While we were there we purused the sales shop and he fell in love with this little lady. He said he pretty much had his min made up about the bike when he left there.

~jp

Another Photo Update

2007-01-18T08:02:00.000+09:00

Please look to the right of the main body of the site, and you will note the link to my photo album. I'll change the date when ever I add photos. Please feel free to leave comments under the photos as well as on the blog itself.

~jp

Gotenba '07!

2007-01-16T10:13:00.000+09:00

Hello everyone! This weekend we went up to Gotenba. It was a great time. The food and drink were splendid, and company was fun, and I think for the most part everyone had a good time. All of that for under $200 for the three of us.

Something new for me was the onsen, which is a hot spring system. In this case it's not natural, but there are plenty of natural Onsens in Japan. It was a new experience to say the least, and it was very relaxing.

It was something like 8:30 or 9:00 the night we got to Gotenba, we had already gone to the Outlet Mall and we had just come back from our eating, drinking and other revelry.
We paid a mere ¥1000 per ticket and then we went up to the hotel that is part of the resort area we were staying on.
We checked in at the door and went up several flights of stairs to a locker room where there were lots of naked Japanese men wandering around with modesty towels on. (These are basically hand towels that you can drape over your groin region as you walk around.) After being shown an empty locker by the old lady who worked in the locker room (That was pretty weird, but you shrug and carry on.), we got undressed, locked our stuff up and went into the next room. This next room was basically covered in stone and marble tile with sit down shower stalls lining the walls. There were a couple of small pools on one side of the room and one large pool next to the outside wall, which was all glass looking out onto another pool which was outside on the roof of the hotel building.
So sitting on our little stools, we showered and made ourselves clean. Then we walked through another door outside. It was just a little chilly to say the least. But we made our way to another pool of hotwater and sighed as we sunk into the water. How nice it was. The pools themselves were pretty large, with enough perimeter length to accomodate about 15-20 people. Everything was steaming and with the sides lined with rocks, there was the sound of gently flowing water as the recirrculated and reheated hot water flowed over the rock facade as you would see in a natural setting. The perimeter of the pools were also lined with the rocks.

There was also a cold pool you could dip into once you were good and hot, and there was a sauna you could sit in to further your relaxation. We did everything. I sat in the hot tub for about 45 minutes, sat in the cold tub for 5 minutes, then jumped back into the hot tub, then went into the sauna for a while and then into the cold tub for another 5 minutes, and finally back into the hot tub for 30 minutes before calling it a night. It was very relaxing.

So if you are ever in Japan, I recommend visiting an Onsen.

~jp

Penguin Love

2007-01-07T13:10:00.000+09:00

This is Ronan enjoying some quality time with some fake penguins in Hawaii. He certainly looks like he is enjoying the weather and the company.

~jp

New Year, New Blog layout

2007-01-03T06:27:00.000+09:00

I know it's been awhile since I have posted. I figured, if Kristin can pull it together enough to post so can I.

Winter has come to Japan. We are in a chilly part of the country in which the tempuratures typically dip into the 30's at night and up into the 40's during the day. Of course this varies depending on the cloud cover.

So to defray the costs of heating our luxurious 1250 square feet, we have borrowed 2 kerosene heaters from the housing self help office. Given the fact that we haven't run the HVAC units as heaters I don't if we are actually saving that much money because the cost of kerosene is pretty obscene. ($2.98/gallon I think)

Since posting last I have had the chance to goto Hawaii for a couple of weeks. This was not a vacation, but travel for a school (class) that I had to take to be qualified to perform my job. Nevermind that I have been doing my job for the last 6 months without any major mishap.
During that trip Kristin and Ronan both had the opportunity to join me for about 10 days. That was o0ur holiday travel. Kristin and Ronan got to visit with the McCann's and I was able to goto class all day. But on both Friday's I did go and play golf. My first time ever picking up a club. It was pretty interesting. Mike Gabiga, one of my co-workers who was in the same class guided me and his enthusiasim for the game became contagious.

Christmas and the New Year were pretty slow, which was good. President Ford graciously gave us a day off in conjunction with our New Year's Day liberty, so we all had a five day weekend.
I went golfing with Mike again up at Atsugi NAF. That was the first time playing 18 holes. I am now a little sore.. My shoulder doesn't like to move like a golf swing very much, so I have to do some training. Of course my score was hilariously high. I think it was a 144. That's twice par which is on the edge of politely not playing anymore for the sake of the people playing with you.

That's about it for right now. I'll make a more concerted effort to update this thing on a more regular basis.

~jp

Trying something new

2006-10-01T18:44:00.000+09:00

Hello everyone. It a rainy Sunday night here in Higashi Zushi. (That's East Zushi in case you don't speak Japanese.)
I have decided to try something new and upload pictures to an online photo album system that Google is now offering as a function of Picassa, which is what I use to edit and organize my pictures.
The web site is http://picasaweb.google.com/Josh.Perry13

I posted some pictures of our outing into downtown Kamakura, which is the next town.
If you are Google Earth user the coordinates are 35Â°19'25.92"N, 139Â°33'18.04"E.

Another new feature on my web site is the Weather Underground tag which shows the current weather conditions about 10 miles from our area. Unfortunately it doesn't always reflect what is going on at the house or this immediate area because we do live on a penninsula and the weather can be very localized.
I am thinking of putting together a personal weather station myself. That would give the lower KanagawPenninsulala a little more weather coverage and it would set some trends that I could use for prediction.

Click on the weather tag and you'll see what I mean by personal weather station.

BTW, in case you didn't know, GT beat Virginia Tech badly. That's a huge win for the Jackets! Go Jackets!

~jp

Misty bright morning

2006-09-28T06:48:00.000+09:00

This is our street. It has been raining for last couple of days and this is the first dry morning we have had pretty much all week. You can kind of see the mist coming up from the pavement as the sun begins to hit the ground. Our house is actually on the right down about two houses.

The great outdoors in Gotemba

2006-09-28T06:45:00.000+09:00

This was taken the morning after our drunken revelry up at a brewery/resort in Gotemba, which is about 70-80 miles north west of Yokosuka. It was very beautiful and gave me a real feel for the fact that not all of Japan is city.

Stare Off

2006-09-28T06:43:00.000+09:00

Here is Ronan and I sharing a momement at one of our favorite restaurants in Zushi.

I finally have my wings

2006-09-04T11:13:00.000+09:00

I know it's been a little while since I posted so I'll give you all a quick update.

I have finally earned my wings to ride free off the base on my scooter. This all culminated with me taking the Experienced Riders Course last Saturday and then getting my full license on Monday and registering the scooter. Painful, yes. Worth it? I think so. So far I can say that it cuts 15 minutes off of my commute vs. taking the car, and the savings in gas will be huge. I'll be putting about $3.25 into the tank every ten days.

Ronan, Kristin, and myself have all been sick. I was the last, thus I am the last to get better. It was a nasty cold that was totally expected. There are different viruses here and I expected to get sick a lot earlier. I only missed one day of work so it wasn't to bad. But I missed a whole bunch of social events this weekend, being Labor Day and all.

We finally got our internet phone working, and it worked quite well this morning as we called Mom. It was great talking to you and Dad, Mom. Take care and I'll call next week.

That's about it. I'm going to step out with Ronan, and go to the park and play T-Ball with him.

~jp

Boom economy

2006-08-24T21:11:00.000+09:00

There is some insane construction going on in South Korea. I think it is something like the 13th strongest economy int he world. Pretty impressive really given the fact that they were living in 3rd world conditions 30 years ago.

2006-08-24T21:09:00.000+09:00

This is a great picture of Mt Fuji as we were flying back into Atsugi NAF in Japan. It certainly does look like the volcano that it used to be.

2006-08-24T21:07:00.000+09:00

Looking north into North Korea. It really is a beautiful country there. It was a little humid, but pretty comfortable all in all.

2006-08-24T21:05:00.000+09:00

I am standing on the north side of the UN negotiation table here in the negotiation chamber.

The first of a few shots from Korea

2006-08-24T21:00:00.000+09:00

This is right up at the Military Demarkation Line. You are looking at the North Korean side behind me.

2006-08-24T06:19:00.000+09:00

Here is a picture of my little scooter. It's has 100cc's of raging power so I should be good to go in that department. Other than that there is nothing really special about it. It will seat two people, but my license will be restricted as far as carrying people on the back.

New goings ons

2006-08-23T09:59:00.000+09:00

Well, it's been a few weeks since I graced these pages with another tidbit from my life here in Japan. Well folks, wait no more, because I am about to lay another episode on you!

So I bought a scooter a couple of weeks ago. It's kind of strange, but for some reason I have to have a fire lit under me to spend that much money. (It really wasn't all that expensive, but anything over $1000 I get the heebee-jeebees over.) So Kristin, Ronan, and myself go into this scooter shop. (Sounds like the opening to a joke doesn't it?)
You have to understand that I had done research, and I already knew which model I was going to get and what-not. So I find the model that I want to buy. They have a new one there on the showroom floor. It was going for something like 193,000 yen. I probably could have gotten it for 175,000 yen. But because I have discovered that registering a Japanese only model in the States will be fruitless and/or expensive, I decided to go into the garage and see what used scoots they had. As luck would have it, they had one of the model that I wanted to buy. And it was only 141,000 yen It had 8138 km on it, but it looked clean, and the engine ran good, and the oil was clean. So I decided to enter into negotiations with the scooter-ya (putting -ya on the end of a noun denotes a shop/shop keeper/ store clerk) to buy the steed in question.
Please understand that I don't speak all that much Japanese, and these people who ran the shop didn't speak and english, so we right from the begining we were off to a fine start.
We actually understood each other pretty well though, and after doing some paper work and finding a way to tell her where we live, we were able to pay and set up a delivery location and time for the scooter. It took about an hour and a nifty translation web site on Yahoo Japan. I paid the money and we took our leave.
On Friday of the same week a little truck with my scooter in it pulled up onto the sidewalk right outside the main gate of Yokosuka Naval Base. I hopped in the the truck and we drove to the back gate, did some paperwork and off we went to drop the bike off at the yard where the MSF Basic Riders Course is taught. (Which was begining that evening.)
So that night I sit in a classroom, watching videos, and answering questions that any well trained monkey could deal with. I was there until 2100 on Friday night. Then I show up at the yard at 0730 and we begin the practical aspect of the class. Riding around in a circle, braking, cornering, swerving. We covered the whole gambit. Nothing on developing a good traffic strategy that will keep you out of trouble on a bike. But it was good. I had a chance to get to know my scoot without being on the mean streets of the lower Kanagawa Prefecture. Scooters are pretty impressive little pieces of equipment. I think a lot mot engineering goes into them than most regualar motorcycles. Especially the transmission.
At any rate that was my weekend. Yes, I had to go back for another session on Sunday as well, and take a skills test as well as a written test. It was intense!
So there I was thinking that on Monday I would get a temporary Base Only plate, ride around base for 50km and then I can go to the Vehicle Registration Office to get the registration precess going so I can start commuting. After all, this scooter is supposed to be saving me about $1000 over the course of 3 years. (difference in train fare, time spent walking to train station, ect.)
But noooo........ I have another class I have to go to. The Experienceed Riders Course. You are not allowed to drive your bike off base here in Japan unless you take both of those classes. The good thing is that they are $300+ classes back in the States (for non-military types), for military members, they are free of charge, in fact the BRC is required for a military member to ride their bike onto any military base anywhere.
So I will be spending another day hanging out with the biker dudes so I can get my freedom to ride off this prison, errr I mean island of discontent.

I'll post a picture of the scooter tonigth when I get home. Of maybe later today. I do have a camera here and I am riding the scooter from the gate to my office everyday. (About 2 km)

~Josh

First Official Duty

2006-07-26T09:13:00.000+09:00

This is at a Shinto shrine where I was asked to participate in a traditional Shinto Safety Ceremony. I was honored and grateful for the chance. Of course later at the luncheon I was asked to stand up and give a speak to about 85 people who could barely understand what I was saying. It was all a very gratifying experience.

~Josh

More pictures

2006-07-18T16:55:00.000+09:00

A couple pictures from the top of the Landmark Tower. Breath taking.

New post!!!! (At long last)

2006-07-18T16:34:00.000+09:00

I just wanted to update everyone onthe goings on in the Perry room-hold. Yes we are currently still in the Navy Lodge here at Naval Base Yokosuka. But the light at the end of the tunnel is swiftly approaching. We are going to move into our new house on Friday the 21st of July. I know this about a month after we arrived here, but with work being as demanding as it has been, it's been hard to schedule a time to make this happen.

However; we have not just been sitting in our rooms waiting for life to happen to us. The first weekend we were here we went Hiratsuka to the Star Festival. Talk about a lot of people. One of my co-workers keeps a great blog site about his adventures in Japan, and he takes incredible pictures of the experiences too. You can check that out at:
http://rippleaj.spaces.msn.com

Last week we went to the mandatory Area Orientation Brief/Inter Cultural Relations workshop, and part of that is going out in town and riding the train somewhere and then talking about it the next days. Kristin and I decided to go up to Yokohama, which isn't all that far, but it involved getting a transfer ticket to ride multiple lines. Not a big deal really, but for Kristin and I it was a new thing. But easy once it was all said and done. During our outing we ran into another couple who were going to the same place, and believe it or not they were newer than us. We helped them out (We at least knew how to buy a train ticket.) and we ended spending the rest of the day together. It was a lot of fun. Unfortunately I didn't bring the camera. But I was able to take some pictures with the cell phone.

And that is the picture of the Landmark tower that we went to the top of. It was 1,000 yen, but well worth it.

That's it for right now. I'll post a couple for cell phone pictures right now as well. (From our trip to Yokohama.)

~Josh

Pictures

2006-07-08T15:27:00.000+09:00

Well, I wish I could post some picturs for everyone to see, but unfortunately the free internet connection that I am riding on is just to slow. It's wireless, but the actual connection to the outside world is not facilitating a fast enough connection to upload some fairly big pictures.

So anyway last night after I got off of work, Kristin, Ronan, a friend from work and his girlfriend, and myself all went to the town of Haritsuka to see a festivial that they put on there every year. It's called the Festival of the Lovers..... or Stars, depending on how you want to interpret it. There were tons pf people, food, drink, and did I mention people?

Hundreds of colorful, ornate lanterns were hung from elaborate bamboo rods and ropes. It was something to see. They were hawking a huge variety of food and drink from the street side. We ate well,a nd I even found a fresh (small) pint of Guiness. It was even pretty cheap, just 450 yen. ($4.30) I am sitting the bar at the Yokosuka Naval Base O Club drinking small glasses of Guiness right now, and it costs $6.00 a glass here.
The tales of things being UNBELIVABLE expensive out in the community are thus far vastly exaggerated. We going be moving into a house that cost about $2100/month, but it rivials anythign in California in that price range. Up in the mountains, 4 bedroom, 1200 square feet. once again, once I have a good internet connection, I'll post pictures. Well It's Ronan's birthday today, so I am going head back out to the pool and enjoy the sun, and my expensive beer.

~Josh

We Finally Made It!!!!

2006-06-26T14:12:00.000+09:00

Hey everyone, I just wanted to let you know has been going on. We have finally made it to Yokosuka, Japan.

After a gruelling 10.5 hour nonstop flight aboard a AMC flight, we landed at Yokota Air Forces Base, which a just southwest of downtown Tokoyo. Our sponsor was graciously waiting there to pick us up so we wouldn't have to ride the bus for two and half hours down to Yokosuka.

It was pretty interesting seeing nothing but nonstop city thought the ride.

We are now in the Navy Lodge on CFAY (Combined Fleet Activities, Yokosuka). It's a four story tower right on the bay. (You really couldn't be further from anything on the base.)

The view hasn't been all that great either because of the rain and haze that has been in the air. Evidently we have arrived here during the rainy season. It is hot and muggy and all and all reminds me of Louisiana. (Not quite as hot though.)

I'll post some pictures once we have some.

~Josh

Last Port Hueneme update

2006-05-23T02:23:00.000+09:00

I just wanted to give everyone a quick update on the ongoing adventures of the Perry family.  We are living out of an empty house for the next week while we clean and wait to check out of housing here in Port Hueneme.
Then on the 5th of June we are going to be making a break for it up to Portland, Oregon to spend our last few weeks in the States with Rebecca and Peter.
I can’t say the whole experience hasn’t been stressful, but we made it through it and we’ll do it again, and again, and yet again before this journey in the Navy is over.

On another note Michael finally got back from Kuwait, and I can’t wait to be able to hang out with him for a couple of days.  He’s going to be flying into Portland a day earlier than everyone else so we’ll be able to go out and talk, drink, ect.

That’s about it from here.  Thanks for tuning into our continuing adventures from the PH.

~jp

A little tidbit from the last deployment

2006-03-24T13:52:00.000+09:00

It's not often these days that I really think about my time in Iraq, but once in a while, usually while I am sitting in a class learning about something that would have made my job easier, I think about it all.

For instance, who would have thought that it is illegal for a Contracting Officer Represetitive to threated a contractor with a cure notice, termination, or bodily harm.

All kidding aside, here is a link to a recent developement on one of our largest most expensive projects. Check it out.

http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/read.php?story_id_key=8678

~Josh

More good times at the Seabee Prom!

2006-03-24T13:45:00.000+09:00

Here is a picture of almost everyone in the wardroom. Mike Guzzi is the one having relations with the .50 caliber machine gun.

~Josh

Inspection Day

2006-03-13T04:28:00.000+09:00

Twice a year we Seabees have dress uniform inspections. This was one of those days. I don't know if Ronan knows what to think.

~Josh

Chemical, Biological, and Radiological Training

2006-03-13T04:21:00.000+09:00

Seabees hard at work learning the critical skills of surveying a chemical attack site.

~Josh

Seabee Prom 2006 ;-)

2006-03-13T04:04:00.000+09:00

Here is a picture of Kristin and me as we were enjoying our time at the Seabee Ball in Port Hueneme. Fun stuff.

~Josh

The Furry Tractor

2006-03-13T04:01:00.000+09:00

Here is a picture from this last Christmas when Rebecca, Peter, and their dog Rosie came to visit. Ronan was entralled and Rosie was very toleratnt.

~Josh

Great Blog

2006-03-13T03:38:00.000+09:00

I was sent a site from a very helpful guy who is living in Yokosuka, Japan. He is a fellow CEC Officer who moved over to Japan late last year. (I’ll be working with him in all actuality.)
He has a blog site as well documenting his experiences over there.
http://spaces.msn.com/rippleaj/

It’s a MSN blog, but I don’t hold that against him.

~Josh

Long over due update

2006-03-13T03:29:00.000+09:00

Long over due update

To everyone who has checked this blog out hoping against hope that there will be something new posted I apologize.  It’s been a crazy couple of months.

I have been extremely busy at work.  For a couple of months I was the Alfa Company Commander.  Talk about a busy job, but very rewarding nonetheless.  We developed a good Company training plan and began to implement it.
Then the new LT came aboard and I was asked to take the back seat again and let the grownup drive.  LOL….  That’s how it feels being an Ensign sometimes.  The time honored tradition of not letting the Ensign do anything important unless there is a shortage of people.
But the management found a new job for me.  I became the Officer Seabee Combat Warfare Coordinator.  That has turned out to be a fairly rigorous job as there were four LTs who needed to go through the final qualification portion in the first month.  (It’s hard to believe that this job has only been going on for about three months.  (It feels more like six.)
Of course this is only a co-lateral function; I am still the Assistant Alfa Company Commander.  In the Army or Marine Corps, this would equate to the Company XO.  But it’s not and the job really isn’t the same.  I pretty much work the admin side, helping out with evals and such.  It’s been okay.  I have certainly learned a lot about writing evals, which is good.

A couple of weeks ago the Chief’s Mess and the Wardroom had our annual Chief’s and Officers Combat Skills class, which includes a week of classroom and a week out in the field.  (Chief’s and Officer’s style of course.)  It rained cats and dogs up at Fort Hunter-Ligget.  Digging run off water diversion ditches was about the high-lite of the week.  We had some good times though.

Through this all Kristin, Ronan, and I have been getting ready to move to Japan.  Our overseas suitability screening is finished, and the passports have been applied for.  I still have to sell my car though.  Rebecca is going to be buying Kristin’s car so we have that covered.

We’re looking forward to going up to Portland and seeing everyone for Rebecca’s Graduation Ceremony.  And we’re looking forward to Michael Marrero’s return from SWA here in the next month.

Well I think this is enough for now.  Have a great week.

~Josh

It's Official!

2005-12-03T01:42:00.000+09:00

I just found out last week that Kristin, Ronan, and I are in fact going to Japan for the next few years.

So this last weekend we are in San Francisco, no business, just hanging out. I have no idea what possessed to book a hotel off of Union Square on the day after Thanksgiving. I don't think I have ever seen so many people in one spot before. In my months of solitude in Baghdad, I must have forgotten the shear power of the consumer dollar in the US. It was amazing to see, and a little frightening as well.

So, as I was saying we're in San Francisco, and we go into a book store and buy a Lonely Planet Travel Guide for Japan. Why not? What place better to start than a guide written by westerners in Japan? After a thoroughly sintillating visit of the Bay area we drove the 6 hours back to Port Hueneme. During this time Kristin read about 50 pages of this book out loud to me. It sounds like it's going to be an interesting time to say the least. We see the language barrier as going to be a problem, and the fact that having a car is cost prohibitive as well as paramount to self induced anxiety. (Driving in downtown SF was a good indicator of Anytown in Japan.)

So we went out to dinner as we drove back into the PH and because of reading all about Japan we had a urge to eat some sushi. (This urge takes us some times.) So we went to this places we have never been to before. It was pretty good, but can you imagine taking a 17 month old to a sushi joint? Ronan surprised us all by eating a couple California rolls and eating a good portion of a Tori nigiri. (piece of tuna on rice.) And this was with wasabi and everything. The boy is a Hoover. If he doesn't eat it at first, just leave it in front of him and eventually he will get bored enough to eat it. I know that this will change at some point, and he will get into the spirit of having a battle of wills. (I can't wait...... )

~josh

Happy Daddy

2005-11-10T08:08:00.000+09:00

This is us on Halloween. Ronan had a great day going to the base commander's Halloween party. So rather than wash his costume out (A pumpkin) and take himi around to collect candy that he sure doesn't need, and God knows that Kristin and I don't need, he helped hand out candy to all of the kids that came by.

Living on a military base means that all of the families feel pretty comfortable letting their kids roam about. It was a crazy and pleasant night after hanging out in Baghdad for seven months.

~Josh

Home again, home again.....

2005-11-09T07:11:00.000+09:00

Well folks... It's done. The long deployment to Iraq is finally over. I made it home on October 24th, and it was a wonderful homecoming indeed. Ronan, the little boy that he is didn't have any problems with me, and in fact jumped right into my arms. He didn't start calling me "Daddy" or anything, but he wasn't afraid of me. (I'm told that is a common problem with men who deploy.)

I was able to take the next couple of days off, and then on Friday it was back to work. We are in a new building and on a new computer network, so believe it or not there was quite a bit to do to get those of us who were back early online and get settled into our offices.

The following couple of weeks have been kind of strange with me getting used to having a little boy (vs a baby), and getting used to a regular work week. I have been able to get off of work by 1500 almost everyday now. That's pretty crazy compared to life in Baghdad, in which I was working from 0700 til 2200 on most nights.

It has been an adjustment. I do find myself missing my weapon, just because it was such a steady attachment on my hip. I miss SOME of the people as well. But for the most part I don't miss being gone at all. I do miss seeing the project progress like it was. And I certainly do hope that it continues to progress as our relief gets comfy in their homes for the next 5 months. (they have a shorter deployment.)

As always my thoughts are with those who are still over there. Stay safe Michael.

~Josh

So I'm sitting in my office....

2005-10-14T20:38:00.000+09:00

.... eating my breakfast of a Harvet Bar and a cup of coffee, pondering the secrets of the Universe. (Reading the funnies online) And it comes to me that I am going to be home relatively soon. How soon is hard to say as I've been bumped, dumped, resorted, and reprioritized a few times now. But that's not the point. The point is, that I am going to be going home to my beautiful little boy and wife sometime fairly soon.

Of course there are several tons of baggage that go along with that. I am very busy right now (well.... not this instant) with getting things ready for turnover. You know how it is, old guys leave, new guy come, new cusses the existence of the old guy because he forgot to pass some important secret of the job along. It's a tale as old as time itself.
In my case, there is project information to tunr over. There are last minute bills to pay, accounts to balance and get in order, and some last minute new project items to work out for the people who have to stay here. Oh, yeah, the funding justification for the buses too. How I love being the guardian of taxpayer money.

But I'll slog through this and press on as I always do. My ears will redden as the people who come to replce me curse my name and say what a worthless piece of jackal crap I am. But I don't think I will mind all that much. I am going home soon. Thay have a wonderful 6 months of Iraq to look forward too.

~Josh

Boobs, Injuries and Dr. Pepper

2005-10-14T14:22:00.000+09:00

Boobs, Injuries and Dr. Pepper

Read this Blog, it is hilarious. :-)

Rebecca's Blog

2005-10-14T13:39:00.000+09:00

Rebecca's Blog
Check this blog out. My sister rocks!!!!

2005-10-12T13:21:00.000+09:00

The court was not exactly sand, and it wasn't all that soft. It hurt pretty badly the next day.

2005-10-12T13:18:00.000+09:00

Saturday night volleyball. There were about 80 people at this cookout/volleyball tournement.

Kristin's Blog

2005-10-04T13:48:00.000+09:00

Kristin's Blog

2005-10-04T13:38:00.000+09:00

This is an interesting shrapnel pattern in the roof over my back door. This happened long ago, probably back during the war, but I see the sun streaming through it sometimes, and I think how interesting it looks.

2005-10-04T13:33:00.000+09:00

This is the view from my back door. As you can see I have a little dirt garden going. I thought this particular morning was bright, clear, and cool. So I took a picture.

New comment posting procedure

2005-09-27T15:44:00.000+09:00

I have just had my first run in with comment spammers, so I am turning on an option that BlogSpot has made available, and that is to make people who are posting a comment to verify they are actually a person and not some spambot. This is done by simply typing in a series of letters that the system will show you. Simple. Sorry for this additional step to post, but we don’t need to see comments about someone’s Penis Pill site. LOL
~Josh

2005-09-27T15:29:00.000+09:00

Volleyball in a K-span Building. Fun was had by all.

Extension Celebration Picnic

2005-09-27T15:18:00.000+09:00

In light of the news that we have been extended to support our brother and sister Seabees in Gulfport in this difficult time, we decided to throw a party. So using one of the newly finished buildings that we built, we played volleyball and cooked hamburger, hotdogs, and chicken. I think a good time was had by all. Of course we couldn't break out the beer, but what can you do?
~Josh

Extended.....

2005-09-20T14:17:00.000+09:00

We just found out to day that we are going to get extended on our deployment by 28 days or so. The troops weren't to surprised by this move, as we were warned about the possibility. But it's kind of a disappointment as we are SOOOO looking forward to going home.

But when you think about the hardships our sister Battalion, NMCB-133 is going through right now, its not a big deal. They have 80 members who do not have homes right now, and they are aiding in the storm clean up in Gulfport. So they haven't had the time they need to prepare for their mission here and other places. If they came right away they would not have a successful deployment.

This is me and my family's contribution to the hurricane relief effort. It is the least we can do for our brothers and sister in Gulfport.

~Josh

2005-09-20T13:45:00.000+09:00

This is the famed camel spider. Not really a spider at all. It's not even poisonous.

Running

2005-08-23T12:08:00.000+09:00

I actually ran out side today for the first time in a couple of months.  I think we are through the worst of the summer heat over here.  I have been noticing that my walk to the gym in the morning has been accompanied with a slight feeling of chill.  So last week, I decided that I would start running outside again.
Of course I haven’t been running at all in the gym.  There are three treadmills, but alas, all we have here is the Iraqi gym, or rather the shared gym.  And with the Iraqi soldiers using the treadmills, they do not last that long.  Of course the fact that they were probably factory seconds, or what we would call seconds in the states doesn’t help anything.  So the last of three treadmills gave up the ghost last month sometime.  So I have been doing my thing on the elliptical.  Sure you can burn some calories on those things, but it’s easier for some reason than running.
So I went outside this morning, and it was comfortably cool outside.  The air had the typical Baghdad malaise in it, but the birds were chirping away cheerfully. (You have to love the birds)
I ran for a grand total of 26 minutes.  I little more actually.  My knees are not going to thank me later today.  I think they actually rebel.  We’ll see though.
A couple of the Iraqi platoons were having their morning football match out behind the HLZ like they always do, and there were a couple other American soldiers running the .6 mile running look with me.
I didn’t turn an ankle, or otherwise hurt myself, so I’m glad for that.
The morning was beautiful, and blue, and hazy, so I guessing that day is going to be ever so hot and scorching.

~Josh

Time Keeps On Slipping

2005-08-22T20:32:00.000+09:00

Can you believe it. I am inside the 8 weeks mark to coming home finally. I don't want to take anything away from my Army friends, who have to do 12 month deployments by the way, but it's almost been a half a year since I left Port Hueneme that dark April morning.

Everyday brings me closer to my beautiful wife, and unbearably cute little boy.
My family is going to be getting together this week in Portland to visit and see each other, and I am very jealous because of all the good time I am going to miss with these great people who happen to be family.

I just thought I would share this wonderful revelation with everyone.

~Josh

2005-08-17T12:28:00.000+09:00

This is a great picture of a monstrous 'Super Mousque" that is being built in downtown Baghdad. As you can see I was "on the road" again.

Red Skys All Around

2005-08-09T00:23:00.000+09:00

Well, I know I said I would post a picture a day thing. I guess that's either to much work for my schedule, or I just don't have what it takes to be a daily poster. Lately its been taking a long time to look at anything having to do with the internet. I'm guessing it has something to do with the weather. Last night sometime, a nice north-westerly wind blew in and brought its friend, the dust with it.
As you can see from this picture, which was taken at 0830 this morning, the day did not dawn bright and cheerful. I have not messed with the color of this picture at all either. It was kind of like being on Mars or something.
That's it for now.

~Josh

2005-08-03T14:49:00.000+09:00

A picture of a village that we flew over. If you look closely you can see people still sleeping on the roofs. They do this because they don't have a consistent power supply for their AC's.

2005-08-02T19:51:00.000+09:00

Looking out over Baghdad on a sunny morning. Approximately 8 million people live here.

2005-07-31T15:17:00.000+09:00

Yet another picture from my flight. You can see two children on the bank of the river near the bottom. They were waving at us.

And Time Passes

2005-07-29T14:04:00.000+09:00

The previous several posts have been pictures kind of chronicling a recent trip I took. It was an early morning flight, and besides some sort of oil misting my face, it was a great ride. (I really don't care if I get a little bit of hydraulic fluid in my face, but it got on my camera lens too.)

The scenes were spectacular though. From flying over the desert, to the approach to Baghdad where things start to get green again. The temperatures also vary widely. One minute it's nice and cool, and then the next minute you are sweating profusely because it's 20 degrees warmer.
This picture in my post here is a great picture of one of the many palaces in Baghdad. It's interesting to see that most of the people in Iraq live in such abject poverty, and then the Hussein family lived like this. And like I said, this is one of hundreds, yes I said hundreds of such residences.

Enjoy my friends.

~Josh

2005-07-29T00:09:00.000+09:00

What looks to be a fairly decent neighborhood in Baghdad.

2005-07-29T00:02:00.000+09:00

The mighty Tigris River outside Baghdad. Beautiful from this altitude.

2005-07-28T23:59:00.000+09:00

Watching the sun come up from a high vantage point, with the reminder that there is still constant danger in the air.

2005-07-28T23:56:00.000+09:00

A picture of the farm lands of Iraq as the sun peeks through the dust clouds in the morning.

Happy Birthday Wishes

2005-07-09T14:14:00.000+09:00

In this post I want to recognize my younger brother, Free Michael, for it is his birthday today. He is turning a well seasoned 29 years old today. This last year we haven't talked nearly as much as I would have liked to, especially living relatively close to each as we do. (I'm in the good old PH, and he's in Phoenix.)

So Happy birthday Bro! I hope you have a good one. I'd drink a toast to you if I could, but I can't, so I'll have a NA beer in your honor today at dinner. ;-)

~Josh

2005-07-05T15:38:00.000+09:00

Getting set up for our 4th of July Picnic.

2005-07-05T15:35:00.000+09:00

Lovely form work for afore mentioned Pumping Station.

A Post, at long last!!!!

2005-07-05T13:36:00.000+09:00

Damn, but it's been awhile since I have posted anything. It hard to think about what to write about when I post, because there is that delicate line you don't want to cross between when you can say and what you can't say about work. In the sporatic instances when I talk to Kristin she is constantly reminding me about things I mabe shouldn't be telling her, which in my case is very hard because of the fact that I typically tell her everything that goes on at home. It's yet another work dynamic that I just have to get used to.

I can talk about the basic work that I am doing, so I will vent just a little bit. We are over here helping the Iraqi people. I work with, and supervise several of them, and I feel that I have gotten to know the ones I work with pretty well. That being said, there is a strong trend of apathy from 75% of the people I work with over here. (The locals)

I know that is truly dismal outlook, but at times it gets pretty frustrating. All I can say is that the work around here is never dull. Too exciting at times, but never dull.

I have a contractor who is working on building a gray water pumping station for us. He catagorically refused to use my suggestion of using a precast concrete vault. He said he couldn't control the quality of concrete, and then the plant might mess up the pour and they would have to redo the structure. So he builds this brick outer jacket down in the hole, which is 4 meters deep. Then he ties his rebar, and builds his forms, and then orders concrete from the same batch plant that could have precast the thing in the forst place. LOL... The first trip the truck made out to the site, the contractor didn't have a vibrator. A whole load of concrete wasted. The next day everything was set. The truck came out and they poured, and whoops, there was a little failure of the forms. The boards started to bulge and break near the bottom of the structure.

That is a typical contractor here. They think they can do everything better and cheaper.
That's it for now.

~Josh

2005-06-13T13:00:00.000+09:00

Friends from the Desert. We will build!!!!

2005-06-10T20:07:00.000+09:00

Weird looking room mate. He didn't last that much longer though.

2005-06-10T20:05:00.000+09:00

Pervasive proof that Kawasaki is still taking over the world. ;-)

Update

2005-06-10T19:53:00.000+09:00

I know it's been quite some time since I last updated everyone on my adventures in Iraq. We we are moving into summer. The tempuratures continue to rise and our AC's struggle to keep up. We have had several ineresting dust storms. It's like a fog, the dust moves in and settles on everything and stays in the air. It harkens back to when Mt. St Helens blew up and the resulting ash fallout.

I think our warmest day so far has been 115 F, which is plenty hot.

Work is progressing nicely. I have settled into the challenging yet rewarding job of being the Construction Engineer for the whole project. Right now that amounts to about $19M in projects. I am enjoying the challenge of dealing with the local contractors, many of which are trying to pull the wool over our eyes by charging way to much for sub-standard construction. But we march on.

That's about it for right now. I'll post a couple pictures in the coming days. So stay tuned.

~Josh

Seabee Warriors all, both Army and Navy!

2005-05-08T02:34:00.000+09:00

Another Happy Mother's day Wish. Can you guess which tiny figure is me?

Communications

2005-05-06T17:56:00.000+09:00

Hey everyone,
As you can see from the previous post Mother's Day has been on my mind. Not only for the fact that I want to recognize my own mother for the joyous fact that she my mother, but more so this year for my wife, who is now a mother soon to enjoy her first Mother's Day. This is very important to her, and rightly so. She gets to celebrate the fact that now, she too is a mother.

So I salute you Mothers out there, but most of all I salute my wife, who is everything I could ever dream of and more, as the woman of my dreams, and the mother of our son, and my best friend.

Now for a quick update. It has actually been cold here the last couple of nights. Of course cold is relative, and 47 is pretty cold here. Since the last little update I have had the chance to get off base and see some of the countryside. It's not as desolate as I thought it would be here. There is a tremendous amount of agriculture from central Iraq northward.

That's about it. Mom, I did get your little message. If your email is messed up, but you still have access to the internet, signup for a Yahoo account. Free, simple, and easy.

Have a good one everyone.

Love,
Josh

2005-05-04T18:37:00.000+09:00

Happy Mother's Day everyone!!!

Sunday Night Dinner

2005-04-18T17:26:00.000+09:00

Hello folks,
I just wanted to fill you in on a little Sunday night tradition we have here in *********. (Censored for your and my protection. ;-)) On Sunday nights we close up shop at about 1730. (That's 5:30 pm in civilianese.) Anyway we close up shop and drive to the to the other side of the base. Of course I spend much of my day driving so that's nothing special, but we go to the chow hall right behind the 3rd Infantry Division HQ. (very BIG Head Shed.) There we walk into the show hall and grab our plate and plastic forks and whatnot. Then we approach the food line. The first thing you see is the carving station. "Prime rib, medium well please." (Mike Guzzi gets about 2 pounds.) On down the line you see Alaskan King crab legs. Not these little dainty things, but these 20 inch long monster crab legs. "Can I have two, pretty please?!?!?!" They gesture for my tray... one crab leg, two crab leg, three crab leg, four crab leg...... I'm starting to get alarmed. I'm doubting whether or not I am sufficiently hungry, so I wave off the the fifth crab leg being piled onto my tray. Then it's onto the salad bar for a salad of fresh romaine, not so fresh cucumbers, and all the other fixings.
The walls of this place are covered with college flags from everywhere. Oh, there's Georgia Tech, right up there in front. There are large plasma screen TV's hanging from every wall. And the sound of live music drifts through a set of exit doors.
So after pondering such things as drink choice, whether or not I should get desert now or later, speaking of which, what am I going to eat for desert? There is the pastry display with all manner of cakes, cookies, and pies. There is a Baskin & Robbins Ice Cream counter. There's even a deli sandwich counter for those who know they need a midnight snack, or lunch the next day.
So I wonder outside, and what do I see? Patio seating, with a small stage and a band of army guys playing Jazz. There are palm trees and a shade structure under which many tables are placed.
I'm thinking, "What's going on here? Is this a war zone? Or did I just step into the TwilightZone?
So this is going to be our Sunday night thing. We, Mike and I, are going to knock off early and go to dinner to sit, relax, and eat like pigs, errr I meant soldiers.
So I beg of you, please keep me in your thoughts as I endure the hardships of a long and arduous deployment in a wartorn country.

Have a great Seabee day!
~Josh

Life continues in Baghdad

2005-04-15T19:03:00.000+09:00

We are now on our own as far as doing our jobs. The guys that we relieved are on their way home. Godspeed and safe journey to them. (We are actually kind of glad that they are gone.)

The food here is pretty good. There are many different chow halls around the base, and it's all you can eat with pastry service stations, icecream stations (with real Baskin & Robbins icecream), and even carving stations here and there.

There's a radio station for the base which play the stupidest commercials. (Everything from Practice good OpSec, to buckle your seat belt when you drive.) But hey, it's music. And they have the heaviest armed morning show on the air. That's gotta be worth something.

The job is picking up speed. I must be personally responsible the deforestation of several mountainsides. I have my own copier on my desk to give you an idea of the amount of paper I go through. O'well, anything so I don't make a mistake and go to jail.

That's about it. O'yeah, here's my mailing address.

ENS Josh Perry
NMCB-5 Det 10
Task Force Pioneer
FOB Central Control
APO AE 09322

Don't ask me what all of those things mean, but a lot of different activities are over us. The only thing I would ask that you not send is alcohol. General Order #1, "Thou shalt not consume any alcohol in Iraq!" On a side note, as much as I would like to have some chocolate, I doubt it would survive the trip in this heat.

It also rained today. I thought that was worth mentioning for some reason.
Later people!

~Josh

I am here!

2005-04-08T20:30:00.000+09:00

Well everyone, I am here. Finally. I have actually been here for the last couple of days, but I have been busy learning how to do my job and getting the lay of the land. As far as where I am, I am allowed to say that I am in Baghdad. It's not all that bad here. Things have really setled down and everything seems pretty quiet. It's still like the wild west in a frontier type setting. Everyone still carries a loaded weapon and there is still a lot of stuff still going on out there.

I am living in a old building that leaves a lot to be desired, but I have a few days to use the Seabees that we have here before we goto work on Monday.

My email is still jperry13@adelphia.net so feel free to drop me a line.

That's about it for right now.

-Josh

Leaving on a jet plane.

2005-04-01T18:40:00.000+09:00

Well the time has come folks. I am leaving this very morning. Whew! It's been a long and laborious wait. Kristin can atest to the fact that everyone in the Battalion has been ramping up in anticipation of this moment. It's like one of those rev up toys, that you rev and rev and rev on the floor thinking one more time and you'll get a little more speed out of the thing. But no matter how many more times you rev, it just doesn't get any faster.
I can tell you all with no hesitation that we are ready for our mission and any more time sitting here in Port Hueneme will just begin to break the toy by over-revving.

So this is it for the next two weeks or so. I will be back online sometime in the middle of April. As my mother would say, "Angels around all of you.", and think you all so much for making this last week great. Especially you Kristin and Ronan. I love you both so much.

-Josh

Blue Eyes

2005-03-30T14:27:00.000+09:00

This is our blue eyed baby boy.

The Happiest Family

2005-03-27T10:49:00.000+09:00

This is a picture of all of us. Kristin, Ronan, and myself. Taken at Point Mugu Beach, March 25th, 2005.

Kristin's Blog- I recommend a look see. :-)

2005-03-27T05:23:00.000+09:00

Kristin's Blog

2005-03-25T13:27:00.000+09:00

Here's the question of the day. Did she put the backs on?

Through The Looking Glass: Soldiers Who Bitch

2005-03-25T11:33:00.000+09:00

Through The Looking Glass: Soldiers Who Bitch

SCW Qualified at last!

2005-03-25T10:52:00.000+09:00

A happy Navy family on a big day! Finally I am a SCW qualified Officer!

The new house

2005-03-22T15:08:00.000+09:00

Come on over for a cookout. This is a picture of us in front of our new summer home. ;-)

Lost in Paradise

2005-03-22T15:06:00.000+09:00

Belive it or not we did get lost in this maze. This was taken on the Leeds Castle Estate.

2005-03-22T14:59:00.000+09:00

This is another picture of our travels. We took this a couple of years ago on a trip to England.

Seychelles

2005-03-22T09:16:00.000+09:00

This is a picture taken in the Seychelles Islands on a business trip. It is a small island nation off of the east coast of Africa. Beautiful place, with incredible beaches.