When it rains, it muds

Right now, I'm sequestered in the "morale tent" because it is pouring outside. It started this afternoon while we were outside playing catch. From one second to the next I couldn't see the guy 50 feet away that I was throwing to. The wind kicked up, the dust was swirling and mixing with the rain, and suddenly it was mudding. Not muddin', which my southern compadres know involves an open field and a truck, but mudding.

After a few minutes the rain had cleared the crud from the air and we went outside and took pictures of one another getting drenched (it felt great). A little while later it let up, leaving behind a not-so-fresh odor. That was maybe 7 hours ago. Then, just a few minutes ago, it came back again, out of nowhere, pouring like spring showers. I think "morale tent" is kind of a funny name - a morale McDonalds would probably be more effective - but being dry in here right now is certainly lifting my morale. Also I found free jolly ranchers.

I realize it must seem lame for me to be blogging about rain, but around here it's a big deal. When the first downpour hit this afternoon, Gunny mused out loud - wonder if we left the windows down in the truck. Who cares, we simultaneously realized: when the rain stops it'll dry out in an hour from the heat. Hope we were right. Leave it to us to get mold to grow in the desert.

Man, it is hurricaning outside.

In other news, I went down to the flight line today and met with some more Brits. They're really great - friendly, relaxed, and...British. I think you know what I mean. After that we had Indian food. On the American part of the base - nada. On the British part, an Indian place, a Pizza Hut (I know!) and some nice coffee shops. Granted, this is not Pizza Hut like back home - it's a guy hanging out the back of a semi-trailer serving personal pan pizzas and calling them larges. But still, it's nice to have. The Indian food, also out of a trailer, was good, and spicy. I quenched my thirst with Pepsi Light, which is like Diet Pepsi only...nope, that's pretty much it. Just diet Pepsi with a weird name.

Then I went next door to the British PX and bought office supplies. Why? I'll tell you an interesting story. We've got generally two types of cargo we bring over from the states - stuff we need soon and stuff we need eventually. Soon = by plane. Eventually = by boat. Well some Einstein at higher decided we'd messed up, because we put some "critical" gear, like extreme cold weather stuff, on the slow boat. So they swapped it. Now we've got all the cold-weather boots you could ask for, just in time for the thousand degree summer. We're trying to use the boots in place of computers and telephones but that doesn't work as well as you might think. And that's why I was buying rubber bands and post-it notes at the British PX.

Well the rain has stopped and I need to be getting to bed. Wish I could upload the pic of me in the rain (I've got a ****-eating grin on) but the camera is back at the office. I'll put it up next time. For now, adios.

Can you hear me now?