30 June 05

Twenty minutes away from being overseas for 6 months. I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. Okay, so there was this gross man that was just sitting next to me in the computer lab, and he kept looking at me. I was ignoring him because I didn't know what he was looking at. Then he told me I had such beautiful long blonde hair and asked if I was single. Thank GOD the answer was NO! He was looking at the website www.onlinebootycall.com. Pretty sweet! Sick Bastard! I know you will all run to the site now. I swear his picture was posted on there as well. Ewwww. I am excited because tonight is my first night off from work in over 3 weeks! Rock on for that! The sun is horrible over here. I stayed inside for almost all of the day and slept. I've been having a hard time getting adjusted to working nights. Mallory you have the correct answer for what NCOIC stands for. Emily, I'm so glad you googled the wrong thing. It cracked me up, Miss So-Sure-of-Herself! It does stand for Non-Comissioned Officer In Charge. The next one is "DoD". Good luck.
-Mere

28 June 05

Night shift, although much cooler than the day, stinks because I can not get on a proper sleep schedule. Now, don't get me wrong. I can sleep anywhere, and I mean ANYWHERE, but when it is time for me to lay down, my mind races with other thoughts. I feel like I am so far behind in my class. I finished 2 assignments today. Thank goodness! Our job at work entails (sp) opening up a connex, inventorying everything inside of it, consolidating the goods into boxes (serviceable or unserviceable) and placing them in the proper DONE connex. I am a team leader incharge of the paperwork for my group. The past couple of nights I have had 2 people working with me, but tonight the new company from Puerto Rico is going to be there to help. I have to train in a couple of girls to be paper pushers. What fun! Plus, I'll probably have an additional 3 people working for me. It could get a little crazy. Hopefully, I don't freak out when a billion numbers are being shouted at me. I love being incharge (when I know what is going on)...but most of you already knew that. It looks like I will probably be getting my leave since we will probably be here until December with this mission formally named Blue Falcon. ***FYI*** Blue Falcon is a term used in the military for Buddy F-er, meaning we were given this mission by higher ups and we got F-ed. We thought it was really funny, but apparently it wasn't to those who heard about it so somehow it got the stupid name of Spaghetti Western...NOT sure what that means AT ALL. I'm going to go order some Pizza Hut...Yes that is RIGHT. We just got a "HUT" in Kuwait! The crappy thing is that they don't even have breadsticks. What kind of HUT is it when you don't even have breadsticks! I know Emily, your heart is breaking! We are going to have a little interactive fun...I am going to end some of my blogs with an accronym. Your job is to try to figure out what it stands for. The first one is (NCOIC).
-Mere
Oh yeah...and tomorrow is the day that I have been here for 180 days, meaning that I will officially be a Veteran of War!!!!!!! Rock on Benefits!

24 June 05

Sorry that I haven't blogged in a couple of days, but I wanted to give ample time for comments to the photos that I added. I certainly love comments. Plus, I can actually say that I have been so BUSY! I work from 6am to 6pm. We usually get a couple hours off in the afternoon for chow and to stay out of the heat during the hottest part of the day. Then in the evenings I am usually doing my homework or kicking back for a bit and hanging out. Work has been really hot. Today, I did something really stupid....so I get into my LARGE truck 2.5 ton (about the size of a cement truck + a trailer about 6 ft. long) and I flip the battery on, and then flip the start switch...nothing...my vehicle is completely dead. I yell out my window that my vehicle is dead and that I need to get jumped. They bring over a vehicle and the slave cables and hook me all up, then tell me to try it again. I do...nothing happens...completely dead! The guy then jumped into the truck and said, "Are you in neutral?" I felt like such an idiot! The truck was in gear. OOOP!. What can you do?!? They promised not to tell anyone. Andrew just shook his head. Sometimes I act blonder than I really am. It was a good chuckle we had. Anyway, I got to head back that way. I just came into the computer lab to e-mail my assignments. Mom, thanks for the MTV movie awards. I really liked them. Anything else cool going to be on tv soon? Chat with you all later.
-Mere

OMG! There it is. The infamous hardhat. I decorated it, and everyone else signed it. Never ever tap a 2 star General on his hardhat unless you have a good group of friends in very high places to watch your back. 

A CaMeL for you Michelle! Our driver went off-roading so we could get this choice shot! 

SSG Carlson and I learning a new computer system...I am so interested! 

Laura and I in our coveralls ready for our first day of work. 

Laura, Me, Rowan, and Kristi posing infront of some ships. I know the pt belts are sexy. It's all part of the uniform. 

Laura and I being hot in our sexy shades that Sergeant Major Dawkins gave us. 

A little scenery if you will. This is the outskirts of Kuwait City. 

Laura and I posing with some statues all garbed up. Good times! 

Here's a pic of my group that did the passing gas mission this past week. We had a pretty good time. SGM Dawkins (center) loved Laura and I. 

16 June 05

Yesterday was a great day. Not only because I had some good training and got to refuel a big plane and stuff, but I actually had a 2 Star General SAVE MY A$$! I am no longer going to get into any trouble!!! How many people can say that!?! I'll save my story on how for another day. I have to be getting ready for work in the next few minutes. Chad, that address is correct, and you can call me Mere. My name is spelled Meredith Petersen, but it would still get to me with no problem. I can't wait to see what is inside. Thank you very much. I took my first test in my class the two days ago and got an 88%. I'm content with that over here, considering I really don't have the most amount of time to study and really concentrate on what I am supposed to be doing. This whole Have-A-Mission-and-Have-2-Go-2-Work-Everyday stuff is not really my thing. I'm just kidding. I'll write more later. Chat soon and I can't wait until this weekend when I get to see my family on my Video Teleconference! Good times. Have fun at Relay for Life!
-Mere

14 June 05

Note to self: Never tell a 2 Star General (Major General) that he has a large noggin! Somebody might get mad at you! The crazy thing is...I even thought before I spoke! I guess some people are just bitter and have no sense of humor. The General wasn't the one to get mad. It was his Command Sgt. Major. He told me to "come find him later," but do you think I did? Heck NO. He does have my name though. It could pose a problem! Oh well, what can you do? You win some and you lose some. Yesterday, I went to a fuel farm and had to pump some fuel. Not my idea of a good time even though it is my Miliary Job. I managed to dump a bunch of fuel on my oh-so-sexy coveralls that I get to wear this week. (Don't worry. There will be a photo of them.) I hope no one lights up next to me to smoke. Stop, Drop, and ROLL! That's about it for me. I'll chat later. Oh, Yeah, Happy B-day to all that it applies too and I'm glad to hear that the wedding was great!
-Mere

12 June 05

So call me crazy, but it is 115 degrees outside (quite cool for what it has been lately), and I have on jeans, a cute pink shirt that Malzey sent me and my hair is down and curly! We FINALLY get to wear civilian clothes. It is so liberating. I have never loved a white t-shirt so much. I don't have many clothes here, so I don't have much to choose from. Starting tomorrow for a week, I get to go on like a "tour" of Kuwait. It has to do with fuel and stuff. I am kind of excited about it. I'll try to get some good photos. It goes Mon.-Fri. The other day (friday), it was so hot. I am talking the hottest day of the year thus far. Austin, Mandy, and I were outside trying to back up 3 trailers with a 5 ton. It was so comical. Here we were, sweating to death in the hot blasted sun, cursing everything that moved because we were so frustrated, and laughing our butts off because we knew that anyone watching us had to be dying from watching 3 stupid girls back up trailers. It concept is easy to grasp, but the act of actually backing it up is rather difficult. I wish I would have gotten a picture of what mine finally looked like next to the rest of the trailers that were already there. OMG! Funny stuff. It was nice to get to talk to Mom and Dad the other day for like an hour. I hope those clothes get sent out soon. I'll talk to you all soon.
-Mere

8 June 05

Looks like today was my lucky day for having to deal with a sand storm. I think it was even worse than when we were up in Camp New York, too, because it is way hotter too. I was sweating, and the sand was latching onto my face. Pretty sure I'm going to have like 20 zits on my face from that one. It was a rough couple of days of work as well. Well, I guess I can't say that it was anything too difficult. It's just that we would wait for like 2 hours to do something and then either when we were about to do it OR just got it done, someone would tell us that is wasn't supposed to get done! It can really make a person pissy and FAST! I'm not just talking about me either. Some of the most optimistic people are thinking the same negative way I do now. I'm kind of excited for tonight. My new squad is going to do some squad bonding by going to play BINGO here in Zone 1. I didn't even know we had BINGO here! Hopefully, I win some of the "Great Prizes" they have to offer. I was going to drag Andrew alone too, but his brother is here tonight, so he got saved. Nothing much else going on for the rest of the day besides reading some more in my textbook for class. Rachel, I loved the BULK mail I got yesterday! Cass, I can't wait to come up to the cabin. The pictures were lovely. Aaron and Jessica, Congratulations, and I am so happy for you! I wish I could be home for your wedding! I love and miss you all.
-Mere

6 June 05

Good morning everyone! I had a great weekend. Dad called me Saturday and although is was freaking hot outside when I talked to him for an hour, we still had a good conversation. I hope you guys had a good time at Monica's graduation. Congrats, Monica! Then yesterday, I was going to go pick up the mail, and Rachel called me. It was a good talk as well besides the fact that she was trying to spend my money. It was super hot yesterday. I think someone said it got up to 125 or maybe 127 degrees. We would get out of the pool, and dry from the air and then just start sweating like something nasty. I'm talking pools of sweat. Needless to say, we didn't last long. I need to get my speech videotaped either today or tomorrow and get it sent off to my teacher. Hopefully, she will receive it by Mon. or Tues of next week. I'm excited for my VTC! Talk to you later.
-Mere

3 June 05

Hello Hello. What a blistering hot day it is today! I can't get enough of it. One of our shower trailers doesn't have any air conditioning in it anymore. Talk about getting out of the HOT water and stepping into the HOTTER air. I can never win. I sweat no matter what. At least that means I am drinking enough water. Today we had to go to work at 7am. The time went so so so so so slowly. I had to sit outside in the sun with another girl for 30-60 minutes without any shade and minimal water. I love this life. I finished another 2 assignments for my class. I'm going to submit them in a couple of minutes. Then I'll only have 2 more for this week. This class has more work than I thought. Good thing I messed up on my other class, and it doesn't start until the middle of July when this one is done. *****SO I watched AMERICAN IDOL a couple of nights ago to finish out the season, and MY HORSE, CARRIE UNDERWOOD, WON! I am so excited, still. I called my mom, and as weird as it is, I started crying. It was just such a great moment! She was by far the best idol! It was great getting to talk to you, Mom. Sorry that my VTC thing fell through for this weekend. I'm glad though, that mom and dad will get to be there on the 18th now. I miss you all. Stay dry while I try to do the same. Later.
-Mere

1 June 05

Five months down (x) number left. I guess I'll have to say that it is between 2 -7 months left. My day went pretty good. For some reason we were actually able to go to the pool today. That was pretty cool. I hung out there for a couple of hours. I did my first assignment for Speech and e-mailed it in. I hope she receives it right. It was only worth 10 pts., but 10 pts are ten points! Then I mailed off a couple of packages. Yesterday, I had to go to work for a couple of hours. It was deadly hot. I actually had sweat drip/run/pour down my back and down my buttcrack. I know that is gross, but I am trying to get you people to understand just how horrible it is here. Today the temp got up to 124 degrees, and I (oh smart one) was outside the whole time! I've been drinking my water. Hopefully, it keeps me from feeling sick. Nothing much else. Oh yeah! I got a wonderful package from Rachel yesterday...LOVE the ankle socks. They are the perfect length...just meet regulations! And those Nutrigrain bites are to die for. I love the strawberry but I could always use another flavor. Also, I got Mom's last two episodes of American Idol, so I am going to try to finish those either tonight or tomorrow and then we can discuss. Don't TEll Me before that! Love you.
-Mere