New pics...Hi love

HI love, it's so nice to see you. We miss you so much. Things are good here. Quinn didn't end up having his procedure yesterday. They wanted to get everything done on one day and they couldn't do that yesterday. So, they are trying to schedule it for Oct. 1st. So did the trailer come in? How is it going? Any idea when you might be home?

No trailer yet. How's it going you ask? It's still going. I might be home around the first or second week in Oct.

This picture is of one of the gunships. For good size ships with a good amount of armament the things can go.



The guy on the left is our install team lead. We call him "rickety". He's a little older, so he doesn't do much of the grunt work, though he tries. But he does travel around with us to the different sites and provides entertainment. I thought his eyebrows were going to rip off on this ship.



This is an MPV (mine protected vehicle). It's basically a safe on wheels. It's how we get around on land through the more hostile areas. We get stuffed in there with a small task force. And they clear the roads in advance when we go through any towns.

What is this picture. Surrender or hello.

This picture is the result of a fishing boat coming within proximity of one of the ships I was on. All the manned guns on the ship will train to any nearby boats and the occupants must show no aggression or run the risk of being attacked. The gunners keep a bead on them until we are well passed.

One thing I don't think I've mentioned about these people is that tea time is a way of life. Tea is made available to the officers and our team no matter what the circumstance.

Hi handsome. Looking good.

Ah, tea, how very civilized. Your mom was looking at your pictures and just kept saying that they looked like home, minus the wire fences. Well, I love you. I can't wait to see you home safe and sound with us. Take care. Tell Denis hi.

Love you too babe. I left on here what you added cause like most of this blog, it will be interesting for me to look back on.

The men around here don't seem to grow very big. I feel like a giant among them.

The monkeys down here are thieves. Can't leave anything lying around because the minute you walk away they come and take it and scurry up a tree with it. We've lost tools that way and one actually dropped my camera as he was trying to make a quick get away with it. I thought the monkeys were kind of amusing to watch. Until the day we lost a site due to the monkeys chewing through our data cables. We had to travel back to the site to repair it and put protection around the cables. So pretty much from that day forward, I'm not amused any more with the monkey business.

There seems so much about this trip that I don't imagine ever being able to forget. The navy officers who are our guides are reluctant to tell us of the dangers and threats as we work. Understandably they want us to feel comfortable. But the enlisted sailors on the other hand will get on the towers with us and point to areas where the nearest recent attack was. They will tell you in broken english how many casualties and talk about the rebel capabilities. And tell you of their friends who have died pointing to some sunken ship in the harbor. Some of the sites the army launches volleys of artillery all day as you work. It makes working on the towers even more tedious. They launch artillery at night too. With just enough time to fall asleep in between volleys. Then you're startled awake with loud explosions that rattle the roof. I think my biggest worry comes when they sound the air raid horn and ask that we shut off all lights and stay under a roof. Fortunately all the artillery I've seen and heard has been outgoing. And there are task forces on 24 hour patrol around any place that we work. If the area becomes too dangerous, they move us out to a completely different area of the country while the military spends a few days on the offensive.

I'm telling this side of the story now because I believe the worst is behind us. Work at the most remote places is finished and as long as nothing breaks, we won't be going back. Now I'm in a nice hotel back in a city. The remaining work is nothing too stringent. I do look forward to coming home, but I won't get too excited until I'm on a plane to Providence. I miss you honey. But to be honest, I'm once again overly excited about being able to see that little pudge pot you've been raising without me over the last two months. He's grown so much it seems, and mostly in his cheeks. He wasn't even crawling when I left. I will have to introduce myself all over again. Fun times are coming on the the horizon. I'll see you soon.

Oh yeah, here's another video. They are changing a tire but they had no jack. No one was hurt.