Back from Iraq!

The protagonist of our blog, will fenwick, returned from iraq to Camp Pendleton, CA, safe and sound (and a bit skinny) on Friday, January 28th. About fifteen family members were there to welcome him back. currently, will's living the good life in sunny San Diego. thanks to everyone who contributed to the blog - our mission was accomplished, too.

san diego, CA 

The weekly update for 01/25/2005

Greetings cousin Will. This is your weekly update.

After a bout of heavy snowfall, NYC is doing quite well. the temperatures are low, but the roads are clear and everything is pretty much back to normal.

and so.....onto the report.

U2 News
the boys, U2, have posted what will be the start of their world tour. Beginning, conveniently for some, in San Diego on March 28. Tickets go on sale this weekend, so watch out!

The Academy Awards
The movie "The Aviator" picked up an impressive 11 award nominations. have not seen it yet, but hear it's a good one. "Million Dollar Baby," which is great, "Finding Neverland," "Ray" and "Sideways" I have not seen, but have heard good things.

Tennis
In a matchup worthy of a final, defending champion Roger Federer was graceful and at his relentless best in beating four-time winner Andre Agassi 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 on Tuesday to advance to the semifinals of the Australian Open.

Super Jumbo
The Airbus A380, which was presented to the world last week in a roll-out ceremony in Toulouse, Southwest France, is a double-decker ‘superjumbo’ capable of carrying 840 passengers and will rank as one of the biggest machines ever to take to the air.
With a wingspan of 80 meters, an overall length of 73 meters, a height of 24 meters and a maximum take-off weight of 560 tons, the A380 can carry more passengers than any other commercial aircraft today.
Configured for economy, business and first classes, a typical A380 will be able to take on board 555 passengers, with the flying elite treated to full-size beds, a bar and lounges.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/050121/photos_bs_afp/050121195801_4umzkzpt_photo0

Football
The Superbowl is set. Philadelphia Eagles vs The New England Patriots. Oh boy!!

Google
Google Inc. is using its popular Internet search technology to find information and images broadcast on television, continuing a recent effort to extend its reach beyond the Web.

Apple ITunes Sells 250 Million Songs
SAN JOSE, Calif. - With its music downloads selling at a rate of more than a million per day, Apple Computer Inc. said Monday customers have purchased more than 250 million songs from its online iTunes Music Store.
Anyone looking for an iPod, but don't want to spend the money? check this out.....

http://www.apple.com/ipodshuffle/


Study Suggests Whales May Be Related to Hippos

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A second look at some 40-million-year-old fossils provides a "missing link" to suggest that the closest living relative of whales is the hippo, a group of scientists said on Monday.

Baby and harp among items left in cabs

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - An estimated 11,300 laptop computers, 31,400 handheld computers and 200,000 mobile telephones have been left in taxis around the world during the last six months, according to a survey.

Taxi drivers in nine cities also said they had found a range of other items left by passengers, including a harp, 37 milk bottles, dentures and artificial limbs. One driver said he even found a baby in his taxi.


And there you have it. The weekly update. I hope this finds you, Will in the finest of form. I think i can safely say, it will be most excellent to see you soon and fan- frikkin-tabulous to have you home. Take care and travel safe. Love, Cooz

one week from today ...

pretty cool to think that, in a week, we'll be preparing for your arrival at camp pendleton. i really haven't let myself think too much about it, in part bc of the letdown last time when the spaniards delayed your return. anyway, looks like we're good to go. at random moments, i'll start thinking about you getting back - on the metro, washing the dishes, while my boss is talking to me - and it makes me smile. i can't friggin wait.

cousin amy, mom, dad and i will be flying out of dulles on thursday evening and arriving in long beach that night ... coosins david and liese (with a bun in the oven) mcG will be arriving on the West Coast that night, too ... i'm assuming a the poons from noCal and trues from soCal will be in town for the revelry. and, of course, mevarooski, charece, april and the cats will already be there.

funny how time passes depending on where you are ... i'll be painting my new place and starting the move, and so the 7 days will go quick ... on the other hand, i imagine you're starting to countdown the seconds till you're home ... soon enough, man ...

when you left the 2nd time, i promised you i wouldn't lose it like i did the 1st time. dunno if i can make the same promise for your return :)

regardless, should be a very Xtreme family reunion.

22 jan

Hi all,

Just “enjoying” my last few days where day of the week and time of the day have about as much meaning as what year we are in for normal folks. I’m subsisting on chef Boyardee from willie and turkey chili from toni and cindi anymore, I’ve reached my limit of tolerance on the chow situation here at the flight line chow hall. The main chow hall is about 30 minute walk away or a 30 minute wait for a bus to take you there, so I usually don’t get down there, plus after the Mosul incident, I’m very wary of places of large gatherings. The security on this base has been impressive for the duration of our stay, but nothing is sacred when these insurgents are plotting and biding their time in my opinion.

The pre-election violence is escalating as anyone with a mind between their ears could’ve predicted, you see that most of the targets are soft ones, Iraqis, Iraqi police and political figures. The attacks on US Forces have stepped up to in the form of IEDs and indirect fire attacks, but we are getting wise to Johnny Jihad’s ways after a year of this crap, and he chooses targets that do not shoot back or know will yield high casualties, eventually the Iraqi police will catch on and start fighting and being more vigilant. I don’t think there is a big problem recruiting people, it’s just recruiting brave, dedicated people that is the problem, which in my opinion, is few and far between in this land. As expected, Coalition forces are planning to surge operations in the days leading up to the vote. The polling centers still remain a secret for force protection reasons so Johnny doesn’t try and stake them out for any longer than we let him. I’m sure we’ll have some surprises or “counter-threat tactics” which we’ll employ to keep an already below average intelligence insurgent off balance and wondering.

Becky thanks for all the wonderful words of praise for Twin Cities, I’m really looking forward to the scenery change. I really love SoCal, and maybe I’ll even move back, but winters are already mocking me from a distance and making me sometimes wonder what I have got myself into =;) I’ll have to chat with you about the MBA when I get back, I’m not so sure why I want to get one, I just know that I need to get one in order to set myself up for the 1stCivDiv (1st Civilian Division) =;) I haven’t made up my mind to stay in or get out yet, but I know this is a young man’s game, and I’m not as young as I used to be, that’s for damn sure.

Charece, thanks for being my social coordinator. I’m sure you plan on getting me plumped up quickly, but I’m running now, so I should be able to eat a lot and keep the weight off as I begin my binge eating and drinking when I get back, sometimes overdoing it is just so right =;)

Hopefully the blog will still be active when I depart, I’m sure my point of view won’t be nearly as first hand and educated, but it’s been a great tool for keeping in touch with friends and family who I would’ve otherwise lost touch with. Shout outs to Matt Pie for the wonderful idea. Getting a blog was just as cool as getting a piece of mail over here.

We’ll be leaving here within the next 5 days or so and be back in socal on the evening of 28 Jan. My post deployment leave will start on 4 March and go until 28 March. Plan on seeing whatever time Charece can swindle out of work and doing something with her
going to see Chad in NM, possibly stopping by Twin Cities for a few days and getting the lay of the land, going home to Harrisburg, so it should be quite action packed and adventurous. Can’t wait to catch up with everyone.

Love and Prayers,
Will

14 jan 2005

Hi all,


Mr Wons, thanks for the notes. Sounds like similar circumstances in Vietnam where you and Dad were trying to help poor people, beyond our perception of poor people, have a shot at a better life and remain an ally of the US in the new world order, or at least….not an enemy. Funny how kids 40 years apart ask the same question too. Looking forward to a great homecoming in 2 weeks. Man time flies when you are having fun, 6 months has come and gone so quickly, I need to get out of the fleet and have a slower life for a little while.

I have been offered a billet as the Marine Officer Instructor of the University of Minnesota’s NROTC unit. Sounds like a pretty kick back deal to me, compared to this crap !!!! The job is in the Twin Cities, so that is good, Univ of Minnesota has a top 25 MBA program, so that is good, I plan on getting me one of those things, and they have a propensity to pay for their faculty’s tuitions completely, which is what I would be considered. Minuses, cold, cold, cold, and I’m not really sure where Minnesota plots out on a map right now? I’m looking forward to it, I will rotate there in the may-june 2005 timeframe and it is a 2 or 3 year billet, so I’m pretty stoked about the whole thing, except the cold part.

The clock is ticking down nicely here, I just have an hour and a half class today on Defensive Air Combat Maneuvering to the squadron pilots, so it took a while to prepare for that class. It’s a rather complex subject, so hopefully I didn’t confuse the young pilots too much =;)

Fancy I got your mail for marines letter, thanks much for that, I wrote you back, hopefully you get the letter this fiscal year. The elections continue to be the source of work around here these days, I don’t think much will change after the elections, but every day the Iraqi Police and Army is one step closer to being better, more able, better equipped, and every day an insurgent dies or is captured and those are all steps to a free and democratic iraq that can live in peace without all of us over here to play policeman.

I have some great videos to bring home and show everyone, so hopefully I’ll get to catch up with all of you bloggers at some point or another.

When I get home, I plan on gorging myself on sushi, and beer. Visiting with all my friends and family on that first weekend back. I want to go camping in Yellowstone, do some yoga classes, shower daily, go out on a Friday night for a beer or two or ten. I remain vigilant and wary here until the moment I touch down at March Air Force Base in Riverside, CA, then I’ll relax and wait to see everyone waiting for me at Marine Corps Air Station Camp Pendleton. I’m starting to let my imagination wonder how awesome that’s gonna be. Well, take care, I’m off to read and go to bed. I just finished Pat Conroy’s Lords of Discipline and am moving on to Pat Conroy’s Beach Music.

Take Care, love, will

ohmigod i'm back again

For those of you not familiar with that awe-inspiring lyric, it is none other than my favorite band of all time . . . the Backstreet Boys. In any case, I am back after a very extended break, which included a hop across the pond and another hop to California. Europe was outstanding, I visited Switzerland, England and Ireland. I got to see the McGraths that are still in Ireland and they were incredibly hospitable. Suzanne's kids are so adorable, quite a handful as well. I went back to CA for 3 weeks and was able to cruise down to San Diego (stopping along the way to see the Trues and Rachel). Heather and I spent NYE with a pleasant buzz at a PB dive bar. I returned to a surprisingly mild climate in DC (I think we hit 50 degrees today). Benji and Nancy made an appearance here on Saturday night, very good to see them. I have been enjoying all my free time now that I am unemployed, but we will see how long I can last w/o any income. I have taken up knitting and am quite excited to complete my first piece, not sure when that will be as I have had to start over at least 6 times. Will, I am trying to head back to CA for your arrival back in the states, hopefully I won't have a job and will have the money to do so. Well, I am going to head home, I can only access the internet at a cafe now, the sucker that we were "borrowing" wireless from in our apartment had the audacity to move or turn off their connection. Hmph. Hopefully you will be done carting around inflated Iraqis soon. Take care and hurry home!!!! love-@

11 january 2005

Hi all,

Thanks for the recent updates. Congrats on your new job becky. I too would like to get a masters someday, we’ll see what happens though, looks like you cashed in pretty well on it.

Things are well here. Like I told my charece and my family, my patience has worn out for this place, it left rather quickly in the past couple days. The light is at the end of the tunnel and the missions over the past few days have driven me irate from escorting Iraqi Generals around in our helos to escorting people who are not VIPs but think they are it is really annoying. I did have a good mission today, provided close air support for a civil affairs mission to a nearby western al anbar province school to assess the atmospherics of the town and it’s impression of coalition forces. I guess it went well. There were two guys watching the movements of the friendly patrol, I know they were bad, but we couldn’t prove it and the patrol didn’t question them, that is really frustrating, because the place is full of those kind of guys who know they are untouchable until they start doing something bad and get caught red handed. I think some things are going well, but just have a bad taste right now about other things. We finally got our election sites setup for the al anbar province. The al anbar is the @sshole of Iraq, full of sunni muslims and former regime loyalist. If you look at the majority of the attacks in iraq, they happen in the marine Area of operations. We have some issues with getting the information about the vote out and setting up security at the sites, but we have established voting sites, probably not enough, but we have a lot of territory to cover, with not all that many folks.

The chow continues to dazzle me with its shortcomings. I will really need to watch it when I get back that I don’t eat myself into a food coma every night. Sushi, Mexican, and Italian are at the top of my craving list.

Well it’s MORP (Marine Officer Rest Period) time here at al asad. I’m tired and have to fly again tomorrow.

I’m about 13 days out from the beginning of my 3 day departure window, so things are still on track to be getting out on time. Hope all is well on your ends.

Love and prayers, will

let the countdown begin

t minus 21 days (or so) until will comes back, i can't wait! hope to see lots of faces for the celebration. charece has put me in charge of the restaurants, so everyone will be forced to eat vegetarian for the duration of the trip;)

another rainy day in socal - they're calling for rain all weekend. san diegans are completely befuddled by this phenomenon. as long at it's not freezing cold out, i don't much mind.

i'm fixing to be pretty busy coming up: i have (almost) decided to run the la jolla half marathon with will in late april, as well as take a 10 week yoga teacher training class on weekends from february to april. should keep me occupied for a while!

i hope all you bloggers are doing well in 2005!

Vipers