I was recently thinking that I didn't have anything interesting to write about. I have a few ideas: Mr. Big Hands; Strawberry, our three-legged yard dog at the depot; the persistent kids always selling scarfs, gum, candy, or simply begging (my fellow loan officers & I could learn a few things about closing a deal from these kids); jingle trucks; the creative and widespread use of our conex boxes by the indigenous personnel--but those stories will have to wait for another day because yesterday turned out to be interesting.

Yesterday was my day off. Like I've said elsewhere, we follow the Islamic weekend which is Thursday noon through Friday. I didn't have much planned--there's not much to do. But I did sleep in--until 7:30 AM anyway. At 7:30 we were roused out of bed for a muster. When that happens, we're supposed to gather at the nearest bunker--in this case, the basement of our safehouse--fully clothed, equipped with our body armor and bug-out bag. A bug-out bag contains essentials like extra clothes, flashlight, knife, leatherman, chemlights, shaving kit, ID, passport, cash, etc. The idea being that this was a drill for in case we had to evacuate. At least that's what I thought (and what I later told Julie). But it turns out that it wasn't completely a drill. There was something--a mortar or rocket--fired at the embassy. We waited around for about an hour and were released, so we went to breakfast.

After breakfast, I walked back to the safehouse, took a shower, and walked back to Camp Egger. Got a haircut, went to the gym, ate lunch, went to the PX. Alex and I were just leaving the PX when we heard gunfire. Automatic weapons fire, and some screaming. Coincidently we were standing near where the armored HMMWVs for the reaction force are stationed. Soldiers scrambled to man the vehicles and load their weapons. I watched it take place and they were rolling in under a minute. Luckily I had my camera and there are a couple shots of the HMMWVs in my photobucket album. Turns out it was only the ANP (Afghan National Police) firing celebratory into the air for some reason.

Shopped at the weekly Friday bazaar on the way home. Franz Zichy, one of my fish buddies from the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets, wanted a Jezail. Jezails can be rifles but typically they are smooth-bore guns. They are unique to Afghanistan, primarily captured British muskets modified for firing over walls and/or from camel-back and highly decorated with Mother-of-Pearl or bone and brass fittings. I found a good one with a working lock and engraved with the West Indies Company stamp and "1811". There is also a pic of this rifle in the photobucket album. A little trivia: Dr. Watson, Sherlock Holmes' sidekick, was shot with a Jezail.

That's all the exciting stuff. Took a nap. Went to dinner. Friday night is steak night. I had steak, crab legs, corn-on-the-cob, and Pralines & Cream ice cream for desert. Walked back to the safehouse and watched "Stomp the Yard". Horrible movie.

Out.