I finally got to talk to Tom last night! (I haven’t talked to him since he arrived in Iraq a few days ago.) The bad news? He told me that he can’t get any IM (instant messaging) clients to work through their firewall…so that means no chatting like we were really planning on and looking forward to (to save expensive phone card minutes). But, the good news? Through a convoluted dialing system (dialing Camp Pendleton and then being rerouted to our number via operator), he can use his phone card minutes on a 1:1 ratio (as if he was calling from the US) instead of a 1:12 ratio (as if he was actually calling from Iraq)! The only minor glitch is that there’s about a 1- or 2-second delay where I can hear my voice echoing back to me–although he sounds clear as a bell. And the better news? He can make phone calls right from his desk at work so he can pretty much call me every day!
The pictures below are of his first class cabin on the way over, as well as some more shots of his lovely abode!
And then not: March AFB, California—Waiting to leave.
The C130 out of Kuwait.
