manrymission.com

Apparently, it has become a special treat to drive over to FOB Diamondback for a meal every now and then. Because I needed to go to the APO to mail Gabe’s birthday present, I went with the gang for lunch at Diamondback yesterday. I would say that the grass is always greener, but we don’t have any grass here like they do in Tikrit! Anyway, the food was fine, nothing really to write home about. That still doesn’t keep me from blogging about it though. After lunch, Glenn and I went to the barber, Robert ran an errand, Jeremy wandered around the PX, and Sarah went to the beauty shop. After I got my $3 haircut, we went to the APO. They still haven’t fully recovered from the old APO burning down. The forms counter is a folding table on the sidewalk.

You stop at this table first and fill out your customs form. Then you proceed inside the warehouse to have your package inspected. After inspecting the contents, the clerk seals the package and affixes the customs form and any other required labels. Finally, you go to the counter, have your package weighed, and pay the post.

Gabe’s birthday package is on the way. For Josiah’s birthday back in November 2007, I bought him a wooden puzzle box. You have to figure out the secret to get it open. Inside the box, Josiah found a 10,000 Iraqi Dinar note. For Christmas, I bought Gabe his own puzzle box, because he liked Josiah’s so much. The trick to opening Gabe’s box is different than the trick for Josiah’s box. When Gabe finally got his box open, he discovered that it was empty. I guess that’s been on his mind since Christmas because in his email this week he wrote “was there meant to be anything in my box?”.