A Rant

I've been told that my time management is rockin' by various classmates in CreComm.  We are all dealing with the same issues.  The enormous research project, endless articles, creative writing and ads.

But after this week, of doing two after school, school assignments, I feel that I manged my time horribly.  I have barely seen my fiancee and on top of that, spent practically no time with my son at all.  This is something I have to deal with.  My priorities are stretched.  And with all this commitment I can't shy away from feeling that I am a bad mom.

I spent last night working on my PR research, while my son was in bed with me playing and talking and coloring.  Yes he was supposed to be in bed, yes I should have gotten him to sleep, but seriously, I did not have the time.

Two rather big assignments due in a short amount of time + one sleeping fiancee on the couch  = a very stressed out Jenn.

But life will go on, we are all faced with obstacles in our lives and we have to pick our battles.  I gave up on the battle of cleaning, because honestly, getting myself worked up about the being a neat freak is not getting me anywhere.  I mean with a four-year-old son and a "live life my the moment" fiancee, and me not being home, my place is never the way I want it.

I think the end of my troubles will be to find a new haven, the search starts now.  Good luck fellow CreCommers, this will be it for many years to come.

Hey Twitter Twitter!

I am officially a part of the networking scene.  I now have a facebook, blog, and a twitter! Where will I find the time?
I joined twitter at the beginning of crecomm, but haven't done anything with it since.  Now, as part of a PR assignment, we have to sign-in and maintain a twitter account.
Twitter is a great place to keep up with the happenings of the world. Ahh. the joys of networking.  It's really easy and actually quite fun.
http://twitter.com/JennTwardowski
That's me! Let the networking begin.

Part 2: Kandahar Airfield Base in Afganistan

When you think Kandahar Airfield base... what do you think of? Some sort of desert, filled with troops, tents, tanks, maybe even some barracks'? Well the fact is that Kandahar Airfield base or KAF, the general abbreviation for it, is actually the size of a town.  The base is filled with approximately 40,000 soldiers, with only 2500 Canadian troops at the moment.  Many Afgan civilians also live on the base. The civilians are rebuilding and constructing of base for their future, the Afgan Military plan to keep the base operational and run it themselves once Canadian and American troops leave.

The people of KAF are most likely to live in really big tents, which hold 30 or more rooms.  Or what is called a modified sea-can as in a shipment container.  They put in windows and doors to make it appear like a bedroom with a personalized touch.

Afganistan is in the desert, so there is a ton of sand. "The biggest beach in the world, but there is no water."  There are a lot of trees however, and ground wells, but there isn't much water, so they have to conserve.  KAF gets shipments of bottled water from neighboring countries like Egypt or Pakistan.

American money is the common currency at the base.  Everything is paid for in American and they all carry cash on them.  When they do run out of money, the soldiers just walk up to a cashier and take out money from their allowances.  Allowances are monies received in Afganistan on top of their normal Canadian or American pay.  With their American money, soldiers and civilians have all the perks of home with: a Tim Horton's, Pizza Hut, and Burger King located on the base.

Most soldiers work long weeks, some work all week and receive only a half day off, others work two weeks before getting a day off.  Soldiers have weekly barbecues and are allowed a beer or two a month.  They have hockey rinks and baseball fields on KAF.  They also have a place for internet accessibility and it's filled with many computers.

Most of the time KAF is safe, it is well patrolled, occasionally KAF gets hit with rocket attacks.  The rockets however, are from the '70s, what was left over from the Russians and most find them to be more annoying than anything.  During such attacks, everyone has to throw their kits on and hit the floor until they are told otherwise.  On top of the attacks there are the occasional 'bad guys' that lurk in the mountains and caves, who try to sneak their way into the camp at night.  But once they get in, I am told they are taken care of fast.

Remembrance Day Week Part 1

“It’s a special feeling to know that I’m going overseas and contributing to this mission which is very important, I’m helping a country in one form or another.” After serving one month in the Canadian Armed Forces, Private Michael McLauchlan returned home for a two-week visit with his family. Upon his arrival, not even two days had passed before he appeared as a guest speaker at Brooklands School for their annual Remembrance Day Ceremony. “Remembrance Day to me is a day to remember all the people that have gone overseas and fought—so that our country can live freely and that other countries can have the opportunities that we have,” says McLauchlan. He saluted with grace as the children and faculty members sang the Canadian National Anthem: O Canada. His five year old niece, Amy, led the wreath parade as an introduction to the assembly. McLauchlan led his speech by speaking about his background history in the army, his current position and Canada’s involvement in Operation ATHENA in Afganistan.

Mclauchlan, 27, joined the Canadian Armed Forces two years ago. His basic training sent him all over the country. He finally resided in Shilo, a Canadian Forces Base located east of Brandon, Manitoba. Mclauchlan was sent to Afganistan in September of 2009, as a Supply Technician in the Kandahar Airfield.

Operation ATHENA sent troops to Afganistan in 2005, to help re-build and reconstruct the economy; they provide food and water to the civilians, as well as education. “We’re making sure that the Taliban can’t come back and take away all that we’ve fought for,” says McLauchlan referring to women having the right to vote; being able to work, children getting an education and “training the military -- as well as the police so that if we pull out in 2011, they’ll be able to pretty much govern their own country,” he says, “I think the country can change, but it’s gonna take a while, it’s not something that will happen overnight.”

McLauchlan currently works in the stocktaking cell in the Kandahar Airfield, where he keeps track of all the military equipment and where the money is being spent. His typical day consists of laying out weapons and matching them to the flight manifests for that day. He issues out the weapons and does the necessary paperwork, to make sure everything is where it should be; to make sure that everything is accounted for, that nothing is getting lost, “if a light armoured vehicle (LAV) goes missing, that’s – a couple million dollars right there that we have to explain to the Treasury Board,” says McLauchlan.

a LAV

The Kandahar Airfield Base holds approximately 40,000 troops in Afganistan. It is well patrolled and armed. “We get the rocket attacks once in a while—that’s when we get our kits on and hit the floor,” says McLauchlan, who says he feels pretty safe on the base. “Bad guys usually don’t have a chance to get where we are,” he adds.
During his month overseas, McLauchlan attended two ramp ceremonies, one of which was for a troop he had issued a weapon to. “It was kind of overwhelming to know that I met that guy ten days prior and ten days later he was killed,” he says “It’s more real once you’re over there, you know you see it on TV and it’s very sad, but when you’re actually there and you see the casket going by you, it’s a ... an odd feeling.”

This soldier, is a friend of mine and actually used to work at Portage Place with me, he was my boss!

Every day it seems as though bad things happen to good people. And we are all left wondering why? It has been almost two weeks since my friend's boyfriend got killed in a head-on collision and yet, I still get quite upset during various times of my days. Some days I'm fine and others, like today, my thoughts get to me and I can't stop the tears. Does anyone know the right words, the things to say when this sort of thing happens? We all mean well in expressing our sympathy, but isn't asking, "how are you doing?" going to trigger tears? Not only did she lose her boyfriend, but we all lost our friend, she wont be the same and as hard as she tries, with her kind words over texts, I know she is hurting. She is strong, but sometimes we aren't strong enough. Sometimes being surrounded by family and just knowing that they care is all you can do. She had to quit her job and is moving back home to another city. And everyone keeps asking me if this is why I'm upset, honestly it is not. I haven't seen her since I started school. The reason is that she such a kind-hearted girl who shouldn't have to go through something as traumatic as this. She was always there in my troubled times and it hurts me that I can't do anything for her. I can't even imagine what she is going through, how she feels. I mean how traumatic can it be for you when you are on the phone as its happening? I can't even tell her how I feel because I'm worried about how it will make her feel. I just hope that her knowing that we are there if and when she needs us will help her through. I still can't believe this has happened. I remember how she used to tell us she couldn't sleep without him. Or as angry as he would make her, in their three years she could never go a weekend without seeing him. They used to have so much fun together, they were so in love. All it takes is a second and your whole world can come crashing down.
We live in an unfair, uncertain world and it saddens me.

This is for you Dina, it helped me through my pain. Hugs and kisses honey, I will always be here for you.