Laundry service here is contracted out. Free for service members, but no
more than 20 items per laundry bag (strictly enforced). Service is actually
pretty good: wash, dry, and fold in 24 hours. In a typical day I dirty a
pair of boot socks, a pair of underpants, an undershirt, a pair of athletic
socks, a pair of PT shorts, and a PT shirt. Throw in a uniform top and
pants and I am at 20 items every three days.
I learned yesterday that under the terms of the contract, the US taxpayer
pays $25 per bag of laundry. Assuming I have to drop a bag every three
days, the taxpayer will pay $250 per month or $1,750 over the course of this
deployment on my laundry alone (mind you, we haven't even factored in towels
and sheets). One of my coworkers has seven laundry bags and drops off a
load of laundry every single day ($5,250 over a 210 day deployment).
I'll kindly ask that you join me in being quietly appalled by this. To the
extent you wish to describe to others, please do not quote me by name.
When I learned that I was deploying to support a contracting command, I
figured I would learn about the Afghan economy. What I hadn¹t figured was
that those lessons would have nothing to do with my official duties.
When I stepped off the helo pad at Camp Phoenix and into my office for the
first time I was immediately introduced to GS-15 DoD employee. She asked me
how many ³cartouches²I wished to purchase. A cartouche, I learned, is a
cheap pendant necklace engraved on one side with an English name and on the
other with the same name in Dari (or so they claim; it may well say Go Home
American Swine for all any of us know). I initially demurred but eventually
relented and agreed to purchase three. Even that compromise was met with an
incredulous look and a puzzled ³just three?² The interaction seemed odd but
I figured that I just happened to arrive as a bulk order was being placed
and that purchases like this were atypical. I was wrong.
My coworkers spend multiple duty hours each and every day shopping at the
bazaars. They buy jewelry. They buy rugs. They buy electronics. They buy
fur coats. Fur coats! Not a day goes by without someone coming into my
office to show off a new purchase. My Afghanistan workplace is Project
Runway and I¹m Tim Gunn‹I disapprove of everything around me and hope
everyone will be sent home.
Yesterday a handful of them reviewed their bank statements to figure out how
much they¹ve spent since being here. Consensus was between five and ten
thousand dollars.
Throughout my life I¹ve been called cheap. Throughout my life I¹ve been
called crotchety. So maybe this is just a continuation of the same but I
thoroughly disapprove. Rather than speak up, however, I sit here meekly and
feign agreement with the ridiculous notion that a mink fur will look
resplendent at the Dyess Officers¹ Club in Abilene, TX when she redeploys
this summer.
Hope you are well. Love and miss you all. And no, I will not put in
purchase orders for you. Gabe
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2impendingdoom ago
Little bit more on Gabe: Email from Afganistan;
lostinthevalley ago
Podesta's daughter Megan has also positioned herself near children as a trustee of the Dublin (CA) school board: https://onedublin.org/2016/10/26/dublin-school-board-trustee-megan-rouse-responds-to-wikileaks-allegations/ In this article she responds to Wikileaks revelations that she's involved in her father's murky financial dealings. Notice that he was fundraising for her school board campaign with long-time family friends in DC. ( Interesting that this whole family got beat by the ugly stick, Megan makes Chelsea look doable.) Here's more on the wiki allegations: http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/10/20/wikileaks-bombshell-john-podestas-daughter-received-75000-shares-putin-connected-energy-company/
Infopractical ago
John Podesta was not beat by the ugly stick. He is an ostrich. That is what ostriches look like.