When It Rains, It Pours

I posted a couple months ago about how mail works over here in Iraq, which is really a "best effort" extension of how it works back home; the military post offices here collect mail from us and inject it into the mail system at home, and from there we wait the requisite time for delivery. Priority Mail, for instance, takes 2-3 days normally, so if we use it over here, it is however long it takes to get to the US, plus that 2 or 3 days. Getting mail from the US to here works the same way, only in reverse, with mail addressed to my ZIP first getting delivered to the Army, then flown here by them or a contractor on a best effort basis.

I mention all of this because I got four packages today, some of which have postmarks from two weeks ago!!

So, without further ado, the first package I got was:


Shoelaces. I opened this one on the spot at our supply office, since I got an email that an order came in. Yes, I really got a plastic envelope with two sets of shoelaces in them (bootlaces to be more precise). The Army set up this system to replace uniform-related stuff in country that wears out and ... (ok, I think no one cares about the shoe/boot laces).

I took the laces and went back to my housing unit, where I discovered my roommate, Bob, had picked up my mail for me - the other three packages, which I did not know were waiting for me at this point. He reminded me as I gleefully started cutting them open that he recently carried a large metal pole for some distance, which was currently providing us Internet (I knew I would not live that one down for a while ...). I assured him that if these were what I thought they were, I could repay him in spades!

So, the second package was:




SALSA!!! Yes, like the "precious" One Ring from Tolkien's classic, I knew it immediately when I saw the lids of the iconic jars Tonya picked in which to "can" them. I spent a few minutes telling Bob the importance of what I held in my hand, the history behind Tolteca, and how I could not get this salsa even when I was in Maryland. I guess if you are outside of driving distance from Tolteca, you might as well be on the moon if you are trying to get salsa there. Yet, here was a jar, in my hand.




The verdict: it was still good! Obviously, I did not have a reference dish of salsa to do a more scientific comparison, but really, it tasted great. I guess I don't necessarily want to know if there's supposed to be a difference when you perform the canning process if I can't tell as I'm devouring it. Still not convinced himself, Bob took a taste:


... and score another one with the broad side of the chalk for Tonya and Tolteca (but I'm still not forgiven for the metal pole incident). In all, she sent 12 of the jars, which hold a reasonable sitting's worth of salsa (probably about 2 dishes in the restaurant), and rationing it out I go through about a half-jar at a time.

The third package was another bag of chips from Tonya, pictured to the left in the next photo. That brings my stock to three bags, which each supposedly have around 220 chips.

The fourth package was yet another huge surprise ... a birthday party kit from Kathy!


Yes, that is a cake in the middle of the box, and the jar to the lower left is frosting. There are a couple of containers of "drizzle" in there too, which I guess is supposed to go on top of the frosting from what I read of the instructions. There are plates, candles, and little confetti, all emphasizing that it will be the "Big 3-0" for me in a couple of days. I'm leaving it as sealed as I can until Friday, when I will decorate a little, borrow a lighter from the smokers next door, and do a field-expedient birthday celebration!

One of the best parts of the kit was the DVD with pictures of Kathy and Matt making the cake - there are a few pictures of John feeding Matt lunch and getting him ready for the hard afternoon of quality testing (what other expertise does a guy with cheeks like that have?), then the lunacy of baking a cake with a 17-month old is chronicled in a series of pictures of Kathy and Matt working at the island in her kitchen. There were about a dozen prints, which I taped to the wall by some of the other pictures.

There were also Kathy's classic baked goodies in with the kit, which did not make it quite as unscathed as the cake and the salsa:


The Oatmeal Carmelitas on the top shelf and the Poppy Seed Bread on the bottom right didn't get mushed, they got baked more! It has been around 105-110 here for the past week or so, and the postmarks on the boxes indicate they've spent at least two in transit. I didn't see anything wrong with the OCs or the bread, so I put them in the fridge to firm up a bit. Bob thinks that aside from sticking to the bag a bit, they're going to make good midnight snacks (we are flush with things like microwave popcorn and small candies, but these are a meal!). The Pumpkin Bread on the lower left made it just fine, albeit a bit warm, so it's going in the fridge for a bit too.

Whew! What a great birthday I'm going to have in a few days!! Thanks Tonya and Kathy!

P.S. By the way, thanks for making the runs to the Post Office, John ... I noticed the customs forms mostly seem to have your name on them!

Tolteca's Revenge

By now, you know about James' obsession with this little family-owned Mexican restaurant in Azusa. You also probably read Tonya's account of the fake Tolteca Fire and her idea about canning their ultimate delicacy: salsa. (Or read about it here.) The canning apparently has been accomplished, but at quite a price! All I have to say is this: Tonya, when you reported that a fire had destroyed James' beloved restaurant, the Gods were out to get you!

Enjoy Tonya's recent email to James and me:

Primary Issue: We have a flat of canned salsa packaged and ready to be mailed. Will send ASAP. This is my first attempt at canning so if any jar arrives broken, cracked or leaking or if the seal does not pop when opened - the jar must be discarded. Enjoy!

Secondary Issue: I went to get the salsa after dropping Matt at home. Pulled up to the building and what do I see? The building is closed, abandoned and tagged beyond belief. It has been closed for so long that the only word that remains on the window is "closed". There rain, wind and taggers have eradicated the rest of the message. The interior is gutted. Weeds grow through the cement cracks. My only thought: OMG! I am sitting in a traffic lane not moving until a car horn behind me brings me back to my senses. Pull the car around the one-way block and park in front of the building. Now, I have my second thought: I was just kidding....Really, it was just a joke. It's my turn to breath, just breath and start problem solving. First step is calling information and see if there is a new number. I get the telephone number that actually connects and I breath in relief. Now on to the next set of problems: Kate is muddy and crabby. Ash is sleeping and covered in sticky strawberry juice. We are in Glendora. It's already late afternoon with rush-hour traffic. Mom is coming in two hours for dinner and to help me with canning. I will be driving to the new location that is who knows where.

Man answers the phone and I confirm that this is the same Tolteca that was located on Azusa Ave. Ask him to give me directions from the old location and tell him that I have a pen and paper ready. He laughs and laughs. I know that I'm doomed - he's going to tell that the new location is in Palm Springs, San Diego, Barstow or some other unreachable location at this hour. Then he gives me the instructions: Look up the road 100 yards on the left. You will see the 10ft tall letters spelling "Tolteca" in bold print. Parking is under the sign.

Touche'.

Here is the sign with the 10-foot tall letters. Hard to miss, eh?

The two pictures that follow depict two recent exploits at Tolteca. The first (with James in uniform) was taken immediately upon his arrival for R&R - it was the first place he wanted to go! The following picture was taken the last time James and I went to Tolteca, and it was the first visit that Zach and Matt made there together.

Learn more about Tolteca's rich history and glorious food. Or, check out pictures of the beautiful new location that Tonya had difficulty finding! Next time she goes there, perhaps she'd like some driving directions?

Tolteca Fire

Dear Autumn & James:

Bad News: It is my sad and solemn duty to inform you that an industrial fire started within your beloved restaurant and the building has been rendered unusable. This sad news is compounded by the fact that the owners lacked the appropriate insurance. In these economic times, they don't intend on rebuilding. The city is in mourning and declaring that a landmark has been lost. I will attempt to save you a piece of the rubble in remembrance.

Good News: Autumn, you will never have to tolerate another meal at James' most favored restaurant and you can do so without guilt.

Better News: James, breathe. I am just kidding. Breathe. Breathe deep. The restaurant is still standing. I am just kidding!

Best News: I have devised a way to get you some real Tolteca salsa in Iraq - canning the stuff. Now, I just need to learn how to actually do it! Will start to work on this project ASAP.

Love - Tonya

Back on line, back on duty

Wow, what a change in the blog since I last checked in!! I've been offline for a while, not just because I am lazy and let Autumn post updates while I was on R&R in LA, but even after the traveling, I just didn't call, didn't write, didn't post ... I didn't even write my customary letter/postcard/something to Kaitlin and Ashley for a couple days. I guess it's just my nature to do that.

I'm back to work again, coming off about a week of night shifts to attend some training given by people who only work at night. These guys do computer defense work, and a lot of their techniques use a lot of network bandwidth, making them really unpopular during the day. At night, even in a place that is 24x7, activity decreases, so these guys can work unencumbered. They train us on the actual equipment and procedures they use, so it only follows they would do it at night too. I previously was day shift, so I started acclimating myself to days here (nights in LA), only to go back to nights here, and tomorrow will be a day shift. Ugh. Good training though!

The trip over here was a miserable one, even compared to the couple of times I had done it before. I was a little sick starting the day before I left LA, and it didn't help that I was stuck in Kuwait an extra day. I did not realize how quickly dust storms come up and how much they impact things, but I walked into the movie/board game/cushy couch tent in Kuwait at 10 AM, and by noon it was like a blizzard of sand outside. Passengers for my flight were supposed to gather at 3 PM, which we did, and we got delayed until about 7 PM, eventually loading up onto a C-130 and taking off for Baghdad. There isn't an intercom on a C-130 like a commercial airliner, but when the hour and fifteen minute flight was still in the air at 2 hours, then 3 hours, we all put it together: we couldn't land. We finally landed, and I remarked to someone next to me, "hey, the only thing that could make this worse is if we turned around and went back to Kuwait!", to which he replied, "Chief ... we ARE in Kuwait." Two hours later, we were back at the tents with instructions to show up the same time the next day for another attempt. The dust had died down by then, and there wasn't a problem with that flight.

I find myself not really having the heart to work anymore. It's not that I don't think it's important, but I am exceedingly sad to have left LA. It was a great two weeks - seeing Loretta, Matt and Autumn every day, seeing my dad more times than I had in the previous 10 years, seeing my brother more times than I had in the previous 15 years, getting to spend at least an afternoon each with my family and Autumn's family, and of course, eating at Tolteca! That's the problem, though: it was the life we can never have until Autumn gets out of the Army in 11 years, being around family, living in LA, seeing the people and the things we love. Matt met a lot of people he had not yet met, family and friends, and he's already had his first birthday! I think about the 7 months or so I have left here and I know it pales in comparison to the years I will spend in places that aren't LA, and it's really that which takes the heart out of me. The deployment is only the beginning, it seems. My friends in the unit here sympathize, and they say I'll get my mojo back, but it's a hard reality to ignore, and one I guess I successfully buried for all these years. Maybe that's why I never call, and never write ...

I take solace in what everyone told me when I saw them: "I've got your back." I also could not tell that Loretta and Matt had only been living in their apartment for two days by the time I had gotten there - what unbelievable generosity everyone has shown making a temporary home for Loretta and Matt! Thank you, thank you, thank you!! If there's anything that keeps me going here, it's that I think my friends and family love me, and I can safely say there is no doubt in my mind I have nothing to worry about in that regard, much less whether Loretta and Matt will be ok.

Time for bed, if I can get to sleep after screwing up my Circadian rhythm this much ...

Surprise!!!

Matt, Loretta, and I awoke this morning and got ready to go to our new pediatrician for Matt's first appointment. As I prepared to leave the apartment, I checked my email and found a three line email from James:

"Hi honey ... I'm in Germany right now and I only have a second - I'm coming into Ontario on American flight 1649, arriving from Dallas at 1410 on Tuesday. See you soon!!! Love, James"

The second suprise of the day occurred via text message while at the doctor's office: James had caught an early flight and would be arriving at 10am! We rushed from the office to the airport to meet him, and although he had to wait a few minutes for us, it was excellent to see him!

Any of you that know James probably can guess what he wanted first: Tolteca!! (It's his favorite mexican food restaurant and a Richards family hangout for half a century. There's even talk that one member of the family - who will remain nameless - has the recipe for Tolteca salsa ...) So we went straight there and gorged ourselves on the best mexican food north of the border.

He had been traveling around 48 hours to get from Baghdad, to Kuwait, to Germany, to Dallas, and finally to Ontario. He was ready for a shower and a nap, then we took off for my parents' house where something of a family reunion was to occur. Everyone was there, from my sister and her kids to James' dad to Loretta and me. (The only Rabe missing was Jonathan, who of course was in Reno at college.) We spent entirely too long there, but of course there was a lot of catching up to do! By the time we got in the car, Matt was so tired he could hardly keep his eyes open, but we made it home and Loretta and I put the boys to bed. They are both sleeping soundly now, happy to be under one roof. ;-)

I imagine some of you are wondering how Matt took to James after not seeing him for 3 months (except in videos of James reading Matt's books, which we play every night as Matt gets ready for bed). The pictures on this page tell it all! At first, he was understandably a bit unsure. He wasn't quite sure what to make of the big dude in an Army uniform and boonie hat chomping his cheek. But he warmed up very very quickly, to the point that by the time we went to lunch, Matt allowed his dad to carry him around inside the restaurant. He really did much better than any of us anticipated!!