Whootah crew
The first day in the dorms, I forgot to switch the voltage switch on my 110/220 am/fm radio alarm clock. Needless to say after a few minutes, the alarm clock began to smoke and ceased to function.
Luckily it was a BX special that I got for $5. Of course the BX over here ran out of cheap radio/alarm clocks. For a couple of nights I had to use the alarm on my watch and on my cell phone. My cell phone battery was dying and I forgot to bring the recharger! Luckily I found a cheap alarm clock at the shopette.
The second day at work, I was putting a pallet of water bottles on the truck and one of the back tires of the 10K forklift left the cement surface. The back tire dug itself in the dirt, so the forklift was stuck.
This Turkish fellow who works next door volunteered to help me get the forklift unstuck. He had a jack and a piece of metal board to prop under the tire. Suddenly my roommate showed up at my work center. He is a vehicle operator. He lowered the forks on the forklift and shifted between forward and reverse gears. He got the forklift unstuck.
Whootah! I thought I might have to call vehicle ops to pull me out.
Later that same day we delivered the pallet of water to base operations. While I was cutting the plastic wrap free, I knicked one of the bottles with the blade of the box cutter. Water started squirting from the bottle and hit me in the face. I had to wipe of my glasses because they were all wet. I removed the offending bottle and proceeded to drink its contents. This bootle got some of the neighboring bottles wet. The Colonel helped us unload the bottles. He thought the bottles were leaking because he got wet while picking up one of the cases. We explained what happened!
It just wasn't my day!
The third day at work, maintenance needed some bolts, nuts and washers to fix a part on the plane. We didn't have these items in our warehouse or our kits. The active duty personnel here also did not have them. My maintenance chief wanted me to talk to the Turkish Supply person here. So I found the building and parked out front. A Turkish Airman met me at the door. I tried to explain that I wanted to know if they could supply me with these parts. I gave him my piece of paper with the stock numbers I was seeking. I don't think that he spoke english and I don't speak Turkish. Needless to say he took me to three or four offices in the building. Finally I found their supply person. He was very nice and spoke some english. He looked up the stock numbers in their system and only the washers were available. The washers would do us little good without the nuts and bolts. I told him I would speak to our maintenance chief and let him know how we wanted to proceed. He didn't understand what I was saying so he brought his friend into the room. His friend spoke english very well. They didn't want me to leave. They wanted to be co-operative and supply me with the washers. They volunteered to call my maintenance chief. They called several numbers and couldn't reach anyone. I didn't want to be rude but I wanted to leave. They were nice and professional. So finally they let me go and gave me their contact information if we wanted the washers. I have had nice experiences with the Turkish people that I have encountered thus far.
Today, I accidently left my room key in the room.
Luckily my roommate only worked half a day today. We plan on visiting the alley later on this afternoon. Tonight the cheerleaders are coming to the base. Whootah!
My co-worker found two playboy magazines in our office. The gaurd guys denied ownership of these two magazines. So she gave them to me! Whootah! There are some good looking women between those covers.
I will post again soon. I will try to take some pictures today when we go off base. Bye for now. John
It looks like I will be on day shift. Don't know how often I will be able to visit off base yet? I will keep you all posted! I just bought a digital camera so I will take some pictures off base if possible! I saw a Turkish woman leaving the base exchange and she was awesomefied looking! 
I think I will like it over here. We are staying in Tin City! The dorms are made out of metal. The rooms have bunk beds, lockers and couches. Not too bad; better than tents! I will post tomorrow if possible! Bye for now! 
Yesterday they had turkey at the chow hall! I was going to get turkey but I past it up for steak. I am sure I will have the opportunity again to eat Turkey in Turkey! I miss all of you and will see you all in 28 days!
Stay out of trouble now, ok? And don't worry about your house, we're taking care of it.