Pro-Bono Work

This is my most recent work as the defacto FOB engineer. I draw up the designs and the operations and maintenance folks at the camp do the rest.

I thought of it after watching how many folks liked eating from the Ice Cream Parlor I had designed several months back. I guess I had about ten pounds of added guilt watching everyone enjoy the new dessert digs that I felt a produce stand would help me feel a little better . . . . unfortunately, a lot of space on our new "produce stand" is taken up by cakes and cookies as well. C'est la vie!!

In Him,

Christmas Away From Home

The banners were flying high and plenty in preparation for the big day at the DFAC.

Employees placed sparkling grape juice on ice to make the occasion even more festive and tasty.


Just as at Thanksgiving, the center tables were full of goodies from special cakes to "gingerbread" houses covered in hot dog buns and bread slices.

We enjoyed the Holy day by watching Christmas classics on T.V. and in between meals I worked. Go ahead and scroll down to Rachel's pics of a much more exciting Christmas. God Bless you all!

In Him,

More Christmas Pictures!!!!

Ryan (David's brother-in-law), Pam, my mom, and Sarah, David's sister (Ryan's wife).

More Christmas Pictures!

Christmas

Our Christmas Days were a culmination of remembering the miracle of the little baby God sent for us. The sunday before Christmas Day, I was blessed enough to be able to sing a couple of songs at church. Singing these as Mary humbled me greatly and helped me to really "get" Christmas in a way that sadly doesn't happen for me every year. What about you? When did you last really "get" Christmas? I pray, that even as the day has past, that you take the time to slow down and let Christmas happen in your heart. Trust me, it's a lot better than the hurry- scurry, bustling, trying-to-do-it-all-myself attitude that I tend to carry most of the time!

Well, Christmas fell on December 24th this year, oddly enough, at my parent's home. We all dragged ourselves out of bed while the kids excitedly bopped around, hurrying us through our chores! We had a really lovely morning with my parents, my sister and her husband Ryan, and my brother. We missed David sorely. but probably missed him even more the next day with his family! We had a great time with 2 of the five cousins and 2 of David's five siblings and their families. There were 12 of us total, but that felt small due to the normal 21!

Here are some pictures to share our days with you! The one on the top is my brother Spencer and my new brother-in-law Ryan.

"Fire Night"

The kids call it a "fire night" when we have a fire in the fireplace. Last night we did this in addition to making cookies! They were really thankful, which says volumes to this tired Mommy! We had a great night together! I hope you and your family are working hard to make time for togetherness as well. Even if it's wrapping together, shopping together, or a quick cup of hot chocolate or tea together for a few minutes a day. Merry Christmas!!!

Rachel

Christmas Time is Here

This is the lovely tree that was sent to me by some dear friends in Montgomery. I decorated it and put it in my office much to the delight of my office mates also longing for home.

These mountains are just outside our base and they have been dusted with snow for a couple weeks now - we are slowly seeing the white creep down towards the base and soon we'll be in the thick of it! That building in the middle on top of the shorter hill is an old Russian officer's club with a pool and a lot of marble. It's pretty fun to explore but a little cold to venture out to these days.

Real-world Engineering

One of the perks of this deployment is that I get to actually build stuff! This wall is an example of some of the construction I've been doing over the last nine months. Of course, most of my work was at other locations so I travelled quite a bit. Thankfully, that has waned some and a very large project started at my base, so I finally get to monitor a project from the beginning - it is a good feeling!

The wall required a span that went over a small open culvert so the contractor proposed the shown design for a concrete beam on two piers that had to be approved. And, for the first time in my Air Force career I had to go to the drawing board (literally) and calculate the moments of deflection for the wall and the nominal moment capacity of the designed beam. I also had to determine the force per square foot on each of the piers and the transferred force to the ground to determine what possible settling issues we may face.

I can't lie. It was hard! It took me about five hours to determine everything, going back to Civil Engineering handbooks and the web for equations, coefficients, and standards. But it was actually fun, too. Who said those five years at Tech were a complete waste?

Where to start?!?!? Gifts in the Mail or Tampa?

OK. I will start with the totally awesome care package I received today from my office back in Alabama. Besides an assortment of food goodies specially selected to meet my tastes, my office (and I can take a good guess who specifically) decided it would only be more perfect by plastering half of the items with the face of a personal hero - David Hasslehoff. Yes, the "Hoff" made it all the way across the Atlantic and several continents to bid me a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Does it really get any better?



How about this? We had to take a detour through a portion of Kabul we rarely frequent due to serious traffic issues and lo and behold, there's KFC! That's "Kabul" Fried Chicken, in case you were wonderin'. . . .

Finally, I'll leave you with this shot. The 2008 ACC Player of the Year consoles the 2009 ACC Player of the Year on the sidelines shortly after the clock ran out. The ACC Championship Game in Tampa proved to be a lot more exciting the the SEC Championship Game and brought out the very best in both teams. Thankfully, Tech's best of 39 points was better than Clemson's best of 34 points. How about them Oranges?

Groovy tunes to surf by - Pandora

http://www.pandora.com/

I know that I am a little late in the game with this but I've got to say that Pandora rocks my world! Just put in your favorite artist and it automatically creates a streaming radio station perfectly atuned to the stylings and message of said artist.  Try it out - you'll get hooked!

Ode to Skype

Andrew & Elizabeth crowd the screen while Skyping with dad

Skype, Skype!

Why so much hype?

'Twas suggested by friends

Now the fun never ends!

Chatting with R

would seem so far,

but this app keeps us close

better than most.

Before Skype I found

other programs around.

Windows Live, ICQ,

and DSN to name a few

just do not compare

when checking on the home lair.

A, E, and H. J.

love spending the day

watching dad on the screen

and boy their smiles gleam!

I'm thankful for Skype!

(There's nothing left to type)

Thanksgiving Travels

We've had a wonderful time traversing I-85 and some of I-95 for the last week! We've seen the capital of our great country, seen Mt. Vernon, the amazing home of our first president, eaten lots of yummy food, and best of all spent time with dear friends! Some other highlights included long walks, warm fires on cold nights. (However, I will lightheartedly comment that GT losing to Georgia was NOT a highlight! Neither was getting green crayon marks off of our white laundry and my friend's dryer until 2am!) Yet, in every outing and through every mile, we God has kept us safe. We have about 4-5 hours of driving left until we get home. I feel tired, but renewed, in spending 5 days with my dear friend Bonnie and her family. Here's just a few pictures to share our thanksgiving week with you! We are certainly thankful for you and all the prayers said for us on this trip and always!

A prayer for the last mile. . .

"Flood" by Jars of Clay was first recorded on their self-titled debut album in 1995.  I've been listening to this song for years but it wasn't until today that the lyrics hit me like a ton of bricks.  They penetrated my heart and they have become a prayer for my final mile in this marathon of a deployment. 

Flood
Jars of Clay

Rain, rain on my face
It hasn't stopped raining for days
My world is a flood
Slowly I become one with the mud
Chorus:
But if I can't swim after forty days
And my mind is crushed by the thrashing waves
Lift me up so high that I cannot fall
Lift me up
Lift me up - when I'm falling
Lift me up - I'm weak and I'm dying
Lift me up - I need you to hold me
Lift me up - Keep me from drowning again

Downpour on my soul
Splashing in the ocean, I'm losing control
Dark sky all around
I can't feel my feet touching the ground
[Chorus]

Calm the storms that drench my eyes
Dry the streams still flowing
Cast down all the waves of sin
And guilt that overthrow me
[Chorus]

Lift me up - when I'm falling
Lift me up - I'm weak and I'm dying
Lift me up - I need you to hold me
Lift me up - Keep me from drowning again

Tech is dropped 30-24; fall to 10-2

UPDATE: Amazingly Coach Richt made the very difficult personal and professional decision to fire Willie Martinez (UGA Defensive Coord.) and two other Defensive staff members.  This really surprised me due to the terrific performance the UGA Defense put on against Tech.  In other news, Coach Paul Johnson received ACC Coach of the Year honors for the second year in a row; this was of course, no surprise.

You can see it on his face - Paul Johnson had an idea of what was about to happen at the beginning of the second half. (of course the score was a little telling as well)

1:22 from the continuation of a true rivalry.  It was a true in-state showdown.  Unfortunately, UGA left more on the field than Tech did.  I won't blame Demarius Thomas for the dropped 1st down pass.  I won't blame Coach Johnson for calling three passes in a row when we really needed to keep the game on the ground and run the clock down.  I also won't blame the defense.

In the end, I think that I will blame noone.  It's just a game.  A game that I hate to lose, but a loss this year to UGA does something that a loss any other year would not have done.  Nothing.

From the beginning, Tech's goal was to win the ACC Championship.  That's the second item on the list - last year the first item on the list was to beat Georgia (check - they came from behind to win 45-42).  Next year I imagine Johnson will place an even loftier goal on the top of the list. . .

It was not a fun game to watch at all but my hat's off to Josh Nesbitt who came back in after what could have been a devastating hit and subsequent injury.  Yet the real winner in my mind is Willie Martinez.  This win might have been just enough to keep his job as Defensive Coordinator at UGA.  I will admit that I, too, chided Mark Richt for keeping him aboard - and it still may not be the best decision - but tonight he rallied his team together to take down the second-best rushing offense in the country.  Not bad - especially when most were expecting a blow-out.

Revenge may be a whole year away, but the Yellow Jackets have much bigger fish to fry - first Clemson for the ACC title; then the Orange Bowl.

This dude in the middle of these UGA fans knows how I feel right about now . . .

The only thing I really am not looking forward to is the "good 'ole fashioned hate" and gloating that is sure to come from all of Georgia's 48th Brigade who are stationed with me.  Yes, Georgia Tech is in Georgia, but most of the GA Army Guard don't recognize anything inside the perimiter as part of the state.

Go Yellow Jackets!

Wouldn't it be great?

The Psalmist proclaims in Psalm 46:9 that the Lord "makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire."

It may put me out of a job, but wouldn't that be a nice?

Happy Thanksgiving!

           God Bless America and God Bless the American taxpayer who made sure we had an awesome Thanksgiving, 7,000 miles away from Plymouth Rock. The spread was awesome! Every table had sparkling grape juice and carved food items for decorations was all over the dining facility. We had a great time as a team enjoying this welcome slice of home in the middle of Afghanistan. For dinner I had turkey (of course), prime rib, sweet potatoes, potato salad, green beans, shrimp cocktail, Coke, water, and sparkling grape juice. It was a "kingly" fare and I am very thankful. Here are a couple pics from the festivities.

PIGTAILS!

Look at that hair! Hannah Joy is definitely living up to her name. I can't believe that when I left home for training Hannah was barely crawling! Now she's got pigtails! His wonders never cease. I can't wait to get home, see Rachel and the kids, and "squeeze their guts out!"

Flashback!

Here is Andrew, age 2, chowing down at our kitchen table in Alaska!
(Yes, the picture was "staged" but it was fun nonetheless.)

Making life interesting

My life here in Afghanistan is pretty good considering I am in the middle of a war-torn country thousands of miles away from Rachel and the kids.  However, it can get awfully monotinous.  In an effort to break the monotony, we'll do just about anything!  Here are some examples with some respective remedies:

1. The meals are served on a 21-day menu; we have the same meals offered exactly every 21 days.
- Add pineapple to my cheeseburger at lunch every now and then; a little BBQ sauce and it's something totally new!
2. A typical workday is from 8:00 to 5:00 (of course we'll go back to the office after dinner to check on issues, but not to spend much time); this is our workday six days of the week (when we are on camp).
- Sleep-in without warning, miss the showers before they start getting cleaned at 9:30, and amble into the office 30 minutes before lunch starts!  End the day by working 'til 10:00.
3. Armed Forces Network (AFN) plays the same commercials over and over again.  We have four T.V.s in our dining facility and it's completely feasible to see the same commercial on two T.V.s turned to two different channels at the same time.
- Stop watching T.V. and bring up a completely untouched subject with friends at the table.
4. Mission briefs, convoy movements, and radio calls follow a specific pattern - every time.
- Use different voices over the radio, mimicking other team members or famous actors.
5. Phone calls to home can even become like a broken record sometimes asking a lot of the same questions and giving the same responses.
- Call at odd hours and ask to speak with the kids - they always have something new to talk about!

Well, that's just a flavor of the monotony that we face over here.   Thankfully God provides breaks for us as well with seasonal changes, occasional rain, and the few earthquakes we've had! 

In Him,

Welcome to hoffs' Soul

Mediocre Alaska may show its face again someday, but I'll leave you to speculate how, when, and where.  Anyway, it may seem like a lot has changed, but it really hasn't.  All of the content is the same, just a little more streamlined.  Instead of navigating to separate pages for Reviews, Fifty States, etc, you can just filter all comments by their appropriate categories. 

There is no more "His Side" and "Her Side" but Rachel and I will both be posting and you will know who by the name at the bottom of each post.

You are free to go back to Mediocre Alaska anytime you want until September 2010, just know that the content will not be changing between now and then.

Thanks for visiting!  We hope you come back frequently and share with us how your family is doing as well!

Nahum

(MP) - I just started reading this Old Testament book and I can't help but feel the prophet is talking directly to America! I just wonder if a dude is going to be spat out of a large fish to tell us to repent any time soon. . . .

Weapons Training

Kids, do not try this at home. Really - don't.

Ephesians 6:15

The New International Version says, "and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the Gospel of peace."

I really honed in on this verse today and thought more about what it says. Verse 15 is tucked in the middle of a well-known passage describing the "armor" necessary in spiritual warfare. Interestingly enough, only one element (the Word) is represented by a tool that is both defensive and offensive in nature (all other references are defensive).

Anyway, I digress. So, the Gospel of peace gives us readiness? Of course it does! See, Christ claimed that persecution was inevitable for believers. He told us that the road is hard and that the door is narrow. This, being a tough road, is not one for the leary. He understood the trials well-enough that He and the Father saw fit to send us a great comforter - the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit reminds us of Christ's gospel (his birth, life, death, and resurrection) and guarantees our peace in all circumstances.

These shoes that Paul wants us to wear are a product of the Gospel, when we embrace it. The Gospel will prepare us for the road ahead, regardless of what may come. This readiness, or preparedness, is indicative that the work of ensuring our peace is already complete - we are prepared! He has made us ready because of the Gospel, nothing more, nothing less. So, since the work is already complete, there is nothing more we can do to make it more complete! We can be at peace knowing full well that Christ, paying the full price for our salvation through His gospel, offers us the ultimate boots - His gospel. We are now at peace. We are now ready! Let our light shine of His love and be a constant reminder of this readiness and peace by allowing our lives to be an outpouring of His Gospel.

In Him,
David S.

Blessed

I know that Mary, the dear mother of our Lord, is "most blessed among women" but I just want to share that I feel amazingly blessed myself! With David deployed, it has opened a lot of doors for people to step in and bless us. And they have walked through and blessed us tremendously over and over again! There's so much I want to say, but I have no clue where to begin! Let me just say that the Lord has used so many of you to "fill in" spaces in my life left vacant where David would usually fill them with his spontanaeity, his time, his labor and love in fixing things broken and maintaining the yard.
You know, I have realized, in my desire for perfection, that life is never going to be perfect. Cars will always break down. Children will always disobey (and try to get out of going to bed). Somedays you're really tired. Often, the to do list is left incompleted. But, you know, all that stuff is just life. And, God asks us to love Him and rejoice in the day He has given us, even with all the imperfections of it. You know why? Because He made it and it is perfect because God is perfect! We are blessed just to be alive and living in His love each Day! I am so thankful, so thankful! And, I will myself to remember this at 6am tomorrow when I am subjected to all the imperfection all over again--that He is perfect and I am blessed because I am loved by Him and part of His Day that He made! (Psalm 118:24)

The GAP

Yes, The GAP. Has anybody shopped at The GAP in recent years? I normally do my shopping at quite a bit thriftier locales, but I did make a purchase there this evening. Now, 15 years ago, I used to shop at the GAPs in Atlanta much more often. I loved when I could hit a sale and buy their regularly priced $30 jeans for $20. (Unfortunately, their jeans are twice the regular price now!) However, though prices have changed dramatically, some things have stayed the same. Namely, the bag. I walked out of the store with the same bag I walked out with 15 years ago! Exactly the same bag. I asked if those navy plastic bags that say "GAP" in big white letters with the fabric drawstrings had just "come back". They didn't really understand what I was attempting to ask. I wondered because I haven't seen a bag like that in years and years. Back then, everybody who was anybody at school recycled their GAP bag into their gym bag, because carrying a bag like that from the GAP showed you were cool. Wow. Why bring it up? Because seeing that navy GAP bag on my bed again tonight brought all those memories of bygone days rushing back. Kinda funny.

Great Quote

(MP) - Rob Bell, pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church, states that, "There is a dignity and an honor to being a human." I think that is a pretty profound thought!

Finally, Hannah says "Elizabeth"!!!

(MP) -Hannah pointed to Elizabeth's cup and said "Yebby". I pointed to Elizabeth and asked Hannah who that was and she said, "Yebby". If "Betty" and "Bibby" and "Lizzy" can be nick-names for Elizabeth, I don't see why "Yebby" would not also be acceptable. Just now I asked her again who's cup she was holding and she said, "Yebby." It's official, folks! Elizabeth's new name is "Yebby".

Breaking News from Sulhoff Dinner Table

(MP) -Rachel Sulhoff watched her daughter reach out a daring finger and dip it into the butter on the butter dish. Trying to dissuade her daughter from using such bad manners, she said, "Honey, butter is very fattening." Elizabeth replied, "But good!" as she smiled happily and took another finger-ful! Later, Rachel wished she had simply said something to the effect of, "Elizabeth, it is rude to put your fingers in the butter. Please do not do it." However, she did not say that, and hence the opportunity arose for a four-year-old to sum up every American's battle with food in two words.

Poetry in Locomotion

The 2009 Georgia Tech Press Guide is titled "Full Steam Ahead". Tonight I found out why! My Yellow Jackets discarded a 19-year dry spell in style beating Virginia in Charlottesville in almost every aspect of the game.

They ran more.

They passed farther per attempt.

They scored more points from kicks.

They had more critical conversions.

(They unfortunately had more penalties).

And they maintained possession of the ball a full 25+ minutes more than the Cavs!

This was the first full Tech game I've gotten to watch in about a year and I couldn't have been more pleased! I definitely caught them in stride. Even when the emotions of being winless in Charlottesville since 1990 and the weather posed a serious hindrence to an option offense that relies on sure footing and excellent ball handling Georgia Tech demonstrated why they deserved to be at the top of the Coastal standings in the ACC.

Next week they are away at Wake Forest - definitely win-able, however I know CPJ well enough to know that he doesn't take any game for granted. His coaches and managers and trainers and video crew are doing everything possible (even now, just hours after a huge victory on the road) to ensure his players are fully prepared for the Demon Deacons and another important away game.

Go Jackets!
In Him,
David

Huh?

(MP) - This post is benign and seemingly unimportant. Hi.

Weather

(MP) - Oddly, the fall has brought colder weather to Kabul. Who-da-thunk?

Gecko Sightings

I recently mentioned a gecko sighting in the garage when Elizabeth caught one and it lost its tail. However, I wanted to take a moment to tell you a true gecko tale!
About two months ago, just before Julia's wedding, one of the little buggers got into the house when I opened the back door to pick up some toys from the patio. To make a long story shorter, upon trying to catch it, it immediately disappeared! My neighbor was trying to help me and we both agreed that the thing just vanished out of his hand! So, I went to Julia's wedding, hoping for the best, which was that it had gotten back outside. Weeks go by. Then one night, when Elizabeth wasn't going to bed, her sharp little eyes spotted a gecko crawling on the floor along the edge of our entertainment tower, past the bookshelf and underneath the subwoofer. We pulled the tower and shelf out and even took apart the subwoofer, but did not find the thing. We found quite a few other odds and ends inside the subwoofer, though!
Well, today, at least a month later, I was hunting for a certain large and empty plastic coffee cannister in which to potentially store some school supplies. I thought it was on the floor of the pantry. It was. I shoved over the bag of bags to get said cannister and that's when I screamed. I knew it was just the harmless gecko, but seeing it crawling it's creepy crawl away from me still elicited that shocked reaction when one sees something alive in your house that isn't supposed to be there. I told Elizabeth, lizard-catcher extraordinaire, that she had to catch it when I lifted up the coffee canister that it had hidden under. Well, she did make several attempts before it crawled under her! She jumped to get it but missed and the darn thing scurried under the oven! It'll probably be another month before we see it again. At least we ended up doing a thorough cleaning of the pantry floor and a fairly decent cleaning out under the oven!
Here is the link to see a picture of our accidental pet (though ours is a little bigger than the one pictured). http://www.outdooralabama.com/watchablewildlife/what/Reptiles/Lizards/mhg.cfm

I am back in Afghanistan

And I have been for almost two weeks.

The last 130 days are slowly ticking away and I am starting to finally get back into the "post-leave swing". I've started several projects lately and I have a few more left to start in the hopes of getting most of the concrete work done before winter sets in.

I am not travelling as far as I was before the break but I am travelling about as often. The air is getting a little clearer as the cold sets in, but it is still a drastic difference in air quality from the North Georgia mountains or the Gold Coast of Florida.

I have been exercising more lately, running almost every other day. I also use the stationary bike and occasionally workout on the rowing machine. In general though, I still feel like I need to lose a few pounds.

Every day I am comforted by my Creator and my life is made perfect by His grace. It is a hard concept, grace; but it gains importance in my life daily. I am constantly reminded that I am saved by grace alone and that anything good that comes from me, actually comes from Him - driven by His grace.

In Him,
David

Elizabeth, the reader, bike rider and lizard catcher!

Yes, folks, she is something! She began reading with gusto last week! She said, "You tell me the letters to write and I'll write them!" and then she would read what I had told her to write. We started on some simple sentences yesterday.
Also, she has finally started enjoying riding her bike. She is a few inches taller than she was in April at her birthday (go figure) and can maneuver better.
And, at four years old, she is lizard catcher extraordinaire! We have quite a population of geckos around the house (we've watched it grow in the 2.5 years we've lived here). But, today, one youngster is now without his tail. He had found his way into the garage and was hiding in between a piece of cardboard and the garage wall. Andrew found him and then called Elizabeth to catch him! Well, she did, but she pulled off his tail in the process. It was great, though a little disgusting to see the tail continuing to wiggle around on the cardboard for the next five minutes! I was shuddering! I'm so so so glad, that even though we live in the suburban south, that my kids still get to experience nature and life all around them.
Speaking of nature around us, there is also this subtropical spider living in our front yard. We looked it up in Andrew's spider guidebook. It creeps me out to flip through the pages of that book, but this spider is not very creepy at all! He is very cool looking. He has a very hard, very large, oval-shaped, shiny white abdomen with 6 black spots and 4 spikes around the outer edge of his abdomen. He has this really tiny head and legs, but builds beautiful webs. The kids and I go check on him every other day or so.
So, Elizabeth is growing and learning so much every day. I wish she'd learn to take a nap on the days she had ballet, though! She's loving ballet and doing fine with it, though it's very introductory. She just focuses much better when she's had a nap. And so do I, for that matter. I think I'll get my 20 minutes in real quick!

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

This may be my shortest review ever because I can't really think of anything more to say than what is already posted on PluggedInOnline about this animated film.

Still, here is my personal take:

They should have named it "Awesome with a Chance of Awesome!"
I though it was phenomenal and I think you will too.

In Him,
David

Why CPJ Rocks:

(MP) - Coach Paul Johnson is a no-nonsense coach. In this true fashion, here are some great qoutes from the post-game press conference after beating Mississippi State on the road:

"I'm not sure everything clicked"
"42 is more than 31"
"Kicking the ball is atrocious"

Nice.

Hannah walking on the beach.
David and the kids flying a kite.

Andrew helping Hannah as she is a little slow and unsteady at the bottom of the pirate boat water slide!

This is a good view of the hotel with David and the kids at the slide. Our room was behind me and on the right. On down were more pools and then the beach. See David's review of "Waterscape" under "Reviews" to read more!