Ok this is my daily routine.  I wake up and hold the alarm in my hand so I can lay there for 4 minutes until it goes off again.  Then I finally decide ARGH the sooner I get up the sooner this day is over with, and get up.  I stagger over to the water bottle box and grab a bottle of UAE water and grab my towel and to go the bathroom.  Once there, I brush my teeth with a bottle of water and rinse my hair.  Then I proceed to get dressed in my uniform, and put a little eye makeup on.  I pack up my backpack and laundry if it happens to be that day. Then I put on my flack jacket, weighing about 15 lbs w/ the plates and then my backpack (another 10) then my weapon (com'n I know some of yall know how much that weighs) then I grab my laundry bag, put on my headgear and go outside. Now, the sun has been up since 530, but it's not bright enough to need sunglasses, how odd?  I'll tell you why

Recently it's cooled off here in Kabul, so at night the locals burn TIRES to stay warm.  Which fills the air with a haze so thick you choke on it. Now this added with the 25% fecal material in the air, doesn't make for a pleasant walk 2 miles to work in your gear at 6000 ft. where the air is thin already.  Once I get to work and take off all my gear I go blow my nose.  Guess what comes out???

Nothing but black.