Toothache and the heat...

So here we are. Just over a week into June and already there hasnt been a day without a black flag. Here there are flag conditions that tell everyone how to curtail there day in regards to physical activity. All flag conditions take into account actual air temp and relative humidity. So there are moer than one factor to consider when talking about the heat here. 82-84 green flag, no real restrictions on activities. 85-87.9 yellow flag, 30 min rest for every 30 min of work. 86-89.9 red flag, 20 min work for 40 min rest. 90 and above calculated temp is black flag. 10 work for 50 min rest. All of these for hard work. IS there any other kind here in the desert. I think not. So every morning I'm on shift I walk the 500 yards to the shower trailers and see the red flag. 6 am and already red flag. Sweating and breathing in the blow dryer like heat and dust is just what I need after a shower. I havent felt clean in 3 weeks. Oh well its the price I pay for a decent paycheck right?

The air in the afternoon takes my breath away. Not like a beautiful sunset, or gazing upon a beautiful woman. More like getting kicked in the nuts with a golf shoe. Painful and neverending. I cant even go into the porta-johns for fear that I will pass out from heat stroke in the middle of taking a piss and drown. How would the open casket look? It would be like a 200lb smurf in a wooden box. Its a risk I am not willing to take. I will keep the foley cath in until the heat subsides. The risk of infection IS a risk I am willing to take.

So we head off this morning to wash the ambulance. First of all the dust like conditions equal that of a fall fog in CA. Low visibility and it constantly hanging around, remind me of a pity date with a fat chick. Cant see the movie too well and she just wont leave. I wont make that mistake again.
Arriving at the 30 bay washrack was uneventful and the TCNs(third country nationals) lead me to believe that we wouldnt have to get out and do it ourselves. I dont have to pump my own gas here, so why would I have to wash my own vehicle. WRONG! They fired up the pressure washer and handed me a hard hat. Seriously? A hard hat. Did I just drive up in the short bus??? Is my forhead larger than most and are my eyes too close together. NO! Then I do not require a hard hat. There is no risk of falling objects from above. This isnt a construction sight, so why in the hell do I have to wear that thing. Whatever...gimme that Ahmed.

I start pressure washing the rig and look around for something to scrub and some soap. Stupid me. Its a wash rack. There is nothing just pressurized water. I dont understand it, but fuck, its already like 110 and I am already soaked with sweat and miserable. We finish and head to get ice from the ice trailer. Where is the ice trailer located your wondering. In a gravel parking lot. Just like everything else. Dust all over the wet rig. Nice. fuck I am starting to hate this place.

Then the tooth pain begins. Just like EVERY other time I visit the dentist. I go in no pain and pretty soon thereafter I am in pain like I have never experienced before. They should really make a dirty bomb that gives the enemy tooth pain. I wouldnt be able to fight, hell I cant even sleep with the amount of pain I am in.

At first I was wondering if it was some kind of abcess that would fester and eventually kill me. At this point the relief of death is something I would welcome with open arms. But after careful inspection and swishing with Listerene, I have deduced that its an exposed nerve. Constant pain. Pain that nothing except narcotics and WAY too much motrin will kill. I havent slept more than 20 min at a time for a week now.

Go see a dentist, your saying to yourself. Yeah, if I didnt have to pay all of it out of pocket and THEN be reimbursed by my insurance I would already be there. And if my last job HR would've done their damn job and pay out my PTO ontime I wouldnt have the financial situation I have now. So I have to put it off until next Wed or so. I probably work AGAIN, so I hope this percocet lasts until then.

So far this week I have already worked 67 hrs. I thought I had a two full days off. I was leaving on Sunday morning looking forward to getting back to the apartment and going back to sleep for a while. While we were leaving I was informed that I HAVE to go get my CBR(chemical, biological, and radiological) warfare suit. The other base we cover is nestled between two oil and chemical refineries. Lots of nasty stuff stored there. So we headed off to the main base(Arifjan) to get it. Get fitted and return home. At 1200. I was leaving work at 7 am. Nice and quick process huh. Gotta love the government. Oh yeah, the main chemicals stored near that base the filter we have for our gas masks, wont work on. So carrying around $671 worth of gear will do me no good in the event of a spill. Nice!

So I get home and climb into bed. Sleep...percocet and mortin 800 mg down the hatch and nap time here i come. Just as I am beating the shit out of the sandman in deamland, RING RING RING. "Someone better be bleeding" I answer in my half awake state. "Hey Karl, We need you to come in and cover for a few hours tomorrow so we can go to a meeting" Great, my first full day off tomorrow is ruined. So much for sleeping in.

7 am I wake up to the alarm the next morning. Drag myself into the shower. Forget about the toebreaker 5000 and WHAM. Well I'm awake now. I jump in the Envoy and start heading to base. I get in the line about 8 am for searching. An hour and a half passes and I finally get to the front of the line. Place my phone on the passenger seat and head for the holding area. I finally make it to the station about 10 am just in time to let the boss leave and head to his meeting. "Hey, I tried to call you" He says looking up from his computer. I check my phone. In the time I was getting the vehicle searched, he called. Damn I missed it. "They pushed the meeting back until 1300. WTF? I cant go home now, well I can but i dont want to deal with the whole search lane again.So after its all said and done I dont get back home until 1630. Whole day off shot. Nothing I can do, its not the boss's fault. And now I am on 4 in a row still in aganizing pain from my tooth.