Randy Ridenour

I have some updates to things that I’ve mentioned in the past.

I left out the Japanese and the Koreans from my list of represented nations.
The weather now is a gorgeous 100 degrees, with lows in the 70’s. If you don’t think that 100 degrees is gorgeous, visit Kuwait in July. The “Ring of Fire” has [...]

One thing that’s interesting is the number of different countries represented here. Americans are by far the most common. There are a large number of Australians stationed here, though. I’ve enjoyed talking to them. Other countries are represented by one or two. There are a few Brits, but most of them are stationed farther south. [...]

I am blessed to be a member of a great church, NorthHaven Church in Norman, Oklahoma. The church just moved into a new building, and I’m sorry that I’ve missed the first Sundays there. I was reading the blog written by my pastor, Mitch Randall, and saw a comment left by a new member. She wrote [...]

We gather every month for a birthday party. All those who have birthdays for September will be honored. We have a cake to eat, and we’ll probably play some volleyball. Part of the challenge for everyone is keeping in good spirits when those important events of life occur. It’s hard having a birthday, anniversary, or [...]

I went to visit some soldiers in the International Zone (otherwise known as the Green Zone) yesterday. It’s a very different place to be stationed. The embassy is there, so there are a lot of civilians. It’s not an isolated compound like the military bases, so you really feel like you are in an international [...]

We have organized a movie night here at the headquarters. There’s not all that much to do here except work, eat, and exercise. There’s not a real theater on the base, so we thought that watching a movie and having some popcorn will be good for people’s spirits. My office had a big screen TV [...]

Everyone is loving the weather. We can feel a little nip in the air, and it feels like we’re moving into fall. The high is only supposed to be 104 today with a low of 79 tonight. That might not seem so cool, but remember it was 125 when we got here… and, as they [...]

My unit is honored to have been adopted by the Westwod Elementary School in Oklahoma City. You can view their web page at http://www.okcps.org/es/westwood/. It means a lot to us to know that people are thinking of us, and want to help. Thanks, Dr. Jan, and all of the faculty, staff and students at Westwood. [...]

Thanks for the jokes. So far, they have come from my sister, Rhonda, and her husband, Mark. I’m not sure I can use the Quaker jokes. I might offend any Quakers in the unit. On the other hand, I suppose there aren’t many good Quakers in the Army, it being a pacifist tradition…
As you [...]

Sometimes, tensions can run pretty high at staff meetings. The staff officers work long hours and never get a whole day off. We each try to get away a half-day once a week, but that isn’t always possible. When we mobilized in May, I began telling a joke or a humorous story at each staff [...]