Here we go again.

When I enlisted into the Army I never thought in a million years I would ever deploy to Iraq, let alone deploy there *and* Afghanistan just a few years later. But here I am, no longer a stupid Walmart cashier trying to get college assistance, but rather a senior NCO in a combat zone with a Public Affairs unit that used to spend its one-weekend-a-month sitting around drinking coffee.

And now after nearly 13 years I'm sitting in an office covered with the day's dust and listening to the air conditioning flow through a makeshift tube contemplating my next year in Afghanistan, a place that has me shaking my head and musing "I never thought I'd miss Iraq."

There are a lot of differences and yet when I first arrived I had a sense of nostalgia. There's that sandy grit slapping you across the face, shooting up your nose, in your mouth and my favorite - in the freaking eyes. There's also that wonderful porta-potty chemical smell mixed with burning plastic and diesel exhaust.

But all the similarities fell apart after 12 hours of living here when I realized I missed Iraq's many "comforts" of living. I started to mentally make a list of the things that irritated or frustrated me about my new home for a year, which can be dangerous because I don't want to be focused on the negative.

One thing stuck out to me though... all of my complaints paled in comparison to the living conditions outside the "wire" or border of my large compound. It was this realization that prompted me to create yet another blog to share my observations with my Western friends and family so they can see what it's like here, all while seeing the irony of my complaints and hopefully get some amusement from my current situation.

So get ready America... because I'm about to unleash my first world problems in Afghanistan upon you...