Afghan shoe fetish

Busy couple of days ahead of us. Can't really elaborate, but it's gonna be nip and tuck to get the lights up. Speaking of which, our tree is set up and all the decorations are on it. Thanks babe! We have it set up right outside our door. The inside of the room has been transformed into somewhat of a kit explosion. Our walls are lined with weapons and gear, and you can probably find blocks of c-4 in random boxes, and detonators in random bags. I guess our vehicle is no different. The outside of it is loaded with crates of c-4 and the inside is no different. I guess, you could say, we're walking, driving, mobile bombs. We could use some gravel in this end of our AO. The dust hasn't been so bad lately, but whenever you sit on your cot a plume of dust rises out from your legs. A little gravel on the floor would make things a lot better. The whole mice situation has rapidly deteriorated. They don't really come out anymore and I haven't seen one since my threats of an electric chair.
You wouldn't believe me if I told you the kinds of things we're coming across on our searches of compounds and dwellings. Other than the IED components and explosives we have been destroying, the people here pack away some interesting items. In one case, we opened a box containing, I shit you not, a couple of eggshells, a leather sandal, some herbs in a bag, a motorcycle headlight, some syringes, an old plastic radio, a pair of ladies underwear, a pipe, and other miscellaneous items. This is far from uncommon in the places we've searched thus far. It seems these Afghanis have an extremely odd fetish with shoes. There are shoes everywhere in this country. A wide variety of runners, loafers, sandals, and heels. I'm not sure why they hang on to this old, mud encrusted variety of footwear, but i intend to find out. The stockpiles we've been finding have been shoved away in little holes in the wall, and any nook and cranny. I don't get it.
The OP shifts are long and monotonous. Especially the gate OP. I think I can say for everyone, that is by far the worst shift OP in this country. You're pretty much on your own in the middle of the darkness, with the nearest help over 150m away. Nerve racking, and after every shift I get the nastiest headache. The dogs lurk around andthe other night I shot a pen flare at them. There's a built up area just around the corner from where you stand and it seems at any moment someone with ill intent could easily jump around and fire off a shot. It truly sucks, and if theres a fear in anyone out here, it is brought out on that shift. The night vision constantly plays tricks with your eyes and if your not wearing a specifically designated piece of kit, you risk being shot at from our ANA counterparts. The other night someone on that shift got fired at from the ANA because he wasn't wearing his "designated kit." On one hand, they said they were firing at someone they saw in the field. But then, the guy who fired the shots apologized to the guy who was on shift. Hmmmm....sketchy...Gotta do another one tonight, and not looking forward to it. Its me and Dorner back here now. We'll be operating together for the next few days. The rest of the crew is out searching, and patrolling. It should be a pretty relaxed day, and we'll need our rest for this holiday week. Gonna be a busy one......off to talk to the boss......till next time.....out