# Plumbing In Iraq



## SlickRick (Sep 3, 2009)

I am going to try to post a few pictures from Iraq. 2004-05

I am slow, I will have to work on it. :whistling2: 

My son is going to work on this for me, I will post more later... 


http://tinypic.com/r/2l92o7p/4

http://i33.tinypic.com/2d2hstl.jpg

http://i34.tinypic.com/ka381e.jpg

http://i36.tinypic.com/205frwk.jpg

http://i37.tinypic.com/2u8ytdk.jpg

http://i35.tinypic.com/2ppwppi.jpg

http://i35.tinypic.com/213q5uv.jpg

http://i33.tinypic.com/2uo1bic.jpg

http://i37.tinypic.com/1z2n6ux.jpg

http://i33.tinypic.com/zr1b7.jpg

http://i34.tinypic.com/dom3jk.jpg

http://i37.tinypic.com/cok78.jpg


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## Ron (Jun 12, 2008)

Thanks for the great pictures, 1st time I see Brown color PVC if that is what it is.


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## gear junkie (Jun 20, 2008)

Played with any camel spiders yet?


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## SlickRick (Sep 3, 2009)

Ron The Plumber said:


> Thanks for the great pictures, 1st time I see Brown color PVC if that is what it is.


It is UPVC . What the U stands for we could not find out?


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## SlickRick (Sep 3, 2009)

gear junkie said:


> Played with any camel spiders yet?


Don't tell PETA, But we put the Camel spiders against the scorpions and the scorpions always won!..


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## Ron (Jun 12, 2008)

What are the black rings shown on the fitting, is that some type of gasket used for joining? No glue needed?


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## gear junkie (Jun 20, 2008)

I've put camel spiders against mice and the spiders have won. What kind of scorpians do you got there?

When I was in Spain, we fed lizards to our pet scorpion.


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## SlickRick (Sep 3, 2009)

Yea, gaskets. We used a spray bottle w/ soap and slid it together. 110mm-140mm

The units to my left were our "Living Containers" 8x 20 after living in tents. We installed 40 at first and ended up with 1200 before I left. The ones to my right are staged waiting to go in.


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## SlickRick (Sep 3, 2009)

gear junkie said:


> I've put camel spiders against mice and the spiders have won. What kind of scorpians do you got there?
> 
> When I was in Spain, we fed lizards to our pet scorpion.


 
This was in 2004-05. We had yellow scorpions that did not take any crap and hugh black ones that could come close to killing you! Everything there would bite you, stick you or stab you. Cardboard was just like a knife because of the " dry heat' I was in the desert region and it got to 150 degrees. It was HOT . I don't care how "DRY" It was!

*IRAQ MAY NOT BE HELL BUT IT HAS THE SAME ZIP CODE !!!!!*


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## Protech (Sep 22, 2008)

<in truck waiting for customer to show up>

The "u" in u-pvc stands for "unplasticized". It's used extensively in Europe. They don't add plasticizers over there cause of the whole cancer thing. Here in the USA we are OK with it because it keeps the AMA rich.

PVC is very brittle in its natural state. Plasticizing agents need to be added to make it flexible. The trouble is that they leach out of the resin over the years. I'm sure you have encountered old PVC and/or CPVC pipe that has become brittle with age. pvc-u is like that right out of the supply house.


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## SlickRick (Sep 3, 2009)

Protech said:


> <in truck waiting for customer to show up>
> 
> The "u" in u-pvc stands for "unplasticized". It's used extensively in Europe. They don't add plasticizers over there cause of the whole cancer thing. Here in the USA we are OK with it because it keeps the AMA rich.
> 
> PVC is very brittle in its natural state. Plasticizing agents need to be added to make it flexible. The trouble is that they leach out of the resin over the years. I'm sure you have encountered old PVC and/or CPVC pipe that has become brittle with age. pvc-u is like that right out of the supply house.


Well, I won't have to worry about cancer from working with that pipe..HOW ABOUT THE DEPLEATED URANIUM?


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## Protech (Sep 22, 2008)

you're screwed.

i hope you weren't around any targets that that were hit with DU rounds.


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## nhmaster3015 (Aug 5, 2008)

Every time I see pictures of the middle east I think to myself that if I had to live in that god forsaken dust heap I would probably be pissed at the world too.


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## SlickRick (Sep 3, 2009)

Protech said:


> you're screwed.
> 
> i hope you weren't around any targets that that were hit with DU rounds.


 
We were, Blow up tanks and crap everywhere when we got there.

They let the Iraqi come in and scrap most of the migs and armor. it was the least we could do!


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## Pipedoc (Jun 14, 2009)

Very cool pics Rick. Thanks for sharing those.

Anybody got any scorpion fighting pics? And what the heck is a camel spider?!?


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## SlickRick (Sep 3, 2009)

Pipedoc said:


> Very cool pics Rick. Thanks for sharing those.
> 
> Anybody got any scorpion fighting pics? And what the heck is a camel spider?!?


 
They have pictures of camel spiders on the internet as big as trash can lids... They are not that bad.. I killed one with 2 blows with a 36 " pipe wrench..... I'm just say'in


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## ToUtahNow (Jul 19, 2008)

My son was the unit commander during his first tour of Iraq. His men needed to walk all the way to the other side of the base to shower so he built make shift showers from local plywood and water heaters. He said the local water heaters were so bad they considered them disposables.

Mark


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## SlickRick (Sep 3, 2009)

ToUtahNow said:


> My son was the unit commander during his first tour of Iraq. His men needed to walk all the way to the other side of the base to shower so he built make shift showers from local plywood and water heaters. He said the local water heaters were so bad they considered them disposables.
> 
> Mark


Roger that! They called them " John Wayne" showers...


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## Pipedoc (Jun 14, 2009)

slickrick said:


> They have pictures of camel spiders on the internet as big as trash can lids... They are not that bad.. I killed one with 2 blows with a 36 " pipe wrench..... I'm just say'in


 




I found this pic. All I can say is holy smokes Batman!

Are there a lot these things crawli' around over there?


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## SlickRick (Sep 3, 2009)

Pipedoc said:


> I found this pic. All I can say is holy smokes Batman!
> 
> Are there a lot these things crawli' around over there?


I guess that was 2 mating? But yes creatures everywhere. And they like the shade...


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## gear junkie (Jun 20, 2008)

The shade thing is weird. M<ost people think they're trying to attack but they're just trying to find some shade. Still weird when you see a big spider sprint across the sand at you.


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## SlickRick (Sep 3, 2009)

gear junkie said:


> The shade thing is weird. M<ost people think they're trying to attack but they're just trying to find some shade. Still weird when you see a big spider sprint across the sand at you.


Sprint is right, They can haul it....


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## Pipedoc (Jun 14, 2009)

I also seen some pictures of wounds from camel spider bites when I was looking for that picture. Pretty scary stuff. 

How common were bites from those things?


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## SlickRick (Sep 3, 2009)

Pipedoc said:


> I also seen some pictures of wounds from camel spider bites when I was looking for that picture. Pretty scary stuff.
> 
> How common were bites from those things?


After we got out of the tents they were not common at all. There was a flesh eating bacteria that was kept hush buy the military. they told the plumbers because we worked on the CASH. ( army hospital)


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## TheSkinnyGuy (Sep 15, 2009)

slickrick said:


> It is UPVC . What the U stands for we could not find out?


UPVC = unplasticized PVC. http://www.azom.com/details.asp?ArticleID=770#


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## Optimus Primer (May 20, 2009)

Thats so cool. I wish I could do something like that. Whats the digging like over there? Even with the back hoe is it still hard?


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## SlickRick (Sep 3, 2009)

house plumber said:


> Thats so cool. I wish I could do something like that. Whats the digging like over there? Even with the back hoe is it still hard?


 
It is just sand. and more sand..Down about 4' was a layer of folage @ 2' thick . It must have been green at one time.. Until God took a great big dump ...... I wish you could have been there too! We needed plumbers BAD. If you could spell plumber or if you could put a washer in a faucet. That is what we were getting. Most did not make it 2 weeks. 0nly 20% made it a year. some got off the plane then right back on.....


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## gear junkie (Jun 20, 2008)

I was this close to working with KBR but I needed a top secret clearance which i didn't have. One of my boss's son works as a plumber and he'll be retiring after 6 years with more than a mil in the bank. good money to be had if you invest right.


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## SlickRick (Sep 3, 2009)

gear junkie said:


> I was this close to working with KBR but I needed a top secret clearance which i didn't have. One of my boss's son works as a plumber and he'll be retiring after 6 years with more than a mil in the bank. good money to be had if you invest right.


He must be working for a different KBR. He might have a million Iraqi Denar. I have 3.2 But if you worked 16 hrs a day, 7 days a week like I did. You would be @ 100,000 It pays @ 15.00 hr with up lift on the first 40 hrs. over that, straight time. Don't let anyone kid you. I was on a different mission. Trying to do my part to help our troops... Stay home work plenty of real overtime , Do the math on my hours and see what I would have made here..... My son inlaw is over there now with a better co. and he makes about the same. They pay just enough to entice people who would not make that kind of money here.


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## Optimus Primer (May 20, 2009)

So how does one become a plumber there. pm me with the details if you would


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## gear junkie (Jun 20, 2008)

I'm pretty sure it was with KBR but not 100%. The big thing with his money is he was single, invested it, and it was tax free up to 87k(?). Plus he did all that time there with no breaks. 

I would agree it's not all it's cracked up to be. The contractors I talked didn't get any medical coverage at all and lived in tents while the soldiers lived in baracks.

I'd still do it in a heartbeat.

House plumber-when I applied 4 years ago, I believe I put my application in on monster and Halliburton's website. Someone from houston contacted me but said unless I had a TS clearance, we couldn't deal. Other companies to try are PAE, Raytheon, DynaCorp. When Blackwater was around, they had their own construction company called Raven but I don't know if it's still around.


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## SlickRick (Sep 3, 2009)

gear junkie said:


> I'm pretty sure it was with KBR but not 100%. The big thing with his money is he was single, invested it, and it was tax free up to 87k(?). Plus he did all that time there with no breaks.
> 
> I would agree it's not all it's cracked up to be. The contractors I talked didn't get any medical coverage at all and lived in tents while the soldiers lived in baracks.
> 
> ...


 
Sounds like he has a good plan. It is sure that it is a low overhead job once your there!


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## samuelarby (Nov 9, 2009)

Really appreciate all the candid info! I would still like to go and work... If you don't mind sharing any contact info I would be grateful. [email protected]


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## SlickRick (Sep 3, 2009)

samuelarby said:


> Really appreciate all the candid info! I would still like to go and work... If you don't mind sharing any contact info I would be grateful. [email protected]


Did I miss your intro?


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## saysflushable (Jun 15, 2009)

slickrick said:


> Well, I won't have to worry about cancer from working with that pipe..HOW ABOUT THE DEPLEATED URANIUM?


 It was the cheep cigerettes that would kill you. We did have an open burn landfill everybody was worried about. I didn't care about it but I felt bad for the guys that had to work in it.


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## SlickRick (Sep 3, 2009)

saysflushable said:


> It was the cheep cigerettes that would kill you. We did have an open burn landfill everybody was worried about. I didn't care about it but I felt bad for the guys that had to work in it.


Are you referring to the " Monds" Made by the man first born in 1982 ? $ 4.00 a carton


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## saysflushable (Jun 15, 2009)

slickrick said:


> Are you referring to the " Monds" Made by the man first born in 1982 ? $ 4.00 a carton


 Miami's were the popular brand. My lungs hurt thinking about them.


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## SlickRick (Sep 3, 2009)

saysflushable said:


> Miami's were the popular brand. My lungs hurt thinking about them.


I couldn't get past the sore throat to make it to the lungs..:laughing:


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## samuelarby (Nov 9, 2009)

*Poor etiquet...*



slickrick said:


> Did I miss your intro?


Sorry, I just signed up today. My name is Sam and I have been a plumber for seven years in Seattle. I came here hoping to find something that would get me closer to working overseas.


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## SlickRick (Sep 3, 2009)

samuelarby said:


> Sorry, I just signed up today. My name is Sam and I have been a plumber for seven years in Seattle. I came here hoping to find something that would get me closer to working overseas.


Welcome Sam. I went with KBR and they handled all of my paper work for passport, military ID. They have lost there contracts. Your best bet would be with Fluor or Dyncorp in Afganistan. More danger = More money overseas. It is not going to be the money you are hoping for.

If you will post your intro in the intro dept. You may get more replies.


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