Happy Halloween

Ed & Evelyn, thanks for the festive sugar cookies and trick or treat bags. The squad was grateful for the candy. This is us playing a little football in the park.

Party Time

Sat. Morning

Cordon and search was conducted on the rich part of town. We walked through some nice mansions with enough rooms to get lost in. It was evening and families were breaking their fast for Ramadan. In one kitchen food was offered and I accepted. It was a fried ball of meat and potato and I was hungry so it tasted pretty good. Crystal chandeliers and the occasional disco ball garnished many ceilings. The decoration schemes ranged from 70s to 80s las vegas splendor. After finishing the search we descended on one front yard to rest in plastic chairs and mind the lavish spread. I was in my room last monday when the explosion went off and then on my walk to the showers I heard the second. Al jazeera seemed to be on site set up with camera crews to catch the ball of fire before it happened. The western reporters in the palestine hotel unfortunately didn't get the same tip.

High of 80

People are starting to leave and new faces are showing up on the fob. "Fresh meat" is replacing the units that are redeploying back home. Next month some of our duties are being taken over by the new soldiers. The feeling of change is beginning to arrive. The temp has dropped low enough that at night it dips into the 50s. That definitely feels cold if you are used to the hot hot heat. Today we played softball in the soccer field down the road. There was a good turnout for the game.

1st Squad.

Ink stain

Yesterday the streets were empty due to no traffic allowed on polling day. It was slightly creepy to drive down the roads and not see any cars. We patrolled up and down a few routes to check on the traffic compliance. Only several cars were spotted but some had the proper stickers on their windows indicating approval to operate. Some people just seemed confused and maybe didn’t get the memo stating that they couldn’t drive that day. I didn’t hear any blasts and didn’t hear of any car bombs going off. The Sunni turnout was larger than expected so maybe the mad bombers were busy voting instead of exploding. By the end of the day many people had the violet ink on their finger signaling they had voted.

Back to the grind

After 54 hours of traveling across the way I made it to my little forward operating base. When the plane landed in Baghdad we stepped off and started walking for the hangars while another line moving to get on the plane passed us by. I remembered being in the other line thinking about the poor suckers who just came back from leave while I was on my way out. This time the meeting wasn’t as stimulating as it was a couple weeks ago. The next goal is to finish up the deployment and go home. Everything here seems to be as it was when I left. I almost forgot about the stench and flies surrounding the place. Did I ever mention we live across the street from a sewage treatment facility. I think a paper mill would almost smell better. I know the feed lots in Kansas are not on the same level. My return from R&R left me wondering how the time went by so fast. Seeing my family and friends on the short vacation made up for what it lacked in length.

Welcome Back Monad

Hope everyone had fun at the party!