It was like one of those alien science-fiction movies.  The movies where someone is in a room with the window blinds down, and suddenly the light outside changes to a different color, and the blinds fly open and the person is sucked into a spaceship where they receive probes in places they'd rather not talk about.  That's how today was, minus the abduction, of course.

When I was in my trailer this afternoon, the light passing through my blinds slowly started turning a brown-ish orange color.  Or maybe it was orange-ish brown?  In any case, a dust storm was starting to make its way though.  Dust storms at this time of the year have been pretty mild most of the time.  Visibility doesn't get much worse than a foggy morning back at home.  These dust storms are unlike the sand storms of the summer, in which breathing becomes difficult, the sun gets blocked out all day, and prisoners take advantage of the very limited visibility and attempt to escape.  But, I digress.  This afternoon's dust storm also brought a thunderstorm along with it, which I'm told is rare for this time of the year.  The rain should have stopped a few weeks ago.  I wish it would have stopped the week after it started.  I'll admit, I was pretty happy when that first storm came through back in November, but after not seeing more than a single cloud for 6 months, I don't think I can be blamed.




Outside my trailer



The sky above



Bunker 54

50 weeks down.  One more week to go.  Well, one more week here, anyway.

In order to leave Iraq, each employee has to go through "out-processing," which is a week-long series of meetings and mind-numbing paperwork sessions.  It'll be fun, I can just see it.  Now, within each group that deploys (and demobilizes) together, one member has to come to headquarters (Camp Liberty, Baghdad) a few days early to assist in getting the other group members' paperwork in order.  Guess who got selected as my group's winner?  This being the case, I will be leaving for HQ on the 1st, as opposed to the 5th with the rest of my group.  Once there, I get to sit in an office going through computer and paper files for 8-12 hours a day.  Yay.

I leave Baghdad on the morning of the 11th, and arrive at BWI around 4:30 in the afternoon on the 12th.  That'll equate to about 36 hours straight of traveling.

I'll be wide awake when I step off the plane.

45 weeks.  Well, 46 if you count my time in Houston.  My year, give or take a few weeks, is almost over.  While the days seem to be dragging by, it is all happening so fast.  So cliché, I know, but true.

There was real milk at the chow hall today.  This is, by far, the greatest thing to happen in my Abu Ghraib world in weeks.  By real milk I mean cow milk, produced and processed in the United States.  We've had goat milk, produced in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, or Qatar, depending on whoever was the lowest bidder that week.  If you've had goat milk, you know it's just not the same.  To celebrate this milky awesomeness, I drank my first cup of tea since my trip to Italy in September.  To celebrate some more, I had a total of 6 cups today.  Good times.




Guard dogs.




Two worlds.




Engine 901:  Captain Francois, FF Berth, D/O Good, FF Kinsey



Tanker 901.  Placed in service this week (after being out of service since Jan 2005 due to mechanical problems).




Electrical panel fire (as if you needed a caption).




Fire's out (FF McDaniel).




Another day in downtown Abu Ghraib Prison (aka outside the Chow Hall).


I have made some life-long friends while I have been here, and I have spoken very sparsely of them.  I don't know why this is.  I guess there would just be too much to say.  Living together, eating together, working-out together, fighting fires together, training together...  How do you describe all the events that lead up to the creation of friendships like this?  Not even friendships, really.  This job doesn't create friendships...




"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers..."