Wow, I almost went a week without a post! Time seems to be flying by on my end, which is a good thing! I don't think I've been particularly busy but apparently busy enough to miss some posts. As a matter of fact, I've been thinking of some blog subjects but thinking doesn't equal action so I promise to get some of those written down about life here in the Cradle of Civilization. Anyway, on to the week of birthdays.
First, I forgot to post a Happy Birthday to my dad. I didn't forget his birthday (I did call and all that stuff - give me some credit) but I did forget to make a public big deal about it. Well, happy (late) birthday, Pop.
Second, I did remember to post a Happy Birthday wish to my mom, who's birthday is TODAY! Happy Birthday mom! I suppose it is just like on sports events. The camera zooms in, the player smiles and waves at the camera, and always says, "Hi Mom!" Kinda hard to forget mom birthdays (plus, she sent me an e-mail hinting that there hadn't been a post for a while - she wasn't trolling for a birthday post, but she's good about keeping me on track if I don't post in a while!)
Finally, today is the U.S. Marine Corps birthday. Happy birthday to all you Devil Dogs in our sister sea service.
I lied, one more paragraph so this one is really finally. It is interesting to see how perspective is truly relative. My brother had to evacuate his house during the fires out in California. He and my sister-in-law are fine and are back home but the fire did get pretty close. Anyway, I wrote him while he was moving from his office into a hotel, expressing concern and told him I was thinking and praying for him. His response was, "Well, at least I'm not getting shot at!" Even with a massive conflagration moving toward his neighborhood, his thoughts were of me while I was thinking about him. I guess that's brothers for you! Glad you're safe Bro!
Still looking for the mythical rain I've heard about. Cheers, Pearl
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Football
This is a companion post to the previous one about dust here in Iraq. This weekend, HDTVs all over America are broadcasting countless football games played on beautifully manicured fields, all nice and verdant grass or high-end artificial turf (except Boise State's horrid blue field).
Not so much here!
Cheers, Pearl
PS - Congratulations to Navy for their victory over Notre Dame breaking a 43 year losing streak to the Irish.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Dust
I've mentioned in quite a few of my posts that Iraq is dusty. That's about as descriptive as saying Antarctica is cold. So, I thought I would quantify "dusty" so y'all would know exactly what I mean.
First, few things grow here without careful tending so a blank area of ground, rather than going to weed like back home, goes to dirt - plain, ole, brown dirt. Vast expanses of dirt are everywhere around this place. But that's just the beginning. On top of this dirt, which is often hard packed and sun baked, is sandy, gravel-like dirt. This is what I'd describe as ordinary dirt like we have back in the States. Mixed in still is a more refined sandy dirt, like beach sand without the pretty view. Last, there's the dust.
This is no ordinary dust, mind you. We refer to it as "Moon Dust." This is the ultra-fine dust that makes talcum powder look like coarse landscaping gravel. The moon dust makes little puffs when you walk through it so everyone looks like the Peanuts' character Pigpen. It easily blows up into a fine powder with the slightest breeze or the passing of any vehicle. And, it gets everywhere. There is a certain monochromatic quality to the landscape here because everything, every building, vehicle, barrier, tree, bush, sign, everything has a light coating of light-tan dust.
There is an urban legend that over 90% of household dust is actually sloughed off dead skin. I disagree. I've seen where all the dust comes from...here!
Cheers, Pearl
First, few things grow here without careful tending so a blank area of ground, rather than going to weed like back home, goes to dirt - plain, ole, brown dirt. Vast expanses of dirt are everywhere around this place. But that's just the beginning. On top of this dirt, which is often hard packed and sun baked, is sandy, gravel-like dirt. This is what I'd describe as ordinary dirt like we have back in the States. Mixed in still is a more refined sandy dirt, like beach sand without the pretty view. Last, there's the dust.
This is no ordinary dust, mind you. We refer to it as "Moon Dust." This is the ultra-fine dust that makes talcum powder look like coarse landscaping gravel. The moon dust makes little puffs when you walk through it so everyone looks like the Peanuts' character Pigpen. It easily blows up into a fine powder with the slightest breeze or the passing of any vehicle. And, it gets everywhere. There is a certain monochromatic quality to the landscape here because everything, every building, vehicle, barrier, tree, bush, sign, everything has a light coating of light-tan dust.
There is an urban legend that over 90% of household dust is actually sloughed off dead skin. I disagree. I've seen where all the dust comes from...here!
Cheers, Pearl
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Happy Halloween!
I hope you all have lots of good little ghoulies and ghosties tonight. I can't say there will be a lot of that here, with no children on the base and all. As a matter of fact, except for a couple of pumpkins on briefing slides and the staff at the DFAC wearing giant, orange Halloween hats, today has been pretty much like any other day here in Baghdad.
We seem to have turned the corner on heat with daytime highs only reaching into the upper 80s. We received our mandatory winter safety warning e-mails the other day so good ole Jack Frost must be right around the corner! I'm still having a hard time imagining this place as other than hot and dusty so I'm actually looking forward to this mythical rain everyone keeps talking about. But the days now are actually pleasant, with regards to temperature, and tonight would be perfect for trick or treating.
The only other big news is a Fair Winds and Following Seas to "Grease" of "The Landlocked Sailor Blog." I saw him at our last meeting together tonight and he will be headed home to his family for keeps in a few days. I really only was around him once a week at our Wednesday meeting, but since he was my first glimpse into the land of the Individual Augmentee in Iraq, I feel like I know him as well as I know anyone here. In fact, I think my mom sends him more e-mail than she sends me! Thanks for all you've done here Grease and have a safe trip home! We've got it now!
Cheers, Pearl
Friday, October 26, 2007
Missing the Point
WARNING - THIS IS A SOAPBOX POST
I've tried to avoid getting on my soapbox over here but as I was running the other day, I was mulling a conversation I'd had earlier with the Regimental Public Affairs Officer. He said he'd seen a link to my blog while doing a Google search (sideline - pretty cool that it shows up!) but was unable to view it because it was blocked on his work computer. Earlier in the year, the Army decided that blogs were security risks and published an order that all bloggers had to have permission to host blogs and had to have all content approved by their supervisor. As you might imagine, that order cause quite a stink and created quite a burden on folks who have better things to do here like fight a war. So, the Army, with little fanfare, quit inforcing it's unenforceable rule...or so it seemed.
When I first arrived, I could view blogs on my government computer, but could not log in and had to post remotely via e-mail. Before I got my commercial account set up, I think I mentioned this fact on my post "500" last month. But now, something else has cropped up. Now, blogs can't even be viewed on government computers; they are completely blocked. "Potentially Harmful Content" is the message that appears.
Here's the soapbox part.
There is an active blogging ring over here in Iraq. There are lots of Soldiers and Sailors and Airmen and Marines who want to tell their own story about their part in the war and there certainly seems to be a demand from the American public for just this kind of news (this blog alone, which was started as a way to keep in touch with family and friends, has over 1,100 visitors now in just a few months). The vast majority of bloggers here are telling a positive story, a story that is often missing from mainstream media. I understand that a convoy getting attacked or civilians getting killed is more "exciting," more "newsworthy" than re-opening a school, or repairing potholes, or making a neighborhood safe enough for women and children to walk the streets without fear, but this is the story that we who are here want told. The Army, in it's wisdom, is making it more and more difficult for the average Soldier to tell the average American about the good work he/she is doing here. Now that government systems completely block blogs, the Army has unwittingly, or wittingly perhaps, established a class division where only those of us who have the means to have personal computers can post and read blogs about events here that shape all of our lives. The average story-teller has so many barriers in his/her way, that he/she gives up and their voice isn't heard. The Army should embrace blogging - these are good stories, the "why we fight" stories of past generations. There is good work happening every day that doesn't make the front page of the newspaper or the 30 second clip on the evening news. And the Army is missing the point!
Off my rambling soapbox now.
Cheers, Pearl
I've tried to avoid getting on my soapbox over here but as I was running the other day, I was mulling a conversation I'd had earlier with the Regimental Public Affairs Officer. He said he'd seen a link to my blog while doing a Google search (sideline - pretty cool that it shows up!) but was unable to view it because it was blocked on his work computer. Earlier in the year, the Army decided that blogs were security risks and published an order that all bloggers had to have permission to host blogs and had to have all content approved by their supervisor. As you might imagine, that order cause quite a stink and created quite a burden on folks who have better things to do here like fight a war. So, the Army, with little fanfare, quit inforcing it's unenforceable rule...or so it seemed.
When I first arrived, I could view blogs on my government computer, but could not log in and had to post remotely via e-mail. Before I got my commercial account set up, I think I mentioned this fact on my post "500" last month. But now, something else has cropped up. Now, blogs can't even be viewed on government computers; they are completely blocked. "Potentially Harmful Content" is the message that appears.
Here's the soapbox part.
There is an active blogging ring over here in Iraq. There are lots of Soldiers and Sailors and Airmen and Marines who want to tell their own story about their part in the war and there certainly seems to be a demand from the American public for just this kind of news (this blog alone, which was started as a way to keep in touch with family and friends, has over 1,100 visitors now in just a few months). The vast majority of bloggers here are telling a positive story, a story that is often missing from mainstream media. I understand that a convoy getting attacked or civilians getting killed is more "exciting," more "newsworthy" than re-opening a school, or repairing potholes, or making a neighborhood safe enough for women and children to walk the streets without fear, but this is the story that we who are here want told. The Army, in it's wisdom, is making it more and more difficult for the average Soldier to tell the average American about the good work he/she is doing here. Now that government systems completely block blogs, the Army has unwittingly, or wittingly perhaps, established a class division where only those of us who have the means to have personal computers can post and read blogs about events here that shape all of our lives. The average story-teller has so many barriers in his/her way, that he/she gives up and their voice isn't heard. The Army should embrace blogging - these are good stories, the "why we fight" stories of past generations. There is good work happening every day that doesn't make the front page of the newspaper or the 30 second clip on the evening news. And the Army is missing the point!
Off my rambling soapbox now.
Cheers, Pearl
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