The other day, Turkish troops invaded Iraq http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/06/06/turkey.iraq.ap/index.html
While it's not an 'invasion' per se, it is significant in that the Turks have crossed the border. Fortunately, nothing is really different here today. I hope it'll settle down to nothing more than a fueding border skirmish (what ever the hell that is). Damn if it's not poisonous snakes or invading Turks, there's always something here in Iraq trying to kill you! What'd a Country!

For the first time in Iraq, I am wearing shorts! That's right, where I used to work, you could not wear shorts (except for PT). Here at Anaconda, you can wear shorts (different base, different rules). In fact, there are a lot of things you can't do and this is covered by General Order 1A to which as a civilian (puke) on a military base I am subject. These 'NOs' cover some of the following: no sex, no booze, no drugs, no protheylzing, no pets, no porn, no private ownership of vehicles, no entering a mosque, no 'disrespectful' t shirts and frankly a bunch of other rules that I just don't recall. General Order 1A is sort of a 'catch all'. Overall the Army is pretty laid back from what I was used to in the Navy though.


There aren't alot of critters here in Iraq but there are these gecko like lizards everywhere. They're very fast and rarely catch sitting still to even take a pic. This one is dead so the pic was prettty easy to take.

It's hard to tell if you're really 'loved' where you work. Before I came to Iraq I was a contractor at Microsoft. Now Microsoft is a great place and it's a great place to work and all that but frankly, gawd I was bored. I did some interesting stuff with rather large SQL databases and while it was interesting, I could have also done most of my job sitting at home in my underwear and telecommute. At Microsoft I worked with a guy named Mike who I really thought knew more about VB script than me but when I told them I was quitting to 'finish my military committment in Iraq' (OK, so that really wasn't true) my boss wanted to know when I'd be back as they were thinking of letting Mike go. Now Mike was a good guy and knew his stuff but he didn't like to share with everyone what he was thinking. They eventually let Mike go.

Recently my boss here let an employee go (she was at the end of her contract of 1 year) and he got someone who's worked here before and I think that he got along better. Once my boss here told me it bugged him the way Nancy would question what/how he wanted to do things at times. I think it 'really' bugged him. Now now we have Jennifer instead of Nancy.

Anyway, I'm hoping to go on R&R next month and found out just today my boss's boss wants me to stay a few extra days at corporate for additional supervisor training (this is generally a good thing.) But my boss here wants me back as soon as possible. They both 'want' me! A lesson I learned in MBA school is that it's just as important to be liked as it is to be competent! Such a lesson has served me well.

I still try to go running at noon and it's getting hotter. Maybe I'm getting better at it but this is a pic after I went running. It doesn't show it well but I'm sweating like a pig here and exhausted. Dang I need to work on my arms.


It's also perhaps a tad unusual but most people here carry a knife. The 'legal' size is 4" or less but no one really checks. Women as well as men carry one but I'm really not sure why. All the soldiers carry weapons and and it's not uncommon to accidently kick a few M16s when you sit down at a table in the DFAC. So maybe it's macho thing as a knife is a weapon that we're allowed to carry AND has the added utility of being able to cut through some of the (horse?) meat that is passed off as ribeye steak here. Urgh, the food. That's another posting. My knife is a Columbia River knife that I found in the parking lot one day. A soldier probably dropped it and although banged up a bit, it's still damn sharp.

I got a haircut last night. The structure of the modern army has become very 'business' oriented. Soldiers fight but do not cut hair. Neither do they serve food, cook food, do engine maintenance, produce water, pick up trash or even check ID cards at the DFAC. Yes, there are exceptions but generally all those duties and other have been subcontracted out to the lowest (and hopefully the most efficient) bidder. Soldiers don't even guard the high profile individuals as a private security contractor does that. Anyway, for $3 now I get a pretty good haircut generally by some Pakistani and I tip $3.

Oh, the answers are 1. Cannot be determined 2. aunt and 3. 16 is incorrect (given a +2 x2 pattern.)