Happy Thanksgiving!

Nice weather

Seems that the weather back in the States is getting crappy. It is still gorgeous here. Even though everything is dusty brown during the day there are still some nice sunsets - these are from today.

Sadler arrives in Baghdad

A buddy & former colleague of mine from the Pentagon has started his own adventure in Baghdad just down the road at MND-B. I managed to stop by for a few minutes after a run to the PX.

Why China isn't a threat

They have nothing better to do than comment on GnR's long-awaited Chinese Democracy. I don't know why they bothered...the album is meh.

On the other hand I was surprised to discover that myspace still exists.

Nice Day and moving news

While DC was suffering through 30 degree weather is was a nice, balmy 75 degrees here in The Dad. Not too shabby for late November. I suppose I should enjoy the relatively nice weather as I learned today that we will be moving to Basra in the March time frame...right when it starts to get hot...like 130 degrees hot. Anyway, a picture taken about an hour ago:

It must be qualification day

Dunno if people are getting ready for weapons re-qualificaiton or what...but the range has been in use the entire day. Given all the racket thousands of rounds must have been used today.

The Phantom Crapper

The plumbing in Iraq - and in the Media Operations Center in particular - sucks. There was a sign on the door the bathroom in the MOC which read: "#1 only. #2 will back up the plumbing"

Apparently that did not send a strong enough message as there is (hopefully was) a mystery person leaving dookie in the toilet at random times. Today a sign with slightly stronger wording was put on the door to the bathroom...

Thinking of buying a Mac

Someone asked me the other day why I don't write more...I guess there isn't that much that is terribly interesting to say most of the time. Work in Iraq is just like work in DC - save for the fact that I'm in Iraq. That basically sums it up.

At any rate, with that out of the way I'm wondering if any of the two people that read this foolish thing have an opinion on the following:

I'm thinking of buying a MacBook Pro. Given the fact that I have some time on my hands I decided to poke around the Internet to see if I could get find any opinions on the new laptops. After girding myself to venture into the creepy Mac fanboy underground I discovered what I would characterize as the Red Sox vs Yankees debate...glossy vs. matte screens. The MBPs only come in glossy (unless you want the giant 17"). While the Mac community is fairly vocal (particularly the graphics / image / coding types) there is apparently a great fault line which bisects the Internet on this issue. Sadly, the standard advice doesn't (compare glossy vs. matte in store) really apply to me.

So...has anyone used one of the "newer" laptops that have the glossy screens? I hear that they are better for color rendition etc but I'm concerned about reflections coming off the glossy finish. I'd love some opinions on the matter. I love my Thinkpad but am interesting in something that isn't so slow and clunky. Plus I can write off the purchase price of the Mac on my taxes.

Presidential transition

It is rather interesting watching all of this election / handover stuff from afar. I can only imagine that there is wall-to-wall coverage in DC and that the senior staff guessing game is in full swing during happy hour.

It does seem that Bush is treating Obama with a hell of a lot more class than Clinton treated Bush.

Iraq must be making me stupid

While it seems comparatively minor...I'm guessing that I'm losing some gray matter or something. For the life of me I simply cannot remember to bring my soap and shampoo back from the shower. If it had happened once or twice I wouldn't think anything of it...however it routinely happens a few times a week (seriously). Of course I never realize this until I get up in the morning to take a shower. It really is rather annoying. Bar soap is beyond difficult to deal with here so the PX is stocked with lots of body wash. Oddly, it is almost all AXE...I've been using it as there is nothing else. I must say, however, I'm a little let down at the lack of truth in advertising. Not that I've been counting but I have yet to experience any of the panty-throwing or the other benefits of which the ads speak. On the plus side I've purchased enough of the stupid bottles of soap to know which ones I like and which ones I don't like.

AAFES has probably taken a good $100 of my hard earned cash just on shampoo and soap. Good grief.

And now...what is good about Iraq

The day after

I'll leave the analysis of last night's election to the professionals. Merely by way of observation I'd describe the mood here as "subdued." The office is quiet, the outside is quiet, and one could hear a pin drop in the chow hall today. This, of course, is not terribly surprising as I could probably pick out about two of three people in total over here that voted for Obama.

The election experience, however, reinforced some of the less than happy things about living in Iraq - namely loneliness. Had I been in DC I would most likely have been out at a bar with a bunch of people, watching the returns, and drinking far too much beer for a Tuesday night. At the very least I would have sat around with my dog and watched the television.

By way of contrast (and reality) I was on my bed in my hooch, with the lights out, and headphones attached to the TV via a long cord - as to not to wake the (disliked) roommate. I finally went to sleep after 0530 after Ohio was called for Obama. All in all it was rather depressing. Speaking with a colleague this morning (also from the DC area) he shared many of the same sentiments - probably a bit moreso as his dude won.

Update: though I will say that unlike 2000 and 2004 when the though of either Gore or Kerry was enough to keep me awake at night I don't feel the angst (or disgust) about Obama. He wasn't my choice but I'm sure that he'll be marginally effective so long as he doesn't 1) embrace the kooky far-left or 2) immediately demonstrate anti-business and anti-competitive tendencies. Besides, the Republicans are going to be doing the whole circular firing squad bit for the foreseeable future and will, hence, likely be pretty useless.