Evidently there is a shortage of soap/shower gel in theater. Because every time I turn my back in the shower trailer, my damn shower gel disappears! Now, it may be karma. When I first arrived here at Camp Victory, I didn't have anything that resembled shower gel, but I didn't let that stop me from going to the shower trailer in the evening and scrubbing down (I did have my trusty Japanese industrial-strength recycled water bottle plastic scrubbing cloth!). Imagine my good luck the first morning when I walk into the shower trailer and it is completely empty, devoid of any living thing, no dirty towels, nothing amiss or astray... except for one little bottle of shower gel.(Dove--moisturizes while you shower!) So I figure, since this is the transient section of camp, someone has been kind enough to leave some shower gel for transients to use--very kind. I used it. I even left it after I was done for the next hapless transient. Turns out, the next hapless transient was me, that very next morning after my run. At this point it is clear to me that whoever left that shower gel doesn't want it back, so I bring it back to the tent with me for safekeeping.
The gel and I shower together happily for several more days, until I forget the gel one day in my haste to leave the shower trailer. Not really haste--I have very few places I need to be at with very specific time constraints; turns out this, along with non-standard PT gear, is one of the benefits of being a NARMY of one amongst the Army. The problem is that immediately upon leaving the shower I am in the habit of pulling the shower curtain closed so that it dries out nicely, and once closed the contents of the shower, including the gel, are completely dead to me. I think this strange obsession I have with closing the shower curtain was imposed by my Mother early in my impressionable youth--Thanks, Mom! When I forgot the shower gel that first time, I went back to the trailer about 30 minutes later.... there wasn't a soul about, but the gel was gone! Hopefully some hapless transient got it.
Note that I mentioned "the first time" I left the shower gel. since then I have managed to forget a couple of other bottles of shower gel--it seems there isn't actually a shortage of shower gel on base-you can buy it at the exchange quite readily--there is just a shortage of conveniently placed shower gel in the shower trailers! In each of the subsequent cases I have literally only been one from the trailer for ten minutes or less and the (evidently) highly valued and highly pilfered bottle is gone...
By the way, I am currently pushing the record for maintaining control of my shower gel with a streak going on three weeks! They say it takes 21 days to make a habit, so I may have figured it out now...
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
ablution stories
Anyone who has read my blog (especially the bits from 2005) knows that there isn't much to write about except the food and the bathroom facilities--this is war! At least, this is war for me, I imagine the blogs of people that are regularly being shot at are quite different. I had been trying to go "clean" and had resisted posting several ablutions related stories, but they keep piling up and I don't have anything better to write about right now... so get ready....
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
freaky weather night
The last couple of days have been quite dusty--again, good for the heat, but not so much for the lungs. Tonight, in addition to the dust, there was lightning!! Around 1815, I am sitting at my desk working a little e-mail magic, when the announcement is made that there is a lightening warning--or perhaps an advisory, I am not sure the difference--starting at 1830 until "further notice". A couple hours later it is time to walk home--in the dark... and the dust... and the lightning...
The dust is eerie enough--vision is decreased dramatically, most things you cannot see, those that you can see look "fuzzy". At night, it is even a bit more eery... But now the lightning is going off. I cannot quite tell how close it is because of the dust; I cannot even see a building 100 meters to the south, so when the entire south lights up with a flash of light I cannot see the jagged rods of light, but a nice dust-diffused lighting effect--very cool. There was no thunder either.... perhaps the dust diffused not only the light but the sound too. I suppose someone smart out there knows the answer, but they probably aren't reading this blog!
Not only was it dusty and lightning-y, there was rain... on the way back to the CHU every 10-20 steps a single rain drop would strike somewhere on my body--talk abut humidity! No wonder the base is starting to advertise about a water shortage--we are in a freaking desert and when it rains you can measure the rainfall in drops per acre.
The dust is eerie enough--vision is decreased dramatically, most things you cannot see, those that you can see look "fuzzy". At night, it is even a bit more eery... But now the lightning is going off. I cannot quite tell how close it is because of the dust; I cannot even see a building 100 meters to the south, so when the entire south lights up with a flash of light I cannot see the jagged rods of light, but a nice dust-diffused lighting effect--very cool. There was no thunder either.... perhaps the dust diffused not only the light but the sound too. I suppose someone smart out there knows the answer, but they probably aren't reading this blog!
Not only was it dusty and lightning-y, there was rain... on the way back to the CHU every 10-20 steps a single rain drop would strike somewhere on my body--talk abut humidity! No wonder the base is starting to advertise about a water shortage--we are in a freaking desert and when it rains you can measure the rainfall in drops per acre.
Monday, April 21, 2008
A Coalition of the Volleyball Willing...
There was a volleyball tournament yesterday--quite an international event around here. In fact, the first tournament that my unit had a team in, several weeks ago--we came in third overall, which wasn't too bad for our first time playing together, and there were some very good teams there.
The Tongan marines guard the Al Faw Palace, the main headquarters for the US military in Iraq (Note that the photo below has been slightly modified for security reasons, but the basic look of the place is spot on. Of course, it usually doesn't look THIS good, you have to get it at the right time of day when the sun AND dust are low.)
They--the Tongans--supposedly have an excellent team, but they don't play on Sundays, so I haven't had the chance to play with them yet. The Samoan contingent is quite impressive, these are US Army (and one Navy) who all happen to be from Samoa and have put together a team--these dudes are big, the nets are low... they don't even jump, but they block just fine... The Samoans did a bit of chanting too--with every point they made a chant leader would call out the chant and the rest of the team would fall in--kind of a call and response thing with a bit of symbolic dancing thrown in to boot! The Samoans (not the girl scout cookie, S'moas) came in second.
The winning team in that first tourney was a group of civilian contractors from Nepal--this team was small, quick and had clearly played together quite a bit--they picked up every ball and returned it flawlessly...
There was a fine group of Puerto Ricans too, they weren't playing volleyball though, they were singing. Evidently they gather at the MWR center every Sunday afternoon and set up food and giant loudspeakers with microphones and a computer with MP3s... playing and singing salsa music all afternoon. These guys know how to have a good time!
And, I should mention that the Ugandan team didn't show up for the first tourney either, but we benefitted greatly from one of their players subbing in on our team--this guy had mad hops and great volleyball skills--I hope their entire team doesn't play like that or we are in trouble if we ever meet up with them!!
Yesterday was another story--we dominated! Navy team--bam! Marine team--bam! Joint team--bam!! Estonian team--bam!! We had to play the Estonians again in the finals, and we had been sitting for a while when that match came up, so we dropped the first game, but then we kicked it up a notch and BAM!! We took the entire enchilada. The victorious, steadfast Task Force 62 Medical Brigade volleyball team:
The Tongan marines guard the Al Faw Palace, the main headquarters for the US military in Iraq (Note that the photo below has been slightly modified for security reasons, but the basic look of the place is spot on. Of course, it usually doesn't look THIS good, you have to get it at the right time of day when the sun AND dust are low.)
They--the Tongans--supposedly have an excellent team, but they don't play on Sundays, so I haven't had the chance to play with them yet. The Samoan contingent is quite impressive, these are US Army (and one Navy) who all happen to be from Samoa and have put together a team--these dudes are big, the nets are low... they don't even jump, but they block just fine... The Samoans did a bit of chanting too--with every point they made a chant leader would call out the chant and the rest of the team would fall in--kind of a call and response thing with a bit of symbolic dancing thrown in to boot! The Samoans (not the girl scout cookie, S'moas) came in second.
The winning team in that first tourney was a group of civilian contractors from Nepal--this team was small, quick and had clearly played together quite a bit--they picked up every ball and returned it flawlessly...
There was a fine group of Puerto Ricans too, they weren't playing volleyball though, they were singing. Evidently they gather at the MWR center every Sunday afternoon and set up food and giant loudspeakers with microphones and a computer with MP3s... playing and singing salsa music all afternoon. These guys know how to have a good time!
And, I should mention that the Ugandan team didn't show up for the first tourney either, but we benefitted greatly from one of their players subbing in on our team--this guy had mad hops and great volleyball skills--I hope their entire team doesn't play like that or we are in trouble if we ever meet up with them!!
Yesterday was another story--we dominated! Navy team--bam! Marine team--bam! Joint team--bam!! Estonian team--bam!! We had to play the Estonians again in the finals, and we had been sitting for a while when that match came up, so we dropped the first game, but then we kicked it up a notch and BAM!! We took the entire enchilada. The victorious, steadfast Task Force 62 Medical Brigade volleyball team:
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Warming Up! Dusting Down...
Back in March there were a few days where it broke 100°F here, then it cooled back down to reasonable 85-90°F days for a week or so. Last week it got hot, just over the 100°F mark, but there was a qualitative difference in the air that let you know this heat was significantly more serious than the slight brushes with triple digit temps last month--those were nothing! So, I had meant a couple days ago to post about this abrupt, but not unexpected, mercury motion. When, out of nowhere comes a major dust storm--a finer dust than we had at Al Asad, it is actually easier to breath... which must be a bad thing. Last Weds was hot and relatively clear. Thursday morning was my run with the Army guys--I got up, got dressed and went outside--the dust was thick! But, as I said, deceptively easy to breathe--it didn't seem that bad. So, I went and met the guys. One of the guys shows up--remember, it is 0530--and says, "I just came to tell you that I am not running--it is too dusty." The rest of us chastised him and went on our way. During the run all seemed fine, but afterwards, it was clear that discretion really is the better part of valor and our compatriot that refused to run was much more discreet and valorous than we... the wet (sweaty) bits of my shorts and shirt were covered with a pleasant mud, as were the corners of my mouth--as I found out. I can only imagine the coating of mud in my trachea, bronchioles, and alveoli--this is pretty fine dust!
But, the point I was trying to make wasn't what kind of idiot will go running in crazy air conditions--ask my buddy Dave who ran through the smoke of the 2003 San Diego fires--the point was that the dust does a great job of blocking the sun and keeping the heat down to a reasonable level. So, for the last 4 days there has been enough intermittent dust that the temps have stayed below the triple digits. Although, I have a feeling that this week will be either hot and dusty or just hot....
But, the point I was trying to make wasn't what kind of idiot will go running in crazy air conditions--ask my buddy Dave who ran through the smoke of the 2003 San Diego fires--the point was that the dust does a great job of blocking the sun and keeping the heat down to a reasonable level. So, for the last 4 days there has been enough intermittent dust that the temps have stayed below the triple digits. Although, I have a feeling that this week will be either hot and dusty or just hot....
Monday, April 14, 2008
Logorrhoea
Part of my job here in Iraq, and at home for that matter, is medical surveillance. I look at various data streams and reports to try identify "sentinel events" that might have an important impact on the troops. One of the surveillance systems we use is known as the Reportable Medical Event System--it is pretty much what it sounds like. Just as the CDC and state and county public health departments require doctors to report certain communicable diseases of importance in order to help control the spread of said diseases, we (the DOD) require a report to be filed whenever certain diagnoses of interest or importance are made. To be honest, reviewing reportable medical event forms is generally quite boring because the vast majority are made up of STD diagnoses--not that the military has an excess above what you might expect of these, it is just that there is a paucity of other more interesting cases--this is a good thing.
So, the other day, when a report came across the desk (electronically of course) and it indicated a diagnosis of filariasis and dracontiasis I was quite excited! Now, I know some are asking "what the heck is filariasis", and almost everyone is asking "what the heck is dracontiasis?" (I had never heard the word "dracontiasis"--turns out it is another name for dracunculiasis or Guinea Worm Disease which I am familiar with.) These are both parasitic diseases that occur in the tropics, and not in Iraq--at least not for a long time. And, they are caught in completely different ways--one from a mosquito and the other from exposure to contaminated/infected water. What would the odds be a patient having both of these in Iraq--vanishingly small I think to myself... this requires some looking into!!
Upon further investigation--calling the clinic where the report was generated and asking "did you really mean to put that down?"--a message was received back that, no, in fact, the report author had meant not "filariasis and dracontiasis", but had in fact, meant to put "onchocerciasis"... also known as River blindess... interestinger and interestinger... because here is yet another tropical disease that hasn't been reported in Iraq and it would be quite noteworthy to see it in one of our military folks. Another query, "did you really mean to put THAT?" And the reply, "sorry, meant to put onychomycosis" Now, onychomycosis is another long, complicated word--similar to the preceding long complicated words, except that it simply means a bit of fungus on the toenail... quite a bit less exciting than worms and parasites from tropical climes...
Of course, this story, though humorous (to me), illustrates the point that when, as often happens, the lowest-ranking, least-experienced person in the medical unit is put in charge of filling out surveillance reports--the reports that I read and review--and entering data into the electronic surveillance systems, then the data may not be as useful as envisioned!
So, the other day, when a report came across the desk (electronically of course) and it indicated a diagnosis of filariasis and dracontiasis I was quite excited! Now, I know some are asking "what the heck is filariasis", and almost everyone is asking "what the heck is dracontiasis?" (I had never heard the word "dracontiasis"--turns out it is another name for dracunculiasis or Guinea Worm Disease which I am familiar with.) These are both parasitic diseases that occur in the tropics, and not in Iraq--at least not for a long time. And, they are caught in completely different ways--one from a mosquito and the other from exposure to contaminated/infected water. What would the odds be a patient having both of these in Iraq--vanishingly small I think to myself... this requires some looking into!!
Upon further investigation--calling the clinic where the report was generated and asking "did you really mean to put that down?"--a message was received back that, no, in fact, the report author had meant not "filariasis and dracontiasis", but had in fact, meant to put "onchocerciasis"... also known as River blindess... interestinger and interestinger... because here is yet another tropical disease that hasn't been reported in Iraq and it would be quite noteworthy to see it in one of our military folks. Another query, "did you really mean to put THAT?" And the reply, "sorry, meant to put onychomycosis" Now, onychomycosis is another long, complicated word--similar to the preceding long complicated words, except that it simply means a bit of fungus on the toenail... quite a bit less exciting than worms and parasites from tropical climes...
Of course, this story, though humorous (to me), illustrates the point that when, as often happens, the lowest-ranking, least-experienced person in the medical unit is put in charge of filling out surveillance reports--the reports that I read and review--and entering data into the electronic surveillance systems, then the data may not be as useful as envisioned!
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Twista !!!
Generally, I try to be optimistic... when there are sudden, unexpected, and loud noises, I assume that they are from controlled detonations--these are planned times on base when things get blown up. Each morning an announcement is made that controlled detonation times are at X and X+30 minutes past the hour. So, when you hear a sudden, unexpected, and loud noise you can look at your watch and say, "huh, the controlled detonation is off by a few minutes..." and go on your merry way.
(Note that we in the military, like the business world and the rest of the government are big into "metrics" and measuring what we do, how much of it we do, and how well we do it. I am pretty sure, although I have by no means confirmed, that the metric for controlled dets is the percentage that go off within 15 minutes of a scheduled time--again, every 30 minutes. And, for the really curious, there are NOT controlled detonations EVERY thirty minutes, just when they have something to blow up--it is always a guess whether there will be one or not. And, for the really, really super curious--those asking, "what the heck are they blowing up??"--they blow up weapons that they confiscate or find from bad guys so that they don't end up back out on the street. clever... so much for reduce, reuse, recycle...)
The other afternoon, I am sitting at my desk, iPod on, earphones in, lost in my own little world of data analysis and e-mails when a large series of sudden, unexpected and loud noises--a lot of chest-thumping bass--comes through--I can feel it, not just hear it! The optimist thought, "holy moki! this is a serious attack!!". Turns out that I should have been more optimistic--that night a USO concert was scheduled and the rap band Twista was just warming up their equipment. The stage is just the other side of the giant concrete t-walls that surround our work area... According to wikipedia, Twista is an American rapper that held the title of fastest rapper in the world according to the Guinness World Records in 1992, being able to rap 11.2 syllables per second--that's pretty fast!!
Anyway, the band was warming up and I thought we were under attack... no worries I guess... I had the chance to actually see and hear a bit of the show as I walked by the stage to the chow hall that evening. I had the fleeting thought that I might rather endure the mortars/rockets than the rap music... of course, for those that choose the music, they actually are choosing the music AND the mortars/rockets! True fans!!
(Note that we in the military, like the business world and the rest of the government are big into "metrics" and measuring what we do, how much of it we do, and how well we do it. I am pretty sure, although I have by no means confirmed, that the metric for controlled dets is the percentage that go off within 15 minutes of a scheduled time--again, every 30 minutes. And, for the really curious, there are NOT controlled detonations EVERY thirty minutes, just when they have something to blow up--it is always a guess whether there will be one or not. And, for the really, really super curious--those asking, "what the heck are they blowing up??"--they blow up weapons that they confiscate or find from bad guys so that they don't end up back out on the street. clever... so much for reduce, reuse, recycle...)
The other afternoon, I am sitting at my desk, iPod on, earphones in, lost in my own little world of data analysis and e-mails when a large series of sudden, unexpected and loud noises--a lot of chest-thumping bass--comes through--I can feel it, not just hear it! The optimist thought, "holy moki! this is a serious attack!!". Turns out that I should have been more optimistic--that night a USO concert was scheduled and the rap band Twista was just warming up their equipment. The stage is just the other side of the giant concrete t-walls that surround our work area... According to wikipedia, Twista is an American rapper that held the title of fastest rapper in the world according to the Guinness World Records in 1992, being able to rap 11.2 syllables per second--that's pretty fast!!
Anyway, the band was warming up and I thought we were under attack... no worries I guess... I had the chance to actually see and hear a bit of the show as I walked by the stage to the chow hall that evening. I had the fleeting thought that I might rather endure the mortars/rockets than the rap music... of course, for those that choose the music, they actually are choosing the music AND the mortars/rockets! True fans!!
Thursday, April 03, 2008
walking in Iraq...
Twice today I nearly wiped out secondary to the difficulties of "walking in Iraq"...
It isn't easy walking in Iraq. Especially at night. Although our base doesn't enforce "light discipline" --the process of making sure that NO lights shine anywhere on base at night except for small personal flashlights, which cuts down on people shooting at you, but makes navigation a special adventure--like they do on many other bases, it is almost worse. At least if all the lights are out you KNOW it's dark, and your eyes do eventually adjust. Here there are areas of bright lights from floodlights and the seemingly thousands of NTVs (non-tactical vehicles--plain old cars and SUVs and trucks) and TVs (tactical vehicles--HMMWVs), and there are areas of complete darkness... going from one to the other as I walk from work to the chowhall to work to home each evening is stressfull! The walking paths are, in an understatement, uneven--there are pits, ledges and uneven bits galore. The streets, which besides having the seemingly thousands of vehicles also have a large amount of pedestrians, are often worse than the walking paths. So, walking feels like the old Laurie Anderson song: I am falling and catching myself, and falling and catching myself, over and over again... I actually hurt my hip the other night walking home--a zig down when I didn't zig or zag--surprise!
Today I got mail (thanks Peg and JP&Dianne!)--so, carrying the boxes home during the light I couldn't exactly see where I was going--that was pothole #1. I certainly don't want to discourage anyone from sending boxes because I might hurt myself carrying them back to the CHU though--heck, if I really get hurt I can go home! Please, don't send dangerous items trying to hurt me in my best interest!
I went back to work after a nice run and was heading back to the trailer later at night (dark) and, BAM! There was a new pothole that I swear was never there before... This is a freakishly big hole, large enough for an IED--of course, if someone actually tried to put an IED in the hole there are enough people around with shoulder holsters that they wouldn't get very far!
Speaking of shoulder holsters... you have voted, the ballots tallied, the chads un-hung... and the official results are:
shoulder holster: 10
pants pocket: 3
waistband (butt!): 2
Barack Obama: 36
so, if I cannot get Barack to carry my weapon for me, I will go with the shoulder holster... thanks for participating in this deomocratic demonstration! BTW, there weren't 51 votes, but Barack got a few super-delegates...
It isn't easy walking in Iraq. Especially at night. Although our base doesn't enforce "light discipline" --the process of making sure that NO lights shine anywhere on base at night except for small personal flashlights, which cuts down on people shooting at you, but makes navigation a special adventure--like they do on many other bases, it is almost worse. At least if all the lights are out you KNOW it's dark, and your eyes do eventually adjust. Here there are areas of bright lights from floodlights and the seemingly thousands of NTVs (non-tactical vehicles--plain old cars and SUVs and trucks) and TVs (tactical vehicles--HMMWVs), and there are areas of complete darkness... going from one to the other as I walk from work to the chowhall to work to home each evening is stressfull! The walking paths are, in an understatement, uneven--there are pits, ledges and uneven bits galore. The streets, which besides having the seemingly thousands of vehicles also have a large amount of pedestrians, are often worse than the walking paths. So, walking feels like the old Laurie Anderson song: I am falling and catching myself, and falling and catching myself, over and over again... I actually hurt my hip the other night walking home--a zig down when I didn't zig or zag--surprise!
Today I got mail (thanks Peg and JP&Dianne!)--so, carrying the boxes home during the light I couldn't exactly see where I was going--that was pothole #1. I certainly don't want to discourage anyone from sending boxes because I might hurt myself carrying them back to the CHU though--heck, if I really get hurt I can go home! Please, don't send dangerous items trying to hurt me in my best interest!
I went back to work after a nice run and was heading back to the trailer later at night (dark) and, BAM! There was a new pothole that I swear was never there before... This is a freakishly big hole, large enough for an IED--of course, if someone actually tried to put an IED in the hole there are enough people around with shoulder holsters that they wouldn't get very far!
Speaking of shoulder holsters... you have voted, the ballots tallied, the chads un-hung... and the official results are:
shoulder holster: 10
pants pocket: 3
waistband (butt!): 2
Barack Obama: 36
so, if I cannot get Barack to carry my weapon for me, I will go with the shoulder holster... thanks for participating in this deomocratic demonstration! BTW, there weren't 51 votes, but Barack got a few super-delegates...
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
rambling weather report...
Sunny. Pleasantly warm, Nice. Temperature of 90°.
This is today's weather forecast for Baghdad... somewhat ironic considering the recent increased activities involving rockets and our Baghdad bases, but I guess they are taking into account the recent re-instatement of the cease-fire by MAS (Muqtada al Sadr-everyone important has their own acronym!).
I ran early this morning-with the Army guys-this time it was, as advertised, pleasant... so everyone showed up! More bonding...
Yesterday morning was crazy with dust that was so fine and white that it looked like fog, but it wasn't, and then there was the smoke... At home we know smoke and fog make smog, but here I guess we have to call it 'smust' or 'doke'... either way it is a bit "chokey"... To wit, as I walk to work in the morning, over the dirt and through the rocks, I cross a pleasant little bridge that traverses a pleasant little drainage ditch... Yesterday morning, the morning of the smust, a rather large catfish was laying on its side at the surface of the water, taking the catfish equivalent of its agonal breaths and gasping for whatever fish gasp for... I doubt it was the smust, but the thought crossed my mind... Of course, I spend much of my time looking at environmental sampling data--including air dust--and reassuring people that, as far as I know, they will probably be fine!
Anyway, we have reached and/or broken the 100F mark twice in the last week, so I guess the heat is on... April promises to be a warm one!
DJF (my own acronym!)
PS: Peg's birthday is tomorrow, call her cell phone and leave a singing message-that's what I'm doing!
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