Life in the Mud Pit

Rain. We've had three days of rain. It's clear today, which is good, but the rain means that it's muddy again. I'm hoping that maybe this'll be the last bout with rain and mud that I have to deal with before heading home.

"Heading home": what a wonderful concept! I've been deployed for 18 months and have one more to go. It's looking better and better. I'm already starting to look around my room at things, thinking "okay, that's going in my shipment home, this is going in my giveaway pile, that's going in the throw-away pile ..." Very cool!

What is NOT cool is that I'm on Day 8 of a bout with an intestinal virus. Just when I think it's going away, it comes back with a vengeance. Yesterday, I went over to sick call to have it checked out. They don't know what this bug is, either, but are doing some tests to try to figure it out. (Hint: I am really really glad that I'm not the one to have to do those tests!) The virus came from eating at a new sandwich shop run by locals on the base. The docs said that I was not the first one who had problems after eating there, either. Surprisingly, they said the food joints causing the most trouble were the Taco Bell, Burger King, and the Mediterranean restaurant. Just because it says "Taco Bell" here doesn't mean it meets US health standards. So if you're here at Victory Base, or know somebody at Victory, tell 'em to stick with the DFACs.

The LA Times has an interesting article about Iraqi immigrants living in El Cajon, California. El Cajon is just east of San Diego. Most of the Iraqis that I work with seem to want to go to the States, thinking that we live in a paradise. Well, compared to Iraq, we do. But coming to the US as an immigrant is much harder than it appears, as immigrants for 400 years have been finding out. Trying to establish yourself during a recession is worse.

Somebody from Japan keeps trying to leave comments on this blog. Unfortunately, they come across in kanji characters. I'll be happy to post the comments if they're in English.