So what's new and exciting on Camp Anaconda?
Current mood: bored

The weather's getting a lot warmer. Being out and about in all your gear takes a lot out of you. Mostly long ,boring, hot days, a few walkabouts here and there. Regular trips to the gym, and other little distractions here and there.

One of the benefits of being here is the availability of some of hollywood's newest releases on DVD for a very low price. Of course its a gamble as far as quality goes. Right now I'm watching 'Date Movie' and in the middle of the restaurant scene theres the shadow of some guy standing up and walking across the front of my TV. That and the frame isnt exactly centered. On the plus side Ive watched the entire seven series run of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer', 'Lost' and HBO's 'Rome'. Of course you get what you pay for, no special features or director commentary, but it keeps you occupied.

Alot of the drivers moving cargo around Iraq are what we call third country nationals (TCNs). This means they're from a country other than Iraq or one of the coalition force nations. Most of them dont speak much if any English, but they've been working with coalition forces for a few years now, making a pretty good paycheck, and having pretty regular contact with mostly American troops. A lot of times one unit or another will sort of grow attached to a few of their drivers, and some inexpensive gifts are exchanged. The other night though we saw a very friendly Malaysian guy with a t-shirt he must have gotten as a gift from one of the convoy escorts. He was proudly displaying the American flag held by an eagle superimposed on the map of Iraq. It was the caption, though, that had all of us rolling on the floor laughing. We couldnt convince our interpreter to tell him what "My Boyfriend is Proudly Serving in Iraq" really meant. But man, he was lovin that shirt.