It’s 1650, and I’m suffering from coffee withdrawal. A few days ago I decided to cut back on my daily consumption of coffee. I haven’t been out of control, but 4-5 cups a day seems to have more of an effect on my 43 year old body than they had on my 33 year old body. My eyes feel completely bloodshot, if bloodshot is actually a feeling. I’m trying to have 1 cup a day in the morning. It’s not going so well!
Why am I cutting back? In addition to aggravating my heartburn, coffee is helping to dehydrate me. Even now, it’s 106F (41C) outside. I’m already drinking 4 liters of water each day, sometimes 5. I feel waterlogged when I go out running and dehydrated when I finish. I really need to switch to running in the mornings instead of the evenings. This morning, sunrise was at 0455 and at 0600, the temperature was 77F (25C). So there is plenty of light to run at 0600, and the temperature is still relatively cool. However, at 1900 tonight, the temperature will be about 101F (39C), and the sun will set around 1913. All of the temperature data is from the Weather Underground.
What was I doing at 0600 this morning? Sleeping. I get up at about 0630 each morning, brush my teeth and shave, watch some news for the headlines, then wander into the office around 0730. I won’t have the luxury of sleeping that late when I’m slugging to the Pentagon. Oh well. I’ll be running this evening. Tommorow, and each Sunday, is my day off from running. I’ll try getting up early on Monday to go for a 0600 run.
Mugs and the kids should be picking up our new puppy right now. I’m sure we’ll have a great post from her soon!
We conducted our quarterly Aegis client training yesterday and today. Our timing couldn’t have been better. Yesterday the temperature got up to 100F (38C), and today it hit 104F (40C). Fortunately, going to a weapons range while deployed to Iraq is not quite the ordeal it is at home station. It also helps that Aegis handles running of the range and even supplies the weapons and ammunition. They also provide the transportation. All USACE has to do is shoot. The “Annie Oakley” award has to go to Liz. She seemed to enjoy the shooting immensely!
Here’s a closeup of her target.
This morning while reading the Bible, I came across a Psalm that sounds like something a mother would say to her kids. The translation is The Message, and the passage is Psalm 15:2-5a:
Walk straight, act right, tell the truth.
Don’t hurt your friend, don’t blame your neighbor, despise the despicable.
Keep your word even when it costs you, make an honest living, never take a bribe.
It’s hard to find better, more succinct advice than that!
I went on a site visit inside the city of Mosul this morning. There is a curfew in effect throughout the whole Ninewa Province due to an ongoing Iraqi Army operation. This offensive has been reported in most major news media. Because of this, the streets were particularly empty as we drove to the different sites today. All three of the sites we visited are sewer/storm drain projects. Below is a picture from the Al Jasaeer project site. The contractor installed a new storm water sewer system on the right hand side of the road where the new manhole and pavement is visible. Before this, there were no storm drains in this area, just like in Phoenix!
As we were returning from our mission today, I noticed an interesting tattoo on one of the team members. Instead of wearing a wedding band, he has a tattoo on his ring finger. It’s hard to read in the picture, but it says Chrissy.
Happy Mother’s Day from Mosul.
I just wanted to make a quick post letting everyone know that I have arrived safely in Mosul again. Actually, Mugs told me to post!
Summer is on the way. It’s easy to tell because of the frequent dust storms. As the temperature begins to rise, a persistent southeasterly wind picks up. This wind is called the sharqi and occurs from April to June. My flights to COB Speicher were canceled last week due to dust storms caused by the sharqi winds. From mid-June to mid-September, a northwesterly wind pattern called shamal dominates. Then the sharqi returns from late-September through November. The winds and accompanying dust storms die down from December through March. Fortunately for me, there are always plenty of tanks and other armored vehicles kicking up dust to keep me from breathing clean air when I run!
I snapped this picture yesterday afternoon around 1600. A couple of hours later, I went out for a 5 miler. After finishing my run, I spent the next hour coughing and spitting. I think I’ve gained about 10 pounds so far just by ingesting sand when I run!
