<10 days till Iraq

So discussion has begun about living arrangements in Iraq. It looks like we're going to be in three man rooms. They'll probably basically be box trailers (yes, the cargo type) with doors and AC (and hopefully it will work sometimes). A couple of guys asked me to share a room with them to which I acquiesed. There are some certain foibles that will have to be worked out for us to live in harmony, but considering the options I think they will make very nice roommates.
The big news for the moment is that I finally made the leap to begin working out in earnest. Of course there is always a certain standard of fitness required by the army (which you wouldn't believe if you saw some of the rotund people around here!) but it is time for me to start using my deployment time to actually get into shape. The jury's out on how long this will last for me. I advise the betting faction of my audience (of 4 so far) to start placing your bets with eachother, as you stand to win considerable money depending on your odds. Hopefully it will be a lasting change however, that would be nice.
You know, I am actually getting used to this obscene heat believe it or not. I rarely choke anymore when I walk out the door and try to take a breath of flamethrower. Actually, when the AC is actually working it sometimes gets cold enough inside our tent that it is a welcome warmth to walk outside (actually that is only at night though). The tents that we stay in are steel frames stretched with fabric and then it looks like the covered the entire outside with some sort of spray foam insulation. Really makes a fairly insulated and durable living area. We moved to another tent yesterday. It's still almost as crowded, but now I am in the middle instead of by the wall. (there are three isles of of cots) The result is that now instead of people tramping by my feet they seem to pass endlessly on both sides of me making tons of noise and flexing the floor till I feel as if I will slide off my cot. A little harder to sleep at night, but the AC is still nice to have.
We made a little three day excursion to an outside camp to conduct some weapons drills and driver/convoy training. It was terrible. It was a small place of about maybe 12-15 tents (maybe 30 man tents?) nestled in the sand and rocks. There were lots of man made hills and birms surrounding the camp, and to protect from the areas where weapons were being fired. I also saw the beginings of some sand dunes where the wind eddyed around the corners of tents and piled sand up. Speaking of sand, some days the wind would carry a constant stream of it over the surface of the desert around us. I'll tell you what, sand gets everywhere!
Ok, enough rambling for one night.
Hey, there are only 4 people who are following this blog. I'm not complaining, but wouldn't it be more fun if you all invited some of your friends to the party? :-) I already tried to invite mine but it seems I only have 4. :-)