VD day

Well Happy Valentine's Day! The pics are... http://jaycosdesertvacation.bogspot.com/ The best part of Valentine's Day - is that February is now halfway over. If you don't count the rest of February, and then subtract out R&R, then can't count the month I come home - well then there are only 9 months left for me here in Iraq. That is countable on two of your own hands. Slowly chipping away...

Not all that much new and exciting here recently. The weather is warming up a bit, actually a pleasant 70 most of the time right now. From what the preventive medicine people tell me, the perfect breeding time for the next season here in Baghdad - the bug season. I can't wait. Maybe I will get some exotic disease from one of the bugs and become famous by having some rash published in some journal somewhere. Dare to dream.

We have been passing time in the usual fashion here - working, gym, sleeping, hippity-hop. Yup, hippity hop races through the ER in the middle of the night helps to pass the time, and our patients quite enjoyed the spectacle we were making of ourselves - one even joined in a race. I was unfortunately defeated in the first heat (cheated out of it more accurate), but I am not bitter as a good time was had by all.

Some of our docs here were only here for 6 months and just rotated home (not me obviously). Sad to see some of them go, not so sad about others. But it is another marker of the progress of time. The good part, though, is that in the transfer, we inherited some bicycles form the outgoing docs. So yes, put on your kevlar helmet and mount your M-16 - we went combat bicycling around the international zone. It was fun and we will definatley do it again. Besides, it does save a lot of time in getting to the PX and back.

We haven't seen anymore straws in bladders - for all of you guessing on how it got there, the soldier said he didn't know - but there is only one way for it to get there... I have gotten to see a few interesting medical things that you don't get to see back home in the past few weeks. Including a little girl who just flew to Boston on the tab of some charity to be treated at Shriner's burn hospital for 50% burns basically from her navel all the way down the rest ofher body. Hopefully she will make a good recovery and have some semblance of a happy life.

As a means of gratitude for some work that we did - one of those Special Forces medics that I talked about on the last email brought us an entire cooler filled with fresh'ish' steaks. We were able to hobble together a grill and 'acquired' some charcoal and had ourselves an old fashioned cookout. It was even complete with beer - well non-alcoholic beer. Something was definately missing without that alcohol part.

Meanwhile back home, the girls seem like they are doing well.

Sara sang me the entire alphabet last night and Naomi is now walking around and popping out some teeth and says 'Hi Daddy' on the phone (or hi doggy, can't really tell). Amy is hanging in there.

Last, but definately not least is the news of Moustache March. All the guys (and capable women) in the ER have decided that we will have a hairy upper lip for the month of March. That way we can all look like hillbilly pedophiles together. At least no one can grow a mullet... Stay tuned for the updates as they develop.