I am sitting, happy as a clam in my little plastic shell. It is 11:21 PM, and I have a rare opportunity tonight to watch a live Red Sox game—a day game to you, but late-night for me. I won’t make it through the whole thing. Probably won’t want to: Tim Wakefield and a Manny-free, Ortiz-less Sawx versus Edinson Volquez probably spells “L” for my boys. Still, with my Crystal Light lemonade on the desk next to my bed (thanks Barry and Ellen!), and my Maranatha Almond Butter (thanks mom and dad) and some Ritz Crackers, and life is just good. A few topics to write about this week, in no particular order:

Friendly Crustaceans

Today is the Army’s birthday (233rd, I believe), and we celebrated today with a grand feast for lunch. The menu included prime rib, breaded shrimp, Martinelli’s sparkling grape juice, and lobster tails. These were not some mini one-ounce tails, or chunked/formed lobster meat. They were nice, big six-to-eight ounce babies, and they gave us two of them each. You could negotiate more, too: the big dude in front of me in line ended up with about six after sweet-talking the Iraqi server for a few seconds. Not too shabby. They tell me that the 4th of July will be an even bigger, better meal. You’ll read about it here first.

Mine Tastes Like Leukemia…

The water here is getting worse and worse tasting. Here’s the dilly: I have mentioned in the past that we drink bottled water all of the time, and that the bottles are kept in big pallets on street corners throughout Al Asad. Well, as the weather gets warmer, those bottles get really, really hot during the day, and I think the heat causes some of the chemicals which make up the bottle to leach into the water, which makes it taste kind of like drinking hospital air. Because of this, when new water bottles are put out (distinguishable by the lack of a dusty sheen on the plastic wrap), all of us scramble to get the “fresh” ones, sometimes digging deep into the pile to pick out a less-tainted twelve-pack. But we often have to make do with the funky water, so we flavor the stuff with Crystal-Light-type mixes or Gatorade powders (supplied by the DFAC), which does indeed cover up the bad taste. Still, one has to wonder how much DNA is being damaged with every chemical-laden sip.

A Rush Of Blood To The Noggin

Today while playing some basketball on a very small half-court, I had a head-on-head collision with SPC Hert who is a big, muscular guy. Both of us saw stars for a moment, and I felt a bit wobbly afterwards for the rest of the game. Later, as I was taking a shower, I felt the big mushy lump over my right temple where Hert’s nose had bashed into me. I continue to feel a tiny bit nauseous, and a tad Alzheimery, and wonder if I may have been slightly concussed during the collision. Don’t worry, mom: if I have any symptoms tomorrow, I’ll get checked out by a doctor. (Other than myself.)

Russert

I’m surprised at how sad I am about the sudden death yesterday of Tim Russert, the “Meet The Press” guy. I’m not usually much affected by the death of “celebrities.”However, if you have read this blog much, you probably know that I am a political junkie, and thus have been “watching” (podcasting, actually) Russert’s show for many years. I liked Russert quite a bit—he seemed to have a genuine “everyman” quality about him. As opposed to many of the talking heads, he went after politicians on both sides equally and fairly. In flipping through the channels tonight, I saw tributes to Russert from people ranging from Dick Cheney to Barack Obama—political polar opposites if ever there were any. Sunday mornings (afternoons here) haven’t been the same since David Brinkley died; Russert’s untimely demise will have a similar effect, and of course his passing at such a young age (58) is truly a tragedy for his family members. My heart goes out to them.

Well, that’s all I’ve got tonight, kids. Wakefield is holding his own against the whiz kid, with the Sox having somehow eked out three runs against Volquez (wild pitch, error, string-o-singles), and the Sox leading 3-1 in the sixth. See you tomorrow!