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Hey guys! I'm back at it. Today in Baghdad it was a balmy 114 degrees. It actually does feel cool in the morning when it's, like, 92 or something. When the humidity is down and you're in the shade, a breeze will cool you off.

I read this morning on the Internet that Karl Rove is leaving this administration. I think that it's a dangerous decision because who is going to tell Bush what to do now? Cheney? Dear God...it's about time he left. The Democrats might come out of their defensive crouch now and start showing some moral courage on some of the issues, like NSA wiretaps or executive branch oversight. Grow some cajones, people. Stop quivering in the corner--the party is right on the issues. Now it's time to get right with the party members and the rest of the voters.

On to other things...I also saw on the web today that our hometown team--the Baltimore Ravens--crushed the Philadelphia Eagles in preseason play yesterday by the score of 29-3. Nice! I haven't seen that game replayed on AFN yet, even though I've seen the new Orleans game at least once and the Denver/San Francisco game twice. What's up with that? The Ravens are a Super Bowl team this year; Denver is going to choke like they always do. They'll start off 5-1 or 6-0, end the season 9-7 or 10-6, and lose in the first round. It happens every year. Yeah, I know the Ravens choked against the Colts last year; it ain't going to happen again. Two plays in that game--two blown plays by the Ravens--cost them the game. Hold Peyton manning to 15 points and you should win the game.

The Orioles stink, as usual. Man, if the Red Sox and Yankees fans didn't buy those tickets no one would. The real sad part of it is that the team has a lot of good young players and a few decent veterans; the problem is the idiot in charge of the team--Peter Angelos. It will be a long time before I go back to one of those games. My little one likes soccer anyway. And football. But baseball? If I'm not talking about it or getting excited about it, neither is he. I wish I was home right now...

You know, the job I do here could be a whole lot worse--I could be driving a truck between here and Mosul, or doing dismount walking patrols...things could be much worse. But there just isn't a whole lot to do other than read, do some professional development, and do my job, and sleep and eat. I have to be extremely careful about eating. The expression here is, "Get fit or get fat." They pile so much on your plate that you have to tell them," too much, too much" so they'll take some off. I'm trying a 12-week program of cardio, weight training, and diet modification. Wish me luck...I'm taking photos along the way to track my progress. If they are too disgusting I won't share them. If I'm buff at the end of 12 weeks I'll post those pictures. It keeps me motivated to set goals, because when people don't set personal goals and routines during a deployment they end up getting depressed. Then it becomes a VERY long deployment.

Well, time to shower and get ready for bed. Until next time...