21 Apr - Saturday

Today was a full of rehearsals and coordination for the big VIP visit. So as to not bore you with the details I will shed a little light on how I sleep at night. Here is my current situation. Although the temperature here is in the high 80's and low 90's I find I must run my air conditioner all day. Not that I need to keep my room cool but because I need to keep the bugs out of my room. You see, we have these sand flees that attack you relentlessly at night if your room is above a certain temperature. So, the secret to keeping ones room "flee free" is to run the A/C all day and night. Now, even though I have the AC on cold I have the fan on low to avoid the freezer like temperature in my room. Every night before I jump into bed I put on my long sleeve shirt and long flannel pants in order to stay warm - and some times even some socks...that's right I said socks. I only mention this because if you ask my wife I do not think she has ever seen me go to bed with socks on my feet no matter how cold the room. Oh it gets better. Since the A/C is running all night I get dehydrated. So to avoid the morning or mid-night dry mouth I drink lots of water before turning the light out. And as you can imagine this leads to a trip or two to the facilities in the dark - did I mention the bathroom is about 40 yards away. As you can see anyway you look at it one night of uninterrupted sleep is not an option. If it is not shivering, or dehydration, or a trip to the bathroom then I wake up with "battle scars" from the main course of the sand-flee banquet. This mid-night routine is just another one of those little things that affect what little creature comforts we have when in a war zone. Do not get me wrong - I am not complaining I am just explaining - cause I would rather make early morning walks to the toilets out here in the middle of nowhere then drive around Baghdad on a regular basis. Sleep tight and do not let the bed bugs bite.