To Whom It May Concern

I Want Peace And Quiet

It's never quiet here. If it's late at night or early morning or whatever, there is always the noise of trucks and humvees and diesel generators, helicopters, etc, etc, and you can never get that blissful feeling that complete and utter silence brings. Today I was sitting on the toilet and someone fired a rocket into our base and it landed nearby and shook the whole place, and of course the toilet I was sitting on. You want to talk about an instant clench of your cheeks. I want some silence!!

There are so few trees, like no grass, you can't lay on your back at night in the grass of course, and listen to the wind blowing thru the trees. And as you know there is certainly no peace here either.

I would really like to drive up into the mountains or wilderness when I get back, in my new sports car, and get out a couple of sleeping bags, and just lay on my back in the grass in the dead of night and look at the dark sky, and just take a deep breath of the pine needle and dew scented air, and play a little connect the dots with the stars. And drift off to sleep at my own leisure, without having a radio right next to my ear to update me about when we are getting back on the road, without having to worry about my next 12 hour shift to go to, without having to worry about a mortar or rocket landing in my lap and sending me away to the promised land before I'm ready to go, without stupid formations at all hours of the day or night.

I just want some 'normal' added back into my life. I want to drive down a road without looking at every pile of dirt or plastic bag or bush or dead animal wondering if someone has loaded explosives up into any of them with a remote detonator and is just waiting to kill me for no other reason than wanting to bring the typical Iraqi a better life. I want to step out my front door wearing blue jeans, a white tshirt and a nice polo or other type of shirt and go to Subway or Taco Bell or to go get a freaking beer.

I want to go to midas' house and play Need For Speed for 9 hours in a row and make monster trucks for shaner to drive around hitting cops with, I want to visit shoes' house and watch football and jump in the lake and drink more beer and piss nate off by playing poker in a completely unorthodox and ridiculous manner.

I know, all of this is coming, I'll be back soon, but wow soon can't seem to come soon enough. This place is not my idea of a nice place to live. Ever had to put moisturizing lotion on? How about on a Q Tip and then inside your ears? Now THAT is dry. Oh, you can say you've been to Baja California, or Arizona, or Mexico, or any of the other places that are within proximity to the United States, but I'm telling you right now, until you walk around with the temperature at 140 degrees and the wind turning every step into a medium powered sand blaster, you truly do not know what real heat is all about. Maybe the only good thing about not having your own vehicles to drive over here is not having to get inside and sit on seats that would very likely burn the skin off your ass cheeks, even thru denim.

I'm rambling now and I realize it, but oh well. I'm happy tonite, Nebraska won big *Yes, belly baby, sorry, football has begun, prepare for noticeable changes in my attention span on Saturdays and some Thursday nights* and I really don't have much to truly bitch about. But still, it would be nice to have some peace and quiet, and a beer, and some freaking Old Chicago nachos!!