Hook up

I am now back in Iraq and have probably caught up on my sleep and jet lag. A few changes while I was gone the main one being that we now have a new task force to work with - - TF 1-82 the Dragons. They are just coming into COP Cashe so it will be a few more days before they are all here. The Gators and Knights are heading back to their areas.

The 3-1 NP BDE is still doing well, everyone I talk to tells me how great a unit they are, which does me proud of course.

I have posted most all of the pictures I think I am going to post from Australia, it was a great trip and I will have to plan on a way to get back down that way.

The team has started up the mandatory NCAA bracket, I am currently in 3d place out of 4. My goal was to beat 6.5 because he was talking so much smack. He picked Duke to go to the Final 4, as much as I love the Devils, I had to go with the Heels, the Devils haven't beaten the boys from Chapel Hill for a couple of years now. Smooth (SFC T) is currently leading the pool, he was all over the first round. I will keep you posted.

I have found out about a couple of interesting Iraqi social things. First of all, it is pretty common for an Iraqi with a cell phone to randomly call numbers just to talk to someone - - someone of the opposite sex that is. I received a call late last night, the caller hung up real fast, so it must have been a guy looking to chat with a girl.

The other thing is Hook Up TV. This is a channel of nothing but cell phone numbers, names and whether or not the phone is owned by a guy or gal. An Iraqi watches the channel, picks out a number and calls it up. Funny National Police Story: COL A, the deputy commander, signed up COL H one of the other senior colonels in the brigade on the channel, as a young women named Hanna. As soon as his number went on TV, COL H got 30 calls in the first 30 minutes from young men looking for Hanna, COL A got a pretty good kick out it all. I got a really good chuckle out of it when he told me about it. No telling what will happen when the Internet spreads around here.

Big congrats to JFord from DC for completing his 25th Marathon, pretty good for an old guy. Good job JFord, and thanks for the newspaper clippings.