quotes; mental paradigm

From my sensor:
"Talking [to people from home] on the phone just reminds me of how much I wish I was there."

From a random woman walking by, she was coming back from the gym: "I mean WTF? I have 21% body fat." The inflection of this remark indicated she was extremely disappointed by how high this number was. I could go off on a long tirade about how women constantly overestimate the importance of their weight, or I could post the Marlene Dietrich quote about women and men, but I will just settle for saying this: The woman was beautiful and had a nice body and I wouldn't have changed a thing about her.

It's extremely good for one's morale to think of the rote you are on as being your last trip to the desert ever. Then, rather than thinking of how much you would rather be home, you start to think of all the things you would like to get done before you leave. This actually helped a lot on my last rote, and doing well by me so far this rote. (I do begin to wonder how many times I will have to use these tricks though). There are bunch of things I still want to see around here, plenty of photographs to take, souvenirs to buy (the craftsmanship and selection of things here is better than any of my previous locations; there's a local bazaar here that sells an $1100 hookah that's about seven feet high; they have a variety of leather bags and wooden boxes that are of unbeatable quality for the price), and units to visit. This might very well be my last time in Iraq, inshallah. What will I be able to tell people about it when I get home? Will I have good stories? Good pictures? Will I really be able to make people understand what it is like here? That's part of the reason for this blog, and my numerous other attempts at recording things here.

[As I type the last words, big voice comes on, "This is the command post. There has been an indirect fire attack. All personnel are released. All personnel should remain vigilant for UXOs. All clear, all clear, all clear. I say again..." And there is the sound of a two ship of helos passing overhead. A QRF perhaps? Or medevac for someone who got injured?]