Ghost-poster I
We’ve moved.
As a part of the heading out process, we’ve moved out of our abodes to make room for the new arrivals.
Which is fair—our rooms were available when we came rolling in. But for all the bitching and griping about having to leave the comforts of our settled-in quarters, you’d think we were being forced out onto the streets.
And our new spots are out there, distance wise. We had been spoiled at having rooms situated just a minute or two walk from the offices. Now, we’re the more-normal 15-20 minute stroll to the rooms, which is inconvenient, yes, but for God’s sake, it’s just a little walk.
I don’t like it. My feet are hurting. I’m tired. I can’t go to the room through the day. On and on, you hear people complain and complain. The seniors are mad as hell because instead of their private rooms, they have to share spaces with the younger guys. The dining facility is now farther away…blah blah blah. And as an aside to those cats complaining about the DFAC—now you can start to drop those pounds you put on during deployment. Honestly, I never thought I’d see so many fat people at war! They don’t enforce weight standards while deployed, so some people have just gone ape-crazy with ice cream and burgers, four times a day!
There’s no pleasing some. I’m just damn glad to have more and more of our replacement unit showing up. Those new patches are beautiful! Every evening, there seems to be a new crop of faces, sparkling new equipment, ironed uniforms (or at least new), all of them poking around and eager to start their adventure.
Bring ‘em on!
So, friends, what’s next for this here blog? I’m still not sure what will become of it when I get back to the states. Since it’s still up in the air about me serving for a second year, I suppose I should keep it going until then, at least.
Life back in the states is pretty cut-n-dry. There are the typical screw-ups and infuriating policies to deal with, but I don’t know if any of it is blog-able. We’ll have to see, I suppose.
I’m facing the fact that I am going to lose a bit of marketability once my time at war is over. Isn’t that weird? It’s like an aging model, slowly slipping out of the mainstream and into the “clinging on to fame” circuit.
I’ll probably start to work on more introspective pieces, rather than experiential, although avoiding the overly political—there are plenty enough of those by far more eloquent writers than I.
So what do you think? Lemme know.
It’ll be a little bit before I can see your comments. I have to post to the blog through a chum of mine, as I’ve lost my uncensored Internet source when I left my trailer. No blogs from work, remember!
I’ll still try to give everyone updates as the time approaches for me to flip Iraq the bird. Booya!
I’m out for now.
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Talking Salmons 
My blog jumped the proverbial shark a while back, and it’s never been the same since.
But you’ve been writing great stuff here, and I think I speak for quite a few when I say that I hope you keep at it, even if you need a bit of a break.
Anyway, I just got back from a vacation in Delaware, and during that time I read “The Rum Diary” by HST. I highly recommend it, especially if you like rum.
I guess it depends on why you’re writing this blog. If it’s your outlet to the world, good on ya, but if you’re only writing here as an information source about Iraq, then I suppose you’ve just been made redundant.
Personally, I don’t come here because you’re in Iraq. You were a featured blog on Typepad, I checked it out, liked what you had to say so I keep coming back.
Being in Iraq must be an absolutely honeypot for subject matter, but I’m sure you’re gonna find a whole heap of stuff to write about Stateside too, like Movies, you can become a movie critic! That’s providing you want to, of course.
Whatever floats your boat, but I want to keep reading indefinately!
I think you need to go home, decompress and then come to work for me. I’m serious.
You’re a fine writer with an interesting perspective. I’ll be sticking around while you work it out.
what? you write stuff? i thought this was all about me leaving smart ass comments! dang…
why decide now? just do what you feel as it comes to you. no pressure man, we don’t want to bring on a case of writers block. you know we salmons groupies will forever be here to hang on your every word. we just like seeing what you have to say and how you say it.
Mr. Salmons cannot respond directly to comments at this time. Despite being “swamped” at the moment he is working hard to provide an update soon.
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Job offers are welcome (FTM29) and should be sent via email.
Salmons Groupies UNITE! write damn it – write you bastard WRRRRITE! arggh… but that’s just my humble opinion…and please tell me that you don’t have a clerk to respond to your blog comments now – can you possibly be that uber!? rock!
UNITE! Hey Finch, shouldn’t we have like, power rings or something? well, whatever, I bags being the one that morphs into a cat.
morphing…powers…not….working…. damnit Finch, you’re the one who called UNITE, make it work!
pssst, my insanity knows no bounds
hey man, I think your blog is great and I appreciate it a bunch. I too saw it when it was the featured typepad blog. The Iraq stuff is good, but your sacrificial attitude is refreshing. Even if you read McLaren 😉
Thanks for stopping by, Jason! Sorry I wasn’t able to give you a “heya” earlier. My internet access has been a little restricted as we move around. Internet cafes are always crowded…but the fact that we still have internet in this part of the world is reward enough, so we don’t fret too much.