Martius iam?

Emily and I in the ER

So it is March now. If you may recall, this is when I arrived over here a year ago. More pointedly, March 14th was the date that we were supposed to hand over our missions to the unit replacing us. In effect, you could say that we now begin our official extension. I won't lament any further than I already have in the past, just quickly making the notice that, arguably, we have served our required time here; for most, March 21st will landmark the year and a half point for this deployment. The question now is, will our extension to support the "surge" in troops actually get anything accomplished? Only time will tell, but even then the answer will be murky.

Life in the ER is quiet here for the most part. Most of the time we see the common ailments, sprains, kidney stones, infections, cuts and so forth. Occasionally, such as the other day, we had a patient with a gunshot wound to the neck which would be the most excitement I have seen in a few months.

Spring is upon us and the key feature is the sandstorms; dust inhabiting every corner, falling lightly upon anything in our metal can that we call a room. We had one that lasted for nearly 24 hours last week and is was not a pleasant experience. Do we really have to stay here for another summer? It was bad enough to go through one summer here, but a second time? Luckily, I work the night shift and I haven't had to deal with the temps that are rising during the day. Nonetheless, we head into the wicked climate of the desert summer soon.

Until next time,
Nick

P.S.- Recomended fiction reading: Darkness at Noon, Alfred Koestler; Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov; Catch-22, Joseph Heller.

Non-Fiction: Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer; Marley and Me, John Grogan.