I don’t know what I would have done here if it weren’t for Jimmy, aka “Jimbaba” (”baba” is “Godfather” in Turkish). I met Jimmy shortly after I arrived here and he had just started building up in front of his hooch (trailer). When it started, it was just a couple of booths and umbrellas and that was it…this first picture, in fact, was after a few weeks of us going there, when he had put up a strand of Christmas lights, mirrors, a shelf, and a few things on the wall:

There were a couple more of us in that original group, but it was pretty small. Over time, it grew and grew and now Jimmy’s gets so many visitors that it’s hard to walk through from one side to the other.
Every day I come, all the way up until last night, there would be something new. Jimmy never stopped adding onto it, and the more he added on, the more it became something completely unforgettable. First it was the mirrors, then he started putting up pictures from the get-togethers, then it was decorations on the walls, a markerboard for messages, candles mounted on the walls…Jimmy just never stops.

Despite vandals and threats to close it down, Cafe Baba has lasted and has become a place that I know has gotten some of us through this deployment. The friends made, the fun had, the barbeques replacing missed meals and late worknights, the laughter and just all-out fun. I don’t know what I would have done without Jimmy.  Not only is Jimmy’s a place for late-night fun, but if you come by during the day, he’ll brew up a pot of coffee for you and more than likely have cheese and crackers and cookies and candy and anything else you can think of.

Thanks, Jimmy, for all the memories. You are the best.

Almost done packing… I have 3 seabags to travel with, 2 of which will be turned in in Kuwait, plus a backpack, plus all this stuff going back to Spain. Zoikes!

I’ve gotten a few emails about my post the other day about my migraine from people who were wondering where it went. For those who didn’t read it, I posted about a mortar attack that we had and I posted a few details that after reading again, I thought might not be too wise to post on the internet since it gave semi-specific location information.

So yeah, that migraine. It wasn’t the worst I’ve ever had but it got to my “I really should go in now” point, which is where I start crying and wishing for an early death. I went into medical and they decided that since my last shot for my migraine a few months ago didn’t work very well, they would give me a shot directly into my vein via an IV rather than a shot into the muscle.

As the medic was digging around for a vein (ow), the mortars - 4 at the same time - hit, causing me to tense up. She finally got the IV started and put a hep lock on and then moved me to a dark room, where I lay there listening to all the calls coming in about the attack, and as I’m hearing them saying how they’re going to need more beds available, I’m getting more and more tense. At that point, the medic came in to give me the shot and by now I’m very tense, from the combination of the migraine and everything that’s happening. That shot was the worst shot I have EVER gotten; my hand started cramping up really bad and burning and I almost started crying - and I am good with needles and shots. This one was just that bad.

The next day when I woke up my hand was all swollen up and starting to bruise, and by yesterday I had this nasty, ugly bruise covering half of my hand:

I think it looks cool. When people ask about it, I tell them they should see the WWE guy’s face…WWE was here for a “show”, and NO, I did not go except to K.O. ummm, Triple H.