Corporal A sleeping with a heater.

Winter’s hit hard here in Northern Iraq, so naturally we’ve left the paradise of Camp Al-Asad, its heated two- to four- man trailers, its four-star chow hall, and its hot showers and flushing toilets. Last night while we were out on patrol it hit 29 degrees and I had trouble finding my dingle to go pee.

For Thanksgiving dinner I treated myself to an extra helping of instant cup ramen.

The bitter cold is a constant reminder that I’m going to miss the entire snowboarding season.

When it’s hot, I always think it’d be better to be cold, but now that it’s cold I’m thinking otherwise.

Now I’m going to try to get my three hours’ sleep before we have to go out on another freezing patrol.