It is hard to make Baghdad any worse than it already is, so really anything is an improvement. The weather for instance: if it cooled down to 110F, that would be an improvement, and if it got any hotter everything would spontaneously combust which would also be an improvement. Maybe it is being a little harsh to say that there is nothing good about this area, but it sure makes you appreciate the good ol' US of A.
Yesterday I, being a problem solver myself, improved my small piece of Iraqi real estate. The door to my room had been sticking because the knob didn't pull the nub in far enough to open smoothly, so I had to twist the knob and then kick it or throw my shoulder into it pretty hard every time I wanted to open it. I'm sure the neighbors especially appreciated it when I had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night (see blog post discussing hydration to estimate exactly how irate my neighbors probably were.) It had gotten so bad that when I yanked on the knob to open if from the inside a piece of the knob came off. In fact, one time when the siren went off for incoming rounds, I yanked so hard that I almost broke the knob off and trapped myself in my room. (Before anyone starts to worry unnecessarily, I live in a concrete building, bottom floor, inside row of rooms. I don't lose any sleep over mortars, and no one else should on my behalf. In fact, the room above and outboard mine was hit the other day when I was not in my room, but I would have been fine except for a few coughs due to the dust that came out of the ceiling. Besides, as the highly devout Stonewall Jackson said, "I'm as safe on the battlefield as I am at home in my bed." Granted, he died in his own bed of a wound received on the battlefield, but I hope you all get the drift.)
To return to my ever enlightening post, the day after I had to put my door knob back together, I decided to fix my door. How did I fix it, you may wonder if you have bothered to read this far. I pulled the brass plate off of the door jam so that now it opens without a hitch. I just got out a set of pliers and ripped it right off. And this confirms my previous contention that even by tearing Iraq apart I improved it. On the other hand, if I had left the brass plate on it would look nicer and also be an improvement, in a way. Gratifying how it works out that anything change I make here (or any change I decide not to make) is an improvement.
