Bureaucracy is alive and well

When you go halfway around the world from Washington D.C., you sometimes expect that bureaucracy might take a back seat. Unfortunately, that is not the case. I spent a few hours today battling red tape, placed in our path by some of the various staffs down in Baghdad at the Al Faw palace. It's become similar to what we experience from the Pentagon, and as such, the palace (because of its shape) has been dubbed the "Octagon" by troops over here. So much for eagerly trying to change the world overnight. Seems the world-changing will have to go through a committee. In other amusing news, the DFAC changed their menu today. Steak and Seafood was moved from Wednesday nights (I had prime rib and lobster last night) to Thursday night (Tonight I enjoyed a T-bone steak and king crab legs!). While those of us who are surf and turf aficionados enjoyed the repeating meal, those who were looking forward to (formerly) Thursday's Mongolian Barbeque were quite disappointed to miss it this week. It's now on Wednesday. You would think that if they were going to switch Wednesday and Thursday's meals, they would do so any day other than between Wednesday and Thursday, wouldn't you? I guess not. One of the best bits of personal news for me is that I now have internet connectivity in my office. I'm updating this blog right from my office where it's almost 9pm and I've been working 13 hours. (I needed a break.) And now I've got to finish up and get back to work again.