Traversing my Time Machine: Iraq
Ah, here we go, I think to myself as I reach for the two oblong dials in front of me. One of them has a series of ten, double digit numbers circling it with ten tiny marks etched between each number. I turn the silver thing to the forth etch after the 00 marker. My other hand slowly turns the other dial, the one with months marked around it, and I look up at the steady stream of paper printing out of the slot directly above my head. The paper looks much like the receipts from a grocery store.
It seems that everything is in order, so I move both of my hands to the final lever, the long stick that rests next to my right thigh. Here we go… I push it forward, grunting as I do so, until a loud click vibrates the entire machine. I am thrown back into my seat, and I only have seconds to calm myself before the thing starts shaking with madness.
For the next…who knows how long, I feel as though I’m trapped in the San Francisco quake of ’89. Were it not for the straps holding me in place, I am fairly certain that my body would be plastered onto the console.
The thing hisses and stops thrashing about. Bright light streams in from the tiny portal below the analog printouts. Shadows haze over the light as a fury of paper descends from above. The numbers tell me that the trip was a success.
Okay, so I’m not into “normal” blogging… I just find my life a bit too mundane to be considered interesting. Not only that, but I like time machines!
In 2004 I was deployed to Iraq, so here are some things I picked up from the local merchants. I would like to note that I was against the war back then, but it didn’t matter. I received orders, so I went and did my job.
Iraqi stamps
If you look closely, you can see that some of them were marked by rubber stamps by a post office.
Iraqi money as it was during Saddam’s reign
Close up of the coin
The coin picture is not of great quality, I know. I had put it into a page with a plastic cover. The cover is detrimental to flash photography. I have another Iraqi coin but it’s buried deep in this wooden box I have.
Republican Guard ranks.
Where and how the merchant got these, I really do not want to know. Well, at least he can provide for his family with his little shop.
After a quiet stroll around the Ziggurat, I climb back into my time machine so that I can head back home in time for dinner. I turn the first dial to the thin etch just before the 10 marker while turning the second dial to September.
It seems that everything is in order, so I move both of my hands to the final lever, the long stick that rests next to my right thigh. Here we go… I push it forward, grunting as I do so, until a loud click vibrates the entire machine. I am thrown back into my seat, and I only have seconds to calm myself before the thing starts shaking with madness.
For the next…who knows how long, I feel as though I’m trapped in the San Francisco quake of ’89. Were it not for the straps holding me in place, I am fairly certain that my body would be plastered onto the console.
The thing hisses and stops thrashing about. Bright light streams in from the tiny portal below the analog printouts. Shadows haze over the light as a fury of paper descends from above. The numbers tell me that the trip was a success.
###
Okay, so I’m not into “normal” blogging… I just find my life a bit too mundane to be considered interesting. Not only that, but I like time machines!
In 2004 I was deployed to Iraq, so here are some things I picked up from the local merchants. I would like to note that I was against the war back then, but it didn’t matter. I received orders, so I went and did my job.
Iraqi stampsIf you look closely, you can see that some of them were marked by rubber stamps by a post office.
Iraqi money as it was during Saddam’s reignClose up of the coinRepublican Guard ranks.Where and how the merchant got these, I really do not want to know. Well, at least he can provide for his family with his little shop.
###
After a quiet stroll around the Ziggurat, I climb back into my time machine so that I can head back home in time for dinner. I turn the first dial to the thin etch just before the 10 marker while turning the second dial to September.
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