The Car That Broke, The Shooting That Broke, …

Hmmm, lots of things break these days, eh?

Hello! Well, as I was driving along the Baghdad Airport Highway, I saw a police convoy in the mirror, in the highway horizon, so I decided to give the car a thrust, but ooops... The car's gaskit cover decided otherwise, and it sounded as if it was turned into a tarazeena (= Iraqi for train's engine) right away, luckily there was an exit, so I took it out of the highway, as the convoy vroomed a couple of hundred meters (yards) away.

My father was with me, so we took the car to the industrial district in Baya', where dad sent me home, and he stayed hoping the maintenance would end somewhat early. It took longer then expected so by 3 pm, it was decided that the car spends the night there.

Meanwhile from about 2:15, gun (Kalashnikov) fighting broke out heavily so close to home, as close as 100 meters (yards) at some points; the thing is, you cannot tell who is shooting (who). You just hear gun shots, without being able to tell whether they are in the air or on targets.

What worried me the most is that dad was expected to come around this time, and he didn't have his cell phone with him so that I warn him of the fight going around the neighborhood. Luckily enough again, he and the taxi driver have seen the soldiers move around from afar, and heard the shopkeepers' warning, so they took a side road and arrived home; and that was about the time the fighting got calmer and further.

That was all yesterday. As I am typing these words now, I also hear some shooting in the background, I think on the Airport Highway, about a mile away.

One noticeable thing about today's entry though... Did you ever know that "tarazeena" consists of two girls' names: Tara and Zeena (Xena)... :)

Now I go away, before anybody hits me with an e-tomato ;)