Pictures from the lake house

There were alot of people promoted this month. For all my non- Army friends, the 1st of the month is the time you get promoted and there were alot of people I know promoted 1NOV. In my office there were 2 Soldiers promoted. Anyway, with all these promotions there are ceremonies. Like my friend Deirdra in the previous post everyone has someone put their new rank on and a formal declaration is made of the new rank. It is a big deal or at least it should be a big deal. Bobbi likes to say make each one special.
The general rule is you can get promoted anywhere you want and have the rank placed on you by anyone you want, as long as they outrank you. One of the ceremonies I went to was in the back of Saddam's palace or more accurately on the balcony in the back.

Here are some pictures from that balcony. I wonder how many times Saddam had this view? Ok not with all the military stuff (we occupy the whole area) but when it was all his?









Isn't this a good view?






They said all these little houses on the "lake front" were guest houses for his friends. Although I am thinking since he would kill you as soon as look at you so I dont think I would have been on his list. The regular folks got electricity 2 hours a day because the rest was to keep his castles up and running. That was one thing the Americans did when they arrived that paid big dividends. Creating a powergrid so people could have power anytime they needed. Especially in the rural areas.

It is still not as beautiful as the Republic of Texas.