Heres a taste of Bagdad

So what is Bagdad Like? Here’s a little story.

6/8/07

Today I went to work, then golfed 9 holes with my two “bosses” and drank some beer. Later I had dinner and played some poker outside my roommates’ boss’s house with some of the miners. Robert, the IT guy, Craig, the host and mill supervisor, my two roomies, and Grant who works in the mill (see character list post). It was about 9 o’clock on this Friday night when two burly looking guys with cutoffs drinking budlight appear from the shadows behind the house chanting like Indians. One of the guys was the chief engineer, the top engineer. I just thought it was funny to see this dude, who makes 95 thousand dollars a year with a child on the way, messing around like a teenage boy.

6/20/07
I come into work this morning and there is this picture of me with my long hair (the same pic that I proudly display on front page of this blog). Everyone was there waiting and the guy who hung it up was like " man i got you. Look at that ridiculous hair." I was liked dude, some people would pay good money for that hair. I am proud of my ability to grow hair like that. I love it. In He finally said he would take it down but insisted that he leave it up. He cried and ripped it down in dismay that he failed to get the best of me.

Other fast facts about the town

1 grocery store

1 gas station

4 restaurants- Miner’s dinner (good burgers), Baja Grill, Hideaway café, and a Steakhouse

1 post office- There are no mailboxes here. Everyone has a PO Box at the post office

1 school- about 12 kids per grade

2 bars- Little Cantina and some sketch place

1 fitness center- Very nice with all the weights and machines you could want

18 hole golf course

4100 feet town elevation

4700 feet elevation in the hills

Extremely hilly

Minimal trees

No bank

Only Verizon cell phone service

Great weather- 100 degree max with no rain- sounds bad but it saves the oven some work

The average family owns 3 ATVs

There are about 1000 species of plants and animals that I just never seen before

No single woman in their twenties

People here normally get married in their late teens and start families immeadiately

There are a lot of little kids running around everywhere which shows that there are a lot of families here.

Bud light seems to be the drink of choice here

Personal Thoughts on the town

I have to be honest when I say that I absolutely hated it here for about the first week. I hated being bored with nothing to do and I hated the desert. The desert is a complete contrast to what I have been used to my whole life. There is no shade, its hot, there are all kinds of scary creatures, and unfamiliar territory to an east coaster like me. However, I have grown to like it here. Everyone is laid back and easy going. I have unique roommates that always have something weird to say and the people I work with are very cool. I can be a complete screwball and no one really cares. They just laugh at all the jokes. Groups of people huddle in their driveways during the cool evenings and drink a case of beer. I like the fact that I can run through the town at about 7 o’clock (when 12 hour shift ends) and be offered bud light by some dudes sitting in their front yard. I have yet to take those guys on Bridle Street up on the offer but I think my day will come. Its nice not having any real stress or cares. Weekend trips have proved to be fun. Last weekend the company took all the interns from all over the country to tour the mines in southeastern Arizona. It was cool to meet nearly a hundred different college-aged people working in the same industry. Most were not mining engineers but mechanical and chemical engineers. I will probably talk about that weekend sometime or maybe never but stories will come out at some point in time. Its been fun so far and I have no regrets.

Try to have some fun out there