Baghdad Journal: May 14, 2006 (#15)

May 14, 2006 — -- First of all let me clear something up from yesterday. It seems many of you were confused by the title or subject heading of my entry; "Jim Rice." Well, yesterday was my 14th entry, and as everyone really should know, Jim Rice was number 14.

Today, I have made it a little easier to figure out. F-I-F-T-E-E-N! This is the 15th entry. 15. It is a single entendre.

But since we are on the subject of numbers:

6 … The number of Shiite shrines bombed overnight.

7 … The number of bombs that went off in Baghdad today. Although that number is probably a low estimate.

30 … The number of Iraqis killed in the bombings in Baghdad today. Again, that estimate is probably low.

3 … the number of bodyguards for the Iraqi Foreign Minister who were killed today.

8 … The number of bottles of water I have consumed today. I take hydration very, very seriously.

14 … The number of civilians killed in a twin suicide blast outside Baghdad's airport (in a parking lot I was standing in a week and a half ago).

2 … the number of American soldiers killed by roadside bombs in Baghdad today.

0 … the number of times I have had the bird flu.

713 … the number of home runs hit by Barry Bonds -- fairly or unfairly -- in his career.

0 … the number of home runs hit by Barry Bonds since ABC's Dean Reynolds started covering him -- fairly or unfairly -- every day.

11 … on a scale from 1 to 10, the amount I envy Dean right now.

5 … the number of months since Iraq held its last election.

0 … the number of governments actually formed as a result of that election.

8 … the number of days the incoming Iraqi Prime Minister has to form a government before a constitutional crisis.

1 … the number of bags of Doritos I consumed this afternoon.

5 … the number of minutes it took me to eat the bag of Doritos.

1 … the number of bloody lips I somehow got because I was eating the Doritos so fast. My biggest injuries to date in Iraq have come from a treadmill, and a bag of Doritos (let's keep it that way please).

0 … the number of cases, world-wide, of human to human transmission of the bird flu.

100,000 … the number of Iraqis the Red Crescent says have fled their homes since February, out of fear of sectarian violence.

2 … the number of days before I am scheduled to interview Lionel Richie. Do you like how I just threw that in there? Keep your fingers crossed, but it looks like this is really going to happen. (Though I admit I have mixed feelings about the fact that I am going to get a piece about Lionel Richie on TV before a spot about 100,000 Iraqis who are on the run.)

519 … That is what page I am on in the Thomas Jefferson biography, just past the halfway point.

489 … the number of pages I have left to read. He just left his post at Secretary of State. He is a little bit of a whiner. He likes France, he hates Hamilton. He likes planting stuff.

5 … the number of bodies police say they found near Karbala today, blindfolded, bound and with gunshot wounds. This is not rare.

3 … the number of runs Randy Johnson gave up in the first inning today.

867-5309 … Jenny's number

1 … the number of books being published by Saddam Hussein this week. I can't read it because I am stuck on Jefferson. Saddam's trial resumes tomorrow.

3.14159265 … that's Pi.

2 … the number of times I have charged my new iPod since I have been in Iraq, and I listen for at least an hour and a half every day. The battery life on the new ones is amazing. It almost makes up for the fact I had to recharge my old one every 23 minutes.

25,000,000 … the population of Iraq. This is still an important story.

130,000 … the number of U.S. troops still here. This is still an important story.

53 … the number of additional votes Jim Rice needs to get into the Hall of Fame, where he belongs.