Baghdad Journal: May 1, 2006

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Reporter's Notebook <br>By JOHN BERMAN
May 5, 2006, 4:34 AM ET
3 min read

— -- OK, so I am about to break my promise just one day after making it. Because of time constraints, I will not be able to write anything interesting, insightful, or particularly long today.

I had a piece assigned for World News Tonight that I worked on for most of the day, but will likely never see the light of day. That happens sometimes, just part of the business. Honestly, there is no bitterness in Baghdad from me tonight. It is better to be busy here, else you are forced to read million-page books about Thomas Jefferson.

A little update on the Jefferson front: 75 pages in and TJ just met John Adams for the first time at the Second Continental Congress. This is significant, because Adams was from Massachusetts which makes him awesome. I am assuming there will be a big section in the book about just how wicked awesome it was to be from Massachusetts even back then.

As for news from Baghdad today, it was a workers' holiday here, sort of like Labor Day or May 1 celebrations around the rest of the world. There was a small demonstration outside the Green Zone, but it definitely wasn't about immigration. The story I did for World News was on a report out of Washington that talks about the reconstruction effort here, and gives it mixed grades. The statistic that sums it up best is that repairs have been completed on nearly all of Iraq's 107 train stations, but only 4 percent of the trains are running because of fears about security. 'Nuff said about the hard road toward progress.

One attempt at humor before I go ... ABC News Baghdad has acquired a treadmill, an excellent purchase given that we can't exactly jog along the banks of the Tigris these days. Well, I didn't know the bureau had it until I arrived in Jordan, and of course, I didn't pack any sneakers. So I had to pick up a pair in duty free before my flight to Baghdad. There were a number of sneakers on display, so I asked the nice woman who worked there for what they had in my size. She left and came back with a pair of shoes in a color I have never seen in running-wear. They are sort of lilac or violet, and the soles are sort of lilac or violet. She said that is all they had in my size, or at least that is what I think she said since I don't speak Arabic. So that is what I am stuck with ... just like every grizzled war reporter ... a pair of lilac shoes.