I've been put in charge as the interim bureau chief while Leila, the real bureau chief, is off on various assignments today and tomorrow. I hope nothing crazy happens. But in Baghdad, that's unlikely.

Everything about this job is weird. First of all, there's no real distinction between being on the job and off the job. Working hours sort of all blend in with the rest of the day's activities partly because of the nature of the job and partly because of the fact that we live in the same place we work.... which, for me, is not a good thing. If I think there's work to do, then my mind is always thinking about what's next and what needs to be done.

Also, the hours are all messed up. Because Baghdad is eight hours ahead of DC, where our editors review and file our stories, there's never a time when I can feel like I'm done with my story. We submit story budgets at 5 p.m. Baghdad time and the stories get edited around 11 p.m. or midnight.

A lot of the time it seems like it's hard to get the story done earlier in the day because of new developments and because it often takes a very long time to get ahold of officials (especially Iraqi officials). The fact that it's August and the entire Iraqi government is on vacation and out of the country and unreachable does not help.

The Iraqi journalists here are great. There's five of them, and they're all friendly and each have their various skill sets. Some speak English better than others, some are more reliable than others, some have better journalism instincts than others, and some have a better sense of fashion than others. In the end, it usually all works out. But it's also a challenge because we have to rely on them... they're the ones who can blend in with society, speak Arabic, and have contacts in various parts of the country. Without them, our bureau would be practically useless.

The good news is that Leila will not be taking any extended vacations while I am gone, which means I will not have to be in charge for any lengthy amount of time, which has been the case for previous reporters who have rotated through here.

As I'm writing this, one of the Iraqi reporters walked into my room to tell me that he has "successfully failed" in reaching government officials so far today. I told him I hope he is "unsuccessful in failing" during the rest of the day.