Word: sanding
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...closet door hang his desert tan fatigues, sharp with new creases. Members of Beets' unit, Charlie Company of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, got word today that they should switch from their standard Army green camis to tan, intended to make infantrymen like Beets invisible in the sand, except for the blindingly bright American flag they have to sew on the right shoulder when they're about to deploy overseas so that allies can distinguish U.S. troops at close quarters...
...what the Army requires its soldiers to bring with them is not the end of what is necessary. Weber still has grateful memories of the Army wife who told him to pack clothespins when he first deployed to the gulf, lest the wind toss his drying uniform in the sand. At the base PX and Wal-Mart, extra tent pegs and shower shoes are selling fast. So are watches with alarms that give the time in two time zones. Twizzlers. Extra thick boot insoles. Liquid laundry soap, because the water will be cold. Extra thermals, because the nights will...
...inconclusive. But in 1999 FieldTurf, based in Montreal, began mass-producing a new surface whose composition better imitates the real thing, with more resistance to wear and tear. The longer, grasslike fibers, made of a polyethylene blend, give it a more natural look and feel, while the blend of sand and rubber particles - recycled from old running shoes - that form its base are loosely packed around the blades of "grass," providing a softer cushion than real dirt. The new surfaces are growing fast in the U.S., where demand on municipal fields is almost unceasing. American football teams are also enthusiastic...
...troops will soon pass be passing through. Although the road has been mended, the debris of the last war have yet to be fully cleared. Deep in the desert stand vehicle graveyards, where tanks, trucks and artillery pieces mangled by Allied bombing a decade ago lie heaped in the sand...
...think of science as a clean and logical place where, with the right skills and instruments, you can see the world in a grain of sand. So what happens when you cross science with a circus full of clowns and tricks and gaudy lights, where everything is for sale and nothing is for real...