Dear Scott,
I am home! Surprise!
Having nothing for me to do in Iraq after misleading me into going out there, I am now home in DC at my company's Crystal City office where on my first day I'm not sure they know I exist.
This place feels like the Twilight Zone. It's very quiet. A few people have said hello, but I don't think anyone is going to give me any work. I realize now that I could've stayed in Iraq indefinitely and not done anything, but still gotten paid. I think instead that is what will now happen here in DC. I will come into work, do nothing, and be paid. Occasionally I will wander down to the Au Bon Pain in the Crystal City underground and get a latte and perhaps a cinnamon scone. All the weight I lost in Iraq I will quickly regain. This is what I predict.
Anyway, in the interest of getting this posted, that is all for now.
Let's hit the gym!
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
In Which Scott Learns of Surprising News
Dear Blog,
It’s been a long time. I apologize for neglecting you.
Necessity drives this reunion. We find ourselves back in the Kuwait airport, and I am horribly, horribly bored, and more than a little exhausted. Since Wi-Fi costs money, and the only way to purchase it is using a mobile phone that I don’t have, I am typing this in Word for now. Sitting in a Starbucks with an orange juice and some green tea, blogging is the natural thing to do. They Asian fellow across from me has his Mac out, and is typing away while he smokes, but I suspect he has better things to do than write a blog. Actually, I just saw his screen and he appears to be IMing and doing video chat with some friends – real friends, as opposed to my imaginary readers. (I don’t mean to bash my readers, but it’s been so long you may have found something else to do.)
So the Kuwait airport is a shopping mecca, as is the rest of Kuwait. Since the Kuwaiti population doesn’t work – they all have government jobs – they turn to consumption to pass the time. Just today I was almost run down by a Porsche, a Hummer, a Mercedes, and some type of classic car. You see, they also don’t respect traffic laws, or maybe they just don’t have traffic laws. I’m not sure. Anyway, being a pedestrian is dangerous work, and I can’t help but feel poor when I walk around like one of the ex-patriot workers who do all the manual labor here. I don’t think actual Kuwaitis do much walking. A Bahraini girl I met last night described Kuwaitis as “arrogant.”
Today I played the tourist again and went to visit Kuwait’s big observation tower. It’s like the Space Needle, but rounder. I first had lunch on the café level. I was told it rotated, but it didn’t appear to be. In fact, the view was obscured by the filthy windows. To be fair, it’s hard keeping anything clean in this region because of all the dust, but they should allot for that when they construct glass observation towers. Anyway, I was midway through lunch – a disappointing, but not entirely bad pizza, plus a fruit milkshake – when a team of men dangling from ropes suddenly flew over the edge of the window overhang! They looked like ninjas, and they started doing flips and things. I thought it was the window washers, but it turned out to be counter-terrorism police doing a drill. I asked why they would practice jumping off a big tower, but I suppose it’s a target as much as anything. The police seemed to be having fun.
During this show, I met two women of unknown origin. One was Asian, one was black, and both lived in Saudi Arabia, although I feel like the Asian one was from Australia. They’d come to Kuwait on a brief vacation and wanted tourist recommendations. I told them to visit the old souk, where I bought Drew that nice loofah last time, and they thought that was a good idea. Anyway, it’s the only place I know. They mentioned a “VIP” movie theater where the chairs massage you, so that also sounded nice.
I stayed in a very nice Courtyard Marriott. It was nicer than most regular Marriotts in the United States, not that most Marriotts are very nice. I always find their linens abrasive and the furniture cheap. But this one was nice. On the way to the airport tonight my Indian driver told me it was nice because Middle Easterners are rich and demand bellboys and concierges and things. He basically implied that Middle Easterners are spoiled, stuck-up wastes of life, and I’m inclined to agree. I don’t think it’s a healthy culture to grow up in, although of course I’m generalizing. I do enjoy staying in hotels here, though. They always have delicious breakfast buffets with fresh juices and fruit, and an admirable pastry selection. Also, they typically have nice cars to shuttle you to the airport, and tonight was no exception.
As I said, I’m sitting in a Starbucks now. It’s my second of the day. Whereas I was excited to see the first one, I was resigned to sit in this one. I came to the airport early hoping to check in and go hang in the departure lounge (I’ve decided I’m upgrading), but check-in doesn’t begin for another hour and a half. I’ve already consumed so much that I really don’t want anything more, but that’s why I’m sticking to light, hydrating liquids. Across the way, though, I see a Pizza Express, and I really love Pizza Express. It’s a British pizza chain with just delicious food. Megan and I went to one in Holland Park, or at least we tried. It’s also the first restaurant I ate at in Manchester, so many years ago. It has a special place in my heart, so once I ditch my bags tonight I may go eat there just for kicks. The alternative would be to go sunglasses shopping, and I feel pizza would be much cheaper, and about as valuable in the long-run. They do have really nice sunglasses here, though. My current favorite pair came from Kuwait.
There are a number of Americans wandering around. It is comforting that none of them seem to know what is going on either. This airport is chaotic -- lots of languages, unclear procedures, and teams of little Southeast Asian men trying to carry your bags for money. For all that, I am finally comfortable navigating this place.
My last day in Baghdad was pleasant enough. I stayed up late the night before watching the last episode of Rome (what a good show!) and reading the last book of Twilight. Unfortunately, with only about 80 pages left in the book, I decided to ship it home. It was just too big of a volume to justify going in a carry-on. Instead I’m reading Abundance, the story of Marie Antoinette, and I have some magazines. If it gets super dull, I’ll watch some of The Tudors, Season II. Megan will recall we watched The Tudors, Season I, in Argentina. It’s been a long time and I have some catching up to do. The bootleg DVD shops in Baghdad sell all these great shows for so cheap! And we’re allowed to ship them home. I don’t know how the military justifies that, but I’m all for it. Rome was a great show!
So my last day, I very leisurely slept in, did some cleaning, did some packing, got some lunch, picked up laundry, and then ran to the post office with one minute to spare. All my considerable loot from the last month is being shipped back home, except, Mom, for your Tupperware container. I’m afraid that was abandoned. I can buy you a new one if you like. Half my office was out, so goodbyes were brief, but I won’t really miss them. I liked them and all, but I won’t miss them. I think I’m over them already. What a tedious job. It’s a really interesting concept, and valuable I think, but actually doing it from day to day was wearing me out fast. Instead I’m off to the great unknown in the DC headquarters! Business development is probably in my future, and I have very little interest in it. Ivan needs to kick into gear and find me a real job! What a fool I was to leave the Pentagon (again)!
DC will hopefully still be snow-covered when I arrive. Well, undoubtedly it will be snow-covered. I just hope it’s clean snow. I’m already anticipating a difficult time getting home from the airport, by which I mean, I don’t know if cabs are even running, and I have way too much luggage to go hoofing through the snow. I also have a flight to Boston booked for some time tomorrow out of BWI. Chances of that happening: slim to none. My reason was to surprise my friends at their Vermont ski trip, but now it sounds like most aren’t going to Vermont because they’re trapped in DC, just like I will be. Best $315 I ever spent. See, I bought TWO tickets to Boston. The first was a great deal -- $200 roundtrip – but I figured out only seconds after I clicked purchase that my return flight was for March 15, not February 15. So then I bought a one-way ticket for Feb. 15 so I could come home to DC. And now it appears I won’t even be going up there. Had I anticipated all this, I would’ve probably stayed in Baghdad another few days and made extra money instead of spending it on wasted airline tickets out of Baltimore.
I can’t stress enough how happy I am to leave that team in Baghdad. “What a bunch of whiners!” I whine to you, loyal readers. That Luis has a bad attitude and is a sub-standard manager, not that he had a great team to work with: smart people, but questionable work ethic. I actually turn into a very competent, responsible person when I’m overseas and thrust into the role of dealing with other people’s problems. I’ve decided I’m not manager material – I hate other people’s problems. I should be an executive.
Alright, I’m typed out. Perhaps an update from Dulles will follow. Time now for some Solitaire.
Adieu,
GM
It’s been a long time. I apologize for neglecting you.
Necessity drives this reunion. We find ourselves back in the Kuwait airport, and I am horribly, horribly bored, and more than a little exhausted. Since Wi-Fi costs money, and the only way to purchase it is using a mobile phone that I don’t have, I am typing this in Word for now. Sitting in a Starbucks with an orange juice and some green tea, blogging is the natural thing to do. They Asian fellow across from me has his Mac out, and is typing away while he smokes, but I suspect he has better things to do than write a blog. Actually, I just saw his screen and he appears to be IMing and doing video chat with some friends – real friends, as opposed to my imaginary readers. (I don’t mean to bash my readers, but it’s been so long you may have found something else to do.)
So the Kuwait airport is a shopping mecca, as is the rest of Kuwait. Since the Kuwaiti population doesn’t work – they all have government jobs – they turn to consumption to pass the time. Just today I was almost run down by a Porsche, a Hummer, a Mercedes, and some type of classic car. You see, they also don’t respect traffic laws, or maybe they just don’t have traffic laws. I’m not sure. Anyway, being a pedestrian is dangerous work, and I can’t help but feel poor when I walk around like one of the ex-patriot workers who do all the manual labor here. I don’t think actual Kuwaitis do much walking. A Bahraini girl I met last night described Kuwaitis as “arrogant.”
Today I played the tourist again and went to visit Kuwait’s big observation tower. It’s like the Space Needle, but rounder. I first had lunch on the café level. I was told it rotated, but it didn’t appear to be. In fact, the view was obscured by the filthy windows. To be fair, it’s hard keeping anything clean in this region because of all the dust, but they should allot for that when they construct glass observation towers. Anyway, I was midway through lunch – a disappointing, but not entirely bad pizza, plus a fruit milkshake – when a team of men dangling from ropes suddenly flew over the edge of the window overhang! They looked like ninjas, and they started doing flips and things. I thought it was the window washers, but it turned out to be counter-terrorism police doing a drill. I asked why they would practice jumping off a big tower, but I suppose it’s a target as much as anything. The police seemed to be having fun.
During this show, I met two women of unknown origin. One was Asian, one was black, and both lived in Saudi Arabia, although I feel like the Asian one was from Australia. They’d come to Kuwait on a brief vacation and wanted tourist recommendations. I told them to visit the old souk, where I bought Drew that nice loofah last time, and they thought that was a good idea. Anyway, it’s the only place I know. They mentioned a “VIP” movie theater where the chairs massage you, so that also sounded nice.
I stayed in a very nice Courtyard Marriott. It was nicer than most regular Marriotts in the United States, not that most Marriotts are very nice. I always find their linens abrasive and the furniture cheap. But this one was nice. On the way to the airport tonight my Indian driver told me it was nice because Middle Easterners are rich and demand bellboys and concierges and things. He basically implied that Middle Easterners are spoiled, stuck-up wastes of life, and I’m inclined to agree. I don’t think it’s a healthy culture to grow up in, although of course I’m generalizing. I do enjoy staying in hotels here, though. They always have delicious breakfast buffets with fresh juices and fruit, and an admirable pastry selection. Also, they typically have nice cars to shuttle you to the airport, and tonight was no exception.
As I said, I’m sitting in a Starbucks now. It’s my second of the day. Whereas I was excited to see the first one, I was resigned to sit in this one. I came to the airport early hoping to check in and go hang in the departure lounge (I’ve decided I’m upgrading), but check-in doesn’t begin for another hour and a half. I’ve already consumed so much that I really don’t want anything more, but that’s why I’m sticking to light, hydrating liquids. Across the way, though, I see a Pizza Express, and I really love Pizza Express. It’s a British pizza chain with just delicious food. Megan and I went to one in Holland Park, or at least we tried. It’s also the first restaurant I ate at in Manchester, so many years ago. It has a special place in my heart, so once I ditch my bags tonight I may go eat there just for kicks. The alternative would be to go sunglasses shopping, and I feel pizza would be much cheaper, and about as valuable in the long-run. They do have really nice sunglasses here, though. My current favorite pair came from Kuwait.
There are a number of Americans wandering around. It is comforting that none of them seem to know what is going on either. This airport is chaotic -- lots of languages, unclear procedures, and teams of little Southeast Asian men trying to carry your bags for money. For all that, I am finally comfortable navigating this place.
My last day in Baghdad was pleasant enough. I stayed up late the night before watching the last episode of Rome (what a good show!) and reading the last book of Twilight. Unfortunately, with only about 80 pages left in the book, I decided to ship it home. It was just too big of a volume to justify going in a carry-on. Instead I’m reading Abundance, the story of Marie Antoinette, and I have some magazines. If it gets super dull, I’ll watch some of The Tudors, Season II. Megan will recall we watched The Tudors, Season I, in Argentina. It’s been a long time and I have some catching up to do. The bootleg DVD shops in Baghdad sell all these great shows for so cheap! And we’re allowed to ship them home. I don’t know how the military justifies that, but I’m all for it. Rome was a great show!
So my last day, I very leisurely slept in, did some cleaning, did some packing, got some lunch, picked up laundry, and then ran to the post office with one minute to spare. All my considerable loot from the last month is being shipped back home, except, Mom, for your Tupperware container. I’m afraid that was abandoned. I can buy you a new one if you like. Half my office was out, so goodbyes were brief, but I won’t really miss them. I liked them and all, but I won’t miss them. I think I’m over them already. What a tedious job. It’s a really interesting concept, and valuable I think, but actually doing it from day to day was wearing me out fast. Instead I’m off to the great unknown in the DC headquarters! Business development is probably in my future, and I have very little interest in it. Ivan needs to kick into gear and find me a real job! What a fool I was to leave the Pentagon (again)!
DC will hopefully still be snow-covered when I arrive. Well, undoubtedly it will be snow-covered. I just hope it’s clean snow. I’m already anticipating a difficult time getting home from the airport, by which I mean, I don’t know if cabs are even running, and I have way too much luggage to go hoofing through the snow. I also have a flight to Boston booked for some time tomorrow out of BWI. Chances of that happening: slim to none. My reason was to surprise my friends at their Vermont ski trip, but now it sounds like most aren’t going to Vermont because they’re trapped in DC, just like I will be. Best $315 I ever spent. See, I bought TWO tickets to Boston. The first was a great deal -- $200 roundtrip – but I figured out only seconds after I clicked purchase that my return flight was for March 15, not February 15. So then I bought a one-way ticket for Feb. 15 so I could come home to DC. And now it appears I won’t even be going up there. Had I anticipated all this, I would’ve probably stayed in Baghdad another few days and made extra money instead of spending it on wasted airline tickets out of Baltimore.
I can’t stress enough how happy I am to leave that team in Baghdad. “What a bunch of whiners!” I whine to you, loyal readers. That Luis has a bad attitude and is a sub-standard manager, not that he had a great team to work with: smart people, but questionable work ethic. I actually turn into a very competent, responsible person when I’m overseas and thrust into the role of dealing with other people’s problems. I’ve decided I’m not manager material – I hate other people’s problems. I should be an executive.
Alright, I’m typed out. Perhaps an update from Dulles will follow. Time now for some Solitaire.
Adieu,
GM
Friday, January 22, 2010
(sigh)
Dear Blog,
No Haiti. The military decided to be cheap and stick to uniformed personnel to staff all their offices. I don't care for that decision, but what can you do?
This leaves me with some thinking to do about next steps... Any suggestions? Perhaps it's time to pursue bartending.
Sincerely,
The Author
No Haiti. The military decided to be cheap and stick to uniformed personnel to staff all their offices. I don't care for that decision, but what can you do?
This leaves me with some thinking to do about next steps... Any suggestions? Perhaps it's time to pursue bartending.
Sincerely,
The Author
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
In Which Tim Makes Up for Lost Time
Greetings Blog Reader,
So much has happened since we last talked. Where to begin? Let's start with the most recent, I suppose.
Normally I wouldn't mention this to anyone besides Ivan, but it's funny. The toilet paper in the bathroom stalls here is assembled by blind people in Nebraska. Or maybe it's North Dakota, but either way, the more people use the toilet, the more they support the blind. I think it's a nice, viable alternative to other forms of charitable giving.
Next up, yesterday I saw a child! There was a little girl with her parents in the PX (a store on base). She couldn't have been older than 8. You don't see children here. I can't imagine what they were doing. They all looked African, which is even more bizarre. It was a nice surprise though. Things must be going well if there are children running around.
Considering how little happens here, I'm embarrassed to say I almost forgot this, but last night the team went out to dinner at a new Iraqi restaurant on base. They built this little restaurant compound in one corner of the base, and there is a big grassy outdoor seating area, a Turkish coffeehouse, a Turkish restaurant, Chinese restaurant, and soon an Italian place will open. They have hookahs, and very good baklava. It was really good, plus it's the first time I'd hung out with the Iraqi-American guys on the team. They're a lot of fun. They all know each other in random ways. Very interesting stories too abut what they've done in life before this: one was an actor, one an engineer, one a car salesman, two worked at State... all sorts of stuff. Anyway, the occasion was a going-away for our two military staff. They leave Sunday. The replacement arrives sometime around 4AM tonight, so hopefully he's as easy to get along with.
So the big news (for anyone who cares) is that the president of my company got fired unexpectedly last week. No one has said why, but they're going through a re-org now. He was the guy I reported to, but now I report to a guy Ed who happens to be out here at the moment. He's going to be the replacement president until they can recruit somebody permanent. They also hired a VP named Bob Bevelacqua. I've never met him, but apparently he was one of the retired military analysts that the Pentagon used to brief so that they could talk intelligently on the cable news shows. That was Roxie's program at the Pentagon, so small world... Anyway, since Paul (the old president) had been the strategist, now no one knows what I'm doing next. I should probably care more, but I enjoy the thought of leaving here. I mean I like it, but I'd prefer to do repeated, very brief stints. Maybe that's possible. Of course the alternative is going to Haiti. I mentioned that to some people. To the others... surprise! If it happens. If SOUTHCOM gets their butts in motion then it will happen in about 2 weeks. If not, then we'll see what Leonie has in mind. And if neither of those come through, there is a Homeland Security gig that is now being announced by Feb 1. If by some odd chance nothing comes through, Ian will have a squatter on his hands.
The only other thing I remember wanting to talk about was the fog on the lake, but that can wait. I'm tired.
Well, loyal reader, thank you for your time.
So much has happened since we last talked. Where to begin? Let's start with the most recent, I suppose.
Normally I wouldn't mention this to anyone besides Ivan, but it's funny. The toilet paper in the bathroom stalls here is assembled by blind people in Nebraska. Or maybe it's North Dakota, but either way, the more people use the toilet, the more they support the blind. I think it's a nice, viable alternative to other forms of charitable giving.
Next up, yesterday I saw a child! There was a little girl with her parents in the PX (a store on base). She couldn't have been older than 8. You don't see children here. I can't imagine what they were doing. They all looked African, which is even more bizarre. It was a nice surprise though. Things must be going well if there are children running around.
Considering how little happens here, I'm embarrassed to say I almost forgot this, but last night the team went out to dinner at a new Iraqi restaurant on base. They built this little restaurant compound in one corner of the base, and there is a big grassy outdoor seating area, a Turkish coffeehouse, a Turkish restaurant, Chinese restaurant, and soon an Italian place will open. They have hookahs, and very good baklava. It was really good, plus it's the first time I'd hung out with the Iraqi-American guys on the team. They're a lot of fun. They all know each other in random ways. Very interesting stories too abut what they've done in life before this: one was an actor, one an engineer, one a car salesman, two worked at State... all sorts of stuff. Anyway, the occasion was a going-away for our two military staff. They leave Sunday. The replacement arrives sometime around 4AM tonight, so hopefully he's as easy to get along with.
So the big news (for anyone who cares) is that the president of my company got fired unexpectedly last week. No one has said why, but they're going through a re-org now. He was the guy I reported to, but now I report to a guy Ed who happens to be out here at the moment. He's going to be the replacement president until they can recruit somebody permanent. They also hired a VP named Bob Bevelacqua. I've never met him, but apparently he was one of the retired military analysts that the Pentagon used to brief so that they could talk intelligently on the cable news shows. That was Roxie's program at the Pentagon, so small world... Anyway, since Paul (the old president) had been the strategist, now no one knows what I'm doing next. I should probably care more, but I enjoy the thought of leaving here. I mean I like it, but I'd prefer to do repeated, very brief stints. Maybe that's possible. Of course the alternative is going to Haiti. I mentioned that to some people. To the others... surprise! If it happens. If SOUTHCOM gets their butts in motion then it will happen in about 2 weeks. If not, then we'll see what Leonie has in mind. And if neither of those come through, there is a Homeland Security gig that is now being announced by Feb 1. If by some odd chance nothing comes through, Ian will have a squatter on his hands.
The only other thing I remember wanting to talk about was the fog on the lake, but that can wait. I'm tired.
Well, loyal reader, thank you for your time.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Baghdad: City of Dust
Today marks my first sandstorm of the year. We woke to a grey, windy day and I was very afraid of rain. (Rain here leads to days of gross mud.) Instead, the wind continued and it has gotten very, very dusty. You see clouds of dust blowing around, meaning you breath in a lot more dust that you don't see. This is some comfort to those of us who spend 98% of the day indoors, jealous of people who are outside.
Tomorrow we will see if the dust keeps up or if it's sunny and warm again. Either way, it beats -1!
Tomorrow we will see if the dust keeps up or if it's sunny and warm again. Either way, it beats -1!
Monday, January 11, 2010
The Ablution Unit
Many things over here have interesting names, typically shortened to an acronym, and our showers are no exception. The trailer I walk to every morning to clean myself and wake up is endearingly called an "Ablution Unit."
Unlike some of the other poorly named things -- the DFAC (Dining Facility) comes to mind -- the ablution unit isn't prominently labeled as such. On the door to the trailer it just says "Male Shower." But if you look closely at the signs indoors, they refer to it in many places as the ablution unit, and warn you away from such unpleasantries such as electrical shocks, sewage spills, and water cut-offs.
The name makes me happy because you don't often hear "ablution" used. No one says anymore, "I'm performing my ablutions." I don't know how the military heard of it.
Oh well.
In other news, Sarah Palin is joining FOX!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_palin_fox_news
Anyone feel like they need to go perform some mental ablutions now?
This post has been dedicated to Ian.
Unlike some of the other poorly named things -- the DFAC (Dining Facility) comes to mind -- the ablution unit isn't prominently labeled as such. On the door to the trailer it just says "Male Shower." But if you look closely at the signs indoors, they refer to it in many places as the ablution unit, and warn you away from such unpleasantries such as electrical shocks, sewage spills, and water cut-offs.
The name makes me happy because you don't often hear "ablution" used. No one says anymore, "I'm performing my ablutions." I don't know how the military heard of it.
Oh well.
In other news, Sarah Palin is joining FOX!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_palin_fox_news
Anyone feel like they need to go perform some mental ablutions now?
This post has been dedicated to Ian.
Protecting the Skies
VROOOOOOOOOOOOM... Pow pow pow pow pow!
That's the sound we're hearing outside today. It's the sound of the Phalanx system being tested. Those are the big guns positioned around the base that shoot down incoming rockets and mortars. They fire about 150 rounds per second, coating the sky with rather large bullets, in an attempt to blow up whatever is coming in before it hits anything. To prevent massive civilian casualties on what would be the termination of the bullets' arc, they explode mid-air after a few seconds. If you see them fire at night it looks like lasers beams going across the sky. Pretty cool. They are very loud, though, if you happen to be standing nearby.
Anyway, that was the big excitement for the afternoon.
In other exciting news (and this may be exciting only to Scott), more and more magazines are working bar codes into their advertisements, and then people can use smart phones to scan them and get more information.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/11/business/media/11mag.html
And for Ian, here are some things the cafeteria served for lunch today:
Chicken
Mashed potatoes
Chicken wings
Curry
Salad
Rolls
Jello
Soda
Cookies
And finally for Andy, I'm reading a new book.
Happy Monday, everyone!
That's the sound we're hearing outside today. It's the sound of the Phalanx system being tested. Those are the big guns positioned around the base that shoot down incoming rockets and mortars. They fire about 150 rounds per second, coating the sky with rather large bullets, in an attempt to blow up whatever is coming in before it hits anything. To prevent massive civilian casualties on what would be the termination of the bullets' arc, they explode mid-air after a few seconds. If you see them fire at night it looks like lasers beams going across the sky. Pretty cool. They are very loud, though, if you happen to be standing nearby.
Anyway, that was the big excitement for the afternoon.
In other exciting news (and this may be exciting only to Scott), more and more magazines are working bar codes into their advertisements, and then people can use smart phones to scan them and get more information.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/11/business/media/11mag.html
And for Ian, here are some things the cafeteria served for lunch today:
Chicken
Mashed potatoes
Chicken wings
Curry
Salad
Rolls
Jello
Soda
Cookies
And finally for Andy, I'm reading a new book.
Happy Monday, everyone!
Baghdad Sun
It's January 11 and 70 degrees outside. This is not the chilly Baghdad winter I remember. Amen to that. My lumberjack flannel seems slightly out of place considering, but it keeps me warm in the office A/C.
Work is progressing nicely today. After a week of relative scrambling, things are all caught up, I've figured out how this all works, and this week should be leisurely. Next up: ideas on how to improve the program. Our military command turns over in a couple weeks, so it's time to impress the new guys!
And not two minutes ago, thanks to Dave Henning, three packages arrived full of cookies, sheets, and other goodies. I'm going to run out of room in my trailer! Thanks, Dave!
Alright, back to editing. I hope Ivan is appeased for now.
Work is progressing nicely today. After a week of relative scrambling, things are all caught up, I've figured out how this all works, and this week should be leisurely. Next up: ideas on how to improve the program. Our military command turns over in a couple weeks, so it's time to impress the new guys!
And not two minutes ago, thanks to Dave Henning, three packages arrived full of cookies, sheets, and other goodies. I'm going to run out of room in my trailer! Thanks, Dave!
Alright, back to editing. I hope Ivan is appeased for now.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Whoa, Nelly!
Hello loyal blog readers! Time for your latest view into my ego-centric world.
It's been a few days in case you haven't noticed. In that time I've done several things:
1) Sat at a coffee house in the Kuwait airport. There is nothing like that airport to make you feel reflective. This time through, I thought, "Wow, here I am again. Huh." The coffee house is actually very good -- they sprinkle cocoa bean shapes onto the foam with chocolate powder -- but I have sat there before reading my book and drinking hot chocolate, and it was weird, if familiar, sitting there again. Getting on the plane to Baghdad wasn't so difficult at that point, though, since I was mostly just tired. I'm looking forward to seeing the inside of that airport again because some day I'm certain I will get the routine down pat. Hopefully next time I can experience it from the first class lounge.
2) Flew to Baghdad on Gryphon Air. This was an enjoyable experience. Before this was on a prop plane with very, very small seats. This time through it was a jet with nice, big, leather seats. I guess they've been successful flying contractors to and fro. I met two other contractors on their way in, and one guy I've seen around in the cafeteria. He would be the closest thing I've made to a friend here outside of the office, and that is not saying much. I'm also looking forward to the next trip on Gryphon because it means I will be going back to the U.S., and I just enjoy the experience. Oh, for you lunar watchers, there was a nice blue moon visible on the way in. Actually, it was a very red moon, but I'm told the phase made it blue. Now you know.
3) Arrived in Baghdad and met some teammates. Not having any idea who to expect, I waited briefly around the airport until someone yelled my name. Then I met Luis and Gerard, my replacee and our IT guy, and they drove me to my trailer home. Gerard talks a lot. Luis, whose trailer I'm crashing in while he's away, told me when we got home that Gerard is a talker. He has proved correct. Today Gerard must've talked for a good five hours. It's a good thing, though. Not talking much myself, someone needs to.
4) Explored my trailer. It is at least a double-wide, so very big. I shared with Luis for two days until he left, and now it's my own. I have a bed, a big wall locker, a nightstand, chair, shelves, lamp, and a lot of space of my own. He has also fitted the room with a stocked bookshelf, unused TV, unused fridge, and a big rug. Overall it is nice. It is very, very, very far away from the office though, in an area called Pad 11. It's on a side of the base I hadn't explored much before, so not near the palace. It's a 12-15 minute drive to work, and despite having three cars for the team, we need to share. That means we do everything together: Luis (when he is here), Gerard, and Omar (Omar is our editor). I eat every meal with them, and I drive home with them. They are nice, but it could grate not having a lot of flexibility to explore the stuff I like on base, or even stay late at work without the hassle of dropping people off. Or meeting anyone else.
5) Met the rest of the team. They are a group of Iraqi-Americans who are really nice and fun. They are more fun than me. Hopefully they don't think I'm boring. Apparently I'm 50,000x better than the old project manager though, because 90 percent of our conversation thus far has been about what an evil person he was. It's weird. Everyone seems to have really, sincerely hated him. So I'm looking good in comparison! The Army folks we work with transfer out in a few weeks, so it will be interesting to see how their replacements are.
6) Explored the office. It is on the good side of base, but somewhat isolated in a corner so that they can stay low profile. If there was time to leave during the day I would say it's a nice location, but so far I've been behind schedule and stuck more or less inside. When we do leave it's to eat or go to the store, and of course that happens with Gerard and Omar. Good thing I like them. Someday soon I aim to branch out and walk somewhere. It will happen, I just know it.
And that, for now, is all. I'm done tired out. Next up in the self-centered chronicles will be about work and changes on Camp Victory. (We're a thriving community!)
Good night to all!
Love,
Tim
It's been a few days in case you haven't noticed. In that time I've done several things:
1) Sat at a coffee house in the Kuwait airport. There is nothing like that airport to make you feel reflective. This time through, I thought, "Wow, here I am again. Huh." The coffee house is actually very good -- they sprinkle cocoa bean shapes onto the foam with chocolate powder -- but I have sat there before reading my book and drinking hot chocolate, and it was weird, if familiar, sitting there again. Getting on the plane to Baghdad wasn't so difficult at that point, though, since I was mostly just tired. I'm looking forward to seeing the inside of that airport again because some day I'm certain I will get the routine down pat. Hopefully next time I can experience it from the first class lounge.
2) Flew to Baghdad on Gryphon Air. This was an enjoyable experience. Before this was on a prop plane with very, very small seats. This time through it was a jet with nice, big, leather seats. I guess they've been successful flying contractors to and fro. I met two other contractors on their way in, and one guy I've seen around in the cafeteria. He would be the closest thing I've made to a friend here outside of the office, and that is not saying much. I'm also looking forward to the next trip on Gryphon because it means I will be going back to the U.S., and I just enjoy the experience. Oh, for you lunar watchers, there was a nice blue moon visible on the way in. Actually, it was a very red moon, but I'm told the phase made it blue. Now you know.
3) Arrived in Baghdad and met some teammates. Not having any idea who to expect, I waited briefly around the airport until someone yelled my name. Then I met Luis and Gerard, my replacee and our IT guy, and they drove me to my trailer home. Gerard talks a lot. Luis, whose trailer I'm crashing in while he's away, told me when we got home that Gerard is a talker. He has proved correct. Today Gerard must've talked for a good five hours. It's a good thing, though. Not talking much myself, someone needs to.
4) Explored my trailer. It is at least a double-wide, so very big. I shared with Luis for two days until he left, and now it's my own. I have a bed, a big wall locker, a nightstand, chair, shelves, lamp, and a lot of space of my own. He has also fitted the room with a stocked bookshelf, unused TV, unused fridge, and a big rug. Overall it is nice. It is very, very, very far away from the office though, in an area called Pad 11. It's on a side of the base I hadn't explored much before, so not near the palace. It's a 12-15 minute drive to work, and despite having three cars for the team, we need to share. That means we do everything together: Luis (when he is here), Gerard, and Omar (Omar is our editor). I eat every meal with them, and I drive home with them. They are nice, but it could grate not having a lot of flexibility to explore the stuff I like on base, or even stay late at work without the hassle of dropping people off. Or meeting anyone else.
5) Met the rest of the team. They are a group of Iraqi-Americans who are really nice and fun. They are more fun than me. Hopefully they don't think I'm boring. Apparently I'm 50,000x better than the old project manager though, because 90 percent of our conversation thus far has been about what an evil person he was. It's weird. Everyone seems to have really, sincerely hated him. So I'm looking good in comparison! The Army folks we work with transfer out in a few weeks, so it will be interesting to see how their replacements are.
6) Explored the office. It is on the good side of base, but somewhat isolated in a corner so that they can stay low profile. If there was time to leave during the day I would say it's a nice location, but so far I've been behind schedule and stuck more or less inside. When we do leave it's to eat or go to the store, and of course that happens with Gerard and Omar. Good thing I like them. Someday soon I aim to branch out and walk somewhere. It will happen, I just know it.
And that, for now, is all. I'm done tired out. Next up in the self-centered chronicles will be about work and changes on Camp Victory. (We're a thriving community!)
Good night to all!
Love,
Tim
Sunday, January 3, 2010
The Big Gray Cat
Almost forgot to mention... Not ten minutes ago, as I was writing the last post, a person in a big gray cat costume shuffled lazily through the lobby. It looked like Sylvester Cat from Loony Tunes, but gray, not black. It just walked back out now and gave a wave. So that was nice.
The Rib Eye Steak House
Good afternoon from the lobby of the Crowne Plaza Kuwait,
I have to get in these specific place names while I can because pretty soon the only descriptors will be "tent," "office," and "trailer." For now, this lobby is very attractive, reasonably international, and characteristically (for Kuwait) dreamlike.
After dutifully checking out of my room at noon, I needed to kill 6 hours. The bellhop has my luggage, a shuttle runs to the airport every half hour, and so I was left with my laptop, my book ("As Meat Loves Salt"), and lunch. There are eight restaurants here in the hotel -- Kuwaitis don't have much to do with life, so there are a lot of nice restaurants everywhere -- but I was intimidated by most of them, so I settled on the warm, American-looking Rib Eye Steak House.
The restaurant opens at noon, and at 12:05 I was their first and only customer. The nice cowboy-hatted and booted Thai hostess, Maria, showed me to a booth -- all leather and wood, with whips and horns on the wall -- and I got to browse the selection of nachos, steaks, and mocktails. While I will get plenty of underwhelming American food in Iraq, I did enjoy the familiarity of the menu, plus the restaurant was free of Kuwaiti women lunching, who I find scary.
So lunch was French onion soup (to keep up my recent spree), a chicken sandwich, and two lattes. I tried to stop at one latte, but the waiter insisted I take my time and have another. Good thing, too, because otherwise I would've missed the rendition of "Happy Birthday" sung to the table behind me by Maria and the guy waiter. It featured some half-hearted clapping, which seemed perfectly reasonable for a birthday celebrated mid-afternoon in a hotel lobby.
After two and a half hours, I felt it my duty to vacate my booth, both since the restaurant was beginning to fill up, and my body hurt from sitting there. So now I'm 100 feet away, sitting at the Fauchon Paris "Le Cafe" in the lobby, recharging my laptop battery, killing more time, and having a nice cup of tea. The wait staff here is not so nice as their friends across the lobby, though.
Soon I will collect my bags from the bellhop (two hours after I'd told him), jump on the shuttle, make my way to the airport, and there be assaulted by the economically and socially unfortunate class of airport porters who work mostly for tips and probably have a very difficult life. You're only supposed to pay them 35 somethings (some form of Kuwaiti cent), but I don't have change, so I will give them 1 KD. Except only giving one seems cheap, so I will probably give two, but because of the exchange rate that equals around $8. On the other hand, my one bag is very heavy.
The last bit of the adventure will involve actually checking in for the flight to Baghdad. I have never taken it this direction before where I'm coming in without a connection. It's a charter flight rather than a real airline, and so I'm not sure if there's a counter or what. Conveniently there is an American liaison running around the airport in his distinctive red polo, but I'm not sure he's all that helpful based on our brief conversation last night. Oh well, I'm sure I'll get there somehow.
Once on the ground in Baghdad, I'm supposed to be met by this guy Luis who I'm filling in for while he's on leave. In the few brief emails we've exchanged, he doesn't seem very communicative. He's the fellow who is supposed to train me on everything, and either he's disagreeable or very busy, and either way doesn't seem good, but maybe I'll be surprised. Anyway, at this time tomorrow I expect to be immersed in computers, translations and dust, and probably looking forward to bed.
Happy Sunday to all!
Love,
Tim
I have to get in these specific place names while I can because pretty soon the only descriptors will be "tent," "office," and "trailer." For now, this lobby is very attractive, reasonably international, and characteristically (for Kuwait) dreamlike.
After dutifully checking out of my room at noon, I needed to kill 6 hours. The bellhop has my luggage, a shuttle runs to the airport every half hour, and so I was left with my laptop, my book ("As Meat Loves Salt"), and lunch. There are eight restaurants here in the hotel -- Kuwaitis don't have much to do with life, so there are a lot of nice restaurants everywhere -- but I was intimidated by most of them, so I settled on the warm, American-looking Rib Eye Steak House.
The restaurant opens at noon, and at 12:05 I was their first and only customer. The nice cowboy-hatted and booted Thai hostess, Maria, showed me to a booth -- all leather and wood, with whips and horns on the wall -- and I got to browse the selection of nachos, steaks, and mocktails. While I will get plenty of underwhelming American food in Iraq, I did enjoy the familiarity of the menu, plus the restaurant was free of Kuwaiti women lunching, who I find scary.
So lunch was French onion soup (to keep up my recent spree), a chicken sandwich, and two lattes. I tried to stop at one latte, but the waiter insisted I take my time and have another. Good thing, too, because otherwise I would've missed the rendition of "Happy Birthday" sung to the table behind me by Maria and the guy waiter. It featured some half-hearted clapping, which seemed perfectly reasonable for a birthday celebrated mid-afternoon in a hotel lobby.
After two and a half hours, I felt it my duty to vacate my booth, both since the restaurant was beginning to fill up, and my body hurt from sitting there. So now I'm 100 feet away, sitting at the Fauchon Paris "Le Cafe" in the lobby, recharging my laptop battery, killing more time, and having a nice cup of tea. The wait staff here is not so nice as their friends across the lobby, though.
Soon I will collect my bags from the bellhop (two hours after I'd told him), jump on the shuttle, make my way to the airport, and there be assaulted by the economically and socially unfortunate class of airport porters who work mostly for tips and probably have a very difficult life. You're only supposed to pay them 35 somethings (some form of Kuwaiti cent), but I don't have change, so I will give them 1 KD. Except only giving one seems cheap, so I will probably give two, but because of the exchange rate that equals around $8. On the other hand, my one bag is very heavy.
The last bit of the adventure will involve actually checking in for the flight to Baghdad. I have never taken it this direction before where I'm coming in without a connection. It's a charter flight rather than a real airline, and so I'm not sure if there's a counter or what. Conveniently there is an American liaison running around the airport in his distinctive red polo, but I'm not sure he's all that helpful based on our brief conversation last night. Oh well, I'm sure I'll get there somehow.
Once on the ground in Baghdad, I'm supposed to be met by this guy Luis who I'm filling in for while he's on leave. In the few brief emails we've exchanged, he doesn't seem very communicative. He's the fellow who is supposed to train me on everything, and either he's disagreeable or very busy, and either way doesn't seem good, but maybe I'll be surprised. Anyway, at this time tomorrow I expect to be immersed in computers, translations and dust, and probably looking forward to bed.
Happy Sunday to all!
Love,
Tim
Kuwait Limbo Revisited
Greetings again!
The flight from Doha to Kuwait was comfortable and uneventful. The Kuwait airport was (typically) uncomfortable and chaotic, and it's unclear how I will actually check in for my flight tomorrow evening, but for the time being I am comfortably ensconced in a hotel by the airport. There are eight restaurants here, and chances are good I while try one of them tomorrow. A boy's got to eat.
The Kuwaiti system of visas and customs is weird. You have to get a tourist visa to leave the airport, but they don't actually ever explain that; you just need to know. So I went to buy one and it costs 3 KD, which is equal to about $11. They don't take credit or U.S. dollars, so I had to go to an ATM and get KD. Then the lady said she couldn't make change, so I needed to go to this pasta place in the food court (I'm fond of this pasta place and will likely go there again tomorrow. It's tradition.) to make change. And then things went fine until customs, where there were four massive lines that didn't move. One of the lines was for an empty counter where it seemed certain an employee had been and would come back to, but no... So I switched lines, met two American heading to Iraq and Afghanistan, and then suddenly we all got waived to a third line where the customs agent just waived us through. So one cab ride later, with all my luggage intact, I'm at the hotel.
Tomorrow I've got to check out by 12, then kill time either in the hotel or at the airport until 7, then off to Baghdad for adventure and the unknown, but not for dinner since it will be closed. Fat Camp starts then!
And now it is off to bed. Again (sort of).
Enjoy your weekends, and belated happy anniversary to Andy, Drew, Mom, and Dad. And thanks to Ivan for coming down to visit. And thanks to Kristine and PJ for acquiring the car.
Talk to you soon. I'm on Skype at tkilbride, and will sign up for a Skype number soon so you can call from a regular phone.
Love,
Tim
The flight from Doha to Kuwait was comfortable and uneventful. The Kuwait airport was (typically) uncomfortable and chaotic, and it's unclear how I will actually check in for my flight tomorrow evening, but for the time being I am comfortably ensconced in a hotel by the airport. There are eight restaurants here, and chances are good I while try one of them tomorrow. A boy's got to eat.
The Kuwaiti system of visas and customs is weird. You have to get a tourist visa to leave the airport, but they don't actually ever explain that; you just need to know. So I went to buy one and it costs 3 KD, which is equal to about $11. They don't take credit or U.S. dollars, so I had to go to an ATM and get KD. Then the lady said she couldn't make change, so I needed to go to this pasta place in the food court (I'm fond of this pasta place and will likely go there again tomorrow. It's tradition.) to make change. And then things went fine until customs, where there were four massive lines that didn't move. One of the lines was for an empty counter where it seemed certain an employee had been and would come back to, but no... So I switched lines, met two American heading to Iraq and Afghanistan, and then suddenly we all got waived to a third line where the customs agent just waived us through. So one cab ride later, with all my luggage intact, I'm at the hotel.
Tomorrow I've got to check out by 12, then kill time either in the hotel or at the airport until 7, then off to Baghdad for adventure and the unknown, but not for dinner since it will be closed. Fat Camp starts then!
And now it is off to bed. Again (sort of).
Enjoy your weekends, and belated happy anniversary to Andy, Drew, Mom, and Dad. And thanks to Ivan for coming down to visit. And thanks to Kristine and PJ for acquiring the car.
Talk to you soon. I'm on Skype at tkilbride, and will sign up for a Skype number soon so you can call from a regular phone.
Love,
Tim
Iraq Again. What a Dumb Idea.
January 2, 2010
1835 Doha
Greetings Dave Henning and other readers,
The new year has started off with a blur of activity. It seems I barely closed my eyes and now it’s January 2nd and I’m in Doha, Qatar, waiting for a plane. Yesterday is still recent enough to seem fresh and tangible, but also feels a world away from this place. The culture shift began as soon as I stepped onto the plane at Dulles.
Qatar Airways is not a bad carrier. The plane was big and clean, the seats were comfortable enough, and each had a video screen with lots and lots of movies. My movie selection included “Julie and Julia” (of which I made it through 20 minutes before deciding to go back to sleep), “The Time Traveler’s Wife” (of which I fell asleep after about 45 minutes and remained that way for 7 hours), and “The Prestige” (which I saw and enjoyed from beginning to end). But the movies and seats were not the problem. The staff was a small problem.
My ticket was initially booked with an aisle seat for DC to Qatar. I asked the travel agent to change that to a window (I don’t like being bumped in the aisle), and he said he did. When I checked in, however, they had me squarely in the middle of a three-across, center-of-the-plane row, and that wasn’t going to work for a 12.5-hour flight. I asked the guy at check-in for a window, but he said the only window seat didn’t have audio and I wouldn’t want that. I said I most certainly did want it. He gave it to me. So imagine my surprise when I get on the plane and someone else has Seat 22A – my seat! Our boarding passes matched, so I asked the flight attendant to look into it and he came back from conferring and said I was being move to a middle seat somewhere else, and the guy who was currently in the seat was being moved to another window seat two rows up. In the meantime, as we were sorting out why no one then got the original window seat (which the flight attendants were adamant no one would have), another flight attendant came up and made two other passengers move seats for no apparent reason, moving one girl from an aisle to the middle so that a disagreeable Middle Eastern woman could sit in the aisle. As I was disagreeably moving to my new middle seat, the woman in the aisle next to me asked if I wanted to switch seats, which seemed odd and self-sacrificing of her, but she explained she and her husband both had aisle seats (they book that way to preserve options), and if I switched with her I would get an aisle. That seemed very nice of her, so we did it, and everything was fine. Very agreeable people, those two.
I will say, of the airline food, very good! I had vegetable biryani, some sort of Middle Eastern salad, and a bread salad that was soaked in yogurt or cheese sauce.
Anyhoo, I made it off Qatar Airways Flight 52, and now I’m sitting in the airport in Doha, waiting to board Qatar Airways Flight 136 to Kuwait. That flight is only an hour and twenty minutes, so it will be a reading-only commute. Once there, in the very, very familiar Kuwait International Airport, my bags hopefully arrive (they don’t always), and I will hitchhike, drive or Yellow Cab it over to the airport Crown Plaza hotel for a night of quiet reflection on why I chose to disrupt my life in quite such a dramatic fashion.
Already I miss everyone. It was a very nice sendoff with the assistance packing, the stopover in Alexandria for pizza, hummus, and rum cake, and the airport delivery crew with its warm goodbye (despite Ivan’s initial bad attitude) and farewell toast in the Dulles Harry’s Tap Room. I wish I could’ve seen everybody longer, but then I guess I would’ve missed the flight. Eh… Six of one, half a dozen of the other…
For now, this airport is bright and bustling. Lots of Brits and other international types are milling about. Brits always seem very fashionable and appropriate in airports. It must be reminiscent of colonial times. When I’m over here I always feel like a glaring, standout American. I guess I should’ve shaved. Oh well, no time. So busy.
I hope you all have a wonderful start to 2010 (minus my absence, of course), and stay warm. Talk to you again as soon as I have an Internet connection, which is also when I’ll send this, so it will be a double-header.
I miss you!
Love,
Tim
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