R & R Prep

Well, I was finally able to take most of this Friday off, with the exception of a few minutes on email.  So, what did I do on my down day today?  I slept in!  I awoke at about 0730.  After a couple cups of coffee, I went over to the MWR area and ran a few miles on the treadmill followed by a bunch of push-ups and various forms of ab/core work.  I am feeling much better than I was last week.  I’ve run three days so far this week, not long, about 30 minutes each time, and I’ve been doing the other exercises as well.  Like I said last week, I won’t be eating at TGI Friday’s again.  A colleague of mine ate at Friday’s the day after I did and he got sick as well.  He had to go to the aid station to get treated for his abdominal discomfort.

So, Terry told me this week that she just received the card I mailed to wish her a Happy New Year!  I cannot figure it out.  It only takes about a week for packages to arrive from the US but a simple card takes two months to get back to the US.

I leave for my second R & R on Wednesday.  I’ll be travelling for over 36 hours in order to get home to be with Terry.  I’ll first fly from Kandahar to Dubai.  I have a 10-hour lay-over in Dubai.  Fortunately, I’ll be able to spend the time in an airport lounge where I’ll be able to eat a little, nap, read, and access the internet.  Then I board the 14-hour United flight to Washington/Dulles.  Since United has no flights from Dulles to Manchester on Thursday, I have to fly home through Chicago, adding a few hundred miles and 3.5 hours to the trip.  I’ll finally arrive in Manchester late on Thursday afternoon.

I plan to bring home a suitcase full of clothes and winter gear I either no longer need here or never used while I was here.  My ultimate goal will be to leave here in August with just a small backpack of belongings so I am going to start reducing the amount of “stuff” I have here.  I will need my cold weather clothes still in New Hampshire anyway.  The daytime temperatures here are now approaching 80 every day and we’ve turned on the air conditioning in my office building.

I am really looking forward to just relaxing at home with Terry during this R & R.  I suspect we’ll go out to dinner occasionally, maybe take in a show or something but just hanging out together is on top of the to-do list.  I’ll have to do our tax return while I am home and it is time for Mikey to begin preparing for his move to New Zealand.  NZ has strict animal importation laws and they still require a period of quarantine.  If Mikey’s paperwork is all in order, he’ll only be locked up for ten days, but we have to start six months before he travels to have everything together.

I will probably not post anything while I am home so you can expect my next post to be published on about April 12^th.  Until then…

On the Boardwalk

Beware the Boardwalk!  The infamous Boardwalk on KAF is a large square-shaped wood-framed strip mall.  Inside the square is a soccer field, basketball court, beach volleyball court and (street) hockey rink. There is also a quarter-mile running track with a rubberized surface that runs around the interior. The shops on the boardwalk include at least a dozen food vendors, clothing, electronic and souvenir shops.

 Here you can see the basketball court and running track.

This lower photo shows the memorial to fallen soldiers (foreground) and the corner stage where USO show are often held.

There are two sit-down restaurants on the Boardwalk; TGI Friday's and Mamma Mia's Pizza.

Mamma Mia's serves about two-dozen types of pizza and some pasta dishes.  The pizza is not quite like Naples Italy or good Chicago deep-dish, but you can get a decent pie and will not leave the meal with any intestinal discomfort.  The only discomfort at this place is sitting on the hard wooden benches they use for customer seating.

WARNING - DO NOT EAT HERE!  While hosting some visitors from Kabul on Monday, we went to TGI Friday's for lunch.  I ate the Friday's grilled chicken sandwich and have been paying for it ever since.  I had to go to the PX and purchase some anti-diarrhea medication today.

So, no running this week, except to the porta-john!  Only 12 more days before R & R!

Change and Flexibility

The weather around here is starting to change.  Winter in Kandahar is characterized by cold, windy, rainy weather.  We get these cold fronts that move through and dump an inch or two of rain turning the sea of dust into a sea of mud puddles.  I walk around thinking to myself that this rain is good, that things will grow and we’ll see some greenery in a day or two.  That’s not the case.  The mud simply dries up and becomes dirt and dust again.  We expect a dry sunny week with highs going into the 80s for the first time this year so I guess that’s the sign of spring in Kandahar.

While in Basic Training, when I first joined the Army, my Drill Sergeant told us to remember one word: flexibility.  He told us that since we are now in the government, we have to learn to be flexible because we will always be reacting to change.  Change is a certainty.  We will always have change in our lives.  Those who understand this can remain flexible and not be negatively affected by change.  Those who can find positive ways to react and adjust tend to thrive.

Why all the diatribe about change and flexibility?  That’s what I face every day here on the job.  There are a lot of changes taking place.  Some folks are adapting well while others have a tougher time.  Not being able to adjust and overcome adds to the stress and tends to make life less enjoyable for others around you.  But, my spirits are up!  We’ve been able to get things done around here to make life just a little better for folks and they are appreciative.

The pace of work has put a damper on my fitness (non) routine.  I’ve been lucky to get just one or two runs in during any of the past few weeks.  I am not too worried about it.  With the weather changing, it is starting to get daylight outside earlier and soon I’ll be able to get out on the road early in the morning for a run.  I just have to be able to be in the office by 0730 every morning, hopefully, showered and with a belly full of breakfast.

On another note, it is a good thing I didn’t come here equipped with my Idiot Gun.  If you’ve never seen one, it is similar to a paintball gun.  When fired at someone, it splats a big blob of bright paint on the person and includes the label IDIOT in the center of the blob.  A perfect use for one of these weapons would be in the halls of congress.  Anyway, if I came here with an idiot gun, I’d be out of ammo already.

Let’s change the subject.  I hear Corey and Katrina have set the date!  October 12^th!  I guess Terry and I will have some planning to do ourselves now since we are supposed to be in Wellington by the end of September.  No worries, we’ll figure something out.  I am excited for them.

Terry will be proud of me.  One of the guys we have here on the compound who does all the cleaning saw me dragging my three small rugs outside.  I was going to sweep them and knock the dust out of them.  He grabbed them from me and took the water hose to them.  Then he set them on saw horses to dry in the sun.  So, I have clean rugs in my little hooch now!

Until next week, or the week after that, or maybe the week after that…