Salute to Civilians!

This week seemed to fly by rather quickly.  No complaining here though.  The faster time slips by, the sooner I get to the end of this tour.  Don’t get me wrong, this is a professionally rewarding assignment.  I work with some great folks here, both civilian and military.  I simply miss my wife and family and all the creature comforts (beer!) we have back in the “civilized” world.  So, as of today, there are 58 days until my next R & R and only 120 days until I depart Afghanistan.

Terry and I have been assigned our housing in Wellington New Zealand.  We’ll be living in a 4-bedroom, 2-bath single story house in a suburb just north of downtown Wellington.  The house has a nice, small fenced back yard for Mikey and should have plenty of room for a small home office, home gym, guest room(s), etc.  Here is a picture of the front of the house.

This morning I awoke early to participate in the “Salute to Civilians” 5K run.  This 3.1 mile race started at 06:00 for walkers and 06:10 for the runners.  I started off running with a couple of my security colleagues but after a few minutes decided to pick up the pace a little.  Speed is all relative.  I ran the distance in just over 29 minutes which is pretty slow, I think.  I used to be able to run these in under 25 minutes.  I guess since I just hit my 55^th birthday this week, I have an excuse.  We all slow down a little as we get older, right?  Well. There are three more 5K races scheduled this month on base so I’ll try to run a faster time with each race I run.  I have not really been doing much with regard to my physical fitness.  I consider myself lucky if I can get one or two runs in a week any more.  With daytime temps approaching the 90s now, the only time to run comfortably is daybreak.  Sometimes, I just don’t want to get up that early, especially knowing how much work I am going to have to do during the day.

Chris and Marissa were kind enough to give me an on-line Amazon gift certificate for my birthday.  THANKS GUYS!  I’ve never shopped at Amazon.com.  I am puzzled as to what I should get.  I am trying to live a pretty austere life here and not collect a bunch of “stuff.”  I am certainly open to suggestions.  Maybe I’ll look at what running shoes they offer or maybe some music.  Maybe by next Friday I will have decided what to get through Amazon.

How to Clean a Hooch!

I’ve been glued to the news today as the events unfolded overnight in Boston.  I was saddened and really mad at the news of the bombings near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday afternoon.  These races are friendly, happy events full of friends and family cheering and supporting runners who’ve put a lot of effort in to preparing for and running this distance.  The Boston Marathon is the premier marathon in the U.S. every year.  Unlike most large city marathons, the Boston Marathon has strict entry requirements.  Runners must either qualify with a very good time from a previous marathon or raise a considerable amount of money for charity in order to gain entry into this event.  A number of friends and acquaintances have run or qualified for this race.

So, it looks like authorities have killed one of the bombing suspects and have the other pinned down somewhere in Watertown, MA.  My thoughts and prayers go out to those killed and injured in the bombings as well as to the families of the police officer who was killed and another who is critically injured.

Well, today was the first time since returning from my R & R that I’ve had the chance to relax a little.  I arrived back here on Monday, April 8^th.  As I was travelling back from the U.S., colleagues of mine here were involved in a deadly attack in the city of Qalat, in Zabul Province.  Zabul is one of the three provinces in the southern region of Afghanistan, the area my organization is responsible for.  One diplomat from the embassy in Kabul was killed along with three soldiers and another man, a Defense Department contractor, whom I knew quite well.  Another colleague who worked with us here at KAF was severely injured and is recovering in the U.S. at Walter Reed Medical Center.  So, as I arrived back, we were still in the midst of all the activity and work that encompasses the aftermath of this kind of attack.   It was not a pleasant environment to return to.

So, I slept in this morning!  Then, after the appropriate amount of caffeine was consumed, I went about cleaning my hooch.  My living quarters had not been thoroughly cleaned since before I left on R & R so it was certainly time for a scrub.  So, my little hooch got a good dusting, the rugs were beat and swept, and the floor swept and mopped.  I also changed the sheets on my bunk and aired the place out.  I bet you all really needed to know what all was involved with cleaning a hooch so there you go!

As for my R & R, I just went home and spent some quiet, quality time with Terry.  I really needed the rest.  We did simple things like going out to eat, or catch a movie.  We watched a bit of TV and talked a lot.  Terry introduced me to the British TV series Downton Abby.  I got hooked right away and ended up watching all three seasons while I was home.   Mikey has begun his six-month preparations for travel to New Zealand.  Even with all the tests and vaccines he’ll be receiving, the NZ government still requires a 10-day quarantine period.  This will be Mikey’s sixth country of residence and the strictest with regard to his importation.

Well, there you go, all caught up.  Until next week…