Just another week

There is not a lot to report this week.  The temps stay above 100°F during the day which makes it somewhat more difficult to be outside, especially in the afternoons.  It kind of feels like you are standing in an oven while you are outside.  Even if it is windy, you don’t get much relief because the wind is just as hot.  Since it is so dry, your sweat evaporates immediately so there is no cooling effect from that. A couple of nice dust storms added to the wonderful ambiance of this popular vacation retreat.

We are doing a lot of work in preparation for the move to our new compound.  I have to worry about everything from water and fuel supplies to voice, data and TV wiring.  Nevertheless, it will all come together, some day.  And, the costs are much less than what the IRS has been spending on their lavish conferences.  Maybe I’ll host a line dance event to celebrate the move, when it happens.

Almost every day this week brought a plumbing problem.  We had one toilet that ran all night one day.  This served to completely empty our water tank and caused some of our employees to go to work without their morning showers. Phew!

17 days to R&R!

Bratwurst!

On Sunday, we had a little barbeque for our employees.  The DFAC provided the food and drink; all we had to do was get the grills going and cook the meat.  We grilled steaks, marinated boneless chicken breasts, and bratwurst!  I have to admit, the brats were the best.  I suspect the reason they were so well-liked was that we rarely have good bratwurst in the regular DFAC meals here.  They provided us with real German-style brats and bread rolls.  We also enjoyed potato salad, coleslaw, cake and cookies for dessert.  We used two large grills to cook the meat.  My colleague, Jesse cooked the chicken on one and I grilled the steaks and brats on the other.  Here we are sweating over the hot coals.

That same morning, I also received the keys to our new compound.  We have a lot of work to do before we can begin moving in but it was a major step in a task that has taken many months to achieve.  The new housing will provide safer, more comfortable living conditions for our employees.  So, we are looking forward to moving in there sometime this summer.

I also had the pleasure of attending the Change of Command ceremony at the hospital here on the airbase.  Our hospital is clearly one of the finest trauma centers in the world.  Operated by Navy medical staff, they are in the business of saving lives.  This is where medevac aircraft from around southern Afghanistan bring casualties.  The staff here was also responsible for the outstanding care of our civilians who were attacked on April 6^th in Zabul.  This was the first Navy Change of Command I have witnessed.  It is a bit different from the many Army Changes of Command I participated in.  Even though the ceremony was conducted on dry land, they maintain naval tradition by “piping aboard” the incoming and outgoing commanders, both Navy Captains.  They also had a great reception after the event where I was able to talk with both officers.  The outgoing commander has been selected for flag rank (Rear Admiral) and returns to the U.S. soon.  Command of this hospital is clearly an important and unique responsibility for Naval Medical Officers.

On Monday, the nation celebrated Memorial Day.  While I often think about friends, colleagues, and acquaintances who have given their lives in service to our nation, I am glad that we use this day to focus the attention of all of our citizens on the sacrifice of our fallen service members.

Finally, only 24 days until I depart on R&R!  I sure miss my wife and family and I am looking forward to getting to see all of them soon!

Postcard from Charlotte!

Exactly one month remains before I begin my final R&R.  That’s 31 days from now.  I’ll be returning to Manchester for about a week before we head out on our 2013 Fisher Family vacation.  When I return from this vacation, I’ll have about 34 days remaining in this Afghan tour.  So, today also marks 91 days until this tour is over.

It was an extremely busy work week.  We have a lot of planning and coordination work related to our future move to a new compound on the airbase.  This project has been my main effort all year and we are getting close to making it a reality.  A highlight to working on this project is that I get to work with a friend from my time in Bern.  Rod Schellack and his wife Nancy are great folks who served in Bern while Terry and I were there.  Rod just arrived in Kabul and one of his job responsibilities will be working with me on projects here at KAF.  It was good to catch up with Rod this week and I’ll enjoy seeing him from time to time when he travels down here occasionally.  

With all the work competing for my time, I had a less than successful week of physical fitness.  I think I was able to run or work out three times this past week.  I guess that is what is recommended for most folks so at least I’m keeping up the average guy.

The beard experiment didn’t last very long.  At about day 10, it was just getting too itchy and hot.  Of course with daily temperatures going over 100°F, it was pretty uncomfortable.  SO, yesterday I shaved the beard off.  Besides, my lovely, caring wife would not Skype with me while I grew the beard.  I could call on the phone but she refused to look at my scruffy face.  Can you blame her?  Look at this photo I took just before shaving.

The highlight of my week was receiving a cute little “American Girl” post card from my granddaughter, Charlotte which was addressed to “Papa.”  Sha Sha is only 2 years old so, with the help of her Mom, she scribbled a little on the card and put some cute stickers on it.  Thanks Sha Sha!

Hair and a Helicopter

Sorry about the gap in posts.  The previous two Fridays did not lend themselves well to sitting down and writing.  I was either working or trying to just relax.  Needless to say I am staying quite busy.  But, this week I refocused on what is important and started making time during the day to get a run or workout in.  Since the first of the year, I've really been a slug in that regard.  Yeah, I still went out and ran the races they had on the base, but otherwise, I was either working or too tired.  I had the intention of getting up early every day to get my run done before getting to work but that was not working because I was so tired, I didn't want to get up and out.  So, I am leaving the office late in the afternoon to exercise before supper.  This past week, that has seemed to work.  There is one more 5K planned, on May 24th.  I've been mixing things up a bit too.  More hills (on the treadmill), push-ups and ab work and getting on the stationary bike for some cross-training.

Okay, here's the hair part of the post.  I have about five and a half weeks left before my last R&R and our family vacation!  Between now and when I depart for R&R, I am not going to shave or get a haircut!  Why?  Because since I joined the Army at age 19, some 36 years ago, I have had short hair and never grew a beard.  Of course Terry does not like beards, and likes my head shaved.  No fear Terry, I'll get it back that way before the R&R but now is my only chance to try it.  So, here goes!  This picture is two full days of not shaving.

 

I know it will look very scruffy for the first few weeks, but I don't have anyone here that I have to impress, right?  I bet my wonderful bride is thinking, "Oh no, what if he likes it?"  I'm looking forward to bringing my left-overs back to the hooch with me and enjoying seconds (remaining food in the beard). ;-)

I received a belated birthday gift from Chris, Marissa, and Charlotte!  Here it is, a small, remote-control Apache helicopter!

It is really kind of a cool gift.  I've flown it around my small room a couple of times but I know it is going to take some time to get the hang of it and get used to operating the controls.  Later tonight, I might take it over to our small conference room and give it a try in a bigger space.  The helicopter is surprisingly rugged and can survive crash landings quite well.

It's been like Christmas around here.  This week I received a huge box of breakfast food and snacks from my wonderful wife and three boxes from Chris and Marissa which had everything in it from smoked oysters to t-shirts to Trader Joe's snacks!  I've got so much breakfast food now, I'll never have to eat that meal in the DFACs again!

I have less than 100 days remaining in this tour!  Speaking of 100s, that is where our daytime temperatures are now.  I am sure it will get even hotter but anything over 100 is still oven-hot.  What better time of year to grow a beard!

 

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…