Day 73

Today was a harried day of last minute details and changes.  Unfortunately, my day is not done yet!  I'll be up late tonight (for me).

I ended up skipping breakfast this morning because I was running late, but I had a wonderful hot chocolate (made in the office!) to warm me up.  I'm officially out of packets right now, but I can probably find some at a shop around the compound here.

I basically just worked on itineraries all day, with little time for much else.  I did read about American Airlines declaring bankruptcy, which was interesting.  The best tickets I've found so far for our vacation have been on American, so we'll have to see what happens.

I gave pumpkin a treat or two today, and she followed me around like a dog :)  She's pretty cute.  I hope she weathers the winter well enough.  I took a picture of a cat shelter someone had built.  I am told there are a few of them that pile in there and use it at night.  So that's pretty cute.  I'm glad people care about them.

Day 72

Another not so great day for Dan.  I got into an argument on the phone with an O-6.  Go figure.

Sigh.  This job just plain sucks.

I did learn this morning that Nick Willet was out here at ISAF HQ at some point shortly before I arrived.  My friend remembers him as short, stocky, back seater, call sign Oompa Loompa.  Funny how people leave impressions where they go.

I went with the drive team today to check out a couple locations.  I guess I always assumed it was my job to set up the meetings, and they would know where these places were.  I was wrong.  And they want me to give them a grid coordinate!  "Excuse me Ma'am, I know you work for the UN, but could you please give me a grid coordinate for your location?"  Not likely.

I'm stressed, tired, and cranky.  Afghanistan pretty much sucks.

Day 71

So this is my second time writing a post for today. My lovely laptop
decided to have itself a BSOD party, and lost my work. I'm ready to
sell this thing and buy a mac!

Today was ok, nothing terribly new. I think the biggest news is that
I bought a mug at Eggers tonight, and I have already made myself a hot
chocolate in it. Delicious! So I think if people are looking for
care package ideas, hot chocolate packets would be great. I will grab
a spoon from the dining facility tomorrow, but tonight I used my big
knife to stir it all up. Quite comical, I would imagine.

I made my hot chocolate, and then we all proceeded to the conference
room to watch our Professional Military Education for the evening.
We're not exactly sure what it was about, because we were playing
poker. I actually made out quite well, and would have walked away a
big winner. So that was cool. I'm still not very fast on the
betting, but I think my judgement was sound.

Pumpkin got a couple treats today, but no whole meals. I think she
will get those as treats. It might be that they can smell the treats
in my pockets, but I'm like the pied piper for cats around here. They
follow me around! I certainly don't mind, but it's kind of funny to
watch. Pumpkin even waits for me when I go into the bathroom.

Well, things are going to get pretty busy and crazy for me shortly. I
have a couple long visits coming up, and I'm somewhat dreading them.
Especially since one is notoriously hard to work with and please. But
maybe it'll be ok. For now I think I'll get some sleep. I'll share
more tomorrow!

Day 70

Well today started out good.  I watched a little Star Trek this morning, and then I went by the Post Office to mail stuff home.  Unfortunately, there was a 20 some person line OUTSIDE the post office.  They only allow 3 customers inside at a time, and it was evidently going to take forever.  So I decided I'll try to mail it tomorrow.

I went to lunch and then work.  I have started becoming confrontational via email.  So most of my regions are being reasonably cooperative, with the major exception being RC-S.  They keep bouncing the visit around to different people, not giving me any feedback, etc.  In fact, one of their more senior people called me 1LT in an email today, and I felt obligated to correct his malfunction.  I had to go tell my bosses, in order to give them fair warning.  But I'm getting pretty ticked.

But I got a Thanksgiving care package from my parents today!  And I can honestly say that I never expected these contents.  Cookies, yes.  Muffins, sure.  6 cans of cat food and a box of more cat food, completely unexpected!  But Pumpkin already thanks you for her can of turkeys tonight.  She was very excited to have real food.  It made me smile, but covertly, of course.

Other than that, my day was pretty boring.  I will have to wait and see what pain my emails bring me tomorrow.  Hopefully I'll finally have people come back to work on the east coast.  It's been very hard trying to work while I wait for answers from people who are taking a holiday.  Well, good night!

Day 69

Today was just another day to mark off on the calendar.  I would actually say that today was boring.  I am not getting information back from my trip planner because they're taking the holiday.

I did get a care package from Emili today, so that was exciting.  Snacks and batteries!  I am not doing great at consuming all the snacks.  Just as an example:  Emili sent me off in Norfolk with a bag of peanut butter M&M's.  Well, the package is mostly gone, but not quite.  I probably still have another few days' worth of grazing before I kill that off.  I didn't even finish my mom's peanut butter squares until last night.  So I have a long ways to go!

I walked through the Women's Bazaar today, but I wasn't that excited about any of the wares.  Lots of table clothes and napkins, which might be nice under many circumstances, didn't feel right today.  Certainly not for $60.  Even the women were a little pushy, but at least they weren't grabby!  Oh well.

I have been getting pretty cold in the office, so I decided today that the next time we go to Eggers, I'll buy a mug at the Exchange.  That way I can use the little water heater we have in the office to make hot chocolate or spiced apple cider from packets!  Anything to keep my hands warmer.  I am going to go dig out some gloves here in a minute.  Thank goodness I'm not cold when I sleep!

I made a new friend at the dining facility tonight.  She's a calico, and she has a tipped ear and a flea collar on.  She's been hanging around outside, just sitting there on the concrete.  We were waiting for someone to follow us out from lunch, so we were petting her, and she kept coming over to my pocket.  I think she knew I was holding out on her, so I relented and gave her a treat.  I had to be careful because there were lots of people all around!  I'm such a rule-breaker.

Well, nothing much scheduled for tomorrow either, except getting to sleep in a bit.  I can't really sleep in very well, so I'll just relax once I get up.  Well, I'm off to dig out some gloves.

Day 68

I woke up this morning and got to chat with Emili and Molly, who were celebrating Thanksgiving together.  So that was nice.  Then I watched some StarTrek as my roommate Kevin packed up his things.  He is leaving Kabul and being moved to Qatar.  So he'll have a much higher quality of life there.

Then I went for my massage.  It was ok, but she spent a really long time on my back.  Maybe she thought my back was sore or something, but she had her whole weight on my back.  It was ok.  I think I'll probably give it another try in another month.

Then I showered and went to work.  Once Thurmond came in, we went to the Bazaar.  It was supposed to be a friendlier experience, because the Base Support Group Commander had a chat with all the merchants about being pushy and grabby.  Unfortunately, I had a man grab my arm today, and I stopped, turned to him, and very sternly told him to let go of my arm.  He did, and he backed off a little after that.  I don't think that's supposed to happen, but it's part of the culture I think.  Thurmond ended up spending something like $350 today on crappy jewelry for his wife, mother in law, grandmother, etc.  I seriously wouldn't purchase any jewelry from the bazaar.  I'm pretty sure none of it is real, or else it wouldn't be sitting out on the tables in the open.  Scammers.

Oh!  I also received a care package from Emili's mom, full of good stuff like chocolate dipped oreos, gingerbread men, and some other goodies.  And I got a letter from my Grandmother and a Thanksgiving card from Emili's Grandmother.  All in all, a pretty good day for mail!

Not too much going on here.  December looks like it's going to be horrible for visits.  Hopefully we'll be able to catch our breath in January.  That's it for tonight!

Day 67

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

I am thankful that I'm safe, well fed, mostly warm enough, and that people at home care about me.

Today was actually a pretty normal day at work.  I decided not to go to breakfast (though I'm not sure why I was moving so slow), but I got a hot chocolate, so that was good.  I'll soon be able to justify a hot chocolate on any day.  First it was "because it's just once a week."  Then today it was "because it's a holiday."  Soon my reasoning will include "because it's Tuesday" or "because there is dust in the air."

Today I played volleyball again, and while I was extremely sore this morning, I actually played a little better today.  I was on a 2 man team, versus a 3 man team.  We actually managed to win 5 out of 6 games, so that wasn't bad at all!  Plus, it was tons of volleyball.  I'm actually quite sore already, but I have my massage in the morning, so that might really help.

Our PSD teams came over from Eggers tonight, and we went to dinner as a family.  A camouflaged family, but still mostly friends.  Unfortunately, we ended up waiting outside for half an hour!  I think it was just that crowded for a while.  But while we were waiting, I saw one of my friendlier cats running around carrying a rodent of some variety in his mouth.  He looked very proud, so I was happy for him.  I guess we all eat well tonight.

I ended up having a pretty quiet dinner because I didn't necessarily like the kid that sat across from me.  He's just a smug person.  As far as I can tell, it's not really warranted, but he's smug, and he bothers me.  Oh well.

So I hope everyone is having a wonderful time eating and visiting and being merry.  I do believe it's bedtime for me.  Good night.