Dust in the wind

Was able to catch a shot of my first dust storm approaching this evening.  It didn't turn out to be much but I'm told they can get quite bad.  Dust gets everywhere (more than usual) and it's like a blizzard only you get sand blasted in the face.  Hopping not to experience too many of those.

New digs

The office and living quarters are quite adequate.  Should not be too bad living here.

Office

Things appear to be quite safe, considering we are in the middle of a very large base in the middle of the desert with gun carrying marines all around - even at the chow hall.  Hard to get used to sitting in a large dining tent with 100's of marines who are mostly all carrying weapons.

communications can

Hot

Decidedly hot here at this time of year.  I'm told that it takes your body up to 30 days to adjust properly, although I'm not sure I want to adjust to this kind of heat.  Fortunately the accomodations have air conditioning and are better equipped than I had prepared myself for.  Spending the next few days sorting things out and getting familiar with the work I will be doing.  Glad to have friends here, it makes it a lot easier than figuring everything out - even the simple things like when is the best time to shower.

I'm flying

July 17, 2010 - Saint John to Toronto AC8951 dep 7:15 PM arr 8:23 PM flying time 2:08
July 17, 2010 - Toronto to Frankfurt AC876 dep 10:05 PM arr 11:55 AM flying time 7:50

Had a bit of a wait in the Frankfurt airport - got a chance to watch my plane getting prepared.

It all started when....

In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth....well I won't start that far back.  I had been working for MITI -> xwave -> Aliant -> Bell Aliant -> (..Bell??) since 1998 with a small "sabbatical" working on the farm in the middle there.  My future at the company was looking pretty bad with layoffs all around me and pay freezes.  A friend of mine that worked for the company decided to take a job working overseas.  After discussing the details and waiting to see how he made out, I was encouraged to apply for a job as well.  The work required me to travel to Afghanistan, which takes a lot of thinking and some loss of sleep.  In January, 2010, I decided that the timing was right and it was time to go for it.  Thanks to the friends input and feedback I was interviewed for the job and was made an offer for a 2 yr contract.  Probably one of the biggest decisions I have ever made.  At the time I was still trying to complete construction of my new house, so I had to speed things up and try to complete as much as I could.  July arrived and it was time to prepare to leave.  That is where my journey begins - July 17th, 2010 I boarded a plane in Saint John.

bad day

Personal...convicting...but still very discouraging and disappointing.

Away we go

Time to try keeping track of my adventures.

I'm not sure if I will have a lot of time to keep this up on a daily basis, but I guess that is not important. Lets see how this goes and hopefully it will at least be entertaining for myself to look back on and help remember some of the details that get forgotten.