Butterfly effect

When a certain pastor's convictions took him down a path of unwise decisions, I think the media and attention got to him and he decided to burn a certain book regardless of the consequences.  Now a world away I'm seeing the results (consequences) of his actions.  There is a city within view of where I am and the protests and violence have gotten out of hand.  For several days there have been fires burning in the city and all kinds of activity.  I can say that the reaction is more of an excuse for trouble rather than a genuine protest based on beliefs.  The job of the forces here has gotten a lot harder and this place is much more dangerous now.  I'm glad I am on my way out of here and soon.

Waiting for the kettle to boil

I think the saying is more along the lines of "a watched pot never boils" however my perspective right now is a watched calendar never changes.  I think the last week has gone by the slowest of any week I can remember here.  I'm stuck between the new and exciting, which passes quickly, and the resolved that I'm here for a while stage.  Most of the time I'm spending training the new guy here to try and get him comfortable running things for the last 4 weeks of the contract after I leave.  At least there are regular "customers" that come and chat.  I usually get a good story or two about some of the interesting things that are going on around me.  I think I have gotten so used to this place that I have forgotten about the war going on around me.
Well, the countdown continues and I have less than 2 weeks left here at my base.  The journey home will take a while but the time should pass quickly once I start traveling. 

light at the end of the tunnel

Well there is now light at the end of the tunnel I seem to be stuck in.  If all goes well I should be heading home soon.  Although my departure is not going smoothly, I'm resolved not to get bogged down and involved in a battle.
My attempt to keep an unidentified plant alive here is these conditions look like a loosing battle.  Said plant looks like it is on it's last day.  After a few days of full sun and heat the one green living thing left here shriveled up and died.  Even a watering 2 of 3 times a day was not enough to keep it going.  Oh well, at least it entertained me for a little while.  It does not take much here.
Other than a few unplanned power interruptions and a couple of extremely busy days, it has been pretty dull for the last few weeks.  I guess that is a good thing except the time seems to go by so slowly.

Green and alive

Well it's not an alien but nearly as surprising.  After the rainy few weeks we have had, I noticed something green sticking up between the rocks in my compound.  Lo, even behold there were several plants poking up through the rocks.
I'm not sure what the plant is exactly but my best guess at this point would be watermelon seeds that were spit on the ground, or maybe sunflower.  I'm just hoping it's not poppy.

It was 22 deg here at 8:30 this morning, so we seem to be getting back into the summer hot weather.  I think the high yesterday was 29 deg.  It's actually a very pleasant time of year.
With the nicer weather unfortunately comes trouble.  It was very "active" here yesterday.  It just seems strange that these nuts are so fussy about the weather they venture out in.

mud

We seem to be stuck in the dreary wet March here in the desert.  It is raining again today and has been for 3 or 4 days straight.  not a lot of rain, just drizzle.  The result of this is lots and lots of mud.  the "sand" here is more like a heavy flour and, when mixed with rain, turns into a nice super sticky mud.  Temperatures are usually between 4-8 deg overnight and anywhere from 8 - 22 deg in the day.  Some areas around here have even seen a little snow.  There are a number of large mountains within view and they are all snow covered on top.  It's definitely not home but nice to see.
I'm stuck running the show by myself again for a little while ( I hope only a few more days).  It is wearing me out as I can't seem to get much productive done while trying to run the helpdesk and deal with the issues that come up.  On top of that I still really can't seem to get a good nights rest.  I'm ready to get out of here.

Change

Nothing seems to stay the same for long around here.  I was just getting familiar with some of the people here and now they are gone.  I suppose that is the nature of what goes on around here and you would not expect it to stay the same as you would at home with the same friends living around you.  As units move to other spots they are replaced with others.  It is making the job more difficult as I have to learn new contacts all the time to get anything done or find the information I need.  Life seems to be like that but it is getting hard to deal with.
It has been a busy week compared to some but the time goes by quicker when you are busy.  It has also been a somber week with too much bad news here and lots of people impacted.  Sometimes I wish I could write more detail but again it also probably a good thing that I don't share too much.
Still waiting on word about our contract but on the plus side I think I will be home sooner than later.  I have gotten to the point where I have had enough of this and I'm secretly hoping that we don't get the contract so I can be done with this.  In the mean time I'll just keep doing my thing and try to make the best of it.

civilized

Civilized adj
: characteristic of a state of civilization ; especially : characterized by taste, refinement, or restraint

Wow! living in an uncivilized part of the world sure is taking it's toll.  I never considered myself to be racist, intolerant or bigot minded.  I guess there was never much of a situation that would have even caused me to consider my views.  Until now.  Working here is not quite as military as I would have thought.  There seem to be more and more "workers" here from such countries as the Philippines (not so bad), Turkey, Pakistan, Yemen, etc.  The longer I am here the more I seem to strongly dislike being in the company of certain people.  At first It was easy to just dismiss some actions as individual, but then when you are stuck in close proximity to many third world people you realize that they are pretty much all behaving the same.  They are rude, impolite, impatient, dirty, smelly ... and the list goes on.
It is not uncommon while waiting in chow line for some to walk right past to try and move to the front.  I'm used to having a certain body buffer zone that is often invaded.  Sit down to eat with lots of space around you and someone will come crowd in at your table bumping your arm while you try to eat.  The concept of deodorant and personal hygiene - well it isn't even a concept.
That's what is on my mind this week.  I'm trying to consider my attitude - but it is very trying.
God, grant me patience.

Extreme

Extreme seems to be tagged onto lots of things these days.  I guess when you hear that the desert is an extreme environment you would think of hot and dry.  Well it gets cold too, maybe not extreme cold here but cold none the less.

It turns out that, at lest in this desert, extreme weather can also include torrential rain, amazing thunder storms and yes even hail.  The chain lightning was a spectacular display of white, orange and even blue.

It has been a busy week with the extreme weather causing lots of issues with the satellite and network.  I would not want to be bored with a monotonous job but at this point I have had enough interesting weather or at least enough technical challenges related to the weather.  Again it is difficult to get good pictures considering the environment but I think I will have some to add in here soon.(obviously accomplished)

Speaking of extreme, I am extremely thankful for my home.  I don't know why anyone would ever live here.  I'm also glad I packed a rain jacket.

Time flies when you are having fun

I really am surprised looking back at how quickly a month can pass by.  The largest contributing factors in this time anomaly would probably be that I was home on vacation and it was the Christmas season.  The travel adventure to return to work has rated the strangest of my travels to date.  Beginning with my departure from home I encountered an airport that had canceled all flights for the remainder of the day.  Not a good start but to have an extra day home was not bad.  Once the flights were all re-booked I flew east, then back west over top of home, then east again over top of home and the 2nd airport.  This part of the journey was a 13 hour flight in the middle of the middle row (not good - I'm a window man).  The flight was on one of the new A380's which was impressive.  Arrived in Dubai without a VISA (now required for Canadians) which meant I had to stay in the airport for 2 days without luggage.  Managed to get where I needed to be for transfer to terminal 2 with much chaos and made it to the non commercial flight to get here.  At this point I was certain my luggage was lost forever.  To end it all I arrived at my destination and was pleasantly surprised to see my luggage waiting for me.  And that - as they say - is that.

After another week of waiting for transportation on a C-130 (another interesting flight), I have settled in for another long stay here at home sweet desert home.

I have plans to go back and post in some details from the week in Dubai from my trip home on vacation as well as some vacation photos.  It is also my intent to try to post at least something of interest on a loosely regular basis.

I'll be home for Christmas......

Sooooo good to be home for Christmas!  Nothing makes you appreciate home more than a 6 month adventure in the desert.  They say you don't really appreciate something until you loose it and now I know the feeling.  Canada is a great country and the perfect spot to call home.  The travel home after Dubai was long but still not hard to deal with considering the final destination (hmm - that thought should be applied to life too).  I was greeted by Mom at the airport and finally had that relaxed comfortable feeling I had been missing.  Then my dog cried when she saw me get out of the car.  Even the Christmas tree was already up.  Welcome home!

 

I enjoyed my vacation a lot and always managed to keep just busy enough.  Most days I was able to take a walk in the woods which I missed a lot.  Thankfully the weather was not too cold so there was no shock to my system.  The first Sunday home I was able to see the choir Christmas cantata in the new church building which was nice.  Lots of time with friends and family was just what I needed.  I went to visit the farm several times while home as well - still miss that.

Spent Christmas eve with Dad building a front porch on my house.  It looks real good all decorated and furnished with family living there.  Went to some hockey games and practices to watch my nephew.  Got a rabbit hunting trip in.  More visiting with family and friends.  Worked a few Saturdays wiring with my brother-in-law.

Sounds like a great Christmas vacation right?  One of the best I can remember.  Before it seemed like I had been home very long - alas - as they say all good things come to an end.