"Welcome" to Afghanistan?

So, after 11 months in the land of expansive sand and sun, I made the choice to move on to Afghanistan. This option afforded two things--a change of scenery, as well as an increase in pay. The change in scenery isn't much--mountains instead of sand dunes, and grass and trees instead of sand and rock. As for the pay increase...well, that one needs no explanation. I'm here to make the money, and the uplift is significant. My time is limited, however; I will be homeward bound on June 1, unless something drastic happens, or I can't find gainful employment in the meantime. Time will tell there.

Because life here is much like Groundhog Day, there isn't really much to report on. I did make a trip home in November of last year, and had a grand time. I reacquainted with family, hung out with my dog, and drove my oh-so-awesome car. But, like all good things, the trip ended too soon. I was back in the land of sand and rock mere days later...awaiting my final return home.

As for the kids, the boy has finally entered college after being out of high school for a mere 5 years. I hold my breath for the time being, as history hasn't really worked in his favor too much. He did manage to pick up a vehicle that is 100% his, and not something that some apathetic bag of protoplasm had bought for him to let him use and abuse at will. We shall see how it goes, but each day that passes simply adds to the hope. The girl...has a much different story. She has bounced around from house to house, living nowhere for more than a couple of weeks, using her friends up like old toilet paper, destroying friendships over made-up drama, and lying like there's no tomorrow. My hope for her is that she'll eventually tire of the lifestyle of a gypsy, but at this point, I don't know. I did provide he with financing for a car, which went south almost immediately. The car was repossessed and repurchased, all within just a few short weeks. As I said...hope isn't very high right now, but we must soldier on.

I wish I could say there's more to report, but other than the minor day-to-day bullshit, it's just eat, work, sleep. Once I'm closer to being gone, I'll exert more effort. Want to see pictures? They're either in my Picasa album or on my Facebook/Google+ page. That's all I have for now. Until next time....

Summertime in Kuwait is about to be over!

Well, it's now been ANOTHER 90 days. I promised myself I wouldn't get behind on my blog, and we see how that went! So much has happened...where shall I begin?

Since my last post in June, we've endured a "typical" Kuwaiti summer with highs in the upper 120s and lows in the upper 90s to low 100s. We did have a few days over 130°, but I survived with little more than a good sweat. Odd thing about the extreme heat--when I'm outside and the temperature is around or above 120°, my hands actually get so hot that it feels like they're on fire. I mean, to the point where I run them under "cold" water. I put that in quotes because, during the summer, the cold water here is around 120°-125°. That's what most households set their water heaters to! The hot water here is truly HOT--they typically set the 50 gallon tanks to 180°, so hot is REALLY hot! You never use the hot water during the summer, and only small amounts during the winter. It's crazy, I tell you!

Album of pictures from the
Mediterranean cruise

I did manage to knock a few things off of my bucket list this summer. Leslie and I went on a Mediterranean cruise, and what an awesome experience! We had 2 stops in France and 3 stops in Italy before returning to our port of debarkation--Barcelona. Although my phone was stolen at the Barcelona airport upon my arrival, everything else went pretty much like clockwork the rest of the week. The Hotel Catalunya was amazing, the cabin on the ship was amazing, and the food--holy shit--the food was AMAZING! There was just SO much of it! If you've never been on a cruise, I highly recommend it. Royal Carribbean isn't the cheapest, but they make up for it with amenities like you wouldn't believe--amazing Broadway-style shows, an ice show like no other, customer service that was second to none, and just an overall A+ experience. I sound like a commercial, but it really was just that damn awesome. We had fun every single day, and saw amazing sights like Pompeii, the leaning tower of Pisa, downtown Florence, the Pantheon, Mt. Vesuvius, the French Riviera, and a host of other sights. I took a lot of pictures, but Leslie tells me that pictures without one of us in them would be "less interesting", so forgive me if my photos are "less interesting" because I was just snapping picture after picture in awe.

Upon my return to Kuwait, I found out that we were moving into different accommodations. Notice I didn't say "better" accommodations--just "different". It's still a CHU, as they're called here (Containerized Housing Unit), which basically amounts to a box with doors. They have air conditioning, but when the dust storms hit, the dust just blows right in through the window units. We had a really bad sandstorm just 24 hours after we had moved in, and I came in after work to find all of my stuff--laptop, Xoom, TV, bed) covered with a very heavy layer of talcum-powder-fine dust. So I spent the next 3 hours cleaning, washing and meticulously dusting my electronics....only to have the storm intensify overnight into a full-blown blackout sandstorm the following day. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE this place?

So that brings us up to now. Nothing much really changes here day-to-day. The temperatures are finally falling to mid-70s at night and lower 100s during the day, and the cold water is now actually not scalding hot. I will be taking pictures and video of everything as soon as I move back to day shift. As much as I prefer the night shift (7p-7a), it is a highly sought-after time slot, and my time was short. I will be back on nights as soon as someone leaves, which shouldn't be long. Turnaround at this place is tremendous. I've been here 6-1/2 months, and we've already lost 1/2 of the staff that was here when I got here in March. That's just a small sign of how much this place sucks.

To answer a few questions I've gotten via email--no, I have not cut my hair yet. It is about down to the middle of my back now. I'll cut it after I am moved back to the states for good and donate it then. Another question--yes, it REALLY DOES get to be 130°+ here during the summer. I have a couple of pictures on my Facebook page of the thermometer on my bicycle reading well over 130°. Although it only got that hot about a dozen times this summer, it was enough to convince me that I don't want to live here on a permanent basis! Another--I plan on being here until August 1, 2013. I don't think I can take much more than that. That will be a year and a half, and that's certainly enough for me. Last one--my "room" is about 12'x22', and it is divided roughly in half. I have the front half (with the door and the tiny window), so my actual space is only about 9' wide and maybe 10' long. A metal bunk bed, 2 wall lockers, and my 'personal stuff" (TV, laptop/desk, small refrigerator, microwave) are the amenities that we have. Entertainment is to download movies and TV shows to watch on days off. That is life in Kuwait!

Until next time....

Kuwait--the first 90 days

So I've now been here for about 90 days, and what a time it has been. In those 90 days, I've been through the gamut--from injuries to entertainment to everything in between! Here's the Reader's Digest version:

• Toby Keith in concert
• Ambulance ride to Camp Arifjan for what could equate to bad heartburn, thanks to an overzealous co-worker
• Studying for certification exams
• Passing the COMPTIA Security+ exam
• Weekly dust storms of epic proportions--50mph winds with sand and dust so heavy you can't see your feet
• Thunderstorms that would dwarf a typical thunderstorm in the US--complete with purple lightning!
• Sprained ankle so bad that it looks like a broken leg

And that's just the first 90 days! I look forward to what Kuwait has for me in the next 90 days!

As far as things go, it's been moving as fast as I had hoped it would. There is very little to do here, so boredom becomes your worst enemy. They have movies every day, all day long...but how many times can you watch the same crummy movies? Because we're 25 miles from the nearest--anything--you have to find a ride anytime you want to do something or go somewhere. It typically takes many months to get a Kuwaiti driver's license, at which point you become everyone else's chauffeur, which is also a curse. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel.


I have been studying for certification tests in order to move from Service Desk to System Admin. That's the whole reason I came to Kuwait in the first place, and if my recruiter with ITT/Exelis hadn't been such a stark raving idiot (that's Shelley Haymaker, in case you were wondering). I just told her to get me on a plane and I would do the rest. At that point, after eight months, I just had to get moving before the window of opportunity closed. So, with the COMPTIA Security+ exam out of the way, next stop is my MCITP: Server Administrator, then finally, the MCITP: Enterprise Administrator. The second is the BIG certification--it's the hardest, but can lead to the most open doors. The first certification takes two tests, and the second takes three. It's fortunate that there is a considerable amount of down time here to allow for studying, as there is a LOT of studying to do! I'll just be glad when that part is done.


The dust storms here are absolutely ridiculous! They come out of nowhere, with the worst one hitting in the middle of the night on May 3. Known as a 'Haboob', these storms are crazy! May 3, the winds were hurricane-force (75+ mph), and carried enough dirt to completely immobilize a vehicle in a matter of minutes. The air conditioners struggled to keep the rooms cool, but required washing over the course of the next few days in order to clear the pounds of sand out of the coils that accumulated in just one night. We have since had several "lesser" storms--but don't let that fool you. Even the lesser storms can get ugly fast! Last week's storm shut down the base for two days--the trucks that haul water in and sewage out couldn't drive, so things turned ugly really quickly. The toilet sources here are typically porta-potties (known as 'the hotbox'), and when they go more than 24 hours without a little maintenance, it becomes quite a mess. But we survived once again.


Summer has arrived, even if the calendar doesn't say so. It's been at least 110º-115º here every day since mid-May, with highs reaching as high as 125º so far. It's early for such temps from what I understand, so this summer looks to be beyond 'extremely hot', more like 'deadly hot'. Predictions by the weather team here, you ask? Looks like 140º or more will be common. I'll never complain about Arkansas summers again!


That's it for now. Time to get back to work. Until next time....

Is it vacation time yet?

The first month in Kuwait has come and gone, and I don't have a whole lot to say about it. The place is still dull...boring...and very flat. I have made my way into Kuwait City to visit civilization, so that was a welcome break. The 360 Mall is quite a treat--found a nice steak house there, even though there is no alcohol served. Which brings me to my next thought...

Leslie and I have planned a Mediterranean cruise for this summer, and I gotta tell you how excited I am about it. We had spoken many times about visiting Europe during my stint over here, but never could really come up with a good plan. I suggested a cruise just because it seemed like the most affordable method of visiting, eating and sleeping in the shortest amount of time. Ireland and the UK will have to wait until I have completed my rounds over here...but we will be back! As it stands, we'll see places like Rome, Pisa and Barcelona, which we'd otherwise likely never get to see. I will also get to spend time with Leslie...and by that time, being without alcohol and "female companionship" for half a year will ensure that we'll be spending a good bit of quality time together! But that's enough about that...I'm sure she'd appreciate such references on a public forum.

While I'm here, the "computer geek" in me is forcing me to get my certifications updated...not just because I want to, but because it could afford me the opportunity to advance here and make buku dinero, while also making me more marketable when I return to the US to search out a job. Oddly enough, as I browse the classifieds from Kuwait, I find that the job market isn't really just bubbling over with opportunities. What does that mean for me? Depending on the opportunities available in the US when it's time for me to fly, I may or may not be staying here longer (UGH!). As unpleasant as that sounds, the money I'm making here is certainly plentiful enough to make things just a bit more bearable--JUST A BIT. Soldier deployments are typically a year or less in most cases, and as I've always said, if it's good enough for them, it's certainly good enough for me. And I'm making considerably more than most of them do!

So, that's all for today. I'll update again with some pictures when I have something different to show. Until next time....

A month at Camp Buehring

It's now been about a month since I flew out of Little Rock, en route to this place they call a "Camp". I've seen plenty of tents, but this isn't what I'd call FUN! The work here is gruelling--it takes a while to adjust to 12 hour days, especially when you spend those hours locked in a windowless room, taking call after call, listening to people drone on about this and that. I guess the best part is, I'm getting paid, and getting paid WELL. It could be worse--I could be one of the soldiers stomping around in that horrid sand, getting paid a fraction of what is deserved. But I digress...

On a good note, Leslie and I have managed to secure our Mediterranean cruise in July. We'll be cruising out of Barcelona, Spain, on Royal Caribbean's "Liberty of the Seas", en route to destinations like Nice and Provence, France, Florence, Rome and Pisa, Italy, and good old Barcelona! It's eight days of sun and cruising, with plenty of fun and food and adventure for anyone. I'll be posting lots of pictures from that trip--bet on that! It may not seem like much, but when you're away from friends and family for such a long time, you really look forward to things like this. Besides, how many people get to see such sites in their lifetime? This is exactly what we had planned when I took this position in Kuwait--to travel and see the world. And so it begins!

On another note, I have made mention of how absolutely trashy this country is. I've been as graphic as I could, but without seeing, you may not be a true believer. So, I took the liberty of recording a little video while we were driving down the highway the other day. It's an HQ video, so you can freeze it at any point and see just how utterly disgusting this place is. I actually shot two videos--you can't see all of the trash properly in a single video!




Welcome to the world of Kuwait and all of its trash!

That's all for today. Until next time....