On the Edge: Fire Alarms and Vacations to Come!

Sometimes karma is a bitch...I made a big laugh out of my students in Abu Dhabi getting woken up by a fire alarm early in the morning during their course, and then today we had a general alarm go off just a few hours after I had fallen asleep. While not my first general alarm it definitely wrecked my sleep. I couldn't fall back asleep for hours, so I am now very tired. I guess that I deserve it...I should have been kinder when the students were relating the weariness that their alarm brought to them. C'est la vie...perhaps I will learn to feel more compassion and not make a big joke out of people's misfortune.

What else to talk about? We continue to have trouble with the locals and there seems to be no end in sight. You make a deal with one tribe and then all of the others want a piece too, so it is a game of constantly putting out fires. It is quite frustrating and sometimes a little scary - there is still a lot of animosity here against Westerners and Western companies, particularly amongst the under-educated locals that we have to deal with out here in the field. I am not sure what the answer or way forward is, but it is something to be aware of at least. I sat next to a native Basran on the plane who currently lives with his family in Australia, and even he says that he no longer feels welcome here in his home. He has "over-Westernized" as he put it, but he said that he has high hopes for the future of Iraq.

Last night work was simply brutal...16 and a half hours in the shack. Problems all around that needed fixing, and then everything seemed to continuously delay the daily production. I ended up not getting to bed until after 5am, sun rising in the sky, so it was very challenging to fall asleep. Thank you Qatar Airways for providing me with one of those sleep masks...they look stupid but do help a bit. As standard, the room cleaners came into the room twenty-eight times this morning in complete disregard for the sign on the door which says "Night Shift - please do not disturb between 5am and 3pm" in both English and Arabic. Whatever. The Libyans that are also on night shift believe that they do it on purpose...I don't know about all that, passive-aggressive behavior doesn't seem the style in this part of the world, but what do I know.

This is most of the crew in the QC/IFDP shack as they appeared on the last hitch...great group of guys!

On a positive note, I was able to procure a Diet Pepsi in the canteen this afternoon...a diet soda is like gold out here, so I am sitting here looking at it and trying to decide when the right moment to savor the sweet aspartame goodness might be. Out here the typical beverages are lots of water (which I love) and bad coffee (instant Iraqi mud), so anything different is so very welcome. Thankfully this is a short hitch, so I will be back in Houston exactly three weeks from today if my current travel plans hold out; I am trying to convince the Party Chief to let me travel a day earlier, it would make it easier for me when I get home as I will be heading off for a vacation on the 5th.

Have I mentioned my vacation? Every year for the past couple my family has rented a house somewhere and met up for a weekend of companionship and wine...it is a most wonderful tradition that we have started. This year we have rented a beautiful lodge in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in Georgia...it looks amazing! The wine list this year is also shaping up to be a landmark; all sorts of bottles that I haven't gotten to try before! I am very excited. Also, my dad had wine glasses etched with our family corporation's logo, and they just came in today. I must say that they look amazing!