All together now ...

A week of mind numbing meetings and all I got was a leg cramp and perfected the meaningful eye roll...  I cannot begin to explain the strange and unusual things a person will do to entertain themselves and others when things get a  little "slow"...  Funny thing is that we're all very busy, but occasionally this whole planning gig pauses while people much more important than us take the time to decide the next move.  Flag poles and an antenna farm are holding up my project momentarily.  This led me to go on and on about how I wanted to run away and join an antenna rodeo or open an antenna rescue... thankfully the other people I work with can be strange as well.  There is usually a day of silence while everyone, plugged into iPods, chills out privately at their desks.  This lasts one day - one long day - and then comes the goofy entertainment and interaction.  It's slap-happy behavior that is the result of 6, 12 hour days every week with not much else going on.  I am anxiously anticipating tomorrow because it's going to be a busy one and I desperately need to be busy.  Losing my mind. slowly ....

I did, however,  manage to arrange a fantastic vacation which took an incredibly long time since the internet is running about circa 1994 speeds - four hours later the virtual video tour finally loaded!  It was really a surprise since I had booked two hours prior but it does look really nice!  I'm going to Thailand - Phuket to be exact - and unlike several of the men I work with, it's not to pay for sex, find a docile wife or passable lady-boy!  So, I hopefully will return without the need for a topical antibiotic.  After coming to the difficult realization that many of you were right, and my presence in Dubai could very well lead to incarceration (much of what I consider to be fun is illegal in that country), I ate some cancellation fees so that me and my travelin' companion could head East!  I am really excited and it makes what I go through here - although self-imposed - totally worthwhile.  Plus, I love to plan for vacations.  It usually is even more involved because I plan the vacation of my dreams and then simultaneously, the one I can afford.  This time, it's in the dreams category!

I came upon an interesting article in the April Time Magazine about a unit in Afghanistan who are trying to reopen a school.  If you can find the article, it's a great read and exemplifies the frustration of trying to get anything accomplished here.  The unit and commanders they cover are the same ones I'm currently working with  - and they are based on one of the remote bases I'm planning.  The combination of local corruption and scattered yet maniacal bureaucracy (compounded by the fact it's coalition decision-making) leads to very little timely forward progress.   Things happen, but not in the order or way they necessarily should.  I'm not sure we could even mobilize ourselves out of a large, wet pizza box - I also heard a little story today about the possibility of handing out recognition and even awarding medals for strategic uses of restraint - why don't we start handing those out in kindergarden and then we can work our way up ... I still don't see many 19 year olds around here with a clear handle on that.  Plus, it seems pretty subjective.  Throwing yourself on a grenade to save your buddies is so much more clearly obvious, but it's a different strategy now.

While the Iraq experience sounds like it was one severe extreme of shooting first and then asking questions, this new approach seems improbable in practice, but not necessarily in theory.  The true effectiveness is probably somewhere in between.  The Afghans are scared of the Taliban, untrusting of their government and not sure of us or our capabilities - something the article I referenced elucidates very clearly.  I'm not sure this culture understands restraint after so many years of conflict and I sometimes think it appears as a weakness.

Well, who in the hell am I to opine on such things, right?  I actually heard myself say that if we went to the homes of drivers who delivered fuel trucks that were short on their loads and shot the driver's family members in the legs, we most likely wouldn't have anymore of our fuel being sold to the Taliban.  What's next for me ... kitten bombs?  I really need to get back to a place where I just stop thinking - just plan, don't think - maybe a new hobby or interest?  Thinking here is greatly overrated and causes me mild consternation over being excited about my paycheck.  But, I'm still excited about my paycheck - I just resent the potential for feelings of guilt.  I digress.

Did I mention it's getting really hot over here ...

Hopefully my next posting won't be so melancholy and serious.  You just need to find the fun in war, dammit!  There was a nest of baby vipers found in one of the office tents a few days ago - I don't remember seeing any mousetraps in there either, so now I know why.  Mystery solved!  Speaking of which, I haven't seen any mice in my tent lately either...  I'm just keeping my feet up and my eyes open!

Drink of the night - Fake-milk-microwaved-cafe-latte concoction that I frothed by blowing through a straw ... not pretty, but still kind of good.