I've never been so hot!

Qatar. R&R spot for deployed soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan. Hotter than the sun! Maybe not for those coming from Iraq, but pretty stinkin' hot for those of us from Western Afghanistan. I've never actually experienced 120+ degree heat until I arrived here yesterday. Apparently it's always hazy here because of the wind and the sand. They have a really nice setup here for R&R. There is a huge MWR (Morale, Welfare, & Recreation) warehouse where they have internet, movies, libraries, and video games. There are three bars here, yes bars!

They serve BEER! I'm not talking crappy piss-water beer like Budweiser, Miller, or Coors. There's Guiness, Corona, Fosters, etc. Happy, happy, joy, joy! Unfortunately, we can only have three beers per night, and fortunately we can only have three beers a night. Last night I had three Guiness'. I was feeling loopy after just two since I haven't had alcohol in eight months. It would be too easy to go overboard. There's also a swimming pool, a Chili's, and several other American style restaurants.

My first Beer in 8 months!

After my 3rd beer in 8 months!

There are trips scheduled every day, and if I schedule it right, I could go on at least four while I'm here. I'm going shopping at the Doha markets tonight, and I'm going to the ocean tomorrow to swim. I'm looking forward to it. It's gonna be hot, and hopefully I won't get sunburned.

Extension Blues

For those who do not know, I have been extended to spend a little more time in the glorious nation of Afghanistan. I was trying to serve an additional 4 months in country, but my request was done improperly. As a result, I'll only be here for an additional two months. It almost doesn't seem worth it. I will be earning quite a bit more cash, but not as much as if I had stayed for 4 months. I mainly wanted to have some time to do another job in country and earn a little more leave time. It's going to be tough because my best friend here is going home very soon, and the rest of our team will be leaving shortly after that. I'll basically be the last one from our team left here. I will be moving to either the East or the North of Afghanistan around August-September, so hopefully the change will get my mind off of going home. I am getting anxious to get back to the 21st century world and all it's luxuries (water that can be drank from the tap, grass and trees, options as to what to eat, women, etc). I'm tired of this "let's get back to the 7th Century, time of The Prophet" crap!

Fridays are great

Fridays here are pretty good. No morning commitments and very little real work gets done because the Afghan National Army does not work on Friday. It's basically their weekend and since our main mission is to mentor, we get a relaxed work day. It's great because I get to sleep in! Unfortunately, I haven't been able to sleep much past 7:30 lately. What is surprising though is that I seem to get more work done on Fridays than on any other day. I think it is mostly because people really don't bother me. It's now Friday afternoon and I'm done with everything so I figured I should add to my blog since I haven't written anything in a while.

Kindle update

Some have wondered whether my love affair with my Kindle would last. Yes, it has. My battery ran out this week so I had to recharge. It's amazing. The battery lasted over three weeks, and I use it all the time! I did have to put the breaks on buying books, though. It's WAY too easy to purchase. I just click one time, and the book is mine. I have found that not every book is suitable for the Kindle. For example, I'm reading a real estate investing book and it has some diagrams that cannot be enlarged the way that the normal book text can. I'm still experimenting with the note taking feature, so no update on that. I thought I would miss holding a physical book in my hand, but that's not the case. I read Treasure Island (one of the books for under $2), and the dictionary feature was very handy. I didn't know what many of the nautical terms were, but now I do. I have been reading regular books, though. I don't think I'll ever give that up. Novels are the best thing to read on the Kindle, and I've read quite a few in the past few weeks. Overall, great piece of gear so far.

I felt like Donald Trump

Last week I was given the mission to negotiate with the Deputy Governor of Herat for land to expand our airport facilities. Sorry, no pictures.

I was a little nervous about it because I normally don't have much interaction with the local nationals, but it was a lot of fun. It was pretty easy really. The guy spoke pretty decent English, so I really didn't need the interpreters. I got kind of nervous because there was the Deputy Governor, a Dept of Agriculture representative, a couple of engineers, and an Italian Colonel with his entourage. Everyone stopped and looked at me to make decisions that will affect hundreds of people and potentially commit the U.S. Government! It wasn't a tough negotiation, I just told the Deputy Governor what I wanted, he consulted his engineers, and we came to an agreement. The meeting didn't last long, and I got pretty much everything I needed.

Now I just need to put my Trump skills to work when I get home and negotiate for some profitable real estate!

The Kindle is AWESOME!!

I just got an Amazon Kindle about two weeks ago. I LOVE it! This is the coolest invention ever, with the exception of the iPod, of course.

Anyway, for those who don't know what a Kindle is, it is an electronic book reader. It holds something like 5,000 books. I buy books online from Amazon.com and download them to my Kindle. What's great is that they are usually cheaper than regular books, and many books (mostly the classics) are free, or under $2! It comes with a dictionary that looks up words instantly, you can bookmark pages, and you can even take notes in the margins!

Kindle makes it even easier to feed my vice...buying books. Now, reading them is a different story. I literally have hundreds of books at home, many I have never read cover to cover. I love the Kindle because I can read anytime, anywhere. Those who know me well know that I always have a book with me. Now I can have a gazillion books right in my pocket. I find myself reading like crazy now; while I eat, when I get up, before I go to bed. I can't wait to read some more.

I love you Kindle!