102612 If this cat has rabies, I'm dead.

102612  If this cat has rabies, I'm dead.

 

As a contractor in Afghanistan I'm bound by many (but not all) rules and regulations in place for military personnel here.  One of those rules is General Order 1A which says a bunch of stuff and among all that stuff it says that no personnel are permitted to "feed or have contact with the animals" here.  Per some of the attached link "the risk of rabies in Afghanistan is among the highest in the world ... Very severe illness; fatality rate higher than 50%".

 

Above are pics of "Danger".  Danger has been hanging around for a good 6 months or so behind the building where I work and I think Danger is sill a kitten. So when you pet her, she seems to think of it as play and scratches and bites a bit.  She doesn't bit or scratch hard but it is enough to draw blood, and she has done so several times.  She is still a good cat, but it turns out that she has rabies, I'm dead.

 

R/Chris

102212 Group Pic, Power Outage and Contractors drinking...

102212 Group Pic, Power Outage and Contractors drinking...

 

Yesterday we did a group pic.  Why we did so, I have no idea.  Someone said it was needed.  Of the 13 people in the pic I'm the second oldest and the youngest is 27.  Of the 13 people, 11 are prior military (7 Army, 2 AF, 1 Navy (me) and 1 USMC).  Of the 13, 4 are either never married and/or don't have any kids.  All of us are contractors and as you can see the 'average' contractor is pretty much someone you'd see on the street in any anytown, USA. 

Today we also had a power outage.  In Kabul (and on ALL bases here in AF) power comes from big diesel generators which are loud.  Kabul as a city periodically has brown-outs (like Mexico City, Manilla, Cairo, etc.).  Unfortunately when the generator 'went' the backup generator didn't go online so we were in the dark for about an hour.  In Iraq, it was a daily occurrence for the generators to trip once a day or so but the backup would be up in minutes.  Things are just different here.

I've been asked a few times if I worked for Jorge Scientific.  Uh, no.  In all my time in Iraq and Afghanistan I've never seen anything remotely like what is portrayed in the link below.

http://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/video-shows-contractors-drunk-high-in-afghanistan-1.193608

But if I had, I'm not sure what I would have done either.  Doing the right thing would have meant no employment. I have no idea where these guys are in Afghanistan but I'm sure they're gone now. 

R/Chris

102112 Seattle and Rattlesnake Ledge

102112  Seattle and Rattlesnake Ledge

 On my R&R I also visited Seattle (where I'm from.)  Seattle is really a nice place in the summer as it's very green and usually not too hot at all.  But then again it's nice all year round to me.   Anyway one of the things I wanted to do there was hike Rattlesnake Ledge (see pic.)  It's a good hike at about 1200' elevation increase and generally crowded with tourist from overseas!  AND, there are no rattlesnakes west of the Cascade mountains so why the heck is it called Rattlesnake Ledge?   I hiked it with my friend Harvey (10 years my junior) and after maybe a third of the way up, Harvey needed to rest.  Then again, Harvey did say I had an unfair advantage since living in Kabul (elevation 5800) already aclimated me to such a hike. 
 Rattlesnake Ledge was also in the national news a while back since some nut-job, killed his family, burned the house down and hunkered down in a bunker somewhere here.  See link.

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2018093698_bunker29m.html

And in one of the pics across the valley is Mount Si.  Which back in the 80s was....Twin Peaks.  North Bend (the town of Twin Peaks) is down in the valley and the cafe where black coffee and cherry pie is still there.

R/Chris

 

102012 Trip to Chicago

102012 Trip to Chicago

 

As a contractor I get a break every six months.  This is pretty typical for most contractors but it can be more or less often.  It just depends on your contract.  Anyway, I got my break after about 9 months here and was in the states about a month back.  I went to a couple of places but really wanted to visit Chicago to see the Field museum and 'Sue'.  The Field is quite a place and I'm certain that I'll go back for the other exhibits.  Heck there is even a dinosaur at the airport!

Any way, here are some pics.  I've also not posted as much since I've been in a funk since I've been back and have been busy.  It just gets lonely here at times and I'm not immune to it.  It is what it is.

R/Chris

 

 

 

18 September 12 Children's Memorial Ceremony

18 September 12 Children's Memorial Ceremony, Perhaps one suicide bombing a week is the new norm?

 

Things are tense in Afghanistan.  There have been 51 'Green on Blue' or Insider attacks since the beginning of the year.  You need a guardian angel (aka buddy with a weapon) to go anywhere off base and if on base (and if authorized to do so) you must carry a weapon everywhere (DFAC, gym, work space, etc) with the clip IN the weapon. 

 

About a week ago a suicide bomber (14 yo kid) tried to get on base (he didn't stand a chance).  He was turned away and for whatever reason walked across the street where he blew himself up along with 1/2 dozen or so of the Afghan street urchins that hang outside the gate here.  I knew a few of them and the little girl sold knotted bracelets and I would tell her that I would buy one 'next time'. 

 

Today a short ceremony was held for them.  It was hosted by Generall Waddel and well attended.  Such is life in Afghanistan.  Perhaps one suicide bombing a week is the new norm?

R/Chris

080412 Milano, music and cats

080412 Milano, music and cats 

 

There are a variety of questions I get asked and some I can answer here.  One is the any other place to eat on base besides the DFAC.  Yes, there are there coffee shops which mainly sell coffee but they sell food as well.  One is the Milano, which is sort of a sports bar (see the two pics above.) 

Another question is what activities are available for your spare time.  First of all if one works 12-14 hours a day, every day (and 'every day' means exactly that) there is little spare time.  Time management is important here.  But yes, the Military has done a great job of making available other stuff to do. 

And one is the volleyball (see the pic above.)  This also doubles use as a small soccer field for the Europeans, who insist upon calling soccer 'football'. 

And yes, the cats here are doing fine.  There's a certain bit of comfort that comes when you pet an animal and the kitten is just damn fun to play with.  He

really goes crazy for a bit of string on then end of a stick. Damn be that rabies threat!
And finally I like to listen to angry white guy music.  I've defined that as Linkin Park, Hinder, POD, Daughtry, Blue October, Phoenix, Silversun Pickups, etc. Of course Coldplay, The Airborne Toxic Event, The Black Keys, Everlast, Foster the People, etc. are damn good too.  And yes, Everlast is fronted by a black guy but to me it's still angry white guy music.   Finally, no I don't label the pic.  I suppose I could but it's not too complicated to match them up. 

R/Chris

073112 Chuck has left Afghanistan, Aghananistan kid economy collapses, Never say "never"

073112  Chuck has left Afghanistan, Aghananistan kid economy collapses, Never say "never"

 

A few weeks back a coworker left Afghanistan.  He's been over here many times and has quite a bit of experience and over the years the kids outside the gate got to know him very well.   The average Yearly wages for the 'average' Afghan is only about $600!   So a kid hanging outside the gate who might pull in $10/day from passersby between the two bases is a significant breadwinner.  And Chuck had his routine and a 'working agreement' with the street urchins of Kabul.  The agreement was simply that he'd be allowed to walk TO Camp Eggers without being harrassed for money or to buy stuff.  And on the way BACK, just before entering HQ ISAF, he'd line the kids up and give them a few bucks or $5 each.  Honestly I think Chuck got out it as much as the kids did.  But anyway on the last trip, (see pics) he lined them all up, and told them through his 'interpreter' (most of the kids here speak excellent English but a few didn't) that this was his last trip and that he was leaving for the US soon and would not be coming back.  At that he proceeded to give about 25 kids, $20 each. 

 

Also in one of the pics you can see the 'castle wall' from the outside.   It's just an interesting pic.

 

And also, I think this is the 3rd or 4th time Chuck said he was "never coming back".  Never say never....

R/Chris