Times they are a changin'

So I was curious about how things would go once the end of the contract finally got here. Well it's here now and I'm not happy. Things are changing, and I don't like it *insert grumpy old man scowl here*

I knew the end of the contract would mean that there would be changes in the office. Some people will be staying on base and working for other companies, others will be heading home. It's too bad really, there are a lot of good people here and I've had fun over the last couple of months. On April 1st the engineering department will actually be reduced to my two bosses and myself. Practical, I know.

The change in the office also means that I'll be moving offices. I'll be going up to the PMO to share an office with my boss. I actually had to move up there today and I'm not happy with it. For the time being I'm on a workstation in the conference room but I don't have internet access on my computer. I'm not sure what I'll be able to do without the internet, we have no engineering resources or library, no product specs, no catalogues... without the internet I've got nothing. I'm going to have to work on that one.

The other thing I'm not too pleased about is I'm losing my quad as of tomorrow. I guess they sold it to the new contractor. I'm okay with walking everywhere it's not that big of a base, but I will miss that little quad. We had some fun times together :)

Well I hope the next month goes smoothly. More and more I'm looking forward to getting out of here.

Why?

Why is it that they feel the need to use the "big voice" to loudly announce every time they find and detonate a landmine at mid-day just so nobody panics and thinks that the base is under attack when nobody really notices those explosions anyways and yet when the A-10s are on the range at 1am and dropping enough explosive to shake my bed and wake me up they don't think that is worth a little warning? 

Oh, no big deal...

... it's just a supermoon.

More Wheelin'

Muddiest trip ever! And a perfect day for it, sunny and warm.

So much mud!

That's a green shirt. 

My Skeletor face paint.

2005 Model Stryker ICV - Green

Be the envy of your neighbourhood! This tactical armoured vehicle has had only one previous owner. Low mileage, drives great, very clean. Powerful 350hp Caterpillar C7 diesel engine to get you through the morning traffic. Seats 11, big enough for the whole family! Fully loaded premium package, leather heated seats, AM/FM/CD, electronic counter measure package and anti-RPG cage! M2 .50 cal machine gun included (not shown). Nearly new run-flat tires. Minor battle damage. Priced to sell! Bought new only 6 years ago for $1.4 million! Asking $4,500 OBO. Call soon, this won't last long!

The Soap

This is a pretty random post but before I start I have to say this. No, this is not going where it might appear to be going. 

I was however just in the shower and I did drop the soap. I will say it again for those who were not paying attention. No this isn't a prison "I dropped the soap" story. 

So when the soap hit the ground it slid over to the corner of the shower stall and when I reached to pick it up I realized just how gross the showers here actually are. In the spot where the soap came to rest the floor is kind of discoloured from rust and mildew and whatever dirt didn't get washed away in the last cleaning. When I picked up the soap one end of the bar was all flattened where it had hit the ground and there was a hair embedded in it. I don't know if it was my hair or someone else's but I didn't want anything to do with it. 

Here's a question, how do you clean soap? Do you wash it with another bar of soap? Or does it just clean itself? In the end I was just really grossed out by the fact that this soap had been on the floor of a common shower stall and I ended up washing with shampoo and throwing the soap in the garbage. 

So like I said... very random post. Don't judge me, I've run out of interesting things to do here. 

EDIT: I just noticed the second pair of feet in that photo.

The New, New Plan

I was reviewing my travel plans today and I think I've come to the decision that I will leave Thailand off the list this time. There is a ton to see and do in Borneo and I don't want to rush through two places and not get to really experience either one. In light of this change in plans I went back to look at the flights I'll need to book and was shocked with what I found.

I like it when chimps have jobs

I had originally looked at flying from Kota Kinabalu to Bangkok and then from Bangkok to Ottawa. Together these flights were going to cost somewhere around $1400. Now that I'm cutting out Thailand I looked into flights to take me directly from Kota Kinabalu back home to Ottawa and discovered that it would actually cost me $700 more to do so. What is this nonsense?!?! I remove a flight and it costs more? No wonder airlines are always struggling.

So I then started to look into how I can get home from Borneo by means of the least expensive route. This likely means that I will fly from Borneo to some other country that I will then have less than 24 hours to see before hopping back on a plane to fly home. Now Bangkok is still an option at $1400 but the flight gets in at around 7pm and my flight home would leave at about 6am the next day. While I'm sure I could have a ton of fun in 11 hours in Bangkok I'm not sure if I really want to stumble back into the airport at four in the morning to board a transpacific flight after having been out drinking all night in Bangkok.

Now given that there are no major airports on Borneo and most flights there are routed through Kuala Lumpur or Singapore I figured I would start by looking at those routes. Turns out they both cost about the same at $1300. I'm kind of leaning towards Singapore though since in 24 hours I could actually see the whole country (or city state). Anyways, I'm going to have to do some more research now and hopefully I'll have it all booked by the end of the week.

Sun, sun, go away?

So I think we've officially seen the end of the rainy season here. For the last two weeks it's been clear and sunny and getting progressively hotter. We're now hitting temperatures in the high 20s and there is rarely a cloud to be seen. As far as I'm concerned, it's about as hot as I would like. Any more than this and it's just too much. That said, I know I don't have anything to complain about yet... this is only the start. 


Rob and Jaime head to the deck on top of the bomb shelter every day at lunch to sun bathe. I've joined them a couple of times, but I'll only stay out for 20-30 minutes at most, the sun is just too much. Although, if you lay out up there and close your eyes and ignore the sound of jets and helicopters overhead, the heavy equipment on the roads, the dust in your lungs and the smell of diesel exhaust sometimes mixed with an occasional whiff of sewage from the lagoon you can almost imagine you’re in a tropical paradise. I know it's a bit of a stretch but it's what I've got for the moment, at least I'm not dealing with freezing rain and slush in Ottawa. 

whump! Whump! ... WHUMP!

So there was a rocket attack this morning around 7:30am, our first one in about a week and a half. I'm not sure how many there have been since I got here, I've stopped counting. The reason that I'm blogging on this one is that it was a little different. 

Now I feel like before I tell this story I have to tell another one. Remember the great Ottawa earthquake of 2010? Well do you know where I was when the earth started to move? I was at work, as were a lot of people, and I had actually just sat down on the toilet when the ground, the walls and the very throne I was seated on began to shake. Having never really been in a significant earthquake I didn't really know what the safety rules were. In movies you see people getting in doorways or under tables, well what do you do when your pants are around your ankles and you're sitting on the toilet? Is there a safety procedure for that?

Anyways, you may or may not have guessed the reason I'm telling you this story by now. When the rocket attack siren went off this morning I was on the toilet. Now normally by the time the siren goes off the rocket is almost on the ground anyways, so if you're not in a position to immediately hit the deck then there really isn't much point. So as I sat there and the siren went off I didn't think much of it. But then almost right away I heard... whump! Close. Then... Whump! Closer. I haven't actually heard any rockets hit in any of the previous attacks and it must have made me a little nervous because when the siren restarted I made the decision to quickly open the door and lay on the bathroom floor. WHUMP! closer again. Now I'm not sure what the right amount of time is to lay on the bathroom floor in a rocket attack with your pants hastily pulled up but it really felt like far too long. Honestly, that washroom smells. Damn you Taliban! Damn you.

Work for a Warlord?

There's always a lot of chatter around the office about looking for new work since the whole office is basically being laid off at the end of the month. Given that everyone in the office is accustomed to doing work overseas and in "high risk" areas it's kind of interesting to hear about some of the job possibilities. If things keep going the way they are in Libya I would think there should be work there in the near future.

That said, Jaime was talking about engineering type job possibilities in the local area that he had heard about from a friend of his. The job would be at KAF but outside the wire working for Sharzai, the local warlord who is allied with NATO. He does a lot of construction work for NATO on and off the base and I'm sure he does quite well for himself on the jobs he does. Anyways, I gave a copy of my resume along to Jaime to pass along. I'm not sure that I would necessarily be interested in doing that kind of job, but it never hurts to keep your options open... right? Yes, it's outside the wire, but I would think it's probably safer on Sharzai's compound than it is on base. At least there wouldn't be any rocket attacks.

Dodged a bullet (Figuratively. Nobody is shooting at me. I'm fine... really.)

So Jelani moved out yesterday afternoon and by now he’s probably back in Canada the lucky git! Not two hours after his flight took off, I received an e-mail from HR asking to confirm that I’m the only one in room B-92. I e-mailed them back to say that yes, as of this afternoon I am the only occupant of B-92 but they shouldn’t feel any urgent need to fill the spot, I’m not too lonely yet.

Well today as I got back from lunch, who’s got a big grin on his face? Mr. Coughypants from down the hall. “Nick,” he says, “you may want to sit down for this.”

“Oh no!” I thought. “This can only mean one thing.”

“I’m moving in! Just got an e-mail from HR to say I’m moving to B-92.”

Under my breath, “Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck…” Then, “That’s… great… So why are the moving you?”

“Well I’m in with a guy who’s working night shift now so they want to keep the shiftworkers all together separate from the daytimers.”

To myself, “The only reason you haven’t been suffocated in the night is because your roommate isn’t there during the night!!!!!”

“Oh, well I can’t say I’m terribly happy about that what with you coughing all night long.”

“I don’t cough all night long.”

“Are you kidding? I’m down the hall from you and I can hear you going on at 1am… 3am… 6am…”

At this point I just kind of let things drop but got on my computer and looked at my e-mail. Sure enough I had an e-mail from HR saying I hope you’ve enjoyed the couple of days of peace and quiet but that’s over now. I immediately replied to the e-mail and copied my boss and basically said I don’t have a problem with having a roommate, but I do have a problem with having that roommate. If you would like to know why, you should come by B-Block after midnight and it’s all pretty much self explanatory.

Anyways, long story short, HR came by the office about a half hour later to explain there’s now been a change and he will be moving into B-91 instead. Not ideal, it’s right across the hall from me, but it’s better than in the room with me.

Crisis averted…

p.s. Have you seen my body armour?