Dragging Ass Slow Day

After yesterday flying by so fast today is sooooooo sssssssslllllllllllllllllooooooooooowwwwwwwww. Time is just creeping along. I worked on a few things and organized some files on the server. Waiting on return email so I can get going on other things. Gonna go to the computer market with Irfan the IT dude and get a few more hard drives so I can have more room to store stuff. Hope the evening is better then the day....Later...JB

Back to the GRIND.....

Well back to work today and the weekend just flew by, but don't they all. Just kind of sat around the house with the exception of going grocery shopping and getting a TV and DVD player for the living room. Worked out a few times and worked on some more mapping projects. Power at the house was off and on all weekend and had to run the generator a lot....but that's what it is for I guess. Only problem is the generator isn't big enough to run the who;e house so we have to go around turning of stuff when we run it.

I know this is a stupid and boring entry but it is what it is...Later JB

Power problem solved...I think

Well we got the 52 cent bill paid but it cost me $10 in taxi fares for my chokador to run all around town. So the 52 cent bill I didn't owe cost me another $10. But that's the way the scam works here....what a joke.

Last night all of us at the house had a small BBQ for ourselves. Got some good brats and roasted some potatoes. Sat on the roof deck and ate, had a few beers and smoked a good cigar.

As much fun as this was I was back in my room by 930pm and watched some Monk. Was so nice to sleep in my cool room and I slept in until just after 8.

I know this doesn't sound like a great night for most people but for here it is what we have.

Later...JB

Last Night sucked

Power went out at about 11pm and the first thing I thought was the damn power company cut my power again for the bogus 52 cents I owe them. So I ran outside to the street and the whole area was with out power. So I went back to be thinking we will have it back shortly. It was still about 90 degrees at that point. As you can imagine my room without any power and no fans yet mt prized AC unit got very hot soon. I fell back asleep and woke up at 230am sweating my ass off again. Got some water and laid back down until I couldn't stand it anymore. Woke the chokador up to start the generator. So at least I had fans to help out. When I left the house at 7am still no power. So much for the 24 hour power promised by all the powers to be here.

Later...JB

STUPID part 2

So I got home and my Chokador (House Boy) said he was running around town all day and the power company said we did pay our bills on time and we are up to date with the exception of the bill to cut our power. He explained that we still have to pay 26Afs even though we where not late paying or behind on the bill for them to cut the power off at our house. I'm sure you are thinking WTF too. So the Chokador went to the bank, yes you pay your bill at the bank then take the stamped bill from there to the power company so they can clear your cut off notice. But they close at noon and he got there at 12:05. Bankers hours here are sweet. So he said we have till tomorrow at noon to get the stamped bill back to the power company or we will be billed another 26Afs. Gotta love there thinking and system here huh?

Just so you know 26Afs is equal to .52 cents US. All this for 52 cents....lol

Later JB

Stupid People are everywhere

I'm currently fighting with the Electric Company here. They don't have a clue what is going on in there own company. I paid the electric bill 2 weeks ago and yesterday they cut off my electricity. So we went there and they said I didn't pay my bill....I showed them the stamped bill showing it was paid and they said I had to go to some other office and get a letter from them saying they stamped that bill....funny thing is the place that told me to go somewhere else is where I pay the bill...WTF. SO after one of my guys shows them the stamped bill from the other office they say there is a bill from 6 months ago that isn't paid. But I know it was and besides Ive only been in this house for 3 1/2 months. The owner of the house paid it and gave me a copy of it. So back to the house to get that stamped bill and off to there office again.

I don't think they know there left foot from there right in some companies here. Amazing they get anything done here, but then again I'm not sure they do get much done here.

Enough bitching, I hope they get this fixed soon. In the mean time I went to the power box next to my house and found the wires they unhooked and hooked them back up....lol. The lock wasn't even locked so I could get to it. Ill show them who knows more.

Cooked a big roast beef with mashed potatoes and carrots last night and had a ton of left overs so I guess Ill be eating that for another night. I don't mind it was killer good.

Ill post later with the outcome of the power saga....Later JB

A good nights sleep

Got the AC installed yesterday morning but didn't get a Chance to try it out until last night. I couldn't wait to get home and crank it up. After a bit the room was cooling off real nice. Fell asleep at about 9:30 and for the first time since I returned here I had to get the covers on me. I got such a great night of sleep and feel awake again. I was so excited about the AC I forgot to take a few pics to post here. Ill get some tonight. Hope all is going well in your lives? I'm just busy working on maps and getting ready to start the next phase of build outs here.

Talk to you later....JB

AC in th house....sorta

I went a got an AC unit today but couldnt get it installed untill in the morning. So now I have these 2 nice boxws that dont cool me off any but I know tomorrow at this time Ill be nice and cool if god wills. I spent the last 2 day on my computer redoing all the coverage maps for all 42 stations we have established and found lots of errors with them. Think I have them all fixed and cant wait to redo the population conts to see what we really cover. Well its bed time so Ill update the AC thing tomorrow...maybe even a pic or to. Not sure what Ill have to talk about after it is instaled but Im sure I can think of something....Later...JB

WOW.....What a busy day

Today was one of those days that just flew by as you discover one more problem and then another. Again today it is hotter then hell and I'm cooking in my room. Haven't been able to get an AC quote yet...Guess I just haven't asked the right guy at work to go get it yet. Another driver on the way home said he also knows a guy....so we will see.

Think I'll go to the Deli Dar Bar for dinner tonight so I don't have to cook. And the big talk of the town is that the AF government is going to start cracking down on the importing and consuming of beer and such. So everyone is stocking up. Even if you get caught drunk walking it will hold the same punishment as dealing drugs....what ever that is...after all Afghanistan is the largest heroin producer in the world so it must not be to bad. Unless your an international here. To me its no biggie.

Anyway that's all I have for today...Later...JB

Pictures from the training class last week

Here are a few pics of the training last week we conducted here. We had 11 techs in and taught them all about radio....Well we tried. They were a good group and we learned as much as they did I think.

Zookie

Found this picture I took at home and just think it is cool. She wanted in the pool so bad but just layed there watching Kim in the pool. Ill post pictures of the other dogs soon.

Looks like the tinting of the windows helped a little. If nothing else it is darker in my room so the sun doesnt come blasting in at 4:15am. Got a little more sleep last night but think the AC unit will have to be next.

Sure wish I had my pool here to cool off in. I kinka feel like Zookie there....She wanted in to cool off too.

I have to go to a training calss with a few of my guys here to learn how we have been doing the mapping here so we can continue doing it the same way or better.

Later.....JB

Todays stuff....nothing really to report

Today I left work early to get the windows in my room tinted and see it that will keep out the heat a little. I'm not sure it will help much but every little bit helps. If it doesn't work enough it will be HVAC time. The hot season is still ahead of us and it is already too hot for me and no A/C. One of my drivers has a friend that is in the HVAC business and says he can get me a good deal....he thinks...we will see.

To hot to sleep

Last night sucked again. It was so hot in my room and not a hint of a breeze to try to cool it off. I even went down to the living room to sleep where it is cooler but all I got was a few hours of sleep and a kink in my neck. That's 2 nights in a row for this, going to try to tint the windows in my room today and hope that will help a little if not looks like ill be suffering for a few months.

Kinda Lazy Day

Today was a lazy day for me. Went to the meat market and got some good finds. They had pork breakfast sausage and some brats. Pork is hard to get here so when you find it you buy all you can stick in the freezer.

As for this blog thing i rearanged a few things and added a comment box to the top and a way you can chat with me to the side. To chat with me just enter your name and send a message. If I dont reply and it says I'm online send a few more. It is a little slow so the first few might not go through. But once they start it will work great.

Just got done working out and time to go make potato salad for a BBQ I'm having here tomorrow for all my techs and IT guys to thank them for doing such a great job last week during the training we held.

Anyway as some loony toon guy used to say thats all folks.....for now anyway.

Pictures from around the house

I took these this morning after working out. In the pictures you will see the kitchen, Living/Dining room and the parking garage that doubles as a gym.

Tech Training Dinner

Tonight I hosted a dinner for the trainees and some of the staff. We all had a good time at the Herat Restaurant here. The dinner was good followed by local almond Ice Cream.

Panjshir in March 2009

These pictures are from a trip to the Panjshir Valley. The great Masood better known as the "Lion of Pahjshir" is from here and defended the Valley from the Russians and the Taliban untill he was Killed 2 days before 9-11. Below are pictures of the shrine being build for him along with some pictures of the valley. And one of me enjoying the view. You can read more about him by clicking on the link. http://www.massoudhero.com/English/lion.html

Lumpini Park fun video

This video was shot in a training session I did in Bangkok and we had a lot of fun doing it. We were told to have fun so we did. The quality had to be reduced to make it work on here but you can get the point. It was a park theat is used for exersizing and we also had to film ourselfs doing some exercizing too....Kinda of....

Kabul

Pictures of the hills around Kabul

The wall is said to be over 2000 years old

My room in Afghanistan

This is where I lay my head at night. I just got the 2 fur rugs the other day and they are so nice to walk on. But the fan is the most important thing in the room this time of year.

Updates

I decided this will be a good way to keep everyone up to date with what is going on with me while I'm in Afghanistan. It has been very hot here but cools of nice at night but not early enough to get any good sleep. Tired of sweating my A$$ off but such is life. Doing training for 11 techs this week from a few of our partner stations and that has kept my more than busy but enjoyable none the less.

Ill try to add things here every few days but dont hold me to it. I have a ton of pics and will also post more of them as I sort through them.

The Spa like conditions....lol

20 year old Russain bombs

Old Russain mortors laying all around the tower site in Panjshire

Pics from Af

This is from my trip to Paktika