Home…oh how I miss thee

2 months in. Is it possible for time to fly and stand still at the same time? Some days I wake up and it seems like I just got here. Other times I feel like I have been here forever. But in a place that few stay for extended periods of time, it won’t be long before I can consider myself an upper class man.

Time is a funny thing here. I’ve had to adjust my relationship with my watch. I use it now strictly checking to see if I have time to grab something to eat, or to make sure I didn’t miss yet another conference call on skype. Most days, time is not important. The task of the day is what will determine when you can crawl into bed. I quite literally don’t know what day of the week it is most of the time, nothing here differentiates it. Work is around the clock and 7 days a week, even though we are supposed to get 1 day a week off, it doesn’t really happen. For example, today I was planning on at least sleeping in a few hours, I ended up having a conference call at 8am. So much for that sleep in I guess.

Nothing here is easy. Sleeping is a challenge when you live in a place that never stops, if it's not the rocket attack siren, it's the cargo planes going overhead all night, or the MRAPs idling on the street gearing up to go out the gate. I even get woken up from time to time still from the compound next door with their karaoke machine blasting, funny when I have needed to go over there to talk to them they never speak good enough English to answer me. Well the truth is revealed as they can be heard singing American classics at 2am, unbelievable. Enjoy the show here. Sorry, no good visual.

Driving is just a disaster, imagine people from all over the world driving around on dusty dirt roads with absolutely no rules…now add military vehicles…now add the local “jingle trucks” that come on base with deliveries. This picture is a common site. The guy forgot to lower the cargo bed and hit some wires. They call them jingle trucks because they all have chains, metal ornaments, etc all over them, so they "jingle" as they come down the road. Some are completely decked out like a parade float. I never have my camera out when the good ones come by though. Night time driving is just downright dangerous. Half the people here don’t wear their reflective belts that are handed out, and they just walk out into the street, I can’t even count the amount of near misses I have had when a group of people…in camouflage….on a dusty road, have stepped out in front of me.

Eating can be almost demoralizing. The menu NEVER changes. All they do is mix around the combinations. My pallet has gone away to the point that I just pick at the food. There is no flavor, no real taste. Just the same stuff over and over. White rice is the constant, every meal has it, can they serve anything with less nutritional value? On top of it will be some sort of goulash…pork, turkey, chicken, veggie…and they all taste the same. I had a pork chop last night, it was about ¼” thick and so overcooked that I couldn’t cut through it with the plastic knife. i had to pick it up and eat it like a bear. Add a side of pasta with a sauce that was more soup than sauce, and you’ve got yourself the typical dinner. And the best part is that they now only give you 1 plate, so everything was piled on top of each other and the pork chop was covered in the pasta sauce, but at least it made it less dry! Oh…did you want something other than water to drink since you will have drank at least 12 waters by dinner time? Step right up…here are your choices….coke products, and every flavor of TANG that you can imagine. That’s it.

There are other options though from the cafeterias. The boardwalk has some take out places that are ok, but now you’re talking about having to eat outside in the dust, no thanks. Plus one of them is that darn NY Yankees Kabob House, and I can't eat there for religious reasons. I actually ate at the T.G.I.Fridays that is here. How ridiculous is that? But after the waitress told us that pretty much ¾ of the menu was not available, I ended up having to get the $18 burger. I asked for cheese on it and they melted 2 mozzarella sticks on top of it. Nice. Just what I had in mind…..check please!

I have tried repeatedly to get food from the PX (KAF store), but unless I am in the mood for energy drinks, beef jerky, chips, candy, or muscle building powders, I am out of luck. If you find a box of granola bars, you may have to wrestle someone for it. Think I am over exaggerating? There are 8 refrigerators- 6 have energy drinks, 1 has coke/pepsi, etc. and the last one has non alcoholic beer. There are 5 isles of food, 1 is muscle building powders, 1 is chips, 1 is candy/cookies, 1 is beef jerky/sunflower seeds, and the last has crackers and the occasional box of granola bars. Yesterday that isle was completely empty. I don’t care what time my plane lands when I get home next month, I want to go straight to the beach and each some fresh seafood. I’m getting depressed, time to change the subject, I think I am about to cry….

I don’t have a scale here, but I am starting to feel the pounds starting to drop off, not to the point that my pants are falling down though, must be all the water weight. Finally that darn spider bite has cleared, so that shed off 10 lbs at least from my forehead!

So I started out here desperately missing Jolie and the boys of course, than I was able to hit a good stride where I could put it in the back of my mind, but this past week has been a real hard one. Maybe it’s because they just started fall baseball and had their first soccer game last weekend, and it’s the first time in about 6 seasons that I haven’t been the coach (Jolie has actually taken over, and won 8-1 in the opener!) It’s possibly the hardest week I’ve had here as far as missing home. I really turned it up a notch on the old temper meter too the past few days. Nobody that didn’t deserve it mind you, but still, I can tell that I’ve been on edge. This place can certainly do that to you. It's the simple things that I miss most. Playing catch with Tucker at his request nearly everyday, we have the best conversations about absolutely nothing as he snaps another bullet into my glove. Absolutely being cracked up by Luke daily by him well, just being Luke. And having that best friend in Jolie that can give you the immediate feedback on a situation. There is a large support system here within the company for issues related to work. We all understand the issues that others are dealing with in trying to do our jobs, but when it comes to non work, it's a solo gig. There is one  guy from the UK that is similar to me with a wife and young kids back home, so from time to time we'll talk about family. But we both try to keep that limited, all it tends to do is make you miss them more.

But as always here, just when I start to complain about how difficult things are, and boy have I done that on this blog, I get reminded of just how good I've actually got it. There is an engineer from Pakistan who has been working on my job site for the past few months. He is an impressive man. Quite knowledgeable, speaks perfect English, interacts with the client better than I could ask for. I am actually getting him a job within our company as competent foreign engineers are hard to find here. Well he was telling me the other day how last Christmas he was traveling back to Pakistan from Afghanistan when just as he crossed the border, his car was stopped by the Taliban. He and his colleague were held at gunpoint in a cave for 5 days. They had to pay for their own release. He gave everything he had with him, $7k, and his colleague gave $5k. They then had to have their employer give additional money to get them released. How do you live like that? Like I've said before, taking things for granted is all about which side of the fence you live on.


I am getting on a plane in 29 days to go home for 2 weeks. I can't wait.

Desk shaking...beat a General...first project award...a spider bite... & 9/11

Busy times here, lots going on.

So my last post was mostly about a few crazy days that I had. Well, the day after that post was a continuation. As I sat at my desk around 10am, a rocket landed close enough that it shook my desk. It hit at the exact moment that the siren went off. They say that it gives you 2-3 seconds before impact. So you really aren't in a position to take cover in time, what you can do though is get ready in case there is another one following. They never (knock on wood) come in multiples at the same time, there is always a few minutes between in the rare case of there being more than one. I think they need to reload the sling shot before they can get another one in the air. Plus from what I hear, once the rocket gets launched, there position receives return fire pretty much immediately. So if they dare to stay there and try more, they are going bye bye. It was kinda like that scene in Jurassic Park when they heard the heavy footstep in the distance and the glass of water rippled. Turns out it never even made it into the base, but was just outside, and the closest one yet. I have a nice new concrete bunker on order by the way.

I had a real eye opener the other night. 2 soldiers straight from the front lines walked into my office. They looked exhausted. They were filthy. They were young, couldn't have been more than 22. They are part of a force that on July 30th took over a Taliban strong hold in the mountains about 2 hours away. They cut off the main supply line for the region that was being used by the Taliban to transport supplies. They lost 3 men on the first day. They have been under constant attack from the mountains as the Taliban is trying to get back their stronghold. One of the guys had been wounded in the arm in the first week, and the other guy's bed had a rocket go through it last week. These guys were desperate, they need everything you can imagine. They drove a convoy 2 hours to get here, when they did they ended up at the contracting office and someone gave them my name. They started the conversation by saying "we need help". They have NOTHING there, no barriers, no heavy equipment to help them set up anything. Just tents and MRAPS (armored trucks) sitting in a valley surrounded by evil. They need a contractor who can send equipment and operators to help. There are these earth barriers everywhere here called HESCOS. They are basically a wire mesh with fabric that stand up and you fill them with sand. They can stop small arms fire and block the brunt of an explosion. But you need heavy machines to fill them. These guys have the HESCOS set up, but with no sand. So basically their defensive wall is made of fabric! Unbelievable. Unfortunately though getting equipment and operators there costs money, so I sadly asked them what their budget was....."$40k per month". My heart absolutely sank. It would cost me triple that just to get the equipment there with a security escort. The irony is that they have access to other funds, but the paperwork and the process to get it released will most likely take them months. What a load of crap if you ask me. They send these guys out there, ask them to put their lives on the line, have their buddies get killed, and then give them peanuts to support them. How is that possible? And yet here on base they are all excited because Burger King is being let back on the boardwalk...fantastic, good priorities everybody. I gave them the name of an Afghan contractor that I know, hopefully he can help them, I also gave them my card and told them not to hesitate to contact me for anything they need, I probably can't supply them with it, but I will be happy to connect them with someone who can. I even offered them and their entire group that came a clean room, shower, bed for the night...but they declined as they were most likely heading right back out. I have not stopped thinking about those guys from the time they left my office. I don't think I will ever forget their faces. 

On Monday I ran another 5k, what the heck right? Not nearly the same turnout as previously, but it still raised almost $10k for local Afghan schools. This one went much smoother than last time, though I did keep looking over my should for that psycho from the last one. This time the free t-shirt was gained by beating the General. I planned on tripping that dude if need be, but luckily he started in front and quickly drifted to the back and stayed with the final runners to the end. I wish I could say I beat him in a foot race at the end, but it still doesn't tarnish yet another free t-shirt. At this pace I'm gonna have to start having Jolie work a trophy room into the new house plans for when I get home!

When I went to bed on Monday night, I was thinking that my legs might be a little sore in the morning, little did I know that my legs would be the least of my worries. Back up a few days, on Saturday I noticed a small bump on my forehead, about the size of a mosquito bite. I figured it was just that, some sort of bug bite, as the temps have cooled slightly, the flies have become active. The bump had grown a bit and gotten a little tender. Still nothing that raised a red flag, I just figured it would run it's course and be gone. So on Tuesday morning when I was brushing my teeth, I could not believe my eyes when I looked into the mirror. My entire forehead from hairline to eye brows was completed swollen, I freaked the heck out! I looked that one of those dudes from Star Trek. Not only that, but the initial bump was now bright red. Talk about a headache, my skin was so tight that blinking took effort. I got myself right up to the hospital only to be turned away because they only treat civilians that have an emergency, and considering that in the hallway they were talking about a guy whose nose was "on the side of his face", I didn't qualify. There is a walk in clinic here, and the guy who checked me in actually asked me what I was there for, too funny. Um...maybe this rendering of the Rocky Mountains on my forehead??? One look at it by the doctor and he declared that I must have been bitten by a spider, not that nasty Camel Spider that got me all worked up before I came over though. A bite from those and you know it, but rather a small "typical" spider. He thinks that it just took a few days for the reaction to occur, and the infection was most likely due to the not so clean environment we are enjoying here. Take a look at my daily photos of my face. It started out on my forehead, but progressively has moved downward. Today as I write this, my cheeks are feeling swollen a little, but it seems like it is on it's way out. Enjoy the pictures, and go ahead and make all your smart ass comments...the things I do for this blog!

In case you have forgotten, they are paying me to work here...ya go figure. Well the good news is that I won my first project (cue the band). It is actually the first project that I bid when I first got to Kandahar, they cut the project in half for now, but it still is nice to get one under my belt. The project of course is the one that I have the video link showing the trip out by convoy to the job site, better get my goggles cleaned!
The "Self Delivery Group" as we are called within the International Group, has now won 12 projects in just the 7 months that we have been in operations in Afghanistan. Total work awarded to date is around $20 Million, and we have bids out for over $50 Million currently. The group has been so successful that the company is now creating a model from us that they are looking to implement across the globe. Next on the list is Pakistan, Japan, Haiti, Africa, and a few others I can't remember, add those to the 5 or 6 countries we are already in and I can now understand the companies goal of $100 Billion this year...yikes.

Housing complex once controlled by the Taliban.

Yesterday was an adventure. I was asked to go take pictures of a potential job site that our headquarters is bidding on next week. They just wanted to get a set of eyes on it. Yup you guessed, back outside the wire. This site is located next to Camp Hero, an Afghan National Army camp that was built about 2 years ago just outside the wire. I took my maintenance guy that has been here for a few weeks with me, my policy, since I am now in charge, is that you never go out alone, and you always wear your gear. All we had to go on was a blurry map rendering. We headed outside and started our search.

Empty building, possibly an old school..not sure.

Locals set up near KAF for protection

Now I realize that every time that I have spoken about being outside the wire it always seems to be pure madness. And I won't lie and tell you that it isn't. But each time I go out there, I come back a different person. A better person. I honestly don't feel as though my life is in eminent danger, is it the safest place on the planet? No. But being within the watchful eye of camp prevents the escalation of most situations. There is something about being out there that just grabs me. It's like stepping into a documentary. You see people just trying to live. Trying to get by, and the conditions in which they are trying brings such a sadness to my heart that I don't think I will ever be able to express to anyone. I admit, it's hard not to judge at times when you see someone driving by you on an old moped with a machine gun. It's just not normal, but you start to realize that they are not carrying that to use on me. They are carrying it to protect themselves from the world that has surrounded them. The world that I am fortunate to be able to step into from time to time. Yes I said fortunate. How else could I ever truly learn the beauty of the things that I surely take for granted back home? And I'm talking basics here, not Direct TV or a nice car, how about electricity, maybe a toilet, isn't having clean drinking water a good idea? These people have none of that. They are living at a level that is so far from what any of us could do for 2 weeks, never mind for entire generations.

On our way out out of Camp Hero

We eventually worked our way down the road that we thought might lead us to Camp Hero, and after stopping and asking along the way in the small market place (shacks selling random items, including DVD's...go figure), where no one spoke English, we finally came upon a main entrance to something, not sure exactly what it was, but we saw an American soldier about 20 yards away at another entrance, so we headed there first. If nothing else we knew we could communicate. Turns out he was manning the entrance to FOB (Forward Operating Base) Lindsay, and the other entrance was for Camp Hero...finally making progress. We showed him the map that we had and he seemed to think that we might be able to see it from inside the FOB. So he opened the gate and let us in. Now I'm not sure if civilians are supposed to be in a FOB. Most likely not, but heck, I'm not missing out on this!!! So sure enough we drove right in and had a little tour of it. We didn't find what we were looking for, but it was totally cool. After our little jaunt around the place we went back out and asked the guy if we were allowed to go into Hero. He said we were but wasn't sure if the Afghan guard would let us through. That prompted the obvious follow up question "is it safe" to which he said it was. So we drove on over to see if we could get in. The guard right away started yelling "NO NO NO NO". We didn't have Afghan plates was his reasoning. What it really meant was he wanted money. So rather than argue with the guy, I backed out and parked, walked back over to the American, meanwhile Tony (maintenance guy) starts talking with the Afghan guard. I see him pulling out a card and showing it to the guy. Next thing you know, he says we can go in. What was the magic card? The British version of a COSTCO card. Yup that's right, we gained entrance to an Afghan National Army compound using a discount warehouse membership card. Tony told him that we could go anywhere we wanted with it, and the guy apparently was impressed. And we wonder why we can't turn the country back over to them??

We had a nice tour of the place, found an old Soviet graveyard of tanks and various equipment, but not our true destination. We eventually made our way out and back to camp. Back to our version of the world. On our way back through the "market" I pulled over and took the 2 cases of bottled water out of the back of the truck and set in on the side of the road. People blew kisses to us as we drove away.


I remember exactly where I was 9 years ago today as I am sure you all do as well. I was sitting on the Southeast Express in grid lock traffic heading into Boston to continue the renovation job I was doing. We had just gotten back from London & France a few nights before. I was listening to Howard Stern on the radio when I first heard that a plane had hit one of the Twin Towers. Ironically I probably saw the planes take off from Logan Airport as the entire time you sit on the expressway you are in view of the airport. I remember every part of that day, standing in the client's kitchen with his mother watching the broadcast as the towers fell, jumping in the truck to head home and being one of the last vehicles out of the city before they closed the highway. Calling my friend in NY and having the call go through on the first try even though phones in NY were overloaded. Who would have thought that what happened that day would lead me to be sitting in my office 9 years later, in Afghanistan, on 9/11. Amazing the way things happen. The Taliban clearly remembers as well, and they have been reminding us quite a bit throughout the day.

God Bless those who lost their lives that day, bless the people who have died in the battles since, and bless those that will undoubtedly die in the battles to come.