Hey, everyone!
I know that its been a while since a lot of you have heard from me, and I apologize if anyone is angry at my unresponsiveness, (coughnoelcough) but after getting back from vacation, I discovered that in the meanwhile my inept company has hired an inept quality control manager whose job, as near as I can figure, is to walk around all day doing nothing except making my job more difficult and less productive. Recently, however, Ive managed to acquire the powerful mental trick of tuning him down to a small buzz, and have been able to catch up in my work and now I have time to do a little email.
So Happy New Year and all that jazz. We had a great firework show here last night; Dave, Barney & I were standing outside discussing the finer points of managerial decisions when a few rockets flew over our heads. Loud explosions occurred. Definitely a show I wont forget. Fortunately nothing was hit, but I think that the New Years Fun & Safety Commission of the Baghdad airport needs a little talking to. At least it broke up the monotony a bit.
So Krumpus fest was a blast this year! Scot and I met up with Matt McArthur and Jeff Nimmer in Munich and kicked around for four days. We went to the Lake Hotel and got in trouble with the Ponds Guards for allowing Roger and Dave Formby to sneak us on. I guess the Ponds Guards only job now is to keep ex-employees out. Their words, not mine. It was pretty depressing.
Very empty. Roger, Dave, Helen, & Hilde seem to be the only ones there, and they are busy inventorying tablecloth clips, paper clips, and dining room chairs.
And then all Krumpus ensued. Ran into a few old Chiemseers and stuff. Got beat. Good fun.
Then I spent 10 days or so in Pennsylvania; low key, good to see the family. Saw Return of the King at a midnight showing on opening morning with my sister.
Kick-Butt. The return trip to Baghdad was very very long. I woke up at around 11 am on my departure day, flew out of Philly at around 9pm, arrived in Munich the next morning for a 9 hour layover during which Scot and I wandered. Went to Tollwood fest, I-pub for a burger. You know, all the good stuff. Flew to Dubai overnight, thought we had 2 days at that sweet hotel wed stayed at on the way out, found out upon check-in that, in fact, we had to go back to the airport in 45 minutes for our 3-hour flight in that rickety old Russian cargo plane to Baghdad. Got to Baghdad and were immediately coerced into working; unloading the very full plane wed just arrived in on no sleep but plane sleep in the last 2 and a half days. And thats pretty much how things have gone since Ive gotten back. Nothing exciting, except for those bombs last night.
So currently Im looking forward to another 4 months of this, and I havent decided exactly what my motivation is at this point. My Manager has a picture of his daughter on his bedroom wall with a note next to it that says: This is why youre here. Im not sure if I should hang up a Ben Franklin portrait or a picture of a certain girl, or perhaps a map of the world. Maybe I can borrow my boss picture for inspiration ah to heck with it. A blank wall is a blank canvas, after all.
So thats all I got till next time.
much love,
mike
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