Just A Few More Observations

My first observation is that I cannot get my brain to have one coherent thought for more than a minute or two, which is why I have defaulted to these short, random ramblings. 

It's funny how I log on to this blog over and over to check the statistics to see that a very small handful of people actually read this (yes!  three hits today)!  Weird how I had six hits from the Ukraine this week...not sure what keyword they honed in on or if it was just the same person looking at it six times. 

There is an Afghan gentleman who works on the base.  His job is to watch two pipes and alert someone if they overflow.  This is true.  So he leans against a wall and stares at the two pipes.  That's it.  The creepy thing is one of the pipes is right outside my door, so every time I step outside, there he is, leaning against the wall, staring right at me.  We have established a silent but amiable relationship in which I make sure to wave to him at least once a day.  He always waves back.  I figure I want to stay on his good side...

To the west of the base on the farthest mountain there is a massive rock near the top.  Our Sergeant Major dubbed it the Virgin Mary, and from where we stand it actually does look like a statue of the Virgin Mary.  We decided that she is there looking over us and making sure no harm comes to the team. 

One of the true frustrations with the Afghan culture is their sense of time.  It is accepted that if a meeting is suppose to start at a particular hour, it will not start for thirty to sixty minutes after the published time.  At each meeting the Americans are always the first ones there because, of course, we are taught to be early so when the time comes the meeting starts as scheduled.  Today the meeting I attended started over an hour late. When I first arrived I used to ask my governance advisor why the meeting was not starting.  He would smile and say "It is Afghan time so, it will not start on time."  By the way, very rarely do they apologize for being late...they just start the meeting as if they were starting on time.

With so many problems in the past with pain in the knees, ankles, feet, back, head, etc...I find myself taking the time these days to really take notice when I am feeling no pain.  Those moments when you do a quick scan and realize, knees-good, ankles-good, headache-nope, irritated-nope, tired-nope, wow, so this what it feels like.  We take it for granted when nothing hurts and we actually feel good.  I have started to take notice and savor the feeling where there are no pain signals going to the brain, I'm not tired and I'm not irritated.  I find I appreciate those moments and it drives me to have more of them by taking care of myself.  It certainly never lasts all day and sometimes it is mere moments, but I capture that feeling and make sure I don't take those moments for granted. 

Ensign James Whitman is my MVP today, not only because he accepted an extremely annoying assignment today, but also because he is one of the few who occasionally reads the blog so...this shoutout is for you Mr. Whitman.

The stars here are incredible.  Almost every night is clear and because there is not much stable power in Afghanistan there are not many lights on at night allowing for some spectacular views including the Milky Way that we often see smudged across the sky.  When I go to dinner I can usually look up and see Orion's Belt, and then later at night when I am heading to the restroom around midnight or two, Orion has moved across the sky hanging just above the mountains.  The only thing I have seen that compares to the stars here is out at sea.  There have been some great nights at sea but the stars here just seem closer as if the blanket thrown over the world at night has been drawn much closer allowing us to practically reach out and touch them.   

Enough ramblings.....for now.