...is an all-purpose Iraqi word meaning "vacation," "leave," "git outta Dodge," etc.
I got back from mine last week. Two and a half weeks in the Land of Pepperoni Pizza, Country-Style Ribs, Barbecued Brats, Belgian Ale, Fiberoptic Internet Access, and -- the Honeydew List from Hell.
And, thanks to the latter, I didn't partake of *any* of the former, except for a rather awful brew KtLW thought sounded -- *interesting*...
Trust me on this one, if any of you microbrewers out there think it's a *good* idea to add orange extract and honey to summer ale, just disabuse yourselves of that notion too-sweet, uh-kay?
I won't bore you with the details of how I managed to squeeze a month's worth of jobs into sixteen days, and I won't be putting out a PowerPoint™ Slide Show (because I didn't get to take a lot of pix, either), buuuuuuuut I figureI'll share the misery I should give you *some* visual proof that I didn't spend my mujahs wrapped around a keg and passed out in the basement.
Which was my original plan.
And, since I *do* have 'Net access for a while, and have nothing better to do except wait while the temp in myshipping crate hootch drops below triple digits (the AC evidently crapped out while I was working at work) so I can attempt to catch up on the sleep I *didn't* get on mujahs, I'll inflict myself on you guys for a while.
Because I can.
First, a scrup'l update. I introduced Gaby, the Junior Scrup'l, back in 2007 when she was just a wee bit of a fuzzball, terrorizing the local foliage and occasioning Lady Cricket to wax maternal.
She is now a considerably *larger* fuzzball -- sixty pounds of Aussie shepherd -- and she still terrorizes the local foliage.
Two seconds later, her nose print was on the camera lens. And the viewfinder was halfway inside my left nostril.
The remainder of the scrup'l pack is growing a tad greyer, but they're still scrup'lous about staying in character --
Muffy the Maleficent is poised to pounce from behind the tarp covering the firewood, Scout is nonchalantly taking up a goodly portion of the sleeping mat, Jake has finally stopped whipping his head around looking for squirrels, and Gaby decided she was bored with "Sit" and is now doing what she's doing "because she can"...
As far as the Honeydew List went, here's the end result of one-sixteenth of it -- about a day's worth of weeding, planting, pond-cleaning, pump-maintenance, debris-clearing, pressure-washing, stone-bench-building, and rock-moving.
KtLW's comment at day's end was, "Those water iris were supposed to be *purple*..."
*sigh*
And after sixteen days of seeing rain, fog, greenery, running water, and *clean* rocks, I came back to --
-- Mars.
Hey, I just noticed -- they built a new hangar out there on the ramp, just beyond the SUV to the left of the tamarind tree! Looks good, dunnitt?
[Update: my AC is fixed! I've had it running for an hour and my room temp has already dropped to 97ºF -- Life is Good...]
I got back from mine last week. Two and a half weeks in the Land of Pepperoni Pizza, Country-Style Ribs, Barbecued Brats, Belgian Ale, Fiberoptic Internet Access, and -- the Honeydew List from Hell.
And, thanks to the latter, I didn't partake of *any* of the former, except for a rather awful brew KtLW thought sounded -- *interesting*...
Trust me on this one, if any of you microbrewers out there think it's a *good* idea to add orange extract and honey to summer ale, just disabuse yourselves of that notion too-sweet, uh-kay?
I won't bore you with the details of how I managed to squeeze a month's worth of jobs into sixteen days, and I won't be putting out a PowerPoint™ Slide Show (because I didn't get to take a lot of pix, either), buuuuuuuut I figure
Which was my original plan.
And, since I *do* have 'Net access for a while, and have nothing better to do except wait while the temp in my
Because I can.
First, a scrup'l update. I introduced Gaby, the Junior Scrup'l, back in 2007 when she was just a wee bit of a fuzzball, terrorizing the local foliage and occasioning Lady Cricket to wax maternal.
She is now a considerably *larger* fuzzball -- sixty pounds of Aussie shepherd -- and she still terrorizes the local foliage.
Two seconds later, her nose print was on the camera lens. And the viewfinder was halfway inside my left nostril.
The remainder of the scrup'l pack is growing a tad greyer, but they're still scrup'lous about staying in character --
Muffy the Maleficent is poised to pounce from behind the tarp covering the firewood, Scout is nonchalantly taking up a goodly portion of the sleeping mat, Jake has finally stopped whipping his head around looking for squirrels, and Gaby decided she was bored with "Sit" and is now doing what she's doing "because she can"...
As far as the Honeydew List went, here's the end result of one-sixteenth of it -- about a day's worth of weeding, planting, pond-cleaning, pump-maintenance, debris-clearing, pressure-washing, stone-bench-building, and rock-moving.
KtLW's comment at day's end was, "Those water iris were supposed to be *purple*..."
*sigh*
And after sixteen days of seeing rain, fog, greenery, running water, and *clean* rocks, I came back to --
-- Mars.
Hey, I just noticed -- they built a new hangar out there on the ramp, just beyond the SUV to the left of the tamarind tree! Looks good, dunnitt?
[Update: my AC is fixed! I've had it running for an hour and my room temp has already dropped to 97ºF -- Life is Good...]
Nice backyard.
Never fear, by the time it reaches 92F, the er romantic Mars Haze (tm) will make your compressor throw a tantrum which takes out your internet acess as well.
Leaving the furry ones behind.
SWWBO's gonna make me pay for that, but the reality is, you can have the mano-a-womano verbal and video interactions while you're gone... but scrup'l time is different, and the available measure of it so much less than humans have.
SWWBO's gonna get you for sure on that one.
There is no substitute for human, loving, touch. There are, however, a lot of stray cats and dogs who have attached themselves to the bases in Iraq and AFG. Furry critter lovin' shouldn't be too hard to come by over there. No, it's not the same as your own critters, but it's closer to home than a webcam conversation with your wife.
I agree with John on the separation from furry friends, it's a bigger hardship than missing the spouse.
*koff*
What?
So, Have the "new" MI-17s shown up yet? What about the Hueys? What are you working with at this point? Are you doing any of the training on the new Cessna Caravans, with 'hard-points'?
Just wondering about the status of the "New Iraq Air Force".
Hope all is well with you and yours!
Cheers!
ChrisP