WEEK 7

December 18 - 24, 2006

I’ve already started on Week 7 and haven’t finished Week 6. Week 6 was tough to write. I’m not sure why, but Week 7 is already much easier. Words and ideas just seem to flow as opposed to finishing the stuff that already happened. In any case you folks are obviously benefiting from my reacquired writing prowess and easy flow of the written word.

Thanks to those of you I guilted into emailing me. I must say I appreciate the comments and information. Sure, I can get the weather and news information, but not the in-depth goings-on of daily life that you guys live. I am certainly not expecting four or five pages from each of you, but four or five sentences are great. Keep the exchange of information going, I’ll do my part.

A few weeks ago I got a book about Afghanistan. I figured since I was here I might as well learn a little about the country. To save you hundreds of pages of benign drabble, the Kabul area is known world-wide for its teas, especially Chai teas. I’ve been slowly asking around and trying to gain information on acquiring such world renowned teas. Should I get my hands on some, I will sacrifice my taste buds first before sending some of this stuff state-side. Obviously I’ll only forward the stuff worthy of such high-brow tea drinkers like those of you who read this weekly.

I have really gotten into teas since I have been here. Maybe I’m beginning to turn English or maybe it’s because I just cannot drink coffee all day long. I brought some tea with me and recently my mother and my wife sent me enough to normally last a year, however I have consumed it in two weeks. I think I have even graduated to amateur connoisseur of teas. I now know the difference between black, green, red, and white teas. I even know what Jasmine tastes like, Charles. I’ll apply for my tea certification and license next month just to make sure.

Buying Christmas gifts online while in Afghanistan sucks. First of all, my internet connection is slow, making those colorful home pages a pain to download and even more difficult to navigate. Many of the online stores want a phone number to confirm your order, but none of them will call Afghanistan. Obviously the best way to buy stuff here is to make my bride the buyer with her contact information and have it sent to her. The easiest online shopping has been with (here goes the plug…) Amazon.com. They will send stuff anywhere in the world and do not require a phone call before confirming and shipping your order. Amazon.com does take two weeks to get anything over here and still requires 7-10 days to get delivery on that side of the earth.

We went to the bazaar on Friday to do a little local shopping. Every Friday, LNs arrive at an outdoor area and set up a little shop each to present and sell their wares. Carpets, wood and brass carvings, Hajji DVDs, and local clothing dominate the bazaar. I must say I fell prey to a cheap carpet and a couple of DVDs. I also could not pass up the opportunity to buy a genuine Ferrari, dual dial, Pinanfarina designed, Italian leather banded watch. Really, I bought it for Cole (although it’s bigger than his hand) and it’s authentic. The LN salesman quoted me an initial price of $1200 and I finally closed the deal for $25. It’s amazing how three minutes of my time and charm saved me $1175.

I’ve learned a lot about carpets recently as well as teas. Doug and Tina bought a few great carpets while they were in Iraq and they inspired me to find a few while I was here. I knew coming in that Persian carpets are second to none. (Most of you will realize that Persia is smack-dab in the middle of Iran and getting quality carpets out of there increases the cost over locally produced Afghani carpets). I also knew that quality silk and wool carpets cost an arm and a leg there in the U.S. and was hoping to save a few grand by buying here. Anyway, I have been to a few carpet merchants and have discovered a world I really knew nothing about. I have learned the difference between Persian silk and Chinese silk and understand that Chinese silk is grossly inferior to the Persian (didn’t the Chinese discover/invent silk in the first place?). I have also received an education in blends primarily with silk and wool, fibers per centimeter, fiber length, backing, and stitching. Wow!

The carpet Hajji recommended that I buy a Persian silk carpet instead of the Chinese because of the thickness, quality, and durability. Obviously the Persian cost more than twice as much as the Chinese and after considering my success with the bazaar Hajji, I reasoned I could barter with the carpet Hajji. I used tremendous amounts of charm, bargaining skill, compromise, negotiation, and finally blatant displays of my 9mm to reduce the price $10 over a period of an hour. See, I told you I had ability. In the end, I bought a Chinese silk carpet for Kris to put under her feet in the morning for our bathroom. Of course I had to try it out a couple of mornings before sending it to here. I will tell you that throwing my tootsies on pure silk (even if it is the dreaded Chinese kind) feels pretty damn fine. I even went back to the carpet Hajji and inquired about silk carpet slippers. His stunned expression was enough for me to look for silk socks online.

Our weather has changed once again. It has now gone into the mid 40’s with ominous looking clouds hiding our mountain ranges. Our snow is melting and the ground is thawing. The good news is the temperature increase in the showers and bathrooms. The bad news is the thawing ground is now muddy and it is difficult to keep the back of your pants around your calves mud-free when walking or especially running. Thankfully the warming weather has not increased the temperature inside my room. Should that mercury rise above the current 80 degrees, I swear I’ll move into a tent by my work shop.

I want to take this opportunity to thank a few of you out there that have made my being separated from Kris and the kids easier. First, many thanks Dave and Brandy for helping out with the new table and chairs. I just found out about that the other day and cannot tell you how much I appreciate your assistance. Also, thanks again for the package of goodies you guys sent. I may have complained a bit (only because you teased me with those Kahlua infused chocolates instead of the real thing). Mary, thanks for the Starbuck’s care package. It could not have come at a better time. Dad and Sharon, thanks for picking up Morgan and helping out through the Nikki birthday weekend. Nikki has told me twice about your visit. Finally, thank you Mom and Grandma Millie for the emails, cards, and gifts. You two have this USPS mailing thing down.

Speaking of mail, many of you have mentioned through email that you have sent a card, letter, and or package through snail mail (USPS). The process is extremely slow this time of year. Kris sent me a package two weeks ago that has still not arrived. I sent Christmas cards out to a few of you on the 8th of December that you folks still have not received. I will certainly let you know the day I receive anything from you guys. Believe me, the mail guy not only knows me by sight, but also by name, date of birth, hometown, shirt size, etc. Not that I am anxious or anything, but I sure love getting the stuff you folks send. Thank you for everything!

Author’s Note: I misspelled Kyrgyzstan in Week 4. Also when referring to Kyrgies, I spelled them Kirgis. I cannot believe any one of you did not catch that egregious mistake and point it out to me, primarily you, Joe (BIL). I guess it’s time to have the spell-checker on my computer also scan for Russian.

I do make a concerted effort to make these updates chronological; however it just doesn’t work that way in all cases. As an example, the second paragraph in this Weekly was inserted in that position on the sixth day of this week because of how late I sent out Week 6 and how meaningful and prominent I felt the subject matter to be. I thereby subjugated the rest of the information as a secondary priority to that second paragraph. I hope that makes sense to you and negates any confusion caused by my lack of stringent synchronous day-to-day order.

Two of you recently have told me that I should write a book. I am. Actually I am writing two books. I started both a year or so ago and have been plodding along. I am putting real effort into one of those now and feel I am a solid third of the way into writing it. If any of you know a good publisher, please let me know. I have no idea how it will turn out, but I figure it is time I made it happen. I also have no idea when I will finish it, but one of my 44 goals is to complete it before leaving this locale (as you may recall, I have completed two of those goals already).

We have been working overtime to try and get these vehicles completed. I have been flogging the guys to get the vehicles templated and the Auto-CAD emailed in. I knew once we accomplished that, we would have about ten days before the armor started showing up. Well, we finished our last vehicle this week and got the stuff emailed to our company. We had planned to take today (Sunday), and Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday off as well. My plan turned out to be a pipedream. As an example I will be briefing a two-star general who is coming to visit our little operation on Christmas day. I guess he thinks visiting me on Christmas afternoon demonstrates the priority of my little operation and makes me feel important. What it actually means is that I worked today to organize my shop, stage a vehicle and every step of the process, and prepare a briefing to include strengths and limitations. It no doubt means that I will have follow-on meetings on Tuesday to tell the leadership who was not present on Monday everything that was said. Did I tell you guys how much I love the military?

Oh, another weather change to tell you about. The temperature dropped and it started snowing today (Christmas Eve). I called my mother about an hour ago in front of the Pat Tillman USO here next to the airstrip to wish her Happy Birthday and the snow was coming down in a furious fashion. I have no idea how much accumulation is expected, but I do love white Christmases and I am about to have one here. It’s nice to know there is one thing about Afghanistan that I like: snow accumulation.

OK, it is 2315L on Christmas Eve and I really want to get this out. If there is any Christmas magic that I have the ability to dispel, it would go something like this: To Doug and Tina, I wish you guys would get pregnant and prove once and for all that the operation was worth the effort; To Joe Luna, I wish you would find that job back in Washington you want (preferably very close to Dean); To Aubrey, I wish you continued recovery and health (you’re getting older, man); To Charles, I wish you would retire as a Sergeant Major (you’ll make it soon); To Brandy, I wish you would find a guy worthy of you (so you’ll leave the beer in my fridge alone), and To Mary, I wish Larry would be back soon and you can go back to Jeeping, beering, and telling stories.

Merry Christmas to all of you!

Craig