On The Road Again

Howdy do all. I'm so glad you could join me again for another adventure. As I write this I am actually getting ready to start a new leg. This one will take me all the way back to the States. I am waiting for the driver to pick me up to take me to the airport where I will enjoy about 18 to 20 hours in the air as I fly to Jacksonville, Fl through Doha, Qatar, then an overnight layover in DC then down to Jacksonville, Fl for a Program Management Review for the P-3 Orion aircraft the Pakistan Navy is getting from us. I'm just happy I get to come back to the States after only being here for a month, even if it is for work, only one week and I have to come back. It's better than many people here. Also, it will be nice to see all my friends who are living in JAX again.

In addition to the trip this week I am going to Oxnard, Ca or another PMR the last week in February, this time for the Harpoon Missiles they are buying from us. The cool thing on this trip is I will get to slide down to San Diego for Friday and Saturday nights and see some friends in the SoCal area. The bad thing about these trips is it takes about three to four days to get your circadian rhythm adjusted for a trip of this length. So just about the time I get used to being back in the States it will be time to come back to Pakistan. Then when I get used to being here again I roll to the States again and then it's back here. I figure by the end of the month my body is going to think it on Mars or something.

Yes I've actually been here a month. It has actually gone by very quickly. We have a couple things to mark the days since they all seem to run together. Monday is blue shirt day. Thursday is "Man Love Thursday" were everyone wears a pink shirt. Today, Saturday, is "Aloha Saturday" where, as you can probably guess, we wear Hawaiian shirts. The days seem to drag by but the next thing you know it's time to break out the Hawaiian shirt again. The other cool thing about the weekend is while we still have to come to work, we at least get to wear jeans. We have a couple other things to mark the time as well. Sundays we try to go to the auditorium they have here at the embassy and we play a movie; things like that. With all the traveling it will probably make this month go just as fast as January.

I still have not gone and done any sight seeing here in Islamabad, but I did get to do a couple flights in our C-12 the last couple weeks. So far I have been to Karachi and Kabul, Afghanistan. Unfortunately I have not left the airport, but it does get me out of the office for the day. Actually it seems kind of far to go for lunch, but it gets boring eating at the same place all the time. Now while I have not been able to stop and doing any sight seeing, I have done some drive by stuff. Presented here are some pictures for your amusement. Please for give me if some of the pictures are a bit blurry.

The Supreme Court Building.

The Prime Minister Secretariat (I think).

Flying over the mountains between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

From the ramp at Kabul. Not a whole bunch to see.

This statue was at the airport at Kabul.

Well it's time to finish packing and get ready to go to the airport. I am really looking forward to seeing several of you soon. For the rest of you please know you are in my thoughts. Until next time, remember if you can't be good, be good at it.