Meetings and Meat
Well,
Sorry for the delay in posting. It seems that every time I decide to write a post, something else pops into my head. I think it may also have something to do with the fact that I have a lot going on and just don’t make the time to update it.
Right now my internet is down and I can’t do anything else so why not update the blog?
Tonight we have a plan to go to a new club. I cannot recall the name of it “L’something”, not Le Bistro, which is a French restaurant, but a proper club. We haven’t been there yet.
Today, and for the past few days it has been rather rainy. It sucks because the weather is warm and I would like to get back outside and play some cricket or soccer. We have a plan to go play at some club but every time we think we can go, it rains. Not that you can’t play in the rain, but it sucks.
Well this morning I went to the KIA ISAF Base to pick up a big-wig from some company I can’t name. It was funny because you could tell he was not used to riding around. It reminded me of the first time I ever had to ride around in Kabul. Not really scared but nervous, he was trying to act tough but anytime a car or a person walked up next to us he would kind of lean away from the window. Like he was afraid we were gonna get blown up. I sometimes feel that way, but I am just like screw it. If you do bite it by way of a car bomb, you aren’t gonna know about it or feel it. Those car bombs shred unarmored vehicles like they are nothing. And I never wear body armor because it is pointless. They aren’t going to shoot me, they are going to kidnap me, and if they blow me up, well that body armor won’t do a lick of good.
Well, I did also get another job offer. I told them I was going to have to think about it. It is a huge raise and it is with a big American company. I would have to go back to the States though to go thru CRC again. What a joke. I already went thru CRC and I already have all the stuff they issue you at CRC and a big thing to note is that I am ALREADY HERE!!! They want me to go back to the States, go to CRC and come right back HERE! What a waste on time and money. SO they will fly me back to the States, put me up in Georgia, then fly me back to where I already am with equipment I already have. The good news is that I can just leave my stuff here and get a letter saying that I don’t need to get it again. I have no desire to lug that crap halfway across the world and back.
Anyway, I still don’t know if I will take the job. I really like it where I am and I am fixing to take another vacation. Right now I am thinking of hitting China. I have a good buddy that lives there, and I haven’t seen him since we met in Istanbul a few years ago. We went to watch Fenerbahce (sp), the Istanbul soccer team, play. They won. Let me tell you though, it was so intense in that place. I am not sure what would have happened if they lost.
Anyhow. The only reason I am holding off on China is because I really want to spend enough time there to hike along the Great Wall. It has been a dream of mine for some time to walk the entire length of the wall. Sort of like hitting the Appalachian Trail only without the pit stops at Motel 6 and 7-11. I am thinking of hiring a crew and filming it. So I am hesitant to go to China when what I really want to do is hike the wall.
It is too late to go to Antarctica this year. Noooo not because it is melting, because it is too cold now. Maybe some Global Warming will hit it and I can visit year round though. I don’t usually talk politics on here but those Man Made Global Warming people are really starting to get on my nerves.
Another location I am seriously considering is India. The only problem with India is that it is so close. I have over 150K miles on Delta so I have a free round-trip first class ticket to anywhere that I was planning on using. I would hate to waste it on such a short flight. Actually I could just pay and fly to India and save my miles for later so never mind. SO maybe I will go to India. I have always wanted to see the Taj Mahal and I Love Indian food. I hear they have the best beef brisket HAHAHAHA!
Speaking of politics. I only get 3 news channels. CNNi, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. We normally watched CNNi because it was the least left leaning of the 3. Well recently we have begun to watch Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera had the most fair and balanced series on Iraq I have ever seen on any channel, including Fox News. It presented the facts, from both sides, and it presented both the negative and the positive from both sides, in an absolutely impartial manner. Equal time was given to all. We also saw a special on Al Jazeera about Israel which was remarkable open and honest. Not what we come to expect from Al Jazeera. So the short story is that freaking Al Jazeera has replaced CNNi and BBC World as the fairest of the 3 networks that we get to watch. And so you know CNNi is the same as CNN only with more commercials, useless programming and recycled news programs.
I finally obtained a cookbook written in Dari/Farsi WITH pictures to give to our cook. Previously I have had to show him how to make stuff which is very time consuming and difficult to do. Well now we have a cookbook and a menu. Now all I do is point out what we want and he makes it. Granted the quality of the meat is still on par with say scraping all the meat off a dirt floor and tossing it in a bag. The way they do meat here is like this. You have your little shack along the side of the road. Your little shack has a dirt floor and no walls really, sometimes walls but usually not a street front wall. You come in to work and you bring a scrawny cow with you. You tie your scrawny cow up to a pole or something right outside your store. Your store happens to be on a dirty street with lots of traffic and 10 feet from where the cars are. You get yourself all ready and decide to open up the store and then you go outside and slit the cow’s neck open. After it bleeds to death you butcher it and hang all the meat on hooks from the roof of your store. The main thing you do is make sure to put the cow head right out by the road so that people know you have fresh meat hanging. Then you just sit there and wait for customers to come. Never mind the flies on the meat or the rain washing muddy water onto it or the dust and dirt blowing onto it. You just hang it there and when someone comes by, you just chop off a chunk for them and away they go. Same goes for lamb, chicken fish, pretty much any meat. What they do with the fish is they nail them side by side to a piece of wood and when you want one they pry it off for you. So it isn’t really quite as sanitary as say, anywhere else I have been.
Well now the cook has the cookbook so at least we have something other than chicken and rice on a daily basis.
Well anyway, that is about it. I only think I have 1 picture I can post so let me see if I can find that.
Cheers,
Walt
In case you wanted see what is in my desk drawer:
Sorry for the delay in posting. It seems that every time I decide to write a post, something else pops into my head. I think it may also have something to do with the fact that I have a lot going on and just don’t make the time to update it.
Right now my internet is down and I can’t do anything else so why not update the blog?
Tonight we have a plan to go to a new club. I cannot recall the name of it “L’something”, not Le Bistro, which is a French restaurant, but a proper club. We haven’t been there yet.
Today, and for the past few days it has been rather rainy. It sucks because the weather is warm and I would like to get back outside and play some cricket or soccer. We have a plan to go play at some club but every time we think we can go, it rains. Not that you can’t play in the rain, but it sucks.
Well this morning I went to the KIA ISAF Base to pick up a big-wig from some company I can’t name. It was funny because you could tell he was not used to riding around. It reminded me of the first time I ever had to ride around in Kabul. Not really scared but nervous, he was trying to act tough but anytime a car or a person walked up next to us he would kind of lean away from the window. Like he was afraid we were gonna get blown up. I sometimes feel that way, but I am just like screw it. If you do bite it by way of a car bomb, you aren’t gonna know about it or feel it. Those car bombs shred unarmored vehicles like they are nothing. And I never wear body armor because it is pointless. They aren’t going to shoot me, they are going to kidnap me, and if they blow me up, well that body armor won’t do a lick of good.
Well, I did also get another job offer. I told them I was going to have to think about it. It is a huge raise and it is with a big American company. I would have to go back to the States though to go thru CRC again. What a joke. I already went thru CRC and I already have all the stuff they issue you at CRC and a big thing to note is that I am ALREADY HERE!!! They want me to go back to the States, go to CRC and come right back HERE! What a waste on time and money. SO they will fly me back to the States, put me up in Georgia, then fly me back to where I already am with equipment I already have. The good news is that I can just leave my stuff here and get a letter saying that I don’t need to get it again. I have no desire to lug that crap halfway across the world and back.
Anyway, I still don’t know if I will take the job. I really like it where I am and I am fixing to take another vacation. Right now I am thinking of hitting China. I have a good buddy that lives there, and I haven’t seen him since we met in Istanbul a few years ago. We went to watch Fenerbahce (sp), the Istanbul soccer team, play. They won. Let me tell you though, it was so intense in that place. I am not sure what would have happened if they lost.
Anyhow. The only reason I am holding off on China is because I really want to spend enough time there to hike along the Great Wall. It has been a dream of mine for some time to walk the entire length of the wall. Sort of like hitting the Appalachian Trail only without the pit stops at Motel 6 and 7-11. I am thinking of hiring a crew and filming it. So I am hesitant to go to China when what I really want to do is hike the wall.
It is too late to go to Antarctica this year. Noooo not because it is melting, because it is too cold now. Maybe some Global Warming will hit it and I can visit year round though. I don’t usually talk politics on here but those Man Made Global Warming people are really starting to get on my nerves.
Another location I am seriously considering is India. The only problem with India is that it is so close. I have over 150K miles on Delta so I have a free round-trip first class ticket to anywhere that I was planning on using. I would hate to waste it on such a short flight. Actually I could just pay and fly to India and save my miles for later so never mind. SO maybe I will go to India. I have always wanted to see the Taj Mahal and I Love Indian food. I hear they have the best beef brisket HAHAHAHA!
Speaking of politics. I only get 3 news channels. CNNi, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. We normally watched CNNi because it was the least left leaning of the 3. Well recently we have begun to watch Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera had the most fair and balanced series on Iraq I have ever seen on any channel, including Fox News. It presented the facts, from both sides, and it presented both the negative and the positive from both sides, in an absolutely impartial manner. Equal time was given to all. We also saw a special on Al Jazeera about Israel which was remarkable open and honest. Not what we come to expect from Al Jazeera. So the short story is that freaking Al Jazeera has replaced CNNi and BBC World as the fairest of the 3 networks that we get to watch. And so you know CNNi is the same as CNN only with more commercials, useless programming and recycled news programs.
I finally obtained a cookbook written in Dari/Farsi WITH pictures to give to our cook. Previously I have had to show him how to make stuff which is very time consuming and difficult to do. Well now we have a cookbook and a menu. Now all I do is point out what we want and he makes it. Granted the quality of the meat is still on par with say scraping all the meat off a dirt floor and tossing it in a bag. The way they do meat here is like this. You have your little shack along the side of the road. Your little shack has a dirt floor and no walls really, sometimes walls but usually not a street front wall. You come in to work and you bring a scrawny cow with you. You tie your scrawny cow up to a pole or something right outside your store. Your store happens to be on a dirty street with lots of traffic and 10 feet from where the cars are. You get yourself all ready and decide to open up the store and then you go outside and slit the cow’s neck open. After it bleeds to death you butcher it and hang all the meat on hooks from the roof of your store. The main thing you do is make sure to put the cow head right out by the road so that people know you have fresh meat hanging. Then you just sit there and wait for customers to come. Never mind the flies on the meat or the rain washing muddy water onto it or the dust and dirt blowing onto it. You just hang it there and when someone comes by, you just chop off a chunk for them and away they go. Same goes for lamb, chicken fish, pretty much any meat. What they do with the fish is they nail them side by side to a piece of wood and when you want one they pry it off for you. So it isn’t really quite as sanitary as say, anywhere else I have been.
Well now the cook has the cookbook so at least we have something other than chicken and rice on a daily basis.
Well anyway, that is about it. I only think I have 1 picture I can post so let me see if I can find that.
Cheers,
Walt
In case you wanted see what is in my desk drawer:
posted by Walt at 1:49 PM
1 Comments:
um, walt?
that looks an awful lot like a junkfood drawer...my daughter would have it cleaned out in a new york second!
great storyteller you are.
*8]
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