Yesterday I flew from Danang back to Hanoi. Diep was actually in Danang with me for a couple of days, but I was really busy there and didn't get to take full advantage of the "us" time. Diep went back to Saigon a half hour after I left for Hanoi and will come back to Hanoi with Megan tomorrow night. As selfish as it sounds, I really enjoy time with just me. Even when I go on trips, inevitably I am taking care of someone else and can't just stick to my own schedule.
Just before I left for my trip, my earplugs came in. I tried them out in Danang and they allow me to swim with little discomfort. My ears still ring a little more after I finish swimming than before I get in the pool, but I don't have the water that stays in the ear and that is good. Unfortunetely, I won't be able to get in a swimming groove before I go back to the US. I will have to start all over again when I get back to Hanoi. That is okay, I think as long as I don't let myself go as much as I did a few years ago, I can get back into shape fairly quick.
Since Megan didn't come to Dananag, I only got to see her briefly in Saigon at a cafe. She seemed fairly happy and I am sure she enjoyed Saigon more than sharing a room with Diep and I in Danang, but I sure do miss her.
I am really excited about going back to the States this time and I feel like we are pretty well set economically for this trip. I have a generous budget and think we can all have a great time without busting it!
Friday, June 26, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Pretty Ho Hum Day
I didn't do much today... exactly as planned. I did a little laundry, worked out at the office, and went over my VBScript lesson. Of course, I did the obligatory television viewing and other what not around the house.
I did talk to Diep on the phone. Sounds like she had a much fuller day than mine, but she did not necessarily enjoy it more. I have been so exhausted from moving from one province to the other over the past few weeks that it was nice to just be at home, alone and unmolested. I have to go to work tomorrow, but I will return to my quiet sanctum once again. Things will get crazy again towards the end of the week, but I hope I will have regained a modicum of serenity between now and then.
I am still looking forward to my home leave. That is what keeps me going right now.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Gecko Poop...
Diep and Megan just left for Saigon a couple of hours ago. I am sure I will miss them, but for now I am calculating in my head how much time I can spend on things I like to do, like read and just kick around in the house all by myself.
Yesteday, Diep put out some sticky paper to catch - or more accurately, to kill - the geckos in the house. I really don't agree with the idea of killing geckos in the house, but I find it hard to argue with her because they just poop everywhere. So, anyway, the traps were out last night and she only got one silverfish. Apparently the geckos are onto her nefarious ways.
Diep is gone now and I was seriously considering putting the sticky paper away. The reason is twofold: 1) I don't like killing geckos, and 2) I don't like cleaning up dead geckos. As it is, I inadvertently did all by myself what Diep couldn't do with the paper... I killed a gecko. I actually still feel bad about it. I had left something upstairs and bounded up the stairs two at a time coming down with the full force of the ball of my foot ontop of the gecko. I literally squished the shit out of him. The worst part was that he was still alive when I inspected the mess... eyes and guts all popped out and still squirming around. If I were a selfish person I would say it wasn't my day. Of course, deep down I realize it just wasn't the geckos day.
Yesteday, Diep put out some sticky paper to catch - or more accurately, to kill - the geckos in the house. I really don't agree with the idea of killing geckos in the house, but I find it hard to argue with her because they just poop everywhere. So, anyway, the traps were out last night and she only got one silverfish. Apparently the geckos are onto her nefarious ways.
Diep is gone now and I was seriously considering putting the sticky paper away. The reason is twofold: 1) I don't like killing geckos, and 2) I don't like cleaning up dead geckos. As it is, I inadvertently did all by myself what Diep couldn't do with the paper... I killed a gecko. I actually still feel bad about it. I had left something upstairs and bounded up the stairs two at a time coming down with the full force of the ball of my foot ontop of the gecko. I literally squished the shit out of him. The worst part was that he was still alive when I inspected the mess... eyes and guts all popped out and still squirming around. If I were a selfish person I would say it wasn't my day. Of course, deep down I realize it just wasn't the geckos day.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Vietnam - Laos Border
Yesterday, I went on a site visit to a team trying to recover remains from a burial site very near the Vietnam - Laos border. It is a very remote site requiring a helicopter ride and then a 3 mile walk to get there. Actually we walked in and took what is known as a REO truck - a large bedded cargo truck built to haul large items out of very difficult to access places - back out.
The walk to the site was quick because we were worried about getting weathered in by an approaching front, but it wasn't so quick that I didn't realize a botanist would have a splendid day just exploring this area. There were beautiful, exotic plants everywhere. The weather was very comfortable with a nice overcast sky. In the mountains, as we were, the temps were considerably lower than the lower lands along the coast that were easily teetering on the 100 degree mark.
The visit was quick and my boss had a few discussions with guys on the team, but we were there long enough to experience the most irritating thing about the base camp that these guys were in. The leeches were very bad in this area. These land leeches will wait in the trees until they sense your body heat and drop from the overhanging leaves. If you don't notice them when they hit your skin, they will immediately make a small bite and inject you with a powerful anticoagulant that will keep you bleeding for hours, and sometimes days before it heals. Two landed on me, but only one managed to bite into me. In the end, he paid the price. The team leader handed me his knife and I used to to scrape him off my skin and cut him in half. They are remarkably resilient creatures and interminably hard to kill.
The REO truck back to the helicopter landing zone was infinitely harder than the walk in. We got banged around pretty good, and even with the blister that formed on my heel from the new boots I had, I would have walked back out if given the choice again.
Today we are driving from Quang Binh to Danang. About a 5 hour trip. We will travel along Hwy 1 through the Street Without Joy (a reference to the book written by Bernard Fall). Actually this who area is without joy. The norhern end of this route was literally bombed into the stone age and the people are just now recovering. Of course, the weather is so unliveably hot here in the summer I don't understand why people are here anyway.
The walk to the site was quick because we were worried about getting weathered in by an approaching front, but it wasn't so quick that I didn't realize a botanist would have a splendid day just exploring this area. There were beautiful, exotic plants everywhere. The weather was very comfortable with a nice overcast sky. In the mountains, as we were, the temps were considerably lower than the lower lands along the coast that were easily teetering on the 100 degree mark.
The visit was quick and my boss had a few discussions with guys on the team, but we were there long enough to experience the most irritating thing about the base camp that these guys were in. The leeches were very bad in this area. These land leeches will wait in the trees until they sense your body heat and drop from the overhanging leaves. If you don't notice them when they hit your skin, they will immediately make a small bite and inject you with a powerful anticoagulant that will keep you bleeding for hours, and sometimes days before it heals. Two landed on me, but only one managed to bite into me. In the end, he paid the price. The team leader handed me his knife and I used to to scrape him off my skin and cut him in half. They are remarkably resilient creatures and interminably hard to kill.
The REO truck back to the helicopter landing zone was infinitely harder than the walk in. We got banged around pretty good, and even with the blister that formed on my heel from the new boots I had, I would have walked back out if given the choice again.
Today we are driving from Quang Binh to Danang. About a 5 hour trip. We will travel along Hwy 1 through the Street Without Joy (a reference to the book written by Bernard Fall). Actually this who area is without joy. The norhern end of this route was literally bombed into the stone age and the people are just now recovering. Of course, the weather is so unliveably hot here in the summer I don't understand why people are here anyway.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Cold
I don't know what to really call it. It is really just watery eyes, runny nose and sniffles. It started yesterday morning, mildly enough with just a twinge of a sore throat. That went away, thank goodness, but the watery eyes and runny nose are driving me mad. I still remember Papaw Luke sitting out on our front stoop with a single strand of watery mucous hanging from the tip of his nose, and me wondering how that could be and him not know it, at all! Well, now I know. Actually, I can still feel the end of my nose and I think I could recognize the weight of a mucous strand hanging, but not as well as I used to. It was so bad yesterday, that I just let it drip for a while. It wasn't any more than water from my eyes, and no one was looking. I just got tired of sniffing and blowing my nose. I know, TMI.
I went to bed early last night and I feel considerably better now (I think I had a low grade fever last night, too!) But, today I have to leave for some work down in central Vietnam and the added physiological stress of flying may just kick me into stage two rather than going to dormancy. I can't not go on this trip, because there are too many details that only I know and I don't have time to write it down. I will just have to suffer. Of course, Diep thinks I am going to have a grand time away from the rigours of home life. If only she knew!
Unfortunately, this trip is going to take me through the weekend without a break and I have to keep it kickin' starting Monday next week. I really need this upcoming break!
I went to bed early last night and I feel considerably better now (I think I had a low grade fever last night, too!) But, today I have to leave for some work down in central Vietnam and the added physiological stress of flying may just kick me into stage two rather than going to dormancy. I can't not go on this trip, because there are too many details that only I know and I don't have time to write it down. I will just have to suffer. Of course, Diep thinks I am going to have a grand time away from the rigours of home life. If only she knew!
Unfortunately, this trip is going to take me through the weekend without a break and I have to keep it kickin' starting Monday next week. I really need this upcoming break!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Stormy Day...
The weather was so humid yesterday that it actually felt like a blanket compressing every inch of my being. So, one would think I would be relieved that we got some rain and a cool front come through early this morning. I actually have mixed emotions about it. I prefer the rain to fall in the afternoon, like it did in Mobile, because it gives me time to get a run in the morning. The run gives me time to wake up, clear my mind, and prepare for the rest of the day. I feel like something is missing when I don't get the run in. Of course, if I get five or six in a row, that one day off feels really good, too.
I have so much on my plate right now that it is hard to concentrate on any one thing. I have three TDY trips coming up pretty much back-to-back and then shortly after that I am going back to the U.S. on home leave. The home leave will be great, but it is complicated with Megan and Diep going down to Saigon for two weeks before we depart for the States. Just a whole lot of moving parts, plus the work trips I am taking are always changing... dates and participants just don't seem to get nailed down until two or three days before the trips. This is NOT my fault. Usually some bozo who thinks he is more important than he really is decides to make a change to his itinerary, which in turn changes everyone's schedule.
The worst work trips are the ones that include a very high-ranking U.S. participants. I can pretty much put a schedule together and coordinate it blindfolded, but add the pressure of having someone who can squash you like a bug professionally, and the stakes go up. I carry around a certain amount of "I don't care who you are" with me and that helps. I do my best to put these things together regardless of the participants and I sleep soundly at night knowing I couldn't have done anything better, given the circumstances.
I guess I better get gettin' on the work I have to do before the homeleave...
I have so much on my plate right now that it is hard to concentrate on any one thing. I have three TDY trips coming up pretty much back-to-back and then shortly after that I am going back to the U.S. on home leave. The home leave will be great, but it is complicated with Megan and Diep going down to Saigon for two weeks before we depart for the States. Just a whole lot of moving parts, plus the work trips I am taking are always changing... dates and participants just don't seem to get nailed down until two or three days before the trips. This is NOT my fault. Usually some bozo who thinks he is more important than he really is decides to make a change to his itinerary, which in turn changes everyone's schedule.
The worst work trips are the ones that include a very high-ranking U.S. participants. I can pretty much put a schedule together and coordinate it blindfolded, but add the pressure of having someone who can squash you like a bug professionally, and the stakes go up. I carry around a certain amount of "I don't care who you are" with me and that helps. I do my best to put these things together regardless of the participants and I sleep soundly at night knowing I couldn't have done anything better, given the circumstances.
I guess I better get gettin' on the work I have to do before the homeleave...
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