Back to work

Saturday morning I took the motorbike in to work for our standup meeting to make sure everything was going well for the teams. I wore my Vietnamese raincoat because it was a little rainy and also to keep the street spooge from getting on my cltohes from the rear tires of other bikes.  When I came home, I was hoping Diep and I could go look at an apartment down the road a ways.  She had already done the advance work and talked to the sales lady, and I just wanted to get "eyes on" before we started moving forward.  I would have gone with her on Firday to talk to the sales lady, but I had a deadline project I had to finish before the weekend.  I mention this, because it seemed to be pivotal in the reason Diep was mad at me for most of the day on Saturday.  She refused to go look at the apartment with me and kept telling me to go by myself.  Since the weather was crappy all the way into late afternoon, I had a good excuse for putting it off, and by Sunday she was willing to go with me.  Results: The apartment is smaller than the one we are in now, but the service and conveniences seem to outweigh the area restrictions.

So, Sunday's weather was generally better by noon, and as the weather cleared up there was a hint of fall in the air.  Diep and I took a motorbike ride around the lake spying all of the eateries and markets in our future home location.  Everything was going fine until the end of the day, just before I went to bed, and Diep found Megan's stash of candy.  Diep went through the roof!  I don't think she realized most of the candy Megan was stashing was from our trip to the US.  She still had jaw breakers from over a month ago.  Anyway, it was an exciting end to an otherwise serene Sunday.

Pommegranates are back in season! I love this fruit and wish it was available year round.  They are great for your heart and taste good too!  This time of year is good for Magnos as well.  It will be nice to have some of my favorite fruits in season again.

Another Friday!

I got up at just before 0300hrs this morning to pee.  It was at just the time that an electrical storm was rolling in from the northwest, with the lightning reflecting off the lake and flashing through our bedroom window.  I never really did get back to sleep and gave up just after 0400.  I watched Taking Pelham 1-2-3 again, after seeing the end of it last night on HBO.  Good movie.

I can’t say that this is insomnia because I got at least six hours of sleep last night.  The only inconvenience is that I will be tired about 7:00pm tonight.  No big deal, because I don’t really do anything on Friday nights anyway.

After some broken down negotiations with our apartment management, it looks like we will be moving out around 1 Oct.  I will miss the lake view, tennis court and swimming pool, but I think the move will be good for us.  I don’t look forward to actually moving, but I think hiring a moving company will take a lot of that burden away.

Lots going on.. gotta get ready for the day.

Holiday

I just got my latest Men's Health Magazine in the mail the other day... I am not sure what month issue it is because they come very intermmitently throughout the year.  Anyway, there was a brief article in it about taking vacations and, in brief, how a person who takes their vacation is generally more productive than those who feel they cannot make the time to take a break.  I don't think I will be cutting the article out and showing the boss, but I do feel a little vindicated.  Some of my co-workers take the light ribbing from the boss a little harder than others, and hence, end up working year round.

I feel only slightly guilty about taking my summer break.  First of all, I never take a full month back home and also I try to cover for other people when they are gone.  I enjoyed this past summer holiday very much and came back pretty refreshed.  Unfortunately, I have only had one full day off since I got back nearly three weeks ago.  I already feel sapped of energy and all I see into my near future is a lot of work.

At the end of this month I will be traveling with the office deputy to do a site reconnaissance of a very technical site.  The terrain features on the map look very steep and the location is about as remote as they get in Vietnam. I will return to Hanoi for a couple of days and then head to Danang to participate in a 100 Joint Field Activity Commemoration Dinner and see the teams off.  From Danang, I will travel to Saigon in preparation for taking a Vietnamese witness into Cambodia (in the area of Snoul) and I will spend around 5 days there before returning to Hanoi.  About a week later, I will travel to Hawaii to participate in US/SRV Tech Talks and remain there for about a week.  As soon as I get home, we will be moving out of our apartment into some place else that Diep hasn't decided on yet... and I really hate moving!  So that is what is on my calendar from now until 1 October.

Good thing I took my vacation.  I could use the extra efficiency of a well-rested person.