Never Looking Back

Tomorrow I head off for America with Megan to celebrate the holidays at home. Diep didn't want to go this year because she has some unfinished business in Saigon, and because her back hurts when she sits on the plane for transpacific flights. Megan and I will miss Diep, but we will only be apart for two weeks... I think we can all handle that.

I won't be back in Vietnam until after the new year.  As with every new year I am sure I will have some resolutions in hand.  I may have actually listed my resolutions in a post last year, but I am not looking back to see just how miserably I failed. Never looking back may just be the best approach for me to adopt.  Sure, there are those who tell us that we must learn from our mistakes.  With that, I agree.  But I don't want to dwell on those mistakes and failures.  I don't see the purpose.

So, I will barrel into 2013 with no regrets.  I can only hope this coming year treats me better than 2012. In 2012, I felt overwhelmed with the work load and new job I started.  The only good thing I can see in this waning year from my perspective is that I was able to set myself up for some monumental successes that should begin with the year 2013. Most good things come off the back of blood, sweat, and tears.  Everything else is just luck.

So here I am, never looking back.  I hope I am still young enough to keep looking foward.  I reckon I have a few more good years in me. I need to capitalize on those coming years.

I feel good now. Last week I suffered a bout of what I believe was Sciatica.  Basically, a pinched nerve, or bunch of nerves, that caused my lower back and hip muscles to tighten to the point of severe pain.  I doubt there is anything I can do about it, except hope it doesn't pop up again.  I just sat on my ass for a week and let it work itself out.  I guess I could have gone to a doctor, but my feeling about doctors on things like this is they can't do anything except charge you for medication to ease the pain and inflamation. I can get that on my own.

Feeling inspired...

I believe my sister's inspiration is contagious. I see that she has posted several blog entries in the last couple of weeks on her site and she has inspired me to want to do the same. Unfortunately, where the spirit goes the mind does not always follow.  That is to say, my inspiration will be in the mere form of a lowly sitrep. I attribute this lack of real spirit to jet lag.

Sunday, I got on a plane and traveled East, stopping briefly in Seoul and then continuing on across the International Date Line to the Island of Oahu.  I felt upgrade-fortunate because I was upgraded to business class from Hanoi to Seoul, my colleague and traveling partner was upgraded in auto rental (he is now my Chevy Malibu Chauffeur) and then when I arrived at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, I received an upgrade to the Rainbow Tower (which, by the way, has nothing to do with alternative lifestyle choices).  

I will be in meetings all week and leave on Saturday. I arrive in Hanoi Sunday night and leave again on Wednesday for a couple of weeks in Mobile, visiting Dad.  Megan will be traveling with me while Diep takes care of some things in her hometown of Saigon.  Megan will also take a detour to DC to see her friend for a couple of days. This will be her first independent trip in the U.S. and I think she is pretty excited. I am excited for her because I know in my heart her life adventure will blossom this year.  The choices she makes in the next few years will drive her the rest of her life and the excitement of those decisions and experiences is powerful. 

I had some back pain the past couple of weeks that has left me tender in my core region. From what I have read, I believe I have experienced sciatica.  I believe this is pretty prevalent in men my age... especially when they refuse to act their age in the gym and on the road.  I believe I brought it on with over exuberance in a new program I had and this time traveling will make it easier for me to take it easy.  I will begin anew next year in January and hopefully reach new heights.  As much as I have denied myself, I believe I will have to concentrate on my diet more than exercise next year if I want to stay pain free.  Walking around with an extra 20 pounds on me, no matter how otherwise fit I am is not good and I have to do something about it.

I am not sure how often I will update during the holiday season.  So, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

Helicopter Inspections

Eevery six months, we do helicopter inspections of our contracted helicoper company to esnure safety of flight for our personnel and cargo. Our helicopter company has grown in the commercial arena leaps and bounds since I first flew on one of their aircraft in 1991, but many things remain unchanged. 

The helicopter company is a Vietnamese state owned enterprise (SOE) (a sort of hybrid between a government orgaization and a commercial entity).  These SOE's were born out of the communist system and offer a government entity the opportunity to make capital from commercial business with the government assets they are assigned.  Our servicing aircraft are Mi-172s, that look much like Mi-8s and Mi-17s. They are Russian manufactured aircraft, and the pilots are military personnel transferred to the commercial company.  Most of the pilots are senior colonels in their late forties and early fifties who cut their teeth in Russian training and Cambodian warfare.

I just finished interpreting for a group of inspectors at the helicopter company today, and in closing we drank copious amounts of vodka... Russian vodka.  Toasts were made to those inspectors who were here on their last inspection, the inspectors who would return on the next trip, the new facilities at the company, the success of the inspection.  And as we ran out of righteous toasts, we were forced to toast every new menu item that arrived at the table.  Needless to say, I am still "toasted" as I sit here writing this blog. And, I am writing this blog for fear I would otherwise delve into real work and find myself un-screwing things I did today, tomorrow.

Anyway, the point of this post is that I found myself sitting at the table reminiscing about the early days when I first arrived in Hanoi. There were dishes on the tables and smells in the air that took me back some twenty one years to when I first arrived in Hanoi. The simple pleasures of eating simple foods and drinking simple drinks.  The uncomplicated banter that military men talked under the now cold, misty, and cloudy skies of Hanoi.

I won't shed vodka tears over years gone by, but I do feel that empty feeling in the pit of my stomach wondering if I spent my youth the best way I could.

iPhone as my witness

This morning I ordered the ham and cheese omelette at Highland Cafe in Serena Tower. Eating at the Highland on Sunday has become somewhat of a ritual since we don't get breakfast at the Fraser on Sundays. I, too, being a creature of habit regularly order the ham and cheese omelette that come with three pieces of french bread and a hash brown. As often as not, the cafe does not have hash browns and the staff will apologize and offer french fries to replace the hash brown.

This morning, however, Diep was quick to notice there was no hash brown and the staff was just going to forego any  apology or offer to substitute for another side item. She immediately pulled out her iPhone as she called the staff over. It didn't occur to me at first what she was doing, but it hit me quickly enough.  You see, Diep has developed this habit of whipping out her camera or iPhone to document whatever injustice - great or small - she has experienced. It begins as a subtle threat that, if her injustice is not properly addressed, she will post the picture on the internet - usually by means of her Facebook account - so that ALL of her 66 friends can unite in solidarity against the monster she is fighting.

Oddly enough, the tactic seems to work. This is even funnier when you realize that in a country like Vietnam, it is unlikely anyone would ever win a lawsuit against a company for serving coffee too hot, or mopping a floor without proper signage to prevent a slip or fall that could break a hip. I can't recall ever seeing any such lawsuit filed against any company for such violations, or perceived violations.  Nevertheless, the staff will usually cower and put on their biggest "sceart" face offering proper deference to my wife.

In the meantime, Diep's computer memory is filling up with photos of flat tires, broken pipes, plates of hashbrown-less omelettes, and any myriad of other malfunctions we encounter in life. Lord knows it is someone's fault, and this injustice will be documented. My iPhone as my witness.

Moving into the Christmas Season

I had to change my title page photo after reading somewhere that my sister just couldn't get into the Christmas spirit this year, even after admitting it has long been her favorite holiday of the year.  I know what she means! Christmas has been my favorite holiday as well... Some of my fondest memories come from Christmas season.  Some of those memories may lean toward the Christmas season because that is the time of year family photos are taken, family visitors arrive, and celebrations take place.  Thus, the memories linger in the photos much longer than, say, even birthdays.

No doubt, this season for me will be the busiest ever. I will be traveling throughout the month of December, and even into January. Fortunately, I will be making a trip back home as well.  It will be good to be in the U.S. during the holiday season this year.  It seems like it has been forever!

Megan is really excited because she hopes to incorporate a trip to D.C. to see a friend when we get back to Mobile. My little girl is growing up.

Politics and Facebook Don't Mix

I guess different people manage their social media life in different ways. I am talking specifically about Facebook, though there are other social media applications out there that serve different purposes. For example, I have a Google + account that I like to follow what other people are "trending" about and I use Panoramio to geocache my photos and view some of the splendid photos other people post . I may have one or two other accounts out their, but I haven't used them in so long, it isn't likely I will return to them any time soon.

But back to Facebook, I imagine some people choose their friends on their like-mindedness while others chose their friends based on who they are related to, who they knew in high school, college, who they work with, who they play sports with, etc.  And, sometimes that like-mindedness mixes in with the other categories; but, sometimes it doesn't.

I try to be liberal about the way I view other people's views. That is to say, I really don't care what people think, believe, adhere to, aspire to, compulse or obsess over as long as it doesn't affect me.  Saying "I don't care" may sound like an exagerration, like maybe I really do care but I want to pretend I don't. In actuality, I don't care. That has put me in a bind of sorts, because now I have all of these friends from different walks of life, different sexual orientations, different beliefs and different politics. I thought it would be cool because, in my virtual world, I could learn about and impathize with other people.

Unfortunately, I find that I really don't want to impathize. Not in a malicious way, but more in an apathetical way. I think people expect so much out of life, in so many aspects of their life that they are very vocal - or whatever that is when you are typing instead of speaking - about what they think, believe, adhere to, etc.  Also regrettably, some people tend to care what I think, believe, adhere to, etc, but in a way that wants to change my mind about something, or worse yet, in a way that I feel judged.  Actually I don't feel judged because as I said before I really don't care.  And, that is because I think I have thought my tenets in life through before going out to everyone in the virtual world and proclaiming things that BE.  Actually, I thought it through so well that I will almost never spontaneously say something on FB that I think would make people disagree with me.

I keep it simple by posting pictures, and statuses - or is that stati for plural? - that are very finite, i.e. this is my family at this place, I am somewhere, I saw something - things that are very hard to dispute. I think people enjoy those posts and I know I like seeing that on other people's walls... no matter how boring those people may be.

I guess I am working something out in my own head right here on my blog. My dilemma is this:  Though I try to respect everyone's opinion, I don't necessarily like to read it. Especially when that post makes me want to respond negatively - even when I don't care. So here I am trying to convince myself to ditch all of my "friends" who I consider to be the most politically vocal.  Technically, I could just hide them and they would never be the wiser, but for whatever reason I really don't want to do that. And that is weird, because, with the innocuous posts that I put on, it is very unlikely that I would get any one of these people riled up enough to respond to one of my stati. Maybe it is because I feel my silence would be some sort of tacit approval to whatever it is they are posting, when in fact, on one hand I think it is distasteful to bait your friends with one-sided comments, reposts, shares, memes, etc, and on the other hand, I don't care.  I was hoping the end of the election would be the end of all of these malicious posts, but it hasn't been. Not yet. 

So all ultra-conservatives and liberals out there are on notice. My "friends" list may be getting smaller in the near future. Next on my list would be the people who post picture after picture of that cute dog or cat that needs a home. While I understand the sentiment, I just get tired of scrolling through them.  My final goal is to cut my morning FB wake-up check down to around five minutes rather than the 20 it takes me to get through the night's updates at this time.

Firsts

I have been gone since the beginning of November and thought it might be time for an update.  For those who are paying attention, my job has changed a little bit and now I work in investigations. I am currently the team leader for a miniature investigation team scheduled to work until next week. The idea is to address some investigations off the beaten track so a larger, more expensive team doesn't have to go off the grid to do the same thing. The concept is to save money without sacrificing quality.

Anyway, because of what I just explained, I have spent more waking hours in a vehicle or airplane than I have in a hotel or on a site. That is just the nature of the game.  Through the mission, however, I have done a few more firsts in a country I thought there weren't very many firsts left for me.  For example, during this trip, it was the first time I ate a coconut grub... actually about four of them. Not sure I could have eaten them raw, but these babies were stir fried, and filled with tasty warm grub juice. Actually, "tasty" might be a deceptive word, because it does seem to imply "good" when I wouldn't want that impression to get out.  During that meal, we also allegedly had liquor made from a distillation of stewed mouse marrow, "rượu cao chuột". To top it off, we had fresh durian (stinky) fruit.  It was a little ripe and resembled in no distant manner baby puke on a large, smooth seed pit.

Other firsts include riding on National Highway 14 from Saigon to Pleiku.  One of the most miserable rides in Vietnam I have yet to take.  Expressway? Not! First time? Yes. And, I experienced a first when I stepped on a thorn - several, actually - that were long, strong, and sharp enough to go right through the sole of my Merrel hiking boots, barely penetrating the sole of my foot. After the first one, I felt like I was in a mine field, constantly afraid the next thorn was going to be a little bit longer.

We are on a timing break in Danang before heading to Dong Ha, Quang Tri Province tomorrow.  Nice to have a break from the driving, even though it is catch up time on reporting. 

Sorry I have no pictures to post. I only have my work computer and due to security, can't download pictures from the camera to the work station. Hopefully I will get time to post after I return to Hanoi.

A Little Vacation - Autumn Break

I just got back from a little vacation to Saigon and Phu Quoc Island. Phu Quoc is an Island that lies southwest of the southern portion of Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand, off the coast straddled between Vietnam and Cambodia.

Generally I had a good time, though I often get worn out with the travel portion of these trip... the driving to airport, waiting at airport, flying to destination, waiting for bags, driving to hotel, etc.  I travel better by myself because I don't feel guilty when I pick up my Ipad and just start reading or browsing the web.  With the family, that whole idea is frowned upon, and I find that I time myself making sure not to have my eyes on the Ipad longer than Diep approves.  Megan is luckier, somehow she can get away with it.

Diep, Megan and I were last on Phu Quoc together 15 years ago. I have been twice on work projects since then, but I didn't get much time to enjoy it. Things have changed, but not too much. Progress on the island is moving along, with new roads being built and a new airport under construction, but things move at a snails pace there compared to the rest of the country.

We spent a little extra money on this trip, staying in a nicer hotel and spending more money than we usually would on tours to the fish sauce factory, peppercorn farm, pagoda, pearl farms and beaches.  For the price, I think it was generally worth it, though it was probably higher than a local would pay for the same services.

In Saigon, we stayed close to the Ben Thanh Market and Diep appreciaed the location more than the places we had stayed before. The Ben Thanh Market is very central and makes for an easy walk to wherever you may want to go in First District.

Diep gave me one night off to myself and I got to catch up with a good friend there. He is one of only a couple of surviving friends I have left in Saigon from the old days.  While I was walking with my friend on the streets to another establishment, I was talking about how I am becoming more ornery in my old age, especially on the streets.  As if it was timed, about a minute later a man tried to pickpocket me. He had three fingers in my back pocket before I knocked his arm away and punched him in the shoulder.  The incident was quick and I wasn't stupid enough to give chase or pummel the guy right on the street.  It seems it was over just as quick as it got started.

I got some good pictures on this vacation, using both my DSLR and point and shoot. You can view them at:

 (https://plus.google.com/u/0/?tab=wX#photos/117376873662186980648/albums/5799296521758550273)

I definitely needed the time off. I have felt broken lately, and though the feeling hasn't left me completely, I may be on the mend.

Scientology Comes to Vietnam

Diep and I were watching VTV1 this morning, a national news broadcast station in Vietnam, and caught a piece on Vietnamese war veterans affected by dioxin (agent orange) receiving treatment at a facility in Thai Binh Province. The detoxification treatment these veterans were undergoing included an aerobics program, steam room treatment and vitamin supplements such as niacin, etc.

The broadcast was in Vietnamese, but the doctors who were interviewed and the reporter kept referring to a method that sounded like Hubut when they pronounced the name in Vietnamese.  Afte a quick Google search on keywords "dioxin", "treatment" and "method". it became quickly clear the news report was referring to the Hubbard detoxification method. Yes, Lafayette Ron Hubbard of pulp fiction and scientology fame.

The symptoms these dioxin victims described were not necessarily those described by our own Vietnam war veterans, and more closely resembled those symptoms experienced from old age and inactivity. Clearly, exercise, nutrition and sweating out the body's toxins in a steam room can do wonders for the latter symptoms.  Nevertheless, these veterans can thank L Ron Hubbard and the scientologists for their reportedly improved health and well-being.

Maybe Tom Cruise will be visiting Thai Binh Province in the near future.

Kindle App for IPAD

It took me a long time before I finally decided to get me a Kindle, but I finally broke down and got myself a Kindle Keyboard, without the 3G.  The Kindle Keyboard is the black and white version that gives the illusion of reading on paper. I loved my Kindle and the Kindle store, because I was able to get a lot of free books, to include classics and biographies of early revolutionary Americans.  I was happy with myself that I finally broke down and bought my e-reader, because I had in the past tried to read PDF books on my computer and just couldn't seem to get through a book due to the discomfort of reading on my laptop.  The downside of the Kindle, however, was that the PDF books were too hard to read once I imported them into the Kindle reader. I did, however, get through quite a few books on my Kindle... up until I got my IPad and installed the Kindle Reader app.

The upside of the IPad is that I can import those PDF books and read them comfortably without having to adjust the scale or zoom on them.  Now I can download PDF files from Google books and read them on my Kindle app.  There is a little glare on the IPad, but reading on my IPad is infinitely more comfortable and ocmvenient than my Kindle reader.  In all fairness, I initially chose the Kindle over the IPad because I was afraid I would spend too much time browsing the internet and playing games on the IPad.  Funny enough, I rarely play games on my IPad, and I don't even spend too much time browsing the internet... only when waiting for a car or during commercials while watching TV.  Given any real time to read, I will open the Kindle app and start reading.

My biggest problem now, however, is the Kindle version of magazines that I recently ordered. I am afraid it is going to be hard to focus on my serious reading for my enjoyment of the articles, photos and ads on these magazines.

For those who may be interested, I am three quarters of the way through with How I Found Livingstone written by Sir Henry Morton Stanley. This is a fascinating book of adventure in late 1800s East Africa, that I have been enjoying for a while now (mostly on airplanes and in airports during my travels). I picked it up on a whim while I was still reading Through the Brazilian Wilderness written by Theodore Roosevelt. I don't know why I love these stories of remote wilderness expeditions so much, given I spend enough time in the wilderness here in Vietnam.  It does remind me, however, that this stuff in Vietnam is nowhere near the wilderness these two authors experienced in their time.

In the meantime, I continue to buy other books and put them on the back burner.  I just picked up Bury Us Upside Down written by a former Vietnam era Misty Pilot (Fast Forward Air Controllers) on a recommendation by a friend. The first few pages already have me captivated and now I am stuck with the dilemma of whether I want to finish Stanley's book first or move on to this one. 

I am off to Hawaii next week for 10 days to participate in a command-level working group.  It should give me some time to catch up on my reading.  Cheescake Factory is also on the agenda...

Can't Seem to Catch My Breath

Not ironically, I don't have a lot of time to get this post in. Between Vietnam blocking Blogger and me out of the office and not having any free time at work (we have a VPN that allows us to access sites as if we were in the U.S.), I have had absolutely no time to update my "daily" blog.

So, here I am to say I am doing fine. My job is morphing into something different, and the change should be good. During the transition, however, I will be doing two jobs at once... and I am afraid this will make me not very good at either for a while.  But, as my last boss said often. "It is what it is." Whatever that means.

Megan is back in school and Diep is still satisfied with our new accommodations. I am satisfied as well, but my mission duties have kept me away from the house more often than not. It isn't likely that my home time will increase with the new job, but I think the stints will be longer in duration and less frequent.  That could be a good thing.

It look like I will get a few days back in Hawaii on work related business. The time in the U.S. will give me the time to make some much needed purchases in clothing and electronics. I can't buy clothes that fit here, and I can't order anything with a lithium battery in the mail.  This makes travel to the U.S. from time to time a necessity.

I changed my page photo to a pineapple plant I photographed in Quang Nam Province.  I am not sure why, but I really like it. It somehow looks alien to me. 

It may be a while before I am able to get a real update in. In the meantime, I hope this suffice.

Peace!

Bitter Melon

Every summer since I have been in Hanoi, I have experienced skin issues.  I attribute the skin problems to the sun, sweat and pollution in the poisonous Hanoi air. In the summer months of Hanoi, the humidity goes to extreme - usually 80 - 90 percent - and the breeze stops blowing. Any exercise outside feels like you are running in a giant plastic bag with the heater on, or that you are wrapped in Saran wrap.  The dust, dirt and pollution gets in my pores, on my arms and face mostly, and clog them up. The pores get infected and usually take a long time to heal, often getting re-infected before healing completely. I feel confident that I can blame this on the air quality in Hanoi, because when I go home to the U.S. for a couple of weeks in the summer, my skin clears up.

This year is different, however, and the only thing I can see as different this year from the others is that I began eating raw bitter melon in the morning.  Diep loves bitter melon and usually stews it stuffed with pork. I don't really like any of my vegetables stewed or boiled, so I have stayed away from it in the past; plus even when I did eat it, I never ate enough to make a difference. Even now, I don't eat it every morning, but I do whenever it is available which is two to three times a week.  Diep has always told me this vegetable was good for your skin, but I figured it was along the line of carrots are good for your eyes and apples are good for your health:  That is to say, I believed it but never thought I would see a dramatic change like this. My skin looks and feels smoother with few blemishes in general. I really don't care if I look younger, but I am very happy to see this summer skin nuisance go away. The bitter melon is, of course, very bitter.  But, if you mix a good heaping up with other vegetables like cabbage, lettuce, red and green bell peppers, olives and add a little bit of Italian dressing, it actually complements the other flavors well.

If you haven't tried this vegetable raw or cooked, it might be the thing you need to round out your diet and make you healthier. It was for me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitter_melon

Vietnam Stay-Cation

Because of the detachment's operational schedule in Vietnam, it is especially trying for me to find the time to take a vacation in the summer months. Up until this year, I had managed to get away to the U.S. with Diep and Megan, but it wasn't in the cards this year for a lot of reasons I won't go into here.

What I want to talk about is the stay-cation that we took right here in Vietnam. After getting approval for one week off from the office, I purchased a round trip plane ticket to Saigon and left on Tuesday morning. Diep and Megan had already left the day before and Diep managed to get us high-end round trip bus tickets (12 USD/person) on Wednesday morning to Mui Ne, a promontory town in Binh Thuan Province. Mui Ne is a fairly remote beach town, 200km north of Saigon, that has developed rapidly in the past five years or so and is fairly sleepy in the summer months. From the looks of the tourists and the signs in town, it appears the majority of western visitors are Russian. Though this may sound less appealing if one considers the stereotypically fat, vodka-drunk Russians we learned about in the cold war era; the fact is, the majority of Russians I saw were young, sober, tanned and in pretty good shape.

Boats docked in Phan Thiet

Mui Ne is an administrative ward of Phan Thiet City - the provincial capital of Binh Thuan - and lies just east of the city proper. The people are pleasant and descend from the ethnic Cham, conquered by the Vietnamese in the 17th century. In my twenty years in Vietnam, I have never been to Phan Thiet or Mui Ne. I must admit, however, that Phan Thiet was one of the cities I first learned of shortly after enrolling in my Vietnamese language studies at the Defense Language Institute. I gained knowledge of this city because it is best know for its nuoc mam, or fish sauce - paralleled only by Phu Quoc Island in the manufacture of this  fermented fish staple found in every household in Vietnam.

Golden Fish Fish Sauce - Best Quality in Phan Thiet

The five hour bus ride to Mui Ne took us through plantations of cashew, rambutan, sugar cane and dragon fruit. Traveling in the heat of the day wasn't ideal, but the trip wasn't unpleasant with my IPad and Kindle app in hand. With the 15 minute break at the halfway point, it only took a little while to shake the stiffness out upon disembarkation.

I asked my friend Pete where to stay in Mui Ne because he had once managed a resort hotel in the area.  He recommended CoCo Beach Hotel, but Diep had seen some pictures her friend had taken at Sealinks Resort Hotel and made reservations there for two nights, instead. Sealinks is a golf resort that sits on the other side of the beach road, but it does own property on the beach side that allows guests access to private beach facilities. Given the opportunity to do it again, we would definitely opt for one of the hotels on the beach side. That being said, the Sealinks is a quality establishment with good food, great rooms and a fantastic panorama.

Sealinks Beach Property in Mui Ne

If I had wanted to spend my time swimming in the South China Sea, I would have traveled to Mui Ne during the peak season from the first of November to the first of May. Most hotels seem to raise their prices in the peak season by about 20 percent.  The summer months bring afternoon thunderstorms that bring the rains from the mountains into the sea creating murky waters.  Not ideal for swimming.  Fortunately, I just wanted to take some time off and relax in a place where the traffic volume is low, the seafood is fresh and cheap, the breeze is cool and the atmosphere is calm.  All of these things, I found in Mui Ne.

Seafood in Mui Ne

On Thursday morning, we took a taxi out to the Red Dunes on the east side of the promontory. The "red" dunes are actually more orange, but I don't want to be a stickler. Megan had fun riding a plastic sheet down the dunes, though the walk back up was a little tiring.  The kids rent the sheets out to the tourist and they can become a nuisance in congregating around you. The view of the coast from the dunes is spectacular and the colors contrast well.  Of course, great photos can be had if you can keep the kids out of them. The owner of one of the cafes at the dunes told us about the white sand dunes about ten kilometers further east. By this time, Megan was looking uncomfortable with shorts full of sand and we figured we had played on the dunes enough.

View of  the South China Sea from the Red Sand Dunes

Later, Diep and I rented motorbikes for about 8 USD per bike, per day and took the opportunity to explore the surrounding city and beach. We drove to Phan Thiet and all over the town without any of the traffic congestion we see in Hanoi and Saigon. It was relaxing, though I was nervous about renting the bikes for fear of one getting stolen. Nothing untoward happened to the bikes, and the guys who rented to us didn't even ask for our passports or any other collateral.

Megan Happy for the Summer

Friday was a lazy morning with a nice breakfast and swim in the pool.  After that we packed our fish sauce and headed to the bus terminal at The Sinh Tourist Cafe.  The scene was a little busy at the terminal, but everything went smooth enough.  My seat wasn't ideal on the way back, but I managed to suck it up without too much complaining. We departed at 1330 and got back to Saigon around 1900, which isn't bad considering we traveled into the city around peak traffic hour. The bus stops right on De Tham Street, the heart of backpack alley and walking back to our hotel was easy.

I flew back to Hanoi on Saturday afternoon and get back to work tomorrow. I do feel a little better than I did when I left, but I couldn't help but see all the emails going through on my blackberry.  I know what I have waiting for me...

Beautiful Day in Hanoi

It seems for the past few months I have been losing weekends and holidays to work. I don't mind it so much for the most part as long as the work I am doing is interesting. Usually, the work entails travel somewhere else in Vietnam and that is interesting enough.

But this weekend, I got both days off. My excitement was tempered because Diep is still in Saigon, and I am nursing a sore hip.  This hip thing has been on and off for a while; I thought I was over it a couple of months ago but it just came back on me. I am not sure what the deal is but I suspect it is related to over stressing it during exercise.  I figured two days of easy activity might be what I need to get over it. It already feels better, but it is definitely not 100 per cent. Friday night it cramped up on me so bad that it woke me up. I managed to work it out before I died, but I had problems getting back to sleep. Last night was much better.

Yesterday Megan spent all day with her friends so I didn't do much more than walk out to get a bite to eat for brunch and dinner.  At dinner time, some huge thunderheads were building to the west and the wind was kicking up. It smelled like rain.  For whatever reason, the rain missed us but it cleared out the haze that we usually experience in the morning to where you could see the Tam Dao Mountains.  This happens maybe five times a year. I saw the mountains while I was biking to work to check on the network connection because it went out yesterday.

Sunday morning bike rides rock here because of the low traffic flow. Usually going anywhere on a bicycle is stressful because of all the other vehicles on the road, but Sundays are special because many are nursing hangovers, sleeping in or just not going to work. The lack of people on the road allowed me to relax and enjoy the trip.

Later, Megan and I took the bus downtown to eat at Thai Express. After that we taxied down to VINCOM shopping mall to buy some earrings Megan was eyeballing with her friends the day before. Then we headed back home on the bus. It was sunny and hot, but not too much so. I enjoyed the father daughter time.

Next week the mayhem begins. I will be busy with a helicopter inspection team and then a congressional delegation.  Following that, the week after we have a joint forensic review to evaluate the remains recovered during this field activity and then a repatriation ceremony on 22 June.  Right after that I head to Khanh Hoa Province to finish some investigative work we started late last month. I finish up June with our family move into the new digs.

Diep said she would do the heavy lifting on the move, but it seems like a huge amount of work. I can help a little, but I will be on the road again around 1 July. I have to look at some sites in central Vietnam and then write some reports.  I probably won't be back until around 6 or 7 July.

People have been asking when I am going on Summer vacation and where we might be heading.  The short answer is, "I don't know."  With the way I have been moving around and working, I am not sure I will have the time. That would be unfortunate because I have lots of use or lose leave built up. If I don't find a place to use it by the end of the year, about three weeks of vacation goes out the window.

Things I Usually Avoid

Never talk about religion, politics or money in mixed company.  That is a saying I have heard from time to time for quite a number of years. Though I do not know the origin of the saying, I suspect it is in the primer of military officers and diplomats.  In my honest opinion it is good advice, but as the presidential election looms I can't help but to share a little piece of my mind on a book I just read.

I just finished reading Dreams from My Father, A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama. I would say it took me a little over two weeks to read it and I would give the excuse that I only picked the book up when I found some free time in my hotel room and at home.  But the fact is, it took me almost four years to read it.  The book came to the office through an MWR book package for overseas military and I picked it out at the time to try and understand the then presidential candidate, Senator Barack Obama.  I got through the first maybe 30 pages before I simply gave up.  You see, the Book is titled "Dream from My Father" in very bold letters and in much smaller print, the remainder of the title, "A Story of Race and Inheritance." The beginning of the book for sure is very heavy on the "story of race" and it seemed to me, for a man who grew up in a very race-neutral state like Hawaii, he carried a very heavy load of the black man's burden. In my mind, he has very little in common with most black folks living in the U.S.  Excluding his childhood years in Indonesia he was raised in a white home and his lineage did not come from slavery, but rather his father was a relatively well-to-do Kenyan. At least he would have been well-to-do if it weren't for his drinking, polygamy, philandering and conceit.

Then-Senator Obama, in authoring his book, painted a pathetic picture of his maternal grandfather as a man who constantly tried too hard to show black folks just how much skin color didn't mean to him. It was my feeling throughout the initial chapters of his book that Obama thought his grandfather was a simpleton, somehow unable to see the world as it truly is: Full of racial divide. He also seemed devastated that his maternal grandmother, Toots, decided one day she would no longer take the bus to work because she had a run in with an aggressive black beggar at the bus stop.

The reason I had to put the book down the first time nearly four years ago was because I was a little offended by the logic train Obama was on that only black folks are disrespected, and it is only because they are black. It just seemed too convenient that every hardship and social shun he ever experienced was because he was black. The implication was, in my mind, that every rejection I ever experienced socially was because I was a misfit.  This, because I didn't have the color of my skin as an excuse.

Anyway, I found I had to see this book from another angle in order to power through it.  I began to read it as a book of discovery.  I realized this was a very honest book full of raw thoughts and I decided I would read it from a detached perspective.  And, while there is much I did not agree with from his political viewpoint - Obama's leanings are clearly socialistic in the book - I found the story line fascinating. I much enjoyed reading about his childhood in Indonesia, his time as a community organizer, and perhaps most of all his discovery of Mother Africa and his relatives there.

I took into consideration that Obama wrote this book in 1995, probably before he ever had aspirations to be President of the United States.  In reading the book, there is little doubt in my mind that he was born in Hawaii - I think even Donald Trump would come to the same conclusion if he read the book.  But, I also find it amazing that he was ever elected POTUS considering his admitted generous use of illicit drugs. There is no doubt in my mind he was a habitual grass smoker, and it is likely he experimented with blow... and perhaps even stronger mind altering drugs.  There was even one reference he made in the book, and I hate myself for not marking it, that I inferred he was at some point in his youth arrested for felony car theft.

All that aside, I did enjoy the book. I am glad I read it and would recommend it to anyone who wants a better perspective on the President of the United States.  Once again, it seems very clear President Obama has strong socialist leanings especially in reading through his chapters as a community organizer.  In principle, I don't even disagree with the idea of Socialism, except that it doesn't work in the real world.  I mean, why would I bust my ass to make my world better when I had to drag every lame dick and their load with me? Vietnam went through her experimentation with socialism, and though there are still remnants, I think anyone with even the smallest powers of observation can see that Vietnam is more capitalist based than socialist thanks to Doi Moi (the renovation) of 1986 - the policy change that saved the nation.

Unrelated to the book itself, I do think everyone should have access to healthcare. I only disagree with the method of reform.  I personally believe that reform lies in the pricing of health services, pharmaceuticals and insurance.  This triad is a monster that needs to be slain.  Both employer and employee are the victims to this parasite. There is no reason in the world, in my mind, that I can buy a pill that cost fifty cents in Vietnam that costs 20 dollars in the U.S. Same formula and made by a first world nation.

This election year will be interesting to say the least. I can't say I have made up my mind on who to vote for yet for all the lies flying from both sides. I might not know the truth, but I can sure spot a half-truth a mile away. I really want to vote, but I am not sure who to vote for. I can say this for sure, I would like to see the electoral college eliminated. It makes no sense anymore. Give me my popular vote. One person - one vote!

Special Visitor

Today the Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta, visited the office.  These visits always require lots of preparation and coordination, and fortunately, my participation in that tedious task was nominal. I did, however, get to enjoy a little time in the lime light with my colleagues and it was cool to feel like a rock star, if but for a little while.

I suppose like everyone, there are those aspects of my job that I wish were better, but the overall satisfaction I get from my work is much greater than most people could ever dream about. As a DoD employee, it is nice to have the Pentagon Chief come and tell you personally what a great job you are doing. Even better that I had to share that praise with only a handful of other people. All of the office staff received a challenge coin and hopefully I will have some pictures to hold as proof of the visit soon. I was looking through my stash of coins and realized this was my third SecDef coin in succession.

I spent most of last week on the road, visiting two recovery sites in Quang Binh Province, one recovery site in ThuaThien-Hue,and one recovery site in Quang Nam Province.  We spent lots of time in planes, cars and helicopters, but it was good to see what the teams are doing. I suppose my sympathies go most out to the guys in Thua Thien-Hue Province because they are base camping on the southern side of the Bach Ma Mountains where it is very hot and even more humid. The humidity is so high that the team members are having problems drying out their clothes after washing.  It doesn't help that the site they are recovering sits on a 45 degree slope.  I can only imagine how miserable it must get moving up and down that mountain with socks that aren't quite dry. Trench foot sucks!

Final preparations are being made on our new accommodations; we will sign the new contract soon. I was very comfortable where we are now, but Diep was ready to move on. We should be living in our new residence at Frasier Suites at the beginning of next month. Since I spend such little time at home, this is all about Diep and Megan.  Hopefully this will be some place we can hang our hats for more than two years this time!

Back out on the road

I am heading back out on the road again tomorrow just as Diep is heading back to Hanoi. We won't even get to see each other as we are coming and going. A little sad, really. I was in Danang on her birthday and due to a series of unfortunate events I didn't get a chance to wish her a happy birthday before she called me up with a crisis that flustered me so much I didn't even think about it until much later in the day... At which time it was much, much too late, as one would well imagine. I talked to Diep on the phone today and it would appear all is forgiven, but I still feel quite a bit of guilt about the whole thing.

Megan, who was the source of the crisis when I was in Danang, is off to a prom tonight. The theme is Hollywood prom night and I find myself wondering if, after it is all over, she and her friends had more fun getting ready for the event, or the actual prom itself. I took a few pictures of Megan and her friends before they left:

Megan all snazzy!

Ciara, My and Megan

I am typing this post on my new iPad 2. Something I am not sure I really had permission to buy, but a toy I have enjoyed immensely in my few days of ownership. I am experiencing a little trouble with the typing, but overall, I would rank it very high on the "fun" scale. This will be much easier to carry around than my personal laptop, along with my office laptop that I almost have to take with me to take care of the work I do.

So, tomorrow I will fly to Quang Binh Province, visit a couple of sites in that area and then move south by road to Danang City where we will finish up our site visits. I won't be back in the office until next Friday. Good news is, for now, I am scheduled to have both Saturday and Sunday off after the trip. That should make up for working this Sunday and Memorial Day.

It's the beginning of a beautiful day in Nha Trang City. I could see the sun peeking over the horizon of the South China Sea when I woke up this morning at 0445. The onset of the warmer months has beckoned the sun to rise earlier and with it I, too, get up. Nearly two hours and two cups of coffee later, I am still sitting in my comfortable room at the Sheraton Hotel, hating myself for not finding the motivation to take a stroll along the beach. Part of my reticence lies in the deceit I know the three dimensional picture outside my window holds. The peaceful cool serenity I see from my climate controlled room belies the reality of the humidity and heat outside. It might have been bearable at 0500, but at 0630 I can feel the rays playing with the cool comfort of my room.

I could have tricked myself into going outside with the enticement of exercise. I love morning runs, especially along the beach; especially if I get out before the sun gets too high on the horizon. But, I am leaving for Danang today and I didn't want my sweat soaked training clothes to sit in my bag until this afternoon when I get to Danang. Yesterday was a down day... no exercise. After a walk at noon to get some lunch and buy some coffee I retired to my room for the rest of the day. This is a fact to which I can never convince Diep. She is adamant that I am a wolf on the prowl when the sun sets. Hitting bars and chatting up the birds.

I needed the down day yesterday. Even today I can feel an ache in my muscles and a general malaise. I do feel better, though, and settled for some very basic and very short calesthinics in my room. According to the routine I am doing, today is a down day as well, but I feel like I will be ready for a swim at the Hyatt when I arrive in Danang. After the swim, I will hit the steam room, jacuzzi, sauna and cold pool. The effects of the cold pool will knock me out when I get to my room. The first time I got in the cold pool it was after just 5 minutes in the steam room. As I stepped into the very cold water, steam from my body rose out of the pool and I felt every muscle begin to seize. I only managed to get in up to my neck before I had to hurry out, fearing I would be found dead, naked in a fetal position at the bottom of the pool.

I was scheduled for a very long hike to a remote site north of Nha Trang, but the advance team warned that a forestry road marked on the map that we had intended to use had been left in a state of disrepair for several years. The red dirt had eroded away leaving only huge boulders that the advance team had to climb. It changed my estimate of about 6 hours hiking there and back to three days and two nights. We were strapped for time and the lead team didn't have the energy in them to go back out, having just returned from their initial trip. It may be that I come back next month to make the hike, a decision needs to be made and I don't know yet.

I get back to Hanoi on Monday, just in time to see Diep head out for Saigon. Her mother is still suffering from lockjaw and Diep needs to be with her. The summer break is fast approaching and I still haven't found a hole in my schedule to take a trip anywhere. I was hoping to get back home to take a cruise to the Bahamas, but as my schedule keeps filling up, that dream dematerializes.

Four Day Weekend

Today is 30 April 2012.  For most Americans my age, it probably doesn't even tingle as any particularly important day in history. As a matter of fact, if it weren't for my lot in life, the day wouldn't mean much, if anything, to me either.

But, since I may or may not have your interest now, I will endeavor to educate.  Today is what we Americans call "Fall of Saigon" Day and the Vietnamese call Liberation Day. So the little history lesson is that on this day in 1975 the communist rolled their tanks through the gates of the Presidential Palace in Saigon and claimed victory over the Republic of Vietnam. Forget about the fact that they could have just walked through with no opposition or that they had to stage the event to film for posterity's sake, because in the end Saigon fell and the country became as one.

Counter to what one may think, I sped through the streets to work and back home with little or no attention cast upon me. There is no animosity - no bad feelings to share with this white boy from Alabama. I only mention this because I have been often asked whether the Vietnamese hate me.  In fact, even in the early 90's when the state of the country was still very bleak and economic recovery from the war was still ongoing, I can't recall anyone ever showing me ill-will in Hanoi, Saigon or Danang. There were one or two occasions in Quang Binh when I - as a member of a team - had a farming tool shaken at me and certain mean-sounding words shouted at me (no idea what was said at the time as I was new in country and the Quang Binh farmer's dialect isn't the easiest to comprehend - especially when angry), but as it was explained to me later the man had lost his entire family to the effects of bombs falling from the sky. I guess that would make it pretty personal for him.

Today, things were very normal. The only notable things in my daily routine were: 1) It was perhaps one thousand degrees outside on my way back home (I know this because my skin was cooking off of my arms as I maneuvered my way through the streets), and 2) Since it is a holiday, people were swimming in the pool when I got back. This second thing was notable only in that I was not able to enjoy this hottest day of the year so far by frolicking in the cool water.  Frankly at my age and weight, I don't think frolicking is the most accurate term to use, but it'll do.

Tomorrow is May Day (Labor Day), another holiday for the masses. I can't help but to think General Giap delayed the push into Saigon to get a four day weekend in perpetuity.

Tetanus

Diep left for Saigon on Friday to commemorate her father's death anniversary.  This is the second or third time she has been to Saigon this year, the last time was during the Tet or Lunar New Year holiday. While she was home last time she took her mother for a physical examination and they kept her for observation for a couple of days because of poor vital signs.

I just got off the phone with Diep this morning to learn her mother is back in the hospital. This time in the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases.  Mom, from what Diep was telling me, stepped on a nail last week and contracted tetanus.  This is the first time I have ever heard of anyone, anywhere getting tetanus, mostly because the disease has been all but eradicated in the U.S.  An easy inoculation prevents infection.

After a quick search on the internet I found statistics stating seven people in the southern region of Vietnam died from tetanus in 2011.  Other information indicates most deaths occur in infants and elderly.  Wikipedia painted a pretty bleak picture of what one goes through in the course of infection and the month long recovery.

Vietnam has had an active inoculation program since 1992 that has greatly reduced instances of tetanus in the country, but the 10 year booster is something I imagine many people forget about or neglect to take the time to take care of.  I know if I didn't work for the U.S. Government I would probably be one of those neglectful individuals.

The good news is Diep had the insight to purchase health insurance for her family a couple of years ago.  Having to recover from such a physically debilitating disease is hard enough without worrying about the financial fall out.  Her mother has a long road to recovery ahead.  My heart and prayers go out to her.

My Living Calendar

I didn't realize when my little Megan was born that she would be my living calendar.  I won't sit here and pretend I remember every detail of that day in April 1996 sitting out in the Tu Du Hospital waiting area in Saigon while Diep gave birth.  Or that I remember with great clarity any single event that has occurred with her no matter how significant or seemingly insignificant it was at the time.  The great truth is that I remember most things in a very broad stroke and let my mind fill in the holes, as I believe most people do. There are what I would like to refer to as little vignettes that I have stored in my mind throughout my life as early as when I was two or three years old. I can go through them when they come to mind and I reminisce.

So, I can remember the time Megan burned her hand on the iron just outside the bedroom of the rickety little house we rented in Cau Kho Ward in Saigon. As I remember walking around with her in my arms at night in Saigon, riding with her in her little motor scooter seat on our Honda Dream II, and seeing her land in the U.S for the first time.  I have some DVDs of home movies we made right after getting to the U.S. and some evidence of how quickly Megan learned English. I have some video somewhere of Megan riding a bicycle without training wheels at Municipal Park just after she turned three, and a whole slew of memories since then.

Now Megan is 16 and I use her age to place me on my chronological map:  Diep and I lived in Saigon when she was born; we moved to the U.S. when she was three; we returned to Vietnam when she was six; we lived on Kim Ma Thuong Street when she was seven; we moved to Tay Ho Street and lived there until she was nine; we lived in Co Co Village until she was 14 and now we live on Tay Ho Street again.  I find myself figuring out the year something happened by working out how old she was when it happened.  I guess that might be an indication of how important she is to me.

I think about how she was almost four when we saw the turn of the millennium in Mobile.  That was 12 years ago and she was a little chubby, sweet-hearted child.  She is grown up now and still has the sweet heart, minus the chubbiness.  I think about how fast that twelve years went by and, in my mathematical mind, I can pull a string along that timeline from the year 2000 to now, release the string on the 2000 side, holding the present and draw it out to my 58th year.  Pretty depressing for me, because that time flew by and I can only imagine how quickly the next 12 years will move.

At the age of 16, Megan is just now moving into the chamber that will propel her into the future at a blinding speed.  How well she gets situated in that chamber will play a huge part in her quality of life. She does well in school but more importantly she has a social sense and grace that I never had. I am proud of her and I couldn't have asked for a greater gift from God.

Why Can't You Just Say, "I'm Sorry"?

I have to admit that last week wasn't the best week I have had, and I could probably even go so far as to say it was one of the worst in a while, and definitely the worst since the new year. I won't go into detail, but it has a lot to do with work.  The thing about things not going well at work is that frustration tends to spill into home life.  That never goes well for me, because Diep doesn't console, at least not me.  She often explains to me how I was the architect of my own woes.

Anyway, given my frame of mind, it made it even harder for me to be understanding when I got home to see a memorandum from the apartment management explaining that the pool maintenance was done, stating that it was on time with the time frame spelled out in the previous memo; however, they were unable to fill the pool with water due to an issue with the Hanoi Water Supply Company.  It wouldn't be so bad except we had informed the apartment management that we were going to have a pool party for Megan on Saturday; AND the fact that the complex had all of February and March to do pool maintenance.  They decided to put it off until the weather was good.  Rather than focus on their failure to make the pool available on the weekend, they took the tact of saying the maintenance was done on time.  A simple apology would have been much better.

So, after that piece of bad news, Diep and I went to the Hanoi Club to eat dinner. Diep got the chicken curry and rice, and it looked very good when it got out on the table.  The only thing is, the chicken was practically raw on the inside.  Diep had the waitress take it away to cook it some more, but it just went down hill from there. After five minutes, the waitress brought the dish back out, but it was still not cooked as well as it should have been.  That, on top of the waitress explaining that it was cooked well... just the drumstick was too big to cook all the way through.  This was a poor attempt at skirting bad preparation and potential bio hazard.

I feel Americans are much better at apologizing.  It would be easy to say they apologize, but don't really mean it; but they usually do and show it by putting their money where their mouth is.  I have been on the bad end of much less serious inconveniences in stateside restaurants and had meals comped for me.  This was not at my suggestion, but rather the discretion of the manager who, on his/her own came out to deal with the infraction.

I am not sure when so-called high end service providers in Hanoi will learn that an important part of customer service is accepting when you have made a mistake and showing that you really want to make it right.

Freakin' Birds

With the warmer weather, Diep and I have been spending a part of our mornings before I go to work sitting on the balcony and drinking coffee.  The pool below and the surrounding palms and other plants attract a small variety of birds to our sanctuary.  The serenity of the morning silence broken only by the numerous birds calling to partners and singing to the world gives me a positive outlook on life, if just for a moment.

With my new 300mm telephoto lens I recently acquired, I wanted to capture the image of one species of crested bird that I find particularly pretty.  Normally in the morning they are everywhere to be seen and heard, often lighting on the tops of the ornamental fir trees in the complex.  With the hope of capturing this bird on digital film, I went to my bedroom, changed out my lens, got my monopod ready and headed back out on the balcony only to be greeted by silence. Not one bird to be seen and only those in the far distance to be heard.

Diep attributed the absence to the camera and the keen senses of the birds. Initially, I laughed at the thought that the birds could recognize the camera as a possible gun or other hunting tool, but the longer I waited out there with not one bird coming even close, the more I thought she might be right.  After 30 minutes I decided to head in and try again tomorrow.  I don't give up easily, so I figure I will eventually get a picture of this bird.

This crested species is also very common at the office. They fly around in the sapoche tree (also known as the sapodilla) playing all day while I have to work. Sometimes I feel like they taunt me with their freedom; and only once did I feel they aren't as clever as they appear when one flew into my office window leaving a poop streak the length of the pane.  The sound of his head crashing into the glass scared me out of my chair, but when I walked outside to check on him, he had already flown away. This, no doubt, was one of those "oh sh*t!" moments that even a bird brain won't forget soon.

Every now and then a tree squirrel will also show up.  This is all amazing to me because 20 years ago you would never see a bird or a squirrel in the city.  When we were on our compound also known as "The Ranch" we had a goodly portion of property with trees and plants all around and high walls to keep out the riff raff. It was a very special occasion indeed if I ever saw even a common sparrow.  Those were desperate times and those of God's creature foolish enough to wander into downtown Hanoi became the dish of the day for some lucky city dweller.

Oh, and I did get my photo... finally:

Weekends Are Good!

Too many days without a real break is bad. I hit a point where I didn't want to do anything at work and I was on the verge of serious burnout. That is why this past weekend was so good. The weather held out with slate gray skies and no rain. It was hot, but not too hot; and it was humid but bearable.

Saturday morning I played tennis for the first time in about a month. I am not a great tennis player, but I was encouraged by new strength and control in my serve. I am good at running around the court and scooping nearly impossible shots, but my weakness lies in the serve. I keep telling myself I can be a reasonable player if I ever get consistency in my service. While I still have a lot of work, I think the time off from the game did me some good and I hope to carry this over into my next match tentatively scheduled for Wednesday.

After my morning tennis, Diep and I took a long ride on the motorbike. We both enjoy riding around the city, and her holding on tight around my waist makes me feel like a teenager again. The traffic does seem to be getting worse, however, and that puts a damper on the fun. It isn't so much that the streets or bulging with cars and bikes as much as it is the total chaos and maneuvers the Vietnamese make without any consideration of their surroundings. Sudden moves from the outermost lane through to the center lane, wrong way traffic and u-turns without any indication other than the flick of the head are the norm. It can drive a person nuts.

The rest of my Saturday was lazy, with a dip in the pool at the end of the day.

On Sunday, Megan and I went to the movies and watched Battleship. It was entertaining, and Rihanna was a much better actor than I expected. I really enjoy spending time with Megan, but it is pretty hard to get the time on the weekend between my TDY schedule and her school events. After the movie we had lunch together and got back home.

Megan turns 16 next week. Sweet sixteen isn't as significant here as it is in the U.S. because you aren't able to get a drivers' license here until you turn 18. As a matter of fact, most kids just ride around on motorbikes without a license anyway. I am still not sure how we are going to work Megan's DL issue out. I don't want her getting back to the U.S. without any skills in the car. That is something I will have to work out, sooner or later. Hopefully we can get her a permit this summer.

Monday I started block two of You Are Your Own Gym. Ten weeks of block one went well after I got over the initial soreness. Some of the core exercises made me hurt in my extremities. As a matter of fact, I was so sore I had to make sure I was properly positioned before I sat down and at one point I thought I might have testicular cancer. After a week I got better and I feel better than ever now. On completion of block one, I took two weeks off of the program and did some maintenance exercises just to stay loose. I didn't lose much weight, but I did drop from 23.5 per cent body fat to 20.1 since I started the program. I would like to be below 18 per cent, but at least I am in the normal range right now.

PTSD

When the average American thinks about PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) they probably think about soldiers who experienced difficulties dealing with things they experienced, witnessed or did in the heat of battle. Though I am not a doctor, that pretty much sums up what I believe to be PTSD.

It never really occured to me that my wife could suffer from mild PTSD until just a few days ago. I should have recognized the signs before, and I will go into that, but it sort of hit me the other day when she said something that struck me as odd. It happened when she was looking through my facebook photos of the C-17 military airlift cargo plane that carried teams, cargo and remains back to the U.S. after our most recent field activity. She said that she was frightened by the color of the plane. For some reason it clicked this time that certain colors, noises and objects will put her in a heightened state of alert, or even fear.

During her first Blue Angels air show a little over ten years ago, I saw the first signs of this fear. At the show, she was initially okay with the F-18s and enjoyed the smaller aerial acrobatic single engine turbo prop, but when the CH-47 Chinook came out she jumped and was visibly shaken. Not long after the appearance of the "two headed airplane" (máy bay hai đầu) she had seen enough and made us leave a little over halfway through the show. As we were headed back to the car, an F-18 did a pass 500 feet off the deck and she was on her hands and knees kissing the ground.

Once we were in the car, she shared with me her fear of the Chinook. She explained that as a little girl whenever they heard the distinctive sound of an approaching Chinook, her grandmother would yell at the top of her lungs for everyone to get in the bunkers. I imagine this was pretty serious business no matter which team you were playing on as a villager on the outskirts of Saigon. I don't think a lot of discrimination was exercised by door gunners who took on small arms fire from below. Diep's father was an ARVN armored vehicle driver, but I don't think anyone would know that from the Chinook. I am not sure if she ever saw a Chinook in action, or if it was just the fright and flight everytime one appeared that causes her to react like this now, but the fear is very real.

Diep's family suffered as much as any in the war. Her father was ARVN but many of her cousins were VC. It was a fairly even split between her parents siblings. She tried to explain to me how they would ignore those differences within the family as much as they could, but after the war the differences were more apparent. The memory of seeing two of her uncles shot, laying dead on a bridge down the street from her house seems to be still very vivid to her. She also remembers her father in re-education camp and the second-class education she was afforded as the child of the puppet regime.

No doubt, the 1980s in Vietnam proved that no one was truly a winner. The implementation of communist idealogy and communal cooperation in agriculture failed to a large extent and not until Doi Moi Policy or the Renovation in 1986 did things even think about getting better. If the situation was hard in the north during this "Thời Bao cấp" with ration cards and endless food lines, you can only imagine how hard it was for the people who landed on the wrong side of victory in the south. By the way, I still say those ration lines where the ones at the end of the line often went without are the reason most Vietnamese don't believe in queuing to this day.

I didn't get to Vietnam until 1991 when things were just starting to get better. I remember how everyone, especially in Hanoi would react to loud noises. If a book fell from a shelf or a carbonated bottle of soda busted, the whole room would go into a squatting position. It occured to me then that this was probably a learned reaction; for many probably after the 1972 Christmas bombings on the outskirts of Hanoi.

Things are better now. I can't remember the last time I saw someone go into a squat after hearing a loud noise. Those times are behind the Vietnamese and they are moving quickly towards the future. Most of this youthful country cannot remember much about the war and that is probably a good thing.

Rip Tides in Danang

As I mentioned in an earlier post, our mission personnel have moved to a new favorite hotel in Danang, the Hyatt Regency.  As it turns out, the term "favorite" hotel is a little generous given my unofficial census of those who favor the Hyatt over the Furama. According to my statistics, it is running about 70 / 30 in favor of the Furama.  That isn't my battle, however, and quite frankly I don't care that much one way or the other.

The one thing for sure is that the beach and water where the Hyatt is situated is much cleaner than the more northern beach in front of the Furama.  So clean, that Diep who is an avid saltwater bather won't let me take a trip to Danang without her in tow anymore.

Diep was with me on Saturday morning when we took an early morning dip in the South China Sea.  This time of year, the sea state isn't that calm and there is a continuous barrage of waves hitting the shore. Diep had a kick board and was already out over her head when I got in the water and went out towards her. As I got over my head I realized I was drifting away from the shore and north swiftly and decided it was time to pull it back in closer to land.

Careful of Rip Tides in Da Nang

I consider myself a fairly strong novice swimmer and I am comfortable in water. I have read books to improve my stroke and can cover 25 meters in half a minute without trying too hard.  Having said that, I found myself almost in a panic after I put my head into the waves and tried to move toward the shore.  After about 12 strong strokes I looked up and realized I was still moving north and possibly further out into the sea. I did this one more time and realized I was in a rip tide.  Diep wasn't too far away and asked me a question.  I can't remember what the question was but I remember I answered her that I might be in trouble.  She offered to toss me the kick board but I told her I would be okay; just had to concentrate.  She wasn't more than 30 meters away and didn't seem to be in the same current.

There were several factors working against me, the biggest of which was that I hadn't eaten breakfast yet and was a little weak from my overnight fast.  The second was that my first effort to get back into shallower waters was a little too fast and too furious and I fatigued quickly.  I stopped working against the waves and recalled everything I knew about rip tides.

I know quite a bit, actually, but trusting myself was the hardest part of getting out of this rip tide.  I know to swim parallel to the shore until clearing the rip and not to panic. I also know I can float on my back for a very long time and that the fisherman have caught just about every large fish there is in that part of Danang's waters so, at least ,I wasn't hearing the music (Jaws theme).  With that knowledge I slowed down my stroke and moved diagonally north and toward the shore.  I eventually hit a shallow sand bar and from there got back to shore easily.  Maybe this sounds a little dramatic for a rip tide, but panic was definitely the biggest enemy I fought that day. If I had been less familiar with sea water and didn't understand rip tides I could have easily psyched myself into a tragic death.

After the moment was over, I didn't think much more about it.  I should have warned others in the office because I wasn't the only one who had a situation.  Another member of the office had his son with him and got in a much stronger rip than I. A combat swimmer, he spent thirty minutes fighting the rip and keeping his son calm and above the wave line before some life guards realized he needed assistance.  Fortunately, everything ended well for them, but for others who might be taking a swim in the South China Sea in April when the sea state is high, let this be a cautionary tale.

Surveys and Investigations

Two months ago, it was decided that our detachment would take on additional investigation and survey duties in line with some recent personnel changes here.  In the shuffle, it looks like I will be moving more in the direction of these investigations and surveys and, at some time in the future will be relieved of some of my more mundane office tasks.  I am not holding my breath waiting for those more mundane duties to be passed to someone else, but hopefully it will happen.

During this current field activity I, along with a colleague, went to Son La and Dak Nong Provinces to do two surveys.  The provinces are geographically separated by a great distance, but both of the sites lie in similar terrain - both of them are in highland country.  Fortunately, neither of the sites were difficult to access and both locations were in varying degrees of rural development.  Not so fortunately, however, my trip to Dak Nong came in conjunction with landfall of Tropical Storm Pakhar and the area experienced all-day rain and swollen streams and rivers.  We did the best we could under the circumstances, but the muddy roads and age of the witnesses forced us to look at an alternative to perambulating.  I spent the better part of two hours sitting in the back of a hard, steel tractor cart with ten other fellows moving out to and from the site.  I think I broke my ass. I became so sore on the way in that I opted out of the cart and took my chances on foot for the rest of the trip in and most of the trip out.  Some parts of the trail were so muddy, it just made sense to stay in the cart.

Vietnamese Tractor (xe công nông) taking the witnesses back to the vehicles

It has been to get out of the office and the surveys remind me much of my days as a party chief on a survey crew... the good parts.  Hopefully we will continue to develop our capabilities and I will be able to transition more into this line of work.  With more experience in analyzing, reporting and surveying sites, it may better suite me in getting a job in the U.S., if and when I see fit to leave.

Crossing swollen streams to and from the site proved to be interesting

Exotic Foods

I suppose after some 17 years here in Vietnam I should be able to reach a point where I can say that I have pretty much had every exotic meal and creature to be had in this small, yet diverse country. Everytime I get thoughts like that I am "invited" to enjoy some other poor creature that was caught and slaughtered for my dining pleasure. In my days here I have had bull penis soup, bat, field rat, rooster balls, pig uterus, porcupine, anteater, snake, and any untold number of other small reptiles and mammals long since forgotten.

Just the other day, however, in the mountains of Gia Lai Province, I was given the opportunity to have mountain goat balls and goat's blood rice wine. Both of these were new to me, and neither were dishes I will be asking for again in the near future. The soup in which the goat balls were cooked was actually pretty tasty with medicinal herbs, but the balls were just too tough. I was pulling double duty of eating and interpreting at the same time and actually hade to push my index finger down my throat to clear an errant ball portion that could have killed me. If it had, the story may have started fairly accurate, but no doubt the shortening and retelling would have led to an obituary that read something like, "Navy civilian in Vietnam dies after choking on goat balls."

Rice wine, also known as Cuoc Lui, is a clear nasty brew not much unlike the moonshine of yore in the U.S. The goat's blood must have been quite a treat to most of the guys we were eating with, but for me it was just something to get a picture of while going through the motions of putting it down. What I didn't figure into the equation was there was no going back to the clear stuff after opting into the blood wine. The first shot wasn't that bad and was relatively "watered" down in the wine, but the second and third shots were pretty frothy. In my mind's eye I could see the host of parasites swimming around in the goat's blood as I swigged it down. Fortunately, I have suffered no ill effects so far, but I can't help but to think I missed a bullet this time.

This lunch was just one of the few I had with our counterparts in the field on a recently completed six day site visit. Our combined efforts in this recovery iteration are going well and I am hopeful for some great success. My hat is off to the teams working so hard in the harsh environment they are in to bring our warriors home.

Bizarro World: The Vietnamese Transportation System

Vietnam is still referred to as a third-world country by some; others may call it a developing nation. My daughter seemed keen to know the distinction and I found myself at a loss to define a United Nations' attempt at political correctness.

But, there is nothing developing about the Vietnamese transportation system... unless you see it as a cancer, growing everyday, eating away at my life force. I personally have been involved in two minor accidents in the past two weeks.

Yes, the rules of the road in Vietnam place us squarely in Bizarro World, or Thrae (Earth spelled backwards). Why? Because here, the larger vehicle has the right of way and the pedestrian sits clearly on the bottom of this heirarchy. The first of my two accidents in the past two weeks is a case in point:

In this real-life example, I am on foot, crossing a small road returning to my house after lunch. There is no cross walk in the area so I look (left, right, and then left again) to make sure the way is relatively clear. I use the word "relatively" because outside of the hours of 0100 to 0500 there will always be some traffic. I have plenty of time to make it out of the oncoming lane before the approaching taxi gets close, but as I start walking, the taxi moves in my direction as if there is an invisible magnet on my belt pulling it to me. Some fighter pilots may refer to this as target fixation when on a bombing run. I continue to walk to where I am actually in the paved shoulder of the opposite lane by the time the taxi gets to me, but he still wants to pass in front of me, rather than behind. I thought about speeding up to where I was square with the middle of the taxi's hood, but decided better of that and opted to let the taxi hit my hand on the side view mirror. When the mirror folded in, the driver stopped and acted as if I was in the wrong and sported a very angry face. In my best Vietnamese, I invited him out of the car so we could call the police to resolve the issue, but he opted to remain in the car and explain to Diep, who was right behind me, how he had turned on his signal. Diep was having nothing of his flimsy excuse, so now the taxi driver has two angry people at his window (Diep, of course, was the scarier of the two). He continued to yell at us in the vehicle and I continued to invite him to step out; and it appeared we were at loggerheads for the time being. All of a sudden, I thought it was appropriate to hold my hand and say "ôi, chắc tôi gãy tay tôi rồi!" (Ow, I broke my hand!) which seemed to immediately resolve the issue. The driver proceeded to drive away, but you could see his reluctance in doing so since I had already recited his taxi number back to him.

The point of the above example is that the driver of a motorized vehicle - any motorized vehicle - always has the right of way when confronted with a pedestrian. This is, of course, in sharp contrast to California law where one can slide a toe into the crosswalk and watch cars come to a sliding stop. There was some government interest about two or three years ago in fining pedestrians who crossed the road outside of designated cross walks for jaywalking. Several articles were posted in local-language papers promoting the use of crosswalks and enacting a fine when pedestrians crossed outside of them. It obviously didn't catch on, but it really annoyed me that the onus was placed on the pedestrians when (1) many roads in the city don't have a crosswalk within 1,000 meters of the intersection (see my real life example above), and (2) pedestrians still in reality have to yield to motorized vehicles even when crossing in the crosswalk. Heaven help the assclown who runs me over in a crosswalk. I just know I better be dead or unconscious if it happens because I will beat the person to a bloody pulp if I have the wherewithal to do it.

My second incident on a Vietnamese roadway was really a non-accident. I was on a narrow road and an electric bus was coming from the opposite direction. To yeild the right-of-way, I pulled as far over as I could and stopped. The bus (more like a 10-seat electric golf cart) then came through. He cleared me in the front, but then turned into me with the side of the bus. I leaned the bike as far over as I could and yelled for the bus to stop, but he kept going and ended up crushing my pinkie toe (no break, just a little painful - I was wearing sneakers) and bending the gear shifter on the bike. I did make him stop the bus and say he was sorry in front of the 30 or so spectators wondering why the foreigner was going nuts, but didn't know what to do next so I let him go. It wasn't till I got back on the bike that I saw that the shift lever was bent. The repair cost me 10,000 Vietnamese Dong (about fifty cents), but it upset my domestic situation when I got home. Diep was livid that I didn't make the driver pay for the damage to the bike. She is now convinced I am not fit for driving in Vietnam (even though I was not moving on a motorized bike in either situation) and posted the damage to my bike on FB. I was rewarded with everyone and their dog asking me if I was okay. I am just exaggerating about the dog. The concern grew to such a crescendo on Diep's FB page that she eventually had to delete the entry. If Diep ever wondered if people really liked me or not, she knows now. Hah!

New Home in Danang... For now.

Once again, I am back in Danang.  I travel to Danang quite a bit because this is the staging point for most of our recovery and investigation activities for most of the year.  For the past ten years since I have been a civilian employee in Hanoi, our staff and teams have stayed in the Furama Resort, but with the recent explosion of resort hotels along the former China Beach, a change of venue has been long in the coming.  So, this go around we got our reservations at the Hyatt Regency Danang Resort and Spa.

The Hyatt is definitely a step above, and I love the gym and food here.  The water this far south from town seems to be much cleaner, too! The down side is we are even farther away from downtown.  That means it is cheaper to eat at the hotel than it is to take the $8 one-way taxi ride into town and eat. You can save money by adding people in the taxi and splitting the costs, but in a lone situation, it just makes sense to stay in the hotel.

There are a few of us who already want to go back to the Furama.  To each his own I suppose, but the whole reason we are here right now is the Furama didn't have enough rooms for us all. And, I still remember the time we had reservations for our teams and the Furama unilaterally canceled to make room for higher paying guests.  That's just bad business practice.  It is unlikely the Hyatt will lack rooms for our teams in the foreseeable future.  This place is huge!

Anyway, the teams are in country and ready to deploy out in all directions (except East).  I am looking forward to a successful field activity!  I will be out with the boss checking on team progress at the end of next week.

Update... Getting Back in Shape

A lot has happened since my last blog entry. Diep ended up going to Saigon with Megan for the lunar new year afterall, but her reasoning was sound. As her mother gets older, there is no telling when the last time Diep will see her, and I didn't want the guilt of having pressured Diep into staying in Hanoi rather than possibly seeing her mother for the last time. What I would give to have a better last time with my mother!!! Anyway, ends up Diep's sister is the one that had the inflamed gall bladder and got hospitalized on the last trip back. What is it about Tet and going to the hospital with her family?!

Today I just finished my sixth week of the basic program in the book "You Are Your Own Gym" by Mark Lauren. This is significant for me for several reasons, the biggest being that I don't think I have stuck to a regimented program like this for this long, ever. Don't get me wrong, I work out all of the time and I have been in pretty good aerobic and anaerobic shape most of my life; though there were those, ahem, embarrassing periods that I "let myself go."

There are many things that I like about this program, and many things that I will take away from it even if I veer from the provided structure. I think the thing I like most about this program is that most of each stage, taken in 10 week blocks and intended for specific fitness abilities, takes less than forty minutes a day, and only four days a week with the exception of weeks seven through 10. Everything is done with a timer so the workout period doesn't deviate and that means no screwing around with watching TV or daydreaming or just plain huffing and puffing instead of working out. Sticking with the program is easy because of this and enables me to do other physical activities like tennis, running or walking without feeling guilty that I am not doing a "real" work out.

A close second in the positives of this book is that I am balancing out my body. I have worked out most of my life, but tend to focus on those things I am good at and consequently like doing, i.e. chest, arms, and running, biking, swimming. The exercises in this program make you work all of your body and that means chest, shoulders, arms, upper back, lower back, core, and legs (quads and hamstrings). This truly total body workout made me realize that I have been neglecting my lower abdomen... and consequently it took quite a while before I got over the tenderness I experienced in this area. Not only am I more balanced, but I feel these functional exercises give me added fitness in practical strength, endurance and speed. As a matter of fact, my running has improved even though I run less than I did before I started this program.

The last big thing I like about this book is that it doesn't require any weights or equipment, even though props such as doors and tables are required for some of the back work. I still do the work out in the gym at the office when I can, but I have a program I can work out with on the road now, too. How practical this will be is still yet to be seen, especially since being on the road and team meals makes it hard to find "me" time. Even if I deviate from the bodyweight aspects of the program and go back to using weights, the methods Lauren incorporates in his book like timed ladders, intervals, supersets, tabatas and stappers will keep my programs regimented and more time conscious in the future.

I guess it is obvious how excited I am about this program by how much I wrote. I haven't seen any big gains in the mirror, but I have lost some weight and I am almost two belt notches slimmer. I really want to finish this 10-week block to at least be able to honestly evaluate the program in my own mind.

In other news, the first Joint Field Activity in Vietnam has already begun. We are only in the advance work phase, albeit, but the fun has started and people will be on the move from now all the way through the summer. Everything is fine now, but when it warms up, I will be complaining about the heat almost as much as this stupid weather we have endured in Hanoi since last November. My goodness, I can't remember the last time Hanoi has suffered this much crappy weather without a break. The only good thing is the wet weather will translate into a much lusher late spring.

One of my favorite ex-bosses is in Hanoi right now. I have to be careful about saying too much because everyone wants to be my favorite... unlike my Dad talking about his three kids, I don't have to say I loved them all the same. And, in all honesty I didn't. This guy, though, had the maturity, calm and life experience to be a great Det Commander and I miss him immensely. But everything changes and adaptation is key. Hopefully things will come full circle and we will hit an apex here in Vietnam again like we enjoyed when he was here. In the meantime, I wait.

I head to Danang on Tuesday and I will be taking my bride with me. Megan is going to Sapa on a class trip so there is no reason for Diep to hang out in Hanoi hating me for my five-star lifestyle. She will hate me the next time I have to leave without her, but we will take this one day at a time.

I have been chastised for not updating my blog lately by more than one person. That motivates me to write, but also scares me a little because it reminds me that people do, in fact, read this thing. In a way, I lose a little literary license when I think about that too much. No one wants to be classified as a moron, lunatic, or just plain meanie... not even me. At the same time, this allows me to blast stuff out to a wide audience and saves me time because I write fewer personal emails.