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.
1 comment:
Strange you should mention hip issues. A few months ago I had some pain myself. I found the pain to be worse when I got up from sitting down for a while or walking, but oddly enough I could run without the pain. Either way, it must have worked itself out because it's no longer there.
By the way, I meant to mention on your last post how I LOVED the new "digs" that you posted the link to. If I didn't have to please anyone but myself, I would choose to live in a place like that. I love views and that one seemed to have some nice ones.
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