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.