Hot milk for breakfast

[Phaedrus]

Well, since I left my brand new camera at home, I am resorting to capturing web-cam pics with my netbook. Here is the view from my hotel:





Just got back from the bazaar; oh, my word is the food there wonderful. There are fruits and vegetables I've never heard of before.

I should have visa clearance into Afghanistan by this evening. Sunday is the first work day of the Islamic week, and my expediter tells me I should be GTG for tomorrow.

[Phaedrus]

That's it, I'm convinced that Phaedrus is a mercenary...

Ya think?

Dubai dangerous, haha. Been there done that, totally enjoyed it.

Dubai = probably the safest place on earth. Afghanistan = not so safe.

You aren't the only one. How do you apply for a job like that and what has to be on your resume?

There are two ways to get "in". First, you can be the military version of a pro athlete and survive it in good enough shape to sell yourself to a contracting company. Or you can have a unique and in-demand skill-set that supports the pro athlete type. I'm of the latter persuasion. As a typical 45 year old male, I'm a complete stud, fitness-wise and tactically. However, I couldn't even sniff the jock-strap of the "real deal" PMCs and/or special ops guys.

It's a real cool job. Which involves lots of real suffering and hardship. As an added benefit, the people who love you get to do without you (and you without them) for long periods of time, during which time they live to hate the phone or doorbell ringing.

[vmbplayer]

Thanks for the update Phaedrus.
Stay safe!!!

The stuff I've seen about Dubai makes it look like a really cool place to go visit. Didn't they build a huge indoor ski slope?

[Phaedrus]

"Ok, I'm convinced that Phaedrus is the coolest person on Cyclone Fanatic."

ah, if only you knew!! Mrs. Phaedrus

[4VR4CY]

I love reading your stuff! I hope you get a camera soon as I would have loved pics of the Amsterdam airport and your Dubai experience.

I will be flying into Amsterdam for a few days and then heading Germany in mid April. I cannot wait!

[Phaedrus]

"Ok, I'm convinced that Phaedrus is the coolest person on Cyclone Fanatic."

ah, if only you knew!! Mrs. Phaedrus

Umm, love, could you register under your own name? I really like it when you read my stuff, but seeing my hairy mug attached to one of your posts is a little, well, disconcerting to say the least.

Well, just got back from my first goat supper in 5 years. Yum, Grab-a-goat! My favorite.

So I go to this restaurant that looks popular, and order the goat skewer dinner, which is all you can eat. They bring out this mountain of skewered goat meat and I am still trying to figure out how to eat them politely and without offending muslim sensibilities when this North African looking, extremely elegant rich woman plops her skinny butt down across the table from me and starts shovelling goat meat into her craw.

I mean, I am checking both my hands, and making sure my arms stay close to my body else I lose them. This, of course, solves my etiquette problem, and I start messily eating as well. Well, not THAT messily.

Evidently some restaurants have "carnival seating".

[Flag Guy]

I love reading your stuff! I hope you get a camera soon as I would have loved pics of the Amsterdam airport and your Dubai experience.

I will be flying into Amsterdam for a few days and then heading Germany in mid April. I cannot wait!

Sadly you'll miss the best part of the Amsterdam airport - the fly stickers in the urinals

That said... the Amsterdam airport is the place where I was most blatantly discriminated against for being an American while in Europe (we were on a flight that was seated by groups, and when the lady saw our passports she put is in the last group instead of the first group like our Ticket indicated we should have been in)

Didn't help that it was 7 a.m. and I was still a bit drunk from hanging out with people in the hostel until 3:30 a.m. the night before (Flying Pig Uptown was a great place ).

[CycloneErik]

Sadly you'll miss the best part of the Amsterdam airport - the fly stickers in the urinals

That said... the Amsterdam airport is the place where I was most blatantly discriminated against for being an American while in Europe (we were on a flight that was seated by groups, and when the lady saw our passports she put is in the last group instead of the first group like our Ticket indicated we should have been in)

Didn't help that it was 7 a.m. and I was still a bit drunk from hanging out with people in the hostel until 3:30 a.m. the night before (Flying Pig Uptown was a great place ).

Hanging out with Slad and Vider, the Techno Twins???

[Flag Guy]

I was hanging out with this guy

[CycloneErik]

I was hanging out with this guy

IcSyU??

[Flag Guy]

Heeeeeeeere we go... the first one is the actual picture I wanted to put up It's the bathroom door). Cracked me up (of course I was rather jet legged when we checked in... I flew into Germany to meet a friend who was already there and we took a train to Amsterdam)


The last picture is a picture of Amsterdamn Airport

[MrsPhaedrus]

good night darlin' where are you off to today?

[cyrevkah]

good night darlin' where are you off to today?

Yay, you finally signed up!!!

Hope you and the girls are doing well, too.

[Phaedrus]

Well, they say that karma evens out, and that was demonstrated by this morning's circus. I checked out of the hotel at 4 am and got into what I thought was the airport shuttle. Nope, it was just another taxi cab, that didn't know where I was to go.

Remember the post about Dubai, and how I was treated like royalty? Well, when the taxi driver dumped me at the curb, I became just another person, in an Arab country, trying to fight a mob to get on an airplane.

Boarding aircraft is a non-distributive activity. In other words, it's not a zero sum game. X amount of people have tickets, and the airplane will take them all. But because the Dubai departure gates for M.E. countries are chaos, people react by becoming mob-like. But the odd thing is, there is a definite gentility to followers of Islam. It was a "gentle, cultured" mob and we all got through the seemingly nonsensical boarding process unscathed.

There was craziness at the gates as well. You are bussed out to the aircraft, and the wrong buses were at the wrong terminals, so instead of renumbering the buses, or shifting them 50 meters over to the correct terminals, they had all the passengers shift among the 5 terminals in a game of terminal twister. Lines were crossing and melding and folks were getting on wrong airplanes in another mob scene, but shockingly, we got off the ground only 1.5 hours late.

We flew in an ex-AA DC-9/MD-80 with old-fashioned turbo-jet engines. It took forever to get off the ground, and you've never lived until you've flown into Kabul airport in a civil jet. The do NOT screw around. The pilot actually entered a slight power dive at cruising speed, and then waited for the last moment to decelerate prior to impacting the end of the runway nose down at full power. I'm thinking they've been shot at, before, and you have no doubts that you've entered a combat zone.

I got ambushed by a con-artist at the airport, who made off with $15 in "fees" for my baggage. It was worth the $15 just to see him work his con.

I finally linked up with my guys. Amazingly enough, I'm working with Ghurkas. Think 5'0" guys who can kick your butt without breathing hard. Just to make me feel at home, they had a protective vest and we convoyed to my temporary home.

I'm told that I deploy to somewhere else in Afghanistan on Thursday. I'm not saying until I get there.

I also met my personal ride. It is an ancient Russian Mi-8 HIP helicopter, and comes with a Bosnian crew. Good bird. One of my favorite aircraft of all times.

Gotta go inprocess, will update later.

[ISUboi12]

I'm 25 and feel like I am living vicariously through a 50 year old when I read these. Stay safe, sir.