Friday, October 06, 2006

Things are going well.

Heather should be here on Sunday. May not get a chance to see her for a day or two as she gets picked up by the company and taken to Arifjan, the US military post. I do not have a pass for that base yet.

Still looking at apartments but the ones I am interested in for Heather and I are very swank. 3 bedroom 3 bath over looking the Persian gulf and across the street from the beach or restaurants depending at where on the Gulf Drive here. And fully furnished.

Right now the mosques have sermons/prayers going over the loud speakers and I am listing to them as I type. Every mosque plays them and there is not an inch of ground in town or in your apartment you can not here them. I don't mind and adds to the unique-ness and ambiance of the region.

Every little thing is unique here even down to the Doritos here. I have two bags. One is goat cheese and sesame seed the other is pepper and tomato. Very good too.

Cars are crazy here. Every thing from old 60's mustangs to Ferraris to cheap Japanese cars. I found a mint Ferrai 348 Spider for $15,000 US. Not going to get it but damn tempting. I guess car repair is so painless here. They will even come pick it up. Insurance is flat rate roguhly across the board and covers everything. All you need is a police report. And if you go to the car and find a ding then drive to the police and get a report. The driving is listed as the worst in the world. Everyone drives like it's NASCAR here. Cutting each other off at 80 mph+.

Flights outta here seem cheap. Can go to Dubai for the weekend for aroun $75 US and that is roundtrip flight and two nights hotel.

Not everything is cheap. Apartments if you have to pay and company does not cover are very expensive. Luckily we have an allowance for this.

Generally I am very happy and there is so much to do and keep me busy. Of course once Heather and I are settled I will be even more happy. Should be able to take several vacations a year so keep us informed if you are going to be in the region and we can meet any of you. Also welcome to come and visit here!!!!

Can't wait to move back home to Kwaj at some point though. I feel it is home. Wish I could have taken all of you with me when I left as you are my family. We will never lose touch. Or at least we had better not. Worst case in 20 years we should have a boat shack reunion somewhere and all meet back up. I would be up for that more than a High School reunion.

TOM

Sunday, October 01, 2006


Well here I am in Kuwait. Got to love a place that charges more for bottled water than for a tank of gas. Gas costs are about 76 cents a gallon. Work schedule is great during Ramadan. I work 4.5 hours a day. Also looks like I have a week long holiday the end of the month and with weekends at each end that means 9 days off. I love being salaried now. Well drop me a line at rangerat@gmail.com and let me know how you all are doing. More picts to follow. This was just a kwickie out the window of the temp apartment they have me in for the time being. You can see the Persian Gulf in the back ground. Many of the places I have been scouting for Heathen and I are across the street from the water and have a Starbucks close by.