End of Week 10

Well, approaching the end of week 10. This week the weather turned hot again. I'm hoping for better next week weather wise. We are transitioning to another group and my job will keep the same responsibilities I have now and add a little more - I am a little apprehensive, but if staffed correctly, it should be ok. I did spend much of the week preparing a brief on the base Master Plan for BG Hodges, the new RC-South Afghanistan Commander. I learned alot about powerpoint in a hurry. It was challenging because I was doing the brief at the direction or one Col on behalf of another Col who is new and really doesn't know what he wants - just not what I had most of the time. I revised it many times and rehearsed it - hopefully it will meet the expectations of the Col's. Ah, the life of a staff officer - though I do feel more comfortable doing that kind of work rather than the tasks that ask me to play "real" engineer.

For the pictures of the week, I will talk about he Bizarre. The Bizarre is held every Saturday from mid morning to mid afternoon. Due to the heat and meetings, I have only gone twice. It is like a flea market where locals are allowed to come in and set up shop. The big items sold are rugs, cut stone, dvd's and electronics and some traditional garb. If you look closely you can see examples in the pictures below.





The dvd's sometimes include titles that have not been released yet, hmmmmm. The most expensive items are the traditional rugs. They range in cost from $800 to thousands of dollars. It appears that rug collecting and research is addicting - most who buy, return and buy more. I have not caught the bug, the cost probably has alot to do with that :)

I am drawn to the less expensive items. I found these bowls interesting. They lay flat and when you life the handle, it becomes a bowl. I did not buy any but they are $10.



I did buy a shoulder holster for my weapon. It is better than the belt I wore when I got here, but it also has its draw backs. It doesn't fit real great and sometimes it wears on your upper back and neck. It works best for now. It costs $10. I am modelling it below.



The other item I bought was a cool pointer. All the meetings I attend include a power point presentation projected on a wall. It is a requirement for anyone in my group to have a laser pointer. I found a pointer at the bizarre that is a telescoping pointer, a laser pointer, a flashlight and a pen ! If you had to attend as many meetings as I do, you would be excited to. All those features for, you guessed it .......$10.

Well, that's it for now. Thanks for following along and all your e-mails. Until next time........