Well we lost in softball again today. It's almost comical. But it's still fun. I was 2 for 3 with a 2-RBI sac fly and two doubles. The score was somewhere in the range of 23-11. Oh well.
On a more pleasant note, I'm trying to become more creative with the way I prepare the food they serve in the chow hall. Yesterday was grilled chicken day at lunch and the chicken they serve is bland, tasteless, and dry. Usually, they'll only serve us one chicken breast, but I winked and smiled my way to two. She thought I was weird for not wanting a bun (the buns they serve in the line are dry, generic wonderbread-type and taste like sawdust), but I had better plans. One I cut up into smaller pieces and made a grilled chicken salad with. The other I smothered in a sauce I mixed up with mustard, hot sauce, and something called "Buffalo Bob's Anything Sauce" which is supposedly good on anything but tastes horrid by itself. One thing the food service people do right is put out locally-made breads in the salad line. I grabbed one that looks more like the kind of bun you'd find at the Tap Room in San Marcos or maybe Honey-B-Ham in Conroe. Anyway I tore it in half, toasted it, then used that for my bun, and added cheese, lettuce, and onions. I know that's not gonna win me any cooking awards but there's not much to work with. Since I arrived here, I haven't seen one American do anything similar. Maybe they know something about the bread that I don't but as far as I'm concerned, it tastes better and at least makes the meal more interesting.
This week I've been watching the HBO miniseries John Adams, based on the book by David McCullough. It is excellent and provides a lot of insight into a President who is often slighted for the Alien and Sedition acts but arguably articulated the best case for independence from Great Britain.
That's all for now. Off to the gym with me!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Bad News Bears
Another exciting (sarcasm) weekend in Kosovo! It was pretty laid back except our softball team had two games this weekend. Yesterday was a makeup for last Monday which was rained out. We got beat although I was 1 for 2. We lost again this afternoon to a slightly ridiculous score of 21-6. Our team is at a slight disadvantage in that we really don't have any time to practice outside of our games. Me being a civilian contractor, I only work 8 hour days but all the Army guys are on 12-hour shifts so our games are our practices. We're learning to play better as a team but there are still a lot of kinks to work out. We've got another game tomorrow evening so hopefully things will come together.
Other than softball, it was a pretty low-key weekend. Went to the gym on Saturday and got a good little workout in to get loosened up for the softball game. There haven't been any good movies at the theater in the last week so I made some progress through all the DVDs I've bought since I got here. I watched The Kite Runner which was really good and really sad. I still haven't read the book so now I'll have to go buy it. And I watched The Diving Bell and the Butterfly which I'd recommend to anyone reading this. I read the book for a class back in school and it's a sad but very inspiring story.
That's all that's been going on. The next few weeks should provide a little excitement. I'm working on a briefing for the commanding general so that will keep me busy at work and I'm also in the process of buying a new Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. It's on hold for me in Germany and it will be an interesting adventure going to pick it up. It looks like I'll be going over Labor Day weekend (which means nothing in Europe), flying up to Germany and then driving back across Europe over about 3 days. I've tentatively mapped out a route that takes me to Salzburg, Budapest, and Belgrade. I'll probably get lost or abducted by a roving band of gypsies but it should be fun. And yes, a Jeep Wrangler is probably not the most fuel efficient vehicle I could buy for driving around Europe but I'm living in a converted shipping container for free so I'm okay with it.
Hope everyone in Texas is having fun with the heat!
Other than softball, it was a pretty low-key weekend. Went to the gym on Saturday and got a good little workout in to get loosened up for the softball game. There haven't been any good movies at the theater in the last week so I made some progress through all the DVDs I've bought since I got here. I watched The Kite Runner which was really good and really sad. I still haven't read the book so now I'll have to go buy it. And I watched The Diving Bell and the Butterfly which I'd recommend to anyone reading this. I read the book for a class back in school and it's a sad but very inspiring story.
That's all that's been going on. The next few weeks should provide a little excitement. I'm working on a briefing for the commanding general so that will keep me busy at work and I'm also in the process of buying a new Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. It's on hold for me in Germany and it will be an interesting adventure going to pick it up. It looks like I'll be going over Labor Day weekend (which means nothing in Europe), flying up to Germany and then driving back across Europe over about 3 days. I've tentatively mapped out a route that takes me to Salzburg, Budapest, and Belgrade. I'll probably get lost or abducted by a roving band of gypsies but it should be fun. And yes, a Jeep Wrangler is probably not the most fuel efficient vehicle I could buy for driving around Europe but I'm living in a converted shipping container for free so I'm okay with it.
Hope everyone in Texas is having fun with the heat!
Monday, July 21, 2008
An Update!
For those of you who check this often, I apologize for not updating in a while. However, there really hasn't been much going on so you haven't really missed out.
The most significant recent events were last Thursday and tonight, Monday.
Last Thursday, CACI, the company I work for, sponsored a night dining off-post for its employees here on Camp Bondsteel. This is supposed to be a monthly event so I'm looking forward to those. We went to a place close to base called the "Kruja Restaurant". I have no idea what "kruja" means, whether it is someone's name or if it means something significant in Albanian, but the food was pretty good. I had the "Skenderbeg Sword" which is really a skewer of grilled beef and some vegetables covered in what I assume to be Skenderbeg sauce. It was pretty tasty. Most everyone else opted for the "filet mignon" and I use quotes because it definitely did not appear like any filet mignon I've seen in the States. And Albanians automatically cook their meat well-done so there wouldn't be any point in ordering it even if it was real filet mignon. I also had 9 Peja beers, which, after the first beer I ordered took 20 minutes to arrive, I ordered two at a time. CACI paid for everything so all in all, we had a really good time. Go see the pics here.
I signed up for the ACE (Analysis and Control Element - the office where I work) softball team and tonight we had our first game which we lost. In my one at-bat (we have a lot of people on the team), I hit a single to start a two-out rally in which we scored 3 runs. It was fun but also a weird sensation after not having played softball or baseball in over 10 years.
So that's all that's new with me. I'm planning on going down to Skopje for the weekend so maybe there will be some excitement down there.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
San Sebastian
San Sebastian was the main focus of my trip and Saturday was supposed to be a full day a relaxation since that was the only day of my five days off in which I wasn't travelling. Unfortunately, it started raining at about 2 AM on Saturday morning and still hadn't fully stopped by the time I left on the train for Madrid on Sunday. It was mostly a drizzle, as compared to real rain, but it was enough (and with enough cloud cover) to turn it into a dreary day.
Besides the rain, San Sebastian was beautiful and would be a great place to go back to, as long as it didn't take so long to get there. My trip started on Wednesday when I left Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo and headed down to Skopje, Macedonia. I spent the night there and then flew out Thursday afternoon, first to Budapest, then on to Madrid. My flight was delayed a little bit, so I landed late in Madrid and didn't get to my hotel until just after midnight. Me being me, I checked in to the hotel and then headed right back out to find something to eat and drink. Friday I got up early and then made the hour trek by subway to the train station for my 6.5 hour ride to San Sebastian. I took a different train back on Sunday, so the return trip was only 5.5 hours, but still that was too long to spend on the train. My flight back from Madrid started at 8:30 Monday morning and what was supposed to be an hour and a half layover in Budapest turned into 3 and half hours. I really don't mind long layovers when I'm flying as long as I know about them before hand so I can be ready to find something to do with that time. I am not a fan of surprise layovers.
Lesson learned: If you only have 5 days of vacation time, do not spend 4 of those days travelling to and from wherever it is you're going.
Other than the getting to and getting from, I had a great time in all the places I stayed and plan on going back. But I'll be in Skopje (an hour and a half drive in bad traffic) sooner and more frequently than I'll be in San Sebastian.
Besides the rain, San Sebastian was beautiful and would be a great place to go back to, as long as it didn't take so long to get there. My trip started on Wednesday when I left Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo and headed down to Skopje, Macedonia. I spent the night there and then flew out Thursday afternoon, first to Budapest, then on to Madrid. My flight was delayed a little bit, so I landed late in Madrid and didn't get to my hotel until just after midnight. Me being me, I checked in to the hotel and then headed right back out to find something to eat and drink. Friday I got up early and then made the hour trek by subway to the train station for my 6.5 hour ride to San Sebastian. I took a different train back on Sunday, so the return trip was only 5.5 hours, but still that was too long to spend on the train. My flight back from Madrid started at 8:30 Monday morning and what was supposed to be an hour and a half layover in Budapest turned into 3 and half hours. I really don't mind long layovers when I'm flying as long as I know about them before hand so I can be ready to find something to do with that time. I am not a fan of surprise layovers.
Lesson learned: If you only have 5 days of vacation time, do not spend 4 of those days travelling to and from wherever it is you're going.
Other than the getting to and getting from, I had a great time in all the places I stayed and plan on going back. But I'll be in Skopje (an hour and a half drive in bad traffic) sooner and more frequently than I'll be in San Sebastian.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Friday, July 4, 2008
¡Feliz Cuatro de Julio!
Happy Fourth of July from San Sebastian, Spain! I hope everyone back home who is keeping up with me and checks this thing is doing well. I´m having a great time on my trip so far and will write and post a bunch of pics as soon as I get back to Kosovo. Much love to all the family and friends who are checking up on me!
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