Homesick

I caught myself feeling a little nostalgic the last few days for my former life in Yemen. That's right, I am a little homesick for the only stable home I've had in the last few years.

It is nothing more than fond reminiscence though as I have no regrets about my decision.

Specifically, I miss:
-the work ethic of my Yemeni staff
-my beard
-Chicken cooked every way you could imagine
-Flying to work
-my cabin
-The euphoria of hitting the tarmac in Abu Dhabi after a 42 day shift (making it to Friday isn't the same)
-3pm tea with Neil Bennett (where are you, Neil?)
-speculating about when baklava might be on the dessert tray
-conversations with my Yemeni brothers
-watching Dubai being built from the ground up
-Airport lounges and 5 star hotels (although I've had my share of those in Calgary in the last 3 months)
-12 hour work days (I can't seem to get rolling at work here)
-alone time in my cabin
-unbelievable buffet breakfasts in Dubai hotels
-Air miles
-Saturday nights at the club
-the boys
-noon hour walks in the hot hot sun

That said, there are a couple of things that make it good to be home. Coming home every night to a smiling baby. Actually starting to feel like I am part of the community here. Spending a lot more time exploring the beautiful area that we live in. Getting excited to move to our new house (movers are booked for Aug 25). Being the big cheese at work. Enjoying a full summer, not just 4 weeks of it.

It's all good, just a little sadness about the chapter just closed.

Photos of the Fortnight 2.0

This fortnight's edition is a picture I took a week ago when we went out kayaking on a Sunday night on the Castle River just after a thunderstorm rolled through. The mountain with the prominent lighting is Table Mountain in the Castle wilderness area.

Moving on up

We bought a house last weekend to go with our new baby and new life in general. The house we are in is not meant for 3 so it had to be done. We are moving about 5km east to Blairmore and are quite excited about that, just not about the prospect of moving. Thankfully, I have a pretty good relocation package with my new job and it should go about as smooth as these things can. Posession date is August 15. With a bit more space, we are extending invitations to visit to our great little mountain town.

Old job reposted

I just came across a job posting to fill my old job in Yemen. It's actually not for my vacancy, but for my old partner Frank. I was replaced internally, but Frank flew the coop the hitch after I left which was always our handshake agreement. Neither of us wanted to train the other's replacement or clean up the other's mess.

Frank accepted a job in Cuba. I happy for him as he deserves it (and also because I now have cheap annual trips to Cuba planned).

If you are curious as to what type of work I do (or at least what I am paid to do), have a look at the posting here. I actually wrote some of this job description before I left.

Photos of the Fortnight 1.9

Today, we took our first inter-provincial family road trip. I had read about a place called Silver Spring Lake near Elko, BC and we decided check it out. I took one of the kayaks along and humped up a pretty serious hill to get it to the lake but it was worth it.

To get a better idea of where it is situated, see the map link.