Monday, July 19, 2004

Where'd the Time Go?

Wow! Has it really been two weeks? I've been working like crazy and I really lost track of the time! I've hardly been online from home lately to chat with those of you who are online in the mornings in the US...you know, those of you who are getting ready to have lunch and I say "Well, off to bed!"  My project is getting ready for deployment and that's why I've been offline and spending so much time in my office. 
I do have to share with you though that I believe I had my first case of food poisoning (or at least bad food) in three years last week.  I woke up in the middle of the night last Tuesday with a stomach ache and things progressed from bad to worse on Wednesday.  I ended up going home in the afternoon so I could be close to the bathroom...so I spent the rest of the day running from the bed to bathroom.  I won't share all the gross details with you but let me just say that I've never been so miserable in my life.  Now, it may have not been bad food to blame...because of the water shortages and rationing of late, it is possible that the water that was used to wash vegetables or the dishes was contaminated.

The temperature took a dive last week into the 60's and it rained for a couple of days.  The summer has been rather interesting this year...so mild that I fear we will have a harsh winter.  Luckily I still have quite a bit of firewood left over from last year and it will be nice and dry!!!  But the weather got a bit nicer over the weekend so maybe summer isn't quite over yet :)  Our water problems seem to have been solved by the rain last week as we've had an abundance of water up until this morning.  This morning I had a regular shower but without a lot of pressure...but I won't complain too much as long as there is warm water coming out the showerhead!  I just hope that the water isn't connected to the rain but rather the work they've been doing along the road in the next village.

KFOR can't seem to make up their minds whether or not they want the checkpoint to be manned.  As of late, the American KFOR soldiers are coming after dark and setting up a checkpoint.  They gave us a bit of a scare one night because it was pitch black as the power was off, no moon, and no one was wearing reflective gear and the only lights they had were the little green chemical glow-sticks.  A stroke of genius on their part...and luck on ours that we didn't hit anyone!!!