Why I love this city:

It is so diverse there are street signs in languages other than English.

Alpha, Bravo, Charlie. Do You Copy?

Anyone care to know how many times in the past 2 months since I got my new computer that I’ve had to call the HP helpdesk?? FOUR! I’m starting to think I’ve purchased a lemon of a computer. That frustration aside, at least it has provided for some “amusing” times on the phone with various people all over the world. On the first conversation with the helpdesk, I talked with a lady in the Philippines, but the problem was more than she could handle so we had to conference call a guy in India. That was pretty cool. Except I was on the phone for a total of FOUR HOURS. The third time I called I got a guy in Hyderbad, India. I tried to make conversation with him about India, but he was not interested at all. And he laughed at the problem I was calling for. So we really got off on the wrong foot. And THEN he spurned my use of my own version of the military alphabet when giving him my product key and serial number. Helpdesk guy: “What is your product key and serial number?” Me: “F as in father, E as in egg, 8, 9, 9, A as in apple, V as in victor.” Helpdesk guy: “Ok that is F as in foxtrot, E as in echo, 8, 9, 9, A as in alpha, V as in victor. Is that correct?” Me [laughingly thinking ‘well I got one right’]: “Yes. And my serial number is C as in cat, N as in nancy, D as in dog…” Helpdesk guy [cutting me off]: “You can just read the number. I can understand your accent just fine.” Me [a little hurt and embarrassed that he wasn’t impressed with the use of my makeshift military alphabet]: “OK. Fine. It’s CND9351E94.” Lesson learned: Don’t try to be helpful unless asked, ESPECIALLY when cultural differences and language differences are involved. I probably insulted the poor guy with my pathetic attempts to make sure he understood what I was saying. Good lesson to learn as I will probably soon be on his end of the equation... Just in case you need to study up before calling your computer helpdesk, or maybe you're just curious, here is a link to the military phonetic alphabet: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/theorderlyroom/a/alphabet.htm

Family Vacay

My family and I went on a mini vacation to Possum Kingdom Lake a couple of weeks ago. It was a wonderful time together out in the middle of a beatufil lake boating, swimming, and tubing. It's the last time we'll all be together for at least year since I am getting ready to move overseas this fall and my brother is about to be deployed to Irq again in February.

Ludicrous Speed Revisited...

Progress toward moving is moving....well....slowly.... But that's ok. Even though the process has been MUCH different than I expected ("delayed" - for lack of a better word - by an emotional time with my mom a couple of weeks ago, a computer crash now resolved, and a family vacation during which I had no phone or internet), I'm confident that it will all come to pass at just the right time. KEY WORDS: just the right time. What is the "right" time? Not sure. But based on how things have been going it seems that the Sept 18 deadline for departing the country may not be the right time. After I'm done with training in early September I will shoot for leaving sometime in October.

Ludicrous Speed

So it’s no secret that for quite some time I’ve wanted to work overseas in healthcare, but the timing and place has been nebulous. I’ve searched for this opportunity for at least 5 years now. And always time couldn’t seem to move fast enough. But in the span of only 2 months things changed very quickly, doors opened, and a new opportunity I can’t resist became available to me. Now I'm searching for the emergency brake, which would be incredibly dangerous at the ludicrous speed I'm traveling at these days (see video below). So bittersweet! My last day at work was June 19 and I'm now in the midst of packing up my stuff to move. The plan is to finish packing, do training in August, say one last round of goodbyes, and leave the country for my new home on September 18. LUDICROUS SPEED: GO!