Home for the Holidays

I got to be home for Christmas, which was delightful. Even after a career in the military, this is the longest I’ve ever been away from, so it is always a treat to come home after an absence, but even better to get there and we are all together!  Dana and Darby decorated the house and tree most beautifully – it really felt like coming home when I got there. Of course, we had to go straight from the airport to the University of Arkansas campus and see the second half of a Razorback basketball game – Go Hogs Go!! I know, sounds crazy, but it was fun!

Shannon and David made it in through awful weather from Montreal, and Darby trekked up from Little Rock. Everyone seemed healthy but me, who had a sniffle with sneezes – my classic allergy symptoms. We ate at our favorite places – Penguin Ed’s BBQ, the Catfish Hole, and almost P.F. Chang's.  We went on Christmas Eve to Rogers intending to eat at PFCs and then go to a movie, but they had a 1.5 hour wait; just too long.  So we went to Mimi’s Café next door and had a delightful meal together (and got an order of orange/cranberry muffins to go to have with brunch on Christmas morning!). I highly recommend Mimi’s Café!!

We saw several movies over the break – the new Hobbit, the Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and the Hunger Games: Catching Fire.  All good choices!  We hoped to see American Hustle, but my allergies turned into a sinus infection and I just couldn’t do it.

Christmas day started with brunch, then presents, then cooking the turkey, then a lovely dinner, which my friend John was able to come and share with us. And I got everything on my wish list – I’m just a little fuzzy about who got me what because I was just a little sick and simply can’t remember – I got back to KSA with things I didn’t remember getting.  But I know who got me each significant thing, and I am thankful for and appreciative of everything!

Shannon and David had to head back to Montreal a few days after Christmas and it was hard to see them go.  Then Darby went back to Little Rock for a few days, and then I got really sick Wednesday night of New Year’s Day!  We’d had a quiet evening in for New Year’s Eve – Chinese food from Mong Dynasty in Fayetteville (my favorite!), we watched a movie and an episode of Elementary (CBS’ excellent Sherlock Holmes drama), and watched the ball drop at midnight. Not too exciting, but I was right where I wanted to be!

I was able to get in to see our family doctor late Thursday morning and he gave me the works. I had two shots and got an oral antibiotic chaser.  By Friday night I was feeling a bit better, and by Saturday noon I felt much better, and good enough to travel.

Big mistake. Don’t fly when sick, boys and girls. It wasn’t the flying so much as the traveling. Flying was fine. Sitting in an airplane for 8 hours was hard. Getting nothing more than catnaps for 2 days was exhausting.  Literally running through the Chicago terminal, wearing a 30-pound backpack, to make my second flight with 15 minutes to make it and arriving as they were closing the door, was almost more than I could do, and I coughed uncontrollably for 2 hours once I got on the jet.  Pretty sure that little jaunt set me back at least a week of recovery.

Nonetheless, I made it back safe and sound, albeit without my suitcase. In the quick turn at Chicago during a snowstorm, my bag took its leisurely time while I was running to make the flight. It took four days to show up in Bahrain, but I’ll forgive it and Lufthansa – it was a rotten day in Chicago and a lot of people had it rougher than me. Next time though, I will take a delay and email work and tell them I’ll be back soon, but not yet!

747 in Frankfurt, Germany 

And now I am pretty much all better – I have a little residual cough that shows up once or twice a day, but yesterday I took a good long walk and it felt great. I can focus again on my work and don’t need an hour hap every after work day to make it through the evening.   

just after sunrise in Frankfurt 

Of course Dana and Darby came down with strep throat a few hours after dropping me at the airport, and then were immediately snowed in for several days while prescriptions were waiting for them at the pharmacy! It’s lovely to live on top of a hill in the woods, but some days it can be problematic.  Thanks to a neighbor who has a lovely little tractor with a blade, they finally got down the hill, got their meds, and are finally starting to feel better!  This is the worst time for me when I'm away, wishing to be home to help my girls and there's nothing I can do!

I am grateful for the opportunity to get home for the holidays, and even more grateful for my wonderful family who make my efforts worth the trouble. I love you all!!

October Trip Home Part 2

In October I was able to come home for a week. It was a great trip but not enough time to deal with the 2-day travel time on each end. It was still worth making the journey, though!  So here is part two of what I did at home while I was here!

I got to the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport (XNA) Friday night at about 7 p.m. and got home about an hour later.  Dana and I had a lovely visit and then got 8 hours of sleep and woke up ready to go.  It just happened that my trip occurred on a weekend that we had a wedding booked, so Saturday afternoon we geared up and went to shoot a wedding at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers.

It was a lovely, pleasant day, although mostly cloudy. The sky cleared up right at sunset for some beautiful portraits of the couple in the most beautiful light of the day. All in all I had a great time and it was wonderful to work with a camera in my hands again! (I've added a few wedding shots here!)

We took Sunday off, mostly just taking it easy and resting up.  The rest of the week was spent in errands, getting the cars worked on, doctor appointments, shopping, and so forth. Essentially stuff I hoped to get out of the way so when I got home at Christmas I wouldn't have to mess with any of it then. I got a lot done, but as always my list was longer than the time available.

 Where my flights home were relaxed with generous layover times, the return flights were crazy tight. The XNA to Chicago flight was 35 min late (why is this flight always late??). We made up a bit of time en route, but literally taxied in circles after landing for 20 minutes before turning into the gate area, then ten more before getting off the jet. Boarding for my flight to Doha, Qatar started about the time we touched down, and I had to hustle to get out of terminal 2, take the tram to terminal 3 (NOT the international terminal as you might expect glad I was paying attention!), and run to my gate -  getting there two minutes before boarding closed.

The changeover at Doha was nearly the same. We landed and taxied to what seemed like the furthest corner of the ramp, then waited nearly ten min to open the doors, go down the stairs and get on a bus. It took nearly 15 minutes on the bus to reach the transfer terminal. I ran in there, went through security, through immigration, then up a set of stairs to the gate (which was actually right across from the stairs) to check in, down a set of stairs and onto a nearly full bus to go to the next plane.  Wow!

It is only a very short flight from Doha to Bahrain, like 25 minutes. It is 89 miles in a straight line from takeoff to landing. Late at night at the end of a long trip it feels much longer though, and I actually dozed through most of it. We landed in Bahrain at 2020 (8:20 p.m. for you non-military, non-international types). It only took about 10 minutes to go through immigration, but 20 minutes to wait for my bag to come off the airliner!

I found my taxi driver in the arrival hall, holding a sign with my name on it - "Mr. Mark." My last name seems to be beyond this culture!  It took 20 minutes to get out of the airport parking lot - traffic engineering doesn't seem to be much of a priority in the Middle East, and a traffic jam after the arrival of a large jet full of travelers is nothing out of the ordinary.  Crossing the causeway back into Saudi Arabia was pretty painless - traffic was surprisingly light. I got back to the Aramco camp at 11 p.m. Total travel time was about 36 hours, with catnaps along the way.

Have I mentioned that I don't sleep on airplanes? Ironic, I know, for a professional pilot, but never have. I hope I will get the knack of it someday, as I'll have more of these flights ahead of me. The next one, though, will most likely be business class, which is a whole 'nother story!

Happy New Year to all!!

A trip back home - in October!

Ok, I know this is ridiculous timing, to write now about a trip I took over two months ago. I actually wrote it back then, I just got too busy to remember that I had it done and post it. Makes perfect sense, right? So here is a chronicle of my all-too-short one-week trip home in October, while I sit in Bahrain about to head home for Christmas! (OK, it is now post-Christmas, and I've discovered that this post never posted, but got stuck in draft mode, so here it is! This is part 1, part 2 will come later today!)

After six months in Saudi Arabia I had an opportunity too good to pass up.  A week-long religious holiday in October would be a great time to go home! I wouldn't be working, and although it was a long trip each way, it would be worth it to see home and family. 

As luck would have it I also had the chance to shoot a wedding! I got home on Friday night after a 36 hour day from when I got up on Thursday morning until I arrived at XNA Friday night. 

The trip started with a taxi ride from Dhahran camp to Bahrain. The ride was fairly quick and uneventful which was nice. It only took an hour and a half to cross the causeway between the two countries.  I shared the taxi with a lady leaving about the same time, and we left at 3 pm.  She went to one hotel for a nap, and I went to another, the Movenpick, for a massage!

I've had a real problem while in KSA. I'm a bog, strong guy, and all my stress and tension ends up in my neck and shoulders. Couple that with some damage to my neck decades ago while flying, and I end up with pinches and pains in my neck that I just can't get rid of through exercise or stretching, and I refuse to habitually take pain meds for a sore neck.

I've had some wonderful chiropractors over the years who've greatly improved the condition of my neck, and one of them last year recommended regular massage would be more helpful to me than coming to see her.  I do love good honest medical professionals who care more about my well-being than anything else! (Dr. Alexis Rachotes, sports chiropractic, Fayetteville ar). 

Massage can be a wonderful thing for many different reasons. If you need to soothe away tension and relax, there is a technique for that. If you are an athlete and need to work out aches and pains, there are techniques for that, too.  If you have a chronic muscle knot deep in your neck and shoulder, that you usually get is some combination of those two techniques, but they really don't get the job done because they never really get to the root of the problem, which takes patience, sensitive hands, and great technique to work out the knots.

I went to the movenpick to get a massage and foot reflexology treatment, an hour of each. The nice phillipino lady who worked on my was nice, and had great strong hands, but really gave me a combo relaxation and sports massage, never really doing anything greatly helpful for my neck.  Or maybe sitting on an airplane for the next 20 hours had something to do with it, but by the time I got to northwest Arkansas my neck was in knots again.

I am lucky to have found a therapist who has the right stuff to fix me up! Sadly, she's in Fayetteville, and I can't get treatment over Skype! But one of my stops while I was home was a massage with her. She has an amazing skill to feel the knots in my back and work them out using Hans, elbows, forearms, fist, whatever it takes to put the right pressure on the right spot and keep it there long enough to ease the tension out. It's painful at times, but its also a wonderful feeling to feel the knot "give" and the pain disappear from that spot!

Regardless, it was nice to have any kind of massage after 6 months without.  In general, men don't get massage in KSA. I don't really understand that, as they love personal services, and men friends greet each other warmy with hugs, kisses on the cheek, and hand holding. Oh well, maybe I'll go to the movenpick for an hour next time I'm in Bahrain. 

I had about 10 hours to kill before my flight, so after 2 hours of massage I went to the hotel restaurant for dinner, a steak night buffet. How that worked was for me to choose the cuts of meat I wanted grilled (steak, chicken, turkey, or lamb or chicken kabobs), along with veggies to grill. I had a nice salad and appatizers, and then had a great mixed grill with red wine.  The dessert portion of the buffet was my downfall, and I had to sample several different options, all small and tasty!

The lobby gave me a lovely, private place to stretch out and nap until time to go to the airport, but for some reason I couldn't figure out they wanted me to wake up and move at midnight, so I went out and layed down on a chaise by the pool.  When I looked up I saw the first constellation I'd seen since leaving home - Orion. And it was huge! Much larger than at home, which I cannot explain. But it was nice to see - too much light pollution and dust in the air at Dhahran to see much of the night sky at all, which I hate.

When it came time to go I just waked to the airport, a trek of 5 minutes or so. I had a 35 minute flight to Doha, Qatar, which is a work in progress. The airport is leftover from another era, with a single narrow runway and narrow taxiways, which are a poor match to modern large jet aircraft. They are building a new airport nearby which should be an amazing facility. You can see it in the distance but its not ready for use yet.  

After a 4-hour layover spent trying to rest in airport chairs designed to prevent travelers from successfully resting, it was time for the long leg 14.5 hours to Chicago. Boarding took most of an hour as we queued up, checked in, waited for a bus to take us to the airplane, then waited longer for a second bus to take another batch of us to the plane, about a 20-minute ride. Once onboard and strapped in and ready to go we proceeded to wait in that spot for an hour before starting engines. I don't know why - it was a beautiful clear morning at 8 am, with little traffic coming or going, but oh we'll. we finally got on out way and were winging our way to the west.

It's interesting to fly west for a long time at jet speeds - the day seems to stand still as you counter the earth's rotational speed with about 600 mph of you own.  So the "day" lasted about 20 hours from sunrise to sunset.  Pretty cool, even for an old pilot.  Right now I'm headed west, so the opposite will happen as we race toward sunrise.   I'm seated near the rear of the wing and can see Montreal off to our left - hi Shannon and David!

Oh my, it gets tough to sit upright in a small seat more than half a day when you can't do more than doze for a few minutes at a time. Even leaning the seat back, I just can't get settled I. Enough to really sleep. So I dozed for while, then watched a movie. Then had the snack they provided. Then dozed for a bit, then watched another movie.  This pattern went on until I'd seen After Earth, The Heat, Star Trek Into Darkness, and The Artist.  Along the way I had a very nice breakfast and lunch, and saw two episodes of The Big Bang Theory.

Finally - Chicago and a chance to walk and stretch my legs! And my phone worked! I could make a call without Skype for the first time in 6 months! And I had 3 hours to kill, so I went through immigration and customs and security (again!!), found my next gate, and as I was so tired I could hardly see or keep my head up, I did the logical thing and walked up and down the terminal a few times!  I found a great chocolate shop with terribly unique wares (caramel, chocolate, and bacon bits! Surprisingly tasty!), and a delightful caramel apple with nuts that was so big I couldn't eat it, so I shared it with a young airman on his way home after basic training! 

Thanksgiving away

I spent a career in the Air Force, and somehow managed to never be away for a birthday, anniversary, or major holiday, except for Darby’s birthday when she was, I think, 3, and I was gone for several months. This is my first Thanksgiving away from my home and family.

It’s a hard place to be for me – my family has always been very important. I was never one of those pilots who couldn’t wait to get on the road to get away. I love my family and cherish the time with them! But this year we are spread out. Shannon and David are in California visiting his family. Darby is in Fayetteville with Dana, and I’m here.  I am fortunate, though, to have met some wonderful people here who open their doors to people like me, so I’ve enjoyed two Thanksgiving dinners, one last night and one tonight. If I must be here it is nice to spend some time with my new friends. 

So Happy Thanksgiving to all - I hope you were able to spend it with those you love, and that you were able to be thankful for something. I am thankful for the opportunity to be here, to do challenging work with a good team, to learn a whole new world of information, and to earn a nice paycheck doing it! I am thankful for my beautiful wife and lovely daughters for supporting me and each other while I'm away. I am thankful for my parents and brothers and friends and all the people who help make up my life, and for good health - I am thankful for every breath I take!

After dinner I was returning on my scooter to the hotel – 65 degrees, 88% humidity, everything dripping wet, almost foggy but just not quite. I went by the soccer field and there was a low fog deck right over the turf, and three fellows out practicing. This just looked too cool so I stopped and grabbed a few shots just to see what I could get – here are a few!

In August Dana and I went to Europe, and things have been so busy I’ve done an awful job of sharing some of the amazing images we captured. Here are a few from Edinburgh, Scotland. More in the coming weeks! Cheers, Mark

Home and back again

Last night it rained. First time in 7 months since, the first week I was here, and I happened to be out in it. It had been cloudy all day, another first since I arrived. It wasn’t a giant rain, but I was out for a short walk around 8:30 p.m. when I felt the unexpected taps on my head and shoulders as the first drops fell. At the time it was about 75˚ F, and by the time I got back to my building I was fairly wet. It was a delightful walk!

Today it rained off and on most of the day, and is still doing so now. The forecast shows serious chances for rain over the next several days, and amazingly cool temperatures.  I really didn’t expect highs in the mid-70s in mid-November in Saudi Arabia, but I’ll take it!

Of course, none of that explains why I haven’t posted anything here for close to two months – sorry about that. Let’s say I've been busy! I’ve had a project at work that has consumed much of my energy for about 2 months, and at one point I worked 16 days straight, with only one week off the week before that stretch and one day after. Then I worked 8 days straight, left work, took a taxi to Bahrain, and got on a plane to go home for a week!

Had a nice set of flights (more on that in a few days) and got home Friday night to see Dana and Darby and it was wonderful to be home. Sadly, it was only for a week and then jetted my way back to the desert. It was a busy week, full of appointments, a few meetings, some good meals at favorite restaurants, and I even got to shoot a wedding!

It was an exhausting week but I’m so glad to have done it – got to spend some lovely time with my wonderful girls, and got a whole bunch of stuff done that now I don’t have to do at Christmas when I come for two weeks, and I’ll be able to relax and enjoy the time, and Shannon and David will be in from Montreal and I can’t wait to see them!

So I left to come back on Friday afternoon, and got back to my room at midnight Saturday night, just in time to get some rest and start back to work on Sunday. It was a whirlwind week, the kind that leaves you a little breathless but happy nonetheless! I've also taken a few pictures, so there's lots to catch up on here on the blog, and I promise to do so over the next few weeks in case anybody is still looking!