Retired

Where does the time go? Here it is, the end of November, Thanksgiving has come and gone, all the Christmas shopping is done. I have decided to retire from work since I can't find a job anyway. This economy and job market is really bad and being over 60 makes it even more difficult to find work. So, I will initiate "PLAN "B"", just retire and "NOT" stress over the loss of income. I am still looking at some jobs overseas, but so far no one seems interested.
The weather here in Virginia is turning colder, especially at night but we have not hit the freezing mark yet, but I expect that to be just around the corner. The days are still about 80% perfect for riding the motorcycle, so I try to get out of the house and on the bike most afternoons with Kim. Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like to have been able to ride a motorcycle in Kuwait. I am sure it would have been very dangerous, just driving an automobile there was dangerous enough.
Not doing so good on my diet. I lost some weight and then gained it all back plus some. So I will just try again after the holidays. Until then I will just try not to eat everything in sight.
I got Kim a really nice Canon DSLR camera, she has a good eye for photography, and the smaller camera was holding her back I feel. I can see her photo talent starting to bloom already. She needs to learn all about the camera's capabilities, but she is doing fine so far.

Well That's it for now,

Mike

1 August 2010

I made my changes to diet and have been exercising more and have seen some minor results. 186.8, that's about 2 lbs down from the other morning, but I won't get excited until I see at least 10 lbs gone.

I am happy to report that the rain gauge seems to work fine. We had a storm front move across our area the other day and it dumped nearly 3 inches of rain in about 3.5 hours. Thunder and lightning, rain coming in sideways and winds at 30 mph. I asked for some rain to test the gauge and I got it. The area suffered some minor flooding in low areas, a few dumb asses tried to drive their cars into flooded underpasses and lost their vehicles. How stupid can some people be? But thanks to the storm front, the temps have dropped to livable levels and the humidity is even bearable. Riding in the evenings on the motorcycle requires long sleeves now.

Still have not received unemployment, there is a question about a retirement income I receive from 11 years with McDonnell Douglas. I have filled out the requested form and sent it in. I still have to file through Virginia, I think, to receive benefits from Missouri. What a hassle, and I just read where Wall St. millionaires are getting unemployment.

Oh well, To all my friends in Kuwait I say... Ramadan Kareem! (Happy Ramadan!)

And to everyone, "Have a Great Day!!"

TTYL

Mike

28 July 2010

Time to make some dietary changes and start exercising more. I have found out that just watching what I eat does not help. Since I have been back from Kuwait I have put on nearly 10 lbs. and that is not satisfactory to me. I have been "good" with my diet, trying not to eat the wrong foods and observing portion control, but that is not enough. Today I started an exercise routine, dusted off my Nordic Trac treadmill and Ablounger, and will attempt to get up early every day to use them for a work out. It's not like I have not been busy around the house and outside doing yard work and such, but obviously it's not enough.
Today I have walked 1 mile on the treadmill and did a 15 minute ab workout. Did not weigh in this morning but yesterday I was at 189 lbs. I will weight in again manyana.

On the weather front, I still have no solution for the solar shield, but I am still exploring the possibilities for constructing one, once I locate the needed materials. I may add a fan to the contraption and will experiment with solar powered fans for ventilation. Today is supposed to be another "Hot One" so says the weather prognosticators, with temps getting back up into the upper 90's or higher. I would really like to have some rain so I can check out my rain gauge and compare it for accuracy.

Well that's all for now. Talk to you later!

Mike

27 July 2010

Well, I have been very busy (NOT) ! That's why I have not made a post to the blog in over a month. I did take a road trip to the mountains to spend some time with my mother and visit with brother and sisters. Spent a week there and actually had a great time. After that, Kim and I made another road trip to the DC area and bought some items at the Ikea store there. Its the closest one to us and since we had to sell all the furniture we had in Kuwait before we left, including Kim's sewing tables that we had bought in the Kuwait Ikea, we decided to replace it with like products from here. We also bought some bedroom furniture for us. I really wish Ikea had a store closer to us here in S.E.VA(south east Virginia).

I have applied for several positions back within Boeing, but do not expect much to come of it. I also applied for the tech position with CSC, that's the company that took over the Boeing contract in Kuwait, but again have not heard anything from them, only an acknowledgment that they received my resume' and application. It would have been so much easier had they hired me or one of the other persons to fill the openings we vacated, but as far as I know, the positions are still open and not filled. I would have liked to stay in Kuwait. Now since I have been back, It would have to be a really great offer for me to return. I miss being there and yet I don't miss it at the same time.
I have been pursuing a new hobby, Meteorology, since returning and have set up a weather station to monitor and gather weather data, and post it on line with weather underground . I am still experimenting with the best positions for my sensors, mainly the temperature and humidity sensors. I seem to get very high afternoon and early morning temps, as compared to other stations nearby, and I believe that the solar shield that came with the sensors is inadequate. So I will adjust the placement of the sensors first, then maybe invest in a larger solar shield. I also feel that the software I am using is "glitchy" so I am keeping an eye out for improvements there. This may also be an opportunity for me to get re-involved in amateur radio, posting weather data on the APRS ( automatic packet reporting system ) but I only know a few people that still mess with radio anymore, since the internet has pretty much taken over. I still have the radio equipment and plenty of time on my hands, so we will see.
While visiting my mom, I had an opportunity to also visit with an old family friend that lives next to mother. He has a weather station setup and he is also a "HAM" operator. He was showing me his radio station equipment and I was excited about the HF transceiver he has. It is completely software controlled, and the best part is it was not that expensive compared to other radio sets. If I decided to really get back into radio, I would certainly consider a Software Defined Radio (SDR) for a base station.

Well, That's all Folks

Mike

June 12, 2010

I have been back in the states for almost 2 weeks now and have been puttering around the back yard, put up a small patio tomato garden with some pepper plants and I plan to add some herbs later today. I got the pool stabilized and cleared up for the season and the girls have had a blast in it. The weather has be perfect for evening rides with Kim. I have been catching up on my favorite foods since being home but I sense I need to slow down a bit. The scales do not lie.

On the job front, there are no jobs, but I will keep looking. I had to apply for unemployment in Missouri since that is where all my income was reported. Nothing can be easy any more. Thanks to the internet it will not be too difficult I hope.

Today I plan on working more in the backyard, adding more paver blocks for a walkway around the pool, and stopping by Home Depot to get the needed stuff and some herb plants. Not sure what to get yet.

That's it for now,

Mike

7 MAY 2010 The Inevitable

This is take two of "The Inevitable" as the internet ate the first copy. So much for auto saving.

The Job I was hoping to get fell through. The contractor was trying to back-fill some slots on a temporary basis, but could not get approval for all he was trying to do. So, I am left without a job. The other contractor that is bidding on the simulator has not made contact with me and I am not willing to gamble on an offer that may not happen until June or July without some sort of reassurance, either written or verbal. Therefore, I am not willing to pay my rent ahead to keep my apartment. I also cannot stay in the country unemployed, so that's that. I made contact today with a fellow that needs a lot of household stuff, so I have sold him my washer, dryer, refrigerator and 32inch LCD TV.

Kim has made contact with her KTTA friends and has arranged to sell some of her sewing stuff that was just too big to hand carry back or would have have cost more to ship than it was worth.
Kim is also upset that I sold the fridge because she will not have any cold sodas to drink. We will figure something out.

So I have until tomorrow to try and get rid of some of the fridge items. I guess I can do it. I have survived hurricanes with very little spoilage. LOL..

1 May 2010 - The thrill is gone..

The thrill is gone away, I received my lay off notice today and will be officially unemployed in 2 weeks. I need to close my apartment here and sell my household stuff. I do have an application in with another contractor here in Kuwait but I don't know when or if I will hear anything from them. I physically handed a printed copy of my resume' to be hand carried to the above mentioned contractor. Hopefully they like what they see and can make a place for me in their organization.

I have a lot to do here, packing and cleaning, deciding what to keep and what to sell, and if I can't sell it or give it away I guess I will trash it. I may bring Kim over so she can go through her stuff and her sewing room, and in general just help me get packed out.

My biggest problem at this point is what to do with the extra (baggage) stuff. I priced FedEx and they are just cost prohibitive. A 25 kg (55lbs) package of personal things will cost about $350. So I need to make sure the things I want to send back are worth the cost of shipping it. Old clothes I can replace. Just looking around I have a lot of photos in frames that I can sacrifice the frames if it came down to that. Bed stuff can be replaced ( pillows, blankets and covers ) and since I have a California king size bed here, I will not be needing the covers for it at home in the states, only the quilts Kim made me.

Stayed "tooned" for more on this ongoing saga. It is kind of funny, don't you think? I have worked on govt contracts for 30 plus years and you would have thought I had learned a lesson by now.. Some people are just hard headed and I must be one of them. Oh well...

TTYL - Mike

16 - 17 April 2010 The Flight Back

It seems funny that we are leaving during daylight hours. Flt 982 has been rescheduled for 4 hours earlier. I am so use to the red eye flights that this does not seem real for some reason, but I will get used to it. We took off at 7 pm (00:00 GMT), about 20 minutes late due to passengers / weather issues, but we are on the way. Looking at the map feature on board, it seems we are flying due east instead of north. I guess this is because of the Icelandic volcano eruption dust cloud that has happened.
I am watching the movie "Crazy Heart" on the tiny movie screen, I have seen all the other ones playing. This movie is really good, it reminds me of some musicians I know or have known back in the day. It's 8 pm EST (1 am GMT) and it's pitch black outside now. Looking at the map looks like we will hit the southern part of Spain or the north coast of Africa.
10 pm EST, Been in the air 3 hours and we are about in the center of the Atlantic ocean.
I just looked at the map and I feel we are headed to Portugal, but wait.....I just looked again and we will most likely fly over Casablanca, Morocco, and then across the Mediterranean sea. It's because the aircraft is flying around weather cells that the heading appears to change.
It's a little after 5am GMT and I see a glow outside the window so the sun is coming up. We are going to fly over or very near Gibraltar, we should be over land very soon.
I must have fallen asleep for a while, we have flown the entire length of the Mediterranean and are now skirting the north coast of Africa / Egypt and just crossed the Suez canal area and are headed into Saudi Arabia. Probably will be on the ground in a few hours. They are starting to serve dinner, which means we have about 90 minutes before landing.

TTYL - Mike

30 March 2010 - One More Day!!

Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I love ya, Tomorrow... You're always just one day away!

Then I will be on board a flight to the U.S of A. I can't wait. This trip seems different than previous one's for some reason. I am really excited. I guess it may be that I have two new grand children I want to get to know.. and of course my other kids as well.. and my motorcycle... and American TV without Arabic subtitles, although I have learned to filter them out of my view. Just to see some fresh TV will be nice. Most (about 90%) of the shows here are last season or older, but a lot of them are some shows I have never seen, and then there are British shows available that are entertaining.

Still no absolute word on the contract yet, but we are still hoping. Kim and I are bringing a lot of stuff home this trip, stuff that we don't need here anymore. That will lighten the load on my exit strategy.

The next post will most likely be from the US.

TTYL
Mike

21 March 2010

It's not "Official" yet but we have been told by a source that our contract will be extended until the end of the year. That's actually great. It falls into my "BIG" plan for retirement. Now if we can get the 5 yr follow on ( highly doubtful) I will ride this all the way to the finish line, until age 66. Alternatively, I may have to just retire at 62.

TTYL - Mike

St. Patricks Day 2010

Just the thought of corned beef and cabbage makes my mouth water, and then to top it off with a Guinness would be GREAT!. But , That won't happen here in Kuwait. I have looked for corned beef brisket but all I can find is canned corned beef, so maybe it will do, in the spirit of things and I will have a NA beer with it.

Had a meeting with our program manager the other day and things have not changed much, I did in fact receive my 60 day notice of layoff, but he is of the impression that the contract will be extended, and the layoff notice will be rescinded. That would be nice, but as it is we are still in limbo. I will hold off until the very last moments before selling my household stuff, but I still have a bunch of stuff that I plan to take back to the states and need to find out about shipping that back.

Tomorrow is Kim and my 32nd anniversary! Life has been GOOD!

The count down begins.. 2 weeks until I leave for R&R and about 8 weeks until lay off. YaHOO!

I will keep you posted.

TTYL
Mike

12 March 2010

Well I guess it's about time I write another post. I have had so much on my mind of late that I just didn't really want to take time and do an update, but here goes...

Still in limbo about the contract status, though it does not look good at this time. So if nothing comes about next week, I guess I will start advert's for selling my household goods and get ready to pack and leave. I am still hopeful we will get a last minute reprieve, but who knows.
I am still going home for a R&R at the end of March for 2 weeks, then I will have another two weeks or so on my return, to pack and leave. On the other hand, if we get the extension then all that changes.
All I want is to stay in Kuwait until the end of 2010, and I will be fine. I have a plan that if push comes to shove I will cash in my 401k and pay off the mortgage. Apart from only one credit card that's the only bill I have. So I will see what transpires.

It is Friday morning, the start of the weekend here, so Kim and I usually go to lunch somewhere and then go to a movie. The Pickings are slim this week, Universal Soldier, Regeneration (?) and that's about it. We have seen everything else that is worth watching, so I hope this one is good also. A lot of the movies here have "EXTREME" violence and gore, and I just don't go in for that stuff anymore, there seems to be enough of that on the news, so why pay to see it? I do want to see "HURT LOCKER" if it ever comes here, but I will probably get it on DVD before then. Another one I want to see is "Green Zone" with Matt Damon. I have seen a few promo's for it and it looks OK. I like war movies because they usually say THE END when the credits roll.

It is Friday afternoon now. We have gone to lunch (Hardee's) and saw the movie "Universal Soldier: Regeneration" ...WOW, talk about violence and gore. I will say it was overdone, Dolph Lundgren and Jean Claude Van Dam are sure looking much older in this movie, but the story was straight out of the headlines, terrorist and kidnapping, murder and mayhem, blood and guts all over the place. The soundtrack was so loud I even plugged my ears at times... Kim and I both give it 2 thumbs down. I hope the other movie I want to see is better. I will take ear plugs next time.

Talk to you Later,

Mike

31 January 2010

Gotta get used to putting 2010 in the date. I cannot believe January is over all ready. Kim and I are having a blast together, but of course, before I know it, it will be time to leave. I have been watching with interest the news about the snow storm on the east coast. 7 inches..WOW! wish I was there. The last major snow I remember was more than 10 years ago. Stephanie took a picture of the snow and my motorcycle sitting in it. I wish I was there. I guess I really should buy another cover for it, but the last one I had fell apart in about a year, and they are not cheap. I guess the covers are made for inside protection.

Still no word on the contract, so I will just play it by ear, but I did book a flight home for March 31 for a 2 week stay. I have a lot of needed repairs to do when I get there, and my fun meter is pegged here in Kuwait. I need a break and want to get to know my new grand babies at least before they start walking and talking. Super Bowl will be shown here but it starts at 2 am I think, but will watch it anyway. I will just readjust my sleep for that day.

Well I guess that's about it for now. Not a whole lot to speak about anymore.

TTYL

Mike

10 January 2010

Happy New Year!!

New Years has come and gone. So I will catch you up on the events since last posting.

I recently found out that someone has another blog by the same name as Mine. Hummm,, whats up with that! I guess original blog names are easy to STEAL, and makes me wonder about the originality of the other blogger. Whatever.... I read the other blog and I am guessing he does not like Kuwait that much and that he works at the 360 mall, which is a very nice mall BTW. I was there just yesterday to see what is new, take in a movie ("Sherlock Holmes") and lunch with Kim. They have a bowling lanes now open and we may check it out someday. I know Ashleigh will love the game room they have there when she comes back for another visit.

Kim has been here since New years eve and we have had a wonderful time together, mainly mall crawling at the Avenues, dining out and shopping and watching movies. We saw Avatar the first weekend Kim was here, just saw the regular version but it was fantastic, so much so that We may go to see it again in 3D. They recently opened a PF Chang's at the Avenues and we ate there last weekend. I can say that it is every bit as good as the PF Chang's stateside and the prices are comparable.

Also found, quite by accident, the new Sultan Center in Hawally, so we made a trip there yesterday also to check it out. They are the only place I have found that sell Tostito's restaurant style corn chips. I have tried other corn chip brands for other parts of the world and but no one does it better than Tostito's. Kim found some fresh yellow sweet corn on the cob. She was in heaven.

Most of our crew is still on vacation for another week so I am alone at the the shop for another week, then it will be back to business as usual.

Well that's about it. Drive safe! especially if you are in Kuwait.

TTYL

Mike