Photogenic

I don't know what's better... the pose or the amazing background.

Anyway, here's me at the job site. That's going to make ammonia when it's done. Saalam.

1 week down, 77 to go

The first week has come and gone and after that it appears that there will be enough to keep a person busy here. Mostly I’ve just been working a bunch… The work week is Saturday to Thursday, and I’m at 5am to get ready for the day. I head to breakfast at 5:45 for half an hour of your standard breakfast buffet with an Egyptian twist, then onto the bus which leaves at 6:15 to head to site where I start work at 6:30. Saturday to Wednesdays are 10 hour days plus an hour lunch, which means we leave site at 5:30. Some days I’ve worked 12 hours until 7:30, those have been tough but so far there’s only been two… Thursdays are half days, of which I’ve only had one, and I spent it warming up for a golf tournament put on by KBR on my first Friday off. It was a stableford style tournament and I may have underestimated my handicap because I came in 2nd. I still maintain it was a good day… On the Thursday I shot a 98 (shut up), but on tournament day I pulled in an 85. I gave myself a 19 handicap which means I ended up with 42 points, good enough for 2nd place and bragging rights at work the next day.

Everyday work evenings have been filled with a mix of working out, the driving range, squash, ping pong, sheesha, and a bit of shooting this shit at the pub. So far I’ve stuck mostly to the hotel my villa is at, but there are 2 others within the “complex”. I hear there’s a better a gym and some different restaurants to visit but I’m not sick enough of the ones at mine yet.

Last week I had to make a trip to Cairo for an HIV test… that was an experience. First off, Cairo is crazy. Not as crazy as Vietnam, but crazy in a Muslim Egyptian way. Cairo is a little dirty, too busy, polluted, hazy, old, chaotic, and pretty damn cool. It’s definitely something to see, but the clean streets of Brisbane and Calgary got it beat. But what can you expect from the area known as the beginning of civilization.

The hotel set-up is alright… I stay in a villa away from the main hotel. The villa is made up of 6 units over 2 floors and it’s an alright set-up. It’s a decent size with a good shower and a king size bed. Actually the bed is two singles pushed together so it’s not really a king size, so it sort of sucks come to think of it. The main complaint about the living arrangements is the fact there is no internet in our rooms, so I have to come to the main hotel to blog and surf… This is why I haven’t been as connected as in the past, but that just means you’re not as bored reading this.

Hah! Well, I’m off to play some pong.

Cairo - The Canuck has landed

I'm here. My trip from Calgary to Cairo went off without a hitch. All the flights were on time, I was met at the Cairo airport by someone from the "meet & greet" company that KBR uses, and now I'm in a hotel in Cairo. I'll be here for the night and then picked up in the morning to go the hotel/area near the Red Sea where I'll be spending the next 18 months. Doesn't sound as long when you say 18 months versus a year and a half for some reason.

It's 12:30 in the morning here right now, 3:30pm in Calgary... so I'm going to have a quick shower (21 hours in airports and planes) and hit the hay and hopefully be relatively fresh for the morning here. No good pictures yet because it's dark. hah.

Here's basically what the view would be from my room if it wasn't midnight.

Brrrr...

High of -19 degrees Celsius today in Calgary... I think I'm looking forward to some more moderate temperatures with the Egyptian weather.

Here are a few pics from the window at Bryan and Patti's, whose house I'm staying at for my lay over in Calgary. It's been snowing every day I've been here, with temperatures below -20. But it supposed to get up to 0 degrees tomorrow, how does that work? Imagine what this will all look like when it melts in a 6 hours time span.


Anyways, I get on the plane to fly to Cairo via London tomorrow at 8pm MST, putting me into Cairo at 11pm Thursday. I spend the night in the city and then get picked up to head to the hotel where we're staying... The word schedule there is Sat-Thurs, so Friday will be a day off to try and adjust to the time and have a look around the new hood.

I'm looking forward to it... I hope some more people will be able to make it out that way and visit, but I'll also have more regular time off and will be travelling around more as well. So if you're going on vacation anywhere in the next year and a half let me know you're plans and I might be able to meet you somewhere!

Take care!

Work situ

Quick update on the work/travel situation... I'll be in Houston for another week, returning to Calgary on Friday, February 9th. I'll spend the weekend and the early part of the week there and then fly to Egypt on the 14th. Happy V-day to me. Spent my birthday on an overnight-er from Vietnam to Sydney, now I'm spending the most sinister of quasi holidays flying to Egypt. Actually, I'm alright with that... =>