CheetahhhhhhhBlog Mark III

The Taliban have infiltrated Kabul. 2 successful attacks, one foiled. We’re laying low. Then there is this attack by the Taliban in Oslo! Holy Hell! Just when you think the bastards are on their knees. Then again, a cornered dog is at his most dangerous.

Switched to Google+. I’ll give you an invite if you don’t have one. I always found Facebook rather irritating.

3 weeks to go until we’re in Bangkok.

Vanessa is very bored today with a big frown on her face. I would take her out but there is this Taliban infiltration issue…

Tristan is making big strides with talking. I hope he doesn’t turn into the Bug, who just yaps incessantly to the point where I lose my patience and tell him to stop talking. But will talk about dinosaurs, rocks, his scooter, cheese, etc, etc, and my patience is long. As a teacher I have heard a decade (more) of nonsense. However after 20-30 minutes of yapping about dinosaurs I just have to say, “Stop talking.” Anyway hopefully Tristan won’t pick up this trait. He’s a Leo whereas Bug is a Libra. Not sure if incessant yapping is a Libra trait.

So I waited 5 years for the next edition of a Song of Fire and Ice. Fans will know what I’m talking about. It took George Martin 5 years for this one. Nice thing, it’s very long. I don’t know if anything will ever equal book#2, but I’m enjoying it immensely.

My students have a strange curiosity about cursing. One student asked me for a precise explanation of what “bitch” means. I said it’s a female dog and a troublesome woman, and one of the worst things you can say to a woman. I did not mention other connotations, such as the guy who sleeps on the bottom bunk in prison. One student asked me if “motherfucker” is appropriate language. I said no. I said, look at the root of the word. Use your head. What does it mean. The student thought for about 45 minutes and then said “Ohhhh….”

So every drug on earth is available here except the one I really need, Champix, to prevent me from smoking. I need to have a big supply because the problem with smoking is that a small stressor can tip you over the edge, and smoking is like doing heroin. You smoke one cigarette and you’re screwed and totally addicted again. When we were in Bangkok I tried to get some but you need a prescription in Thailand for some odd reason. I’m seeing several doctors in Bangkok (no problems, just doing things like teeth cleaning, prostate cancer vaccination, get caught up on my other vaccinations, get new glasses) and I will ask for a prescription and buy a huge supply. And carry it around in my briefcase for the odd stressful moment.

Anyway we went to the Serena Friday brunch. Friday is like Sunday here. Great as always though the economics of it are irritating. I get charged for 4 people, but Bug and Tristan habitually just eat some ice cream and then run off to play in the garden. So they eat $19 bowls of ice cream. I have been doing this for a while and we need the Serena just for a weekly dose of normality and tranquility. However the $19 bowl of ice cream times two is irritating.

I’ve had a big influx of cash lately because of some successful investments and because I’m being paid quite handsomely for the total bullshit of teaching summer session. (By “total bullshit” I mean that teachers really need vacation, teaching is hard work, and doing the summer session is really hard, particularly for an expat.)

Anyway for one thing I’ve been having some repairs done on my house in Capoocan. Roof repairs, mahogany doors. I would prefer cheaper doors generally but mahogany isn’t subject to jungle rot, so in the long term it’s the cheaper option. Also having the land measured by a government surveyor, because one of the neighbors is stealing about 15 square feet of my land. Going to have him move his house (it’s his problem, not mine, he knows he’s stealing, it’s a long story) and then build a big firewall around the place.

Also I’ve got a little project going on, which is building up my US credit rating. I’m an extremely long term planner and you’d really be surprised at how far ahead I plan, and the complexity of the planning. Not even my wife really realizes how carefully things are plotted out. So I’m building my US credit rating because we’re returning to the US in 2 years, less than that actually, 1 year 10 months, and we will need access to things like car loans and mortgages. Now the thing is as a grad student in the States I was, like all grad students, perpetually broke, and so the base credit rating is not stellar. This is compounded by a small detail that, as far as any credit reporting bureau in the US can see, I don’t have a job. Big problem. I have been slowly working to deal with this and doing the various things that are needed to raise your credit, such as only using 30% of your available credit for example. This paragraph is probably really boring. Long story short, the net result is financial austerity in the form of using debit cards instead of credit.

Vanessa wants me to mention that when we go to the Serena, the kids always chose this time to poop. It’s like they go to the Serena to poop. Thankfully this is not my realm of responsibility.

4 weeks to go and we’re off to Bangkok for 11 days, and thank God, really looking forward to it. I generally am not a fan of the Huge Asian Metropolis be it Manila or Seoul or Tokyo or where ever. Not a fan. I go straight into the hinterlands, typically to a beach island. That’s just me. But we spent enough time in Bangkok last month that the city has started growing on me. It’s a good town actually.

Got a nice raise today, including a raise in my expense funds. Lovin it.

Tristan’s no favorite hobby is rolling around on the bed in a very rambunctious manner, which has concerned me quite a bit, because today, predictably enough, he fell of the bed right onto his head. The thing about Tristan, however, in contrast to Bug, is that he doesn’t cry about things like this. Tristan cries if you don’t pay him attention or there is no juice in the house. But falling on his head, he just said “Ouch” and, about a minute later, was again rolling around rambunctiously.

Bug really wants to go back to Bangkok. Explaining time to a four year old is fruitless. I just say “In a few days,” which is true enough.

Vanessa and I are REALLY excited to go back to the Anantara hotel, which is our home away from home in Bangkok. Five stars and worth every one of them. The entire holiday is paid for, we just have to kill 4 weeks and 4 days.

I haven’t been blogging as much here in the CheetahhhhhhhBlog lately, partly because there hasn’t been a plethora of events. It’s been a quiet summer.

Yesterday I went to Camp Eggers to the PX, which is the army store, where you can buy American prices. At least I think they’re American prices; I’ve become such a global nomad that I’ve developed rough ideas of what things cost in Kabul, Dubai, Bangkok, and Manila, but I haven’t been home in a while so my estimation of what things “really” cost (American prices) is a bit rusty. Anyway getting onto the base is problem #1. This is solved on Fridays, when they have a bazaar. Anybody can enter the base, though I notice they do retinal scans etc of Afghanis. Me, they just wave me in. Now, I dressed vaguely military in tan cargo pants, tan hiking boots, and my South African bush jacket. This works because there are any number of private contractor quasi-military forces operating here. I imagine a lot of people assume I’m CIA or DEA. Then getting into the PX was a problem. Not actually allowed to enter the military part of the base. This I have solved several times by asking nicely. It depends on whether the sergeant at the gate is a nice fellow or not. I explain I want some pop-tarts and some x-box games. Anyway got in and we have several x-box games, which are a real godsend because security restrictions prevent us from leading a normal life; we can’t just go outside. So we have to occupy ourselves in the house. So we need x-box. Unfortunately I have not been able to find a Sony Playstation console here. We have one in Manila but we have the games here. In Bangkok actually I am going to try to pick one up.

Kabul is a river of money at the moment. If you want to make money, you come here. It’s the new Dubai, which was the new Hong Kong, which was the new Singapore. So despite the war and the threat of terrorist attack, Kabul is actually a happening town. There are several private pubs. This is a Muslim country so a bona-fide pub is a no-no. But people use their houses as informal pubs. One is called the American Club for example. I never go to these places because I’m a family man and, in truth, don’t really enjoy drinking very much. There are also a number of pretty nice restaurants. Like all things in Kabul that are vaguely nice or Western, they are “hidden,” ie, on back streets with no signs to indicate their presence. So if you don’t know the restaurant exists and where it is, you’ll never find it. Anyway our favorite lately is a French restaurant, L’Atomsphere, AKA L’Atmo. Serves outrageously priced French cuisine in a beautiful garden with wicker chairs and chinese lanterns in the trees.

Tristan is starting to talk. A brown out (electricity failure) is “an out”. And his new expression, which he learned from Sponge Bob, is “What the…!” He also obviously understands English just fine; he response appropriately to anything we say. He just seems a little slow with talking compared to Bug, who was yapping incessantly by age one.

This working the summer session really sucks. We should be on vacation. It really blows. However on the bright side my bank account is quite fat. You get something like triple pay for the summer.

Five weeks and we go to Bangkok for an 11-day holiday.