London was fun

London was awesome.

Unfortunately, the Internet has been really, really slow here the past week or so. Weather and maintenance issues.

And now I'm covered up with work, since I was gone a while... and now my coworker is on leave for a while too, so I get to do everything. Which, in some ways, is nice. But in other ways, it is overwhelming.

But I'm fine.

Looking forward to Christmas.

Ho-hum

I saw an RPG today.

It was not abandoned.

It was in a launcher.

On the side of the road. At the base of a guys feet.

A good guy, thankfully.

Now, I'm no stranger to RPGs. But it was vaguely disturbing to see in the wild.

But not nearly as disturbing as it should have been; in a land where you are surprised when someone in a uniform--any uniform--isn't carrying a gun of some type; where foreigners don't go out without a weapon, body armor, or both; I guess an RPG just isn't that big a deal.

Well, I'm sure I've said enough now to get in trouble with the boss. The real boss. But I didn't even think of it earlier when I chatted with her by phone.

One of those things where, anyone* else, anywhere else, or any other time and the reaction probably would have drastically different.



(*me or him)

Londinium

I'll be going to London soon, for some much needed R&R. The highlight will be, no doubt, spending time with Cynthia.

Aside from the tower, palaces, museums, what should we see? I'm talking off-the-beaten-path stuff. Neat shops or restaurants; parks or small memorials (like the Paddington Bear statue); that kind of thing.

Also it will be nice to be in a place with beer.

Snakes on your phone

Via the Standard Deviant.

Jingle Truck

This is typical of most trucks in Afghanistan. Highly customized, with scenes or patterns painted on them, and metal that hangs down and jingles as the truck drives. You can see the metal-jingly-things hanging down off the front & rear bumpers, and on that thing between the front and rear tires.

The load contents vary, but are always overflowing.

This winter I am hoping to get a picture of one driving by with a FIRE IN THE CAB OF THE TRUCK. They do this for warmth, as the trucks either frequently have broken heaters or do not have heaters--I don't know which.

(Reminds me of college: "The ______ is broken and ON FIRE! Please come fix it.")

Graveyard

Near the Pol-E-Charki area. (In Pol-E-Charki?--there aren't exactly signs designating municipalities).