Adventures Part 1

I've been back home for almost 3 days now. Part of that hardly counts--once I got home, showered, and unpacked, I fell into bed and slept for almost 24 hours straight, getting up only to let the dogs out now and then. I went into work for about 3 hours on Wednesday. Aramco has arcane leave rules and I had to "work" that day in order to satisfy some of those rules.

It is now the eid festival after Ramadan so the next several days (three of them are work days) are holidays. Plenty of time for me to get myself sorted out before work begins again in earnest.

The dogs? Oh, yes, they were ecstatic to see me. Upul seems to have survived Hurricane Mimi with minimal damage.

And that Economy Plus deal with United? The deal that cost an extra USD 178 each way over my regular fare? That was totally worth it. The seat spacing was like it used to be in economy class back in the old days.

Instead of a relatively civilized Bahrain-Heathrow-Dulles itinerary (most of us American and Canadian expats have bailed on British Airways for the time being), I chose to fly with United on an itinerary that took me from Bahrain to Kuwait, a short 45-minute hop, and Kuwait to Dulles, an interminable 11 1/2 hour slog. The plane was nearly empty for the Bahrain-Kuwait legs in both directions, but on the way to the US, the plane filled up in Kuwait with Americans associated with the military in one form or another heading home.

On the way out, I only slept for a few hours and ended up wandering back to the galley at the back of the plane. While having some juice and coffee, I started chatting with some of the military guys back there. One of them accidentally spilled some coffee. Without missing a beat, the flight attendant whisked into the nearest bathroom, came out with a sanitary pad that he proceeded to stick onto the bottom of his shoe, using it to wipe up the spill up in no time. I was amazed. That is when I learned from a tank repair engineer that they are in fact never without KY jelly and tampons, as those can be used in a variety of emergency tank repair scenarios. It all made perfect sense after 10 hours in the air.

I mailed a string of packages to myself during my trip to the US: two from SLC, one from Nashville, and one from VA. The first two boxes have already arrived--it's like Christmas and birthday all rolled together! I expect the other two will arrive after the eid. Saudi Customs always opens boxes like that (they usually don't mess with commercial shipments from vendors like Amazon or Lands End) and the government is closed for the eid. (Interestingly, Customs opens the boxes from the bottom. I'm not sure why but perhaps they want to avoid messing up the labels that are usually on the top of the boxes.)

I also brought back a soft-sided dog crate and a Dyson vacuum cleaner. I checked those boxes as luggage. Ended up getting them here safely and for much less money than if I had tried to ship them. The stressful dance of dealing with so much luggage and the rental car turned out to be a bit messy but it all worked out in the end.

Before I launch into various tales of my adventures, here's a transportation summary. In two weeks, I was in Utah, Texas, Tennessee, and Virginia (twice). I had three rental cars (the Kia Sorento in particular stands out in more ways than one as you will see) and traveled in seven different planes (not counting the two I rode in to get to the US and back).

I had a great time. Thanks to all of my friends who drove me around, spent hours shopping for the stuff on my list, organized activities, and shared plenty of laughs. It was so good to see all of you again!