Online

CircusK9 is online once again!

Wait! What the heck have we been doing for the past couple of weeks? I've been limping along on my iPad and an expensive wireless ATT connection. With the blogging and GPS and camera apps, we've gotten a lot accomplished. But now I have internet for the entire house, including my desktop computer and phone. No more counting precious ones and zeros with every click. No more visiting the public library to print or send attachments to emails.

Of course, I don't have a real desk yet, just a small folding table. And my printer, purchased in Saudi Arabia, takes printer cartridges that aren't available here. The devil is in details such as these but these are solvable problems.

Change

Two years ago on August 1, my little heart dog Iz died. She was the reason I started this blog in the first place (at G's gentle but persistent urging). I still miss Iz terribly. Hardly a day goes by that I don't think of her.

There have been lots of changes in those two years, some simply big, some totally momentous.

On August 1, I marked the end of my eighth month here in KSA. Not a year yet but we are hanging in there.

In a week or so, Harry will be 12. On September 1, Mimi will be 5.

Iz will always be at the heart of CircusK9 but this seemed to be a time to make a change.

I hope you like the new look of the blog.

Change She Is A'Comin'

Big changes are in progress at Circus K9. I've been holding off on this particular post for some weeks now, but it is time to announce my news.

I have accepted a job with Saudi Aramco. In a few short weeks, I'll be moving to Dhahran, Saudia Arabia.

A friend emailed me today and asked me if I felt things were under control now or if everything was still pretty chaotic. The answer is that it's a mixed bag. After looking for work for more than four months, simply having a defined plan for the immediate future is a huge relief. But now the chaos and stress are being driven by different concerns related to uprooting my entire life, my pack, and making a move to a foreign country on the other side of the earth.

The Aramco job offers me three very significant things: it is a huge feather in my career cap, I will be able to participate in extremely challenging and interesting activities that build on all of my professional and technical areas of expertise, and it will ensure financial stability for my future.

Aramco has a reputation for technical excellence--there are very few Aramco expats circulating in the petroleum industry because once most people start working for Aramco, they stay there until they retire. Expat salaries are generous by design, Aramco salaries border on the obscene. My goal is to retire when I am 55 or so, in about 9 or 10 years. And even upon retirement, with the Aramco reputation behind me, I can selectively consult if I so choose.

But it's not only about the money. When I read the job description on the Aramco website back in June, I immediately thought, wow, they created this job just for me. And so it has proved--upon review of my resume the crew in KSA apparently thought the same thing. Interviews followed. Just yesterday I went to Houston for my orientation.

But what does all this mean for Circus K9? Although my tentative departure date is October 28, I have been preparing for this huge transition for many weeks. Everything is starting to compress now, speed up and get a bit more frenzied.

I look at every single object in my house and think, ship? Will I have room for it in my housing on the Dhahran compound? Store? Is it valuable enough that I might want it in 5 or 8 or 10 years? Sell? How much is it worth? How long would it take me to sell it? And finally, if it doesn't fall into any of those categories, do I donate it or throw it away?

It's not just about things either. There have been some really dramatic changes in the pack. Cap went back to his former Border Collie Rescue Foster mom in Austin. Bix flew to Salt Lake City last Friday to live with my friend Gosia (check out her blog with updates on how he's settling in with his harem of 4 female cats and her 3 BCs--hysterical). Gracie is now living with her new mom Connie in San Antonio. I'll post more about Gracie later. My mother has agreed to take my sweetpea Dyna, who should integrate seamlessly into her pack, and Bhumi, who I hope will snuggle up to her 15-year-old cat Freckles and give him some company in his twilight years.

I haven't yet found new homes for Jack and Lola but am working on that with the help of friends.

I plan to take Harry and Mimi to Dhahran with me.

Yes, my heart is breaking. I feel like I am cutting off my limbs with the departure of each one of my wonderful companions. I am running out of limbs, soon to be just a torso flopping on the ground. Can't pack too well if I'm just a torso.

But now that I've broken the news, I am going to be able to post a lot more about the crazy, wild adventure I am starting.