Ready to Move

After living out of boxes and paper bags for the past weeks, it is finally time to move. Within the next couple of days, those of us that have called Camp Normandy home for so long will move to the newly constructed Camp Gibson. The camp is named in honor of Gerald Gibson, the first U.S. civilian police officer killed in Afghanistan helping the Afghan people reclaim their country.

After the mad push to get moved into our new home, I will be off for a little down time in the UK. I am meeting some friends in London where I will bore them to death visiting all of my old haunts before moving on to Wales for some fresh air and relaxation and much-needed battery recharging.

Some of you will think that I am off and about quite often. I'm sure that it does seem that way. The way that contract works is that you are limited to working 313 days in one calendar year. Since I work seven days per week, the only way to take time off is to be out of Afghanistan. Imagine a job that requires you to take the equivalent of one day off per week and this is what I have. Instead of taking a couple of long breaks and then be stuck with stretches of 150 days without a break, I chose to take off small chunks every four to six weeks.

Hard to believe that it is already August. I am well beyond the halfway point in this year in Kabul. What a year it has been...