More changes...

Well, life has a way of changing you, even if you don't want it.  I have to add one more thing to my list of things I have been, and that is now Grandfather.

It has been good to be home after Afghanistan, but it has not always been easy.  That place changes you in ways you will never expect, and depending on what you survived, it can haunt you too.

It is easier now, as some of the edge is finally wearing off, and I am better dealing with "ordinary life".  I still find myself very short on patience with stupidity, and sadly, much more of "ordinary life" seems very stupid to me.  I seem to constantly find myself wondering at the sanity of people who obviously have no idea how sheltered and spoiled we are here in the United States, and how different the entire rest of the world is.

I wish I saw more hope on the horizon.  Like many who have been in places no sane person would choose, I really want a life of peace now.  I don't see it in the near future, and I wish I did not view so many people as self-absorbed and completely shallow.

Life Changes Yet Again.....

They say that only two things in life are certain, death and taxes.  While I can attest to those two happening far to often, I want to add a third item...change.  I spent a year and a half working in Afghanistan for Fluor's FGG's group as part of the LOGCAPIV program, in the border region with Pakistan.
It was an experience I will never forget. I learned a lot about myself and I learned a lot more about the nature of people and big business.  I encountered people I was glad to have met, and met more than enough that I hope I never met ever again.  I survived some situations that you normally don't encounter these days, but I also was witness to people choosing to do things they never would in the States, or could never get the opportunity to do so.
Would I go back?  After some time back in the States, yes.  There is an appeal to living and working in that environment.  But I am done with Fluor, and I am sure they are done with me.

I have a job in the States once more, and I have to adjust to being home with my family, and being around people who don't fly in choppers, wear body armor, or get shot at regularly.

Its a change I welcome.  I am glad to be home

Back to Afghanistan...

Heading back to Afghanistan and back to the valley to go back to work.
It was nice to home for Christmas, but I am not the same man I was in 2009.
There will be much to write about when I can put words too it.

I wonder how I will handle "real life" once more?
And here is a sobering thought....there are no VA benefits for contractors