Then i got back to Bahrain for visa stuff, took only two days. Back to the sand. Driving over the bridge i saw a thermometer that was built in the car: 43 degrees. Not that much. The most i've seen so far was 48 degrees. Celsius. It's around 50 degrees in midday. And i had to physically work outside a couple of times at midday. Well, hot. Drink enough water. What can i say, the desert is still the desert.
After arriving here in the late afternoon i just learned from my boss that i'd go to the rig the next morning. Nothing unexpected there, same procedure as before. Was in the desert 26 days, two rigs. With good people, teaching me stuff. Then i got a whole of seven days in the city - new record! - before going to the rig again. But just for six days, replacing someone and then back to town for a couple of days. Then to the rig for two weeks.
That first 26 days in the desert i was doing the night shift, from 18 to 6, so for about a month my motto was:
Sunset - that is when my shift starts here.
Sunrise - that is when my shift is about to end.
I got back to town on 7/11 - damn, gotta get to an American 7/11 sooner or later on that day. To get my free squishee. Here in town there is literally nothing to do. Except getting some rest without engine noise, at least. I went to a shopping center. There at the food court i saw McDonald's poster with a Shrek3 promo and "Only in Cinemas" written around it. Hahaha, that translates to "not in this country".
Anyways, now is the most probably last time that my age is x to the power of x, x being an integer. Thanks for all the nice greetings, i try to answer them all, still working on it. Not that it was that many, but being busy here kept me from writing emails - i like to write long ones, if you haven't noticed... Got some great e-cards as well. Two with the always entertaining Hoops&Yoyo, hehe. One with a little green man wielding his lightsaber. Truly knows me :-)
But "den Vogel abgeschossen" has one with a sheep that brought me a parcel which exploded and had a living pig in side. Just a pig for luck, i guess. But sitting here in a country where it is impossible and illegal to get some pork that thing is getting a whole new dimension...
All in all i got greetings from Austria, Hungary, Germany, Spain, Croatia, France, Saudi, Oman (well, if you consider people's nationalities also from Bolivia, Sudan/Egypt and Lebanon), United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Belgium, Poland, Ireland in no particular order. Ain't the internet a nice thing. Thanks a lot.
Two days after that day a friend of mine also came back to town. We went to eat Thai food. Nice place, nice food. First time i sat in the "family section" of a restaurant here. Guess that white face's good for something, haha. In town i got the evenings for me - during the day i'm at the base. No weekends. Not much to do, anyways.
What else? Merely eight months after i got here i finally have a room in the place i was supposed to stay since the beginning. Ain't that great. It's almost as if they actually wanted me to stay now. Not too convinced, though. So here's my room.
What's so special about this picture? The wall! It's a real building, bricks, wall, and all, not sleeping in a container in town anymore. And i don't have to check out each time i go to the rig anymore. Wow... as i've said, took them only eight months more than in every other location i've heard of.
More will follow hopefully soon, got some pics - not many, mind you, don't want to get arrested and not much to see here, anyways - we'll see.
A question that came to my mind in the desert:
Are grasshoppers still called grasshoppers when they have no grass to hopp upon? I mean, what's the official name for those around here? Sandhoppers or deserthoppers would be more appropriate, i guess.
Drink a beer for me.
Cheers.
