Thriving on Communication

The past few days have been very interesting and I must say quite fulfilling. I loved my help desk job because I was always involved with so many people, and as someone today put it, I’m a social butterfly. So being in the deepest darkest center of the palace where no one ever goes is very hard for me. I am working nights with systems instead of with people (other than my co-workers) and I’m secluded. I have to get my social fix on my walks to and from work and in the DFAC and gym… although honestly I tend to more or less hide as much as I can at the gym. So as I started out saying, the past couple days have been good.

On line a few nights ago I saw someone I had not seen in quite a while and although we used to talk a lot, he has been busy and has not been on line much, so seeing him was great. We spent a while talking and kind of rekindling our friendship. He promised he would be on more often. He is someone very dear to me, so I was really happy to have been able to get back in touch.

I got a new roommate and two days later she told me that she had gone to KBR and gotten a different room with a friend who had been working with her, they had come over together, and the other girl had no roommate. So here I am once again, alone.

I had gotten up around 5PM and took in my laundry, and then I walked to the PX and bought a blanket and some bottles of green tea. I had wanted to go to the Turkish Shop before this, but I had not been close to it during their open hours until yesterday, so I went there and saw my friend. After I got done shopping and after I went over to Subway for a sandwich he asked one of his co-workers to give me a ride back to my trailer. He told me to come back in a week when he got a new shipment of rings. He said he would take care of me. He is such a great person. I never cared much for stones in rings, I just liked silver, but somehow I got hooked on opals and the Turkish Shop carries so many gorgeous colors and styles that I just can’t help myself. It is just one of a few of my addictions, along with Amazon.com and my grandchildren.

I spent most of the night on line last night talking to a former colleague. This is a person I have kept in touch with for quite a while, but on a very generic basis. We would see each other on line and say hello, talk for a bit, and that was it. Last night we got into a conversation that lasted almost four hours, Just catching up. It was kind of neat. We both had fun.

I spent the rest of the night sleeping, and then had trouble trying to sleep through the day so I could be rested for tonight. But I managed to get a few hours of shut-eye. When I got up, I went to the dining facility where I saw a couple I really like a lot, but don’t run into often (always a pleasure to see them) then I ran into a friend whom I had met while I was working in the IZ. I talked to an officer from Kazakhstan who had spent time in the States. He spoke English quite well. As I walked to work after I left the DFAC, I ran into another person I hadn’t seen in a while. He was surprised that I was still here. Then closer to work, much to my surprise I ran across another soldier that I remember from a previous deployment and he stopped me to talk for a few minutes. And then of course I always love to see the Tongan guards. They are so proper and polite and always open the gate for me instead of having me go through the turnstiles. So many wonderful people have touched my life. I’m really very fortunate. This is a good place.

As I said, the past couple days have been good. In fact like a gold mine for me. I crave the interaction and it seems like it all came to me at once. I feel very fulfilled today.

The one thing I do miss is my ability to talk freely, and often, about the political scene. I rely on my email as my means to communicate with my son and my brother about this. Once in a while one of my daughters gets involved, but I think she is too busy with school now and maybe disenchanted by the events that are constantly occurring and making being an avid supporter very difficult. The political scene just isn’t for everyone, and I’m starving for infusions. I love that my brother is always keeping me informed and responding to my emails. My son gets into it once in a while, but he isn’t as deeply involved as I am. He has a pretty full life right now.

Our family has a great time with discussion when it comes to some topics, sometimes everyone gets involved and we can get quite carried away, and very deep, but recently we haven’t had a really good topic to center in on. With the differences that have come up in our living situations and lifestyles, I guess it’s understandable that we don’t have something going on presently.

People have asked me for news of my family, but to be honest, I prefer to allow my family and friends their respective privacies. I have mentioned my son and my brother above, and that a baby is imminent, that would be my daughter-in-law having my third grandson. She is doing well at this time. Other than that… my blog is about ME and my feelings and daily experiences here in Iraq. As you have noticed, names will not be used unless I am given permission to use them or unless they pertain to people like the presidential candidates or other well known entities whose names get thrown all over anyway. I also will not presume to give my ideas of what anyone else’s opinions are. Some people don’t understand why I am so open with my life, but I am an avid writer and I am planning to write an autobiography. That will be an interesting undertaking, since I will need cooperation from everyone to make it real, or else I’ll have to use fictitious names but real characters… or I will have to write a “based on a true story” account. Which isn’t as good as an autobiography. But I might have no other choice. Like I said, and as I was reminded today, privacy is a very big issue.

So… If there is anyone out there who wants to talk to me about the political scene, please leave me a comment and an email address, unless you have mine, then you can just email me, if you leave a comment I’ll write to you and we can discuss to our hearts content. I’m very open minded and willing to listen as much as tell my side and why I’m there.

Well, thanks for finding and reading my blog.

Until next posting… Malimali (Tongan for “Smile”)