2010 ended with me on leave for Christmas and New Years for the first time in a bunch of years. This made for a very happy Tay. I had some extra days so I was off for 3 weeks. We spent the time relaxing and enjoying each others company. We took a trip to Bangkok to visit my friend Pichet and do some holiday shopping. Pattaya was quiet but finally filled up with the usual holiday makers looking for a warmer climate for the holidays. I returned to work on January 7. I was reassigned to another area of the project. I am still working for the same company but have a different role. Previously I was doing the contractor work - now I oversee another contractors activities and make sure that they are on schedule and in compliance with the project specifications. January and February are nice an cool here in Qatar and perfect outdoors working weather. The push is on to complete the Phase One area and get it started up so the client can start making some money. I was also told that I have been extended again to the end of October of 2011. This I like as it will keep me employed. I went back out on leave March 3rd to Pattaya. Tay and I had planed to do some traveling on this leave but some important business came up so we decided to stay in Pattaya to tend to the various affairs. Hopefully the next leave will offer a chance to possibly get back to Phuket and do some scuba diving. Everything was nice and quiet in Thailand. Some of you might follow me on Facebook. For years I have avoided a lot of the social media sites but decided to give Facebook a try. The world is on fire with all the unrest in North Africa and the Middle-east. As my father Ray once said to me back in 1989-90 - it is an exciting time to be alive - I asked him what he was to referring and he was talking about to the decline and fall of communism in eastern Europe, the Berlin Wall coming down along with the break up of Russia. Here the world is 20 years later and the same is happening in North Africa and the Middle-east - the fall of tyrannical and very corrupt regimes. No change is without risk and there are those that will pay the ultimate price so others can hopefully have their freedoms and socio-economic status expanded. We should not be so naive that the new standards will be the same as in the west - nor that the new governments will be totally transparent. It is now late March and I returned to work March 23rd. I continue with monitoring the contractors and have finished up with the Phase One side and have now moved on to the Phase Two area. It is the same as Phase One and hopefully we can apply the ‘lessons learned’ and avoid the previous pitfalls. The weather is still good and warmer than February but staying cool. Next month it will start to get hot. Last year the humidity came early at the start of June which made for a very long and miserable summer. It has been nice weather for working outside. In the first week of May it started to get hot - upwards of 120 F or about 49 C - fortunately there was no humidity to make it miserable. I arrived back in Thailand May 20 and went to Pattaya. Tay is very happy that I am back for about 3 weeks. I lounged around for a couple of days and did a lot of nothing. Some might consider it boring - I like boring sometimes. A friend of mine was in town from the UK so we went out several nights to Walking Street to check out the sights. I am scheduled to leave Thailand and return to Doha on June 7. The frequency of the leaves - every 8 weeks - is ok - I would like more than 19 days off. Ok - enough of the moaning and be happy that I am employed. Update Update Update Update Well as it turns out things did not get boring. I got back on a Friday. On Monday Tay was complaining of flu-like symptoms so I took her to her favorite local clinic and get one of those shots in the butt that make you feel better. She refuses to let me drive even though she is almost passing out from the fever. Finally I got her to pull over and drove the rest of the way home. The next day she is feeling better and goes back to the clinic to get another shot in the butt. The next morning she finally agrees to go to the emergency room. I get her admitted and it turns out she had a case of dengue fever. She is really a stubborn sort and was insisting that she was ok to go home. I can be equally stubborn and finally got her to stay 3 nights. The doctor indicated that the blood tests were stabilizing and not getting worse so he agreed that she could convalesce at home. I returned to Qatar on June 7. The weather was getting hot but not humid like 2010. When I got back I got a call from an agency and asked me if I wanted to move to the client side of the project that I was on. I said yes but I was still under contract and it was going to last likely until October. So I told them that I would call when I had an official demobilization date. I finished that rotation of 8 weeks and went back to Thailand on August 12. This time it was a relaxed and mainly boring time. Feeling like a yo-yo, I was back to Qatar on September 2nd. This time it was hot and humid. It stayed miserable until well into October. The project is getting close to completion. I was back only about 3 days and got a call to see my supervisor. I knew what it was about - he gave me a demobilization letter indicating that I was off the project at the end of October. I promptly contacted the agency that I mentioned earlier and told them the news and they got to work getting me in front of the client for an interview. Then the group I was working with indicated that they might extend me a couple of weeks. I politely told them that if they wanted to extend me 6 months then I was game but if 2 weeks I was not interested. Moving to a different company in the middle-east is not an easy process. If you are offered a job by another employer in the same country - even if the previous job is completed - you need to get a ‘No Objection Certificate’ - better known as an NOC. It is their way of preventing ‘poaching’ of other companies employees. You need this NOC for 2 years after leaving the employment of another company. I spoke to my employer about an NOC and they said there would be no problem. Then my employer offered me a job in Algeria. The money was about the same but only 6-8 months in duration where as the client offer was for 1 year plus. I did the interview and was accepted by the client of the project. I wrapped up my duties with the other employer and left for Thailand. I relaxed a few days and went off for the medical. I got the old and new employers in touch and started the NOC process. The NOC was issued and I was given a new entry visa. In the meantime i am getting pushed by the former employer to make a decision if I was going to go to Algeria. I kept stalling with various questions and finally got a medical clearance to join the client side of the project. I then contacted the old employer and declined the Algeria offer. I have never had 2 offers in hand at the same time when leaving a project. That made me feel like I was wanted and that after almost 15 years things were going my way. My goal has been to steady employment. For the past several projects I have been successful. This project is the first where the employer and client gave a lot of recognition for a job well done. I am grateful to have continued employment with the current state of affairs in the world. By now it is mid-November and I patiently wait for all the medical clearance, NOC, and new visa to get put into place. The floods in Thailand affected a lot of things including car production and delivery. Tay has been patiently waiting for her new wheels - a Honda CRV. This is her Christmas and Birthday present for the next 5 years. Cars are really expensive here in Thailand due in part to the government tax on the imported parts and the engine size. Some cars are assembled here in Thailand and some parts are also manufactured in Thailand. Finally on November 5th she went to Bangkok to pickup the new ride. She has been enjoying it and personalizing the CRV. Well as it goes, you never want to get a dent or scratch on the new ride for as long as possible. You guess it - she got tapped in the parking lot as we were leaving a restaurant. For the damage done - in the USA we would have exchanged info and been on the way. Not here - it was a 2 hour wait for the insurance adjuster to arrive and fill out the paperwork. We were both a bit upset but at least the first ding is over. On November 10th it is Loy Krathong Day in Thailand. To further explanation go to this link - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loi_Krathong - It is sorta like Thanksgiving and Valentines day in one. Anyhow, Tay and I go down to the Pattaya Bali-hai Pier and take in the fireworks and other festivities. Part of the ritual is to buy a floating bouquet of flowers then go light the incense and candles and float it out on the water. Usually it is windy but this year it was flat calm. Tay’s sister, Tui joined us this year as her boyfriend was working. Before we left for home the gals stopped by one of the food carts to get a bite to eat. After 3 weeks off I get my plane ticket and I am off to the new job at the same work site for the client. By the end of the 2nd day onsite I had all my required badges and by day 3 I have an IT account. This is not normal. Usually you spend 2 weeks doing trainings, inductions, orientations and so on so you are not very productive for at least 3-4 weeks. Since I was already on the project for 2 years I already had most of the required trainings. I was out and about taking care of business and hopefully going in the right direction. My co-workers are well versed and they will let me know if I am going wrong. I had requested certain days off in February for a reunion. To get into the leave schedule I only worked 3 weeks instead of 6 weeks. My new leave schedule is 6 weeks on and 2 weeks off. I get a little less time with Tay each leave but we get to see each other more frequently. I am now back in Thailand for my 2 weeks off and return to work December 23. I got Christmas and New Years off last year. I wish all a Merry Christmas, Happy New Years, and a safe Holidays to all. Please be safe. I’ll be at it again next year. Back to Main Blog Page Mike’s homepage stay tuned for more NEXT year IN 2012.