I got home last night to find my CLU-mate completely moved out. I couldn’t believe it. I am sure she is a little miffed about the whole thing…but I never even got a chance to talk to her to try to resolve it first. Oh well, it’s out of my job classification and above my pay scale to worry about it too much. I just feel bad my CLU-mate was forced to move already.
My boss is finally on her way back from surgery in Paris. Poor thing…was delayed leaving Paris, so missed the connecting flight from Nairobi to Djibouti. So they are still down in Nairobi. Going to be back at about 0100 this morning. Then she is planning on still going to Italy. They wouldn’t refund her money – so I suppose she needs to! She’s crazy! But it’ll be fun. We can catch up over all the drama that has been going on around here the past couple of weeks she has been gone. And drama is the word! See…just the reason why I wasn’t so sure about working in an HR department. Give me technical problems to resolve any day. This bickering and bitchiness back and forth all day long gets old for sure! Jus t a lot of people kinds of things – like one would expect with this many people working in the same area for so many hours a day for so many days in a row…with really no place else to go! It’s definitely a tough environment!
One of my admirers sent me virtual flowers yesterday in my email. That was actually very nice. Brightened my day for sure! I hadn’t thought about how nice it actually would be to have flowers here on my desk or in my CLU. They sure can make a huge difference! But no way to get them to me. So virtual will have to do. I say “one” of my admirers…because right now I have two specifically. They’re nice guys…but they didn’t come off that ship of Marines that was here the other day! Ha ha ;-) Just kidding…well probably not!
The things that help me get through my days - nice looking men in uniform! I am listening to the Phantom of the Opera right now on my MacBook Pro. I had access to Pandora online during the day, but IT went back and blocked my access. So I have to bring my laptop in to listen to music. My office mate likes to listen as well.
I am rambling today. Just trying to get through the morning. I was able to actually get my laundry done this morning – since it is so close to where I work, I can easily go back and forth to get it done. So I did. Needed a couple of things for my journey tomorrow. Today is mail day too – maybe I’ll get a card or something.
I woke up frantic yesterday morning. I dreamt that I was taking the VA State EMT-B Exam again and I couldn’t remember the acronym to help me complete the patient assessment! I was stressed for a good 5 minutes while I tried to remember it. Then was upset because I couldn’t remember it immediately. I was wondering if my skills are fading already? Of course I remembered it and then the rest of what I needed to know came flooding back into my mind. I found myself thinking all day about it. Trying to go over scenarios in my head and what I would do if I was on the call. I need to stay sharp! Jonathan, my EMS Sgt., said he’ll send me some information on some interesting calls and let me go through what I would do if I was on the call. I have the BEST EMS Sgt! So that should help. I am also looking to get a couple of books too. Figure it’s important, since over the past few years being an EMT is by far one of the things I really enjoy! Really love doing it! So if I can stay sharp with that and get back into good running shape, I think my outlook on life in Djibouti will look much brighter! BTW – the acronym is SAMPLE (Signs & Symptoms, Allergies, Medications, Past Pertinent Medical History, Last Oral Intake, and Events Prior)…and one can’t forget OPQRST (in relation to the symptoms, in particular pain/discomfort – Onset, Provocation, Quality, Radiation, Severity, and Time). So I am feeling much better today! Whew!
I know I am a nerd. But what can I say? It’s important to me!
There just aren’t all of the opportunities I was hoping for here for volunteer work. And it really just is not the safest area in the world either. Al-Shabaab is strong here in Somalia (Southern and Central Somalia) – and the last I checked, we are only 9 miles from the border of North Somalia. Mind you, I do not feel unsafe being here on camp. But not sure how much time I want to spend out amongst the people in very remote areas trying to help with healthcare needs.
When I took the tour of the Air Operations here on Camp, one of the stories they told me was about a naked man they found on one of the Navy C-130s. It was kind of funny, but very sad too. Apparently one morning the Navy crew working on the C-130 opened up the aircraft to a naked man sleeping on the plane. The night before when they closed up for the day, someone didn’t actually lock the plane up. So this naked man wandered out onto the airfield and found himself climbing up the ladder and into the plane. He spoke decent enough English. Said he had escaped from Somalia and please not to make him go home; he was begging the Navy flight crew to please take him to the US. He was very thin (malnourished) and everyone is still trying to figure out how he got out on the air field and walked around. They covered him with a trash bag and gave him some fruit to eat. The man was in heaven. He was so hungry! The Navy had to turn him over to the Djiboutian Police. And they thought that was the end of it. They found him a few days later wandering around near the Navy aircraft again. This time with clothes on! It’s very different here than back home. I expected that for sure. And I see it too in town. And among some of the locals who work here on camp. I am sure they don’t get paid too much.
The humorous part about him stating he escaped from Somalia is that I have seen the pictures of the border control here. It is pretty much non-existent when it comes to crossing into Djibouti from Somalia. But if we wanted to go into Somalia from Djibouti, then we would be stopped. And since the border is so close to where we are, the military is always on alert. But again, I don’t feel unsafe. No one is shooting at us; we don’t hear bombs going off in the distance. But one must not become complacent, that’s for sure.
So that’s my little bit of life from Djibouti today. I kind of went off on a tangent. Sorry. My morning is now winding down and I can get on the noon bus for the galley. And that’s just what I plan to do.
Thanks for checking in as usual. Enjoy your weekend and I will be back online when I get back from Italy! Y’all take care!
Cheers!
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