Blowing in the wind
In the early darkness of cover, a strong dust storm arrives and my tent shakes violently. At sunrise, the sun is so masked over I actually thought it was the full moon for a few seconds. The storm intensifies and soon the winds are gusting over 25 knots with visibility reduced to less than 2 miles. I find out that a mission has dropped and this one may be the one. After doing legwork with my team back home and at the destination, I’m booked on to this flight. I then scurry over to the library to return a book I was reading – “The World is Flat” by Thomas Friedman. My dad recommended it to me last year, and I finally get some down time and a chance to read it. Well written and insightful book on the impact globalization has made across all societies – with the internet and modern technology, the world now appears “flat” since it is just as easy to conduct business with someone in Indiana as in India
I’m booked on to the flight and with boarding pass in hand, the thought “third time is the charm” comes to mind. A Distinguished Visitor (DV) and his party then arrives into the terminal. Usually nothing noteworthy, except this individual than opts to not allow any other pax on the plane – which happens to be me – no way! So, now I have to process back thru Qatari customs and on to the base. I make a beeline for the library to set my mind on Sudoku puzzles, which are basically crossword puzzles with numbers. You have to utilize logic to eliminate and determine the one number that fits in each square. At first, each puzzle takes me about 45 minutes to complete. I went thru almost 30 of them and now can complete a puzzle in 10-15 minutes. Keeps my mind engaged while I wait and wait and wait…