Places

On places and other literal geography

عيد مبارك

Saturday, April 22, 2023 

Eid Mubarak 2023

Posted at 10:50:00 GMT-0700

Category: EventsPlaces

That’s so Colorado

Thursday, September 3, 2015 

“…Not allowed in the cargo hold: lithium batteries, e-cigarettes, personal vapes.”

Posted at 13:04:47 GMT-0700

Category: PlacesTravel

Basra Snow Storm

Sunday, February 8, 2015 

I was feeling a little left out, reading posts by people digging out of snow storms and here I am in Basra where it gets down to 10C at night sometimes and usually hits the mid 20’s during the day.  Rough.  But the weather here came through with our own sort of snow storm.

 

Blizzard Brown-out conditions

Starting to look like a brown-out!

 

 

Snow covered yard furniture!

 

Obligatory shot of the yard furniture getting covered.

 

I've got snow on my head!

 

Kitty’s head is starting to show some accumulation.

 

Can't see more than a few hundred meters with this snow!

 

With all this blowing through you can barely see a few hundred meters!

 

starting to accumulate!

 

It’s really starting to accumulate. Where’s the snow blower?

 

Takes special cleaning to get that snow off.

 

It takes some special cleaning after playing out in it.

Posted at 06:20:38 GMT-0700

Category: CatsphotoPlacesTravelWeather

The East Bay Hills

Tuesday, December 23, 2014 

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Posted at 17:38:00 GMT-0700

Category: GeopostMapphotoPlaces

Family Feud Basra Style

Saturday, December 13, 2014 

Gunfire is pretty common here, perhaps even more common than in Oakland though usually for the same reasons: celebrating holidays, sports victories, weddings, that sort of stuff.  It is kind of fun to listen to and watch tracers and stuff, but usually the villa is also celebrating in an obvious way; when you hear gunfire you also hear cheers, at least at night.

This evening the house was quiet, but the gunfire sure wasn’t.  The guys tell me it was a tribal feud in the neighborhood, quite close from the sound of it.  This is a low-fi recording from my phone.

Posted at 17:13:13 GMT-0700

Category: AudioPlacesTravel

Burnt Outlet

Saturday, March 8, 2014 

Occasionally electrical systems here just catch on fire for no apparent
reason.

burnt_outlet.jpg
Posted at 07:39:27 GMT-0700

Category: OddPlacesTechnology

Wow. “4G”

Friday, December 27, 2013 

This is on T-Mobile USA’s Global Internet.  It is actually a pretty good deal, but note it is massively throttled.

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Posted at 04:43:35 GMT-0700

Category: Cell phonesPlacesTechnologyTravel

Cactus Farmer

Wednesday, December 25, 2013 

Just a few years back, when I was in 3rd or 4th Grade, my brother and I went to visit David and Jesse Lenat at their Cactus Farm. While we were exploring the green houses, their dad, Richard, gave my brother and I each a cactus to take home.

Mine lived in a small pot near a window through the rest of grade school and high school and then my mom cared for it through college. It grew into a little cluster of pencil thin, green, spiky pads over the years.

After I graduated, moved to California and got an apartment in SF; I was home for Christmas one year and took one of the pads wrapped in tissue to California. It grew well there and now produces big, bright yellow flowers every year.

This Christmas, I stuffed two tiny buds into glass bottles and brought them to Iraq and planted in the yard with one of the cat’s help (paw in the background).

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Posted at 03:01:17 GMT-0700

Category: CatsGeopostphotoPlaces

Iraq

Friday, November 1, 2013 

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There were still souvenirs of the war around in 2013.
Posted at 12:51:24 GMT-0700

Category: photoPlacesTravel

A Day Out And About In Basra

Sunday, March 10, 2013 

A day spent out reviewing alternate sites where unexpected underground obstructions impact construction means a chance to make new friends.

Iraqi Guards.jpg
Two of the excellent officers assigned to our detail get us through traffic and keep us safe.

New Friends.jpg

These days the attention we attract is welcome and fun.

Posted at 08:11:06 GMT-0700

Category: GeopostPlacesTravel