Long Days ~ Short Weeks

Over the past 21 days - with our merry band of builders - a combination of Americans, Turks, Uzbeks, Kirghiz, Afgans, Turkmen, and an assorted range of others, we have placed about 13,000 cubic meters  of concrete on the taxiway here - about half the total on this taxiway.  Combined with our other projects we will place enough concrete to rise to a height of 88 feet on an American football field.  The logistical challenge is daunting -- we have to contend with an operational airfield (the busiest in theater) that has combat (close air support/air to surface), logistical, surveillance, helicopters, and unmanned aerial aircraft taking off or landing every few minutes  in close proximity to our work.  The wingtips miss us by a very close margin so not a lot of room for error-communications with ground control is our friend.  

The days begin with grading and setting forms, establishing our quality checks, and finally, around 7 PM every night, firing up the batch plant and hauling the concrete to the paver which sits rumbling until it can turn the mixed mass into a smooth taxiway surface.  We usually finish at 2 AM.  

The recent rocket attacks forced us to cancel midstream in one night, and the following night, one of the rolling fuel tankers found out what happens when you run into a concrete truck.  The tank lost and ultimately spilled over 1200 gallons of fuel on the ground.  We were able to salvage the waiting concrete, but the fuel, well that's another story...

I am wondering what the long hours will do to us - we need a new routine and it's on my list..

frm the world of insha allah, I wonder where my weeks go...

The Wind of 120 Days

The wind of 120 days that usually blow northwest from June to September started early this year in Mid May.  The winds are not continuous but can be quite fierce and resilient - a little like the Afghan people the wind blows upon...Cloud patterns are tremendous and ever changing.  When the wind settles, dust devils rise 1000 meters reaching for the sky.  The subarctic winds from the north converge with a divergent fringe from south Pakistan creating this wind tunnel across the fertile Shomali plains which is where Bagram Air Base presently sits.  The wind are accompanied by varying degrees of heat, wind, low to mid humidity causing fine particles to find their way through any cracks and crevices and leave a light coating of light brown silty dust on everything.  Not only on, it gets in every orifice so I find myself mining in my ears and nose every few days wondering what monster has grown in there.  Today was an especially windy day - I was out on the airfield and the windsock was blowing full, confirming what I knew, the wind coming from the northwest...The sun at this altitude, combined with this wind condition hardens the skin like leather.

These winds blow across the Bagram plain - as they have for 1000s of years.  To the northeast is the mouth of the Panjsir, the strikingly steep mountain valley where Ahmed Shah Massoud held his ground against both the Soviets and the Taliban until his assassination on 09 Sep 2001.  Massoud remains a hero and is known locally as the Lion of Panjsir. 

The wind here takes many forms and has a character different than that in the states.  Perhaps this is due to the landscape and the terrain it must pass over.  sometimes violent lightning storms light the sky that create eerie glows when the flash of light reflects off the silica particles in the air.

I have a sudden craving for a cold beer...