Cue the choir

It's a well known "Part of Being Overseas" fact that you are never done dealing with plugs and voltage issues. So you get some transformers from the Embassy, and pony up for some of your own. And you may even get some 220V appliances.

Another well known fact is our love/(mostly) hate relationship with the good ol' Drexel Heritage. That curio cabinet with the built in lighting, conjuring visions of properly displaying your precious breakables? Yeah, it's a 110V plug.

Don't even get me started on the whole lighting issues. There is never enough light; whether it's in that weird, how-do-they-expect-me-to-use-this closet or under the cabinets in the kitchen.

Cue the choir. *ahhhh*

I found an amazing DIY tutorial and the simplest, why-didn't-I-think-of-that lighting solution. They made a corded lamp cordless using LED ribbon lighting and a 9V battery! It makes me mad when I think of all the floor lamps I left in storage or dumped when I got frustrated with plugging them into a transformer.

But it gets better.

On the Amazon product page for the reel of lighting, there are pictures of people using this for under cabinet lighting!! Definitely squeal-worthy! The pictures have notes and everything! (ok, time to tone down the exclamation points) The ribbon base has adhesive on it and the end goes right onto a battery (9 or 12V) so you really can plug and play. I'm still investigating the details of this project, but it looks pretty straightforward and dummy-proof. I'm ordering this ribbon lighting and putting it under my cabinets. I think I'll also put it in my cabinets, and in my closet, and in the entryway . . . oh, you're still reading. Quit reading and go get some ribbon lighting! I'll show y'all the results; whether they be good or disastrous.

Not my kitchen, just the amazon example

YouTube Tuesday: It's like that

I feel like I'm talking to myself. But that's okay, it's nothing new. I found this gem via a friend of mine. I've been know to post "out of the ordinary" before and this fits right in.  Like a Russian West Side Story; I find it strangely . . strange. I wish I could hear the music that they are dancing to.



But inserting different music over the original is nothing new. See below. 'Party Rock Anthem' set to the Star Wars cantina music.




Oh, and you're welcome.

Hitting Home

I feel I'd be remiss if I didn't comment or elaborate on my feelings of the past two days. It all began when I checked the news Tuesday evening and saw this article heading, "Protesters climb U.S. Embassy walls in Cairo" 

I shared it on Facebook with the caption, "*sigh* Seriously, dudes?" and went to bed shaking my head over those events and reflecting on past ones. By bedtime, I knew that a similar incident was unfolding in Libya.

In the morning, I got the kids off to school and then sat down to check the news. Events had escalated further in Libya and they knew of one State Department officer that was dead. 

Oh crap. 

I went about my morning with this at the back of my mind as I puttered about doing this or that, not really accomplishing a whole lot. Go change laundry, check news, open drapes in the downstairs, check news. By lunchtime, it was confirmed that the Ambassador was one of the dead; the State Department officer death toll at four.

I sat down and felt dumbfounded. Predictably, I went to Facebook. (if you can't tell already, I go to Facebook a lot. sometimes it's my only tie to adult interaction) I felt like I should say something, but what? This is what I said,

"I've been muddling over exactly what to say, words escape me right now . . . "too close to home" is so double entendre . . Prayers for the families and for us in this part of the world."

Profound, huh? I usually write something way too long, archive it in my writing file so I can go to it later as a writing prompt and post the boiled down meaning. 

I watched as my feed filled up with other people sharing similarly heartfelt updates. A picture of a black mourning ribbon and State Department seal began popping up and people started sharing it or changing it to their profile pic.

I went to bed again. Had it been just 24 hours? I woke up, got the kids off to school and checked in. I saw blog post memorials written by other FS (foreign service) bloggers that had had the privilege of knowing and working with Ambassador Chris Stevens. I found a Facebook page that had just been created called, "The Sorry Project"; a project showing that the majority of the Libyan people oppose the crimes and violent actions committed against the US embassy. There are over 25 pictures of people holding signs that say, "We are sorry" and "Sorry people of America" etc. at peaceful, memorial rallies being held across Libya. Here is a whole gallery on Imgur of more people.

This picture brought on the tears. 

That's basically what I tell my children.

"I didn't want to assign a nationality to who these particular terrorists were. We have lived in the Middle East for most of my children's cognitive memory. They see Arabs differently than most people do. And that is one thing that makes me so grateful for the oppotunity we've been afforded in living overseas." 
                          ~ Me on 9/11/09 (Go here --> "In Remembrance" for the full story)

I feel fragmented in thought. With a sinking feeling in my stomach that I've felt before, I want it to go away. I want to try and forget what has happened, but I don't. These events are still unfolding and have affected embassies throughout the region. And to make matters even worse, most people don't care.

What can I do? I can dash about the house, wringing my hands, making sure the passports & other documents are in my "Go Bag", living from one ten minute segment to the next. 

Or, I do what I usually do in these situations and just try to have a normal day.

A better outlet

So I bought a pressure washer at Geant last week. I needed a pressure washer. I have bikes that need to be blasted, dirt caked on anything that stays outside longer than a week and it sure would make my back porch a breeze to clean. 

I open up the box and put it together. (I even referenced the instruction book) Easy enough. It needs to be plugged in. There is an outlet in my carport.

It looks like this.                                                                                     The plug looks like this.

Yes, all outlets here in Bahrain are the British three pronged kind. All appliances, lamps, blenders, etc. are round and two pronged. But we have plug adapters for that. No worries. I reclaim a plug adapter from the blender and stick it outside. It's not working. Ah, it is one of those 'not-quite-uniform-yet-appears-to-be-normal' outlets. Using the carport plug is a no-go. So I go hunt down an extension cord, reclaim the super long one from the T.V. area and plug everything in.

You know what, I'm going to save you the time & effort of slogging through my sorrows. I spent the next 45 minutes wrestling with the non-uniform hoses and trying to avoid drenching the electrical pressure washer with water. Point is, I get it working.

I go to my backyard to hunt down a spigot. There isn't one. No biggie, I'll snake this insanely long hose from the front of my house, through the kitchen, dining room and living room to the back porch. 

Then I haul the pressure washer to the back porch, rig the whole plug-in setup and go to the carport to turn on the water. I get to the back porch, turn on the switch and  . . . *crickets* nothing. I go back to the spigot and find that the hose has blown off.

Ok, I'll keep the hose on real low and tear through the house like a tornado, flip the switch and HOORAY! We have pressure washing! For about 15 seconds. Then every orifice that has water pumping through it decides to spray water, too. After all, the nozzle can't have all the fun. I turn off the washer, then turn it back on again. Nothing. I do the whole 'run through the house dance' and begin washing again. 15 seconds of amazing power washing and then water everywhere.

It is 108F/42C, humidity is at 45%, and I am wet with water and sweat. I give up. I'm done. The porch is just going to have to stay dirty. And I'm returning that fracking pressure washer. I need to go create something other than a mess.

YouTube Tuesday: The One with the great Video

If you're coming here for the latest and greatest discoveries from YouTube, you're in the wrong place. I post what I find and what I like; it will probably not be the most current. The idea for YouTube Tuesday came after an evening of getting together with some friends and it evolved into a video share-fest. "You've got to see this! It's the best!" "No, this one is my favorite!" and so on and so forth. I figured, why wait until those times to share my favorites videos, the ones I turn to when I need a few minutes of happiness. 

I love 'The Office'. It was made for my generation. My brother-in-law said this, after everyone was bringing us up to speed on the latest movies and T.V. shows, "Don't you just love it when you're the target audience?" It's true. There will be a reason why I'm uninterested in any shows when I'm old and grey; now is not that time.

I put my hands up in the air sometimes

Yeah, oh yeah! You know what time it is! It's 'back to school' time! Can I get a whoop-whoop? 

It's 7th, 5th, 3rd and 1st graders this year. Man, talk about tough. I mean, I remember 7th grade. I had a crush on my History teacher Mr. Duffy. No. freaking. way. is this happening to me. And the youngest is in first grade. I thought it was tough sending each kid that first year; now I know that the youngest is the toughest to let go. *sniff* FINE! Leave me to go grow up!!

 

As much as I may complain or kvetch about the insanity that they drive me to, I miss 'em. Not so much the first week or so; more in a couple of weeks. I think I could be okay with a staggered school year where I have two in school and two at home. Not that that scenario exists, I'm just saying I'd be okay with it. 

I also think this is an appropriate time to crow a little about their school. It's wonderful! It's their first experience with an "American style" school. Though what is that anymore? I love the curriculum; it's like the math program was made especially for them. Though a great curriculum is nothing without great teachers to implement it. They all (at least my kid's teachers) want to be there and live for what they do! I love that they say the Pledge of Allegiance every morning at the A.M. assembly. I love that my kids feel comfortable enough, and CAN, run up to their teachers and give them a big hug. I think that touch and contact is a BIG part of any relationship. And I know one bennie that the kids love is the cafeteria hot lunch option. It's not too expensive (which I can't always say for Bahrain) and it helps me out some days.  

So here's to a new school year!  

 (if you can't tell, i'm on a gif kick)

 

One bite at a time

I try to maintain a positive vibe on this blog. (i totally do this every morning)

Yet in life there must be balance in all things. Life isn't all cheery times or slogging through the doldrums. I've had a hard time finding that balance again, as you can tell. In some ways, our two years here in Bahrain feel just as long or longer than the 4 in Egypt. Every 6 months, there has been an upheaval; 

- getting to post, waiting 4 months for household goods
- finally getting unpacked and we get hit with an evacuation
- return to house, re-find everything and settle into groove
- get moved from one house to another due to unstable neighborhood conditions
- get to unpack and reorganize and decorate for the 2nd time at post

And now we are back from summer R&R, have gotten over the jet lag and are starting school tomorrow. Still trying to find solutions to everyday life, like where the homework working is going to go down (dining room table did *not* work before), finding a maid (for the last year) and so on and so forth.

I have been doing some serious soul searching in the past few months. I had to find out for myself if blogging was a benefit or a burden to me. I have taken quite a long break and almost every. single. day. I had a new idea; a writing point or a blog topic. It's become quite clear to me that writing has become integral to my sanity and personal growth. Like anyone, I am afraid of failure. Am I setting myself up only to sit back and watch it all burn? Oh wait, I'm not a local troublemaker. No, I don't think so. Besides, how does one eat an elephant? One bite at a time.