January in Kabul

It was exceptionally cold this morning, more so than it has been any day since I have been back. All of our trucks are diesel engines and obviously sit outside all day and night. Starting in the morning is an adventure at best, but to date, my truck had always worked it out. Today my truck politely declined and I was forced to get a ride to work. I spent an an hour and a half in the afternoon once it had warmed up to a balmy 15 degrees, and tried to jump it. No go. It gave me false hope a few times by actually turning over, but in the end, I was in no better shape than this morning. This doesn't bode well for tomorrow morning.

I have resumed my workout schedule and since I hadn't been in the gym for the three weeks while traveling and on leave, my body wasn't quite used to the strain. My thighs and I have not been on speaking terms for the last 3 days. I walk around like someone shot me in the legs...its sad and irritating all at the same time.

Steve, my roommate, is on leave and finally made it to Australia a couple days ago. It's summer down there so I am quite certain he is enjoying himself. Bastard.

I walked around with Zak today and found an office that had a power strip plugged in. Similar to the situation months ago, it was just 2 bare wires jammed into a wall, but this time, they kept it interesting by keeping the wires in place with wooden matches. The explanation? It's Afghanistan. I guess the combination of fuel, oxygen and heat doesn't produce fires in central Asian countries. They have promised to fix it, if not, I'll try to get pictures before I take it out myself.