Volume 2 Issue 2
Wow that was really long and pretty boring sorry about that. I’ve broken issue 2 up into a few smaller parts to make it easier to read. Hopefully
I’ll be able to write smaller segments from now on, but with working 12 hrs a day it’s hard to find the time.
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Now Boarding Flight 1816
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We flew on Air France direct from Houston IAH to Paris De Gaulle airport. I found it ironic that you can’t take nail clippers through the security
checks, because you might use them as a weapon. To get around that all you have to do is buy them in the many gift shops at the airport. I was on
a 767 this time which isn’t much different than the 747 I flew to Bahrain on. One nice change was that on the back of all the head rests was a
small TV screen. It was a nice change to get to pick what to watch. I saw "The Last Samurai" and Denzel Washington movie where he’s a
small town cop. Both were pretty good considering on KLM I was forced to watch "I Spy." The meals weren’t too bad for airline food.
The only thing that sucked was that I was on the only row that had three people in it. Everyone else had an empty seat between, but I was crammed
in the middle seat. The lady next to me started to snore a few times so I threw an elbow into her and she stopped. In fact I don’t think she even
noticed.
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Pari
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We only had a four hour layover in Charles De Gaulle so not a whole lot to write about. We did get to wait for about 2 hours outside the security
check point while they X-rayed the bags with our PPE (Personal Protection Equipment). They weren’t sure if the X-ray would go through the steel
plates in our vests and French law says that if they have to open your bags to check inside that
you have to be present. So they made us all (about 75 of us) wait till they scanned them. Turns out that they didn’t have to open any of the bags.
I caught a few minute nap in the mean while. I did find it amusing that during the KBR security briefing they tell us to try and look un-American,
blend in, and try not to let on that you’re with KBR. "So yea we’re 75 not-American tourists all traveling together to um um somewhere in the
Middle East." You could have spotted us a mile away.
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Now Boarding Flight 666 To Places Unknown
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We flew on another 767 from Paris to Dubai. This time it was a full flight. I don’t think I saw an empty seat on the entire thing. Besides being
squished in between two people there was also two wild and screaming children two rows in front and a screaming three and two year old behind me.
The kids behind us also thought it would be fun to kick our seat every few minutes just to make sure we weren’t sleeping too soundly. NOTE TO ALL
PARENTS: If your child is under six years old and/or you can’t control them DO NOT I repeat DO NOT take them on a six hour plane trip. Thank you,
that is all. I don’t remember what the movies were. I was so tired that my mind was all fuzzy.
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Dubai?
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Was I even in Dubai? I was there for such a short period of time it’s all a blur. After we got our bags and went through a security check on the
way out (can we say redundant) we went outside to meet with our KBR reps and catch the bus. They called out a few names for a chartered flight
leaving at 10 the next morning (mind you it’s midnight where we are) for Baghdad. I didn’t hear my name and figured oh well they must have changed
where I’m going at the last minute. These things happen and we’re not really informed about a whole lot. Time to load the busses. They had a half
dozen or so what looked like vans with like 30 seats in each.
