For some reason these didn't load with the others...anyway, this is the view of the the shop from the Landing outside of Bill's office. His office is up on the second floor.
Again- another big desert unit with big tires.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Bill's Adventure #4
Bill moved into his new room a couple days ago and we (the girls and I) were sure relieved to see the upgrade. Below are some shots of his room. It sure does look a lot home-ier. I was a lot more settled once I saw all of these new photos he sent.
He also sent a coupe of his office. Again- WAY more modernized than I imagined. It is air conditioned and is much bigger than his office in GP.
Bill took a photo of one of the desert units. He said the tires are almost as tall as he is.
This is a shot of the outside bay.
Another shot on the grounds.
Somehow I missed adding this one with the room photos, but this is a shot of Bill being his cheeky self with his tongue hanging out.
Bill is still eating lots of chicken and had lamb one night that he said wasn't too bad. He usually has a half an omlette in the morning with a few french fries and then pasta or rice with a few veggies and the chicken. He tried a beef burger once that he wasn't too keen on, so I'm sure he will stick to chicken. He said that they are offered french fries during the breakfast, and hashbrowns will be offered for lunch or supper.
Everytime we talk to him he is sounding more and more settled- which is wonderful to hear. He has long days at work and then goes to supper and is usually sleeping by just after 8:00. That's good-it makes the time pass quickly for him.
May 4th is the halfway day and then we are on the down side. May 4th is next Friday- it is approaching very quickly!
On his trip home, his flights were changed a bit and he has to sit in the Algiers airport for 8 hours. He is not very happy about that, as this was the airport with the heavy police and military presence. Hopefully he can just find a corner and read his book. He wishes it were any other stop but that one.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Bill's Adventure #3
I wasable to talk to Bill on Thursday night. The girls stayed up and talked to him and then I was able to finally listen for myself if he was OK. Hearing our voices was hard for him, but we worked through that part and had an excellent visit.
There is about 1400 people staying on the compound and for having that many people living there, Bill says that it is eerily quiet at night. There is no TV in this room, so Bill doesn't even have any background noise once he is in his room. He is not quite sure how many pictures he will be able to take this hitch, as he said there are guard towers all over, with guards of course, and he certainly doesn't want to draw attention to himself as he is snapping pictures everywhere. (They may think its for the wrong reasons...not sure) He is slowly adjusting and getting a feeling for the place. He has a bit of variety of food to chose from. He has stuck to chicken as his meat- so has already asked me to NOT cook chicken when he first comes home. He has heard the beef tastes a little different there, so he hasn't tried any of those kinds of dishes yet. There are wild dogs that live outside the compound and will attack you if you leave the base on foot. He has to walk to work in the dark and the other morning, as he was walking the 15 minute walk, he could hear them barking in the distance. He said it was a little unsettling to hear them.Bill said that if he was to take a complete walk around the base, it would take him an hour. Besides one walk the first night there, he hasn't done any exploring yet. Because they are so close to the equator, there is 12 hours of daylight and 12 of dark, so by the time he gets home from work, there isn't much daylight left. The only thing that he has to pay for himself is beer at the pub. He hasn't gone there yet, as he wants to adjust a little more, and with being the "new" boss, he figured the pub isn't the best option for him. The guys are very nice and his first impression is that they are hard working. Kelly, his cross shift, has been amazingly helpful to Bill. There is WAY more computer work that he needs to do there and is frantically trying to learnas much as possible before Kelly leaves on Tuesday. I told him that it will take time, just like it did in GP when he first switched positions. He is still adjusting his sleep patterns and I think is able to get more and more good rest with eachnight he is there. He has no internet yet, and maybe never will, so we have been emailing him the hockey scores.
Bill misses us immensely and it has been very hard on him being alone over there. He is still a bit nervous about being 2 days away if anything happens over here. I have reassured him that everyone is going to be fine and healthy. I think each day brings a little less sadness as he adjusts. I was hoping that if you have a minute you could fire him off an email now and then. It will certainly help take the boredom out of his evenings.
bill.wolstenholme@halliburton.com
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Bill's Adventure #2
Kenna and I tried calling him last night at 9:45, our time, which is 4:45- when he is getting up for work. We tried for a half hour and I think at one point I was listening to the movie theatre choices in a french speaking town. I am anxious to see the phone bill, so I know where in the world we called. Bill was able to call us when he got to his office. I found out that his phones are actually satellite phones out of the UK, so that was probably the reason why Kenna and I were struggling. We were reading the directions for calling Algeria and the numbers and the amount of numbers was not adding up. Anyway, it was so wonderful to hear his voice, even if it was for 20 seconds. I think that the emotions are pretty raw on both sides of the world right now, so it was a fast phone call, but just enough to know that everyone is safe and coping. Bill only slept for 3 hours last night, but I hope that tonight is better for him. We are going to try calling him tonight at 9:30 (4:30 for him) as he needs to be to work for 5:45 and it sounds like he was rushed yesterday. When we emailed with him today, he seemed to be in better spirits and even said that the second day was better for him. He said the compound is actually quite beautiful with lots of flowers. And that when he goes outside- he definitely knows he's in the desert!
It has been hard on the girls but we are taking things day by day, and doing lots of talking. Dakota is emotional, just like me, but has been holding it together pretty good- until one of her triops died last night. Ainsley is very analitical and practical about the situation and has been entertaining Bill with her stories. Mckenna has been upset and missing her buddy, but we are working through that. They have been enjoying emailing him and waking up to read his emails. I told them that it's OK to feel this way- it just means that we all love each other so much. I wouldn't want it any other way.
We were hoping that Bill would be able to use Skype, but he can't even get Google, so that may be out of the question.
Bill's Adventure #1
After a few tears were shed, we said so long to Bill on Tuesday, April 17th. His flight left about 9:30am and then it was off to Edmonton, then on to Montreal, then Paris (which was very cloudy so he wasn't able to see the Eiffel Tower or take photos- sorry Ains), and then to Algiers. When he landed in Algiers, Smail (yep- rhymes with snail) his bodyguard picked him up and took him to the domestic airport and sat with him until he boarded his plane for Hassi. Bill was exhausted from lack of sleep and said that with all of the police and military people present in Algiers, he was actually a little nervous. The first day was extremely long for him, and when he arrived, I'm sure it was straight in to work mode. He is staying in one room for this week while Kelly and him overlap, and then he will be moving into Kelly's room once Kelly leaves. Here are a few shots of his temporary living quarters.
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