"Keep your head low, and your Kleins (if they're in you back pocket) lower" may be the thought for the day over there. This job is pending a security and medical clearance. I will be working for Fluor on FOB's (forward operating bases), but not outside "the wire". I wanted to see if anyone else has worked over there. It's a year long gig, and I get R&R every 90 days. I lost my job back in Feb. I'm currently working for half of what I made a year ago, and this assignment would go a long way toward bringing some financial relief. Any input would be much obliged. Remember..."Good electric work today keeps the Watt Doctor away".

All I can offer is a wish for you to "Stay safe"!!

I believe that Joe Tedesco was over there as well as another friend of mine. If you search for Joe Tedesco on Google you should be able to find his website. You can mention my name, he remembers me as "Caper". Joe was over there doing inspections for someone (Gov?) to see what electrical violations there were. The war was in the news some years ago with soldiers getting electrocuted. That is why he went over there.

Anyone who wants to know about this gig can write to me at joulesee@gmail.com and I'll forward them to my buddy who has just returned after 18 mos. with KBR and Fluor. He's not an ECN member so I don't want to give out his E-mail without permission.
I can tell you that he's VERY glad to be home.

I'll bet he is glad to be home.

Folks who have not done something like this often fail to appreciate some of the challenges.

First and foremost is the simple stress of being somewhere DIFFERENT. Sure, language and clothing are obvious differences ... but just as unsettling are all the 'little' things: the sound of the telephone ring, the look of the money, the product packaging at the market.

Looking over a few years of experience in that sort of adventure, my observations seem to suggest a pattern to the 'freak out' responses of people: upon landing, after one day, after one week, and after about 3 months ... these are the time points where folks seem to go into panic attacks. Oddly enough, it seems those most 'successful' back home are most at risk. Trying to recreate 'home' often seems to make things worse.

When you get back home, there's a repeat of the process. You're no longer 'in tune' with the current trends; you have no idea what was on TV last week, or who the latest pop stars are. After years of planning for that McDonald's "Big Mac" when you returned, you enter McD's ... and order chicken. Go figure.

That sounds like something I might do if I was young. I tried to get a similar gig in Vietnam in the 60s but IBM would not let me go. The money was great tho. It was something like a 2/3ds bump in pay, tax free and all expenses paid. Guys basically banked their whole pay check and lived on the per deim

Thanks for the input. I've spent months away from home before. The difference is that I was younger, and I was in the military back then. I am concerned about being a civilian over there, and I don't know what to expect from Fluor.

Dealing with readjusting, after spending 18 months foreign, I arrived in the Honolulu airport and seeing a cinamin roll, something missing from my diet all that time, I thought to treat myself to one of those expensize things. Besides being a good 20 times more expensive than the dry pastries I was used to, I was shocked when the price came to even more. Oh (huge deflated feeling), taxes!

As far as adjusting to be a stranger in a strange land, it helps to do what you can to serve them. You learn to love them. At least that helped me, once a week spending about 2-4 hours doing some communitee service. I don't know what will be allowed in this situation though.

I was in S.Arabia for a tour of 6 months just after GW1. The main thing that gets you is utter boredom and not being able to get away from shop-talk. It's very easy to slip into using shopping as your main recreation, because everything is a 'bargain'. Then you get the excess baggage check on the way out, after spending all your per diem on gizmos and carpets! I used to go to BAe ladies bingo nites , fished in the Red Sea, watched every Tom and Jerry ever made!
Community service in what is still a fundamentalist muslim community? Respect, but No Way Pedro!

You need to realize also that the "tax free" promise requires that you be out of the country including its possessions and territories for 330 out of 365 consecutive days. Its not as easy as it sounds. If your R&R back home comes to 36 days instead of 35, bye-bye tax free.
It's possible that I have the exact number of days wrong, but check it out before you commit.

That is why it is best to do these things while you are young and single. You can do your R&R in Europe and not have to tangle with the IRS rules.

With all sincerity and respect, I'm not doing community service over there. I will be working on "forward operating bases", and other military installations. I appreciate the respect, but just want to set the record straight on my occupation over there. I will also add that it's not all about the money for me either. Again no disrespect intented here.

As of today, it's official. I'll be leaving on November 20th for Greenville, SC. After training, I'll be headed out of the country. Thanks for the input, gentlemen.

Stay safe over there.

Keep your head and your butt down.

Made it to Afghanistan. Wheels up on Dec. 1, Dubai, UAE on Dec. 3, and Bagram on Dec 5. My new home is FOB Sharana in Paktika Provence. Conditions can be tough, but overall not bad. The work is not difficult, but the progress can be slow because there are times when material can be hard to come by. Notwithstanding the difficulties, I'm Okay with being here so far.
Best Regards,
The Watt Doctor
FOB Sharana
Paktika Provence, Afghanistan

Stay safe over there Doc!

If you take any interesting pictures please send some our way.

Bill

The last time I looked, you had to stay out of the USA for a year and a half to get the tax waiver.

But that may be stale.