High Ho High Ho Its Off to Aceh I Go …..
Sorry for the lapse in blogging – the weekend was chocker-block full …. and then on Monday we had internet access issues. urrggh. Nevertheless, here I am for a quick blog before I disappear again.
For those of you who don’t know, just as I anticipated / feared, the Friday meeting with our country manager resulted in me being put in charge of developing (on a fast track basis) an emergency preparedness plan. We have one in place (actually several) but none that cover the specific circumstance I am working on. The result of this, in addition to having a ton of work to do (besides my normal duties) is that I had to postpone my June vacation … the preparedness plan is due the end of June.
However, the good news is that yesterday (Monday) I received approval to “shift” my vacation July (exactly a 4 week delay) and the company will pay for any out-of-pocket extra costs. Of course, I have a ton of work to do to change all the reservations …..
About Aceh …. Aceh is a region in the far north corner of Indonesia, on the island of Sumatra. It is a very strict muslim region, and was the place pretty much wiped by the tsunami a couple of years ago. I used to live there in 2000-2001 when I was evacuated due to violence/war in the region. After getting shot at, bombed and a few other things … I am still a bit “shell shocked”. I have been back once since the evacuation (in 2001) and it was a pretty stressful situation. I have a lot of stress about going there today (will be there 3 nights) but need to handle the stress/fear … just as I taught my sons. I am following up on a internal controls review we are working on.
Went to Thasya’s modelling event on Sunday. It was good to watch Thasya and she seemed happy with what she was doing. I have mixed feelings on the event though … it was 75% dancing and 25% modelling … and it was all done with “house music” … which I don’t do well with. Anyway, the modelling lessons were special for Thasya and I’m am confident she learned and grew from the experience. We have some pics, but arrive home so late Sunday night that I couldn’t do anything with them. You will have to be patient on that.
I need to close this blog as I have to take of some things before heading to the airport (you should hear from me again on Friday) …. ciao ciao
