The 'to done' list

I was inspired by another blogger to comple a "to done" list. It is like a "to do" list, but instead lists things I have done in my life. It helps you look back with some satisfaction, and also might inspire others to do some of these things or for me to add to the list.

Attended:
Various weddings, including 6 in 1991 (mine, my brother's, my best man's, my brother in law's my other brother in law's, and my sister's)
Bill Clinton's first inauguration
The Minnesota State Fair
The Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC
The St. Paul Winter Carnival
The St. Olaf Christmas Festival

Celebrated:
World Series victories by the Minnesota Twins in 1987 and 1991
Christmas in Minnesota and Virginia
Independence Day in Minnesota and Virginia
New Years Eve in Minnesota, Chicago and Virginia

Dined:
At Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco
At Cafe du Monde in New Orleans
At Geno's Pizza in Chicago
Taste of Minnesota
At the Seinfeld Diner in New York City

Drank
Tropical Drinks in Key West and Hawaii
Beer on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, the Heineken Brewery in Amsterdam, the Coors Brewery in Chicago

Experienced:
Marriage and Children
Driving a Car in Europe
Backpacking in Europe
Making music in high school, college, and beyond. Performing with (a mass choir) Andy Williams; the Kneller Hall musicians in England; performing in the Royal Albert Hall in London; playing in the St. Olaf Band.

Hosted:
Various parties, including cast parties, and Thanksgiving dinners.

Purchased:
Three homes, two cabins, six cars, and a boat; an engagement ring; probably five computers.

Read:
More books than I can count, including lots of fiction, biography, and history.

Rescued:
Various stray animals
Various people by donating blood.

Rode rides at:
6 Flags mid-America
6 Flags Maryland
Walt Disney World
Disneyland
Hershey Park
Kings Dominion
Universal Studios Orlando
Cedar Point
Valleyfair
Mall of Americal

Saw:
Mona Lisa at the Louvre
Van Gogh at the Smithsonian
Liberty Bell
Hoover Dam
Grand Canyon
Pandas at National Zoo in Washington

Ball games at:
Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington (RIP)
Metrodome in Minneapolis
Yankee Stadium
Fenway Park
PNC Park in Pittsburgh
Oriole Park in Baltimore
Coors Field in Colorado
Busch Stadium in St. Louis (RIP)
Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg
Big A in Anaheim
Wrigley Field in Chicago
Comiskey Park in Chicago
Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati (RIP)
Old Indians Stadium in Cleveland
Various minor league stadiums

Saw concerts by:
Doobie Brothers
The Cars
Maynard Ferguson
Chuck Mangione
Alan Jackson
Martina McBride
Jimmy Buffett
Avril Lavigne
Green Day
National Symphony Orchestra
Minnesota Orchestra
Aretha Franklin
Tricia Yearwood
Huey Lewis and the News
The Beach Boys
Amy Grant
Vince Gill

Saw Plays:
Spamalot
Les Miserables
Oklahoma
Chicago
Hello Dolly! with Carol Channing
The Mouse Trap in London
Hamlet and Peer Gynt at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis
A Shakespeare Play in Stratford-on-avon
Various plays in London, England
The Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, DC

Survived:
Loss of a job
Death of loved ones
Moving across country
HS and college reunions
A tornado
Fires (kitchen, wedding reception)
Several small auto accidents
Witnessed smoke from the Pentagon on 9/11/01

Swam:
In the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and the Gulf of Mexico
In more lakes that I can count.

Traveled:
To 46 states (except Alaska, Idaho, Montana and Oregon)
The Maid of the Mist at Niagara Falls
The Grand Canyon
Hiked in the Rocky Mountains
Bourbon Street in New Orleans
Canada
Mexico
The United Kingdom
Norway
Sweden
Denmark
West Germany
Austria
France
The Netherlands
Belgium
Japan
China
Switzerland

Won
Spelling Bees in elementary school
Various legal cases as an attorney
$250,000 on a TV game show

Traveled to the top of:
The Eiffel Tower
The Empire State Building
The World Trade Center (RIP)
The Sears Tower
The Gateway Arch in St. Louis

Witnessed:
The Northern Lights
The Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
The Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace
A Barry Bonds home run
A Sammy Sosa two-run home run game
Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew, Kirby Puckett, Gump Worsley, Alexander Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Cal Ripken, Jr., Alex Rodriguez,
A NHL All-Star Game in Bloomington, Minnesota

The YouTube debate

I watched the Republican YouTube debate. Although the submitted questions were good, CNN gets an "F" for its partisan agenda, particularly its allowance of a Clinton partisan (the retired general) in the audience, and allowing him to repeat his question.

I have to give the win to McCain tonight. He scored points over Romney on the torture question, and really gave Paul a beating on foreign policy and war questions. McCain comes across as a plausible commander-in-chief, while as Prof. Reynolds notes, Paul comes across as the crazy old guy hanging around the bus station.

Waiting

I emailed the HR contact today, to see how things were going. He said he was working on several packets for Kuwait and Qatar today for Department of the Army approval. Once approved, he will confirm and finalize the offer.

The betting in my office is that it will not be until January.

Colorado

We've spent the Thanksgiving holiday week in Colorado, skiing at Breckenridge and Keystone, and spending time with relatives. Yesterday we spent some time with G.'s cousin Grant, an Army Captain, who recently returned from his fifth (!) trip to Iraq (although a couple of those trips were short trips. We talked about my upcoming trip to Kuwait. Here are some photos from skiing, the Coors brewery tour, and Thanksgiving with relatives.

Time to re-activate this blog

This blog has been dormant for a while, but I decided to activite it to chronicle my assignment to Kuwait for the Army Contracting Agency. I will be leaving soon on a one-year assignment, leaving my wife and kids at home. I hope that this blog will serve as a central point to which friends and family can be referred to for news and pictures, and also serve as a reference for anyone else who might go through a similar experience.

Like many Americans, after 9/11 I wanted to do what I could to help my country. I left the Justice Department in 2004 for a civilian attorney position with the Defense Department, and found the position extremely satisfying. I found myself wanting to do more, however, and specifically wanted to work overseas. My wife had studied and worked overseas earlier in her life, and the experience sounded appealing. I found myself looking for opportunities to work for the Defense Department in an overseas position, even temporarily.

After the overthrow of Saddam and the beginning of reconstruction in Iraq, I first started looking at reconstruction opportunities there. Reconstruction is ordinarily a State Department responsibility, but the Defense Department stepped in when the State Department was unable to do so. I made an inquiry about temporarily working on a Provincial Reconstruction Team, and talked it over with my supervisor, but we could not agree on terms. The main sticking points were who pays? At that time, the State Department wanted volunteers from the Defense Department, but wanted the Defense Department to keep paying the salaries. That was a nonstarter from my supervisor's point of view.

In July 2007, I learned that the Army Contracting Agency was seeking an attorney to work in Kuwait on employment law, ethics, and contract law matters, which are my primary areas of expertise. I applied for the position, and was interviewed by telephone in mid-September. I could tell from the interview that they were extremely interested, because I seemed to be exactly what they were looking for.

Because it seemed like such a sure thing, I spoke to my supervisor about a temporary assignment (a “detail,” as the government phrases it) to Kuwait. He agreed that it sounded like a good opportunity, and together we began exploring various alternatives (because I wanted to be able to return to DISA on good terms if things did not work out). After consulting with personnel at Army and DISA, and considering various options, including a leave of absence, we agreed that DISA would allow me to leave for one year, but then have the right to return to DISA at my regular rate of pay.

I received the formal offer on October 22, and it contained the terms we had discussed (a significant financial incentive). Housing will be provided and there is not that much danger in Kuwait. I had to get a physical examination from my personal physician and had until October 23 to accept the offer, so I did so. I was required to submit various papers, including employment eligibility papers, a request for travel orders, a questionnaire for living quarters, a financial disclosure report, emergency data, race and ethnicity data, direct deposit info, and other info. I had to take online courses on operational security, human trafficking prevention, and traffic safety.

I do not need a passport to enter Kuwait(only my DoD ID), but I will need a passport to re-enter the United States.

I will travel directly to Kuwait, with a probable stopover in Germany.

I will be provided with a government-leased apartment near Camp Arifjan, as well as a vehicle.

I will be issued a uniform that says "DOD Civilian."

My best estimate for a departure date is 9 December, although as of today (19 November), it is looking like that date will slip a little bit.

I am very excited...