It'a already been a month since my last post??????

Where DOES the time go??
This will be a brief post since I worked a 12-hour day, which was longer than the rest of the week - only 11-1/2 hours/day.  This is why they pay me the BIG BUCKS and give me a house with a 180-degree view of the ocean.
* The big deal this week and last has been preparing for and conducting a fuel spill response training.  It turned into a leadership circus even though it was supposed to be a self-assessment training in preparation for a big spill response exercise in November.  THAT should be REAL FUN in the gale-force winds I've been hearing about.  The emphasis of this training was two-fold: on-water deployment of booms and a skimmer by our 30-member first-responder team, and "classroom" sessions to learn the process of developing an Incident Action Plan.  Also, there are several forms that have to be filled out to document every stage of the incident.  My four environmental folks, Vitor (vee tore), Tome (too may), Susana, and Duarte (do art) were all involved, but Vitor planned and led the event.  
*  In our scenario, an earthquake caused the largest of our fuel tanks to rupture, allowing 10 M gallons of JP8 (jet) fuel to run down to the marina through the storm drain.  (By the way, only the AF base on Guam has a larger tank.) The goal was to place booms in the water to prevent the fuel from moving beyond the harbor.

The South Tank Farm, where it all began. In the Azores, everything looks picturesque;-} 

The Marina at picturesque Praia da Vitoria,
where the fuel was headed.

Well, maybe not EVERYTHING looks
picturesque in the Azores.

Vitor (left) gives directions to the team.
Susana is in red and Tome is in the striped shirt

First, we all met near the Marina to organize and pull the gear together.  It was a gorgeous day - perfect weather.  From the photos, it probably looks as if we were pretty disorganized.  We were.  

The reel deal

Trying to start the skimmer.

Twisted boom.

Most of the team has done this before, but it's still a new program.  There were some glitches along the way. The boom had been twisted when it was put back on the reel by a contractor, so it took extra time and effort getting it straight.  Also, the skimmer wouldn't start.  And then the battery in one of the boats died.  Otherwise, everything went like a charm.  

Firefighters on land...Our firefighters make up the largest segment of the response team, and they have captain's licenses.  

...become the Lajes Navy!

Meanwhile on the land...the military and civil dignitaries were gathering to watch the training from the roof of the marina office (and guess who got to hob nob with all of them??).  

Col Parr, our new Vice Wing Commander, is on the left.
I think he'll be an ally in getting me a new Environmental Branch Chief.

I asked if I could take photos of "the guys," and they staged some "candid" poses.  That's why they all look as if whatever they're looking at is funny.  I guess Capt Santana didn't get the memo.

Captain Branco (maritime jurisdiction) (l)
and Col Rivera (our Wing Commander). 

I happened to be the only photographer around until the guy from Public Affairs showed up, but he didn't have the right vantage point to capture the good shots.

Vitor points out elements of the training to Maj Gen Francisco.

Lt Col Scharf (Base Civil Engineer - my boss)
and Lt Col Tobia (political affairs) This is the storyboard we put together and Vitor translated into Portuguese.

Maj Gen Francisco (Base Commander - it's a Portuguese base;
the USAF is a tenant) and Col Rivera

Yours truly with Capt Santana (Port Captain) and Capt Branco on the Marinha .
The yellow "stripe" to the left of Capt Santana is part of one of the booms.

That's all for tonight.  I spent a wee bit longer on it than I thought I would  - like 3 hours longer.  And this was just one day!!!

Tchau for nau!

Sheeeeees Back

HI!

I moved in on the May 17th, but I just got Internet on last Friday.  The house was already set up for it (and for 110v as well as 220v), but there was a mix-up with the mailing address from the cable company, so the landlord, Ricardo) hadn't gotten the bill.  

*And Ricardo is AMAZING!!!!!  Stories to follow.  

*This is why I haven't posted a blog the past two weeks - too busy nesting and introducing two adorable brother kittens into the household - Mouse (because he squeaks) and Kohl (as in the eye make-up Liz Taylor wore as Cleopatra).  Emma was not amused.

Kittie cats - that's what I call them to Emma.

The packing tape toy.

I kept them in the nursery (the guest room) for a couple of weeks.  (they still sleep there). Then they learned how to climb over the lattice accordion barrier.  That's when the fun started.  Now they're old enough to protect themselves from the huge black thing.  They either go under a chair or the bed, or hiss at Emma so she backs off.  The three get into close proximity, though, and all goes well until I pick up one of the kitties.  Then I have to pet Emma, too.  Not surprising.  But she doesn't bark, and they entertain her so she's no longer such a Velcro dog with me.  She lies on the floor near me, gazing toward my bedroom - the kitties playroom - and rushes in to check on them if they get too noisy.  I'm more than a little concerned about the fate of my breakable things when they move into the rest of the house.  Time to child-proof, I guess.  Yesterday Emma and I were playing ball in the back yard (still dust till the grass grows in, so Emma is a mess - I'm going to have to learn to groom her) and both kittens were on the window sill watching her antics, their little heads turning in unison as if they were at a tennis match.  This morning I can pet the cats and they don't hiss or run when Emma sniffs them.

Kitchen to living room/hall to master bedroom - right are two 5 ft wide sliding doors.  The left is a  7 ft window to the back patio where the driveway is. There's a clerestory section in the hall (about 11 ft high), with glass blocks each side.

Living Rm and front door to Dining Area in Kitchen - May 16th

And the house is MAHVELOUS!!!  Lots of open space, more windows (and they're HUGE) than walls.  Every night, and when I leave for the day, I push switches at each window and electric shutters roll down as low as I want.  This is typical of houses here.  When I get home, I push the buttons again and "open the house."  It's the first time I haven't moved into a fixer-upper, and I love it! The yard has a rock wall all four sides, with an electric gate closing the end of the driveway.  The back door from the patio opens onto the utility room (American washer and dryer courtesy of the base - the house has 110v and 220v, which is unusual) and from there to the kitchen.  Plenty of open space and storage - my room has a HUGE walk-in closet! The two other bedrooms have wall to wall closets with raised floors and a shelf above for storage.  There's also a capacious storage niche in the hall.  And the VIEWS!!!  180 deg. from the front (south) side of the house (toward the ocean).   It's spacious, and open, and holds all my furniture and "stuff" perfectly.  

Living Room to Kitchen - May 21st

To the south - the front of the house

To the west, out the dining area window.

AND THE VIEWS!!!!! 180 degrees from the front of the house.  The sounds of surf, roosters, and church bells, plus wind chimes on the terrace.

I have a phone through my computer and Magic Jack - that you can call as if you're calling me in Arlington.  Send me an e-mail if you want it.  Best times (Azores time, which is 4 hrs ahead of east coast) are up to 9PM on school nights and any time on weekends.

*Memorial Day was my first holiday here.  It was gorgeous - sun, intense blue ocean, and lighter blue sky with white, puffy clouds.  I drove to Angra do Heroismo (ahn grah - doh - eh row ees mow ) - 15 - 20 mins west (see map of the island below).  It's a world heritage town and all the power lines are underground - makes it very photogenic.  

*I bought an "island bomb," a cranberry red1998 Fiat Punto (4-door hatch-back) with only 73K miles.  And the clock even works!!  It cost ~$1,400, and I had to put another ~$600 into it to replace the gas hose and fix oil leaks.  When Ricardo saw the gas leak, he told me to leave the keys under the floor mat and he'd take the car to his mechanic.  Then he called to tell me about the oil leaks.  Then he brought the car to me a couple of days later.  He had paid for the work!!!!  I reimbursed him right then, and I was blown away that he did that for me.  I'm probably going to have it painted and put new seat covers in.  It's standard shift and very fun to drive.  I'm at a qtr of a tank (filled up 10 days ago) and have put about 450 kilometers (280 miles) on the car since then.  My car holds 12 gallons, so that works out to 31mpg!  The max speed limit anywhere on the island is 55mph.  My car isn't projected to arrive till 16 June, so the cost of the car is very cheap compared to what I would've paid for a rental for a month.  A Portuguese woman from the Legal office on base went with me to Praia (pry ah - we refer to it as "downtown") to initiate the process of transferring the title.  The original arrived in the mail this week.

*Back to Ricardo.  He also:

1) sent his maid, Fernanda, to help me unpack and clean

2) told his full-time handyman, Pete, to help me with whatever I need.  Friday he put together the utility shelving unit in the laundry room.  When I decide where I want the stuff up on the walls, he'll come to drill the holes and hang everything.  

3) will have his gardener is plant flowers/shrubs along the sidewalk and terrace

4) installed a beautiful aluminum door to hide the gas tanks on the back terrace.

5) brought his laptop over when I told him the wireless wasn't working to see if it was the system or my Mac.  When he couldn't get access either, he called a friend who works for the cable company and the friend came over to check it out.  They were here till 8:30 trying to figure out what was wrong.  As I wrote above, it was the missing bill, which mean the service hadn't been paid for.  I was up and running the next day (and Ricardo came over to make sure that it was so).

6) has asked his wife, Claudia (cloud-ee-ah), to take me plant shopping. 

I AM BLOWN AWAY!!!!!!!!!!

*The folks I supervise are talented, conscientious, fun, and play well with others.  There are 4 environmental folks, an energy manager, a community planner, a real property specialist, and housing office with 30 folks.  All of them are Portuguese except for the real property guy and the housing Branch Chief.  Sadly, the man who's been the Environmental Engineer (and acting Flight Chief), also U.S. civilian, is moving back to Alaska this month.  It will be impossible to replace him, and we might not be able to hire anyone due to hiring freezes.

*The only downer in my time here so far is weight gain (~5  lbs) from eating out a couple of weeks before I left VA and since I've been here.  Every restaurant brings out fresh bread, butter, and mild goat/sheep cheese before a meal and it's irresistible.  Since moving into the house I've hardly gone out to eat, including for lunch, and I've lost 3 lbs! Yay!!! 

*Between putting the house together and expanding my family, working, touring the island, day trips that Family Support Services organizes (whale/dolphin watching, spelunking, boat trips around the island to name just three), taking a class on Terceira culture/history on the 6th), enjoying my view and relaxing, continuing to nest, playing with Emma, Mouse, and Kohl (and working with them to co-exist), going to evening events with co-workers (Saturday night it was dinner and a choral performance in a lovely church in Sao Mateus (sou mah tay ush) with Lerena to hear Susana, one of my environmental engineers. I tried octopus for the first time!  Pretty good, actually), being tutored in Portuguese by a co-worker, cleaning house (now that all my wood and glass furniture is out in the open, I'm actually enjoying Pledging/Windexing it, writing my blog, communicating with friends via e-mails (and phone calls soon, I hope), taking photographs, grocery shopping, doing laundry, attending an Environmental Conference in Germany at the end of June, spending a week in an environmental management class at Wright-Patterson AFB (Dayton) in July, taking on-line courses for work, and trying to get enough sleep, keeps me fairly busy.

*Today I'm going to go in to the office - lots to catch up on.  After noon: a front tire is flat and one of the workmen is going to put on the spare when they break for lunch.

All in all, I'm happy, happy, happy!  I just hope I survive all the happiness!!!!!

Touch base and let me know how you're doing!

Exploring Praia (PRY-ah)

Bom dia!
It's Sunday morning, 8 Maio, and I'm listening to a YouTube recording/video of Prof. Edgar Nogueira (no-gay-rah), the world's best Portuguese guitarist.  In fact, the instrument he's playing IS a Portuguese guitar.  Here's the link: http://youtu.be/6vat6Y0Vua0  The recording sound is poor.  In person, it sparkles.  
Trish and I were enjoying a girl's night out with Lerena, my Asset Management Flight energy guru.  We went to dinner at Buzius (the restaurant I've frequented more frequently than any other in the two weeks I've been on the island), which is in Porto Martins (mar-teensh), the village where I will reside in my new house.  Lerena, her husband Joel (dju-ell), and their daughter Elise live there, also.  Joel also worked in the energy section until last Thursday.  Sadly, the contract with the company he worked for ended, which is a huge loss to the base's energy program.

View from Buzius

The restaurant, which I mentioned in my previous blog, is on the water at the swimming hole.  The white wall on the left is the edge of the building.  I have also previously posted the photo of our Bananas Foster chef in action.  Last night we didn't indulge, as Trish and I had visited a bakery near the base first thing in the morning and consumed enough sugar to last the rest of the year (at least).  
We were on the way to Praia to see what trouble we could get into in the shops.  It turned out to be a lot!

First we stopped in a fabric store so I could look for upholstery ideas for the love seat that Emma used to create a little nest out of one of the cushions. Using Spanish vs. Portuguese, meters vs. yards, and beds vs. sofas was a hoot.  I did manage to get swatches of two fabrics for when I unroll the rug that will go in the living room.
My tradition when starting a new adventure is to gift myself with a piece of jewelry.  This time I bought earrings of Portuguese filigree and hammered silver and a Portuguese silver ring.  I had fun speaking Spanish to this clerk, also.  But he spoke English, so we compared Spanish words to Portuguese.  
In the next store I bought three cute black roosters,which is the Azorian mascot.  Coincidentally (NOT!) I had bought a rooster before I left Virginia.  [To dispel confusion, these are not LIVING roosters.  Nor are they formerly living roosters.]  I'll post photos to prove that after I unpack the Virginian.  The rooster store (well, they sell lovely items other than roosters) will be a stellar resource for Christmas presents.  
Except for two disappointing discoveries, the Praia experience was wonderful.  1: my new, cute, beaded sandals proved not to be up to the challenge of 15th century cobblestones.  2: the Caprese Salad I ordered for lunch bore no resemblance (except for three slivers of something red that I suppose was in the tomato family) to its Italian model: dried basil instead of fresh leaves and thin slices of mozzarella instead of healthy slabs of fresh cheese.  Plus, it was grilled. Ugh.

Caprese Salad

Here's a photo of one I made for Thanksgiving.  (You knew I was strange, but you probably didn't know that I take photos of food arrangements.) The Real McCoy is room temperature and glows with the fragrance of the basil and the tri-colors of the Italian flag. 
Sandals and salad notwithstanding, it was a glorious day!
The weather was rainy, cool, sunny, overcast, and windy, and it was in its sunny-windy phase when we got home.  I wore Emma out with ball throwing and wrote a few postcards before it was time to start the 20-minute drive to pick up Lerena.  Over a delicious dinner of Penne Vodka Chicken, we compared the merits of spending our first 3-some weekend trip in Lisbon, or in the Algarve (pronounced all-garr, on the west coast of Portugal), or on Isla Sao Miguel (also in the Azores archipelago, a 3-hour trip by car or a half-hour flight).  The Algarve is 3-1/2 miles of coastline in the southern-most province of Portugal.  Lerena has places we can stay gratis in the first two, and the cost of the flight is only about $200.  For any of you who is serious about visting me, the cost of flying from Boston direct to Terceira is only $600 in July (peak season).  And you'll have a place to stay gratis!

Lisbon

Marinha - the Algarve

Lagoa das Sete Cidades - Isla Sao Miguel

On the way from Porto Martins to Praia for an evening of musical entertainment, we stopped by my house so I could show it off to Lerena. Can't wait to get my stuff there on the 17th and play with arrangements of furniture, rugs, and tchotchkes!
The concert was free, but their system is to go to the ticket window and choose seats/receive tickets.  [An aside: my only packing mistake was bringing only summer footwear, thinking that surely it would be warm enough for them by the end of April.  Apparently, this is an unusually cold spring, so my boots and light-weight wool would have come in handy.  I was the only patron wearing capris and sandals - though not the aforementioned beaded ones.]
The music ranged from interesting to beautiful to spirited, but all of it was produced with astoundingly dexterous talent.  My favorite was the Tuna - no, not the fish!  Follow the link to see a Portuguese Tuna performance in Luxembourg. http://youtu.be/izWILAaErH0 This time of year, university groups perform at each other's schools and collect patches from each that they attach to the black blankets they wear around their shoulders (you can see one on the ground behind the first guy on the right).  The black frock coats are standard costumes.  By intermission it was 11 PM, so we took a vote - well, neither Trish nor Lerena would state their preference of staying or leaving, so I made the executive decision to leave. (That's why they pay me the big bucks!)
Fast forward to now, sitting on the couch, Emma at my feet, finally beginning to master keystrokes to forward delete and jump to home/end on my MacBook.  The sky is a hazy medium gray with the faintest distinction between it and the water.  I have big plans for the day.  Lots of nothing much.  Why go anywhere when a gorgeous panoramic view is at my doorstep?
Tchau!

Catching Up with the Blog

Aisha Squints at the Camera

Even though I just "knew" this would be the perfect job for me, my first ten days on Terceira have confirmed that.  Some aspects are already in alignment with what I wanted: the small size, gorgeous scenery, and minimal traffic.  A caveat to the last, however: drivers here are still to be viewed with the assumption that they will try to pass even though there are only 50 yards of visibility in the opposite direction.  On the other hand, cows moving from one pasture to another and donkey-powered carts do not produce road rage.  

* I'll be fine with other aspects once I adjust to them: mail is delivered only on Sundays (it arrives by plane each Saturday), the commissary and exchange are closed Sundays and Mondays, and there is no such thing as a Cobb salad with Ranch dressing on the side.
* But back to the beginning of this Azorian adventure...
I spent my last night in the States in a hotel near BWI.  Since it was the Friday before Easter, it took Steve and me THREE hours to get there. I did fine on the drive since I had figured it would be slow, but once we were in the room, I was all nerved up about the process of checking in and getting Emma onto the plane.  The mass quantity of pizza we had delivered helped some.  As with every other aspect of this move, my worries were for naught.  The counter agent was very nice and helpful.  They let me bring Emma in by leash so I didn't have to move her in the crate.  All the paperwork was in order.  There was a "pet relief" area close by. I could stay with Emma till they took her to the plane.  I had a first-class-type seat (only one of two).  The flight attendants checked on Emma a few times to let me know she was fine.  The flight was smooth (just under 5 hours) and we were served a good meal with real utensils!  The weather when we landed was beautiful.
* The Lajes Welcome was just as Trish described it and then some.  We got our passports stamped before going through the door to the waiting area, where there were about 30 people in a receiving line from all groups on the base.  My little welcoming contingent included Lt Col Scharf (the squadron commander), Steve Day (his deputy), Bryson Twidwell (acting flight chief until they could fill that position), Patrick Henson (the housing section chief), and Trish Walton (my sponsor and the Resources flight chief).

Trish hard at work.

* It wasn't long before I was reunited with Emma, and she was just fine.  Calm and ready to take advantage of the Lajes pet relief area.  Patrick, Bryson, and Lt Col Scharf got the crate into Patrick's van, Emma jumped right into Trish's back seat, and we started the 20-minute drive to her house (a link to photos are posted on my Facebook page).
* And what a house!  For those of you who don't "do" Facebook, here's one of the best photos:

The steps lead down to a terraced zig-zag of plush grass that makes the best-ever dog run.  I can stand at the top and throw Emma's ball to the bottom of the hill.
Below is a map of Terceira that will help you understand where towns are on the island.

* Trish and I vegged out Sunday until we went to dinner at Sabores do Chef (Flavors of the Chef), an elegant restaurant in Praia (pry ya) da Vitorio, the town that surrounds the base.  Praia was founded in 1456, but has become the most "modern" town on the island. Here are photos of Praia and the harbor, taken when Bryson took me to see my armada of spill recovery boats.

The building with the red roof is the marina office, and the harbor slips are to the right of it. 

Here are my (that's the royal "my") boats.  We use them to deploy booms that keep oil contained when there's a spill.  (Environmental is one of my branches.)We also went to see work being done to test for contamination around abandoned underground fuel storage tanks.  These are huge - 50 feet in diameter.

* Besides learning enough about environmental issues on and around the base to make my eyes glaze, I also met the community planner, energy staff, real property person, and folks in the housing office.  I also went on a tour of the dorm.  (A funny story: at my first staff meeting, when I talked about what I'd done, I said that I'd walked through one of the dorms.  Everyone looked at me and Lt Col Scharf said, "Then you've seen all the dorms.")

* A very time consuming part of my first week was in-processing: getting a new ID card, an island driving license, and briefings by the personnel office staff.  I also filled out paperwork for a GOV (government-owned vehicle) license so I can drive our Asset Management truck.

* Tuesday was the belated Arbor Day tree planting event with kids from the DoDDs (Dept of Defense Dependents) school.  The wing commander and his Portuguese counterpart did the ceremonial gold spade earth turning.

* Wednesday morning I went with a housing inspector to look at houses for rent. I fell in love with the first one I saw, and I will become its first occupant one week from tomorrow.  My street address is 4 Camino de Figueiras (fee-gay-resh, which means "figs") in Porto Martins (porto mar-teensh). It's not labeled on the map, but it's a third of the way along the coast road between Cabo da Praia and Sao Sebastiao. I'm not going to post photos of the interior till I get my stuff set up, but here are some of the particulars:

Bananas Foster Coming Up!

3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and wall-to-wall views of the ocean.  I can hear the surf as it hits the rocks, a church bell, and roosters).  The swimming hole (you won't catch me in there!) and Buzios, a wonderful Italian restaurant, are a 10-minute walk away.  http://livingatlajes.wordpress.com/2010/08/06/buzios/ 

View from the front yard.

View from one of the kitchen windows.

* The electric gate at the driveway will be installed Wednesday and the exterior rocking and painting will be finished week after next.  My landlord, Ricardo, is very nice. I met him yesterday and he gave me info about the alarm 

system, wireless / cable / phone (I already have a phone number)

underfloor heating, and air conditioning /heating systems (very unusual here) Here are some "teaser" photos.

View down my street to the ocean.

Just as with everything else about this move - charmed, I'm sure - the shipment of household goods arrived in only three weeks!  They'll be delivered on the 13th, along with the appliances supplied by the base (fridge, gas stove, microwave, washer, dryer). 

* So that's all for this installment.

Adeus da Ilha Terceira!

At long last...

...my first post from the Azores!
This will have to be in more than one installment - there's too much to write about - or read! - for one sitting.
*  As for this sitting, it's 7:40 Tuesday evening.  I'm in the living room, frequently looking up from the keyboard to gaze out to the ocean and Split Rock, listening to the wind grow in sound and speed.  Emma is on the rug next to me, as contented as she could be considering I won't let her sit on the couch. Trish is going out to dinner and I opted to pass on a squadron dinner so I could have time at home alone to start this.
*  Here's a list of what I've noticed about Terceira so far (not in any particular order):

  * They have frequent, marvelous rainbows.  These were taken from Trish's terrace.











They use outlandish colors.  Everywhere.

  * They have glorious clouds and sunsets.
  * Every other man is named Jose (pronounced Joe say).
  * It is a very small place.
  * They have a secret for not gaining weight in spite of the food they eat.  I haven't see Cobb salad on any menu.
  * Their main seafoods are cod and octopus.  (I have a recipe for the latter, if anyone would like to have it.)
  * Parking is allowed ANYWHERE, including in one of the two lanes.
  * The speed limit on narrow village streets is 50 mph - even to get around parked cars.
  * Cows have the right of way.

Below is a view of the coast at Bisquitos (pronounced beesh coy toosh).

Watch for future installments.
Tchau!