Wednesday, February 7, 2018

We want you there Yesterday!

I haven't posted in a very long time. In fact, I think the last time I posted, I was on my way to Kabul, Afghanistan.... Mmmm, so much for a post a day or something like that.

A lot has changed since I last wrote. I spent a year away from the family, came back to the U.S., had a wonderful 10 weeks off where we traveled literally everywhere. We then spent 1 year in Falls Church, Virginia for French language school and other necessary training. In October, 2014, the 7 of us, plus one very cat-like dog packed up our stuff (euphemism for "crap") and flew off to Nouakchott, Mauritania... By the way, when I say, "crap", what I mean by that is 18 suitcases, 1 dog crate with dog, and at a minimum, 10 carry on bags. What it doesn't include is the 4 thousand pounds of belongings and 1500 pounds of food that was shipped off to Nouakchott a few weeks earlier... Anyway, I completely digress. As a family, we completed three years in the Sahara desert, and were reassigned to Tucson, Arizona.

First, it is wonderful to be back in the U.S. It is wonderful to be together as a family and for the kids to not have to be stuck in the house surrounded by each other and their parents. They get to run, bike, skateboard, visit, go and do, and the best part of it is their parents, Melissa and I (in case you forgot), get to do all of that as well, including hanging out with people we like and don't have to see every day at work. Second, I did not get the position I was promised and while I was initially bitter about that, I could not be happier about being in the Tucson area. We have a house and we have generally happy, outgoing, super energetic children and I could not be more pleased with where we are, where I work, and who I get to work with.

So, now that you are all generally caught up with my life (If this wasn't enough, I would be happy to direct you to Melissa's blog, where she has done a MUCH better job than me of keeping things updated), on to the topic of the title, "We want you there YESTERDAY!".

So, as I explained, I am assigned to Diplomatic Security's Resident Office in Tucson, Arizona, which reports to the Los Angelas Field Office, which in turn, reports to D.C. I love it. I get to do investigations and I don't have everyone calling me at all times of the day and night to deal with their "emergencies" that they knew about 2 months prior and are now telling me about it because there is something they need from me but did not feel like they had to include me in their planning process the prior two months and....ok, I digress. Sorry, a little flashback but I am okay now.

Another side duty is getting Temporary Duty (TDY) trips to assist the Secretary's detail or Embassies overseas, or whatever they happen to need bodies for. Being fairly new to the office and trying to maximize my time with the family, I hadn't really pushed for any trips. Well, around January 9th, my immediate boss and I had just finished a meeting with another Law Enforcement agency when someone told us that we had a call from the LA Field Office. The person calling (the Assistant Special Agent in Charge) had asked for Jeff and when told that Jeff was in a meeting, asked for me. That was weird because I never get asked for. Since I was also in the meeting, I didn't get to find out why he called. My immediate boss gave him a call and a little while later, he was at my cubicle and it me with, "Chris, I have the privilege to tell you that you are Diplomatic Security's first pick to take a 45 day TDY assignment to Khartoum, Sudan and they need you there right away".  ****Personal note***** They figured since I had all the necessary training, spent the last three years in an equally difficult location, and didn't have anything actually going on, I was a perfect fit ***End personal note***. "Do you accept this mission"..... How can I say no....Actually, I really couldn't but I liked how he presented it as an option.

The next day, I started the process of getting tickets and finding out if I needed a visa. I was originally told that I did not need one and it would be fine. I asked the High Threat Programs (HTP) office to double check that because I was pretty sure I needed a visa before leaving the U.S. (I read the Sudanese visa requirements so I was actually sure that I needed a visa before leaving the U.S.). I got a reply back that they would look into it. I had some travel for an investigation for a couple of days so when I came back to the office on Monday, I was informed that I had to have a visa and needed to get them the application, two photos and my passport as soon as possible. I went and got visa photos and sent the photos, the completed visa application, and my passport overnight/early morning delivery. I then called the people helping me with travel and asked if they had cancelled my tickets for the following day. I kid you not, they asked, "Why, aren't you going to fly out tomorrow". I reminded them that I just overnighted my stuff to them and I doubted they would get it in the morning, get my visa, over-minute it back to me, all in time for me to fly out at 9 am... They thanked me for my suggestion and postponed my plane tickets. It is a good thing because UPS took my overnight with morning delivery package and delivered three and a half days later than scheduled delivery....Not like we were in a rush or anything...

I would like to tell you that my emergency visa request was processed the day it was dropped off at the Sudanese Embassy but that would be just funny. Fast forward three weeks (to last Tuesday), and I get a call that my visa is ready and they want me to fly out on Thursday, February 1st. I asked them if they remembered my whole overnight with morning delivery that was actually three overnights with late afternoon delivery and they agreed to book my flight out on Tuesday, February 6th (today for those of you who are counting). I got my passport and visa on Wednesday, booked a hotel in Doha, Qatar because I have a forced overnight, arranged transportation to and from the airport and got everything set with the Embassy in Khartoum. Since I am a protector of tax payer dollars, I paid for the hotel upfront because it was almost $100 cheaper (and within reimbursable allowances) and I got a better price because I went the "pay now, unable to cancel later route)...Again a good steward of your tax dollars. I will not mention I booked a room at the Ritz-Cartlon hotel...

I took an administrative day off of work on Monday so I could pack, get work done on the Van, and run a bunch of errands for Melissa so she would have less to deal with with me gone. Tuesday morning (again, still this morning) rolled around and Melissa, along with some of the kids, took me to the airport, dropping me off at 0915 hours. Plenty of time for my 12:40 flight out. In fact, it really was a lot of time because my flight was delayed. I checked in at the United Counter and was told my flight was delayed but with my later connection, I would be fine. I got my backs checked in, went through security, and proceeded to wait around for my flight to take off. After a couple of hours, I went and checked the flight board and found my flight had been pushed back three more hours, in fact, past other flights headed to Houston on United. Taking a deep breath, I left the terminal because there were no United agents anywhere to be seen, and went back to the ticket counter, where there were now billions of people in line... Ok, slight exaggeration but there were a lot. Go figure, most of them were supposed to go to Houston but because of all the delays, were going to miss their onwards. I waited and waited. One lady got so exasperated, she told the ticket agent to cancel her flight all together and her job would have to just deal with her missing the important work meeting and it served them right for booking her flight on United... I see this not going well so I called my folks in D.C. and let them know they may want to start getting me different flights. Finally it was my turn and I explained that I had a connection in Houston that would take me to Doha. I actually think she snorted. She explained there was no way I would make that flight, especially since my flight out of Tucson had been cancelled and there other flights were equally as delayed. I explained that my bags had already been checked and asked her to please return those bags to me, fully expecting it to be a fight. She said no problem and disappeared to find the bags, wherever they may go.. I called my folks in DC again and told them I definitely needed different tickets and begged them not to allow United to have any of the connections.

My bags were returned to me and I received a call back from D.C. that said I was not on the 1445 (2:45 pm) flight on American Airlines and would arrive in Doha at midnight the following night. I rushed down the the American Airlines counter and had to use the stupid Kiosk to check in. Imagine my non-surprise when the Kiosk told me there was no record of me having a flight to anywhere... I think the Kiosk was a little to gleeful but since I couldn't prove it, I stepped out of line to call D.C. back. I discovered that I had missed 2 calls from D.C. I called and was told, "Um, ya, we couldn't get you on that flight". I discovered I would now be flying out at 0930 the following morning.

I called my wonderful wife Melissa, who thankfully had taken a mental health day, and asked her if she could come pick me up at the airport. I explained the situation and she informed me she had gone walking and was at the furthest possible point away from the house that she could be. She, being the wonderful wife she is, moved as fast as she could back to the van to come and get me. I sent a couple of emails to cancel my travel to and from the hotel and also to let the hotel know I would not be arriving on the night of the 7th but instead I would be there on the night of the 8th. I figured I would be paying for two nights in the hotel since I had bought a "though shalt no cancel ever" room and I even let D.C. know about that so they could make arrangements to still reimburse me, which they happily agreed to do. Surprisingly, the hotel kindly changed my room with no questions asked and rescheduled my ride to and from the airport the following day.

Melissa picked me up and we spend a lot of time discussing the general horridness of United Airlines. The kids that went to school were surprised to see me when they came home from school and everyone seemed fairly happy to have an extra night with me, which was really nice.

Overall, it was an interesting day. While slightly frustrating at times, I didn't pay for the tickets and I got paid to stand around and wait. Getting delayed a day allowed me to switch and repack a super heavy suitcase (the case itself weight 30 pounds) into a much lighter one that could hold a bit more items, and I got an extra night with the family and unlike the last three weeks, does not extend my time away. I figured, as I sit here, I could get start this blog again and try to document the next two months in Khartoum, Sudan and what better way to start than start with an interesting, funny story like this.

The big joke of the day has been, "You have to be there yesterday!", 4 weeks later :)

Love you all,

Chris

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