I will fly!

Finally (cross your fingers & knock on wood) I will be taking off tomorrow for a long delayed visit home to Michigan and see wifey & the fur-babies. Not gonna lie, it'll be weird going from 33°C to -4°C. No more tanning until January at least. Two five-hour layovers along the way but at least I'll get to spend them in the lounge - I may even have a drink or two along the way.

Funny thing at work the other day - the other PT engineer in my office was sitting there with one of the other Saudis (both looking at their phones) and he starts humming. I poke my head around from behind my monitor, look at him and ask, "Are you humming 'Red River Valley'?" He didn't know what the song was but said he liked the tune. (Nice rendition here: https://youtu.be/Q89_4gL0M2M) So we had a little discussion about musical genres. BTW, he frequently hums/sings and I tease him about competing in 'Arabia's Got Talent' or 'Arabian Idol'.

Today he and I got to visit a vendor (I may have mentioned about the impeller from Taif) who has finally done a better job building one that should last. Welding is still not the best but at least it has evidence that they performed NDT on the welds - there probably aren't any blatant cracks. We were there to witness the balancing test and do a visual inspection prior to them finishing & painting. Probably another trip to Taif in store for us in January, brrrr! At least this time I'll bring a warm jacket.

So, on the way to this shop I had a small case of pseudo-deja vu. As we came around the corner there was business after business of trucks, tractor trailers, and heavy equipment. I asked my little buddy if this was the only location in Jeddah for these and he said yes - told me the name of the market in Arabic. I said that I've been here (any who have read my previous blog might remember mention of that.) The place hasn't changed from when I rode up that road with another Saudi and his cousin who was looking to buy a truck for his business in Jizan. It's a small world after all.

Wish me luck with successful landings at appropriate places over the next couple days.