Friday October 3, 2008
Ok so I am a little behind on blogging and I will apologize later. So this has been a very busy time for me. I am responsible for 5 police stations under construction and 2 gates ( Border Crossings). I am worn out. So not much to report, have been going out and inspecting a lot of buildings and have learned the people over here accept sub par work as great. It is very frustrating. When you say something about the paint or the finish, they are appalled that you would mention anything negative about a brand new building. How many people reading this have ever in your life painted anything? Now with this thought in your mind, correct me if I am wrong. You prepare the surface to be painted, then you use a base coat or a primer, then you apply you paint. Correct? Well apparently in the Balkans’ you hang the sheetrock, not concerned with floating and taping properly, then you throw some paint on it and you are done. Cost effective but looks like crap, And they think it looks great. I went for fuel the other day and saw them painting inside the booth. Now this is a dirty nasty wall from shoes, boots, dirt and pen markings. Now I bet you are thinking ahead. STOP IT, this is my story! So anyway, with out as much as wiping the wall with a paper towel they were painting it white. Then they were frustrated that it did not cover the markings on the wall, DUH!
I was told before I arrived here to be shocked by nothing I saw; now I understand this warning. The people of this country are amazingly intelligent and resourceful, but they are lazy, and look for a temporary solution to a long term problem. If they can patch it and it will hold for any amount of time when that patch is bad, they will patch it again. Simple solutions.
Now I have a new problem to contemplate. My Bulgarian boss has asked me to be the liaison between KP Admin and UN. Ok now yall are thinking hey that’s great, and I too would say this until he begins to explain to me why it is I he has chosen, (Buckle up boys and girls). So the conversation begins like this. In broken English he said to me, Mark, I will be relieving you of your duties at gate 31 so you can have Thursdays free to meet with Zorin at KP Admin, I respond, Ok? He then begins to explain to me that A: I am big and Intimidating, B: I am rude and wont take any mess off of him, and C: I am not diplomatic! Now imagine what I am thinking as he is saying this to me…… anyone? Ok first of all, my friends don’t call me the politician for nothing, diplomacy is what I used in my daily job duties as a police officer in Texas, secondly, I have a very guilty conscious when I am rude to someone, Including some of the low life scum I have dealt with. Do not mistake my passion for a job done right and I get upset with the work here that is sub par as rude when I make a comment about it. Do you not think the officers who are depending on me to get this project done would rather have it done right than half-baked?
So I was very confused and hopeful that he was using these words incorrectly. My Deputy Chief approached me and said Mark; I have never known you to be rude, un-diplomatic, or intimidating. You are a large man but you are a gentle bear. I agreed. I would give the shirt off my back for anyone who needed it. He said, I believe he knows not what he said. I said I do not really care; I am exercising my diplomacy right now and not taking offense to his ignorance of who I am nor what I stand for.
So with that out of the way and I do feel better thank you. I am asking at this time for your thought and prayers for too people in my life that have always been there for me. Sgt Keith Bitz of the Tomball police Department is experiencing liver failure and awaiting a transplant, and Jason Reel, His son has a tumor behind his eye and is awaiting admittance into Tx Children’s Hospital to have this tumor removed, his eye site has been affected and it is possible he will be blind in this eye forever. So please pray for healing and Gods will in both of these people’s lives.
I bid you Farwell and goodnight
Biggen
Ok so I am a little behind on blogging and I will apologize later. So this has been a very busy time for me. I am responsible for 5 police stations under construction and 2 gates ( Border Crossings). I am worn out. So not much to report, have been going out and inspecting a lot of buildings and have learned the people over here accept sub par work as great. It is very frustrating. When you say something about the paint or the finish, they are appalled that you would mention anything negative about a brand new building. How many people reading this have ever in your life painted anything? Now with this thought in your mind, correct me if I am wrong. You prepare the surface to be painted, then you use a base coat or a primer, then you apply you paint. Correct? Well apparently in the Balkans’ you hang the sheetrock, not concerned with floating and taping properly, then you throw some paint on it and you are done. Cost effective but looks like crap, And they think it looks great. I went for fuel the other day and saw them painting inside the booth. Now this is a dirty nasty wall from shoes, boots, dirt and pen markings. Now I bet you are thinking ahead. STOP IT, this is my story! So anyway, with out as much as wiping the wall with a paper towel they were painting it white. Then they were frustrated that it did not cover the markings on the wall, DUH!
I was told before I arrived here to be shocked by nothing I saw; now I understand this warning. The people of this country are amazingly intelligent and resourceful, but they are lazy, and look for a temporary solution to a long term problem. If they can patch it and it will hold for any amount of time when that patch is bad, they will patch it again. Simple solutions.
Now I have a new problem to contemplate. My Bulgarian boss has asked me to be the liaison between KP Admin and UN. Ok now yall are thinking hey that’s great, and I too would say this until he begins to explain to me why it is I he has chosen, (Buckle up boys and girls). So the conversation begins like this. In broken English he said to me, Mark, I will be relieving you of your duties at gate 31 so you can have Thursdays free to meet with Zorin at KP Admin, I respond, Ok? He then begins to explain to me that A: I am big and Intimidating, B: I am rude and wont take any mess off of him, and C: I am not diplomatic! Now imagine what I am thinking as he is saying this to me…… anyone? Ok first of all, my friends don’t call me the politician for nothing, diplomacy is what I used in my daily job duties as a police officer in Texas, secondly, I have a very guilty conscious when I am rude to someone, Including some of the low life scum I have dealt with. Do not mistake my passion for a job done right and I get upset with the work here that is sub par as rude when I make a comment about it. Do you not think the officers who are depending on me to get this project done would rather have it done right than half-baked?
So I was very confused and hopeful that he was using these words incorrectly. My Deputy Chief approached me and said Mark; I have never known you to be rude, un-diplomatic, or intimidating. You are a large man but you are a gentle bear. I agreed. I would give the shirt off my back for anyone who needed it. He said, I believe he knows not what he said. I said I do not really care; I am exercising my diplomacy right now and not taking offense to his ignorance of who I am nor what I stand for.
So with that out of the way and I do feel better thank you. I am asking at this time for your thought and prayers for too people in my life that have always been there for me. Sgt Keith Bitz of the Tomball police Department is experiencing liver failure and awaiting a transplant, and Jason Reel, His son has a tumor behind his eye and is awaiting admittance into Tx Children’s Hospital to have this tumor removed, his eye site has been affected and it is possible he will be blind in this eye forever. So please pray for healing and Gods will in both of these people’s lives.
I bid you Farwell and goodnight
Biggen
1 comment:
Mark, I did just what you asked for and prayed for your friends even though I have never met them. I cannot imagine being in there shoes. I hope my prayers help.
Send a prayer my way sometime, take care old friend....
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