divineguitar

Jonathan Rice has some interesting words about the desert –

The transient nature of this environment is unique in both a work and habitation context.  Contractors work 7 days a week 12 hours a day, so the cultivation of personal relationships is challenging.  You’re married to people at work most of your time awake.

New people come in with vigor wanting to ‘fix’ what’s ‘broken,’ 3 months later, the status quo of maintaining the ship begins to take root.

The fortunate have ‘chu’s’ (Contained Housing Units), which differ on the inside based on the inhabitants taste, or lack thereof.  Much different from suburban American, as in country you have 3 default accessories and about 5 to choose from the mini’ shop on base…although oddly enough there is the lifeline to amazon.com.  You could say college dorm accommodations with dust.

The temporal nature of these gigs, long hours and lack of privacy discourages many people from hanging out in a non-work atmosphere.  Folks crave what little private time they can get.  Also it seems taboo to hang out with the opposite sex.  You’re ‘that guy,’ or other sterotypes that come along with a 1 in 25 girl/guy ratio.  Also, to me, something feels inherently wrong about playing Nintendo’s in a militarized zone.

Under more permanent circumstances, I would take more pride in my dwellings and cultivate out-of-work friendships, and maybe even try to have a good time every now and then. 

I opt for the cyborg, keep my head straight and not let the dust and muck rub, keep the heart rate between 170 and 190 at the gym, early to bed early to rise, learn and learn because the livin’ isn’t as easy.

I’m sure Cicero would have a few things to say about this, if he were around today.