Packing up and moving out.....

[BearFodder]

Just accepted a DOD Civ position overseas in Bahrain. Packing up the family
and moving over in the next 45 to 60 days. I'm an infrequent poster, but
am on here almost every night reading. Going to miss being here in Indiana
and especially miss being able to hunt here with my sons, but we are moving
on to another chapter in our lives.

Good Luck.

 

[SEIndSAM]

Good luck with the move!!

Also, post pics if you can....Nothing classified, just pics of the local environment and interesting sights...

 

[smittygj]

Good luck with the move!!

Also, post pics if you can....Nothing classified, just pics of the local environment and interesting sights...

Will do!

 

[9mmfan]

Good luck indeed! Definitely post pics!

 

[OutdoorDad]

That is the way we are looking at it. My 13 yr old son is looking at it as a chance to live in another culture. He is way positive about it,
for which I am grateful. He is a trooper, as is my wife for rogering up for an accompanied tour instead of me going out there on my own.

You mentioned hunting with your sons.

The 13 yr old is game. How is the other one handling things?

 

[Huntinfool]

Best wishes and best of luck as well.

 

[smittygj]

You mentioned hunting with your sons.

The 13 yr old is game. How is the other one handling things?

My 22 yr old is going to be fine. He is going to be staying here, and will be renting my house from me with his
current room mate here in Bloomington. They are in an apartment now, but for what they are paying in rent, they
can rent my place (at a discount) and will be paying my mortgage and insurance. He has always hunted with me
and recently got into bow hunting, so he will be fine and will continue to be able to hunt.

 

[OutdoorDad]

My 22 yr old is going to be fine. He is going to be staying here, and will be renting my house from me with his
current room mate here in Bloomington. They are in an apartment now, but for what they are paying in rent, they
can rent my place (at a discount) and will be paying my mortgage and insurance. He has always hunted with me
and recently got into bow hunting, so he will be fine and will continue to be able to hunt.

It sounds like everyone is fully on board then!

I wasn't concerned about the hunting part. But I was concerned about only one son being "bought in" to the move.

Although staying here, it looks like you have a pretty good support structure for the 22 year old.

I wish the internet existed when I was 22. Much easier to keep in touch nowadays.

Love the idea of renting from you! Be cautious you aren't discounting too much beyond the going rate, or you may have some gifting issues to deal with at some point.

 

[smittygj]

Love the idea of renting from you! Be cautious you aren't discounting too much beyond the going rate, or you may have some gifting issues to deal with at some point.

Hmm, hadn't thought about that part. Will have to investigate further (unless any shadetree tax people who are in the know want to chime in)

 

[smittygj]

I wish the internet existed when I was 22. Much easier to keep in touch nowadays.

I agree. I remember when I was 22, newly married, and I was deployed on an aircraft carrier over in the gulf and my wife and I would write letters to each other every day. Snail mail. You numbered your letters with a little number in the lower corner so that when they came out of order (which happened frequently) you could save them and read them in order when the missing numbers finally came in. Things have come a long way since then.....

 

[JeremiahJohnson]

Stay in touch.

Watch your 6.

 

[embmtxatl]

Just accepted a DOD Civ position overseas in Bahrain. Packing up the family
and moving over in the next 45 to 60 days. I'm an infrequent poster, but
am on here almost every night reading. Going to miss being here in Indiana
and especially miss being able to hunt here with my sons, but we are moving
on to another chapter in our lives.

Best of luck and safe travels

 

[BiscuitNaBasket]

GF's father is with the DOD currently in Afghanistan. Stay safe.

 

[smittygj]

Everything still on track. Looks like a 01NOV15 fly away date. Packout the week before.
You know, when you move in the military every 2 to 4 yrs, you get a chance to purge.
When you have planted roots for 13 yrs, you accumulate quite a bit of ****.
Still trying to figure out what to do with some of the stuff I can't long term store
or ship to bahrain. Yes, some of it can stay here, as my son will be renting my house,
but some stuff you kind of throw your hands in the air about.

For instance:

Three phase welder with boom cart
Three phase surface grinder
Three phase milling machine

 

[SnoopLoggyDog]

The navy base is in one of the nicest parts of Manama. Lots of shops, restaurants and apartment towers in that area. Felt safe off-base as long as i was with a group of people. The mall was similar to the Fashion Mall at Keystone at the Crossing. If you get hungry for a taste of American food, they have a Hard Rock Cafe along with Chili's and McDonald's and other franchise restaurants. At night, Russian hookers would hang out near the base entrance and nicer hotels. The heat and dust are ever present and it can be 100 degrees by 0700 in the summer. The buildings on the base itself are crammed together.

It is still a lot nicer than Shaikh Isa Air Base, where the USAF was deployed after 9/11. I was there in 2002, out in the empty desert living in tent city with 2000 other airmen, marines and army. I had one of the few jobs where we went into town once/twice a week at run people and supplies to the Manama airport, Navy Base or Embassy. I was working USAF logistics at the time, along getting people on emergency leave through customs and onto the first plane stateside.

The local drivers fly down the roadways in typical middle east blind-the-whole-time fashion. Getting side swiped is considered a non-event unless you come too close to one of the Emirs motorcades. Then you are guaranteed an opportunity to look down the barrels of several sub-guns by the security team.

 

[smittygj]

I heard that about the hookers, though never saw them when I was there in 2000/2001? I'm married, so
no need for none of that nonsense though. Yes, the heat is pretty bad, but I'm a native Texican
so I'm pretty used to that high humidity heat. And for what I'm going to be paid to get a place out in
town, I should be able to get a really nice place with a pool, so I'll keep cool

 

[bwframe]

I heard that about the hookers, though never saw them when I was there in 2000/2001? I'm married, so
no need for none of that nonsense though. Yes, the heat is pretty bad, but I'm a native Texican
so I'm pretty used to that high humidity heat. And for what I'm going to be paid to get a place out in
town, I should be able to get a really nice place with a pool, so I'll keep cool

Send us some pics!

 

[smittygj]

Just read up about alcohol ration points in Bahrain.
On base everything is cheap, but you are limited on how much you can purchase per month.
You get a ration based on your rank (military or dod civ) and different things cost certain amount of points.

For instance:
I may get a 30 point ration per month
6 pack of beer = 1 point
1 bottle of wine = 1 point
Any bottle of hard liquor regardless of size = 5 points
Once you hit your limit on base, you are done.

Weird rules, but I can deal with it. Might need to learn how to home distill or make wine though....
Cost of regular ETOH out on the Bahraini economy though is nuts. Cost for a case of bud 12 oz cans is like $50!!!
Cost for a 5th of Jack out on the Bahraini economy is $66!!! Though you can drink in Bahrain, off base
they impose a 125% import tax on alcohol, and that is passed directly to the consumer.