Month: August 2018

Only a few more hours before we head to the airport. We’re out of luggage space and weight so no more shopping and we’re mentally tired so don’t feel like sightseeing either. Instead we are curled up on a comfy couch in the hotel lounge and waiting until it’s time to call an Uber to go to the airport.

I’m watching Karate Kid The Next Generation under duress since that’s what’s playing, but it’s 50% commercials so I may not get to see if Jaden Smith gets the girl or wins the karate championship at the end. #spoileralert he does.

Yesterday Josh had morning meetings and a few appointments, but in the late afternoon we went over to the White House grounds and met up with a friend from Abu Dhabi who showed us all over his workplace, the Eisenhower Building, where the Vice President and staff have their offices. It’s a beautiful building inside with room after room of painted ceilings and gold leaf detail like the Louvre in Paris. We saw some of the ceremonial rooms where the original Vice Presidential desk sits — inside the drawer past VPs have all carved or signed their names in the wood.

Right out the window sits the West Wing of the White House — and I took zero photos because I was playing it cool and didn’t want to be a tourist. But it was really fun to get a behind the scenes look at a less explored piece of history — including the bowling alley in the basement. So long America — it’s been a great summer. Now the real work begins. My list is long and I’m ready to attack it (after I recover from jet lag).

I’m sitting in the breakfast area of a hotel in DC, drinking coffee, and listening in on the conversation going on next to me because I’m SOLO and have nothing else to do and no one else to worry about. I’m learning that this guy flies a ton for work, hates United because he refuses to connect through San Francisco airport because he always gets delayed because of fog, he’s been a platinum mileage member with Alaska for the past 7 years and refuses to fly anyone else because he has “worked for those miles,” and he got his credit card shut off when he used it in a vending machine in the Oakland airport. I guess it’s a “hotspot for crime activity” and the vending machine threw up the red flag in the computer and shut his card off. Now they are all sharing their worst card stories. And my restaurant hearing is not great, so you know they must be loud.

Now I even know the dude’s last 4 of his social security number and that someone fraudulently ordered a $600 edible arrangement after stealing his card info, but I’m bored with their Tales of Banking Woe so I’m moving on.

The only thing that has been less than perfect about my DC morning is that I woke up at 6 am. Say what now?! That’s 3 am west coast time, where I was yesterday. Why is my dumb self wide awake 2 hours earlier than I would have in my normal time zone. Boo.

My flights were easy yesterday and I met the most adorable businessman in Dallas while waiting for my connecting flight. He got me into the fancy airport lounge where all the people with millions of air miles hang out and we ate free food and drank coffee in comfortable chairs away from the masses of people wearing pjs and carrying on 13 shopping bags.

I have the day to myself, but I don’t think I want to hit any tourist attractions  I think I’d rather get my last bit of America in and walk around the mall, window shop, and hopefully score a few more clothing items since I won’t do any shopping once I’m back in AD. Only 2 more days in the US!

I didn’t expect to be navigating another foreign move this summer, but as I look back (and ahead) on this retirement process, that’s exactly what it feels like. We are migrants to the military retired life and have had to learn an entirely new language. LES, PCS, TSP and EFM have been replaced by VA, TEQ, and ISR, to name only a few of the abbreviations that fill our conversations.***

In addition to the new language, we’re also having to learn to navigate all over again. Not new streets, but new processes. I have to figure out how to pay for school — US dollar check? bank wire transfer? How do I best get the money from here to there while incurring the least amount of fees? We will have to set up utilities and pay deposits with entities we’ve never dealt with before. ADDC for water, electric, and something called a tawtheeq (registration of our lease contract with the government). Wait, we don’t even have a local bank account yet. Back up to that for step 1. Nope, we need to get our Emirates IDs first. That’s the real step 1. At least until I learn about something else that supersedes that too.

But fresh borders bring new freedoms to explore. I will be able to have my school paycheck direct deposited into my local bank account instead of getting a paper check and having to go into the bank office to get it cashed. And we’ll have the freedom to fly on any airline instead of choosing the best of the worst routes because of the Fly America Act (why Josh and I had to fly home through Europe this past summer instead of direct from Abu Dhabi). Josh can travel to any of the 165 countries that his blue passport allows without having to ask permission from a government agency. Hello Lebanon!

There’s much more to figure out and unfortunately no Trip Advisor or Lonely Planet book to describe the ins and outs of this new region. If there were, I could research the heck out of it the way I do with all of our travel. I’d love to flip through a book and turn to a chapter titled Top 10 Military Retiree Healthcare Options and read the section How to Go to the Doctor in America. I’ve googled my heart out and I’m still not sure which health care program we’ll be on. Merge that with Josh’s NewJob health insurance and I have no idea where to start or who will be paying what. Thankfully it’s only theory at the moment and I’m just thinking ahead for when the need arises. Apply that process to everything we have to do for the first time as retired people and you can probably figure out why I’m feeling a bit undereducated and ill-prepared.

Speaking of global travels, my half-grown babies are having a great time on their first trip to the east coast. I have one more day in CA before I head east myself, with a 3 day stop in DC before heading home.

***(Cheat sheet: Leave and Earnings Statement [military pay stub], Permanent Change of Station [military move], Thrift Savings Plan [government 401k] and Eligible Family Member [related to embassy privileges]. New ones are Veterans Administration [for retiree medical and benefits], Tax Equalization [a tax calculation for expats], and ISR is the department Josh works for that I forget the name of. I’m still learning the language!)

A 3 am wakeup is the worst. It’s too late to stay up, but too early to get more than a dusting of sleep. 3 am this morning found us bleary eyed and headed to the airport. The kids are heading off on their east coast adventure with their other set of grandparents. 2 weeks of southern hospitality and US history split between South Carolina and Washington, DC.

Camille was nervous last night because it was her first time flying without mom or dad, but I reminded her that her older brothers would be there too and that seemed to satisfy her. As far as security measures go, the kids were all given wristbands and ID numbers and I had to verify my identity, escort them to the gate, and wait until the plane was pulling away before I could leave. It’s probably terrible to admit that I would have been fine dropping them off with Carter in charge, especially since they were too busy watching Netflix to care if I was there or not.

I’m not sure how they’ll feel about domestic air travel. I’m pretty sure they aren’t getting fed every 10 minutes and they have to pay for any food that they want. I sent them off with a bag of trail mix and instructions to buy what they needed and I’d pay them back. 

They pulled out as the sun was coming up and now I’m home before I’d normally even be awake. I’m going to give myself jetlag without even getting on a plane. Night night/Good morning!

PS: a little over 7 hours later. . . 

Way back here on day 65 Josh had his interview for his current job and I quote:

 

and:

At the time, based on the things that they said and the tone of the interview, it seemed as if he was the only candidate left that they were considering. In this case, ignorance was definitely bliss, as he found out yesterday that there were actually 3 interviews held in Abu Dhabi that weekend and that they didn’t decide to hire him until after they left the country.

I’m thankful that the outcome matched our confidence level, but it’s amazing to get a behind the scenes look at the process and see what was really happening on the other side.

Another piece of good news. It looks like we will have tickets provided to come home next summer and Calvin will also get a ticket to come visit us. I’m glad all the pieces of this puzzle are coming together.