Workin' for a Livin'

My coworker, Brian, who visited Diego Garcia with me a few weeks back, sent me some of the pictures he took during the trip. He was kind enough to get a few shots of me while I was busy at work. Thanks Brian!

Photographing the Tropical Forest

Inspecting the Sea Life at Turtle Cove

Verifying the Structural Stability of the Palm Tree

New This Week

I haven't written very much. I'm sure some folks may have noticed. The good news is that Joshua and I have been so busy, finding the time to sit down and write has been difficult. Joshua still has had swim lessons but this week, I took him out of 4th R to take part in Humpty Dumpty Camp at Fairytale town. Located in Sacramento's huge park downtown. Fairytale town is a little bit of a legend here in Sacramento. The small park was built in or around 1958 and the play structures are themed around Mother Goose Rhymes and various children's stories. The park is set up especially for preschoolers with small drinking fountains, bathrooms and garbage cans shaped as tin soldiers. My mother, my father, my brother and sister and I have enjoyed this park as children ourselves so it's really fun to watch Joshua enjoy it as well. This week Fairytale Town held a special summer camp where the children get to do crafts, read stories, water Mr. Mcgregor's Garden, visit the zoo across the street and many many other activities.

Joshua is really starting to swim like a frog and even though I have some gripes about the high school age teacher, Joshua has done well and I plan on him going again.

I've done some shopping but I've kept it under control... my husband may disagree with me! The biggest purchase we made was a car. We decided to buy a used car so that we would have a car waiting for us upon our return to the States. With everything else to worry about transitioning back to real life in America it will be nice to have that out of the way. I bought a Pontiac Vibe. The Vibe was a joint engineering venture between GM and Toyota. Pop the hood and you'll see a big Toyota engine in the middle of it. Not many folks know about this car but it really made me feel good to buy an American car. Plus, it was born close by in Fremont, CA. The car itself is almost identical to the Toyota Matrix but because it's got "Pontiac" on it, it goes for a little cheaper... I promise, they are the same car. I am absolutely loving it. It really feels so fancy to me compared to our little Suzuki Cultus back home! Also, another selling point for me getting a GM car is that my father works for GMC Elk Grove. Anyone reading this who lives in Sacramento, they are a great bunch of guys our there! Although with gas the way it is, used Vibes haven't been readily available. I really lucked out with ours.

I have to mention too that after seeing my girlfriends post on 4th of July, the tears started flowing as I thought of all of my good friends back home. Joshua and I miss you! Check out Yoga Mama. My heart goes out to you Karri!

OK, now for the ugly. I was just diagnosed with gestational diabetes. SUCKS! It's something that happens to pregnant women and will basically effect what I can and can't eat. This week is my first week having to log my eating and blood sugar numbers. Hopefully, if my numbers are good enough, I will only have to prick myself 2 times a day instead of 4. The good news is that they are making me eat 6 small meals a day... I am never hungry. But, I do crave something sweet and I can't stand all the sugar free crap that's sold in the stores... I suppose desperate times call for desperate measures. Some of the other tips of keeping my numbers down is to exercise and meditate. One of the brochures gives ideas on meditation. For instance, 'Imagine you are in a place you love to be in' OK, I think I'm going to imagine I'm at the Cheesecake Factory.

Diego Garcia, BIOT

Work can be rough sometimes. This, however, is not one of those times.

I posted a little while ago about my trip to Singapore. But I don't think I ever mentioned why I was in Singapore. As it turns out, Singapore is one of the few locations in the world where one can get to the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) island of Diego Garcia. It's definitely the most idealistic layover location from Japan, anyway.

Diego Garcia is a British owned island in the middle of the Indian Ocean. It's pretty isolated from the rest of the world. So much so, that I think Antarctica is one of the only places on the entire globe that is further away from another major landmass. The British, years ago, were kind enough to allow the United States to put a military base on Diego Garcia. And recently, my boss was kind enough to let me travel down there for work. And the military was kind enough to let me take pictures while I was there to share with the rest of you.

If you want to know more about Diego Garcia, check out that link above... as I am not an expert and would hate to mislead you. But what I will share with you are some pictures from one of the most unspoiled natural places I have had the good fortune to step foot upon.

Gallery is up and dated 08/01/2008. If you don't have the time, here are a few teaser snapshots.

Headquarters Building

Postcard Perfect Boat Staging Area

Welcome to the Jungle

This coconut has a heck of a view

Environmentally Protected Coconut Crab