Well, hate is a fairly strong word. But he’s a guy with fairly strong opinions. He works in Kandahar, and has to travel quite a bit. He has strong opinions about the places he travels to, through, and away from.

He sends me pithy comments about these places, and I find them pretty funny. Even when he’s not trying to be funny, he is. His brain works in a way that makes me laugh, and even when I might not agree with him, I see his point. Because he’s a rational man, on top of it all.

He hates places because they’re dirty, or dusty, or boring, or too old, or not old enough. He does not suffer fools at all so sometimes a place will be tainted by his dislike of the people there.

But all of this hate isn’t from his being an essentially hateful person — far from it. It all stems, I think, from his concern that the world isn’t organized the way he thinks it should be. People aren’t logical, and this confuses him. He’s speechless (almost) when faced with people doing, or living in, places that don’t make sense.

He is comfort loving, which means that when faced with a place that isn’t comfortable, he of necessity doesn’t like it. But if that lack of comfort comes from a nonsensical (to him) reason, then he moves to hating it.  On the other hand, if there’s comfort, but no soul, it’s probably also on his list.

Today’s note:

After another sweltering walk around Dubai’s ostentatious ugliness, I’ve decided that the only word to describe this place is “horrible”. Best thing about it is it ain’t KAF.
Add it to my list Joanie.

Joan There’s always the diamond souk… you could stay nice and cool in there for a while.

Mark While the thought of haggling with sweaty muslims appeals to me no end; I’m afraid the lure of my air conditioned 5 * hotel room complete with cold beer is overwhelming.

That, and it’s part of his schtick. He has always aimed toward being a curmudgeon when he gets older. I think he’s on his way.

He’s an atheist, a rationalist, a logical sci-fi  reading (“it has internal consistency, Joan”) comfort-loving smart-mouthed guy. I have started a Facebook page here – it may turn into a blog eventually, I’m not sure. All I know is that I want to keep these comments in a safe place, because god knows I’ll have to look them over when I try to plan our next trip….

That said, there are some places he does like, and Box 761 is one of them. He’s home tonight, so I may not be writing as much for a while.