Turkish Tea

 This is Turkish tea. I love Turkish tea. Sam and his friend Madam President taught me to drink it last year in Istanbul. If you hold it up to the light, it should be a very specific shade of red (rabbit's blood is the direct translation).

But this particular glass of tea is special. 

For all kinds of reasons that we won't remember in time and aren't important now let alone then, I am staying at a separate hotel from the crew this time. The tour while My Favorite was off, they only spent two days at the base in Manavgat. The rest of the 3.5 weeks was away. In light of this, we decided we would pay for me to have a hotel room for the full 3.5 weeks and then it wouldn't matter what the crew was doing; I could settle in and stay put. When My Favorite was in town, we'd be together; when he wasn't, I'd be happily ensconced in one place.

Our first try was the hotel where the crew stays, A Hotel Side. It's a lovely place, I know them, they know me, and it would've been ideal for My Favorite to be where the crew is when they're in town. But they didn't have all 22 nights straight. 

Back at the very beginning of this contract, the crew stayed at another hotel, The Blue Serenity Hotel, but decided they preferred the A Hotel Side (and treated the people here at Blue Serenity badly over it). 

My Favorite, however, really liked it here. Liked both hotels, but definitely liked it here as much as the other. And being My Favorite, didn't treat anyone like shit. When the crew left, the owner shook his hand and said "Her Favorite, you are welcome here any time."

So, when we needed a place other than A Hotel Side, we looked here. They had 22 nights straight. That we could afford. Booked, done and done.

I love it here. Again, this isn't against A Hotel, just about Blue Serenity. And being me, I've gotten to know everyone. 

There is a man who works here; I'm not 100% sure what he does. But he is invisible to most guests. I, however, say hi and good morning when I see him, wherever I see him. The other morning at breakfast, he was being completely ignored but I waved across the dining area and smiled. Two days later, I could tell he was trying to get my attention but we kept missing each other. So, on my way back from the coffee, I stopped at his table and said hello (merhaba) and good morning (günaydın). Big smiles all around.

Later that day, when housekeeping came to the room, I went into the lobby as I usually do in whatever hotel. I was playing solitaire on my phone when this glass of tea was put down in front of me. I looked up and it was my friend. He gave me tea. I managed not to cry.

Two days later (I'm doing housekeeping every other day here because I only have Turkish lira in 200 increments lol), I went to buy a tea. I ordered it and had my wallet pulled out. The owner was sitting in the lobby with my friend:

Him: Pobble, what are you doing? (nodding at my wallet)

Me: Paying for my tea.

Him: No, no, no. It is on me. Please.

Me: But...it's... Thank you. Teşekkür ederim.

He said something to the young man who made my tea and was in that very moment, reaching for the credit card machine, who then turned to me and said "All good!" I was vaguely aware of another exchange between them but didn't think a lot of is, as I was enjoying my tea.

This morning, I went down. I didn't want to take advantage, so I didn't order a tea. The young man came and asked me if I wanted tea. I said not this morning. The owner came out and there was an exchange between them. Then:

Him: Meredith, do you want tea?

Me: Not this morning, thank you.

Him: No? (looking dejected)

Me: Maybe tomorrow or the next day.

Then it dawned on me. And I went and accepted a tea. And thanked the owner for my tea. And will have a tea every morning I'm down there for the next week. Because I love Turkish tea. And I especially love my Blue Serenity morning tea.

The adventure continues...

He Did It!

A couple years ago, My Favorite and I sat on the couch in our living room, and he told me he wanted to go back to school. There were challenges, of course. Money, time, schedule, not to mention the fact that it has been ~ a while, shall we say ~ since he was in a class room. But we laid out all the challenges and found ways to make each of them work.

And he was accepted to Cumbria University's online MBA program. Through two fire seasons where he was balancing school with fighting fires and crappy internet access in helibase trailers, and two years where he was having to manage a 100-year-old house, he managed to get it done. 

He knew he wanted to walk during his graduation ceremony, but he wasn't sure if he could. I knew we'd make it happen. And so we did. On July 16, 2025, My Favorite was at Carlisle Cathedral graduating with his master's degree.

We got ridiculously lucky, because as soon as he got the email with the dates, we looked for hotels. The one we found had a mixture of historical character and modern amenities, we could afford it for a week, and it was in walking distance of the cathedral. YAY!

What we didn't realize was that the hotel was the official hotel of Cumbria University's graduation week and all the events were there. Nor did we realize that within weeks of us getting our reservations, the rates went up. We were exactly where we needed to be, completely inadvertently. 

I plan on writing more about the trip and Carlisle in general but not here, not now. This is all him. Because he did it.

The man next to him is Nick. They got along famously. As we were going our separate ways later that evening, Nick said, "Thank you for being so nice. I was really nervous." 🥹

 Proud doesn't begin to cut it. Well done, my love.

Remember...

(originally published 7/21/15)

Time Travel: Nea Anchialos 2025

Several years ago, My Favorite and I got to the point where, when it came to his work (and our primary source of income), all we wanted was to find a steady job, keep our heads down, and stabilize. And we thought we had done that. Had a nice gig, based out of Red Bluff, CA, pretty good stuff. 

Except they banished him to a pointless contract. They didn't use his Chinook skills; in fact that told him he wasn't welcome in the Chinook program. The didn't use his long-line skills. They didn't use his powerline skills. They hired him because he was plug and play (he could step into any of the contracts they had, not just fire fighting, and fly any of the aircraft they had), then they didn't do it. Instead they put him in Marin County, CA, and forgot about him. 

Now, we loved Marin County. Made some friends, fell in love with towns, and even posted here a lot. Truly, we looked into moving to the area, especially since we were going to be working for a company in northern California! Except... And you know there's an except because it's rotor wing aviation.

Except...at the beginning of next season, he went in to just say hi, do the beginning of the season chit-chat with the chief pilot... Who said, "You don't do anything except the Marin County contract. You aren't bringing a lot to the table."

Wait...what...?

Before My Favorite could even defend himself, the chief pilot continues with, "In fact, we're looking at taking you to seasonal instead of full-time next year."

By the time My Favorite walked out of the office, he was already texting his network. When he explained to me what happened, my first question was "Who have you called?" We know what "taking you seasonal" means.

That very afternoon, we were leaving the grocery store when his phone rang. I loaded the groceries while he went and found a quiet, shady spot. By that night, we were composing his resignation letter and working on getting home.

A month later, we were in Greece. There will be more posts about Greece ~ some good, some not so good ~ but this gets us started.

Heavy iron in Athens

 The adventure continues...

More Jumping In

 NOTE: A lot of the pictures here are also posted in the previous post about Apollo's temple. No, I'm not going through and editing. Let's be honest; we're lucky I'm posting. HA!

When My Favorite and I arrived in Türkiye, we got to Side late in the afternoon. We went for dinner at Alya Steakhouse, but more or less collapsed. The next day, though, he had a day off and we enjoyed it thoroughly. Because he had been here before, he had places he wanted to show me and I had places I wanted to see. It was a good combination.

When we were assigned to Greece last year (more on that soon-ish, I promise), we were so freaking excited. But the reality didn't match the myth. When we were assigned ~ managed to manipulate ourselves into ~ Türkiye this year, we were excited because we'd enjoyed Istanbul last year so much (more on that too!) and because it meant catching up with Sam. Little did we know that Türkiye is everything we expected from Greece and more.

The adventure continues...