Wheats ... Check your PM now. It looks like it went through this time.
Henry ... There are few things in life as boring as what I do for a living. There just isn't a story in it. All my life I have been lucky in one respect. Well, actually in a lot of ways, but the one I am referring to is that I can make things up, do them and they work. It has never failed to surprise me.
That's what happened this time, and the result was an unforecasted jump of 15% in national revenue, a lot of money. They weren't expecting that and they liked it a lot. It didn't balance the budget, for a lot of reasons, and balancing the budget is not why I'm here, but it helped a lot and it didn't cost anything. Thus, the medal. Boring.
OTOH, I love your stories. You're pretty darn good and the hero of the board.
And, unless another moderator corrects me, I think that you are not allowed to post links to auctions and commercial sites. However, links to US (or other) government job sites should be ok.
I know that there are USAID fiscal and terasury related projects here in Bosnia too.
Thanks Shawn. Yes, there is a lot of USAID work in Bosnia, especially in tax and fiscal reform. World-wide US foreign aid has been cut back this year to fund a lot of the work that is just now starting up in Iraq and Afghanistan. I don't think that Bosnia has been much affected by that, though.
Do you ever get down to Skopje? It looks like Manhattan compared to Tbilisi. If you do, be sure to visit Chucki at his jewelry store behind parliament on the right, next to the shoe store. Tell him I sent you and that you are interested in old coins and antiquities. You'll be amazed. Chucki (really, Caki) is quite a guy. Tell him that you want to go metal detecting. That is some experience in Macedonia and you don't have to worry about mines. Well, hardly anywhere.
Chuck
PS: Have you read "The Bridge Over the River Drain"? A Nobel Prize-winning novel about the history of Bosnia. It starts slow but gets hard to put down.
I have read the book a few times and been to the bridge on the Drina (Drain sounds more entertaining though) at Visegrad four times. Every visitor who comes to stay with us has to see it. My daughter now knows by heart that there are exactly 47 tunnels between Sarajevo and Visegrad.
Nice bridge, sad, ratty town.
Would Caki happen to have an email??? Too much to hope for I fear. I will try to put my Skopje Embassy colleague Habib Massoud on to him as I have not got down there and likely will not.
I am a big collector of ancient and medieval maces and maceheads and have several from the Balkans so maybe Caki can help.
I was detectoring once here in Bosnia. You have to trust the locals you are with and the Catholic priests from the nearby monastary that the area is clear of mines. I only found a half dozen medieval nails and some Socialist era coins but it was fun. The guy I was with had found a Roman silver hoard of about 10-12 coins the week before in another area.
Yes, Drina ... Drain? ... doofus? I stand laughingly corrected.
Caki does have an e-mail. I just got it yesterday and I have a test e-mail to him somewhere in cyberspace right now.
If you really like antiquities, Caki is probably the best guy in all the Balkans to know. You simply would not believe some of the things he comes up with. He has the best possible contacts. His family also owns some beautiful farm land near the border south of Pristina. There are the ruins of several Roman villages on their properties. It is quite an experienice to walk them.
As far as detecting, I too found some Socialist era coins. But I also found ancient Roman, Greek, Celtic and Macedonian coins. That was a real thrill. On one hill topped with an ancient fortress I found remants of at least three battles spanning about 2,000 years. Great fun. I also found a couple of Roman rings.
10-31-2006, 01:37 PM (This post was last modified: 10-31-2006, 02:41 PM by Taz.)
Established in 1992, the Honour Medal is awarded to Georgian citizens who actively participated in the revival of Georgia and devoted themselves to noble deeds.
Everybody's equal, But some more than others!
"Those who come to us with the sword - will be killed by the sword" - Alexander Nevski
