Sunday, 15 April 2007 / yakshanbeh, 26 hamal 1386 (Hijra Solar) Introduction: A Semi-Blog Many of my friends in California have asked me to keep in touch and to write about my experience of being in Kabul. Rather than set … Continue reading
The sunlight was fabulous again this evening, so I went out to take pictures of my neighbors. Here is Mohammed Nader again. Now I need to find a local photo-finishing service that will do a good job at hardcopies; I … Continue reading
Today Samiullah brought me and his cousins to Paghman, an area just west of Kabul. It is the favorite Friday-picnic spot for Kabulis, so we shared the mountain site with about ten thousand fellow citizens. As we headed west through … Continue reading
Karte Sakhi is adjacent to Kabul University. As with Deh Mazang, and most of Kabul, it is a vast (re)construction site. The houses look neoclassical–not in the European sense, but as if ancient Mediterraneans were building their houses with materials … Continue reading
Here I am in the lovely, garden-like campus of Kabul University. Within the trees is the Faculty of Agriculture, and the field in the foreground will be used as a demonstration/laboratory field once the irrigation system is restored. In the … Continue reading
The neighbors of our guesthouse are rebuilding the lot-line wall to make it higher. When A4T rented this guesthouse, it was the only inhabitable building on the block. Still, about one third of the lots are just ruins; but construction … Continue reading
Here are Engineer Dehyar and Sabri, whom I worked with in 2003. At that time one of my tasks was to go through the International Building Code and identify passages for translation from English. The two sections that seemed useful … Continue reading
I arrived in Kabul on Weds, May 31, two days after the worst rioting in the city in several years. News of the riot began to emerge several hours after I had begun my journey, so it was disconcerting to … Continue reading
REMOTELY-OPERATED MACHINERY Originally written: 8 August 2005. Previous | Overview | Next Beyond the earth’s atmosphere, most exterior operations will be done using mechanical remotes. Machines can operate outside without worrying about radiation shielding, pressurized suits, or extreme variations in temperature. The main problem … Continue reading
MANUFACTURING Originally written: August 3, 2005. Previous | Overview | Next Bulk manufacturing on Luna will need to be done by automated or remote-controlled machines. Humans-in-spacesuits is too costly, as are pressurized, breathable environments. To control for temperature and dust, factories probably should also be … Continue reading