- TDY to the Financial Support and Training Office (FSTO) in Paris to spell the Director from January 9 - February 3.
- I was promoted to the Senior Foreign Service in March and attended the Senior Executive Seminar in April.
- March 13-14, DAS Offsite, followed by a Disbursing Conference March 15-17 at the Raddisson Hotel in North Charleston.
- Doris made a trip to visit her sister Raine and her husband Dick in York, Maine from April 6-10. While there she was able to shop at the Polo outlet store for my underwear and at Stonewall Kitchen to stock up on jams and my favorite Roasted Garlic Peanut sauce.
- Every year during April-May was probably my most demanding and time consuming period preparing Employee Evaluation Reports (EERs) for my staff of eight FSOs for the past year and establishing Work Requirements for the new evaluation period.
- Continued individual meetings with Management Officers and FMOs on consultations before going out to embassies on assignments.
- CGFS/CHS offsite June 3-8 attended RFMS conference in Budapest, Hungry.
- Before leaving to Bangkok attended a three day offsite to discuss the deployment of the Global Financial Management System (GFMS).
- Pack Out July 10-12. Since Bangkok was a furnished post we were authorized 9,000 lbs. for Household Effects and 250 lbs. of Air Freight. Farewell luncheon August 3rd. Arrived August 15 in Bangkok for an assignment as the Director of the Financial Services Center servicing our embassies in Asia, Pacific and post-Soviet republics in Eurasia.
- I was blessed with an excellent American FMO and Locally Employed Staff heading up Disbursing, Accounting, FSN Payroll, Systems, Training and Customer Support servicing our embassies in Asia, Pacific and former Soviet Union. CGFS/Bangkok was also the principal site for systems development particularly for the Automated Cashier System and successor Cashier Reconciliation programs. Kanikar Daily was the supervisor of this effort and assisted by not only her staff but others from CGFS/Charleston like Randy Carrico as well as systems upgrades to the RFMS/Disbursing program. Former Director, Howard Renman, also worked on American and FNS payroll systems programs. Howard moved to Hua Hin, Thailand but was on contract and travelled a lot back and forth to Charleston. For the longest time we had two legacy FSN Payroll systems one for Bangkok and other for Paris. Overtime we were able to combine the systems into one.
- I remember having to attend weekly country team meetings at the embassy and maintaining good relations with Ambassador Ralph "Skip" Boyce. Ambassador Boyce was a career FSO well connected and the ultimate diplomat and even played drums with a jazz trio. He was on his third tour of Bangkok and upon retirement in December he became president of Boeing Southeast Asia. The Management Counselor Rosemary Hanson. Rosie had a tour with the OIG as a Senior Inspector before retiring. The FMO was Charlie Slater who was assigned to Nairobi during the 1998 bombings. He ended up living in the apartment across from us.
- During the TDY in Paris Doris and I took advantage of the French cuisine and many of the tourist sights through "Paris Walks" like Monmartre and Bastille and took in shows like Jacques Brel and at the Moulin Rouge and Crazy Horse. We had an apartment in the Neuilly district near the Bois de Boulogne and used to take the bus into work together each morning. Doris would do more sightseeing and shopping and we would meet for lunch. In fact, she found her wedding dress at a store in Paris.
- Continued to attend cultural and music events in Charleston at the Symphony and North Charleston Performing arts center Broadway series. Tristan & Isolde
- March 18 our wedding at St. Mary's of the Annunciation downtown followed by a reception at Magnolia's. My cousin Father John Kelly from Biloxi, Mississippi said Mass and gave us our vows. The Frank Duvall trio played. We first met Frank at Charleston Place where he used to play on the weekends. He still teaches at the College of Charleston and plays Bass for the Charleston Jazz Orchestra. Wedding was preceeded by receptions at the Darby's (March 16) and Groceclose's (February 12). My cousins from California Bob and Rosemarie Porter and Tom and Sondra Meehan as well as my Peace Corps buddy Jack Colbourn and his wife Kathy also flew out for the wedding. Brother Chris was my best man.
- March 25 - April 1 Honeymoon cruise on Norwegian to Bahamas, Cayman Islands and Key West. Remember Jim and Mary Millette waving to us from the shore as we left.
- April 10-16 - Volunteered at the annual WTA Family Circle Cup tournament working with court maintenance. Nadia Petrova (Russsia) defeated Patty Schnyder (Swiss). Lisa Raymond and Sam Stosur defeated Virginia Pascual and Meghann Shaughnessy in doubles.
- On Friday, April 21st in conjunction with a visit to D.C. Doris and I went to the famous Blues Alley to catch a performace by singer-songwriter Regina Belle.
- May 6 Doris and I rented kayaks and paddled Beresford Creek out to Clouder Creek and Cooper River.
- May 11-12 Visited Patrick in Fairfax.
- May 26-29 Visited Highlands, NC for long weekend of hiking and rafting down the Natahala river.
- While in Budapest in June the participants took a night dinner cruise on the Danube. It happened to be Jim Millette's birthday as well so we celebrated. We also found a neat English pub near our hotel to congregate after meetings each night. Budapest was formed by the union of Buda on the right bank and Pest on the left bank of the Danube.
- Out to San Francisco June 23-27 staying at the El Rancho Inn in Millbrae, remebering the BART trains passing in the night. Visit the brothers and got to a Giants game. Meehan family reunion.
- We also managed to visit David in Atlanta on the weekend of July 8th and attend a Braves game at Turner field.
- I remember pack out and closing on the purchase of the lot for our eventual new home the week of July 10.
- Within a month of my arrival I had visitors from Charleston like my boss Jim Millette, Randy Carrico disbursing guru, and Richard Sizemore, Customer Support and Training. Given the constant influx of visitors Doris and I often hosted guests at our apartment or at a restaurant for luncheons or dinners. One such dinner at a restaurant included Bill Estell and his wife Amika, Marilyn Ferdinand, Fred Mauren and visitors from FSTO/Paris Bernard Lefevre and Rachid Razuanne.
- Doris and I made our first trip out of Bangkok to Hua Hin on the long weekend of September 2-4.
- It didn't take long to get introduced to Bobby Raja (Raja's Fashions) Soi 4 Sukumvit for tailoring my shirts, pants and suits.
- My son Patrick and his girlfriend Catie visited Charleston and stayed in our town house on Daniel Island May 4-6.
- October 7-9 we participated in our first CLO (Community Liaison Office) trip to Luang Prabang original capitol of Laos headed up by Kuhn Jeed.
- Spent the weekend of October 21-23 in Phuket. Our first visit to this popular resort town and beautiful beaches on the Andaman sea which had been hit with a terrible Indian Ocean Tsunami in December 2004, which killed 250 people (230,000 in Thailand total) captured in the movie "The Impossible"
- October 26-November 3 attended an ICASS conference in Sydney, Australia. Doris accompanied me and we visited both Meehan and Booth relatives. Alan and Kate Jones (Meehan) in E. Lindfield just outside Sydney. We learned that last year 2020 Alan and Kate were killed in a head-on car accident. We went out to Windsor, NSW by train to visit Muriel Gilmore (Booth) about 30 miles from Sydney.
In Egypt we visited Cairo and took a cruise down the Nile to Luxor returning to Bangkok December 2
For more photos see: Doris and Bill Travel Adventures Blog Egypt 11/12-2006
- Played tennis at the JUSMAG compound mostly with GSO Dave Rockey and his wife. JUSMAG compound also included the offices of American dentist,
- FSNs planned holiday parties especially at Christmas time where they would rent a ballroom at a local hotel and celebrate with a luncheon followed by singing and performances by staff. We also had a lot of office parties with pot luck luncheons and especially remember the smoked salmon prepared by Bill Estell.
· Jack Abramoff, a lobbyist with ties to several members of Congress, is sentenced to six years in prison by a Florida judge on fraud charges (Mar. 29).
· Democrats gain control of both houses of Congress in the midterm elections (Nov. 7).
· House releases a report on the response to Hurricane Katrina, assigning blame on all levels of government (Feb. 15).
· President Bush signs a law renewing the Patriot Act, including a signing statement stating that he does not consider himself bound by its requirement to tell Congress how the law is being used (Mar. 9).
· George Bush and Tony Blair express regret for the abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison, for removing all Baathists from positions of power in Iraq, and for other missteps (May 25).
· The Supreme Court rules that military tribunals cannot be set up to try prisoners in the absence of Congressional authorization and that prisoners are entitled to fair trials under the Geneva Conventions (June 29).
· President Bush uses his veto power for the first time, striking down legislation that would have expanded the number of stem cell lines available for embryonic research using federal financing. (July 19).
· John Bolton steps down as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations when it becomes clear that he does not have enough votes in the Senate to win confirmation (Dec. 4).
· After weeks of crippling student-led protests, French president Jacques Chirac repeals a new labor law that would have made it easier for employers to fire workers under the age of 26 (Apr. 10).
· Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon suffers a massive stroke; he is replaced by acting prime minister Ehud Olmert (Jan. 5).
· North Korea test fires missiles over the Sea of Japan (July 4) and explodes a nuclear device in the North Korean mountains (Oct. 9). The U.N. Security Council votes in favor of a resolution banning the sale of materials to North Korea that could be used to produce weapons (Oct. 14). North Korea agrees to resume disarmament talks with China, Russia, the U.S., and South Korea (Oct. 31).
· Militant group Hamas wins 74 of 132 seats in Palestinian legislative elections (Jan. 25). Israeli leaders vote to withhold $50 million per month (Feb. 19).
· A Danish newspaper challenges taboos against illustrations of Muhammad by printing several negative cartoons depicting him. Angry demonstrators throughout the Muslim world smash windows, set fires, and burn flags of Denmark and other nations whose newspapers reprint the cartoons (Feb. 4 onward).
· India test-launches a missile with a range of 1,800 miles (July 9). More than 200 people die and hundreds more are wounded when a series of bombs explode on commuter trains in Mumbai, India during the evening rush hour (July 11).
· Saddam Hussein is convicted of crimes against humanity by an Iraqi court (Nov. 5), and hanged in Baghdad. A witness videotapes the hanging using a cell phone and captures the chaos that unfolds as Shiite guards taunt Hussein (Dec. 30).
· In defiance of the U.N. Security Council, Iran president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announces that Iran has successfully enriched uranium (Apr. 11). The International Atomic Energy Agency reports to the Security Council that it has found traces of highly enriched uranium at Iran's Natanz facility (July 31). U.N. Security Council resolution bans the Iranian import and export of materials and technology used to enrich uranium (Dec. 23).
· In Iraq, a coalition of Shiites and Kurds dominates the new government. Sectarian violence wracks the country, killing tens of thousands, with fatality rates rising throughout the year; some observers describe the situation as a civil war between Sunnis and Shiites. Several internal reports characterize the U.S. military efforts as failing. See Iraq Timeline 2006.
· Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group, fires rockets into Israel. In response, Israel launches a major military attack, sending thousands of troops into Lebanon. (July 13–Aug. 15).
Super Bowl XL (40) was between Seattle Seahawks and Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers defeated the
Seahawks by the score of 21–10. The game was played on February 5, 2006 at Ford
Field in Detroit, Michigan. With the
win, the Steelers tied the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys with the
then-record five Super Bowls. Pittsburgh capitalized on two big plays that were
converted into touchdowns. The Steelers jumped to a 14–3 lead early in the third
quarter with running back Willie Parker's Super Bowl record 75-yard touchdown
run. Seahawks defensive back Kelly Herndon's Super Bowl record 76-yard
interception return set up a Seattle touchdown to cut the lead 14–10. But
Pittsburgh responded with Antwaan Randle El's 43-yard touchdown pass to Hines
Ward, the first time a wide receiver threw a touchdown pass in a Super Bowl, to
clinch the game in the fourth quarter. Ward, who caught 5 passes for 123 yards
and a touchdown, while also rushing for 18 yards, was named Super Bowl MVP.World Series
St. Louis Cardinals defeated Detroit Tigers, 4 games
to 1. Shortstop David Eckstein was named MVP the after a 1–11 start in the first 2 games of the World Series, he went 8 for 22 with 4 RBI and scored three runs
in the series, including going 4-for-5 with three doubles in game four. The World
Series victory with the Cardinals made Eckstein one of few starting shortstops
who have won a World Series in both the American and National Leagues. The Cardinals finished the regular season
83–78. This is the second-worst record ever for a league champion (the 1973 New
York Mets finished 82–79) and the worst record ever for a World Series
champion. Previously the 1987 Minnesota Twins finished 85–77 and defeated the
Cardinals in the 1987 World Series. St. Louis also won their 10th Fall Classic, the most of any National League franchise, and second to only the Yankees' 27 (then 26) titles, and their first since 1982. Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, who won the 1989 World Series title with the Athletics, became the second manager in history to lead teams in both leagues to championships, joining Sparky Anderson. Tigers manager Jim Leyland, who won the 1997 World Series title with the Marlins, also could have become the second manager in history to lead teams in both leagues to championships, had the Tigers won the series.
US Open Men's Singles. Winner – Roger Federer defeated Andy Roddick
French Open Ladies Singles. Winner– Justine Henin-Hardenne defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova
Wimbledon Ladies Singles. Winner – Amelie Mauresmo defeated Justine Henin-Hardenne
US Open Ladies Singles. Winner – Maria Sharapova defeated Justine Henin-Hardenne
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