Murphy's Law and Lost in Translation

Murphy's Law: If something can go wrong, it will go wrong.

I think it's time to give a brief rundown on the org structure over here and how it relates to projects. We're split into early design engineers (in Atyrau), project engineers, construction engineers, material coordinators, material purchasers (in Atyrau) and operations. A general project will go like this:
Operations: We have a problem -> Punt to the design engineer.
Design Engineer: The design engineer is in Atyrau (read one day's journey away). He/she probably doesn't understand the problem, hasn't seen the site and designs a solution that doesn't necessarily fit. Anyway, here's how we're going to solve the problem, but I'll keep it vague enough so that you don't know what I'm actually doing -> Punt to the project engineer in Tengiz.
Project Engineer: Let's make drawings that match the field about 3 years before the project is installed. We'll also get the material purchasers involved and have them buy materials. We won't, however, tell them exactly what we want to buy. After the purchase orders are in and the scope of work and drawings are "complete" -> Punt to the construction engineer.
Construction Engineer: Wait, none of the drawings match what's out there. Also, where are all those materials we ordered? Maybe the materials coordinator can steal something from the warehouse for me. Oh well, I have a schedule and a budget, so I'll just build something similar to what I see on the drawings -> Punt to operations.
Operations: Wait, this isn't what I wanted. We have a problem.

Rinse. Repeat. It's like watching a disaster slowly unfold before your eyes.

This afternoon one the construction reps came in and told me that two months ago we received materials that we can't make heads or tails of. They're the tops of high voltage electric transmission poles; however, they were built in KZ, which means they came to us without identification or diagrams. We originally tried to solve the problem by taking pictures of the materials and sending them back to the material purchaser in Atyrau. The plan was to have the purchaser contact the buyer to let us know what was sent. They apparently responded in Kazakh or Russian, but we can't figure out what the translation means. So here's the path forward: Find someone who is knowledgeable in Russian/Kazakh AND high voltage lines, so that he/she can read what the buyer sent us. Note, it's taken us 2 MONTHS to get this far and we're not even sure if that person is on rotation.

So yes, patience is pretty much a necessity out here, and anything that can go wrong probably will.

That being said, there is a slight amount of humor to be seen in all of this. It's a game of "What Can Go Wrong Today?" An additional upside is that I'm so busy that I don't have to worry about getting bored. Likewise, there is so much that needs to be improved over here, that I might actually be able to change something, Insh Allah! (Probably not spelled correctly, but the Kazakhs say it. It means 'by God's Grace'. I think it's Arabic).

Alright, off to dinner and then to the Nelson to buy everyone a round because it's Nurlan's last day on rotation.