3rd Hitch

I'm getting used to working over here. There's still a learning curve, but problems seem to be less daunting. The most immediate problem when I returned was a lack of paint. Or rather, a lack of usable paint. All the paint we bought for the project expired about 6 months ago (i.e. before construction started). Oddly enough, I don't find that surprising. On a side note, I found it quite amusing that we had originally purchased red paint for our piping (who paints utility piping red?).
In the states, having expired paint isn't too much of an inconvenience. The suppliers are close by and they can probably get you what you need within a few days tops. In Tengiz, where the closest supplier of our paint is located in Amsterdam, we were looking at a 6 month delivery time for the paint. With the "purchase new paint" solution out the window, I was left with the following choices (in order of expense):

1. Try to get the manufacturer of the paint to extend the shelf life of the paint. I like to call this the "There is no problem" solution. After all, we all know that milk lasts a day or two past the expiration date, so why not paint?
2. Source alternative paints. This is the "Get a crash course in paint then beg, borrow or steal anything you can find that remotely works" solution.
3. Scrap the whole painting system and buy local paints from Atyrau and then plead to get them qualified. "The shake the etch-a-sketch" solution.

After a failed call to the manufacturer, I opted for solution 2. Over the course of today I identified our paint alternatives, got them located, and then purchased them. (Actually, we didn't purchase them per se. We stole them from another group and promised to buy them replacement paint...I just hope it shows up in time for them). On the way I learned that paint color is defined by the RAL system (RAL 7032 is pebble gray and incidentally the correct color for piping).

The weather is getting better - so far windy and in the 70s. Lots of dust everywhere. Okay, time to head out or else I miss dinner.