| Greetings
from war torn Iraq !
This has been a marvellous appointment for
me. As I am based in Erbil, life is peaceful amongst the Kurds.
Even though there is a lot of posturing between PKK and the Turks,
that is in the mountains and quite a way from here.
The work is pretty straightforward and, financially,
it has made a huge difference to us – my wife is delighted!
Monies are all tax free and everything is paid for – accommodation,
food, laundry, driver and even booze. This a small office. I have
no staff, which suits me, and I run the finances for 4 high earning,
high charging lawyers. The other part of my job is work as a management
consultant, charging myself out to the American and British companies
out here. There is a great deal of oil exploration going on so
you can imagine the client list. Local accounting expertise is
pretty dire so often these companies are grateful for my knowledge
and “mature” experience.
The only downside (apart from missing my wife
and daughters) is that I get paid in dollars. Every time I look
at the rate it gets worse (for me anyway). I can’t believe
it can dip much further so the positive is that if it moves to,
say, $1.88 to the £ I get a 10% increase. Sorry to be selfish
but a UK slump would suit me perfectly.
Thank you once again for the introduction.
My wife thanks you, my bank manager thanks you.
All the best
Alan Crawford
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