I recently invested in the Nike + running gear. I tell you what...what a great investment. Myself and another guy in the office own one and we go for runs and challenge each other to whoever gets to 10 miles first wins, and you can track all of this online. It has graphs, and pointers/tips. You can also join other challenges from around the world. Its such a good incentive to exercise. I highly recommend this little device. Check it out!
http://nikeplus.nike.com/
Monday, June 23, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
Back to the USA for vacation!!
Recently I was back in the US for some down time away from Djibouti. I didnt get a whole lot of time at home, I was doing a lot of traveling.
I started my R&R with a trip to San Francisco/Big Sur with my best friend.
We were just the typical tourists around California, ya know Trans America building, Golden Gate Bridge, Coit Tower/Telegraph Hill, Pacific Coast Highway, Lombard St, Trolley Cars...the whole 9 yards. My favorite part had to have been the Helicopter ride over San Francisco, AND we flew under the Golden Gate Bridge!
Driving down Pacific Coast Highway was not as nerveracking as everybody made it out to be. It was THE most beautiful drive to take. I wasnt expecting the weather to be so cold, but it was freezing! When we arrived to Big Sur, it was breathtaking, not only the views, but the gas station that charged me $5.29 a gallon!!! Thats when I realized "thats why he doesnt have any price signs up at his gas station!
While in Big Sur, we stayed at this place called The Treebones Resort I HIGHLY recommend this to anybody who is staying in the Big Sur area. It is not your typical "resort". It's semi-camping...but not really. You stay in these pop up tents called yurts...its quite interesting, yet very comfortable! I wish that I had more time there! I must admit California has some of the most beautiful people, and it is sooo clean and smoke free...well in San Fran at least. Well, I really miss San Fran and Big Sur...mainly Big Sur...beautiful beautiful area!
I started my R&R with a trip to San Francisco/Big Sur with my best friend.
We were just the typical tourists around California, ya know Trans America building, Golden Gate Bridge, Coit Tower/Telegraph Hill, Pacific Coast Highway, Lombard St, Trolley Cars...the whole 9 yards. My favorite part had to have been the Helicopter ride over San Francisco, AND we flew under the Golden Gate Bridge!
Driving down Pacific Coast Highway was not as nerveracking as everybody made it out to be. It was THE most beautiful drive to take. I wasnt expecting the weather to be so cold, but it was freezing! When we arrived to Big Sur, it was breathtaking, not only the views, but the gas station that charged me $5.29 a gallon!!! Thats when I realized "thats why he doesnt have any price signs up at his gas station!
While in Big Sur, we stayed at this place called The Treebones Resort I HIGHLY recommend this to anybody who is staying in the Big Sur area. It is not your typical "resort". It's semi-camping...but not really. You stay in these pop up tents called yurts...its quite interesting, yet very comfortable! I wish that I had more time there! I must admit California has some of the most beautiful people, and it is sooo clean and smoke free...well in San Fran at least. Well, I really miss San Fran and Big Sur...mainly Big Sur...beautiful beautiful area!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Visiting the Cheetahs
Back in April I had the chance to visit the Cheetah Refuge about 10 miles down the road close to the Somalia border...yea i know what you are thinking..."Pat, Cheetahs and Somalia!"...I lack the common sense factor. We were offered a "behind the scenes tour". I will let the pictures explain.
But my Boss and I got to semi -interact with the cheetahs, the lady told us we could have gone in the cage with one of them, but the female cheetah was in heat. Let's just say I was a little nervous, hahaha thats an understatement! At one point the female started licking my hand, the trainer told me I needed to be more agressive with the Cheetah. I had to ask her if she was serious, and she wasnt lying. I told the lady to keep dreaming!
(On the left is what seperated us from the cheetahs...pretty reassuring)
(On the right, they were like huge domesticated cats)
It's been a while, so Hello again!!!
Ok, I apologize for it being over 4 months since my last blog. I know a lot of people check on this blog like its the hottest thing ever and I get a lot of people asking "Pat, where's the blog?!"
Well, here you go!
Its been over 4 months since my last post...and well I have done A LOT in those past months
Let me try to pick up where I left off...
One of my favorite trips, was to Lac Asal, one of the lowest points in Africa, and in the World, according to the locals around here. It was about a 2 hour drive from base, so if we were to get a flat tire, we'd be pretty much screwed out in the heat. Anyways, Lac Asal is a Giant salt lake that I had the chance to swim in. Just to let you know that you can not sink in the lake, it feels like a thousand hands holding you up. Oh, and dont get any in your mouth or eyes its not so pleasant! I looked like somebody had just sprayed me with mace! haha. It was interesting watching the salt form on my body. Ok enough talking, here are some pictures. We stopped a long the way at this place called (translated) "5 point" it was a canyon that personally reminded me of the Grand Canyon. Oh, and we stopped at one point where they filmed Planet of the Apes? I've never seen it so I wouldnt know. Enjoy. Peace!
Friday, February 22, 2008
I had a case of forgetfulness!
I know its been FOREVER since I've posted a blog. So now it's time to start filling everybody in.
The past 30 days have been pretty busy. My boss left around mid to late January for R&R, and I had to pick up some of his responsibilities until he returned. That wasnt too incredibly bad, but it got worse towards the days before he returned because when he returned that meant it was time for my R&R!!! Well, my R&R came and went TOO FAST!
You may ask what did I do? Did I go anywhere special? Yes, I went home thats a special place for me, and I got to see most the people I love the most. Traveling had to be the worst though, because it drains you! And once your body gets somewhat used to the time in the US its time to head back!
Well, I left the night before my R&R officially started to stay at the Kempinski for the night...oooohhhhhh it was very nice! Just to describe it to you will take too much. Basically, the bed is a young kid's nightmare...because you cant jump on it! It had a down cover over the mattress not including the down comforter, so the best description of it is that when I went and lept from the ground to the bed it swallowed me whole and it was INCREDIBLE! They have light sensors in the room for whenever you move by foot the lights would turn on, same with the hallway, totally energy efficient! On top of the comfortable bed, they have what I can only describe to be a Black Out curtain, which means if I were to close that curtain at 1 pm I couldnt be able that it was shining bright outside. I woke up that morning at about 9am and it was SO dark in my room so I looked at my watch and it said 9:00...I was in disbelief, so I opened the curtain and was blinded by the morning sun. So I took advantage of that, that afternoon for an afternoon nap after a swim in the pool and a very delicious lunch. Simply incredible!
I flew out later that night and flew from Djibouti to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Rome, Italy to London, England and then to DC...about 20 something hours of travel. Well, in line to board the plane from London to DC I notice this strikingly gorgeous girl about my age in line with her mom and dad. Well, luck would have it that she sat down right next to me. In my head im constantly repeating to myself "Dont act like a fool, Dont act like a fool" and so half way through the flight my body just randomly says "ok time to sleep!" and I commence with the jello neck head bob. I wake up as she is peering over my way and I notice a wet stain on my shirt...I was drooling!!! Talk about wanting to curl up in a ball in the corner!!! After that hell ride I made it to DC safe and sound, just in time for some winter weather! WOOO! Just what my body wanted! haha.
So I spent a few days in DC with my Dad and his wife, it was a great time, so to relax and spend time with them.
On Valentines Day I made my way home to Norfolk! Which was great also to see mom and just hang out and do what I wanted to do! I also got to meet this amazing little girl named Lana, a newly adopted girl that my best friends family adopted back in December. She is SO adorable, and I'm kind of sad that I didnt get too much time to spend with her, but thats ok I'll get to see her in May when I come home again!!! Cant wait!
So, my days flew by at home, but once again it was great!
I flew out of Dulles on the evening of the 20th and was greeted with snow as I arrived to Dulles! Woo! It was a great send off before I headed off to the dust bowl!
This time on the return, I flew from Dulles to London to Amman, Jordan, to Addis Ababa to Djibouti. Well, I think I have started to become a little more affraid of flying...maybe its the long time in the plane with more things to worry about! I dont know, but from London to Amman I was a little freaked out. I was seated on the emergency exit row, and 2 arab men were seated in front of me and one stood for about 30% of the 6 hour flight, and he would stare at the emergency exit door, and so would the other guy, and then I would see one stare in the distance and nod to anohter friend who happened to sit a few rows back...freaky right? Well, then I see a another guy peep his head from the first class side back to economy and look at the guy who was standing, and they would just make eye contact, but it only happened once. Now, I'm starting to get a little worried, and I ask the stewardess how long until the flight landed, and she told me about 45 minutes...that was a looooong 45 minutes. I was a little worried so I grabed my laptop out of my back pack and opened it up...just my luck the battery was dead, so I folded it up and it was my defense incase anything were to happen. So, I made small talk with the 2 guys who were looking at the emergency exit door toooooo carefully, I improv'd questions like ' hey wheres a good hotel to stay at in Amman? I think I am going to miss my flight' (even though I knew I was on the exact same plane all the way to Ethiopia.) I think it was more to make myself feel better. Who knows, but I tell you what I carried on the conversation until the plane landed in Amman...the guys seemed a little upset. I think I slept about 4 hours out of the entire trip back to Djibouti. I'm exhausted, and I am ready to hit the hay. Take it easy ya'll.
Peace and love
The past 30 days have been pretty busy. My boss left around mid to late January for R&R, and I had to pick up some of his responsibilities until he returned. That wasnt too incredibly bad, but it got worse towards the days before he returned because when he returned that meant it was time for my R&R!!! Well, my R&R came and went TOO FAST!
You may ask what did I do? Did I go anywhere special? Yes, I went home thats a special place for me, and I got to see most the people I love the most. Traveling had to be the worst though, because it drains you! And once your body gets somewhat used to the time in the US its time to head back!
Well, I left the night before my R&R officially started to stay at the Kempinski for the night...oooohhhhhh it was very nice! Just to describe it to you will take too much. Basically, the bed is a young kid's nightmare...because you cant jump on it! It had a down cover over the mattress not including the down comforter, so the best description of it is that when I went and lept from the ground to the bed it swallowed me whole and it was INCREDIBLE! They have light sensors in the room for whenever you move by foot the lights would turn on, same with the hallway, totally energy efficient! On top of the comfortable bed, they have what I can only describe to be a Black Out curtain, which means if I were to close that curtain at 1 pm I couldnt be able that it was shining bright outside. I woke up that morning at about 9am and it was SO dark in my room so I looked at my watch and it said 9:00...I was in disbelief, so I opened the curtain and was blinded by the morning sun. So I took advantage of that, that afternoon for an afternoon nap after a swim in the pool and a very delicious lunch. Simply incredible!
I flew out later that night and flew from Djibouti to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Rome, Italy to London, England and then to DC...about 20 something hours of travel. Well, in line to board the plane from London to DC I notice this strikingly gorgeous girl about my age in line with her mom and dad. Well, luck would have it that she sat down right next to me. In my head im constantly repeating to myself "Dont act like a fool, Dont act like a fool" and so half way through the flight my body just randomly says "ok time to sleep!" and I commence with the jello neck head bob. I wake up as she is peering over my way and I notice a wet stain on my shirt...I was drooling!!! Talk about wanting to curl up in a ball in the corner!!! After that hell ride I made it to DC safe and sound, just in time for some winter weather! WOOO! Just what my body wanted! haha.
So I spent a few days in DC with my Dad and his wife, it was a great time, so to relax and spend time with them.
On Valentines Day I made my way home to Norfolk! Which was great also to see mom and just hang out and do what I wanted to do! I also got to meet this amazing little girl named Lana, a newly adopted girl that my best friends family adopted back in December. She is SO adorable, and I'm kind of sad that I didnt get too much time to spend with her, but thats ok I'll get to see her in May when I come home again!!! Cant wait!
So, my days flew by at home, but once again it was great!
I flew out of Dulles on the evening of the 20th and was greeted with snow as I arrived to Dulles! Woo! It was a great send off before I headed off to the dust bowl!
This time on the return, I flew from Dulles to London to Amman, Jordan, to Addis Ababa to Djibouti. Well, I think I have started to become a little more affraid of flying...maybe its the long time in the plane with more things to worry about! I dont know, but from London to Amman I was a little freaked out. I was seated on the emergency exit row, and 2 arab men were seated in front of me and one stood for about 30% of the 6 hour flight, and he would stare at the emergency exit door, and so would the other guy, and then I would see one stare in the distance and nod to anohter friend who happened to sit a few rows back...freaky right? Well, then I see a another guy peep his head from the first class side back to economy and look at the guy who was standing, and they would just make eye contact, but it only happened once. Now, I'm starting to get a little worried, and I ask the stewardess how long until the flight landed, and she told me about 45 minutes...that was a looooong 45 minutes. I was a little worried so I grabed my laptop out of my back pack and opened it up...just my luck the battery was dead, so I folded it up and it was my defense incase anything were to happen. So, I made small talk with the 2 guys who were looking at the emergency exit door toooooo carefully, I improv'd questions like ' hey wheres a good hotel to stay at in Amman? I think I am going to miss my flight' (even though I knew I was on the exact same plane all the way to Ethiopia.) I think it was more to make myself feel better. Who knows, but I tell you what I carried on the conversation until the plane landed in Amman...the guys seemed a little upset. I think I slept about 4 hours out of the entire trip back to Djibouti. I'm exhausted, and I am ready to hit the hay. Take it easy ya'll.
Peace and love
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Check these guys out
So 2 weeks ago, I was walking around the track and noticed these little guys running around so we decided to feed them. They've now vanished and I assume that animal control on base to get them and we have heard that they "put them down" because most of the time they are born diseased. Who knows maybe the mother and father took them away just in time.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
This place is a melting pot...
I know I havent put anything up lately but thats becaus eI have been dealing with some of our new Egyptian workers. Once again, language has come between us once again! I have finally given in and I'm starting to learn some arabic little by little.
You know what is really disturbing to me? It's the fact that we hired Egyptians, when we've got thousands of Djiboutians willing to work that are qualified to do the work here. Its truly sad that we hire from a country that is not as desperate for work as the Djiboutians are, plus these people can go home to their fa
milies at night, and just travel in, in the morning...it financially does not make sense to me. Its especially hard at times rejecting guys trying to give me their numbers, to call them for work...knowing that we hired out of country. I'm still trying to make sense of it all. Don't get me wrong the Egyptians are great guys, we've been getting along great and they seem like they are going to be great workers.
But back from my tangent, this place seems to house people from all over the world. I've seen Egyptians, Mexicans, Guamanians, Filipinos, Russians, Germans, French, British, Indians, Australians, Ethiopians, Koreans, Pakistanies, Kenyans, Turkish, Lebonese, and of course Djiboutians. I'm sure there are more but that just seems like the list is neverending! We are a few countries short of hosting the olympics right here in DJIBOUTI!!!
So, its been a week since I've posted and I just wanted to let you all know that everything is fine here. It still hasnt rained yet...I'm dancing pretty hard but I guess its the fact that I cant dance for crap. haha. I will try to keep posting as often as I can.
Take it easy,
peace
You know what is really disturbing to me? It's the fact that we hired Egyptians, when we've got thousands of Djiboutians willing to work that are qualified to do the work here. Its truly sad that we hire from a country that is not as desperate for work as the Djiboutians are, plus these people can go home to their fa
milies at night, and just travel in, in the morning...it financially does not make sense to me. Its especially hard at times rejecting guys trying to give me their numbers, to call them for work...knowing that we hired out of country. I'm still trying to make sense of it all. Don't get me wrong the Egyptians are great guys, we've been getting along great and they seem like they are going to be great workers.But back from my tangent, this place seems to house people from all over the world. I've seen Egyptians, Mexicans, Guamanians, Filipinos, Russians, Germans, French, British, Indians, Australians, Ethiopians, Koreans, Pakistanies, Kenyans, Turkish, Lebonese, and of course Djiboutians. I'm sure there are more but that just seems like the list is neverending! We are a few countries short of hosting the olympics right here in DJIBOUTI!!!
So, its been a week since I've posted and I just wanted to let you all know that everything is fine here. It still hasnt rained yet...I'm dancing pretty hard but I guess its the fact that I cant dance for crap. haha. I will try to keep posting as often as I can.
Take it easy,
peace
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