Just a few minutes after we left work today I was looking out of the car window and saw a wall of DUST.. So I grabbed my camera and started shooting. Here are a few pictures of what I got. The orange color is the actual color of the air.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
A Dusty Day!......and then some....
Just a few minutes after we left work today I was looking out of the car window and saw a wall of DUST.. So I grabbed my camera and started shooting. Here are a few pictures of what I got. The orange color is the actual color of the air.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
It's a Dry Heat!!
Wow, did it get hot today, The temp reached 109 F. or 43 C and the hot season hasn't even really started. I added the weather gadget to the blog just so you can see the temp at a glance. I was asked by one of the Kuwaiti's at work how I liked Kuwait so far and commented about the temps. He seemed to get a big laugh out of that and said to wait until it got hot, that this was nothing. All in all it was not too bad, being used to the heat and humidity of the east coast, this was not all that bad at 12% humidity. At least you don't drown in your own sweat. Click on the weather gadget to get all kinds of Kuwait weather information.
See ya later.
See ya later.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
More Progress?
Well, yesterday they requested I turn over my U.S. drivers license and passport for translation into Arabic and to put the permanent VISA into it. I hope this is progress. The other tech I work with had the same thing done to him and then he got his semi permanent base pass not long after that. He still does not have his resident card yet and he has been here 1 month ahead of me. So Only God Knows when this is going to be finished, but it seems I am one step closer.
Today is HOT! Temps are 100 and the forecast was for 104. I believe we have entered the warm months of summer. At least the sky is blue and not a muddy brown. But did I mention It is HOT!
These are mild temps compared to the 122's that it can get up to.
Today is HOT! Temps are 100 and the forecast was for 104. I believe we have entered the warm months of summer. At least the sky is blue and not a muddy brown. But did I mention It is HOT!
These are mild temps compared to the 122's that it can get up to.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Another Hurdle Cleared
Well, I completed another hurdle on Wednesday. Before you can get your resident visa here, you must complete a blood test, a chest x-ray and get finger printed. All three steps were completed stateside, but yet again the Kuwaiti's want to do it themselves. So that is now complete and it is again "HURRY UP AND WAIT". I should hopefully get my residents card in a few weeks now, although I do not think that will happen.
Today is a wind event day. The wind has been howling since last night and the dust is everywhere. I was going to sweep and mop the floors but right now it would be futile. I damp mopped yesterday and the floor has a fine coating of dusty powder on it already. So I will wait until the wind subsides a bit then clean house.
I went shopping yesterday again at the Sultan center and stocked up on some more stuff, ketchup, mustard, olive oil, pepper, and of course I got more food as well. The Sultan Center is a large chain market somewhat like a large chain market in the states. They have their own label for a lot of the stuff they sell, and everything I have tried has been very good and high quality. There is also have a place called Carrefour (car four) that is like a super Walmart. They have just about anything you can imagine and usually fairly priced.
I missed my chance yesterday to get a good shot of a "DUST DEVIL". As we were leaving Ali Al Salem AB, one popped up about 50 ft. away from us and my camera, which is usually within reach , was in my back pack in the back of the vehicle. I could have had several
really good shots. To top that off, as we were driving on the highway, we pass several camels that had wandered onto the highway and were just walking along the road as if they owned it. That would have been several other shots to post. Oh well. i guess I will learn from that to keep my camera nearby. I did see this on the road side on Tuesday as we drove into work. Do not know what the story behind it is but you gotta just hate when this happens to you on the way to work.
Today is a wind event day. The wind has been howling since last night and the dust is everywhere. I was going to sweep and mop the floors but right now it would be futile. I damp mopped yesterday and the floor has a fine coating of dusty powder on it already. So I will wait until the wind subsides a bit then clean house.
I went shopping yesterday again at the Sultan center and stocked up on some more stuff, ketchup, mustard, olive oil, pepper, and of course I got more food as well. The Sultan Center is a large chain market somewhat like a large chain market in the states. They have their own label for a lot of the stuff they sell, and everything I have tried has been very good and high quality. There is also have a place called Carrefour (car four) that is like a super Walmart. They have just about anything you can imagine and usually fairly priced.
I missed my chance yesterday to get a good shot of a "DUST DEVIL". As we were leaving Ali Al Salem AB, one popped up about 50 ft. away from us and my camera, which is usually within reach , was in my back pack in the back of the vehicle. I could have had several
really good shots. To top that off, as we were driving on the highway, we pass several camels that had wandered onto the highway and were just walking along the road as if they owned it. That would have been several other shots to post. Oh well. i guess I will learn from that to keep my camera nearby. I did see this on the road side on Tuesday as we drove into work. Do not know what the story behind it is but you gotta just hate when this happens to you on the way to work. Friday, April 11, 2008
A 10 Minute Tour
Hello Everyone,
I have heard that I need to post more to the BLOG. I will try to post as often as I have things to post. Most days here are very redundant and repetitious, but today after doing laundry I decided to give a "GRAND" tour of the place. After taking a video which was about 10 
minutes long 
, I found out that it was "WAY TO BIG" (50 meg) to post. So I had to do something different. I have rounded up a group of pictures I have taken and posted them to the blog. Some may have been posted before, some are new. Hopefully what they will show is the apartment and the neighborhood. I will explain some of the pictures. The first shot shows the view looking south down street 111. Many of the apartments have car ports to keep the sun from melting your cars in the summer months since it can get into the 120's. Picture #2 of the RED building is unusual in that they have a "Glassed" in room on the top floor of the building. I guess it is a "KUWAIT" room. #3 is the same building and also show you that palm trees grow well here. Looking straight out of my front window you will see the yellow house trimmed in pink, and then the next shot will be looking north from my front
balcony. There is a high rise building going up in the distance, most likely more apartments. This area is full of new construction and reconstruction. I also
wanted to point out that the neighborhood does have green grassy yards every once in a while. I am sure it takes an exceptional amount of water to keep them green. I also see playground equipment but have yet to see children using it. Also , please note again that the area is still under construction and there is a LOT of debris scattered about, sometimes in piles, most times not. I don't understand why they just let it pile up but thats the way they do it. One day I will wake up or come home from work and the piles and trash will be gone. 
That will certainly improve the appearance of the area. Todays temp is 95 degrees F or 35 degrees C. My outdoor thermometer on the back patio says 105 F.
minutes long 
, I found out that it was "WAY TO BIG" (50 meg) to post. So I had to do something different. I have rounded up a group of pictures I have taken and posted them to the blog. Some may have been posted before, some are new. Hopefully what they will show is the apartment and the neighborhood. I will explain some of the pictures. The first shot shows the view looking south down street 111. Many of the apartments have car ports to keep the sun from melting your cars in the summer months since it can get into the 120's. Picture #2 of the RED building is unusual in that they have a "Glassed" in room on the top floor of the building. I guess it is a "KUWAIT" room. #3 is the same building and also show you that palm trees grow well here. Looking straight out of my front window you will see the yellow house trimmed in pink, and then the next shot will be looking north from my front
balcony. There is a high rise building going up in the distance, most likely more apartments. This area is full of new construction and reconstruction. I also
wanted to point out that the neighborhood does have green grassy yards every once in a while. I am sure it takes an exceptional amount of water to keep them green. I also see playground equipment but have yet to see children using it. Also , please note again that the area is still under construction and there is a LOT of debris scattered about, sometimes in piles, most times not. I don't understand why they just let it pile up but thats the way they do it. One day I will wake up or come home from work and the piles and trash will be gone. 
That will certainly improve the appearance of the area. Todays temp is 95 degrees F or 35 degrees C. My outdoor thermometer on the back patio says 105 F. Monday, April 7, 2008
Water, Water
Went shopping again yesterday at the Sultan Center and picked up a few more things to stock the cupboards with. Today is Monday. While Riding back to Egaila from work I was trying to keep myself entertained, so I brought out my camera and took some snaps of things. This is actually the only picture that turned out. Kind of hard to grab a shot of anything while travel at the insane speeds people drive on the highways. I saw some camels and other animals but by the time I could get the camera pointed at them, they were past. But I did capture the water towers along the highway. They appear to be everywhere and are clustered in groups of from 6 to 9 or so. As you can see by the haze in the air, today was a bit dusty, and we were actually supposed to have ... umm.... whats to word.... umm ....Rain? It never happened as far as I could tell. We did have about 20 drops hit the windshield yesterday. Does that count?..
TTYL
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Dinner 4 One
Tonight I cooked dinner for the first time, (other than hot dogs). I had a Lean Cuisine Pizza. 
Took all of six minutes from freezer to plate. And I know this looks like a commercial, but it was really good, and very easy to make.
Yummy! Thursday, April 3, 2008
Easy Bake!
I finished getting the appliances for my kitchen today. I saw a really small oven / electric stove combo. It has 2 burners on top and a baking and broiler burner inside. It should suffice for my needs here since I don't do very much cooking or baking. Now I may broil something in the future, maybe some chicken or possibly a steak. As you can see by the photos the oven dial is calibrated in degree's Celsius so I will have to learn to convert. Also shown is my microwave and tv and stand. What More could I ask for? Well, maybe someone to share dinner with, Hopefully Kim will be coming over soon. She had a spot on her nose that needed a biopsy, so I am waiting on that result for now.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Oops!
All the votes are in and tabulated. I have 2 votes for the old layout and 0 for the new. My vote makes it 3 - 0. Old layout WINS!!
Well, I screwed up.... again!! I bought what was advertised as a queen size bed, paying no attention to the size of the bed, because its all in centimeters. I then tell Kim I bought a queen sized bed and ask her to get me some sheets for it. So she sends me sheets and a mattress pad for a queen size bed. I tried to put them on the first night in the apartment and, well, you guessed it, I have bought a California King size. Its 180 mm by 210 mm. I thought something looked large about the bed even though the bedroom is pretty large. So I am out of luck until I get sheets to fit. I am using the flat sheets right now until I get new a new set, but what a frustration. I swear the sign said "QUEEN SIZE" and I recall the bed looking smaller in the showroom. I am thinking they made a mistake and put the wrong number for the bed down and gave me a Cal-King for the same price, but the sales receipt says 210 x 180, so I just don't know. I actually measured the mattress and it is indeed 180 cm x 210 cm. Online I am having a hard time finding that size for a bed.
Spoke to Kim this morning and she has found some more fitted sheets for me, but the dimensions are 198 cm x 203. I 'll make them fit.
Well, I screwed up.... again!! I bought what was advertised as a queen size bed, paying no attention to the size of the bed, because its all in centimeters. I then tell Kim I bought a queen sized bed and ask her to get me some sheets for it. So she sends me sheets and a mattress pad for a queen size bed. I tried to put them on the first night in the apartment and, well, you guessed it, I have bought a California King size. Its 180 mm by 210 mm. I thought something looked large about the bed even though the bedroom is pretty large. So I am out of luck until I get sheets to fit. I am using the flat sheets right now until I get new a new set, but what a frustration. I swear the sign said "QUEEN SIZE" and I recall the bed looking smaller in the showroom. I am thinking they made a mistake and put the wrong number for the bed down and gave me a Cal-King for the same price, but the sales receipt says 210 x 180, so I just don't know. I actually measured the mattress and it is indeed 180 cm x 210 cm. Online I am having a hard time finding that size for a bed.
Spoke to Kim this morning and she has found some more fitted sheets for me, but the dimensions are 198 cm x 203. I 'll make them fit.
Other than that things are coming together here in the apartment. Still cleaning desert sand from everywhere. The dust is so fine it creeps into everything and through every crack, even through glass it seems. Stay tuned!
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