Davids email news, Volume 2, "I had a couple of dates yesterday."
This is the second in my series of eblogs emailed out. 6/26/06
Welcome to my email newsletter, volume 2. Due to popular demand, the number of people signing up has doubled since the last installment of the David in the Desert Saga, or I just sent it to twice as many people. Just so nobody feels left out, I attached the volume 1 newsletter at the bottom of this one. If you haven’t read it yet, scroll down to the end and read it first. And if you have read it scroll down and read it again. It is an instant classic. You know how much the Superman #1 is worth? This could very well be worth just as much! I have just as much potential as Superman! (Disclaimer: An increase in value is not guaranteed by any entity. Also, past performance is no indication of future value. Lastly, some of what I say is sarcastic or not 100% correct, so don’t take it too seriously.)
Corrections from the last letter: OK, so I forgot to name the day previously known as Wednesday. That day is now known as 120day because it hit 120 here the last day before Curryday.
Fog: It was very foggy the other morning. Have you ever been in bad fog where you can see about 20 feet? Has it ever been 90 degrees? Have you ever been covered in a sweaty water from walking through a cloud. That is what it was like here. Typically it is a little drier though, with the high of about 115ish, and the low around 80-85. It is crazy windy today. The building seems like it is shaking sometimes.
Around Camp: So you know what a pain not having “potable” water around? I go to brush my teeth and take a shower before bed, and you have to take a bottle into the “Cadillac” with you. The “Cadillac” is the bathroom trailers around here. The one by the old tent was small; about 3 sinks, 3 urinals, 4 toilets of which no more than 2 were functional at any given time, and 6 showers (all of which worked). However it constantly smelled like people were going all over the floor (I did that once. J [I’m only kidding]) and there was no place to dry off except in the middle of the trailer, which had a 3 foot long bench for all 6 people showering at the same time to use. And it was always crowded. The name “Cadillac” was a definite misnomer for that one. I would consider it more like a “Saturn Ion” or a “Geo Metro.” The one by the trailer is much nicer [re usable] and bigger. Only one or two of the 16 or so toilets are broken at any time. The only problem is that half the shower handles come off in your hand. You would think, in a place that tells you to take really short showers to conserve non-potable water, would have shower handles capable of turning off the showers. Seems like somebody should audit that. Can you just imagine getting screwed over by a “shower handle audit?” I would consider this to be more of a “Plymouth Neon”—It functions and is fine, but it has some small issues.
Anyway, back to my story. Typically, I forget to bring a bottle of water into the “Cadillac” when I go to shower and brush my teeth. Anyway, I went yesterday and I was so intent on brining my bottle of water, that I managed to forget my toothbrush. So I went back to my trailer and got my toothbrush. Then I forgot my towel. How do you forget a towel and a toothbrush when you are only going to take a shower and brush your teeth???
My “Weekend”: I went into Doha yesterday. Now where is Doha, you ask? It is in Qatar.(Duh!) It is the capital city, and 600,000 or the 800,000 people in the country live there. We went to the Souqs, the old-time markets downtown. We started at the Souq Waif. They have all these little narrow (~10 ft) stalls, some indoor, some outdoor that sell all different types of things. It is organized by section: spices, clothes, native crafts, foods, household items & tools. The spices section was so pungent; like something out of a movie, with the spices piled up next to each other. I bought a little egg shaped thing of saffron, that I will have to try to cook with when I get back. It was much cheaper than the $3,00,0000,0/oz at home. I also got a little souvenir with the different colored sands of Qatar. I got some candy too. It was yummy. I would have shared if you were here. But you could have afforded 6 and bought your own too. Then I went to the food section and got some dates. (Ha! I had you fooled.) They were like honey dipped or something, but they were really yummy.
I then went to the electronics Souq, (ah, heaven!) I bought a copy of the DaVinci code, Cars, and Nacho Libre. They were cheaper than you can buy them on the streets of NYC, and the guy in the shop showed me that they work. (DaVinci Code has my mom’s name written all over it.) We then went to the Jewelry Souq. They had the bright gold 22K gold that you don’t see in the US typically.
For lunch I had chicken kabob cooked in middle-eastern style. It was with pita and hummus and the typical vegetable platter: cucumbers, pickled cucumbers, roasted tomatoes and most importantly a very hot pepper (that means a lot coming from me!). Lunch was 20.
Now a year ago, I would have placed money that I would never in my lifetime go in the Persian Gulf. I would have lost that bet yesterday. Between 1 & 4, almost everything but the mall shuts down so we went to the mall. In the evening, we went to the Doha National Museum. You might think it was something great, but it was really nothing. Click here for a link of everything else that there is in Doha to see that we did not see.
So now that I know what they have to bring back, let me know if you would like anything. On the touristy side they have displays with all the sand colors in Qatar, magnets, fancy table cloths, native weavings, sand sculptures, little wood inlaid jewelry boxes, and stone cups. If you want something cheesy touristy, they have little metal camels and little Aladdin’s type lamps. That reminds me that I saw live camels running around. [groan] If I don’t tell you know, you are going to ask me if they had 1 hump or 2. Yes, they did. Anyway, if you have a DVD request, I can attempt to fulfill it. On the yummy side, I can bring back dates for you, unless you are my brother, who is engaged and is no longer having dates. I didn’t find Qataropoly. I did find Barbie clothes that are made in the traditional arab black woman’s dress where only here eyes show. It will go well next to another Barbie in a bikini.
Call for help: In order to continue to publish long newsletters late into the night, I need donations. Money is fine, but is completely unexpected. Better is cookies.[The ones I got today in the mail are yummy! Thank you so much! You rock! How did you know that I love PB?] But the best is PB squares.(sans chocolate) Anything you send me has to be able to not melt when the plane is sitting on 130 degree runways. Oh, and my brother sent me a sandbox shovel and a beachball for the desert. I took the shovel outside and tried to dig up the desert, but I hit a rock. (And the cops were giving me a funny look, wondering why I was trying to tunnel out.)
iPod Update: So last week, I decided that I would listen to all the songs on my iPod in alphabetical order while I am at work. I am currently on 208 of 893. The current song is Don’t Phunk With my Heart, by the Black Eyed Peas. BTW, they seem to serve Black Eyed Peas every other day in the dining halls.
Movie of the Week: This week I am watching The Life Aquatic. It has Bill Murray in it. Let me know how you like it. Don’t give the ending away or else, I will come over there and…do something…I will let you know when I decide.
Picture of the week: I didn’t attach one last week, so you get a treat; 3 this week. One of them is a punishment for me. The first one is the inside of the tent. My bed would be on the far left, the farthest one. It is the one with the bright light coming from the bedpost, which is actually my reflector belt. The second is the outside of the tent. I’m on the left, Matt Henry and Joe Bicknell from W-P are the other two. You might have thought I took that pic, but you would be wrong. The third pic is the fog. You can kind of make out my trailer. I think it looks like snow. (Pictures are resized so that they are email size; let me know if you want the original)
So that is it for Volume 2. I hope you enjoyed it. Please feel free to forward it to everyone you know. In fact, if you don’t forward this someone else, you will receive a miserable, horrible curse where you will no longer be able to solve multivariable calculus or figure out the meaning of life. Send me positive quotes telling me how great my writing is, or anything in particular that you want me to write about. Send complaints to the complaint department. If you don’t want to get the next edition, email me. If you think that somebody didn’t receive this newsletter, which could be possible, cause I couldn’t log into Yahoo Mail to check my contacts (it is blocked, along with MSN homepage(why?)) I tried to set up a blog, but I couldn’t do that either since it was blocked.
Until Next Time—
David in the Desert
Welcome to my email newsletter, volume 2. Due to popular demand, the number of people signing up has doubled since the last installment of the David in the Desert Saga, or I just sent it to twice as many people. Just so nobody feels left out, I attached the volume 1 newsletter at the bottom of this one. If you haven’t read it yet, scroll down to the end and read it first. And if you have read it scroll down and read it again. It is an instant classic. You know how much the Superman #1 is worth? This could very well be worth just as much! I have just as much potential as Superman! (Disclaimer: An increase in value is not guaranteed by any entity. Also, past performance is no indication of future value. Lastly, some of what I say is sarcastic or not 100% correct, so don’t take it too seriously.)
Corrections from the last letter: OK, so I forgot to name the day previously known as Wednesday. That day is now known as 120day because it hit 120 here the last day before Curryday.
Fog: It was very foggy the other morning. Have you ever been in bad fog where you can see about 20 feet? Has it ever been 90 degrees? Have you ever been covered in a sweaty water from walking through a cloud. That is what it was like here. Typically it is a little drier though, with the high of about 115ish, and the low around 80-85. It is crazy windy today. The building seems like it is shaking sometimes.
Around Camp: So you know what a pain not having “potable” water around? I go to brush my teeth and take a shower before bed, and you have to take a bottle into the “Cadillac” with you. The “Cadillac” is the bathroom trailers around here. The one by the old tent was small; about 3 sinks, 3 urinals, 4 toilets of which no more than 2 were functional at any given time, and 6 showers (all of which worked). However it constantly smelled like people were going all over the floor (I did that once. J [I’m only kidding]) and there was no place to dry off except in the middle of the trailer, which had a 3 foot long bench for all 6 people showering at the same time to use. And it was always crowded. The name “Cadillac” was a definite misnomer for that one. I would consider it more like a “Saturn Ion” or a “Geo Metro.” The one by the trailer is much nicer [re usable] and bigger. Only one or two of the 16 or so toilets are broken at any time. The only problem is that half the shower handles come off in your hand. You would think, in a place that tells you to take really short showers to conserve non-potable water, would have shower handles capable of turning off the showers. Seems like somebody should audit that. Can you just imagine getting screwed over by a “shower handle audit?” I would consider this to be more of a “Plymouth Neon”—It functions and is fine, but it has some small issues.
Anyway, back to my story. Typically, I forget to bring a bottle of water into the “Cadillac” when I go to shower and brush my teeth. Anyway, I went yesterday and I was so intent on brining my bottle of water, that I managed to forget my toothbrush. So I went back to my trailer and got my toothbrush. Then I forgot my towel. How do you forget a towel and a toothbrush when you are only going to take a shower and brush your teeth???
My “Weekend”: I went into Doha yesterday. Now where is Doha, you ask? It is in Qatar.(Duh!) It is the capital city, and 600,000 or the 800,000 people in the country live there. We went to the Souqs, the old-time markets downtown. We started at the Souq Waif. They have all these little narrow (~10 ft) stalls, some indoor, some outdoor that sell all different types of things. It is organized by section: spices, clothes, native crafts, foods, household items & tools. The spices section was so pungent; like something out of a movie, with the spices piled up next to each other. I bought a little egg shaped thing of saffron, that I will have to try to cook with when I get back. It was much cheaper than the $3,00,0000,0/oz at home. I also got a little souvenir with the different colored sands of Qatar. I got some candy too. It was yummy. I would have shared if you were here. But you could have afforded 6 and bought your own too. Then I went to the food section and got some dates. (Ha! I had you fooled.) They were like honey dipped or something, but they were really yummy.
I then went to the electronics Souq, (ah, heaven!) I bought a copy of the DaVinci code, Cars, and Nacho Libre. They were cheaper than you can buy them on the streets of NYC, and the guy in the shop showed me that they work. (DaVinci Code has my mom’s name written all over it.) We then went to the Jewelry Souq. They had the bright gold 22K gold that you don’t see in the US typically.
For lunch I had chicken kabob cooked in middle-eastern style. It was with pita and hummus and the typical vegetable platter: cucumbers, pickled cucumbers, roasted tomatoes and most importantly a very hot pepper (that means a lot coming from me!). Lunch was 20.
Now a year ago, I would have placed money that I would never in my lifetime go in the Persian Gulf. I would have lost that bet yesterday. Between 1 & 4, almost everything but the mall shuts down so we went to the mall. In the evening, we went to the Doha National Museum. You might think it was something great, but it was really nothing. Click here for a link of everything else that there is in Doha to see that we did not see.
So now that I know what they have to bring back, let me know if you would like anything. On the touristy side they have displays with all the sand colors in Qatar, magnets, fancy table cloths, native weavings, sand sculptures, little wood inlaid jewelry boxes, and stone cups. If you want something cheesy touristy, they have little metal camels and little Aladdin’s type lamps. That reminds me that I saw live camels running around. [groan] If I don’t tell you know, you are going to ask me if they had 1 hump or 2. Yes, they did. Anyway, if you have a DVD request, I can attempt to fulfill it. On the yummy side, I can bring back dates for you, unless you are my brother, who is engaged and is no longer having dates. I didn’t find Qataropoly. I did find Barbie clothes that are made in the traditional arab black woman’s dress where only here eyes show. It will go well next to another Barbie in a bikini.
Call for help: In order to continue to publish long newsletters late into the night, I need donations. Money is fine, but is completely unexpected. Better is cookies.[The ones I got today in the mail are yummy! Thank you so much! You rock! How did you know that I love PB?] But the best is PB squares.(sans chocolate) Anything you send me has to be able to not melt when the plane is sitting on 130 degree runways. Oh, and my brother sent me a sandbox shovel and a beachball for the desert. I took the shovel outside and tried to dig up the desert, but I hit a rock. (And the cops were giving me a funny look, wondering why I was trying to tunnel out.)
iPod Update: So last week, I decided that I would listen to all the songs on my iPod in alphabetical order while I am at work. I am currently on 208 of 893. The current song is Don’t Phunk With my Heart, by the Black Eyed Peas. BTW, they seem to serve Black Eyed Peas every other day in the dining halls.
Movie of the Week: This week I am watching The Life Aquatic. It has Bill Murray in it. Let me know how you like it. Don’t give the ending away or else, I will come over there and…do something…I will let you know when I decide.
Picture of the week: I didn’t attach one last week, so you get a treat; 3 this week. One of them is a punishment for me. The first one is the inside of the tent. My bed would be on the far left, the farthest one. It is the one with the bright light coming from the bedpost, which is actually my reflector belt. The second is the outside of the tent. I’m on the left, Matt Henry and Joe Bicknell from W-P are the other two. You might have thought I took that pic, but you would be wrong. The third pic is the fog. You can kind of make out my trailer. I think it looks like snow. (Pictures are resized so that they are email size; let me know if you want the original)
So that is it for Volume 2. I hope you enjoyed it. Please feel free to forward it to everyone you know. In fact, if you don’t forward this someone else, you will receive a miserable, horrible curse where you will no longer be able to solve multivariable calculus or figure out the meaning of life. Send me positive quotes telling me how great my writing is, or anything in particular that you want me to write about. Send complaints to the complaint department. If you don’t want to get the next edition, email me. If you think that somebody didn’t receive this newsletter, which could be possible, cause I couldn’t log into Yahoo Mail to check my contacts (it is blocked, along with MSN homepage(why?)) I tried to set up a blog, but I couldn’t do that either since it was blocked.
Until Next Time—
David in the Desert
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