AUAB Gym

hello all. another post from the 'desert.' i went to the gym this morning to work out and figured id take some pictures while there. its a REALLY nice gym as you can see. here is the basketball court. the divider is down in the middle of the gym in this shot.

here is the cardio room. this is where most of the classes take place (no, i dont know the people in the picture :)

the cardio machines. bikes, treadmills, ellipticals, and stair-steppers out of the frame to the left

weight machines. TONS of them, all really nice and new

the weight room

and of course the pool

so yeah, as you can tell, im never at a loss for things to do at the gym. im pretty spoiled in fact! another perk of being in the air force, every base has a gym like this. so no matter where we are stationed, we will have a great gym to work out in and wont have to pay a membership fee to go!

A Great Day Off

so i had a fanTAStic trip downtown yesterday. it began with a stop at our favorite local food shops, Al-Ennabi and the Juice Stall next door. here are chris and i anticipating the amazing food and beverages that await us.

the oven they bake the bread in, that is my nan comming out right now.

the glorious meal. hummas and nan and a schwarma. the schwarma is flat bread filled with shaved meat (usually lamb), lettuce, some sort of amazing sauce, and a french fry or two (you know, potato). its all rolled up nice and tight and is a delicious flavor explosion from first bite to last.

after lunch we hit up the juice stall. here is a sample of their menu, juice from dozens of different fruits. fresh fruit is pured in the blender to order, some with ice, some with ice cream, and some just straight up fruit. my favorites so far have been watermelon and mango.

the luxurious intercontinental hotel in doha. this was the site of our day of relaxation. here is half the pool. if you swim under the bridge (by the gazebo on the right), there is another identical half on the other side of the gazebo. and that is a swim up bar on the left there...

this was our spot for the day, in the shade of the palm trees. it was a fantastic place to lie and read and enjoy the scenery! it was a nice comfortable 80 degrees or so and there was a refreshing breeze rustling through the fronds overhead. this was, without a doubt, one of the best places i have ever woken to at the conclusion of a nap.

this was my view down to the beach while lying in my lunge chair.

a parting shot of the bay. this doesnt do justice to just how magnificently deep teal the water was. it was beautiful!

this was one of the best days off ever! and to think i am getting hazardous duty pay for this! this was hands down the best day of my deployment thus far.

More Pics of Base

some more pictures i have taken around base.

a vast expanse of barren qatar desert

the sun setting over a group of parked c-17s and construction equipment. there is construction going on EVERYWHERE on base and its all run and managed by my fellow CE compadres and i

the qatari gate onto base

"the bra"

my office and al udeid CE headquarters reside in this fantastic looking building...

hanging out in my cube... this is where i spend 10-12 hours of my day. assuming i cant get out of the office (which i actually do quite often).

me and the CEP gang.

379 ECES, 500 strong here on base. i am in the third row, third from the right.

Al Udeid Flightline Fest

today we had a flightline fest here at the deid. there were several planes set up for display and tour. EOD, the army patriot folks, the fire dept, and the dirt boys (heavy equipment) also had displays set up. I took a TON of pics, but here are my favorites.

e-8 JSTARS, used for monitoring motion on the ground; friendly and foe tracking

c-17 (cargo jet) from the window of a kc-135 (aerial refueler)

c-17 detail

a shot of the b-1 taken out of the top portal of a c-17

the sweet b-1 (aka bone)

a patriot launcher (we may or may not have some of these here, i am not at liberty to say :)

holding the sniper rifle that EOD uses

me standing in the cargo bay of a C-130

JUUUUUUUUUUUICE!!!

For those of you who don't know, for the past few weeks Oliver has been doing what Pam and I call his "Juice Howl". Typically before this, Oliver would just repeat his request over and over in order to get what he wanted. Example: "Juice, juice, juice, juice, peeze, juice..." and so on. One day, Ollie decided this was no longer enough and that Mommy apparently did not understand that he wanted juice. Thus the Juice Howl was born. Now whenever Ollie wants juice, (or milk for that matter), he throws back his head, puckers up his lips, and gives one long sustained note of "juuuuuuuuuuice" for all to hear. Below is a video capturing this event... Enjoy:-)