Since we have some Kwaj friends that are moving here we are looking to maybe move to a different villa that we could share with separate floors. Devin is here and Tera will follow. Devin and I looked at a couple of nice villas. The one we are leaning on if we can get the right price has an outdoor covered pool and bar. Nice huh! Will let you know if we move and how the search goes. Picts to follow.

Well Ramadan is now over and we are all celebrating Eid. The restaurants are now open during the day and a hungry man can have a meal without having to go all the way home for it. In celebration of Eid all Kuwait businesses have a long weekend which means so do I.

Had a nice meeting with the new incoming EOD folks for the Army and started to say goodbye to the friends we have made over the last 12 months as they ready themselves to demobilize back to Florida.

Well it is just past the one year mark for Heather and I now. We have just started year number two. Best part of the end of year is contract bonus time. Worst part will be taxes in the Spring.

We are looking really hard at property in Colorado Springs as we decide what we are going to do home-wise. We may buy property now and then start to build the house next fall. We are not sure and are taking our time with this so we get it right the first time. Any pearls of wisdom are appreciated here.

Well that's all for now. Miss you all.

The Sweeney Todd trailer is available at yahoo movies. Looks to be pretty good.

Also go to iTunes and download the Southland Tales as this really looks to be a killer flick. From the creator of Donnie Darko!!!!!!!

Well my poor Spartans lost tonight because they had no defense. Lets hope the Lions have better luck against the Redskins tomorrow.

Had a nice gentlemen over the other day from Kurdistan along with a close friend who works here in Kuwait. Saw some great photos of his family up in Kurdistan. Lots of green grass, fir trees and mountains. Not what I expected from the northern portion of Iraq. Kurdistan though is internationally recognized as a federal entity now though. Not quite the same as recognition as a country but is a start for them.

The skies are over cast as of late leading into rains probably in a few short weeks to a month.

Sounds like some jobs are going the way of the dodo on Kwaj as well. I have heard some lay offs in Logistics and at the bakery. They say possibility of more TBD. Lets all hope none more follow as I have many friends there and have not ruled out a second tour!

Well while on my ass I have been working on the plans for next summers vacation with Heather's folks to Ireland. Lining up hotels, doing logistics and budgeting. Setting up time lines so we can make it to everything we want to show them and/or see ourselves. I really get a kick out of doing this kind of thing.

Heather and I take it in turn to each year to have say of where we go on vacation. Next year is Heather's. Then 2009 is mine. I am looking at Croatia, Belgium, Luxembourg and Estonia to name a few for my choice. Anyone interested in coming in 2009 let me know.

Well surgery is over and let me say it has been a real pain in the ass. I am laid up for a week or two more and then it is back to the olde grind stone.

Devin Noel from Kwaj is moving here and will be staying with us till he and Tera get their affairs in order. It will be so nice to have some folks around we know from Kwaj.

Due to paperwork not being done my surgical procedure has been postponed till, hopefully, today. It seems the insurance company and the hospital insurance office do not like to talk to one another very much. Supposedly they only talk via fax and will not chat on the phone so if something does not go through they have no way of knowing. Wish me luck.

One thing I am doing right now is working to acquire my Yellow Belt in Six Sigma. I should finish this cert in the next few weeks and then will move onto my Green Belt and then maybe Black Belt.

For those whom don't know it is a TQM type certification that seems to be the big thing these days in corporate America. Having the cert may not get you a job but it gives you a serious leg up. The Black belt though may just land you a job as on Monster.com there are many places looking for Black Belts.

Well looks like I am outta work for two weeks as I have a small surgical procedure done. Going in tomorrow and will spend one night in the hospital and then two weeks bed rest at the villa. Nothing major. No worries.

The hospital here we are going to is cool as heck. They even have suites where you have several bedrooms for your guests, plasma TVs and even a jacuzzi in one of them. A friend of ours had is child delivered in one of these suites so the family could all stay with for several days.

Well Ramadan is into full swing here in Kuwait. The roads are dead during prayer times and packed just before and after. I think everyone should experience the driving here at one point or another in their life as it compares to nothing else on Earth.

We have a few guests staying with us this week. Ross is here from Afghanistan for a class at Arifjan. He he yet another of the transients we get from ITT in Afghanistan. Also we have with us Devin Noel. Devin is moving here as he has transferred from ITT Afghan to ITT Kuwait. If I remember correctly he and Heather will be working together.

The car is in the shop getting some new shoes and a cleaning and then we are going to put her up for sale. She has been fun but it is time we tried to optimize the money we put away so we do not have to stay here forever. I will buy another Porsche in the states though! They are just so nice and fun to drive.

Kilossi Castle just outside of the city of Limassol in Cyprus.

We had a nice time in Cyprus this past week. Had the opportunity to sip some beer and wine which is something foreign to us here in the dry nation of Kuwait. Some of the many sites included the birth place of Aphrodite, Temple of Apollo and the divided city of Nicosia. Always fun, we drove on the wrong side of the road. The weather was actually very, very humid. Though beer usually made it bearable. Surprising was the number of Russian tourists that were there. As expected almost no Americans as it is quite an out of the way kinda place as well as a distant flight for most from the US.

Well just over a week till we head on vacation. I so could use a beer right about now.

This is the start of our weekend after work today. This is the last one that will be Thurs/Fri. Starting next weekend it will be Fri/Sat. Also next week is Heathers last as a server Admin. When we get back from vacation she starts as Information Assurity. She is pretty stoked about it.

I think tonight we are off to my favorite Italian place here called Ninos. The bread and everything they make is amazing. It is nicely situated along the coast on a sea wall right in the heart of Kuwait City. It is one of the few restaurants that is actually filled to capacity almost every night.

I guess we had a 4.3 magnitude earthquake the other night and Heather and I did not even notice it. Probably cause it was after midnight and we were fast asleep. The newspaper says people went into the streets in case there was a second larger one so they were not in the house when and if it happened.

Weather is the exact same here almost every day for the past 2 months. Not a drop of rain. Sunny and hot. The only difference is the amount of wind we have blowing.

Soon the roads will be packed as all the Kuwaitis off on vacation for the summer come back home. The roads will almost double in the number of cars on them. The schools start back on the 8th of September and then a few weeks later is the start of Ramadan.

During Ramadan there is no eating, drinking or smoking in public. All restaurants, even fast food, are closed till dusk. Work hours are shortened as well. Each night the roads are busy with people going to family gatherings for dinner and feasting throughout the night. Once the sun starts to rise they again begin the fasting throughout the day until the evening. At work we have a Ramadan free room set up where the Westerners can sit drink coffee and eat out of the eyes of the locals.

Well Heather will be starting her job in the next few weeks and we need to use her vacation days so we are going to go on vacatiuon in the next couple weeks for 5 days to Cyprus. We were looking at Rome but last minute to there is too hard to get set-up and too expensive. Cyprus is a quick cheap flight for us from here. Looking forward to enjoying a beer at the pool bar and seeing some ruins. There looks to be alot to see and do there. Some say wine was first made on the island. Lots of Greek history and mythology is based from Cyprus. Should be pretty cool. We will post some pictures as soo as we get back.

Well today is Ascension day so I am off work. Three days in a row. Gotta love it. Today is the day the prophet Mohammed ascended into heaven.

Just surfing the net and working on a myspace account. More to follow on that. Still trying to figure the whole thing out. I have tried a million times to change it from Port Charlotte, Flevoland to Kuwait. Not sure where they got the Flevoland from. I have contacted them to see if they can fix this for me.

Oh and anyone winning the lottery I would like a new Maserati GT. Go to the website and build your own. She is so damn hot looking.

Official government weekends are changing here in Kuwait. Currently we have Thursdays and fridays off. Come the 1st of September we go to Friday and Saturday off. All other Islamic countries have already changed to this schedule other than Saudi Arabis from what I am being told.

Other than that it is fairly hot here but I seem to be getting use to it as I really do not notice it anymore. Temps average during the day at 130 F.

Here is a picture of me in my dishdasha that I wore at a coworkers wedding party. Weddings here are totally seperate and this was the all guys reception. The woman have a seperate hall and reception with no guys. As soon as you walk in they have staff with large jugs of perfume and everyone gets some on their wrists on the way in and out. Once inside you work your way to the groom and his father to give your congratulations and get a picture with them. After that people mill about saying hello to one another and take advantage of a very large buffet of food. Staff with tea and sweets move around the room and if you need anything you just wave them over. It was a very nice evening.

The first ever EOD movie is starting to film in Jordan and will make it's way over here to Kuwait for a little bit of filming as well. The movie I hope does not turn out to be a disappointment. The cast has changed and now stars the following:

Jeremy Renner, from 28 Days Later, SWAT and North Country plays the EOD team leader.

Ralph Fiennes, cameo, from English Patient, Schindlers List and Quiz Show plays a mercenary.

Brian Geraghty, from We Are Marshall, Bobby and Jarhead plays one of the team members.

Anthony Mackie, from We Are Marshall, Million Dollar Baby and Manchurian Candidate plays another team member.

Guy Pearce, cameo, from Time Machine, Memento and LA Confidential doesnt have anything listed I can find.

The writer Mark Boal was the embedded reporter that did a story for Playboy magazine on EOD.

The director, Kathryn Bigelow, also has directed Point Break, Strange Days and K-19: Widowmaker.

Well thats everything I have for now on the flick. Again I hope it does not suck!

Weather is about 115 degrees each day here now. Actually it is not that bad as it is a dry heat. the biggest pain in the but is if you go shopping you go straight home. If you park anywhere that is not covered for any length of time the car gets so hot inside I do not want to touch the steering wheel until the AC has time to cool things off. So food needs to be driven straight home. It is a good thing we had covered parking installed above our two parking stalls. I also have covered at work as well. Just when we are out and about that it is a big deal.

Not much new other than that. We may be looking at going to Rome, Italy for 4-5 days in September for a weekend break. Ramadan is in Spetember as well this year. Not a bad time to leave for a few days. During Ramadan all restaurants are closed during light time hours and there is no eating drinking (even water) or smoking in public or even at work. You have to be hidden in your home for any of those things.

Next summer we take Heathers folks to Ireland for a couple weeks. Should be a good time as they are pretty cool to hang out with and a good time.

Well thats about it for now. Sorry nothing to exciting but all we do here is work, rest and save money so we can buy a house. :-)

Take care everyone and keep in touch,