Weekend Update

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I thought I would do a quick update after the weekend. Actually, I’m already on day 2 of the workweek, even though it’s only Monday. I think I’m going to like it. It’s kinda like the workweek ends early every week and it wasn’t that bad coming in on Sunday.


Anyway, the update. After the photo extravaganza day on Friday, I made my way up one flight of stairs to the Doha Poker Tour Tournament. Although I’ve only played poker once or twice (and not for money), I thought it would be fun to play. I grudgingly handed over my 100 Riyal entry fee (About $33 Cnd) and made a big deal about "giving my money away". There were 10 of us playing—8 guys and me and Bailey. One of the guys was trash talking all of the other guys, as he’s been on some poker tours and takes his poker very seriously. Another guy wore sunglasses during the game to disguise anything his eyes may give away. Well, these poker aficionados hadn't yet had a chance to go up against “Lucky” LeLacheur. Yup, that’s right, I won the whole tournament. I won $200 Cnd. How funny is that? Most of the guys are convinced that I was lying about my inexperience. Suckers! Even though winning made my night, I still had a lot of fun with the group playing and I think I’m working with a pretty good, fun, laid-back group. Most of the people are in my age range and there are approximately 20 - 30 of us living in the apartment building, so there’s no way you will ever get lonely.


On Saturday, a bunch of us went to the Qatar Open Golf Tournament. It’s ridiculous here. You have a world class golf tournament with world class athletes (Ernie Els, VJ Singh) at a world-class golf course and no one is there—and it was FREE! That’s the thing about Qatar, they invest crazy amounts of money into sporting events like this, but no one goes. It’s quite sad, actually, but good for us! Although I’m not that interested in golf, it was a neat experience. Bailey and I had no idea where to go, so we just followed a crowd and found Mr. VJ Singh finishing up a hole! That was pretty exciting. We also discovered another Orry statue…of Orry bowling. Makes total sense, huh? A bowling Orry at the GOLF course. After golf, we went up to the apartment rooftop and one of the guys’ girlfriend did a yoga/pilates class for us. I was so energized after the class that I ended up using the huge beast in our room. Considering I haven’t worked out in about six months, I was just a wee bit sore yesterday 😊


So, that was my weekend. Not too exciting, but it was great to get a chance to get out and see a little bit of the city. Now it’s time to get down to work. I think I’ve told some of you that they’ve split up the venues between the people in my department and the new one was lucky enough to get the most highly visible venues (e.g. Khalifa Stadium (see below), which will be used for opening and closing ceremonies in addition to Athletics and Aspire Indoor Hall, the biggest indoor sporting facility in the world). Here are all of the sports that will be in my facilities over the course of the Games:


* Opening Ceremonies
* Closing Ceremonies
* Athletics
* Swimming
* Diving
* Synchronized Swimming
* Gymnastics
* Badminton
* Wushu
* Boxing
* Weightlifting
* Wrestling
* Basketball


Sounds fun! We’re presently finalizing the budgets for all of the look (fencing, fabric, structures, banners, fascia, etc.). Now, I can’t talk specifics, but let’s just say that the budget for look alone would make most of your jaws drop.


I’ve included some photos of the venues just to make you shake your head. Remember, most of these were built specifically for the Games! Crazy!


PS - Just for the record, Jac, those are brand new Converse sandals!!!

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Photos

VJ Singh
Our first celebrity run in...

Khalifa Stadium
Home of the opening and closing ceremonies for the Games.

Khalifa Stadium Perspective
If you look at the photo of the stadium and look at the middle structure (the rings), this photo will give you an idea of how freakin' big the stadium is.