Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar officially opened for business in late May 2014. While at that point, all commercial flights were then flying from there, there was and still is a lot of work to be done. It has been interesting to note the changes at the airport in the last five months, including the opening of the food court and many shops. I went tonight and there was definitely much more going on. I was actually thinking before I went to the airport, "golly it would be so nice to have a table that is not for food, but in a business area, where I can do my borehole logging." And bam! I saw one on the way to my gate! Like, I wish I were making this up, but it was comical to ... read more

Saturday morning we were excited to sleep in a bit.... we were leaving at 9am with our new driver as opposed to 6am which was recommended by our no-show driver. I actually liked our driver, who seemed enthusiastic to talk about his country. Jamie was not impressed. I felt bad for him. We had two other guys in the car - an old Aussie and a young indonesian - we were trying to figure out their relationship.... So, our driver lets us out in Melacca to enjoy the rest of the day, even though it was crazy busy for the Eid festivities. He had wanted to get us lunch, as part of the tour, but Jamie didn't want to deal with him and asked him for our money instead. Man, I really did feel bad for ... read more

The next morning we were able to sleep in and decided to drive to the studios rather than take the buses again. Our first fast pass was at Star Tours. I wondered if the boys would like this as each of them had found things that surprised me to scare them (Pirate makeover, disney characters, tiki birds). With Emry's head barely scraping the height restriction, we all enjoyed the ride! Then we came out and decided to take them to Muppets 3D, something our whole family used to love. G really does not like shows until about halfway through, then he either loves them or hates them. Fortunately, he loved this one. When we came out, it was pouring, pouring rain. The whole exit ramp was packed with people and when it seemed like we would ... read more

I left my friends early the next morning while they left for work. Following their advice, I had planned to visit the Santa Fe College zoo and see some gators, but the drive there was high traffic flow due to classes starting. So, I next decided to try to find the State Geological Park, where there is a giant sinkhole I guess. However, it is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, and with the gate shut, there was little to do. So, I visited Walgreens for some munchies before making my way to Orlando. Since I had time to kill, I took the back road - the land between Gainesville and Ocala is beautiful with Spanish Moss and dozens of horse ranches. After hitting Ocala, I decided to get back on the freeway. Then it was pretty ... read more

The only thing that has really changed much in the last few months is that we've hired new Project Managers, which means that I have new people to play with. So, life has been a bit more interesting and I don't feel the need to go to Dubai every other week anymore. In fact, I have not been to Dubai in about six weeks, which is very unusual, but for once, I am ok with it. Work, as usual, has been busy with lots of ongoing projects, rig breakdowns, and troublesome clients. I think this is by far the most depressing part of my job: the clients. I have a few amazing clients that talk to me like a professional or a person. But there are some clients who treat me like a dog. I actually ... read more