Hehe.. happened to snap a couple of the police car that was in the lane next to me on my way to work the other morning - see.. it’s still dark out! Yes, go to work in the dark, go home in the dark. All the day light hours I spend on post.

And these are some pictures of the wonderful sunrises we had the last couple of mornings. The colors were simply amazing to the eye and they almost look like sunsets.

It’s nice to see that people are starting to take action back home. There’s been talk of the “Big One” for as long as I can remember. There’s been talk of California falling off into the ocean and a bunch of other myths that I’m sure a lot of Cali haters wouldn’t mind. All I know is, I hope my family is out of there before something does happen.

Rehearsing for California’s Big Earthquake

By Amanda Ripley

At exactly 10 a.m. tomorrow, about 5 million people in Southern California will drop to the ground, take cover under a sturdy piece of furniture and hold on at the same time. Radio stations and school p.a. systems will play a sound track of rumbling and crashing, along with a man’s voice declaring, “If this were the magnitude 7.8 earthquake we’re practicing for today, you would be experiencing sudden and intense back-and-forth motions of up to 6 ft. per second. The floor or the ground would jerk sideways out from under you. Look around and imagine.”

If this sounds weird, it’s because it is. The Great ShakeOut, as it’s being dubbed, is the biggest public emergency drill in U.S. history — and as such, it is a radical idea. Normally, large-scale disaster drills, which happen weekly across the country, are designed for professional rescuers, emergency managers and politicians. Not for you, and not for me. In fact, the people who matter most in a real-world emergency — the neighbors, office workers and students who do the majority of the lifesaving during big disasters — are almost never invited.

California’s drill, too, originally was scheduled as an exercise for only emergency officials. That exercise, called Golden Guardian, will involve about 5,000 officials, from the local police to the U.S. military, all pretending they are responding to a major quake along the San Andreas Fault.

But in this case, California decided to invite the people too. Schools, offices and random Joes have been registering for the drill over a span of months. (In the two days after the 5.4-magnitude Chino Hills quake in July in California, 57,000 people registered.) Every city employee in Pasadena supposedly is participating, which should make for an interesting scene at City Hall come 10 a.m. You can already play a game to see if you know how to survive an earthquake. (I scored only 9 out of 14 on the first try, but now I am totally rocking an 11.) You can download audio to accompany the drill. You can watch a YouTube video about what would happen to California in such a quake. And, starting at 10:02 a.m. on Thursday, you can play a sprawling, multiplayer collaboration game called After Shock to see what happens on the other side.

Behind all this flash and exuberance is a stark reality. The southern section of the San Andreas Fault hasn’t moved in about 300 years. We know it moves about every 150 years. So California is overdue for a major quake. In April, a new report concluded there is a 99.7% chance that a magnitude 6.7 or stronger quake will shake California within the next 30 years.

But most Southern Californians cannot readily imagine a quake of that scale. They haven’t experienced one before, so they don’t know how the g-forces will feel. The intent of the ShakeOut drill is to hijack the imagination. “Time and again, we’ve heard that there is a weak link between the scientific understanding of quakes and the ability of the public to pay attention and change their behavior,” says Mariana Amatullo at the Art Center College of Design, one of the organizers of the event. “The goal was to find new opportunities for the public to be a little more resilient and empowered.”

In earthquakes, most people do exactly the wrong thing. “Unfortunately, adults fail miserably when it comes to quake-safe actions,” says Inés Pearce, a spokeswoman for the Earthquake Country Alliance, the umbrella group for all the organizers. They run outside or inside. Or they run to a doorway, which is no longer considered wise. Most injuries occur when people try to move during the shaking. It is much safer to drop, cover and hold on close to wherever you happen to be standing. Children actually are much better at this — because they have regular drills in school.

So populist drills like this can save a lot of lives. As things stand now, if Thursday’s “quake” actually happened, about 1,800 people would die and 53,000 would be hurt. Damages would reach an estimated $213 billion. Most people would be without electricity, clean water, ATMs, YouTube videos and multiplayer collaboration games for weeks or months.

Guess I spoke a little too soon about the rain the other day. Hasn’t really rained since (except for a few clouds and some sprinkles here and there), and I miss it. Granted, I don’t miss the mud, and I’m glad that’s drying up.
I don’t know what it is, but I just don’t feel like being at work today. My roommate (who also happens to work with me), told me the other day when I got home that all of the guys in the main office are so glad that I’m out here and that I’m doing a wonderful job. We had only 1 reject so far, and I’ve got a good rapport with the military, so it’s helped out a lot. Made me feel pretty good considering I’ve had no formal training what so ever on what to look for when processing all of this paperwork. I’m just that good I guess. Yet, this morning, my leads found a way to kinda ruin that small, proudness I had. Not going to get into it, but yea, kinda through me for a loop. That’s the one thing I hate about here - people are always so ready to drag you down. It’s like you’re not allowed to be happy.
Anywho, not much else to talk about. Just glad I’ve got a little over a month left before I get to go home.

 Pictures of the sunrise this morning after the rain stopped. If you look in the second picture, towards the bottom, you can see a bright orange spot - that would be the sun. It’s been nice the last three mornings waking up to a fresh rain. It feels like I’m back home again. Coincidently, my mom says it was actually raining back home (California) too. So, she’s sharing in this lovely break - however, it never gets to above 105­° F back home during the summer either. And less humidity.

Suddenly, it may be cool to be an American again

By WILLIAM J. KOLE, Associated Press Writer

VIENNA, Austria – She was a stranger, and she kissed me. Just for being an American. It happened on the bus on my way to work Wednesday morning, a few hours after compatriots clamoring for change swept Barack Obama to his historic victory. I was on the phone, and the 20-something Austrian woman seated in front of me overheard me speaking English. Without a word, she turned, pecked me on the cheek and stepped off at the next stop. Nothing was said, but the message was clear: Today, we are all Americans.
For longtime U.S. expatriates like me — someone far more accustomed to being targeted over unpopular policies, for having my very Americanness publicly assailed — it feels like an extraordinary turnabout. Like a long journey over a very bumpy road has abruptly come to an end. And it’s not just me.
An American colleague in Egypt says several people came up to her on the streets of Cairo and said: “America, hooray!” Others, including strangers, expressed congratulations with a smile and a hand over their hearts. Another colleague, in Amman, says Jordanians stopped her on the street and that several women described how they wept with joy.
When you’re an American abroad, you can quickly become a whipping post. Regardless of your political affiliation, if you happen to be living and working overseas at a time when the United States has antagonized much of the world, you get a lot of grief. You can find yourself pressed to be some kind of apologist for Washington. And you can wind up feeling ashamed and alone.
I’ll never forget a ride in a taxi in Vienna when the world was waking up to the abuses wrought by U.S. troops at the detention center for suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. My driver, a Muslim, was indignant. “You are American, yes?” he asked in that accusatory tone so familiar to many expats. “Uh, no, Canadian,” I said. And it wasn’t the first time I fudged where I was from. I speak three foreign languages, so I have a bit of flexibility when it comes to faking. At various times, I’ve been a German in Serbia, a Frenchman in Turkey, a Dutchman in Austria. I’m not proud of it. But when you’re far from home, and you’re feeling cornered, you develop what you come to believe are survival skills.
Last spring, after the Bush administration recognized Kosovo’s independence, a Serb who overheard my American-accented English lobbed a beer can at me in central Vienna. He missed, but spat out an unflattering “Amerikanac” and told me where to go. On another occasion, an Austrian who heard my teenage daughter chatting with a friend pursued her, screaming, “Go Home!”  Physical attacks on Americans overseas are rare. Yet some of us felt vaguely at risk.  Maybe it was just the hostility we’d encounter even in friendly venues such as cocktail parties, when our foreign hosts would surround us and demand to know why U.S. troops were roughing up inmates at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison. Or refusing to sign the U.N. Convention Against Torture. Or rejecting the Kyoto accord on climate change. Maybe it was the State Department, which issues regular travel advisories urging Americans to keep a low profile even in tranquil Austria. 
Often, of course, I’ve pushed back — reminding critics that most Americans are decent and generous souls, quick to respond with money and manpower whenever and wherever in the world catastrophe may strike.
My children came of age in Europe, and in a hostile post-9/11 world we had to teach them to avoid being too conspicuously American. Don’t speak English loudly on the subway. Don’t wear baseball caps and tennis shoes. Don’t single yourselves out, guys, and even worldly wise Americans can unwittingly become targets. We didn’t overdo it, but there’s always been that tension. That difficult-to-describe sense of vulnerability. That nagging instinct that maybe we’d better watch it, because our government is intensely unpopular and we’re not entirely welcome. I know Americans who at times have felt that way even in laid-back Vienna, where the greatest danger is probably eating a bad pastry.
That’s what made Wednesday’s unsolicited kiss so remarkable. I don’t want to read too much into an innocent smooch, but it didn’t feel particularly pro-Obama, even though the new U.S. president-elect enjoys broad support here. No, it seemed to impart two sentiments I haven’t felt for a long time: friendship and admiration.
Obama captured it in his acceptance speech — this sense that despite holding America’s feet to the fire, the rest of the world is rooting for it and wants it to lead and succeed. “Our destiny is shared,” he said, “and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.” Overnight, Americans did something their harshest critics in Europe have yet to do: elect a person of color as head of state and commander in chief. That gives U.S. citizens some bragging rights, even if a lot of us would just as soon eschew hubris and embrace humility.
I’m a marathon runner, and I have a red, white and blue singlet that I’ve seldom dared to wear on the Continent. Marathons are difficult enough without enduring catcalls and jeers from spectators.  But my best friend and training partner — who is French — just gave me his stamp of approval. “Will you wear your Stars and Stripes shirt now? You’re allowed!” he told me.

I’m an American. I live & work in Kuwait. Never in my life have I ever been ashamed to be an American. Yes, I’ve been called every word in the book by people here, I’ve been spat on, given dirty looks - but I AM AN AMERICAN, and I have never denied it. When people ask me where I’m from, I tell them the US. I was given birth to and raised by a woman who served her country with the UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS. I serve my country by working for those who go out and defend my and every other TRUE AMERICAN’s rights to fly our flags, have rights, practice our choice religion, and speak out. The brave men and women of the UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES who give their lives to defend the rights of those who go out and speak against them.
Regardless of what our government does or who runs MY COUNTRY, I will proudly say that I am an American, born and raised.  I don’t need anyone’s approval to wear my country’s colors, support my troops, or wave my flag - 365 days a year, rain or shine.
This is why I don’t get involved in politics.

Well, been watching the news all morning, and it looks like Mr. Barack Obama, is the new President of the United States of America. I’m not big on politics, never have & never will because there is too much bull involved in all of it, but all I can say is that time will tell. I can only hope that his “promises” of change do take place. That’s why, when someone is running for office, they could promise me the moon - but what they do once inside the Oval Office is a whole other story.

Guess I better get back to work, while I still have a job.

Winter is finally here! No more 100º F + degree temperatures *knock on wood*! Gimme that rain, cloudy skies, and cold weather any day! For instance, now, it’s a cool 64° F, with showers here and there - in fact, it’s been here all day. Pretty soon, I’ll be boarding a plane and heading towards good ol’ California. And I hope it’s not sunny, lol.

Not much else is happening now, really. The boy and I went to one of the little amusement parks here yesterday. When he headed up that way it was raining, but it stopped in time for us to enjoy the park. Hadn’t ridden on a roller coaster in so long I almost forgot what the rush felt like! We’re going to Entertainment City on the 13th, so that should be fun. I can’t wait!!

Industrial sunrise

Took that this morning as I was coming back out to my office, usually the spot where I take so many pictures in the morning. And of course, you can still see a few clouds lingering from yesterday’s off and on rain/thunderstorms. Today is a beautiful day though - one of those where I wished I was home, sitting in the living room, music on, window open, playing on the computer, or cleaning, or just watching a movie. Feeling the breeze come in off the ocean. Meh.. there’s always Monday!

Sunday, the boy and I were supposed to head up to Entertainment City, which is an amusement park here in Kuwait. However, I just checked they’re not even open on Sundays :(. So, we’re gonna just drive around I guess. Go down to Fahaheel and browse the shops in the bazaar. I need to find a jewelers who can make the cartouches and not charge me a ridiculously outrageous price on them! They see American and they’re like, “Cha-ching!” Bad enough the Kuwaiti dinar costs so much ($3.72 per 1 KD was the last price that I got).

Yea, other than that, not much else to write. Wondering actually if we’re going to get any more rain tonight. Still seeing the results around the base from yesterdays storm. Would be great if it did - tomorrow is Halloween!! Yay!! Unfortunately, in Kuwait, Halloween isn’t celebrated, due to it’s Pagan roots, and per an article in the Kuwait Times (30 Oct 2007), Mr. Ben Garcia says,

“In the past, some lawmakers in Kuwait have criticized schools and other institutions for elaborately celebrating this Western tradition which, according them, are not in line with their religious beliefs and culture as it encourages witchcraft and wizardry. Some parents were disappointed but there are Muslim parents who praised lawmakers for blocking these pagan traditions.”

*sniff* I miss the states.

We’ve been having some really beautiful sunrises lately here in Kuwait - they almost look like sunsets. We’ve actually been starting to have some relatively comfortable weather too. Yesterday morning (when the above pictures where taken) we had a light rain shower, which was just enough to dirty the windows on the car on the way in to work. We also had a light shower this morning, just enough to wet the ground here in Mangalf. This morning when I left the house, I looked across the road and saw one of the old Kuwaiti fishing boats heading into the small harbor over by the Sultan Center at the Al Kout mall. The sky was dark with an incoming storm, and the water looked pretty choppy. Wish I had had my camera with me, but I wouldn’t have had enough time to run back up to my room to grab it and get a picture, but I’m sure it will be out again.

Got all of the pictures up in the gallery from the trip I took with the boy last weekend to the Scientific Center. It was fun, I felt like a kid again in there. Favorite part had to have been the aquarium. In the larger shark tank, it was just so peaceful to just sit there and watch them all swim around, the different species interacting, predators and prey.

I love that I am finally able to get out and explore this country. I’ve been here for almost two years and was beginning to think that I would never get to see some of the hidden gems of this place. Next weekend, the boy and I are going to try to go up to Entertainment City, which is the big amusement park here in Kuwait. Hopefully the weather holds out for us.

My first comment ever! And from someone who runs a site that I love to sit and browse for hours!

And to answer her question, I didn’t! There was a pole in the ground on the beach, and I had to balance it on there (which explains why the ground is shaky looking, and I didn’t have the flash on), along with resting the lens on my hand, which was resting on top of the pole. So, once I hit the button, I had to hold the camera as still as I could while it was capturing the image!