Resting on the Kickapoo Res

Spent some much needed R&R in Horton on the res. After some rest and good eats over T-day, we enjoyed Bob's new man cave -- we thoroughly broke it in. Such good fun with such good friends. I still can't get my mind off Wathe's cleavage.

Shamal!

On one of the days that we were preparing pontoons, a shamal came up out of no where and blew a hellish amount of sand over everything. It was pretty difficult trying to keep the sand out of eyes, ears and throat!

Setting up the East Fronds

We started working in our assigned area (C32) on 11/14/2008. Our objective was to setup over 100 small floating pontoons to be used to light the water channels between each of the "fronds" on the east side of the palm. The fronds are where the houses are constructed so each house has a small beach off their backyard.

The pontoons each held 8 cakes (the first five being smaller diameter cakes as the waterway is narrower closer to the trunk). The cakes were set on the platform in order, secured using bailing wire and then their igniters wired into a firing panel. Finally, they were covered with plastic and towed to their location where each was secured with multiple anchors. It took 3 days prepare and place each pontoon another 3 days interconnect them all and make connections to the shore.

Product

Though we were all assigned to specific locations (4 separate areas of the show), everyone worked in C8 for the first 2 days while we waited for a shipment of product. Once it arrived, like all the equipment, the amount was mind boggling.

Massive Amounts of Fireworks Equipment

We started working on 11/12/2008 in an area known as C8. The scale of this show became apparent once I saw all the equipment to be used. This equipment was all new and came directly from China. At a briefing, we learned that there was to be over 100,000 fireworks for the whole show.

Hotel Location

Located very close to the Palm Jumeirah where we'll soon be working for a couple weeks straight through, the neighborhood is kind of interesting. The satellite view is dated now as many of these areas are far more developed than shown. We're right near Media City, Internet City and Knowledge Village. I already feel smarter.



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Arrived in Dubai

Got into Dubai on Saturday morning at about 6am. I was beat as sleeping on airplanes has never really worked out for me. Got my couple cases of beer at the Duty Free (one can't buy beer here without a special license) and caught a cab to my hotel. By the time I arrived at the hotel I had a pretty awful headache so I downed some aspirin and took a nap.

I awoke a couple hours ready to check out the surrounding neighborhood.

Dubai is basically a massive construction zone. It's actually difficult to walk anywhere as the sidewalks are all disrupted by so many buildings going up. With the construction and the surrounding desert -- it's a really dirty place. Nevertheless, there's a lot of people here trying find some degree of opportunity. There is a lot of money here; clearly a playground for the wealthy.

These pictures aren't great but give some sense of what my neighborhood is like.

The Haarlem ride

A freakin amazing ride out of Haarlem.

Dutch Transport

Try to tell me these people ain't got dey shit t'gether

The Netherlands!

Tom and I rented bicycles in Haarlem and headed for the sea -- we sort of wondered all over the place but found plenty of places for some well deserved R & R along the way. We started the ride with fresh Herring Sandwiches (with pickles and onions) they were selling in Grote Markt:


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The route below is the best I can do from memory, but I think it is pretty close to the route we took. Riding bikes in Holland is such a treat -- it's clearly the preferred vehicle here. It's interesting that almost no one wears a helmet, but when you consider how safe the Dutch have made riding a bike through town it makes good sense. I'll post some pics from this ride as soon as I get them off my camera.



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