At Dawn.....We Ride

Yep, this picture has been a source of my inspiration for the past couple of days. Whenever I need a good chuckle I just look at this picture!

An Amusing Billboard

Have you ever seen a billboard or a sign and wondered "What were they thinking??" or "Wow, they need to re-work that translation..."

A few years ago, back in December 2007, my family was in Kuwait for our Christmas Break. One day we were in our car driving past an area that had a ton of car dealerships. Up high on one of the car dealership buildings there was an advertisement for convertible cars. My younger sister Rachel and I started busting up laughing...

The sign read - "Drive Topless"

I'm pretty sure that the dealership did not realize it could be interpreted differently and how odd that message would be for potential customers, ESPECIALLY in the conservative country of Kuwait.

Hope that got a few of you to smile, especially if you needed a pick-me-up today.

Cheers!

Quick Trip Home to Deutschland

We’ve made it to the 10+ week mark. To help with my sanity, I keep many countdown meters. I get giddy when I can check off another day. Here are a few pictures of Jon from our trip to Maine last Christmas.

Perhaps my most favorite shot is the below picture of Jon up on Owen's (our nephew) loft. Many a times we found him quietly tinkering away with the Legos.

In case anybody was wondering…Jon is doing alright in his location. He is staying safe and keeping out of trouble :) He is often stuck at his desk (much to his dismay and my happy-comfort) but enjoys those moments of freedom when he can get outside of the ‘compound’. His back is on the mend. Jon is now running again which is great progress compared to a few months ago.

Jon wanted me to remind our friends and family that care packages are always welcome. If you would like to send him something, send me an email (or comment on here) and I can give you his address along with other useful info.

I went home to Germany a few weeks ago. I had to mail a couple of boxes to Jon, pick up some letters and boxes at the post office, and take care of some other misc errands. It was sooo lovely to be home again! At first it felt a little bit odd because I hadn't been home in a while, but I quickly got back into my Germany groove again.

Everyday after I was done with work, I would drive/walk to a field nearby to sit out and soak up the sun. One day while laying out and reading a book, I noticed that I wasn't alone. In the above picture a flock of sheep were being herded around.


Windmills in the background. The weather couldn't have been more perfect while I was home. I was very tempted to just stay and not come back to Kuwait but alas that was not in the cards for me.

Springtime in Germany means exploration! One Saturday afternoon I went exploring on some back country roads. Companions on the road were bicyclists, motorcyclists, and even a few tractors :)


The above yellow field is a Canola field (makes Canola Oil). When you are driving in our area of Germany, you will see many, many yellow fields. It is absolutely stunning! Well it is stunning until they harvest the fields, then the color is gone until the next go-around of blooming flowers :)


I parked the car and went for a hike. It was wonderful to be out in the clean, fresh air and to see the beautiful Earth! Please excuse the whitey person in the above picture. She definitely needs some more color to her palate :)

I am back here in Kuwait for a bit again. This time I brought my trusted camera with me! Hopefully I can get some more snapshots of the interesting things I see everyday... I'll have to dedicate a blog post on funny English translations.

Crazy Video Footage - 25Mar2011 Dust Storm

In the movie "Hidalgo", there is a scene where a sandstorm comes out of nowhere. This video is very similar.

A work associate shared this YouTube video with me today that displays yesterday's dust storm moving freakishly fast.

The guys in this video are speaking Arabic. My friend said that one of the guys is really scared and wants to get in his car and drive home as quick as possible. The other guy wants to see what happens.

The video is really long. I'm glad I wasn't out driving when the storm hit. But it was crazy how outside it was light and then all of the sudden went black.

Enjoy and .... don't get scared now.

Dust Storms...Yuck!

Being in Kuwait has some perks I have to admit. One is that it the temperature here is quite lovely, nice and warm :) In February, Germany was experiencing cold temperatures, snow, and gloomy days. I was happy to be here in Kuwait where it was in the 70s. This past week it was in the high 80s and actually hit 90 degrees.

Well, no place is perfect. Tonight I experienced my first full-fledged dust storm. One word can describe the experience...yuck! I can now sympathize with Jon. I remember him describing Iraq's dust storms and the awful feeling when dust gets everywhere.

For me the worst part is when it gets in your lungs. There is a haze in the house. The dust somehow seeps through the windows/blinds. I wish I had a camera at this moment because the car outside looks awesome because it is coated in dirt.

I'm cataloging this as a learning experience. Well, better get back to my there-is-nothing-to-do-nor-anywhere-to-go-riding-out-the-sandstorm movie. Bangerang!!! Rooofi-Ohhhhh! Can you name the movie? Whoever does gets a gold star :)

We're Still Here

Sorry about the blog hiatus.

Things have been pretty busy for the Dyer household for the last few months. Christmas break (3 week lovely vacation) was spent in Maine visiting Jon's side of the family. It was filled with excellent food, awesome company, and lots of family.

Once the new year began and we returned to Germany, reality hit big time. Our countdown began for Jon's 'business' trip aka deployment. We had a couple of delays and Jon's departure date kept being pushed back. For those of you who know me pretty well, I like to have a solid picture of dates, schedules, and timelines. But with Army life, you just have to throw you hands up in the air and declare submission to what the Army needs.

The original plan was for Jon to leave about a week before I left for Kuwait to stay with my family. Well, his date got pushed back so that he was going to leave the day before I left. I told Jon very seriously that he wasn't allowed to be pushed any further back. Ya, that didn't work out either. So I ended up going to Kuwait and left Jon home for another week by himself. Believe me, I wasn't too thrilled but luckily we have some good friends in our area who promised to feed Jon and look out for him.

I can now say that I have made it through the 1st month...hooray! My goal for this extended absence is to stay positive no matter what. I'm doing good so far, minus one little meltdown...it happens to the best of us :)

When I came to Kuwait I was very limited in baggage capacity so I wasn't able to pack a camera....bites doesn't it. Oh well. Luckily I have a wonderful sister-in-law who is very talented behind the lense. She took the below picture while we were in Maine.