WHAT A YEAR!!!

As my holiday time in the United States came to a close, I started to think back on 2010.  What an amazing year, full of incredible blessings beyond what anyone ever expected.  That's always how it works out though isn't it?  I have made some incredible friends, done some incredible things, and seen some incredible sites.

So I thought it would be nice to reflect back on quite a year, and take all of you along for the ride.  Some of these events you may remember, others may be new.  I'm sure I will leave out some favorite moments (ducks, Cairo, etc.) but I will try and make up for it with some new winners.

This was Houston 1 week before I left the United States for good....yep, that's snow.  It was miserable.  Little did I know, I would be whining for some of that cold weather in 4-5 months!



Marty never complained once about the move.  As long as he controlled the TV remote, he was alright.

I was so excited to get into my new digs, but when Schlumberger announced they were buying Smith International (Wilson's parent company), my Saudi residency went into a holding pattern.  Without that residency visa I couldn't move any personal items into the country; I lived out of a suitcase from January-April until my stuff finally arrived in May (visa taken care of!)  Here's what an apartment with no books, radio or pictures looks like.

No personal items...no problem.  Keep on plowing ahead.  In mid-April Wilson sponsored a booth at the SABIC Technical conference in Jubail.  Peter O'Neill (UK) and Tommy Broussard (Dubai), fellow Wilson brethren, hosted with me.  For those of you who think the photo is a little blurry, well it is partly, but that's also Tommy cooling off with a brochure.  It was 98 degrees, WITH AIR CONDITIONING, in the trade show tent...a great business event for Wilson, but a miserable personal experience.

So the driving isn't great here in Saudi Arabia.  Ok, it's ranked as the second most dangerous driving environment in the world!  One of the advantages of driving in Saudi Arabia is that you tune your driving senses to an amazingly high level...dodging motionless objects, like this $110,000 Mercedes that is parked half in the street, right after a sharp turn, helps refine those senses.

Driving dangers aren't just limited to the oncoming traffic.  There is also an option to place your children in your lap...this 3 year old, whose head you can barely see, is learning the basics of driving from her father while sitting in a brutal line at the causeway to Bahrain.  Awesome!

While we're on the subject of safety, this office building did an entire refurbishment during the summer.  These laborers plowed along like it was nothing...of course not having to wear safety equipment or haul anything to the street helps...just drive the dump truck up onto the sidewalk.  That way, all those folks walking to lunch can avoid falling cement as a sort of lunch-time sport.

On a much lighter note, my wobbly coat rack was healed in fine fashion.  Altaf came in one day, made a quick assessment, headed back to his office and grabbed a sticky note pad, and placed it under the short arm.  But wait, that is not the beauty of the solution.  See, the first attempt proved that our wedge was too large.  Solution?  Just pull some of the sticky notes off and make the wedge shorter.  Hence, Altaf still had sticky notes and my coat rack is fixed.  Totally awesome!

What would a year in review be without a water polo shot.  This was the blind-side-blessing from God.  I met a great group of guys that play competitive water polo.  They travelled to the FINA World Championships and won 8th in the 50+ category, and I got to join them and play open tournaments in Dubai and Qatar.  What an amazing blessing.  I made lifelong friends, got into shape, and had a release away from work.  This picture was shot at the Heine-Classic in October.  Chris Heine was leaving Aramco to join a company in Houston.  Abdi pulled together a little tournament and we had a huge turn-out.  On Christmas Day, the annual Christmas Classic took place, in which the children take on their parents.  26 people showed-up, so 4 teams were assembled.  The senior guys won of course...slime balls.

Pranks are a way of life in the Capital Projects Department, so when Jack Mason sent this photo to me, I was expecting classic hysteria.  This picture was taken in Frankfurt during the World Tube Fair...well actually, it was taken a week after the Tube Fair.  A little volcano in Iceland decided to interrupt the European continent and blow, sending smoke everywhere.  Air traffic was stopped for over a week, and even after it picked-up, it was intermittent.  The Wilson Team got tired of each other quickly, especially when one of your travel mates is constantly taking pictures and laughing at you.  From L to R, this is Cal Leavitt (Manager Capital Projects), Jim Owsley (VP Materials), and Phillip Nicolas (Director of Process Piping Sales for V&M).  Jack coined this as a record album photo for a 70s adult contempo band...works for me.

I travelled all over the Middle East in 2010.  My first trip to Abu Dhabi left me in amazement.  Check out the famous leaning building.

Or how about a giant circle building?  I'm surprised I didn't drive into the freeway divide while gazing at this building.



Tommy Broussard has let me stay at his house 3 times.  With the price of hotels in Dubai, this is a great cost saver, and a whole lot more enjoyable.  On one particularly long stay in Dubai, Tommy drove me out to the Red Dunes.  He took this picture of me as the sun set.  The sand is so soft and fine.  People go 4x4 trucking and dune buggying in these big dunes.  That's on the bucket list, but for this night, just seeing the sun set amidst the quiet of the desert was enough to be overly thankful to the Big Guy above.

Of course before Tommy and I reached those dunes we had to race some camels down the highway.  These guys are huge!  They weren't overly concerned with the two gawkers in the Land Rover.

Oman was the first country in the Middle East that I travelled to.  That was back in 2008.  It is still my favorite Middle East country because my good friend Unni Kizhake lives there.  Here is Unni accepting his 5 year service award from yours truly.  Unni is a great guy, who spent 5 years of his life in KSA!  He's been a real supporter and great friend.

So I catapulted into 2011 with a bag full of excitement.  2010 was fantastic.  I had great friends and great experiences.  I landed back in Bahrain on January 12th and taxied on over to Khobar.  On the way I had the driver stop at Wazzan's so I could grab a shwarma.  It melted in my mouth.

The week started slowly.  Everyone in the office was happy to see me back.  I really missed the guys, and realized it as they smiled when they saw me sitting at my desk.  On January 18th a huge rain storm hit Khobar.  We got an overwhelming amount of water.  1".  Yep, chaos ensued.  See, there are no storm drains here, so all the water just sits.  2011 entered with a bang, and I'm sure there is tons more fun to come.



That's what the lack of storm drains will do to you.  This is the service road I am on.  Notice that the freeway is even worse.

Notice that the high water doesn't stop people from trying to pass other cars.  My faithful Camry braved all the water and drove away to talk about it.

Have a great year everyone!