Kuwait Critter - Part 2

Well, I am a forgetful person, and I forgot the most creepy Kuwait critter of them all. We had a Camel Spider come by our quarters. Camel Spiders are fairly uncommon this far south, but they are here. This "little fella" was about 3-4 inches across (note the 2x4 board and boot toe in the pictures). How's that for creepy, Mel?

Nice Teeth!

Nancy, Dup, and I goof off in the admin tent.

Kuwait Critters!

With Kuwait being so hot and dry, I never thought that much wildlife would be found here. The truth is, the desert is a critter hot spot!

Here are just a few of the critters I've seen running around Camp Arifjan.

Desert foxes are seen on camp every now and again. They are generally seen roaming around alone, but a fellow customs sailor captured this truly rare image of a mother and her pups eating a lizard near our admin tent, what a great shot!

There are lizards aplenty around these parts. Here is a lizard that was basking on a rock at the Retrograde Yard right outside of the customs shack.

Scorpions are also pretty common in Kuwait. One day, this normally nocturnal scorpion payed us a surprise day time visit!

I'm all for wildlife stopping in for visits, but this Sand Viper was an unwelcome guest to our admin tent! Sand Vipers are very aggressive, are known to strike a single victim several times, and have very potent venom! One of our sailors CAREFULLY herded this stray bandit into an office trash can until the camp animal control dude could get him out of the area. The good news, no anti-venom was needed!

Prior Lake Fire News.

The Prior Lake Fire Department has been a busy place. I just wish I could be there to see all of the changes in person. Last week, city council members and firefighters came together for a ground breaking ceremony officially starting the construction of our second fire station. Fire station number 2 will be located on County Road 21 at Fountain Hills Drive. Station number 2 is scheduled to open in the spring of 2008. For more info, visit:

http://www.cityofpriorlake.com/FireStationNo.2Project.shtml

PLFD recently took delivery on 2 new fire trucks as well.

PLFD 9222

They took delivery of truck number 9222, a new pumper built by Custom Fire Apparatus in Osceola, WI. 9222 features a 2006 Peterbilt 335 chassis, seating for 6 firefighters, a 750 gallon water tank, 1750 gallon per minute pump, and enclosed pump panel. The truck was delivered in July of 2007. 9222 is an addition to the PLFD fleet in preparation for fire station number 2.

PLFD 9280

PLFD also took delivery of truck number 9280, a new areal platform built by E-One in Ocala, FL. 9280 features a 2007 E-One Cyclone II chassis and a 100' Bronto-Lift articulated areal platform. 9280 replaces our old ladder truck, a 1985 American LaFrance with a 75' areal ladder.

Weird Grey Things!

Hello All,

Well, we awoke to a weird site this morning. At 5AM, the sky was covered with this weird grey substance! After checking air quality and ensuring it was not a biological attack, we concluded that the sky was simply overcast. This was the first occurrence of clouds since late April, and we had simply forgotten what they were. No worries, though, the intense Kuwait summer sun won the battle and the clouds were gone by 8 0clock!

In other news.....
The heat is definitely on! The airport (70 kilometers north of here) has been reporting 120-125 degrees for the past week. The troop medical clinic, here on base, reported 129 degrees a week ago....yes, it was inner gates of hell type of hot! In fact, I'm pretty sure I saw Satin himself sunbathing by the base pool! I guess it could have been a really ugly and sunburned Army dude.........who knows?
Our company is starting up another dodge ball league (as if the first go around was not punishing enough). We had so much fun with the base league, that we are starting one of our own! We are also looking forward to Navy Customs Battalion's second Texas Hold-em tournament, the last one was a blast!
Well, that's all I have to report, what can I say, my life is lacking on great human interest stories.

Till next time,
Zimm

PLEASE PRAY!!!!

Please join me in praying for the victims of the bridge collapse! Please also pray for the safety of the fire and rescue personel working the scene.

Thank you!
Zimm

Random Picture

I can still find the time to clown around!
(No, I did not take up smoking, and it is not lit.....I just could not pass up the photo opportunity!)

What I Am Reading.

A group of guys and I are currently working through this really cool bible study.

Thank You Shipmates!

A special thank you to my shipmates from the Navy Operational Support Center (NOSC) Minneapolis. They took time from their busy schedules to help Holly out by painting the shed and doing a little yard work.

LCDR Greg Gallman and "Holly's picture perfect husband"

The crew got some help from (L to R) Eryn, Lizzy, and Zach

The crew did a great job, and even let Zach, Eryn, and Lizzy do a little painting too.

The Crew from NOSC Minneapolis with Ziggy and "Holly's picture perfect husband"

Thank you for your help and living up to the Navy Core Values of honor, courage, and commitment. You folks are the best, and I look forward to working with you all to return the favor to another shipmate!

GO NAVY!

Zimm

Josh Gracin Visits Camp Arifjan, Kuwait!

On July 1st (OK, I'm a little slow at posting this!) Josh Gracin payed a visit to Camp Arifjan. Josh Gracin, for those who are not familiar with him, is a former U.S. Marine, finished fourth place on American Idol 2, and is a nationally known country music artist.

USO poster announcing Josh Gracin's Visit

Josh Gracin (black shirt)takes the stage during sound checks

Mr Gracin took to the stage at 7pm and rocked the house! Despite the hot evening (it was still 112 degrees at show time) he put on a great show lasting nearly 2 hours. After the show, he spent nearly 3 hours keeping his promise to "meet and give an autograph to everyone that wanted one". Mr Gracin was a class act and put on a great show! Thank you for coming, Josh Gracin!

For more pictures from the concert, visit: http://kipandmichele.com/CustomsJuly1Concert.html

More Familiar American Companies in Kuwait

McDonald's

Starbucks Coffee

FedEx (Just for you, Ytt.)

Fellow sailors hang out at Caribou coffee

Operation Cookie Drop

Jolynn Wilhite poses with donated Girl Scout cookies from Operation Cookie Drop.

A huge thank you goes out to some very special New York residents. This monster stack of Girl Scout cookies came to us via the "Operation Cookie Drop" program of New York. This year they collected a record 27,000+ boxes of Girl Scout cookies for the Troops, and we received a nice treat from home! Thank you to all who donated cookies!

Greetings from Qatar!

Greetings!

Well, I just finished a 4 day pass to Qatar (pronounced cutter). Qatar is a small country situated on a peninsula half-way along the west coast of the Arabian Gulf, between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

One of the perks of Qatar.....REAL beer is authorized on base (below)!

I spent my pass relaxing, sleeping in, and going on tours into the main city in Qatar, Doha.

One of the cooler tours we took was the cultural tour.

The tour took us to several locations around Doha, including a racing camel ranch (above), and the old souk (below). Souks are marketplaces found throughout the middle east. The advantage to souks is that the shopkeepers are always willing to negotiate their prices, making it a hot spot for bargain shoppers. We also visited a large gold souk. No, I did not buy any gold...sorry honey!

Besides visiting souks and a large mall to satisfy our shopping needs, the tour also took us to several tourist attractions.

One of the main attractions was the large clam statue (above). Pearls are a big industry for Qatar, as the statue would suggest! We also visited a nice restaurant for lunch, and toured several other sites during the day long tour.

I spent my birthday on a dhow cruise. We anchored the dhow about a mile from the Qatar coast, 500 yards from a sand bar (above......don't ask how I took this picture, Holly would kill me if she knew I swam out from the dhow holding the camera over my head............DARN!! I've said too much!) . Once there, we swam, ate dinner, socialized, and took in the sunset. As a sailor, it was nice to get out on the water again! I must admit, despite not having my sweetie there to enjoy the view with, I had a good time.

So, there is the last four days in a nut shell! I hope you enjoy the pictures, I'll try to post more later!

'Till next time,

Zimm

In loving memory of Margaret Zimmerman.

I miss you, mom!

It's been a while, here's an update!

Hello all! Sorry it has been so long since the last posting. Life has been flying by here in the "crappy sand box", and Holly let me know that it was time to update the blog, so here we go.

I recently took a morale, welfare, and recreation (MWR) trip out into Kuwait City. We made a few stops, the first being the Grand Mosque of Kuwait.

The total size of the mosque is 20,000 square meters, and the main prayer room (above) can accommodate 10,000 (ten thousand...not a typo!) men during prayer time. The mosque was started in 1979, completed in 1986, and the gross cost was roughly 48 million U.S. dollars.

Our next stop was the Kuwait Towers.

The Kuwait Towers (above) were also built in 1979. The tallest of the 3 towers (with two spheres) is 180 meters tall. The lower sphere has a restaurant (great buffet...mmmm food!) and the upper sphere has an observation deck with a breath taking view! The second tower (with one sphere) is 140 meters tall. The single sphere is a 1,000,000 gallon water tank. The last tower (no sphere) and is also 140 meters tall.

As you may know, grass is all but nonexistent in Kuwait, so the lawn at the Kuwait Towers had to have been the highlight of the trip.......I think the picture says it all!

Our last stop for the day was the Center City Mall. This was a large American style mall, and most of our group spent the whole time at the Caribou Coffee. It was a very nice, relaxing day.

In other news........

Our dodge ball team (above) had a great time playing in the base dodge ball tournament. We won a few games, and lost a few games. When it was all said and done, we ended up with a couple bloodied noses, one black eye, and we all had huge smiles on our faces! It was a lot of fun.

On July 4th, 23 co-workers and I joined over 1000 other people in running the Kuwait division of the Atlanta Peach Tree 10K (6.24 mile) run. This was my first 10K run, and I had set a time goal of 1 hour in which to finish the run. I finished in 1 hour, 6 minutes, and 5 seconds. I was very happy with the time! I really did have a good time, and it felt good to finish the run without walking (no lie...I ran the whole thing!).

Well, there is the past month in a nut shell. Not much else to report, so I'll sign off

Until next time,

Zimm