Sweat the Small Stuff
I got lost on the way to my meeting downtown today. Apparently the judicial building looks an awful lot like our main office complex. Luckily I left plenty of "parking time" in my schedule and a security guard pointed me in the right direction – Northwest for those playing at home. Since traffic was bumper to bumper I decided to hoof it and avoid gridlock. Unluckily my meeting was at 1:30 in the afternoon and the daytime high temperature was hovering around 115F with sandy winds blowing 30mph and a UV Warning in place… so by the time I arrived at the correct building with 2 minutes to spare I looked like I’d just participated in the new desert biathlon event, the one that combines running a marathon with sand volley ball. I should have found a restroom to rinse my face (and teeth), but in my desire to reach the meeting on time I went straight to the 5th floor conference room. I wiped my brow and upper lip with my shirt sleeve before turning the corner – thinking "that should take care of it, I’m in air conditioning now".
Despite my best attempts I was the last to arrive for the meeting, so we began as I sat down. No glass of water, not a breath of air conditioning, and it was at this point that I began to feel the longer term effects of my 10 minute walk in the sun. My body was radiating heat at an incredible pace – like when you’re trying to go to sleep with a bad sunburn. 5 minutes into the meeting I had BEADS of sweat on my forehead, lip, arms, and back… quite visible for all participants – but I was representing my supervisor, so I couldn’t just skip out. I muscled through the hour and a half discussion, and as I got up to leave the Qatari next to me asked if I "needed" a glass of water, which I respectfully declined using some witty comment about growing up in Arizona… cactus… etc. I was just happy to get out of the room before they started asking if I needed to lie down. For others struggling with mid-meeting sweat, either from nervous energy, poor personal hygene, or long walks in the desert - I found a great natural remedy (ad attached above). *For those who've met my dad, doesn't it appear that he modeled headbands in a previous life (think Harrison Ford - scar).
7 comments:
Although I may not be as "Blog" savvy as you are I suggest you take some advice and "smooth over" that last observation about the man in the sweatband ad resembling your father in any way, shape or form! Maybe post a younger photo of Harrison Ford (just read yesterday that he's 65 and your father is 50)to make ammends before HE sees it. And if you even THINK about posting some strange photo of a woman in the future and referencing a comment about your Mother you might want to think twice about it! (Unless of course she is 20 years old and very hot! I suppose all the women in Qatar are hot! Catch my pun? You know -the tempurature!)Ha! Well, this will probably be the only comment I make on your blog and would like to say that I too miss Brent's writings. One last piece of advice - next time take the offer for a glass of water!
As one who now lives in the south and considers heavy perspiring as one of my few strengths, I can definitely feel for you B. Thank God you dont have the humidity to deal with. That makes me look like I always just got back from a 10 minute walk across a Qatar parking lot (minus the grit in my teeth of course).
I stand by my assessment that the man in the sweatband and my dad are related - I will admit that my dad looks much younger, but the resemblence is unmistakable. Currently no plans to find any strange photos that remind me of my mom - men typically take photographic comparisons much better.
FYI... The humidity is supposed to move in at the end of the month and stay through September, combining the heat of Phoenix with the humidity of Houston. I may carry a spare dress shirt in my car should I need to venture back to the office downtown.
I feel your pain with the heat. While the ocean here pulls the humidity out of the air, our building only runs the air conditioners when they run all generators (like 8-4). Since I'm so lucky that I get to work longer hours than that, I get to wipe away sweat that has fallen from my forehead onto my computer. When I'm tired and start drinking coffee, I could just about power my computer off of the body heat I generate.
Glad to see that you are making witty comments over there. You better keep that trend so I can have some competition when we work in Houston together again. I'm sure your Qatari friend completely understood your reference to Arizona.
I'm curious, do you not have a gardener like you have cleaning assistance in the villa? I figured gardening would be the last thing in the world anyone would want to do in Qatar.
well I'm definately not gonna try to compare houston heat to your crazy-triple-digit-teen temps. I also love the typical, no I don't need any water...water is for the weak, in fact I've never even drank a drop in my life, I hate water. I'm gonna have to say I would've gone the same route. The key to saying all of this is just to make sure that you don't become too pale or pass out in the middle of the speach, because after you pass out you definately have show that you're still a man by finishing your speach where you left off...which is minorly embaressing when you are taking breaks in your speach about how you hate water to drink water. Long distance high-5 for the Texan attitude.
completely unrelated, I think me and Bullwinkel could make a great crime fighting team, gang, or bid for president. Just think of the possibilities here, Bull/Ox '08, or in other news Bull/Ox have thwarted a group of mobsters, or maybe best yet, the Bull/Ox gang struck the First Bank again making out with gagillions. I'm just sayin...
I love reading your blog! As I read your adventures I often find myself laughing and thinking what a great experience for you both. Sheri, why were you pulling weeds???? I can hear you now saying you learned it from me! I look forward to your next entry!
Good work on the weed pulling Sher! I myself am learning all about gardening. The other week I learned to have your mom come visit often so that she can pull weeds while you're at work.
Hope you guys are doing well!!!
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