Here is a picture of a mall in Doha, Qatar. Yes, that is a skating rink in the middle of the mall. My unit commander authorized me to go on a four day pass to Doha, Qatar. How could I pass that up! What a difference Qatar is from Iraq, as you can imagine. Qatar is an extremely wealthy country - I just read today that Qatar has donated $100 million to the US for the Hurricane Relief Fund. Wealth is evident everywhere - upscale mall, booming skyscrapers in construction, no trash on the streets or even poor people, etc. Iraq is almost at the complete opposite of the spectrum - crumbling, ancient infrastructure, trash everywhere, little construction, and threats of violence constant in the air. Here in Qatar, the base here offers MWR activities (MWR = morale, welfare, and recreation). The other day I took a trip to a local mall and except for most of the shoppers wearing either long flowing white robes (men) or long flowing black robes (women) I would have thought I was back in the USA at an upscale mall - very impressive.

It is nice to take a break after being �in-country� for a little over three months - where has the time gone? It is nice to wake up and have absolutely no responsibilities - the questions of the day around here are: should I go to the pool after or before my run? How much reading time do I want to do before the free movie starts at the base theater? Should I go for chicken quesadillas or ribs? J

The summer is over - and I think about the school season starting for my daughters. Another season has commenced - my favorite one actually being the fall. I hope everyone has enjoyed their summer and is looking forward to this fall season with their friends and families.