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For about five years now I've wanted to hire a personal trainer. I know, it sounds crazy, and yeah, it would probably be a huge waste of money. The thing is, I have no problem going to the gym and on the treadmill or eliptical machine, but what I've always wanted was to put on some muscle.

Unfortunately, when it comes to lifting weight, I'll be the first to admit that I don't know anything. In fact, I usually end up hurting myself and/or pulling something. On those rare occassions when I don't hurt myself, I end up being so sore for the next four days or so that I can barely get myself to the gym. Which leads me to believe that I have no clue what I'm doing.

Hence the desire to hire a personal trainer. I also feel like if I spent the money, I'd be more apt to actually go do the weight lifting. I'd have something invested (other than how I look). Really, my main goal is to look the best I ever have for my honeymoon next year. It would make me feel great if by the time next May rolls around, I looked the best I ever did, and I think that Martha would be pleasantly suprised as well. She's lucky, she has one of those metabolisms that never slow down. (Which reminds me - how did my brother get that metabolism, and not me?!?)

In any case, if anyone is looking for a gift for me (say, for my birthday in September), I would really love some pre-paid sessions with a personal trainer.

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 09:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm sure you've all read about the crazy weather we've had in the DC area over the past week. The last time I saw that much rain was when Hurricane Gaston stalled over Richmond while I was in law school. Granted, that was much worse, seeing as how we got about a foot of rain in just a couple of hours... In DC we've had a foot in about 48 hours.

It's still pretty bad, although I'm lucky I have a top-floor apartment. Martha and I weren't really affected all that much, except for being caught out in the rain once or twice. The retaining wall out behind our apartment is falling down now, though. The hill is sort of held up by a wall, and with all the rain, a psuedo-mud slide occurred. The wall is now all bowed out, on the verge of toppling. This morning they were out there cutting it all up, so I wonder how they are going to fix it.

Even with all the wet weather, my allergies have been going haywire. I think maybe it is time to visit the allergist again. Not for allergy shots, but maybe, just maybe, they have some new kind of medicine that will halt these allergy attacks that make me basically unable to function. Too bad Canada discontinued the sale of Hismanil because of risk of heart attack. It was really the only medicine that ever worked on me.

Today's horriscope on my Google.com homepage seemed to be particularily on point today, for me. "Your life may seem like a puzzle with a missing piece today and it's impossible to get the whole picture. The more you dig, the further you seem from finding what you seek. For now it may be best to just let it go. Focus on what you know instead of what you don't for the best outcome."

I'm digging and digging, for almost a year now, and all I am is getting deeper into a hole. Is it better to just let it go for now and be happy with what I have? That's very hard to do when I feel like I could get what I want if I just keep looking.

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 10:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I was having a pretty good Saturday until about, oh 45 minutes ago.

I've accomplished quite a bit, though I didn't get done some of the things I was planning on - such as getting a haircut and making it our to Target. Instead, I spent about an hour and a half at the gym - running and lifting weights. Then I came back, vacuumed, cleaned our animal hair-covered rugs, and started working on the black hole that is our office. I made a nice dent in it.

Now, looking at it, I just feel like I made things worse. I'm certainly not a clean freak, but I'm really sick of feeling like no matter what I do, it never gets clean in here.

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 05:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Two weeks ago we started a fundraiser for the Johns Hopkins Ice Hockey team (which I coach). In the process of trying to get the team turned around, I have made myself a checklist of things that needed to be done. In my experience with both Oakland and Richmond, there are a few things that a team needs to be successful, and taken seriously in the ACHA.

The on thing that bothered my about last year is the fact that we have each player purchase his own jerseys. This does not lend itself well to new players, as they don't know if they are on the team until September. This is usually high demand time for jersey manufacturers, so this year our new players didn't get their uniforms until second semester. Which meant that there were several games we played without matching jerseys.

Luckily at the ACHA meeting I spoke with OT Sports, who supplies the JHU Lacrosse program, and they were very interested in making jerseys for us. They threw together a pretty nice design. I figure we have to raise about $2500 for one set of these, plus socks. We started the fundraiser two weeks ago, and we're already more than half way there. Pretty good stuff.

I'm excited about the season already. We've got some tough opponents, but I think my guys are ready to step up their level of play.

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 08:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Well, I am officially home from Doha, Qatar. I can already tell you the jet lag is much, much worse than it was when I got to Doha. I think the fact that I flew backwards in time probably had something to do with it.

In any case, it was nice to see a few things again: rain, green trees and grass, and hills. Those don't really exist in Qatar, so it was nice to see them when I got home. The 80 degrees it is here are the present moment is much more pleasant than the 100+ in Doha as well. I already miss Doha, though. I had a lot of fun there, and it highlights what is missing about living in DC. The fact that while there is a TON to do here in the city, I rarely, if ever get out. I made some fast friends while in Doha, but the same can't really be said about the big city. I'm sure in the long run it will work itself out though. I really appreciated what everyone in Qatar did for me while I was there - particularily John and Mike. They did not have to agree to take me everywhere and be the nice guys they were. It was a pleasure to work with them, though.

Now I'm back and there are so many things to get done. The JHU jersey funding drive is in full swing, and two weeks after I started it, we're already more than half way there! Great stuff. I just have to get the next $850 done, and we'll be set. With all of the hockey stuff during the summer, it's like the season doesn't end. I really could use an assistant coach.

I've also got tons of mail to go through, and some serious spring cleaning to do (even though it is summer already). Six weeks abroad certainly leaves a lot to be done when you get back. I'm just hoping I can get it all done, or at least the majority of it, before Wes and Cindy come for their July 4 visit.

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 03:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

My assignment in Doha, Qatar has officially come to a close. Six weeks really fleww by. I'm a little sad to have to go, because I had a lot of fun while there, and made some pretty good friends as well. Hopefully I'll get to go back some day.

Over the last couple of days in Doha, I spent some time hanging out with Maya, because she was doing things and John and Mike were out of town. On Saturday we went out to the Family Store souq so I could replace a part on my shisha that I had broken, and we grabbed a bit to eat and some shisha at a pretty good restaurant. Monday we headed out to the Hyatt Plaza, which is a smaller mall in Doha. I found some good gifts there to bring home, as well as some things for myself. I had some middle eastern fast food while I was there, and it was pretty good.

Last night at 11:30pm was my flight out of Doha. I got there early and got all checked in. Two super huge and heavy bags to check, my shisha in a bag and heavy backpack to carry around. After that I stopped by Duty Free and purchased a few more things, and went to the business lounge. I was amazed at just how small the Doha airport actually was...

Now I'm in the British Airways Lounge in London, awaiting my flight that leaves at 10:55 GMT - so about 2 hours from now. I had a shower, ate some free food from the Larder, and chilled out with some internet access. If this lounge was in Doha, I could probably have shisha! So, I've got an 8 hour flight ahead of me, and I know I'll be dead tired when I get in. I had trouble sleeping on the way to London, and I doubt that will change on the way to DC.

I miss Doha already, but it will be good to get back to see Martha, Sabre, and maybe even Glory.

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 03:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

My last weekend in Doha began yesterday, and I was determined to make the most of it, despite the fact the the usual crew I hang with is out of the country. So since John and Mike were not around, I decided it was time for a trip on my own - something that I hadn't done until this point becauase, well, because I'm a wimp.

I called Fox Transport at noon and they got there a little after 12:30, and it was on to City Center Mall. It took us about a half an hour to get there, which actually wasn't too bad. Usually the amount of traffic makes it take nearly an hour! So, I got there, paid the driver and went in around 1:00pm. Unfortunately, I forgot (or didn't know) that most of the stores don't open until 4pm (though some open earlier). When I arrived the only things open were Carre-Four (a european version of Wal-Mart), Burger King, and Starbucks. So, I went into Carre-Four and bought a couple of little things while I was there, and headed over to Burger King for lunch.

That's right. I came all the way to the Middle East to have lunch at Burger King.

After lunch I decided to just go walking around a bit. I headed toward the indoor hockey arena, and they happened to be having what I can only equate as "Open Skate." I rented some really horrible skates and proceeded to skate around on the god-aweful ice. One of the major problems here is that it has a glass roof, so in the mid-day desert sun, the ice doesn't really freeze all that well. It was slow going, and open skate just isn't that much fun when you are by yourself, and used to playing hockey. I didn't skate for long.

After that it was only about 2:30pm, so after exchanging a few text messages with John, who was in Amman, Jordan, I decided to just walk around and window shop until the stores opened. I ended up at one end of the mall where there was a Starbucks, so I decided to have a Grande Cafe Mocha while I waited. In the process, I got yelled at because I took the cup to the table myself (and didn't let someone take it for me - oops). Anyway, it drank my "coffee" for a while and just kind of people-watched.

That's right. I came all the way to the Middle East to drink coffee at Starbucks.

After coffee it was about 3:15, and some of the stores had started to open, though it was mostly just the "Qatar Optics" stores - that only sell sunglasses and the like. So, I browsed those until 4, when I was able to start going in some of the stores. I purchased a few more items at a variety of different stores, though I wasn't able to find a Qatari football (soccer) jersey for Tom, like I'd hoped.They had some in the Qatari colors, but nothing with a flag or "Qatar" or even any arabic on them. So I struck out on that one. I'll find something else for him. I finished shopping at about 7pm and decided to go have some dinner. My establishment of choice? Applebees.

That's right. I came all the way to the Middle East to have dinner at Applebees.

After my salad that had way too much caeser dressing on it, and my strawberry lemonade that had way too much sugar in it, It was time to head home. I went down to the Fox Transport booth, and no one was there. Uh-oh. I called them and they told me all their cars were busy until around 9:30pm. Double uh-oh. So, I had to go stand in the queue for the cabs - either Karwa (blue and white) or the Orange and White.... Luckily, I got a Karwa (the orange and whites are a little, oh.... gross?). I was hoping, inshallah, that I would get a driver who knew where either my apartment complex or Doha College was. I wasn't lucky. So then I had the pleasant time of trying to explain to my driver where I lived. He got me to the basic area of Al Samriya Gardens, and luckily I was able to direct him from there. I thought John was a crazy driver, until I drove in that cab. Wow. So, I made it back ok.

After that it was time to head to the pool. There was no one there at all. So I swam for a bit and then got out, ordered a juice and some shisha. I decided to try the "Lemon with Mint" juice that I've seen John have before. That was not a good experiment. It tasted like crap. Ah well, at least I tried it. The shisha wasn't bad - I ordered Apple, which I could taste - but I could also taste a definite Mint flavoras well, which leads me to believe it had been used for Mint in the recent past and possibly not cleaned very well. I enjoyed my shisha and headed back to the apartment. It was a full day, and definitely worth venturing out on my own. I should have done it sooner.

The plan for today? Workout, swim, tan, and later on head to the souq with Maya. Hopefully that all goes smoothly. I'm sure it will. But only three more days here - all of which I'll be working. The time flew by, and I had a great time. I'm sure these last few days will be similar.

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 08:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Mike took a good picture of me shopping for shisha and sent it on to me. I'm surrounded by literally hundreds of hookahs, trying to pick out the best one. One funny thing about this place is that it is called the "Doha Family Store." All they really sell are some bongo-type drums, outside lights, and hundreds of hookahs. So my only thought is - they must be starting their children early on this shisha stuff. Why else would it be called the "Family Store?"

A friend back home in DC, Greg, has mentioned that he and I should go to some shisha bars around the area. I think I'll take him up on that offer.

This is my last weekend in Doha. It's pretty amazing that this six weeks went by so quickly. I've had a lot of fun (and did some work), and it made the time fly by. It's funny, in my nearly year living in DC I haven't come close to doing the same type of stuff I did in Doha. I think that is because of two things: it is much cheaper here, and everyone I work with is my age and became a good friend fairly quickly - both of which are not true in DC. In any case, I'm sad to go. On one hand, I want to go home and see Martha and Saber (and maybe even Glory), but on the other hand, life was so much less stressful here, it has certainly made a giant impression on me. I think that is probably why I miss Michigan so much - the stress level is much lower.

I'm planning on heading to City Center Mall this weekend on my own (gasp!), to see about purchasing some more souveniers. That should be an experience. I may lay out in the sun a bit as well - though I'm not tan after six weeks here, so I doubt one extra weekend will do much for that.

I'm heading home Tuesday, June 13, and get back to DC on the 14th. Hopefully my flight is good...

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 04:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For those of you who emailed - here is a picture of the hookah I purchased in Doha. It's pretty nice. I was expecting it would be more expensive than it actually was, considering I got to choose each individual piece, and then they put it together for me. It only ended up being around $50 US, though.

The exciting part will be getting this back on the plane, through customs and to the apartment without any mishaps.

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 06:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

We went out on the town last night to have a little fun. First, Mike and John took me out to Dukhan with the intent of going into Qatar Petroleum city to look around. Unfortunately, that didn't happen - no visitors without an escort. So we turned around, but not before we went to the beach next to QP city.

While at the beach, John proceeded to get the SUV stuck in the sand. Luckily, with a little bit of digging and by scavenging a large rock and piece of wood, he was able to get enough traction to get out. Pretty funny, regardless.

Then we met up with 8 other GUQ-ites and headed over to the souq. My main goal in going was to price some gifts for Martha. I ended up making a couple of purchases - the highlight being a nice blue hookah for me to take back to the US. It's very nice, and was relatively cheap - so I think it was worth it. It's one of the things I had on my list, and I am glad I got it. I also bought some shisha to take home as well.

After the souq it was on to a Lebanese restaurant for dinner. It was a very neat little building - it was designed to appear as if it was made with old clay brick-work. The food was good, especially my "Crack Tea." When we ordered our drinks and appetizers, we noticed this beverage called "Crack Tea" on the menu. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to say I tried Crack Tea while in Doha, so I had some. It was pretty good, and a few hours later I was craving some more. The restaurant's ambiance was very good, it was very authentic and well set up. Unfortunately, other than the cheese rolls, I was not overly impressed with the food.

After the food it was shisha time. John, Maya, Sara, Kathryn and I stayed, and partook in some for a couple of hours. I had rose flavored this time - which I think it probably the most pleasant. The shisha was good, and after that we all went home, since we had to get up for work today.

All in all, a pretty good day. John and Mike are gone next week, so I plan on heading down to City Center Mall to get some more shopping done. I've also heard good things about the Doha Airport Duty Free, so I'll probably make some purchases there as well.

Posted by Jeremy Sarnovsky at 07:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)