Hooked on Racing.

Well, I can't seem to stop playing Dirt Track Racing 2 on my computer here. It's a highly addictive little racing game! It's preventing me from doing much else on my computer, which includes writing stuff. It's not like I actually write that much stuff anyway, but I am writing even less as I'm fish-tailing around dirt tracks all across the US with my car that I have spent thousands of virtual dollars getting in top condition. I'm working my way through a few racing series until I can get myself a late model stock car and go big time! It's sort of a new career direction for me, albeit one that isn't grounded in reality. Oh well. One must follow their dream, and my dream is to dominate in the world of Dirt Track Racing 2!

Assimilate Already!

So, what was it that the Chancellor of Germany, Ms Angela Merkel said last week? Multiculturalism has utterly failed in Germany apparently. Immigrants are not doing enough to assimilate, apparently. Then, what did she say? Wasn't it something about inviting all these people to come and work and toil for Germany a few decades ago, and now they just won't leave? Oh man, this was some disturbing talk from the Chancellor (what is a Chancellor exactly??).

First off, I've seen Germans in Doha where I live right now. I don't exactly see them converting to Islam, wearing thobes, and learning Arabic. I'm not seeing a whole lot of assimilation here by Europeans and other Westerners. We Westerners go places and we hardly assimilate. One constant worry that Westerners have here is "I can still get alcohol, right?" Another love of us Westerners is to complain about the lack of bacon. BACON! NO BACON! What kind of place has no bacon? I haven't met one Westerner here, or anywhere I have gone, who has assimilated as it were. If anything, it's the opposite. The world assimilates to us. The world is becoming a McDonald's eating, Brad Pitt loving, Nike wearing, Eminem listening, English speaking homogeneous wasteland (ironically, NONE of these things is German). We are still colonialists. We are not the victims. We are still on top. The world is bending to our needs! It makes life easy for me as a very Western, English speaking white guy who is pretty darn lazy. In fact, I guess I can't complain at all. I really can't. I got it darn good in this world. I have it better than darn good, I'm at the very top. How did I get there? Being born in the right part of the world at the right time with the right skin colour, surrounded by the right language. In other words, I did nothing! That was easy, let me tell you. It's hard to assimilate, which is probably why we just don't do it, us First World hypocrites. We want people to assimilate in our countries, although we don't actually have a clear definition of what that means. With the new fad of banning face veils worn by Muslims, it would appear that looking Muslim, or even being Muslim for that matter, means that you have not assimilated. Sometimes I think people feel that others have not assimilated when some one speaks with an accent, or has not managed to completely forget their traditional language and speak English perfectly. If being able to speak English well means you have assimilated, half of my hometown of Thunder Bay would be asked to leave, but they would have nowhere to go because that is where they were born....eh. They would all be loaded up on a boat and their selected leader would say "F off, eh? Like, we ain't goin' nowheres, eh. We're, like, from Thunder Bay, eh, and you gots no right to do this, eh."

Secondly, the last part of what Ms. Merkel said. This whole idea of bringing people into a country to do crap jobs that no one else would take when the economy is good, and then getting mad when the economy isn't so good anymore, and they are still there. In other words, Merkel is mad about disposable people not being disposed of, and most of these are Turks it seems. Darn people and their giving their hard work, blood and sweat for Germany and it's economic growth and then not going away when they aren't needed. Shameful! So, leave now people! Get out! But leave your kebabs. They can stay. Meanwhile, while I was living in Turkey, I would shop at a large German supermarket, a large German hardware store, and almost get run over daily by many makes of German cars. So, as long as the money is coming out of Turkey to Germany, no problem! But, if those damn, dirty Turks are going to Germany, whoa, problem! Does this just sound completely horrible to you, all of this stuff? It does to me.

Road Junky Sahara Retreat: This Looks Frickin' AMAZING!

Holy jeez, check this thing out.

Here's the deal. I have been following a blog for a while now called Road Junky. It's a travel info site with country guides, advice, stories, videos and all kinds of other information for more independent travelers. I love it. There is a ton of good stuff to read. I do love to travel after all, and I do love to read what other travelers are up to. This is a great place to do it. Take a look at the site: http://www.roadjunky.com/

So, the folks at Road Junky are putting on a retreat vacation into the Sahara desert! I think this looks pretty darn cool and the price is pretty darn good, if you ask me. How good? It's just 199 Euro for five days. That's good. Face it. This includes everything, other than airfare of course. If my parents weren't coming to visit me and my family in Doha right at that exact time, I would be going. I'm looking at the breakdown of what will be going on and it sounds amazing, what with YOGA and all. Imagine, yoga, in the Sahara desert. Surreal! Read about the retreat, I think you will be impressed: http://roadjunkyretreat.com/

Want to book your spot? Why not book it HERE! Even if you don't book at this link, consider booking somehow, someway. It really does seem like an amazing experience. Why not sign up? Could be, SHOULD be, the adventure of a lifetime!

DISCLAIMER: This message has been brought to you by me. I love this road junky site and they have been really great to me. I've been enjoying interacting with them, and they have been supportive and helpful in my own writing, which I appreciate. That's why I want people to know about them, and of course this retreat.

Sick of Sick

I've been sick. Very sick. Some kind of a stomach flu. I'm not enjoying it. I would like it to go away, but it will not. It keeps following me. I'm not having fun. But, I should look on the bright side: I think I am losing weight. I must be. I have eaten very little since Friday. Today is....wait, what day is it?

My Motto

I'm not sure if my motto should be "everyone deserves respect, because we are all one in the same. We are human beings and no one is greater of lesser than anyone", or "all people suck". There are just some days when the latter seems far more appropriate.

Qataris in Their Natural Environment

It's very easy to start feeling negative about Qatar. There are a lot of things that go on here that I really dislike. The problem is, I know there are good people here. I just have to meet them, right? This is a problem. Since I have arrived here, I haven't actually met many Qataris. I wish this weren't the case. When we lived in Turkey I met a lot of Turks, but here I haven't met many Qataris. It seems that the only contact we have with Qataris is either when they try to run us off the road, or when we see them in malls. Other than that, there is no contact. It's hard to have an accurate view of people when you don't actually talk to them. The odd encounter I have had has been very good, as I have outlined in a couple of previous blog posts. But, since then, no contact with the illusive Qatari. This is stupid. I have to meet some Qataris. I have to get to know some people and get a better understanding of what Qatari culture actually is. This is my new goal. I mean, we were in Nepal for one week and I met more Nepalese than I have met Qataris in the year I have been here. For that matter, I have met more Nepalese in Qatar than I have met Qataris. This isn't right. This isn't good. This isn't the way it should be.