Beirut Trip and coming home for 2 weeks!!

got some time to go to Beirut, Lebanon for some Safety training... one friend said, safety training?? in Beirut?? with all the bombs?? "yep"...

anyway, a fun few days, here are some pics from around town... didn't get to go everywhere, but got to see downtown, some really cool caves and mountainous areas, went to the casino, checked out some roman ruins downtown beside a mosque, and generally wandered around town...

rooftop pic from my hotel, with the trainer, i knew him from previous training in UAE, does all training for europe, middle east...

some pics from the Jeitta Grotto caves, very cool... the mountainous areas were on the drive outside town to get to these caves...

downtown beirut, cool area... clock tower and parliament buildings, some military presence in these areas, just in case...

while bulding this mosque, the excation unearthed these roman ruins... about 2 hours from beirut, did not get time to go there, is a fully excavated temple from the roman period, super cool (Baalbeck)...

EDIT: sorry about some of the photos being out of order, blogspot is acting weird, and i can't switch them around...


so i will be home for 2 weeks in October, looking forward to seeing as many people as possible... hope to see you guys at some point during my stay... and if not, then get your butt out to the sandbox!!! LOL :)

the future shape i strive to be in...

what a great video... they are full of fun and enjoying life, i would love to be in this spirit and shape at their age, inspiring for all...

the businessman and the fisherman...

There was once a businessman who was sitting by the beach in a small Brazilian village.
As he sat, he saw a Brazilian fisherman rowing a small boat towards the shore having caught quite few big fish.
The businessman was impressed and asked the fisherman, “How long does it take you to catch so many fish?”
The fisherman replied, “Oh, just a short while.”
“Then why don’t you stay longer at sea and catch even more?” The businessman was astonished.
“This is enough to feed my whole family,” the fisherman said.
The businessman then asked, “So, what do you do for the rest of the day?”
The fisherman replied, “Well, I usually wake up early in the morning, go out to sea and catch a few fish, then go back and play with my kids. In the afternoon, I take a nap with my wife, and evening comes, I join my buddies in the village for a drink — we play guitar, sing and dance throughout the night.”

The businessman offered a suggestion to the fisherman.
“I am a PhD in business management. I could help you to become a more successful person. From now on, you should spend more time at sea and try to catch as many fish as possible. When you have saved enough money, you could buy a bigger boat and catch even more fish. Soon you will be able to afford to buy more boats, set up your own company, your own production plant for canned food and distribution network. By then, you will have moved out of this village and to Sao Paulo, where you can set up HQ to manage your other branches.”

The fisherman continues, “And after that?”
The businessman laughs heartily, “After that, you can live like a king in your own house, and when the time is right, you can go public and float your shares in the Stock Exchange, and you will be rich.”
The fisherman asks, “And after that?”
The businessman says, “After that, you can finally retire, you can move to a house by the fishing village, wake up early in the morning, catch a few fish, then return home to play with kids, have a nice afternoon nap with your wife, and when evening comes, you can join your buddies for a drink, play the guitar, sing and dance throughout the night!”
The fisherman was puzzled, “Isn’t that what I am doing now?”