My hair grows pretty fast and was starting to look nappy, so I headed down to the hotel barbershop to see what could be done about it. A very nice man greeted me at the door and offered me a seat in a chair. I told him I wanted him to shave my head. He laughed, of course. I had discussed this Alanna, so I wasn’t going to get in trouble. I didn’t want my head to be shaved, just really short, you know… buzz cut or something. I explained this to him and he understood. He put on a number 4 guard on his clippers and 5 minutes later I had a buzz cut. I think it looks fine. It is definitely not as hot, and much easier to manage. Once the barber was done, he asked if I’d like shave. Of course I said yes. Its a very relaxing, “old school” experience when a barber shaves you. He used the little lather brush thing ( I need to get one of those) like my Dad used to use, and then shaved me with a straight razor. He nicked me a few
places here and there, but nothing too bad. Next came the aftershave. You know that scene in Home Alone where Macaulay Culkin slaps the aftershave on his face then screams really loud? Well… I didn’t scream. But thats what it felt like. I’m the type of guy who uses the nice, sensitive skin aftershave. You know… some type of cooling gel or whatnot. Well, they are old school indeed at this barbershop, which by the way they call saloons here. No bar at this saloon though. Anyway, the aftershave felt like pouring alcohol on an open wound. I did my best to be macho and pretend like I was used to this, but ohhhhh boy did it hurt. All in all though, it was a good shave and haircut.
I sort of applied for a job today. Alanna brought home some information about a school of the arts. They teach drama classes to kids on Wednesday evenings. I figured I’d at least see if I could offer them anything, so I sent in my cover letter and resumes. Yes, I have 2 resumes. Actors are weird like that. They also offer guitar lessons at the school and I might check on that too. Hopefully that won’t mind me being a southpaw.
Speaking of other hobbies, I’ve checked into skydiving here. We had thought there was a skydiving place here in Al Ain, but turns out the place is actually based just north of Dubai. So its probably about 2 hours away. Not horribly far away if I only go now and then. Cool thing about this place though is you jump out over the Persian Gulf. Yeah, jumping out over water sounds awesome! The place does have a school to get you certified so maybe that’s something I can do! We’re gonna look into to it for my birthday.
I made use of the hotel fitness center today. Its very nice. I worked out for about 30 minutes, which is a good amount for lazy old me. After the work out, I headed to the steam room. Weird place. Most steam rooms I’m familiar with are kind of square and have a couple rows, one over another, to sit on. This room was small, round, and looked like an escape pod from the Enterprise. There were 7 seats, white, sort of egg shaped, arranged in a circle against the wall. I would have taken a picture, but that just seems weird. Anyway, the experience was the same even if the environment looked different.
Logan does something new everyday. I love being able to watch him grow. Tonight at dinner he grabbed a straw (with his left hand!) and swung it around like a sword. Ok, I may have “helped” him swing it like a sword, but he was holding it tight. He also grabbed some lettuce from Alanna’s plate a few times. I never thought watching a baby grab things would be the highlight of my day, but it was by far!
Here are some more pics…