Name Game

Dear Blog Reader,

First, thanks so much for taking an interest in reading my poor musings.  It's kind of fun to share my experiences and you are all an encouragment to me.

The name Dawg Gone It, evolved and made it through the blog software, meaning no else wanted the name. It has nostaligic significance and reflects my steel building company name which is Red Dog Steel named after our Big Red Rodesian Ridgeback, but was never a first choice.

Now I need your help in choosing a name that is memorable and easy, but isn't in use.  It has to be memorable and spell-able.

Help me out please. Suggest a name in the comments section.

As I final thought I am considering "Adventure Pub".  A pub is a traditional meeting place for sharing community and communication. It's not so much a "bar" as we in America think of pubs. Anyway, please give me your thoughts.

Life Quotes

"A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world."  Novelist - John Le Carre'

"More men have gotten lost sitting behind their desk than ever did venturing out."  Amateur philosopher and bloggist - T.S. Reynolds

"I see my path before me, but I don't know where it leads. Not knowing where I'm going is what inspires me to travel it." - Rosalia de Castro

"Life is either a great adventure or nothing." -Helen Keller

Women you shouldn't kiss

It was my second trip to Afghanistan, almost two years after Bush had declared the major confrontation over. My travel bud and I were delivering about 2 million dollars worth of stuff to needy people in Afghanistan; ultrasound machines, school supplies, blankets, Y2K rations no one needed, an ambulance, that kind of stuff.

I should have known better but as I think back I had a bad pattern of kissing girls I should have stayed far from, but this one was different. This one could get you killed.

The first was a girl who lived about ten miles away from my house. I cut school, rode my bike ten miles, kissed her in the middle of the road when she got off the bus and road home before my parents got home from work. I spent the next week trying to hide from her at school by swapping jackets with my friends so she couldn’t spot me.

I guess when travelling one should bone up on local customs, but then what could possibly go wrong; one big white guy in the middle of Afghanistan.

As we met with the Minister of Health, a woman by the way, for the handing over of the ambulance and ultrasounds it was to be a big media event. I got in line with the rest of my group to meet the MoH. The three people in front of me greeted her with a Holy Kiss. Trying to be hip to the culture and adopting something I’d learned from watching my wife’s high society friends I also greeted her with a peck on the cheek. I didn’t realize I was the first man in the group. Can you say “Taboo”

Someone should have told me you can’t kiss the women in Muslim countries. Maybe the Burka’s and face veils should have given me a clue.

As soon as I kissed her I knew something was wrong. She squealed and giggled like a school girl and her and her little group of school yard friends ran away. I felt like Georgy Porgy. Meanwhile really big guys started confiscating video cameras from all the networks.

Oh well, somewhere in our mission statement we mention spreading “Peace and Understanding” amongst people groups. I guess they have a better understanding of the big guy from America.

Mosquitos SUCK!!!

As a follow up to my last Blog which took a look at the funny side of me getting malaria I thought I'd take a more serious look at malaria so we remember the 1 million people a year who die from it.  For those of you wanting to get a nice case of malaria, maybe this can be used to help you out also.

Every traveler should have a basic knowledge of malaria and diseases prevalent in the areas in which they will be travelling. The easiest way to do this is to tell your doctor where you will be going. The doctor can access the CDC website and find out what kinds of shots you should get before you head out. This should be done well enough in advance so you don’t board the plane and then break out in an allergic reaction to the shot you just received. Also some shots need to be taken in a series so plan ahead.


On top of that you need to know that Malaria pills do not guarantee that you won’t get malaria, they only make it less likely. Also the malaria medicine has to be appropriate to the strain of malaria in the area in which you are going to travel. You can’t just use the pills from your last trip or barrow a friends left over pills unless you are going back to the same place.

All of this is pretty basic info – now I want to give you some facts on malaria that are not only shocking, but true. These facts and more can be found on the RBM website at www.rollbackmalaria.org

Only the facts…

• Malaria's transferred from person to person via a mosquito bite.

• Only female mosquitos transmit malaria. The female has whiskers.

• Not all female mosquito’s carry malaria.



• The vast majority of malaria deaths occur in Sub-Sahara Africa.

• Malaria costs Africa more than $12 Billion in lost GDP yearly.

• Malaria is responsible for over 1 million deaths a year.

• Malaria is Africa’s number one killer of children under five.

• Malaria kills an African child every 30 seconds.

• Malaria accounts for one in five of all childhood deaths in Africa.

• African children have 1.6 – 5.4 episodes of malaria per year.

• 40% of the world’s children live in malaria-endemic countries.

• Malaria causes poverty, poverty opens the door for malaria.



• Mosquito Nets can prevent a half million death per year.

• The cost of a treated mosquito net is about $1.70.

• The cost to re-treat a net for a year is about $0.60

FACT: For $2.00 you can buy a mosquito net for a child in Africa and reduce work and school loss and even save a life. So do something today. Go on line to your favorite charity and see if they have a mosquito net purchasing program. If they don’t, make a donation to Assist International at www.assistinternational.org and earmark it for mosquito nets.

The key to the casual traveler is to know the symptoms and check in with your doctor if you come down with any of them within 9–14 days of possible exposure to Malaria. Symptoms include fever, headache, vomiting and other flu like symptoms. Knowing this shouldn’t keep you from getting out there and living life.