Udhailiyah, Saudi Arabia

swimming pool

We used to jump off the swimming pool roof into the deep end.  That was a blast!

James

The arrow that went up and then…

I can’t remember who I was with…  I think it was Mark and Scott and probably Robert too.  I just remember that we had a bow and arrow out in the jebels and one of us shot that arrow straight up in the sky…   it went up and disappeared.  AHH!  We started running in all directions screaming….  never did find that arrow.  If we had, one of us probably wouldn’t be here today!  — James

motorcycle ride

I remember learning how to ride a motorcycle.  Robert Scott’s bike.  This was out behind the jebel that is behind 747.  I started off ok… but I hit a dip and it bounced me to the back of the mud guard (racked me!) and I was trying to “hang on” and as I was trying to pull myself back on to the seat (because each time I hit another bump, it racked me again!) … guess what?  I’m THROTTLING it even harder…  ahhhh!!  Yeah, it finally fell over with me on it.   I never muched liked motorcycles from that point on. 

James

Need pictures!

If you have pictures either current photos or old photos…

send an email to:  photos(at)udhailiyah(dot)com 

An auto responder will let you know how to use the photo upload feature.

skateboarding

Behind 747, what was that jebel called?

Well, behind that jebel was a really long steep down hill road that was just too dang scary to ride your skateboard down standing up on.  Your “trucks” would start getting really “wobbily” and you just knew you were about to crash and burn.  Besides, if you hit one pebble in the road you were going to do a face plant.  OW!!

Chuck Matthews

Ok Ok… he wasn’t cool.  But heck, he taught me how to play “strategy games”.   I played “blitzkrieg” red and blue and “D-Day”.   Chuck was probably considered a “geek”.  I bet your rich now huh Chucky?  That will teach us! 
 

Security chase!

Wasn’t it stupid?  But, cmon… wasn’t it fun?   I don’t know about other Aramco kids in other parts of the country, but I know in Udhailiyah it was a lot of fun.  I often wonder if the only reason we didn’t get caught was because it provided “fun” for the security late at night.  Mr. Adams, your comments? 

Scott got caught!

In this room… right window as  you look at it…

Scott Olsen got busted by my Mom.  LOL!   I was so tired… I slept through it all…   Scott decided he was “sneaking out” that evening…   he tapped on the window loud and long enough.. but I was not going to wake up.  My Mom opened the front door and said… “What the hell are you doing!??”.   Scott ran away.. ha ha…  then I got woke up by Mom…  (not so much fun).

 This is Scott:

helicopter rides

In 1978, 4th grade, I could go down to the “airport” in Udhailiyah and get a “free” helicopter ride.  We would walk down and ask them for a ride and the pilots would say … “lets go”!   I remember the “Hammer head”.   The pilot would fly up up up up… then flatten out at the top and go ‘weightless’ for about 5 seconds or more.  I do believe in the US they train astronauts on the “vomit comit”.  This was it.  By the time I came back to Udhailiyah in 1983, all such activities had ceased.

sadieki? who knows how to spell it?

Robert, It’s ok to confess. 

Everyone should just know we siphoned off your Dad’s stash and replaced it with “clean, clear water”.     Sorry, Mr. Scott, it’s true.  Robert led us to the stash.  We were young and you were THE DAD. We would go up into the jebels and start a fire with some, and drink the rest.  I think I remember some of that… dang that stuff was STRONG!!

snaping off the sprinkler heads!

There was this big feild right in the middle of Udhailiyah… past the tennis courts..

late at night when “sneaking out” we used to “snap off the sprinkler heads”.   Yikes!  Water would shoot up 15 feet in the air!  For some strange reason, it seemed like a lot of fun back then.  eh?     I really don’t know who fixed that stuff.  In my old age, I apologize…  however, looking back, it was a lot of fun.  hehe…

Oh, I haven’t a clue who that person is in the picture.  But it shows the area from a distance in front of 747.

linked on aramco-brats.com

We are now linked on the Aramco Brats page as of last night.  

You can see the link here.

Thanks Dawn!  (Dawn is a graduate from 92?) 

I also put up a “Contact Us” page at the top this morning.  If you would like me to setup a forwarder for your email address @udhailiyah.com, let me know.

I added an auto responder for people to get the password for the photo upload. 
Send an email to: photos(at)udhailiyah(dot)com

I also put up a guest book archive.  The brat-land.com guestbook for udhailiyah hasn’t worked since 2003.  I copied the entries so as not to lose them if ever that site should go away.  I did remove the email addresses.  (they don’t work anyway)   Read the old archive here.

James

1982 class photos uploaded

I uploaded the 1982 class photos this evening.  Yes, all the work done by someone else.  Thank you! I just uploaded and organized them on this page.

Check out the “Then and Now” page!

James

Wikipedia on Udhailiyah

 Have you read this entire Wikipedia entry about Udhailiyah?

The growth of radical Islamic violence in the kingdom, culminating in acts of terrorism against Aramco and contractor facilities and a steady undermining of western employee moral forced the company to appeal to the government for an armed security presence around all of it’s camps, including this remote location. A reinforced company sized detachment of Saudi National Guard forces equipped with Commando armored vehicles were set up at intervals around the camp perimeter.  

I’d say you probably shouldn’t play “security chase” huh?? 

Currently, the camp houses less than one hundred Western employees.

Not like the good o’l days, that’s for sure.   Probably no kids there either.

James

guestbook comments

Ok, Ok… here’s the scoop.  The guestbook comments password has been removed.  If we notice any dorks posting, then I’ll lock it down.  The “capcha” touring image is cAsE sEnsItiVe. 

 James

42 pictures scanned and uploaded

DONE!

I scanned my photo album pictures I had from Saudi.   Here is what I learned… don’t try to remove them from the old photo album.  You know those old photo albums where the picture sticks and it has that clear plastic over the pics?  I just peeled back the clear plastic and scanned the entire page of the photo album without removing the pictures.  Then cropped them.  If you don’t know how to crop, no worries, send me the big picture and I can crop it for you.

Does anyone have more pictures? Send them to me and I’ll upload them!

You can either send them via email or use the handy “photo upload” link.   The password was sent in an email the other day.   Then you will need to sign up for an account so your uploads will go into your folder.  I think Von figured it out the other day.   Just waiting for some pictures now…  tick tock… wow, another 20+ years just blew by! 

James

photo upload enabled.

I uploaded a new upload script which will allow you to register for an upload account and upload photos from Udhailiyah.  Click here

You will need a password to access that page.  You should have gotten an email with that password in it.   This keeps the weirdos out, know what I mean? 

Also, you can use that same pass to make comments on the guestbook.

If you need the password, contact me here: james84(at)udhailiyah(dot)com

Oh, I think I have finally memorized how to spell U-D-H-A-I-L-I-Y-A-H !  I just hope the spammers can’t spell it. 

If you register for this blog you will also be able to make comments on my slow progress.

 James

83 and 84 year books online

The 83 & 84 year books are now online.  yes, someone else did the scanning and I just downloaded and reuploaded the photos.    However, the other site (Aramco Brats) does not seem to be updated at all and the guestbook over there for Udhailiyah has been broken for years evidently.  This site is more focused on Udhailiyah only.  I didn’t know anyone from Dhahran or Ras Tanura or Abqaiq?  Did any of you?

I’d like to get photos from Udhailiyah that were not in the year book.  If you have photos, please scan them.  I am going to put up an upload script to make it easier for you to transfer photos.  I personally have about a dozen or so photos that I’ll be uploading soon.  (I just gotta go get my scanner of of the box!)

If you have photos to send now, send them to:  james84(at)udhailiyah(dot)com

Current or old photos, both work for me. 

 James

It’s the beginning

Sign the guestbook so we can get organized!