Guten Morgen Vietnam

Note: this post is going to be in German – but can be translated using AltaVista’s wonderful BabelFish (http://babelfish.altavista.com/ ) – just enter my website (http://marhabaqatar.blogspot.com/ ) in the 2nd box for webpages and it will translate away, pretty awesome for a free site.

MONETARY INCENTIVE for whomever can appropriately comment on atleast 5 dinstinct topics mentioned in the blog - while babelfish tries its hardest, I'm afraid the message may still take some interpretation... atleast it makes things a bit more interesting. I'll post the english version when I get to Houston so you can compare against the real deal.

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Auf mit dem Pfosten.

Ich bin sicher in Frankfurt, Deutschland... angekommen, aber ich bin nicht in der Mitte nach Houston gleichmäßig. Noch eine langatmige Reise über dem Atlantik, bevor ich mit Sheri und Freunden gewiedervereinigt werde. Obgleich ich nicht halbes Haus bin, habe ich bereits einige große Abenteuer gehabt.

Ich kam zu Doha mit 2 überprüfte Beutel und ein Rucksack tragen an - I nach links die meisten meiner Kleidung in Doha (warum ihnen Haus gerade holen Sie, um sie wieder zu verpacken), damit ich Gepäckanforderungen verringern konnte, und bilden Raum für einige Einzelteile, die ich entlang der Weise aufhob. Alle erklärten I nach links das Hotel gestern Abend mit einem überprüften Beutel und einem Rucksack. Ich kam zu dem QatarAirways Geschäft Anschluß - der "Hotel-wie" Anschluß ein unterschiedliches ist, in dem Glocke Hopfen Ihr Gepäck tragen und Sie in den großen bequemen Stühlen sitzen, während NETTE etikettierenmittel Ihre verschalende Durchlauf- und Paßüberprüfung anfassen. Ich war auf Wolke 9, bis das etikettierenmittel anzeigte, daß Lufthansa, während es ein Partner mit QatarAirways ist, nicht Zugang zu diesem exklusiven loung hat - also gingen mein Glocke Hopfen und ich über die Straße zum Hauptanschluß. Er war wie Nacht und Tag. Der Anschluß wurde mit Leuten, eine Linie, um verpackt durch den Ausgangsbeutelröntgenstrahl, dann eine Linie am Karte Kostenzähler, eine andere Linie zuerst zu erhalten, Ihren verschalenden Durchlauf überprüfen zu lassen, nur, um in die größte Linie von allen - die Paßgültigkeitserklärunglinie zu erhalten. Alle erklärten die Linien dauerten ungefähr 1 Stunde, um zu steuern, eine lange Zeit, als Sie # von den Flügen betrachten, die Qatar an jedem möglichem gegebenen Abend verlassen.

Sie konnten bitten - warum Paßgültigkeitserklärung (IE, das einen Stempel in Ihrem Paß erhält) nach Abfahrt haben Sie, gewöhnlich wird das im Augenblick der Ankunft... gut in Doha angefaßt, gibt es viel der Leute, die nicht das Land verlassen können, es sei denn ihr Arbeitgeber sie die Dose sagt und am meisten weg von den Aufbauarbeitern und Teejungen einschließt, die ihre Pässe nach dem Unterzeichnen ihres Vertrages übergeben, der nur 21 Tage außerhalb Qatars in 2-Jahr-Periode liefert! Paßgültigkeitserklärung würde nicht solch ein grosses Abkommen sein, außer daß sie hatten nur 8 geöffnete Fenster und Paßmittel werden offensichtlich nicht durch # der Stempel gezahlt, die sie heraus geben.

Sobald ich durch Sicherheit erhielt, hatte ich noch Zeit, den zollfreien Abschnitt und eine aufgehobene Menge Sachen (Federn, Andenken, Zigarren) durchzulesen, aber schließlich gesprochen aus Meisten heraus. Ich hielt an zu etwas holländischem Rohrtabak, der mit meinem Nording Freistil-Rückseite Haus (Dank wieder des Brent und Russ) gut koordinieren sollte. Hatte noch eine Stunde zur Abfahrt, also nutzte ich des Geschäft Aufenthaltsraums für einige freie Plätzchen und einen langen Aufenthalt im Massagestuhl aus (mechanisch - nicht eine wirkliche Masseuse, aber noch nett nachher daß Paßlinie).

Ich fuhr auf den Bus heraus zum Plan nahe bei dem RasGas Wagnis-Manager (über so stark oben, wie Sie hier in Doha erhalten), aber ich war nur sicheres 90% es war er, da ich nie wirklich ihn in der Person getroffen oder gesehen habe.

Das Airbus Flugzeug, das wir nach Frankfurt ritten, muß etwas Extragepäck transportiert haben, weil die vier Maschinen schienen, uns in die Luft langsam zu stoßen. _ nicht fast so glatt ein Fahrt wie d 2 Maschine 777 kontinental Fliege über d Atlantik, aber auch nicht fast wie laut - so ich handhaben zu ergreifen 4 zeitweilig Stunde von nicht-heilkräftig Schlaf. Hoffnungsvoll genügend krank zu werden zu vermeiden, Rest, aber nicht genügend Schlaf, die schlafende herum, 5pm Houston Zeit zu zerschmettern vermutlich zu vermeiden! Landung war ein anderes Abenteuer, anscheinend es war, also nebelig in Frankfurt (und schöne 42 Grad F, ein weit Schrei von den 42 C in Doha) - so, als die Fläche I dachte wirklich aufsetzte, daß wir eine Störung hatten, da Sie nur sehen konnten, was schien, Wolken aus dem frohen Fenster heraus zu sein - wußte der Pilot, wo die Laufbahn war.

Frankfurt Flughafen würde das Bauhaus stolz bilden (seien Sie sicher, Bauhaus oben zu schauen, wenn Sie nicht mit ihm vertraut sind). IKEA Minimalismustreffen säubern,/sich wiederholende deutsche Linien... und ihn weg zu übersteigen, Erbe-Kreuzkopf (IE Herr Phillips auf Deutsch) folglich überprüft mir in den Geschäft Aufenthaltsraum auf mein 4 Stunde layover..., warum ich soviel Zeit hatte, das blog auf DEUTSCH zu aktualisieren!

Gut Schlurfen mit 5 Lieden während meines ersten Beines:

1. Phil Wickham - Fall In Sie
2. Das Ataris - Das Traurigste Lied (Akustische)
3. Haupt-STH - In Meinen Haupt
4. Coolio - Fantastische Reise
5. Das Drängen - Zuviel Stereo Nachdem einige

Wochen des enttäuschenden Schlurfens, mein iPod scheint, von ihm erholt zu haben ist riesige Angst in der Zeit, mich Haupt zu halten Firma für meine Reise.

0% Chance of Rain

Few things in life are guaranteed, taxes and death come to mind... but in Doha, I've been here 26 days - 27th tomorrow and if there was a cloud in the sky I must have missed it. When the average rainfall from April to September reads 0.00" - it's serious... 0% chance of rain. So why check the weather forecast at all you ask? Well I should have checked today, because it would have read 100% chance of Shamal - which is the local word for intense dust storm. It struck about an hour before lunch at the site, with high winds forcing a fine dust under the windows and into our eyes when we braved the weather to take our lunch break. I experienced dust storms in Arizona during the monsoon, but that was a shortened blast of dust ahead of a thunderstorm, lasting maybe 30 minutes and the reward was a cooling rain and lightning storm. In Qatar (and most of the middle east), dust storms can last days or weeks, and are much finer than in Arizona... worst of all, no rain, no lightning - so all the bad without the good. Luckily for us it died down after a few hours so we had a clear road home. Apparently when it's really bad they have to shut down the plant (sand blasting is the only thing not really impacted - welding and painting are useless as you can imagine); and driving is hazardous enough without sand dropping visibility to the front of your hood.

An exciting way to end our last day this week at site - since we have meetings and teleconferences in Doha most of the day tomorrow. And after work I'm headed to the aeroporte to begin the 24 hour journey back to Texas, a trip I've been looking forward to for 27 days.

Amazing what has happened since I left Houston:

1. 4 Birthdays (you know who you are) - lots of May b-days, almost as cool as October!
2. The Redwings won their first Stanley Cup Series in 3 years, followed by another strong series win to pit them against the Ducks, whom they are leading 2-1 with game 5 scheduled this weekend, which I plan on watching LIVE in HD!
3. I officially became a fan of professional darts, cricket, and Australian rules football (or "footy" as it's called).
4. Despite setting realistic fitness goals I managed to gain 2 kgs since arriving, maybe it's muscle. Or more likely it has something to do with the extra 1000 calories at breakfast and the hearty meals at the site canteen.
5. Enjoyed the local restaurants, like Chili's, Applebees, TIGFridays, Johnny Rockets, Dairy Queen, McDonalds, KFC, and Subway... although my favorite restaurant in town is still the Indian place, Bukara, next to the tennis center.
6. Spider Man 3 was released and set ridiculous box office records, to which I will add some $$$ when I get back to the states (although it was released on the same day in Doha). Can anyone provide a review for me?
7. I've learned 2 Arabic expressions - Inshala (God Willing - see previous posts) and Shamal (Dust Storm - see above)... more to hopefully come.
8. I killed 3 mosquitos while typing this list (yes they have mosquitos in Doha).

So one more post (ie one more day), and I'm homeward bound. I appreciate everyone's comments and you can expect plenty of great stories as Sheri and I prepare for and take the biggest step of our married life! Thanks for all the support and kind words. Be sure to keep in touch either through email or through our Vonage US phone number (soon to be purchased).

Something Cool and Refreshing

The first few days of the week have absolutely flown by - which is nice because it brings me that much closer to my wife and friends again - 2 days to go. It's bad only so far as the days have been long and I've found myself much more exhausted then previously on this extended business trip. I gave up tonight and decided to order room service, luckily it wasn't seen as being antisocial since all the other guys staying at the hotel either felt exhausted too, or had other plans... so I picked up the phone and made the call for room service.

They have a diverse menu, but the drink list is limited to a few kinds of soda (aka "coke" to Texans) and even fewer kinds of bottled beer. I asked the room service attendant if he could bring me a glass of Kilkenny - which only comes on draft from one of the restaurants at the hotel... much to my surprise he came through, sneaking a pint of Kilkenny up to my room against hotel policy. For that I was very thankful - turned my frown upside down.

I noticed some other nuances about Doha earlier in the trip and since I don't want to bore you with my busy day of project management activities, I'll share them with you now:

1. Housekeepers here are male - I have not seen a female housekeeper at either the Ramada or Intercon... I did however hear at lunch that the first woman gondolier of all time took her post earlier this year amidst some very angry men who had successfully kept it a male profession for centuries, passing the trade from father to son. Worst part for these gondoliers was that the gal wasn't even from Venice, but from Germany - just shows you that some dreams do come true!

2. Qataris will flash their headlights and honk at other Qataris - confirmed today on the trip home from site... nothing's sacred anymore.

3. MTV Europe has extremely disturbing commercials about safe sex and drug use... not sure I completely understand them, but include relevant themes like space invaders and diving board erections.

4. One final sport that I've become interested thanks to ShowSports1 is Australian Football - an incredible sport that seems to combine the positive aspects of rugby, football, and ultimate Frisbee... just like Cricket it's a sport that you only can appreciate after learning the basic rules from a website like wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_rules_football

5. French music is weird. My friend Wes managed to find a few cool rock bands in Paris, but the majority of it has a very strange sound - I know this because it was the only thing on the radio for the hour trip home tonight. It's almost as strange as listening to the calls to prayer that interrupt radio broadcasts 5 times a day - also during the trip home, offering melodic Koran readings - which on 97.5 are translated into English for those who are interested.

6. The sun begins its day here around 4:30, and sets shortly after 6:00, which still doesn't make waking up early for trips to site any easier.

Music Video of the Day: "Here in Your Arms" - HelloGoodbye... a catchy tune about a nerd getting the girl of his dreams - translates very well into a short film about summer camp.

Runner Up: "Smooth Criminal" - Alien Ant Farm (just came on MTV) - have no idea how this band ever made it to "music video" status... cheap imitation glowing sidewalk is a nice touch though.

Scenic Route

Men have a certain knack for taking the scenic route - such was the case as I drove the pool car up to site for the 2nd time in as many days. The trip typically takes 1 hour door to door, but can be hampered by security as we saw yesterday, or by missing the appropriate right turn as we saw today! We were heading in the right direction (North), and could see the road we needed, but could not find a road to take us from where we were to where we needed to be. Solution, drive until the road deadended in dirt, turn around, drive back to the university, turn left, and continue on our way. I must say that for being an older guy, who must have been mildly frustrated, the controls lead who I've been hauling up to site was quite laid back about the whole situation - a far cry from how he reacts to improper controls procedures on the project team!

After a rough start the day picked up pace, I was able to finally get some usable data for my analysis, and helped the auditor perform some basic calculations to verify the current project schedule (or unconfirm it really). We ate at the canteen again, healthy portions of meat and rice, with a side of soft serve ice cream - tasty. After lunch we got right back to work again in our shared office. Fortunately the office we're sharing is intended for a manager so we have ample space to spread out and each pursue our own objectives independent of one another. I've met quite a few of the project staff and will definintely try to make it up to site on a regular basis. It's nice to be so close to the construction site that you can feel the heat and smell the odor of the flare, which was in full effect today, some commissioning activities underway. Maybe that's why Doha is so hot - all the greenhouse emissions from the flares at RasLafan (that was for all my Greenpeace fans out there).

As I was using the men's room today I noticed a few of the stall doors were open, and I can't help but explain that one of the 5 stalls along the back wall had a full window air conditioner all to itself. The others had outdoor vents, but come on - who would pass on your own private air conditioned experience. I hope our villa here has the same setup... and if it doesn't I may just install one myself. Highly recommend that concept for any warm weather climate. Speaking of air conditioning, each office at site has it's own large wall AC unit with remote control... gone are the days of calling the facilities guy with the thermometer and oblivious thermostat adjustments... here are the days of digital temperature control at your own finger tips. I could get used to this.

When I get back to Houston be sure to ask me what the Manager Quote of the Year is - unfortunately too innapropriate when taken out of context, so to help curb your excitement I'll provide the...

Functional Expert Quote of the Week: "Lower your voice" - apparently I was speaking too loudly for our shared office environment, causing a short lived frictional moment between mentor and mentee... not the first, won't be the last, but certainly the funniest thus far.

New Favorite Song: "Map of the Problematique" - by Muse (Blackholes & Revelations album)

Weekend Briefs

I've noticed a natural decrease in comments over the weekends - which indicates that most people use work as an opportunity to catch up on my adventures in Doha... so I've decided to only provide a short update tonight - plus I just got back to my hotel room after a dinner with my bosses and need to get to bed so I can wake up early to get back to RasLaffan again tomorrow.

My 3rd trip to site today was much more exciting, since I was taking someone else there for their first time - note that I'm apparently an "expert" after having 2 trips under my belt. After we waited in a line to get our paperwork stamped (can't wait to get my permanent badge), we had our car and bags searched for contraband... then we got to the entrance to the PMT building and I was told that my pass was not valid at this gate. So I drove down the road another 300 yards and tried at the next gate... no issues, so I drove on the main site road right next to the construction site, right past the other gate who denied me access (felt like "waving" at them) and after 30 minutes of security procedures we arrived at the new RasGas site offices. I plan to learn from our experiences today to streamline tomorrow's trip.

My accomplice this week is a 40 year veteran of project work and we got off to a great start today getting all sorts of data that we had previously not had access to. We're currently analyzing the project schedule and staffing plans (over 17,000 laborers at the peak of this project!!! Consider what it would be like to have 17,000 people all working collaboratively on one goal - incredible stuff). Then think that you have these people working almost 36 months non-stop to get these billion dollar facilities running... I definitely appreciate the process of turning crude oil and natural gas into usable products.

We also attended a site safety training session... we were the only management team members, the other 70 attendees were laborers who had spent an entire day working before coming into this enclosed room for safety orientation. I was very thankful when the instructor turned the window ACs onto max to help mitigate the ripeness factor. We then sat through a 90 minute presentation half in English, half in Filipino, that included some extremely graphic pictures of folks who didn't take safety seriously - examples include a man who fell 50 METERS to solid concrete, a man who got his fingers severed by trying to stop a full gas cylinder from falling over, and a guy who took a nap under a heavy work truck. It certainly made it's point. I now am familiar with the various alarms and site muster points, and know to stay clear of the acid gas injection unit because one breath during a toxic release can be fatal... no thanks! Best of all I got a sweet sticker for my hardhat... Lucky!

More fun stories to come later in the week - since I only have 4 more nights in Doha before the long trip home! Be sure to leave comments... even short ones so this is more interactive! Thanks to those who are consistently commenting - I think some of you should definitely pursue your own blogs so we can encourage each other creatively.

Music Video of the YEAR: "Baheb el-Horeya" by Karika ft. Mena w Nahla - instant hit throughout the Middle East - so I included a link below so you can enjoy too!
http://www.evertube.com/videos/watch/ek9amEYhJSE/karika-ft-mena-w-nahla-baheb-el-horeya.html - vaguely reminds me of another video - I'm sure that's just me though!!!

If you haven't called your mum - do it now before Mother's Day is over... let them know how much they mean to you.

Kleenex Anyone?

I made the most of my last Saturday in Doha, focusing once again on the pool, but also venturing out to do some more car shopping - this time visiting the Volkswagen, Kia, and Mazda dealerships that were the last 3 on my scavenger hunt. I continue to be surprised by the lack of powerful engine options here. When gas is less than a dollar a gallon it seems that V6s would be the minimum, but unless you're going for a high end SUV or Luxury car, you've got to dig around to find anything bigger than a 2.0Liter 4 banger with 150HP. Obviously there's more to acceleration than HP, so we'll have to do some serious test driving when I get back home to get our short list - but the Mazda 6, Kia Sorento, and VW Jetta all passed the initial screen today. Be sure to post any comments on the 3 brands mentioned today, curious to hear positive or negative experiences.

I was getting hungry after visiting VW, and much to my surprise there was a familiar burger joint located just across the street. So in typical Doha fashion, I walked/ran across 6 lanes of traffic (one direction that was standing still), to avoid having to waste 20 minutes driving around to find another parking spot. I managed to grab the last available table at Johnny Rockets - a truly American experience! Can you say vanilla malt, straw spin, and ketchup smiley face? The burger tasted a bit different than the ones on University BLVD, and the staff didn't sing and dance like they do on Market St, but everything else was spot on - even down to the oldies music soundtrack. Quite a tasty respite out of the heat - which was scorching today near 42 Celsius! Our bay breeze took the day off, transforming the poolside environment from Mediterranean Beach Resort to Kitchen of a Qatari Kebab Shop... luckily without the campfire smell (if you didn't laugh - you should be reading these blogs in chronilogical order).

On the drive back to the hotel I passed what I can only describe as a horrific accident scene... probably from last night. There was a Toyota SUV that had been RUN OVER by a large dump truck... leaving only the front seats and steering wheel recognizable. I considered driving back around to take a picture because it was surely the most intense wreckage I'd ever seen in person, but thought better of revisiting the site - one trip by was plenty for me. Looking at the car's condition it's hard to imagine how any passengers could have survived. I'm sure no one in the SUV saw it coming, a sobering reminder to always enjoy the moments you have with those you love.

Qatar Cultural Update: When Sheri and I settle on a car for Doha, we will certainly need to invest in a Kleenex box cover for our dash - because anyone who is anyone has this stylish accent piece in plain view for all to see. The first few times I saw the tissue box I thought maybe the occupants had bad allergies or they ate in their car a lot (restaurants here often use Kleenex as napkins), but in taking a careful count the majority of folks have Kleenex boxes on the dash. Why play around with a discrete package of Kleenex tucked away in an armrest that you'll never get to for an unexpected sneeze. I found a website with patterns and ideas (see pic of an example above) - and I'm going to ask Sheri to make us a personalized Phillips cover, she's very crafty... go big or go home. Speaking of which, only 5 more days before I actually do GO HOME!

Movie Quote: "I'll be Back" - careful with this one... it was taken from a more obscure late 80's movie that I saw last night occurring some 3 years after the most famous use (same actor - to avoid any confusion). A wonderful movie that I would recommend to anyone stuck in a foreign country with little else to watch/do. Makes me reconsider how we perform executions in the US.

The Gold Standard

So after talking to Sheri, and falling back asleep, I headed downstairs to enjoy the one obvious benefit to a final weekend in Doha - the pool! I had a chicken schwarma at the cabana (like an Arabic chicken burrito without the spice) and managed to find a well lit beach chair to relax in. The breeze and a few dips in the pool helped counteract the rising temperatures, and the condensation on my water bottle indicated that the humidity is heading up as well - a bad combination. More noticeable than speedos or bikinis today was the high percentage of back hair - it's becoming an unfortunate trend here... even younger guys my age who are in decent shape have a tremendous amount of chest/back hair - just add it to the list of cultural adjustments. Lets just say that my grandfather would have done well for himself poolside if he had ever visited Doha. Thank goodness my chair was facing away from the main pool area with a nice view of the back hairless skyline of downtown Doha.

After the sun and heat did their job I took a quick nap and logged onto You Tube to watch some episodes of Conan O'Brien - and found that there was no shortage of hilarious skits from his recent stint in San Fransisco. Highly recommend you search You Tube for Conan's tour of Intel, LucasFilms, and a local Vineyard - for those who have ever worked in cubicles or been on a wine tasty tour these skits will hit close to home. I was laughing out loud - I can't wait for Conan to take over for Jay LEENO (for all my CloneHigh fans out there).

My friend Dave gave me a call after returning from the site, where he went to work after arriving on a 6:00am flight this morning! We setup some dinner plans, which conveniently started a few minutes after the local replay of the Ottawa / Buffalo Stanley Cup game - although I'm much more interested in the Detroit / Anaheim match up this evening.

Compared to relaxing poolside, driving down to the old souq area for dinner was a complete 180. Dave had heard of this local restaurant that we found shortly after turning down an alleyway/side street. Much to our surprise we were fortunate enough to have a car that could fit in the parallel parking spot just out front - which NEVER happens in Doha... you're lucky to be able to see your destination from the parking spot you find. We walk up to the blue awning that read "Tarzan" with some Arabic scribblings and some photos of the various delicacies. That's actually quite common to have picture menus for middle eastern or Indian food here. We walk through the door and nearly run into the back wall - there were 3 small tables with 2 chairs at each, a window AC unit above the door that was working overtime in the early evening heat, and a counter that looked directly into the kitchen. We may have been the only Americans to eat at this place since the last Gulf War, but being together gave us enough confidence to sit down at the open table and pretend like we knew what to do. We discovered that the menu was limited - Kebabs... and they were out of chicken, so you could choose beef, lamb, or liver (of something). I opted for 3 beef kebabs, and ordered a Pepsi, since the alternative was a water jug on the table and some stainless cups (didn't feel like ordering a side of Montezuma's Revenge with the meal!). When the kebab came out it was still on the metal skewer, and the skewer was still VERY hot, so it was a bit of a hand dance to get the meat off of the spit using the bread. The meat was quite tasty and the entire meal for both of us including drinks was 17 Riyals... or about $4.50, so all told it was a great experience. Bonus: you smell like a camp fire the rest of the night. Note: most sodas here have English on one side and Arabic on the other - and they use the pull tabs that were quite popular in the states back in the 60's and 70's. I learned from watching others that the experience pull tab user doesn't fully remove the tab, but inserts the straw into a partially opened tab, or so the young Qatari's were doing at the table next to us...

After dinner we walked across the street to the "Gold Souqs" that are separated from the traditional souqs I mentioned in the last blog. The "Gold Souqs" are probably a grouping of 60 jewelry stores with necklaces that would make Mr. T proud displayed in the front window. As the name implies the focus here is Gold, not Diamonds like most American jewelers. We checked a few shops out to get a feel for the pricing. Much to our surprise the prices were closer to Jared the Galleria of Jewelry than to Walmart. We were hoping to score some nice pieces for our ladies back home, but were rudely reminded that you get what you pay for. The items that were in our original price range (~$20) were poorly made and probably non-precious metals... and the items we found appealing were often $300+. Now that price might be discounted, but you have to understand that there's a risk that you aren't even buying legitimate stuff... so we did some looking around, got a feel for what prices we could negotiate, and saved the purchasing for later in the weekend / if at all. I'm sure all the guys out there can understand how tough it is to pick out jewelry for a lady - never get it right. Easier, albeit less meaningful, to just give them a budget and let THEM pick it out... and that's probably the technique I should apply to the Gold Souqs of Doha.

On the way back to the hotel we drove past the sports stadium which was in a state of total chaos - there is a big name track & field competition being held in Doha this weekend... the newspaper said that Shawn Crawford and Dwight Phillips (good name) would be representing the US at the event - and were favored to win their events. This probably only means something to Russell, which was enough reason to drop the names. Would have liked to attend but we were pretty exhausted and didn't want to fight the traffic or crowds to have a look... after a long week I think it was best to call it a night.

Shelley's Statement (new book new quotes - Church History In Plain Language): "After two decades of teaching first year seminarians, I have concluded that college graduates entering the ministry and an engineer or salesman who reads five books a year are members of the same reading public. For my purposes here, both are layman."

Falconry for Dummies

Thank goodness for coffee, because I am not wired to wake up at 5:00am. This morning I realized that I have become dependent on my morning cup of coffee to function properly... I had to wake up 45 minutes earlier than usual to meet up with my boss and drive up to the northern coastal city of RasLafan, where our LNG facility is (see previous posts about RasGas for more information!). RasLafan really isn't a city, it's one tremendous, self-sufficient LNG port, with pipelines from offshore feeding liquefaction trains that turn the natural gas into liquid and then stored in onshore cryogenic tanks until pumped onto LNG ships at the port. When you see how many projects are going on at once, you understand just how large the North Gas Field really is. It takes about an hour to drive to the site, which gave me a chance to get to know my boss and bit more and vice versa. Security is expectedly tight at the main gate to RasLafan and again at the entrance to the RasGas facility. You need passes and stickers and stamps, it's harder than getting into a Miami night club - as Russell and Chris can attest to.

The site is such a remarkable sight (pun intended) - I wish we could take pictures without being fired! At one end of the facility are 100" Diameter cooling water pipes that dwarf the road next to them, the water in these pipes enters the facility to be used in the heat exchangers that turn gas into liquid. At the other end of the facility is the flare - which is used whenever excess gas or condensates (hydrocarbon liquids) need to be disposed of. When the flare is going full bore - the flame itself is as tall as the stack it's coming out of and you can see it from the airplane, as I did my last trip home. Even more amazing is that you can FEEL the heat of the flame on the ground almost a mile or more away! Someone told me that when they were commissioning the new section of the plant late last year the flare made 8:00pm look like 8:00am. The canteen where we ate lunch is not nearly as impressive, but does feature a local dessert called oumali - which mixed with soft serve ice cream tastes an awful like apple streusel - quite tasty.

On the drive back to Doha after our meetings and lunch we passed 2 herds of camel (if that's what you call them), with probably 50-100 camels in each group. Other than the camels and the occasional Land Cruiser, there is nothing to see on the 1 hour drive - reminiscent of the drive from Phoenix to LasVegas, sans the Hoover Dam.

Because of the early morning I didn't feel guilty about leaving work early (ie right at 5pm) to head back to the Souqs before the crowds arrived, knowing that they would be closed tomorrow. This time I headed into the historic "old" souqs, and that was an incredibly cultural experience. 80% of the stalls (not really big enough to call shops) were either fragrant spices, exotic fabrics, cheap toys, knock-off jewelry, shoe repair, or falconry equipment... that's right I had a double take at a large shop with FALCONS in it, as well as the leather gloves, cages, and other equipment to take up this popular middle eastern hobby. I wasn't so bold as to ask the cost, but still - where else do you find a falconry store? (reminds me of the stupidly funny skits on SNL with the Falconer)

I found the goal item of the trip early on, almost disappointing to find it straight away, but after negotiating the price down 20% I felt much better! Bartering is really quite fun once you get the hang of it and understand that patience is often the best tactic. I would tell you more but that might ruin the surprise for one or some of you. And no it's not a falcon...

I'm very excited for the weekend, not just for laying out by the pool - but more importantly my friend from Japan is coming into town for a business trip. Although he'll be busy most of the week he should be able to hang out at night - good timing since I just finished my "dinner book" and was going to be struggling to stay sane until next Thursday without someone to talk to at night. Bonus is that he is staying at the same hotel that I am. It will actually be overload next week, with my functional supervisor and manager in town for those annual performance reviews I mentioned yesterday. I'll also be auditor-sitting next week, taking a controls lead from another organization up to RasLafan a few days to review our team's procedures and current project status. It should be a good learning experience to be this expert's sidekick for a few days.

Clives Comment: "What can you every really know about other people's souls - of their temptations, their opportunities, their struggles? One soul in the whole creation you do know: and it is the only one whose fate is placed in your hands. If there is a God, you are, in a sense, alone with Him. You cannot put Him off with speculations about your next door neighbours or memories of what you have read in books. What will all that chatter and hearsay count when the anaesthetic fog which we call 'nature' or 'the real world' fades away and the Presence in which you have always stood becomes palpable, immediate, and unavoidable?"

Movie Moment: "Please! This is supposed to be a happy occasion. Let's not bicker and argue over who killed who."

Songs that make me want to learn how to play a harmonica:
*Starsailor - End of the Show
*Stevie Wonder - Isn't She Lovely
*Blues Traveller - Run Around or Hook
*Culture Club - Karma Chameleon (remember that awesome VH1 commercial with the strangest Chameleon dancing to that song? - I do and it was hilarious).

A Nation United

"Darts is once again uniting the nation" - declared the British sportscaster for the World Cup of Darts, as the camera panned overhead 5000 standing, swaying, singing Brits cheering with a pint in one hand and their man's flag in the other. Note: in the absence of anything on television, darts can keep one entertained for well over an hour; it really is incredible that:

1. These guys are so good at throwing a dart in what appears to be random motions 6' and have it land in a space not much wider than your pinkie - and they do it enough where you know it's not an accident or luck.

2. 5000 people crowd into a smoky hall to watch these grand masters... well there may be a sizable number of those in attendance who were motivated by the fresh ale than the competition.


Only problem was what I call the "Mighty Duck" syndrome... when I see something exciting on TV (darts in this case) I immediately have a desire to go do whatever activity I've seen. This phenomena first began with the original Mighty Ducks movie - which may explain the origins of my obsession with hockey - isn't Emilio Estevez great in that movie! Darts was no exception to what C.S. Lewis might call this Law of Nature - I suddenly felt like I could throw the perfect "9 dart finish" and take on the likes of Barneveld or Taylor (very famous dartsmen).

I should have much rather been throwing darts this afternoon than sitting at work rereading the assessment of my contribution to the company in the past year that I am writing myself! It's the craziest concept I've heard of... "Brandon why don't you take these 2 sheets of paper and tell us everything you did this past year especially what you did wrong, so that we can very subjectively take these pieces of paper and put them in order from the best to the worst." And although they don't really like to talk about it, that order will determine who gets promoted the fastest, and whoever gets promoted the fastest gets more money - and as Tony Montano said in an earlier post, once you get the money, you get the power; and once you get the power you get the women - well woman in my case!

Life was simpler when I was a lifeguard. The pool manager would call you into the pump room and you'd sit down on one of the broken lounge chairs. They would review 6 key performance areas and tell you what your raise was for next year, which was actually based on your years of experience and had nothing to do with your performance. I miss the days when your manager filled out the form and you got a realistic view of yourself, not just a pat on the back and a muddy indication of where you "fit" in the pack. I also miss the days of wearing board shorts, sunscreen, and flip flops to work...

I realized at dinner tonight that one aspect of my day that I haven't really addressed is lunchtime. Unlike Houston, where we head to lunch around 11:15 (I know - but I did get used to it), Doha eats at noon like everywhere else, and much to my surprise most of the guys I work with go out to eat at lunch (usually not the case with the older guys back home). 80% of the time we go to the City Center Mall foodcourt, complete with Pizza Hut, KFC, Subway, McDonalds, Hardees (aka Carl's Jr.), Burger King, and a few middle eastern shwarma / kebab places... maybe not what you would have guessed? Unfortunately there aren't many healthy options - but then again that never stopped us in Houston. Also, since it's getting hotter that means 2 things: 1) more people at the mall since it's air conditioned & 2) higher body odor per capita makes for an interesting environment for lunch.

Note: the other 20% we usually go to Fuddruckers (reference the gray burger post) or another Kebab place down the street... 100% awesome times in Doha.

Clives Comment: "We must be thankful to all the people who have helped us, we must honour them and love them. But never, never pin your whole faith on any human being: not if he is the best and wisest in the whole world. There are lots of nice things you can do with sand; but do not try building a house on it."

Best Song on Doha Radio: Jimmy Eat World - "Sweetness" *A long way from their roots in AZ - way to 97.5fm the one station in town I can listen to when I forget my iPod.

Movie Quote: "What's happening with them sausages, Charlie? / Five minutes, Turkish. / It was two minutes five minutes ago" - definitely take credit for this quote if you know it, one of my top 2 movies of all time (and it's not Gladiator).

Don't See That Everyday

I never thought I'd be happy to be back in my hotel room, but after the long night last night I'm quite looking forward to turning in a bit early. Porsche (remember that's a nickname) took me out for a cultural tour de force of Doha. I was absolutely blown away by how many small hole in the wall shops were local legends. Our first stop was the souq area - where small lean to shops hold everything from clothing to rugs to pottery to luggage. Amidst the shops are scattered little cafes and tea stalls where people sit outside and enjoy their dinners... it was a blast to have someone who spoke English and Arabic along for the ride so he could order for me, barter for me, (maybe even make fun of me!), and then tell me what was going on. For those who've ever had a translator it's quite an interesting experience.

After we picked up some awesome spiced tea at a small tea stall for the equivalent of $0.30, we headed to the shops and I did some suivenur shopping... well I mainly scoped out the various options and plan on heading back this weekend to actually purchase the goods slated for import to the USA!

For dinner, which we sat down for at 9:00pm - nearly my bedtime - we found a Local Legendary Lebanese place that was second only to the Indian restaurant next to the tennis club. Lebanese food is a bit of an enigma to me, I typically stick to the kebabs and hummus, both of which are much better than the same I've ordered in the states. We also had a spiced hummus that many Texans would appreciate. Top off the meal with some amazing home made bread, fresh orange/guava juice, and yes SHISHA. My first experience was pleasant, although the flavor was a bit overwhelming after smoking traditional English blended tobacco, apple mint seems a bit feminine albeit tasty... when in Doha do as the Qataris do. And were they ever smoking; the restaurant probably sat 60 inside and nearly everyone had a shisha pipe. Total cost for a 45 minute smoke that still had another 30 minutes left accordingly to Porsche was $8. Food and tobacco are both extremely affordable. By far it's the most Arabic restaurant I've eaten at, and the customers are almost exclusively Qataris - so you know it's a good place. We left the restaurant around 11:00pm and people were still sitting down to eat! Porsche said that's pretty common for people to eat late, go to work around 7:00 leave around 2:00, take a nap, and then head out all over again. He was actually surprised to discover that we expats are expected to work 7:00 to 6:00 - as if it was illegal, I wish!

So I have a few other friendly destinations now on my map of Doha, and I'm starting to learn the streets and general areas of town. It really is like driving in circles to go straight - quite confusing road layout - and as previously mentioned you do a much better job going by landmarks like statues or buildings than you do with actual street names. The last week I've been challenging myself to not use the map - and haven't had a repeat of the Hyundai experience yet. It'll be interesting to see how my driving tendencies have changed when I get back to Houston and start driving my truck like I have been my 111 horsepower Renault!

Qatariest Experience of the Day: I actually returned to some of the shops today after work to do some more scouting and on the way back I had to navigate 2 of the busiest intersections in town and managed to see:
* a van smashed into a light poll - probably a few seconds before I drove by, no one looked injured but the van was totalled
* an absolutely beautiful Ferrari like nothing I've seen before - very long and low to the ground. I looked it up - apparently it's the 599 in brilliant white (picture above)
* a Honda civic flash it's lights and pass a new Corvette Z06 on the shoulder! Only in Doha. Not that I'm surprised... not sure who would buy a Z06 when you could go buy a Viper... or matching Charger and Grand Cherokee SRT-8's.

Movie Quote of the Day: "I feel the need - the need for speed"

Clives Comment: “If you think of this world as a place intended simply for our happiness, you find it quite intolerable: think of it as a place of training and correction and it’s not so bad.”

Another Much Anticipated Album Scheduled for 2007: Stereophonics - "Pull the Pin"

The Streak's Alive - Kinda

Ok... so it's nearing midnight here and I just back after a lengthy tour of Doha from my local Qatari coworker who we're calling Porsche. It was awesome... he showed me all kinds of great things and we ate at an incredible restaurant. Unfortunately for you I had so much fun that I don't have enough time to type all the wonderful things down for the blog. Just enough time to leave a teaser and make sure I posted something each day I've been in Doha!

Instead I invite someone else to leave a "comment" blog, taking over the reigns for a day - or even better create your own blog (brent or tmad... nudge nudge) and generate a little creativity competition...

Many fun stories to share tomorrow.

If commenting isn't your thing try out: www.homestarrunner.com (great website that has incredibly creative and funny skits - glad to see it's still up and running some 4 years after I discovered it in college - enjoy).

Eskimo Kisses

Last night as I was eating room service on the last night of our weekend here in Doha and I was looking for something to watch on tv. The choices were limited: news, music videos I've seen 3 or 4 times already, movies from the late 1980's, or sports - and by sports I mean the same Doha Championship Soccer game on 4 channels - the only other sports channel had sailing, so I decided to watch the Soccer match. Don't get me wrong the guys were good soccer players, but I thought it was so interesting that they were having a national tournament in a country that as fewer than 1 million residents total... it would be the equivalent of the Tucson city soccer tournament... but played at a much higher level since most of these Doha players are brought in from around the world as paid professionals (just as they do with olympians and engineers - ha!).

The game itself was well played - and the Al Sadd team won 2-1 behind some excellent goal keeping in the stoppage time. I wouldn't know the details for sure because all 4 channels were in arabic; my iPod serving as the only commentary. The Al Sadd team was presented with the Emir Apparent's trophy and each received an eskimo kiss (ie nose to nose), a cheek kiss, or a hand shake (non Qatari's if I had to take a guess) from the Emir's son - hence the name of the trophy. Needless to say the trophy presentation was a lot more intimate than handing out the Stanley Cup. The tv then cut away to the spectators who were leaving the stadium hanging out of land cruisers and throwing large confetti pieces... I turned back to the channel some 45 minutes later and they still were showing the fans and interviewing players - which confirmed how important this match was. Atleast they take their sports seriously here.

In talking to the guys at lunch they told me that the tv at the villas can be much better if you are willing to pay for it. One of the guys has a SlingBox setup back in Texas, but says it can be a bit choppy depending on the network usage... so I think we'll keep it simple with DVDs (if you have any recommendations please forward them our way)... especially tv shows we haven't seen much or the ones we really like: King of Queens, Arrested Development, the Office - both UK and US versions, Band of Brothers, 24, Long Way Round, etc. I figure when it's 130 degrees in the shade, even the pool might not be worth going outside for!

I don't want anyone to misunderstand my comment about music videos earlier - I rather enjoy music videos, especially artistic ones, that don't just have close ups and shots of busy discos filled with beautiful people. My favorite video of all time? Coldplay - "Scientist", which does include close-ups but done in a way far different than most pop videos. My second favorite is actually a middle eastern classic - Tunak Tunak Tan by Dahler Mehndi (check it out on Utube if you've never seen for youself - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZorvKCVl4TM).

3 videos currently rolling in Doha (MTV UK) are creating a new mold: Linkin Park / Good Charlotte - "The River" / Pink. All of the videos are very dark (like My Chemical Romance without the high school feel) and all 3 seem to bombard you with disturbing images of humankind's anti-achievements (Hitler, atomic bombs, starving folks in Darfur). The videos certainly got me thinking, but I am a bit confused by the intentions of the artists. What do you suppose motivates them to share such a dark viewpoint often with loose religious references, but without an obvious response or solution? Anyone can make observations about a war or genocide, but what answers do these artists provide? I'll leave the topic open for comment - since I may be largely overanalyzing the motive$.

Comeback for 2007: Maroon 5 is finally releasing a 2nd album - and for those fans who saw them perform in 500 person venues 4 years ago are anxiously awaiting something special. The first single is quite catchy... I hope the rest of the album meets those expectations.

Clives' Comment of the Day: "We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive."

Famous Movie Quote: "In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the women."

Some Western Ware

Gondola ride anyone? I took a tour of the nearly completed Vellaggio mall on the outskirts of Doha. It's located right next to the Asian Games Khalifa Stadium (see photo) - quite an impressive stadium with an even more impressive tower next it that looks like it made the long trip from MiddleEarth (served as the torch for the games). As for the mall, it has a full gondola canal, sky painted ceilings, roman architecture, and although half of the stores aren't yet open, it already has a number of western shops, including MAC, Puma, Claires, Footlocker, and the Virgin Megastore, where I picked up an album today (Muse's - Black Holes & Revelations) to see if the same formatting issues that plague DVDs / Video Games also impact CDs. The CD costs 58 QAR (Riyals) = $16, and no tax - so fundamentally the same price as you would pay at BestBuy back home. Got the CD back to the hotel, since I forgot my car only has a cassette player, and Windows Media started playing it without a hiccup. It also looked like most ablums released 4+months ago are in stock, so much better music situation than I anticipated. Virgin also had a pleathra of those fun sample stations, where you look up artists or scan barcodes and listen to the album before you buy it. I spent nearly 30 minutes at the station before I settled on Muse (tough call between Muse, My Chemical Romance, and The Mars Volta). In addition the Virgin store has a small bookshop and movie selection, so it quickly became my favorite store in Doha (not much competition).

It's taken 2 weeks, but I'm officially as aggressive driver as the locals. Multiple times today I found myself behind slower moving. Luckily I used the "flash the lights" and "honk" maneuvers I'd picked up during my time here; much to my surprise they worked and I was able to pass. It's scary to think how dangerous the roads seemed when I arrived, and now how I actually look forward to driving on them for the thrill. Roundabouts are quite a lot of fun to navigate, especially now that I know the science behind them... the trick is to understand that even when lines aren't painted on the roundabout there are 3 layers of traffic - those who are turning right take the far right lane and quickly are on their way (just have to watch the guys exiting ), those who are going straight take the middle "lane", and those making a left or 360 should aim for the inside "lane". Typically when traffic is bad you'll have to wait for the right moment, when something happens to disrupt the flow - which is usually someone exiting at the same point your entering - in a sense cutting off the folks trying to enter on your left and leaving an opening. The first rule of roundabouts is to never hesitate and the locals will let you know if you missed your chance (a friendly honk or finger wave). The second is to use your turn signal - it's your friend! Once you're in the appropriate lane the hardest part is negotiating to the appropriate exit lane, which involves watching the traffic around you in all 3 mirrors, and being cautious of entering traffic in front of you. If everyone follows the rules it's a rather exciting experience... when a local just jumps into the fray or someone cuts you off is when it gets a bit nervewracking. For a more technical description try out this link which I used to learn the basics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundabout) - take a look at the Swindon Magic Roundabout - quite an endeavor for even the most experienced roundabout driver- glad Doha hasn't tried one of those yet. I should note that in Qatar we drive on the right side of the road - so most of the diagrams are reverse for us.

I'm off to the seafood buffet AGAIN... I have to say that living out of a hotel, no matter how nice, starts to drag after a while. That AND being away from Sheri and our friends... I wouldn't mind a nice home grilled steak and a St. Arnold's Brown Ale, which reminds me, some of the local hotels import a very tasty Irish Brown Ale called "Kilkenny" which is next to the Guinness and a bit brighter flavor... try to find it at the store nearest you because it is definintely worth the price. Would go wonderfully with some HoneyClover or Aspen blended tobacco.

Clives Comment of the Day: "Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become."

Great Music You Might Not Have Heard Before:

Muse - Starlight

The Format - She Doesn't Get It (Local Tucson, AZ boys)

Stereophonics - Nothing Precious At All

Jonezetta - Communicate

Greatness in Tragedy - Slideshow

Highwater Rising - Wasted Days

Idlewild - Love Saves Us From Loneliness

Famous Movie Quote: "What we do in life echoes in eternity"

This Time With Flair

You know it's bad when an entire country's internet goes down... and that's exactly what happened around 2:00pm this afternoon. Qtel, which is the nations' sole sourced internet/phone/cellular provider, lost its signal and it took nearly 4 hours to regain. Luckily I was down by the pool for most of that period, and I usually update my blog and send out emails in the evening - just glad to see it up and running again. Rumor is that the government has received bids for a second telecommunications company to give Qtel some motivation to provide better service and potentially lower the prices, which are about 30% higher than you'd see in the states. I have to say that it seems a bit dodgy to only have one company - where I'm from that's called a monopoly and it's typically bad for business.

I won't talk up the pool too much, since most of you are still at work counting down to the weekend. I managed to grab a cushioned lounge chair and soaked in some rays while reading and having lunch poolside. Fridays are much less busy because of the prayer/family focus for many locals. I'm sure tomorrow will be just as crazy as last Saturday. There was no shortage of speedos and bikinis today - many of which should never have been purchased nor worn in public. A bit more body hair than we north americans are used to, and the concept of covering one's weight doesn't seem to apply to the folks here. There were a few women in the traditional abayas, and I can only imagine how hot it must have been for them. I was sweating between dips in the pool, and I didn't have a full coverage black robe on.

The international hotels seem to be havens for western behaviors - primarily drinking, dancing, and 2 piece bathing suits. No wonder people pay thousands of dollars to join the hotel's fitness/pool club. Also explains why the hotels are so busy on the weekends, although Qatari's must jump through a lot of hoops to get into the bars - since the bartenders have very strict orders to not serve alcohol to locals, a very severe offense for both parties involved in the transaction. For those staying at the hotel, without their wives to go dancing with, the nightclubs are just a huge hassle, filling the parking lot with landcruisers and the lobby with expats - of course once Sheri gets here I'm sure we'll be two of thsoe expats looking for some fun on the weekend.

Despite knowing that the parking lot would be a madhouse, I decided to head out to the Landmark mall (expat mall outside of town) and try out the TGIFridays. The road I took last time was torn to smithereens, so I had to take a detour which dumped me right into the parking lot - which was bumper to bumper. Turns out that the stores DO open on Fridays - but only after dusk. So I was one of hundreds of cars jockeying for a parking space. By chance I pulled up right next to a tight, but achievable parallel parking spot... but the real game isn't between you, the two parked cars, and the curb - it's between all of you AND the crazy drivers who zip past you while you're trying to execute this maneuver. My dad would have been proud of my skills, unfortunately the camera phone couldn't capture the scene in the dark. I'm not sure what we'll do when we're driving much bigger cars - just have to shift into 4x4 and park next to the other SUVs on the sidewalk, curb, or construction sites.

I think the Greenspoint TGIFridays by my old office in Houston that closed a few months ago actually moved to Doha. Decor, menus, even the waitresses' buttons (aka flair) were out in full force, although less than the required 37 pieces. The food, however, didn't live up to expecations. I also forgot my book, so I was forced to watch soccer, which can be quite enjoyable when it's the Premiere League, not when they switch from the Premiere League Championships to some local matchup. The first thing that suggests it's a local match is the large stadium size portraits of the Emir and his son, the second is that there isn't a fan in the stands - since it's so hot, all the fans watch on TV from the convenience of their air conditioned living rooms. I was going to ask them to change back to the AC Milan game, but didn't want to offend anyone. Note: although TGIFridays, and other restaurants like Chili's or Applebees, can't serve alcoholic drinks, they make up for it with incredible fruit juices and smoothies - which are actually better for you and the one I had tonight was quite tasty.

I used the opportunity at the Landmark mall to do some window shopping - discovering that Quiksilver is apparently a designer brand, with $40 t-shirts! I think I'll stop by the outlet mall in Austin before our move to pick up any surfer ware I might need. Sunglass Hut had reasonable prices - probably a 10-20% increase from Houston - which is good since I accidently dropped by glasses at the pool today and put a sizeable nick in the center of my left lens... hard to believe it's the first scratch in almost 2 years, but still extrememly frustrating. There were plenty of clothing shops, most higher priced (think Banana Republic and JCrew versus Gap). The "Jennyfer's Secret" pleasantly surprised me, although I was too embarassed to go into the store and start pricing panties - just didn't want to oversetp my bounds. I also did some pricing of furniture at "The ONE" home store, which was actually more reasonable and better quality than the one in the CityCenter Mall... since we may need a piece or two to compliment the genie in the bottle furniture in our villa. After picking up some snacks for the week ahead, and some much needed floss (corn on the cob at TGIFridays), I headed back into parking lot where I probably could have sold my parking space for a pretty penny. As it was I had to pull a very aggressive "Russel" move to ensure the safety of all cars involved. In the future I think I'll avoid the malls on Friday nights.

Speaking of malls, my coworkers told me about a new mall called the Villagio (sound familiar = Venician + Bellagio, a marriage made in Vegas) - it apparently has plenty of western stores, restaurants, and a mini canal complete with gondolas - now you know where they came up with the fancy name. Even though some of the stores aren't open I'm going to try and stop by on the way to the Dodge/Jeep dealership. I also need to try and find a barber - which could be a VERY dangerous proposition, but a necessary one. Rumor is that the Villagio has a reasonable haircut joint.

Friday's Best Afternoon TV Show: Rob & Big (yes they do have the Season 1 episodes here), today's episode being the one where Big Black falls off the skateboard, so they try to train their bulldog, Meaty, to ride the skateboard. Even after my 3rd time seeing that episode it was a nice treat after hanging out by the pool. I also caught nearly the entire 2OT Stanley Cup game between Anaheim and Vancouver - hope they will show some of the Redwing / Shark game tomorrow.

Clives Comment of the Day: "This world is a great sculptor's shop. We are the statues and there is a rumor going round the shop that some of us are going to come to life."

Best "Hidden" Tracks (let me know if you have some to add to the list - 80% of the bands had names that started with C - a 'C'oincidence perhaps?):
*Cool for August - "Spinning" (12 minutes after final track)
*Counting Crows - "Big Yellow Taxi" (Hard Candy album)
*Collective Soul - "She Said" (Dosage album)
*Coldplay - "Life is for Living" (Parachutes ablum -for those who were fans earlier on)
*Sublime - "Rivers of Babylon" (40oz. of Freedom)

In response to some of the latest comments (keep them coming):
1. The picture from yesterday's post is a screen shot from Waiting for Guffman, a classic Christopher Guest file (a la Spinal Tap, The Princess Bride, Best in Show - which is what led me to select the picture, and others). I now see a similarity between Christopher Guest and I in that photo - so I won't take offense to Brent's comment.
2. Most every car holds its value well in Doha, and I don't plan on choosing any future cars based on resale value - since there are fare more important things to consider when I'm actually driving the car. I do appreciate the advice that we should buy whichever SUV Sheri wants!
3. For those who are thinking of trying a bidet - recommend you adjust temperature and pressure BEFORE you give it a go... also I nearly went to the bathroom in a "holy" washing sink at the mall yesterday - glad I asked someone before I unzipped... I swear it looked like the typical ballgame basin - complete with spiggots and all.

2 Blogs / 1 Post

For the past hour and half I've been typing up one of my longer blogs - only to lose my Internet connection AND the entire blog. I have had similar problems happen while writing other days, so I periodically select the text and copy it to memory in case of such an event. I've used this technique twice before to salvage my work... I had copied the text 2 minutes prior to losing the connection, so I calmly opened Word to paste in the latest version... BLANK. B L A N K. I'm not so sure that Doha traffic can even compete with the frustration level I'm experiencing right now. I had probably 4 pages typed up, and I have no energy to recreate it... which is good news for Russ and anyone else whose tired of long blogs. I'll keep it short and sweet:

1. I got a new laptop at work today - 1 month ahead of schedule, in fact I'm using it to type up this blog, but since I forgot the charger at work this will probably be the only blog I post from this machine for a few days. It's an IBM Thinkpad with awesome features, much smaller, lighter, faster, and capable than my old Dell computer from Houston. Finger print reader, shockproof harddrive, and Arabic keys to boot!

2. The mall was busy - but I still managed to grab some pizza, some Swedish racing goggles (for the pool), and interacted with a young local girl who was absolutely fascinated with me - in a "horrified" way - I guess you could say I'm good with children... I also noticed that if you're sitting at the Starbucks on the 3rd floor you can see the one on the 2nd floor, reminding me of the hilarious movie "Best in Show". Has anyone seen the new Christopher Guest movie? It was supposed to be on my flight but that channel was broken during the flight. Curious to hear if it was any good.

3. The little things seem bigger when you're out of your element - like having to get some more air in my rental's tires - something very straight forward back home... but when I found a random guy at the car wash who could fill my tires up for free - that felt like a real accomplishment (I did pay him some money, but it took a lot of coaxing for him to accept it - where is that in our society anymore)?

4. Sheri and I have medical clearance as of late this afternoon - so all we need now is our entry visas and we can schedule our mobilization trip to Doha, which should be late May / early June. We are going to probably be back in the states twice before 2008, once to AZ in September for our friend Abby's wedding in Tucson (reunions are always fun), and once to AZ and TX for Christmas/New Years. If anyone is seriously considering saving up some money to come visit us in Doha please let us know and we can give you the insider tips on airlines, visa requirements (minimal), and make your reservation for one of our guest rooms! We would love the company...

5. I've narrowed the car shopping down based on some technical qualifications (non-commercial) and now it's your turn to help pick the "Reader's Choice". Two categories sorted by non-$ capabilities:

*Sedan (for Brandon's everyday use): 1) Toyota Aurion (V6 Camry from Australia), 2) Dodge Charger SE 3.5L, 3) Hyundai Sonata Fully Loaded, 4) Chrysler Sebring Fully Loaded, 5)Nissan Alitma 3.5SE, 6) Honda Accord V6

*4x4 SUV (for Sheri's everyday use): 1) Jeep Commander (231HP), 2) Hyundai Sante Fe (242HP), 3) Dodge Durango HEMI (345HP), 4) Ford Edge (265HP), 5) Toyota Fortuner (235HP Tundra Based SUV), 6) Mitsubishi Pajero (188HP Montero Based), 7) Jeep Grand Cherokee (204HP), 8) Ford Explorer SLT (231HP)

Interested to hear what everyone has to say, especially those who own some of these cars already or recently did some car research. Plenty of cars to choose from, and the used car market in Doha is outrageous - only ~10% depreciation per year, so not worth it in most cases - plus you are most likely buying something that's already been in a wreck, or at best through a few hellacious summers with 130+ degree temperatures.

Clives Comment of the Day: "Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: What! You too? I thought I was the only one."

Michael's Mannerisms: "Negotiations are all about controlling things; about being in the driver’s seat. And, you make one tiny mistake and you’re dead. I made one tiny mistake, I wore woman’s clothes."

Well... I managed to salvage a blog tonight, but it's probably a bit dryer and less passionate than previous posts - I'll include some more stories/details tomorrow when I have more motivation and less frustration - see ya.

A "Fresh" Perspective

As much as I would love for our community's pool to look like the amenities of the Wynn Las Vegas - I still can't believe that no one called me out on the photo (thanks to Sheri and my folks for holding their tongues). The REAL pool is a far cry from the Wynn but will certainly serve it's purpose during our assignment (see today's post for another "angle" of our community pool). Seriously, you guys realy believed the pool photo from yesterday was my community, or are you just ignoring the picture that accompanies my posts. I do put a substantial effort into choosing just the right photo to accentuate the story (not even a comment about "crazy guy dancing on piano" from two days ago???). I trust you'll pay more attention to the photos in the future...

So nearly 2 weeks apart from everyone... and time seems to be slowing down - something I wish it would do when I was in Houston and something I loathe in Doha. I've gotten many of the urgent issues at work handled, and have explored most of the city by now... leaving me plenty of time to research cars and think of ideas for the blog, which is good because the # of comments is picking up and I need to keep delivering quality stuff for my readers.

By the way... a quick thank you to those of you who are leaving comments - to help the cause I've changed the settings so that anyone can leave a comment without having to join the Blogger site... just enter your comment and name and you're off and running.

A very happy birthday to Russell and Brent - and soon a happy birthday to Sean back in Phoenix (I think)... I'll save the high five for the next time we see eachother. On with the show.
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In nearly every bathroom I've been outside of the US, next to the toilet stands its cousin the bidet. Both may differ in size and capabilities, but are inseparable in nearly every country but our own. The bathrooms in both of my hotels and at work are no exception... and if you're wondering - I have now done as the locals do, and I wonder why you don't find bidets in the States. The very idea of a bidet makes most Americans pucker up, and many giggle like children... yet they are a very serious part of the international community. I'll be the first to admit it feels horribly akward at first - especially if one does not properly adjust the pressure or temperature before diving in, but I suppose that it's no stranger than the person who first explained the concept of toilet paper to someone. By far I would rate my brief encounter with a bidet as the most humbling cultural experience thus far. A bidet is like soccer, in that you can't have a full appreciation for the world's obsession with it until you try it for yourself. I'll stop there, having already crossed the TMI line - but all in the name of cross-cultural understanding.
One of the younger cost engineers in my office is a local Qatari who went to school at Michigan State, graduating last fall and moving back in with his parents in Doha - which he explained is standard procedure until you get married, at which point most people move out on their own. His family's villa is actually located just across the street from our office - it looks like a small hotel! He usually goes with the team out for lunch at the mall and I'll sit next to him and pick his brain on local customs, restaurant recommendations, and general middle east politics. It always helps to have the inside information.

Porsche, which I'll call him for his obsession with the same European sports cars, told me today that most Qatari women are obsessed with designer fashion - more so than even American women. And that they often where very expensive designer clothing under their abayas (black coverings). When I asked why they would wear them under the dark black fabric, he said that they derobe once in an area for women only or in their residence - his exact quote was "if they couldn't take them off at home I'd never get married"! The men appear less concerned with fashionable clothing, at times wearing little more than underwear beneath their white robes, but they are sure to display a new pair of designer sunglasses and iced out watch or braclet. Wikipedia has a lot more information on Islamic scripture regarding modest dress - and good descriptions of the various forms of dress - just search for "Abaya".

I'm anxious for the weekend to arrive so that I can resume my position by the pool with a Cinco de Mayo Margarita and rest up after what has been a long week. Now's the time to send me emails or comments since I'l have a few days to catch up on my backlog of messages.

Clives Comment of the Day: "A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find the strength of an evil impulse inside us until we fight it."

Michael's Mannerisms: "Bro’s before ho’s. Why? Because your bro’s are always there for you. They’ve got your back after your ho rips your heart out for no good reason. And you were nothing but great to your ho. And you told her that she was the only ho for you and that she was better than all the other ho’s in the world. And then…and then suddenly she’s not your ho no mo’."

I'm a Barbie Girl

My iPod died at 11:15 today, 6.5 hours before I would leave work - the LONGEST 6.5 hours of my life. I didn't realize how terribly quiet my office was until my earbuds fell silent. Even with the air conditioners on full thrust I could almost understand my coworker's emails by listening to the clicking of their keyboards. I knew my iPod had been a nice accessory to my workday; I now know that it is actually a necessity to maintaining a productive environment... especially since I've been asked to create a Project Controls Plan... a.k.a. a 50 page detailed account of what processes our project controls staff will follow to ensure a successful outcome (cost forecasting, schedule progress, change management, the usual stuff). Most of the 50 pages will be plagiarized from another document, but my job is to make sure that I borrow ONLY the pieces that apply to this specific venture. More specifically I am generating a plan for an onshore LNG facility using a plan from an offshore gas production platform, very different operations with very different contracting strategies = absolute headache. Note: upon completing this document, however, I will have earned another scout badge towards full cost engineer status (not just "trainee") so there is some motivation to complete this task before my annual performance review in 2 weeks.

But enough about work... you'll be happy to know my iPod is back up and operational - some type of glitch associated with pulling it out of my portable speakers without turning it off first. I will be more careful in the future. It was by pleasant coincidence at 2:00pm, when the iPod withdrawals were at their worst that I had an important appointment to keep.

After much anticipation I was finally taken on a tour of our most likely housing community (a.k.a. our "compound"), which is actually very close to the expat mall that contains many western European designer clothing stores and Mega Mart, which is as close to an H.E.B. or Safeway as you'll find in Doha. Tostitos and Cheerios are to expats as cigarettes are to inmates, so our community's location has already given us a distinct advantage being closer to the most important store in town...

You may be wondering what an expat community looks like, well I chose to show you the best element in the header photo - the pool... but the community itself is a small collection of two story duplexes surrounded by a very unnecessary wall to the heavens, which does an equally wonderful job keeping the dangerous guys out as it does keeping us expats in. Our community that for security reasons we'll call Al-Most Amazeen, is 42 villas in all, built in the last 5 years, each villa coming with 2 covered parking stalls, access to the club house/pool (isn't it nice), and a beautiful view of dessert dunes slowly being converted into large villas and other expat communities - if you're lucky you might even have a clear view of the Landmark Mall - the one mentioned earlier in this post.

Upon entering the villa you are standing in the middle of a large open area containing a living room, complete with 27" Panasonic 1995 CRT television, a large sofa set; a dining room with the world's largest dining table & 8 chairs; stairs to the bedrooms and study; and an opening to the kitchen. Beyond the kitchen, which contains appliances almost as old as I am, are the maid's quarters - yes the MAID's quarters, because you need to have a respectable place for your maid to fix meals, fold your laundry, use her own restroom, and potentially spend the night if the kids are feeling ill... this is still soaking in for me that you can have a full time maid for almost as much as you pay for cable service in the states!

Upstairs are 3 bedrooms (Master with King, Guest with Queen, and Guest with 2 Twins) plus a study and 3 bathrooms... so with a week's notice I think we can host half of our friends on any given weekend - still accepting reservations for Ramadan in late September - a very popular time to come visit and lose some weight, since no shops or restaurants are open during daylight. It's also about this time that temperatures start to descend from 130 degrees, so all around an awesome time.

Two observations about the villa not already mentioned:

1. Each room has it's own wall / window mounted electric air conditioner - many have multiple air conditioners. Electricity is free and wall mounted units, while horribly inefficient, are much cheaper than central air. Good news is that electricity is included in our monthly rent so we'll have those suckers cranked up to the max, and everyone I've talked to says even in the dead of summer you can keep the house comfortable with the 18 or so units throughout the house.

2. The entire "backyard" is bricked in save a small patch of garden, nice for lawncare, but poor 'Zona (our puppy) will have to handle all of her business in a 4foot square area I'm calling the "Jungle" which consists of overgrown dessert bushes and weeds... hopefully by the time we move in the landscapers will have carved a small path, else we may be having to potty train her.

All in all, the villa is much bigger than I would have thought, and despite feeling like the interior of a genie's lamp, we do have a bathroom for every day of the work week, and a free pool/gym right across the street. If you're ever in the neighborhood (Al Bustan north of TV Roundabout) drop by and we can have the maid put the kettle on.

I felt ambitious tonight, even after my experience last night, so I stopped by the City Center mall to grab some Starbucks, a delicious Vanilla Frap, and walk through some of the home stores... gathering Intel on what items we should buy before coming over and what items are readily available in country. After seeing the furnishings provided with the villa I think we have some work ahead of us... The 2nd store I walked into, called the Home Center, was incredible... it looked like a Michael's crossed with the RoomStore and dash of Dollar General. I immediately identified the song overhead as Aqua's "Barbie Girl"... as if the very act of walking into a home store by yourself isn't emasculating enough! The furniture made IKEA look posh, but they had plenty of those odds and ends that make a house a home (candles, linens, beanbag chairs)... I have a feeling we'll be making quite a few trips to Home Center in the years ahead.

I'm going to save the other experiences of the day for posts ahead, since writer's block has threatened me a few nights already... but I would like to clarify that my comment about Brent being such a wonderful commenter was based on both # of responses and volume of each response, and should in no way indicate that I love Brent more than my wife. Also, the Hyundai Sante Fe (the only Hyundai currently being considered) is #7 on a list of SUVs for Doha, and unless the Jeep, Toyota, and Nissan dealerships close in the next 5 weeks we should avoid having to buy something economically or environmentally friendly.

Clive's Comment of the Day: "Good and Evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make each day are of such infinite importance"... those that remember Clive's comment from yesterday should get an added bonus smile out of this one!

Michael's Mannerisms: "Yes. It is true. I, Michael Scott, am signing up with an online dating service. Thousands of people have done it, and I am going to do it. I need a username, and... I have a great one. "Little Kid Lover". That way people will know exactly where my priorities are at."