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.