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).