Just got back from a visit to Al Jazeera English. I got to see all the workings of the TV station. It was quite an impressive place. There was so much to see that I didn’t get a chance to take everything in. Maybe I’ll get a chance to see it again soon.

It was pretty quiet when I was there, but I imagine that that place would be hopping when it is in full swing. I was really impressed with all of the technology that they were using. It is really a top notch place.

I was just doing some admin on my account and noticed that I had one post that was private. Don’t know why it got saved that way, but I thought that I would re-post in case any of you missed it.

And now it’s time for cake.

Check out Change.gov

Obama put up the website to talk about his plans for making things better, and also ask for ideas. If you see something that needs to be better in America, then let them know. If you have some ideas about improving the country, submit them. We all have to work together to make things better.

I’ll give it some thought on my end. Let me know if you have any suggestions.

Barack Obama wins the presidency. Wow.

Went out with a few co-workers to a new restaurant called Turkey Central yesterday. It is a little whole in the wall type place, but the food was really good and cheap. They were out of a lot of the stuff on the menu, which was pretty interesting. I had the Barbecue Chicken and rice (without the rice because they were out). Barbecue just means it was cooked on the grill, not with barbecue sauce like you would expect in the US.

After dinner we went to a rug shop. I have never really cared much about rugs, but I was just tagging along with the others. The sales guy was great. He told us a lot about the rugs, how they were made, by what tribe, and different qualities. Turns out that I have very expensive taste in rugs. I liked the most expensive ones in the store. I need to stay away from that place. I don’t have money to spend on that stuff. One of my co-workers did buy a really nice rug.

After getting back from dinner and shopping, I put on my Halloween costume and headed next door for a party. I just picked out my hair afro style and wore an american flag tie. I was an afro-american. Ha. Well, I thought it was funny. I drank a lot. I am very hung over today. Remind me to not do that again any time soon. It was a fun time though. It is nice to see the other side of co-workers.

Work put together a party tonight. We went to a really nice hotel and had a nice buffet dinner. Lots of really good food. I got to try passion fruit and dragon fruit for the first time. Loved the passion fruit. It was a lot of different flavors bursting in your mouth. The dragon fruit wasn’t very good. Not much of a taste, but it wasn’t good.

After the party, we came back to Palm Springs and hung out around the pool. Couple of people even jumped in the water. They said it was really cold. Not heated apparently. It was a fun night.

Check out Bread and Honey

I have been reading this blog for a while. Another one from Lindsey. She just posted another link to it and I thought that I would mention it here. It is by far the best food blog that I have read. Not only are the recipes delicious, but the pictures are great too. They just posted a recipe for vegetarian chili. It has corn in it. I have always made my vegi chili with corn, and people always messed with me about it, but there you have it, the best food blog on the internet agrees with me.

I moved into my office today. We were waiting for the crew to finish up the area before we moved. They aren’t completely done, but it is close enough. I have never had an office of my own before. It is small, but it is something. I don’t know that I need an office, but I guess I’ll get used to having it.

The school got some new still cameras and I needed to check them out to make sure everything was working. I got up this morning and headed out to the Corniche. It is the walkway that runs along waterfront in the city. It is a really nice place to hang out or walk. I have been wanting to get back into walking, and this might be the best place to do it. It is still a little warm so we will see.

Here are a some photos:

Here are some photos of the compound that I live:

Yesterday was my half birthday. It is usually my best day of the year. Something about fall that infuses me with energy. It hasn’t really happened for me here in Qatar. I guess it is because there isn’t really much change in the weather. It is still 85-90 degrees and humid during the day. (it gets down to the low 80’s at night)

I do miss fall a little, but I am getting settled more and more each day. Yesterday, I spent some time rearranging my kitchen. It is now a lot more organized, usable, and less cluttered. I spend a lot of time cooking in there, so it is nice to feel more comfortable with how things are arranged.

Just when I was going to start getting the rest of the house settled, I got my shipment from the US. I shipped my computer, some books, and some clothes over. Now I have to get them organized. It is funny that clothes packed and shipped around the world are less wrinkled that my clothes that I wash here. My washer kinda sucks. It wrinkles the hell out of everything, and it is even hard to iron out the wrinkles. I need to find someplace or someone to do my laundry in a better way than what I am doing now.

The house is getting a lot more comfortable. I have had hot water for the last few days. Sunday was the first day that I actually got a hot shower. It is the little things that make me happy.

Getting my health straightened out, too. I went to the doc yesterday to get my insulin prescription refilled. It was a long process (about 3 hours), but I am happy that I am good for a while longer. I should get my local heath insurance pretty soon, so I will be able to get everything up to date. Doc seemed to be nice. He didn’t spend much time with me, but had enough time to give me the diabetes speech: take care of yourself, walk more, don’t eat bad food, that type of thing. I am doing a pretty good job of taking care of the diabetes, but I think every doctor says that the first time they see a new patient with diabetes. Of course this was the first time that camel has been mentioned as food that I shouldn’t eat much of. It is not the leanest meat there is. Docs want me to stick with fish and chicken.