Last Blog from Qatar

This is not my last day in Qatar but I think it will probably be my last blog. Next week I'll be in Houston and the following week in Australia. I wrote my first letter from Japan and blogged it three years ago. It is amazing that the time has gone so fast. In the last five years I have worked in the United States, Venezuela, Japan, Europe, Qatar, Nigeria, and now Australia. That is all the habitable continents.



The group picture at left was taken at the Diplomatic Club here in Doha last month. I have been working almost daily with some of the people in the picture for over three years now so I will miss them. Maybe we can work together on the next project but in any event they are friends for life. If you can, spend some time with your friends :-)

Carpets don't have to be Expensive

I am doing pretty well writing about carpets so I'll keep it up. This one is supposed to be an Iranian Shiraz Tribal and is 6.6 x 9.7 feet. It was pretty cheap - less than $400. I like the colors and it has all sorts of motifs in it. Can you see the elephants? There are some 4 legged critters. The birds are easy.

You can really tell this one was hand made. Look at the left hand side and see the curvature? There are lots and lots of little mistakes in it too. The knot count is low and it is pretty rough but I like it...

A Detail from the Tree of Life

This is a detail of the birds just to the left of the trunk in the lower part of the carpet.

The Tree of Life

This photograph does not do the carpet justice. It is a Persian silk by the master Mir Mehdi. It is from the town of Qum in central Iran. The knot count is 12 per cm or 1.44 million per square meter and the carpet has about 2.5 million knots. It is fine enough that the man who runs the largest carpet store in Doha has a picture of it in his catalog.

The motif is the Tree of Life. It originated in Kashmir I am told and is geometric and symetric when from that region. This one is incredibly ornate, asymetric, and has lots of birds.

I would never let you walk on this carpet. It will be hung from the wall.

Addicted to Carpets

According to Victor, oriental carpets are addictive and the way to avoid the habit is to avoid the addicts. I think there is something to that and should have been more careful who I was hanging out with. I always thought the carpets were nice but I never really considered buying one. But then you hang out with the addicts for a while, and listen to them going on and on, and then you start to casually examine the carpets, and first thing you know you are having to buy a new one every week yourself. And it is an expensive habit. It is also counter to my philosophy of not collecting "stuff". Nevertheless, now I am a carpet collector and I even traded one.



There are all kinds from many different places. Some are wool, some are silk, the cheap ones are synthetic. Some are made in factories and some are made on the floors of tents. Some are made with child labor and some are made by a mother and her daughter. Some are made for sale and some were made for use by the weaver. They can be modern or traditional, religious or just pretty. They are made in Turkey, China, and lots of places in between. The antiques can be very expensive. Its kind of like quilts but men can participate.


I think I like the "tribals" best. Tribals are made at home and not by professional weavers. This tribal is a very fine wool Turkmen from Northern Afghanistan (Andkhoi). Turkmens are famous for their red color made from a natural dye taken from the roots of the madder plant. The pattern is Iranian. The carpet was weaved by a well know family of weavers named Sulaimani. Higher grade Turkmen carpets such as this with a high knot count are called Biljik. The pile is kind of directional and it appears lighter form one side than the other. You can see a little of that from the angle of this photo. The bottom of the carpet appears darker but lightens as you move down the stairs from where the photo was taken. A large carpet like this takes well over a year to make by hand.


My boss unashamedly says he has $30,000 worth. I will quit going on about carpets now because I don't want to influence young impressionable readers. However, if you need to know some good carpet stores in Doha, just ask and I can set you up...

Say Goodbye to Doha

I have found out that soon I will be saying goodbye to Doha and hello to Brisbane, Australia. Sometime in early March I'll leave this project to dodge kangaroos instead of camels. I am really sorry not to see the end of this one but I have always wanted to see Australia. So here is the chance. We will get a nice place and will be expecting all you visitors so make your plans. You never know how long these things will last!

Partying Doha Style

In Doha, there are different sides of the house for men and women. The men have there own room, which used to be out on a porch.

Then there is the women's side.

Tennis

I am back in Doha now - it is cold! Supposedly, this is the coldest weather that has been experienced here in 20 years or since the 60's depending on who you are talking to. Since I grew up in the 60's and am not much more than 20 years old that doesn't really sound inconsistent.

Anyway, I got the heaters out and set them up yesterday. One of them doesn't work and the other two are barely sufficient for one room. I guess it doesn't get cold here very often. Of course it depends on what you call cold. It is getting down to about 10 deg C or (50 deg F). That is pretty cold if you are still and not dressed for it.

The photograph was taken at the Qatar ExxonMobil Tennis Tournament last night during the semi-finals. The highest ranked player was the world number 3. One of the nice things about Qatar is that there are a fair number of events like this and typically they are free (like this one) or very moderate in cost. It usually isn't crowded.

My New Year's Resolution is to "have more fun". So one of the things I did while home was to buy a new set of golf clubs - got them cheap too. Yesterday I went to the golf range and hit balls. I think the new clubs are going to be OK and I should be able to maintain my dominance over David in golf. Have a great New Year!

Christmas Decorations (needs a little work)

Across the street from Diane, Santa has fallen on hard times...

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Christmas Decorations (maybe a little over the top)

Down the street from Teresa, this is the winner of the "Best Santa" award in Kingwood...

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Merry Christmas! Here is something fun. The picture at left is of a mechanical panda toy that Stuart gave David for Christmas. Click on the picture and you will see a little movie. Have a Happy New Year!

Safety at Work

I had decided some time ago not to write about work, but to concentrate on interesting things outside of it. But this week, I haven't done much except work. So here is a picture of me at the site about to give a safety speech to the workers. I am the guy in the orange Nomex pumpkin outfit. The guys in yellow are the contractor management and the guys in blue are workers or charge hands who supervise workers. Workers wear yellow hats and supervisors wear white hats. Safety officers wear green hats. Everything is color coded.

Anyway, this safety talk was about the need to stop work if you see something unsafe. A lot of workers are fearful to do this - it is not in their culture to question the boss. And it is not in the nature of some bosses to be questioned. Anyway, I gave this talk about 10 times to around 5,000 people. Each time it was translated into at least one and sometimes two other languages. It is quite a challenge to communicate here sometimes. There are 6 or so major languages spoken. We made up 21,000 cards to hand out and had 100 full size banners posted around the site.

Oh yes - I finally made it to the Asian Games last night. I went to see the squash tournament championship. Both the mens and the womens champion were Malaysians. My friend Victor showed me a good Indian restaurant too. So that was a successful evening. BE SAFE AND STOP WORK IF YOU SEE AN UNSAFE CONDITION...

Milburn Wagon Company

Yesterday they opened the Asian Games here in Doha. Amazingly, it rained (more accurately poured) on the first day. Fortunately it cleared in the evening and the opening celebration seemed to go well. I watched it on TV for a while but got tired and fell asleep before it finished.

The theme seemed to be technology oriented and while I wasn’t paying close attention appeared to be about a Qatari pearl diver who got blown off course and discovered Asia. He had a magic astrolabe and completed part of his journey with the help of a golden falcon who carried him when the seas got too rough. Don’t ask me what this has to do with sports. Then he came back, got married, had a son, and glimpsed the future including the oil and gas wealth that is in Qatar today.

It was all done in a theatric style that kind of reminded me of a circus because there were acrobats and dancers representing various countries. It was very high tech with lasers and multi-sensory projections and sounds and such. One thing that I found interesting about it was the quick history they gave of technology development. They hit it kind of high level (gross understatement) but it got me to thinking, especially about energy.

If you look at energy use today, it is very difficult to understand how solar, wind, etc. are going to make much of a difference. It takes too many wind mills. Nobody really likes nuclear although I think it will be back some day. Conservation could make a big difference. Anyway, I got to thinking about cars – especially hybrid cars. I did an internet search and that is when I made an interesting discovery. Hybrid cars have been around a long time.

And this was a surprise - at one time, the largest wagon making company in the world was the Milburn Wagon Company of Toldedo, Ohio. With the demise of the horse drawn wagon, they made an attempt to go into automobiles. And their platform of choice was electric, including at least some vehicles that had a small gasoline engine to charge the batteries. Electric cars were essentially no longer being manufactured by the early ‘20s and the plant was sold to GM to make Buicks. You can read more at http://www.milburn.us/history.htm. Maybe my next car will be a hybrid, although to be honest I had been thinking more like getting a Corvette.

Doha at Night

This is Doha from the Intercontinental Hotel at night. I like this picture. You can see how unfinished the buildings are. The cranes are visible and the modernity is very apparent. Doha bay is like a mirror and the beach looks very strange with this lighting.

Happy Thanksgiving

On Thanksgiving my group had our "holiday" party at the Hotel Intercontinental beach here in Doha. I remember my first Thanksgiving away from home - I was 19, in the Navy, and stationed on the USS Fearless in Charleston, South Carolina. I rode my bicycle into town and ordered a turkey sandwich in a diner.

This time we had Lebanese food, but someone thought to ask them to put some turkey slices on a platter. I passed on the turkey. There was a jazz band and afterwards we sat on carpets and cushions while folks relaxed with a shisha pipe. I passed on the shisha too. According to my friend Nasser, seated to my right, shisha is a Turkish word meaning glass. That is because the water bowl is made from glass. The yankees here call it the "hubbly bubbly" and I think that some places it may be known as the "hookah" although that is normally associated with drugs I think. In the Middle East, shisha tobacco has dried fruit in it and has a nice aroma. I have been told variously that it is milder than regular tobacco and also that it is stronger. Anyway, if interested, I'll take you to a "shisha bar" if you come visit me.

Today it rained! In fact, we have had a couple of "rains" lately. Not a whole lot really, but it cools things off and is nice. The weather is in the 70s right now - very pleasant. Enjoy the holiday bustle. I'll have a cup of tea and watch the shisha smokers until I can get home.

Umm Bab Beach

Sometimes it is better to quote from those who have come before you. In this case, quoting from the Marhaba Guide, "on cresting a small hill, you will see the coast stretched out below and the distinctive group of trees. Most people turn left at the trees and stop a little further on. The sand is very deep so 2wd vehicles should proceed with caution." So we turned left at the trees - my 4wd didn't have problems. This beach is also known as "Palm Tree Beach". In some ways though, it reminded me of the infamous "Chicken Bone Beach" that stu monkey sometimes talks about. You pass a lot of oil field production on the way and unfortunately there is some litter. There were probably a dozen other people there. Despite lots of coastline and beaches, there are very few developed resort areas in Qatar.

Gecko!

When I first got back to Doha I was swamped with work. Then this last 4-5 days I have been sick. Those are my excuses for not writing. And good excuses they are.

But tonight I spotted this gecko in my car park - finally I feel better and something really worthy to write about as well! It is only the second wild native creature other than an insect, bird, or fish that I have seen. The other was a larger lizard about a foot long or so.

He is a tiny little fellow only about an inch long and was almost transparent on the wall until I turned the glare of the flash of my camera upon him. Poor little guy. I hope the cats don't catch him. There are cats all over the place here.

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Feast at Eid

Yesterday was Eid and there was celebration of the breaking of the fast at the camp. Actually the chefs, and I purposely call them chefs rather than cooks, can prepare some pretty good meals. There were some nice touches like the decorated fruit in the next photo.

They decorated the tennis court, put up a little tent and lights, and set up tables and chairs. It was a feast.

Peace...

Back at the Camp

While I was home I had several comments, mostly from females, about my animal skin bedspread at the camp (see How is the Camp). NONE of them were complimentary. While I don't really agree, I am sensitive to the plight of synthetic animals being treated in an unethical manner by acrylic fur traders. Accordingly, I spoke to the interior decorator at the camp and he replaced it with this understated floral print. As you can imagine, I am quite pleased.

By the way, there are some pictures posted behind Yebisu of my birthday if you are interested.

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High School Revisited

I have been in Houston the last two weeks and was fortunate to be in the area when my 35th High School Reunion was held. The picture in the lower right was taken in 1973, after we had been out of High School a year or two, and the 4 young men are Chopper, Brent Terrill, myself, and Garland Ermis.

It is hard to believe I have been out of High School for 35 years and it was fun to go back and see old friends. We reproduced the pose pretty well I think. Of course it was 2:00 in the morning so the fact that we were awake and sentient was in itself an accomplishment. The picture was taken at the famous "after party" party. I got the came from the furthest away award. At least I would have received it if there had been one. Next week I'm back to Qatar...

A Trip to the North of Qatar

Teresa and I took a trip to the Northern tip of Qatar and there are some interesting sites. This is the fort at Al Zubara - a lonely spot with an old man watching after it that will give you the keys to it when you drive up. Down the coast is the old town of Algamel that is now in various stages of ruin. I posted a few pictures behind Yebisu for those that are interested...

Succession Crisis Averted

I guess I was out of touch. I didn't even know the Princess was pregnant. A boy was born September 5th at 8:27 a.m. and weighed 5.64 pounds according to the Imperial Household Agency. Mother and child are said to be in good condition. Princess Kiko had been under considerable stress last year, said to be at least partially attributable to not having produced a male heir. A 1947 law allows only males to ascend the throne.

This is the 3rd child for the royal couple - a rare situation in Japan today. The average children per couple is 1.25 and the population is dropping. This has led to concerns about labor shortages in future and who will take care of the aging population. Thank goodness that Prince Akishino and Princess Miko are doing their part to avert this new crisis...

Musée du Petit Palais

This last Thursday I had to take a quick unplanned trip to Paris at the last minute for a meeting. I ended up staying Friday night and had a pleasant dinner at a Lebanese restaurant with a Lebanese friend. He is an artist, as well as being a cost engineer, and particularly likes impressionist and late 19th century romantic paintings. He is fluent in Arabic, French, and English. Anyway, it was an enjoyable evening and he suggested that if I had time to go see the exhibits at the Musée du Petit Palais which was within walking distance of my hotel.

The museum was built for the 1900 Paris Exhibition and had a very nice collection. They allowed photography and here is a painting I particularly liked. The subject is the famous French actress Sarah Bernhardt and I believe it was painted in 1875. I posted some touristy pictures behind Yebisu but going to the museum instead of work on a Saturday morning was nice. I am going to have to do things like that more often.

I walked around Paris quite a bit that morning. The center is compact and fairly easy to get about. They say that first impressions are important and my first impression of Paris about 25 years ago was not good. When I was younger I felt I could rely on my first impressions but I am a bit less certain now. Anyway, I now find Paris a very interesting place.

I speak no French, but at least I know the alphabet there. I can hardly read Japanese at all, but I can speak it a little. It is embarrassing that my friend speaks 3 languages fluently and I can only speak English. I am resolved to try and improve my Spanish. I think that is my best chance for visiting a non-English speaking country and holding some kind of a real conversation in the local language...

Copy Cats

Today I did a search for "Lost in Japan" and found several other blogs with the same name. One was in Spanish. But there were some disturbing similarities to mine. For example, one had multiple pictures pasted together. There was a picture of a T-shirt with non-sensical English and another story about a cartoon character. So either we are all observing the same interesting things or somebody is ripping off my brilliant observations! I wonder if they think I am ripping them off?

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Hobbies

I don't know why children are "bored" and why some people can find nothing to do. When I first got here, I wondered what I could do after visiting the souqs, the mall, the Corniche, and maybe the Inland Sea. You can do all those things in a week. What then?

Actually, there is a lot to do. Among the things I am doing are 1) working too much, 2) trying to stay fit with a little bit of running and swimming, and 3) still taking pictures / doing the blog.

Among the things I am thinking about doing more of are golf, sailing, or learning spanish.

There are two golf course in Qatar. There is the club in Doha where they hold a European Tour event and there is the Ras Laffan Golf Club over by the camp where a bunch of guys organized a club. The dues are about $250 per year at Ras Laffan and you can play all you want plus free range balls. As you can see from the photo there is a fine club house and the course has grass (!) greens and tees. After you hit the ball, you carry a piece of astro turf to where it lays, place your ball on it, and hit again until you land on the greens. It has nine holes.

I was out there yesterday and there were only about 10 people on the course even though it was a weekend and early in the morning. This is not because it is so exclusive, but because it was already about 105 degrees. When I want to play, I can rent clubs for about $1 so it is not necessary to buy them. This course was built before the one in Doha.

The course in Doha costs $5000 per year and really is very nice. For sailing, there is a club down on the Corniche with nice boats to rent. Maybe I'll try that. I miss learning a new language and it has become difficult to study Japanese. I considered Arabic but could not get in the proper frame of mind. So, I am going back to Spanish. That way I don't have to learn a new alphabet and I have at least some vocabulary already. Hasta la vista...

Arabic Numerals

I needed a second alarm clock since I spend a lot of nights out at the camp so I bought this one at the souq. Remember the "Arabic" numbers we learned in school? Note the numerals on the clock - these are the primary ones on license plates and such here. But everyone knows the Western numbers also.

Based on what I have been able to find out off the internet (a completely reliable source of information) the base 10 number system being commonly used today came from India although base 10 system developed elsewhere of course. An Arabic scholar, Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi (c.778 - c.850), developed the numbers from the Indian math that eventually evolved into the ones we use. The first four numbers were based on angles and 5 through 9 and 10 (using zero) were based on notation used for the abacus. This evolution followed different paths in the West and the East. The ones used in Arabia are actually based on evolution that occured in India.

The ones in use in the West are better in my estimation for several reasons - the most important is that it is too easy to modify the Eastern. Imagine a check for $100. Look at the numbers on the clock and imagine how easy it would be to change that into $355 or some other number. It is interesting that Arabic text is written right to left and that could make it very interesting going between the two number systems if care wasn't taken!

This clock cost an extra 10 riyals more than most of the others they had. Why? Because it was made in Japan! In the '50s Japanese goods were synonomous with low quality. Today you pay extra for it. The cheap stuff comes from China. Even the souvenirs for different places (including Qatar) are made in China. It is a good alarm clock that is nice and loud with numbers big enough to read if only they were "Arabic" numbers instead of "Indian" ones...

Qahwah (Arabic Coffee)

Today for entertainment I went to the Souq and was looking around. I had seen the shops selling Arabic coffee before but couldn't quite figure it out. I knew it was boiled and to me it tastes more like an herbal tea than coffee. It is not like Turkish coffee.

They sell various beans and also spices in the same shop. The main spice is cardamon but they may also put saffron and even ginger or other spices in it. The shop will grind the beans (very fine) or you can grind yourself - you can even buy unroasted beans and roast them yourself. You can make your own blend in the shop or do what I did and buy vacuum packed pre-roasted, blended, and ground.

Now I am no expert at this by any means but I have made it twice now. The gentleman at the store did not speak real good English but he was patient and did his best to explain it. Basically it goes like this:

1. Select your coffee: I bought a pre-blended style that seems typical of the Gulf area. They make different blends in different parts of the Arab world.
2. Measure water into long handled coffee pot: I bought a modern Egyptian pot. They also had Indian ones and some are shaped more like a tea pot. A serving is about the size of an espresso cup and that is what I used here. I'll have to get some cups.
3. Add coffee: According to the gentleman at the shop, about one teaspoon per cup or more if you want. I think one teaspoon is enough.
4. Put the pot on the burner on high heat and brew: Stir it once before it boils. The man said to boil it - the longer the better - except if you like it better not boiled so long. I liked it best when I just boiled it and took it right off.
5. Serve immediately: You can put sugar in it - or not. Traditionally it doesn't have sugar but I think I like it better that way. Note the green color of mine. Drinking a few grounds is expected and it is not filtered. It tastes OK but I think it is one of those things you have to develop a taste for. The aroma is very nice but not like coffee - more spicy. Mine was pretty close to what he served in the shop.

OK, I hope that explains it. I did a search on the internet and you can find out lots more about it including other twists on making it.

They served oden in the camp cafeteria today. Oden is a Japanese stew / soup like concoction that is typically served when it is cold outside. It isn't exactly cold right now outside but it is near freezing indoors. People really like air conditioning here. Enjoy your coffee...

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Roman Soldier

I don't think I would have made a good Roman soldier although I definitely have the body for it :-). Teresa and I had a good trip and it looked like David was having fun too. I got a lot of good pictures, but I find I don't blog very well if I don't make the entries right away. Otherwise, you forget the little personal detail that made it interesting. At least that is the way it is for me.

So why didn't I blog right away? Because there weren't many internet connections along the way thank goodness. Of course that meant I was overwhelmed with work email when I returned.

One of the nice things about a trip like this is I came back thoroughly rested. But it didn't last long. Oh well, I'm caught up again. And how lucky to visit such beautiful places and hear David in concert. Rather than write a lot more I am just going to post some pictures of the trip. Be sure and look behind Yebisu if you are interested...