Just one of the natives

We finally have our own car, a used Chrysler Sebring, a little sporty for my wife but the horsepower and handling make it a great car for getting around Doha. When you decide to enter traffic, you can’t be timid, you will get run over from behind or from the side, so you have to get out of the way. Because 80% of the cars and trucks in Doha are white, we wanted any other color, so the new car is black. Not white but maybe not the best color in a place with lots of dust and sand. At least the car washes are cheap and they do a great job, the American car washes could learn a few things from these guys.

The weather is finally breaking and this morning on the way to work it was only 81 deg F. A big change from the mornings when it was 95 at 6:00AM. Everyone tells us the weather is great from October till April, of course that may all be relative. We have added plants to our small balcony and window ledges, to have a little green to work with. The apartment is still having startup problems, this weekend the clothes washer quit and they have been by to fix it. Pulled it out from the wall, worked on it, said they would be back in 5 minutes and we have not seen them for 2 days. It will be fixed, just on Doha time.

We now have our phone which means I am trying to get it transferred to my name so I can get the ADSL line to the apartment. This will be another experience in frustration as the bureaucracy is in total control of these type things and they move at their own pace. Being a monopoly means never having to worry about customer service.

Another weather story, the cold water tap by the end of a 110 deg day only puts out very hot water, so we turn off the hot water heater in the morning and by the time we get home, we have cool water coming from the hot water tap and hot water coming from the cold water tap. At night we reverse the procedure. Being adaptable and flexible is becoming a great asset.