30 October 2009, Friday

Today is the first day of the weekend. We waited around for my surgeon, Dr. Zeeger to call us over Skype. However, a little before 10:00 he sent an email message saying that he needed to start early with our conversation, but we missed his attempt to call us. I called him and we arranged for an evening meeting at 20:00 Doha time and 18:00 Germany time.

Jim and I went to the City Center Shopping Center with four floors of fun. The ground floor is an Ice Skating Rink. It is a huge mall where there is a Carrefour. Carrefour is like a super Wal-Mart. Lots of food and everything else under the sun. It's very Air Conditioned! Some stores in the mall were closed because Friday is like their Sunday. It is family day, and you are not allowed to go to mall alone on that day.

We also went to the Villigio Mall to eat a late lunch. We walked around the mall so that I could see what shops were there.

We went over the the villa at 9 Pearls. It is quite big, but I am sure will figure out a way to use up all the space. The master bedroom is so big that we decided to make it the guest bedroom. And when we are not having guests, I will use it for an art room.

We returned to our temporary flat at Golf Garden. We had a nice conversation with Dr. Zeegers. Basically, I decided not to have any surgery done to my spine this year. At first they thought that my spinal cord was being compressed, but the MRI shows that that is not the case. Now I just need to find a physical therapist.

28 October 2009, Wednesday & 29 October, Thursday

My flight left Houston on Qatar Airlines about an hour late at 21:45. I arrived in Doha at 19:55. Now I know why Qatar Airline is rated as a 5 star airline. In business class they pamper you the minute you get on the flight. All the flight are very soft spoken, most are Asians. Since business class was not full, I asked if I could be seated next to an empty seat so that I would not have to get my bag in and out of the overhead bin. I explained that I had a lower back problem and that it was difficult to lift things over my head. Before the plane took off I was moved to a window seat with an empty seat next to me. The TV screen is about 20" and is placed in the back of the seat in front of you. I had a nice salad and dessert and started watching a movie, but fell asleep. The seats go completely flat. They provide you with PJs and a very nice blanket (much nicer than the thin blankets you get on other airlines). When I woke up about 6 hours later, the flight attendant asked if I would like something to eat or drink. I told her that I wanted some hot water for my tea bag. She said that I had not had much to eat at dinner and that I should consider having something more substantial. I looked through the menu and picked something to eat, as I did not want to offend her. After I ate I watched a movie called The Proposal with Sandra Bullock. Then, I had a 3 hour nap. Then, I watched another movie called Management with Jennifer Anniston. Both movies were good ones, and ones that I had not seen before. Another 1-1/2 hours and we landed in Doha. As I got off the airplane there was a lady standing there with my name on a sign, and she instructed me to get on the bus to go to the terminal. Then, I was escorted into a small room and was offered something to drink. They processed my paperwork, and returned to get me. It was about a minute to go through Immigration Control and then we went through some doors and this man was waiting for us with my luggage. We went through Customs and then I was released to Jim. We were very happy to see each other. The interesting thing about landing in Doha at night is that the ground looks like it has snow on it instead of sand. The reason for that is the ground is made of lime stone!

Jim drove along the Corniche, and we looked for a parting space, but did not see any so we headed for the temporary flat where Jim has stayed since he arrived 7 September.