Warming Up in Pensacola
This guy hurts my eyes. I remember reading a book called Almost French, an Australian woman married a French guy, and one morning as she was about to run down to the boulangerie in her sweats, her French boyfriend had a very pained expression on his face and said “Please! Please put on something else! You don’t want to hurt people’s eyes!”
Pensacola is warming. No matter how much Pensacola warms, I think a shirt would be a good idea.
Doha: 10 “eateries” closed for Health Violations
This is from today’s Peninsula. Don’t you wish they would publish the names of the eateries? As a person who frequents ‘eateries’, as a person the health inspectors are protecting, I would very much like to know names of violaters. I would also like to see the standards by which they are judged, and the scores of ALL the restaurants/eateries they examine. In many countries, that is considered in the public interest.
Wouldn’t it be nice to know whose score was so low that they barely passed??
Eateries shut for violating health rules
Web posted at: 2/20/2010 5:46:46
Source ::: .THE PENINSULA
DOHA: At least 10 eateries across the city were closed down temporarily by Doha Municipality last month as punishment for violating health and safety rules.
Civic inspectors conducted routine checks on more than 2,800 eateries, among them restaurants, cafes and juice stalls in the city last month, to check their compliance with health and safety guidelines.
As many as 160 violations of various types were detected and 10 eateries found to be involved in serious violations, were ordered to be closed down.
Municipal inspectors discovered large foodstuff stocks with retail outlets that had outlived their expiry dates. Some 343 types of food items which were found to be unfit for consumption were recovered and destroyed.
They included more than 2,800 boxes of fresh eggs. Each box contains 30 eggs, so the stale eggs that were seized from various outlets and destroyed by the civic body totaled 84,000.
At least 53 samples of food items that were suspected to be unfit for consumption were taken by the municipal inspectors and sent over to the laboratory to run quality tests. It was found that six of them were unfit for consumption and did not meet Qatari standards and specifications.
The public cleaning department of Doha Municipality, on the other hand, referred 115 violations to law-enforcement agencies for action while issued 100 warnings to violators last month.
Some 423 entities found to be violating public cleaning regulations were fined on the spot.
As for beauty salons, raids were conducted last month on 63 of them and 21 violations were detected. At least five of them with serious violations were referred to the police for legal action.
The municipality also acted on a number of public complaints regarding stale foodstuff on sale, public hygiene and building permits, among other things, and referred several violators for action.
Some of these complaints had appeared in newspapers while others the municipality received telephonically, while still others in writing.
Who Will be my Friends?
This will be my 31st move.
When I moved back to Doha, as I sighed and packed boxes, I took a few minutes to sit down and count them up. 31 moves. A lifetime of changing houses . . .
Until I get to the new location, I am caught up in the crushing details of moving – decisions on what to take, what to leave and to whom, closing accounts, opening accounts, blah blah blah. It can be overwhelming. I always think about that old joke about “how do you eat an elephant?” and the answer is “one bite at a time.” It’s the same with moving. Don’t look at the big picture, just keep moving, one detail at a time, and it all works out.
But when I get there, I wonder who will be my friends? It can be a lonely 6 months to a year while waiting for the right friends to come along. I make friends easily, but the ones who are going to stick, those tried and true friends – it takes a while to figure out who those are going to be.
We are lucky this time, we have family waiting for us. Our son is already educating us on how to pronounce local streets and areas (No, Mom, not “Sehr-vahn’-teys” as the Spanish would say it, but “Sir-van’tees”, not “Tex’-are” but “Te-har”, LOL) and what attitudes and perceptions we might best keep to ourselves if we want to get along.
We want to get along. Ironically, moving back to our own country is more daunting than moving to another expat community. The expat communities are relatively open and fluid, people coming and going all the time, willing to accept new members and welcome them in. This move is going to be to a very different life and a very different community from that in which we have lived the last thirty something years . . . God always sends me good friends. I just wonder who those friends will be?
Fat Tuesday and Beads
“That’s not tinsel, Mom,” my son said, “They’re beads. People throw them during the Mardi Gras parade, and they stick in the trees. And it’s not Shrove Tuesday, it’s Fat Tuesday, here in Pensacola.”
Oh.
Today I needed to do a couple trips downtown and so I looked closely at all the colorful objects sparkling in the trees after the Mardi Gras parades. Yep. He was right. Beads.
It is still cold in Pensacola. The temperature as I was driving around this morning was just above freezing. But it is cold – and clear – and sunny, and those beads sparkle in the sunlight.
Tonight we are having Jambalaya for Fat Tuesday, the night before Lent starts. I have little Q sleeping next to me. Life is sweet in Pensacola. 🙂
Pensacola Moments
Yesterday I drove AdventureMan to the airport. He rushed off to check in, planning to meet once the car was checked in. The checker-inner said “do you really want to pay $7.49 a gallon?” so I rushed off to fill the tank, God bless her. It’s funny, with all the stuff we have going on, little things we normally remember just slip right out of our minds.
I came back, picked up my next rental (I know, I know, not cost effective, but I thought I was going to buy a Rav4 while I was here – LLLOOOLLL! I still plan to, but I am waiting for some dealer incentives) and went in to spend some time with AM before he left.
When I came back out and went to my car, it REEKED! I have a non-smoker profile! I went back to the fast-booth, and waited in line. When I explained the problem, they gave me another car, a serious upgrade. Wooo HOOOO!
I only mention these instances, because two people at Avis/Budget Car Rental in Pensacola took the time to insure that I was a happy customer. I am. I am a happy customer.
Somewhere, I lost my sunglasses, and because mostly I only need glasses for driving, I needed to get a new pair. Walk in, have an eye exam within 30 minutes (he told me my old prescription was too strong!) and a pair of prescription sunglasses that are PERFECT in one hour. Professional, courteous service all the way.
I need some baby clothes, so I go to a very good department store looking for WARM baby clothes (it is very cold in Pensacola this year!) and the very nice lady says “Oh, we have some beautiful baby clothes I just marked down to 70% off.”
Am I dreaming?
Sleepless in Pensacola
It’s cold in Pensacola. The high tomorrow will be 47°F/8°C and the lows are around freezing. You think of Florida as being warm and sunny, but with the chill wind, it is COLD. Luckily, we brought some cold weather gear.
But when a Florida baby is born, they get lots and lots of clothes of lightweight cotton, and no heavy duty sleep-blankets. Heavy duty sleep blankets are for those babies up north – AdventureMan and I know, because we went looking for them tonight, for our little grandson. Even though they have turned up the heat, Florida houses can be chill in the cold weather, and we searched in vain for a good sleep blanket.
There are new ways of doing things, different from when we were raising our son thirty years ago. Now you have to be sure the baby is sleeping on his back (we were all told to be sure they slept on their stomachs) and there can be no blankets in the crib or bassinet, no soft toys, no pillows. They recommend sleep sacks because the baby stays warm and comfortable, while lowering any risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). They know so much more than when we were raising children.
I was able to spend a few hours with my grandson today, holding him while his parents napped or relaxed. AdventureMan made a big pot of nourishing and delicious Beef Vegetable Soup. He is spending time with his grandson now – when the grandson squawks, AdventureMan starts describing one of Napoleon’s campaigns and within minutes, the squalls diminish and baby is sound asleep. LLOOOLLLL! He is on duty now, while I have crawled into bed. This being a grandparent is great stuff – we get to sleep all night; Mommy is nursing, and so she has night duty. They both have big circles under their eyes and are talking about the effects of sleep deprivation – if you’ve ever been a parent, you will know exactly what they are talking about.
Think I had better order a sleep blanket!
Hey Ayatollah! Leave Those Kids Alone!
Every now and then I make a new friend. I can see in their eyes – life! love! willingness to engage and take risks! people who don’t necessarily see things the way the majority does.
One of these friends, my Kuwaiti friend, is a treasure. She has the most amazing mind, and sends me the most amazing things.
You might look at me and think I am too old for Pink Floyd, but you would be wrong. Pink Floyd makes my blood run faster. They did when I was younger, they did when my own son discovered Pink Floyd, and then, watching this video my friend sent – WOW. There goes the adrenelin!
OK, YouTube won’t let me insert it in this post. Go to the original post, play the video. . . very creative, very moving:
http://www.blurredvisionmusic.com/
Don’t you love young people? They love justice, and they hate injustice. They hate unnecessary constrictions. They hate people telling them how to think. All that energy, all that passion, all that vision!
Most of my friends – like AdventureMan, like my Kuwaiti friend – are still 25 on the inside. 🙂
Most of my friends will get this video – and love it! 🙂
Generosity of Spirit
In our Womens Bible Study Class, the discussion turned to how living in these lands, the cradle of our religion, has illuminated the reading of the bible in new ways for us. As I read this morning’s readings, I thought of all the loving kindness we have been shown at your hands, at the unending generosity of spirit you have shown us, living here, in this dry and thirsty land . . .
Abraham's Departure, by József Molnár
The Hittites tell Abraham he is a mighty prince among them, and welcome to bury Sarah where he would wish. Ephrom refuses to take payment for the cave Abraham wants to buy, insisting that Abraham accept it as a gift. This, near Hebron . . .
Abraham insists on paying for the land, and hands over, piece by piece, 400 pieces of silver.
Would that God would bless the land with a similar spirit, that the Jews and the Palestinians might find a way to share the land and to live together in peace, as a blessing to one another.
Genesis 23:1-20
23Sarah lived for one hundred and twenty-seven years; this was the length of Sarah’s life. 2And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan; and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. 3Abraham rose up from beside his dead, and said to the Hittites, 4‘I am a stranger and an alien residing among you; give me property among you for a burying-place, so that I may bury my dead out of my sight.’
5The Hittites answered Abraham, 6‘Hear us, my lord; you are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our burial places; none of us will withhold from you any burial ground for burying your dead.’ 7Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land. 8He said to them, ‘If you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and entreat for me Ephron son of Zohar, 9so that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns; it is at the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me in your presence as a possession for a burying-place.’ 10Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, of all who went in at the gate of his city, 11‘No, my lord, hear me; I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it; in the presence of my people I give it to you; bury your dead.’ 12Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land. 13He said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, ‘If you only will listen to me! I will give the price of the field; accept it from me, so that I may bury my dead there.’ 14Ephron answered Abraham, 15‘My lord, listen to me; a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver—what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.’ 16Abraham agreed with Ephron; and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants.
17 So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre, the field with the cave that was in it and all the trees that were in the field, throughout its whole area, passed 18to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, in the presence of all who went in at the gate of his city. 19After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah facing Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20The field and the cave that is in it passed from the Hittites into Abraham’s possession as a burying-place.
First Things First
“I have some WONDERFUL news for you!” I gushed to AdventureMan when he picked up the call, “I found a third of the last fruitcake in the refrigerator!” I knew he thought he has finished off the fruit cake and that we didn’t have any more.
Pause. Pause. Pause.
“Hello? Hello? Are you there, AdventureMan.”
AdventureMan comes on, his work-a-day brisk, official self.
“When you start a conversation with ‘I have some wonderful news for you'” he says, “the next words out of your mouth really need to be that I am a grandfather.”
LLLLLLOOOOOLLLLLL.
I can’t make that happen any faster than it is going to happen. Baby grandson is now almost a week overdue, and we are waiting, waiting, waiting for him to show up. This is an eagerly awaited arrival.
I guess he is also happy about the fruitcake, but he really wants a grandson! 🙂
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