I had to share this!

My friend Kim sent me this.  She came across it in her Mom's Conway Twitty collection and of course thought of me. Enjoy!  

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

A bit of trivia:   Conway learned Russian and recorded this song in 1975 for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.  It was played by the American astronauts to Russian cosmonauts as a gesture of goodwill. 

Catch up

I know, I know...I am behind on the blog.  After I unpacked all of our stuff, I came down with a mega-cold.  I think I caught something after breathing in all the Doha Dust that was in every box I opened.  The Christmas stuff was the worst, since it was outside in our shed in Doha.  Everything was coated in dust and sand!  Ugh!  Anyway, I'm back and getting caught up.  

Someone besides my Mom reads this blog?

I have been following White Sun of the Desert, a blog by a British expat living on Sakhalin Island, since I found out we were moving here earlier this year.  He has great stories and pictures about his life on the island, and is full of helpful information for us 'newbies' on his other site, sakhalinexpats.com.  Well, somehow, he noticed my little blog and posted a big Welcome for us on his site.  Because of his post, traffic on my blog has gone up 1000%! Thank you, Tim, for the warm welcome, and come back anytime!

My chocolate cake

Every now and then, I get a wild hair and decide to try and bake something.  This time it was a flourless chocolate cake.  I haven't had flourless chocolate cake in a long time, and it sounded good when I saw the recipe.  However, we don't really keep desserts in the house since Shane doesn't really eat them and I really shouldn't eat them.  Every time I bake anything sweet, I always end up giving it to Sam and her family.  They came over this afternoon to try it out, they all seemed to enjoy it.  Once Shane has a piece tonight, I will take the rest to their house tomorrow!  

WOW!!!

I was completely impressed and pleased with this story. It is refreshing to know that honest people still exist and not everyone is out to profit off of others' losses. This would, of course, NEVER happen in the USA, as most people would consider this a strike of luck, instead of considering the fact that the bag actually belongs to someone else, and that they might want it back. The cab driver was just doing what he felt was his job...cleaning out his car and turning in items that didn't belong to him (it is also worth noting that cab drivers make only about 600 QR salary per month - about $165 USD - plus their fares). He didn't even look inside the bag to see what was in it!!!! Granted, the fool that left the bag in the car should be a little more careful with his belongings (especially if they contained a large sum of money). Being an Arab, though, the thought of someone stealing it probably never crossed his mind, as he lives in Qatar, which has proved time and time again to be country full of people who would react the same way. I only hope that I would react with the same integrity, and I honestly think that I would....since knowing that I had stolen something from someone else would definitely keep me up at night and prevent me from wanting to get near a mirror...

Taxi driver praised for returning bag containing QR111,000

Published: Thursday, 12 June, 2008, 02:06 AM Doha Time

By Ramesh Mathew

Al-Mansouri giving a gift to Shetty

AN INDIAN taxi driver handed in a bag mistakenly left in his car by a passenger to find it contained QR111,000 in cash.
Balakrishna Shetty made the discovery a few days ago after giving a lift to an Arab national.
The modest driver, who works for the government-owned firm Mowasalat, said: “He is lucky that I found his bag before any other passengers boarded the car. Otherwise, things could have been different.”
Yesterday, Shetty’s bosses publicly commended the driver for his “honesty and dedication to work”. They presented him with a certificate and gifts.
According to company sources, Shetty, who comes from Mangalore in southern India and who has been working as a taxi driver for about two years, handed over the bag to the company’s main call centre in Mesaimeer, without even opening it.
It was only when one of the officials checked the bag in a bid to identify its owner that it was found to contain a number of valuables and a huge amount of money.
Shetty’s honesty was honoured at a special meeting, attended by Mowasalat executive director Ahmed Busherbek al-Mansouri as well as the senior business development manager Ahmed al-Ansari, acting marketing manager Tim Garcia, and senior shift controller in the taxi department Asif Nazeer.
According to Mowasalat, it is not the first time that their employees have acted with such integrity.
In a statement, the company said: “This is only a part of the bigger things that we do regularly from maintaining our cars inside-out and bringing our passengers to their destinations safely and comfortably.”
In other cases of refreshing honesty, a taxi driver, called Shaly Dharmarajan, returned foreign currency worth QR16,000 to a visiting Switzerland-based Arab who had left it behind in a wallet after taking a cab ride to Doha’s City Centre in 2004.
Moved by the Gulf Times report on Dharmarajan’s honesty, a Western expatriate living in Doha gave him a cash reward of QR3,000 and a two-way ticket to his native India.
It was the second time Dharmarajan had been in the news; previously he had returned a Western expatriate’s wallet containing approximately QR2,500. It had taken him two days to find the owner.

My Persian Rug

I bought this rug in Dubai.  It will be a souvenir of our time living and traveling in the middle east.  It is a Bakhtiari rug, which are from the province of Chahar Mahal-and-Bakhtiari in west central Iran.  This particular rug is the Garden of Eden design, with each compartment filled with a floral design.  There is a willow tree, a cypress tree, a bush, grapevine, a vase containing flowers, a bird sitting on a branch, Heriz medallion, an all-over boteh (cluster of leaves), and the tree of life.  I had it framed because it is woven of pure silk and I didn't want to risk ruining it with a 3-year-old and 2 springer spaniels running around the house!  

Ahhh...I can't wait!

 

The weather in Houston looks heavenly!  It is almost noon there and only 77 F!  A little rain sounds good, too!  It is 7:30 here and the sun set over an hour ago and it is still almost 100F!  It has been scorching hot lately, and I am ready (for more reasons than the weather, of course) to go home!  Only 3 more days until we leave!

Thai is the new Mexican!

Yes, this is a restaurant!  This is the restaurant known around Doha as the Thai Massage or the Thai Snack House.  There is a massage parlor next to the restaurant, so a lot of people just associate it with the restaurant.  Mexican food used to be a favorite of mine, but now Thai food has taken that spot.  Shane and I love this place, and are now regulars.  If you are looking for good Thai food in Doha, this is the place to go!   Another great thing:  it is cheap!  3 people can eat for less than 50 QR ($13.50).  

I gotta catch up...

I know I am behind on getting things posted on here...but I have a good reason (at least I think so). My Mom, Mike and Joseph arrived in Doha on Sunday and I haven't been able to get on here. I am so excited that they are here!! I miss them terribly, and it is good to see them in real life (I normally see them on the video cam).

Who me, a Democrat?

I saw this on a friend's blog and thought I would check it out...

You Are 16% Republican

If you have anything in common with the Republican party, it's by sheer chance. You're a staunch liberal, and nothing is going to change that!

How Republican Are You?

You Are 40% Democrat

You're a bit Democrat, and probably more liberal than you realize. If you're still voting Republican, maybe it's time that you stop.

How Democrat Are You?

Goodbye, Pavlasfamily.com

It's done...I shut down the pavlasfamily.com website. I think the blogspot website is much better. Hopefully, you do as well! One thing about it, it is much easier to keep up to date. I didn't know if I would be able to do it, but so far, so good.