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Mom has commented a few times about how hard it is to leave comments on my blog, so I have chagned the settings. It is now open to all comments but I will be monitoring them to see which ones get posted. This monitoring will allow me to block comments that aren't in English or other such stuff.

Hope all are doing well.

The kindness of a Qatari

This blew me away yesterday. Qatari people are not known for being nice when they are in vehicles, or really out of them. They will cut in front of you in line when you are in a store, ride your butt when you are on the road while flashing their lights, you name it, they will do it. Yesterday I went to the Al Meera store, it is convenience store but it has the best deals on stuff. Anyway, I was going to my car, pulled out my keys, put my groceries in and got in the car. I looked behind me to back up and there was a Land Cruiser behind me. The driver, a Qatari, was getting out so I just waited. He walked over by the front of my car, picked a 1 riyal note and gave it to me. He got out of the car to give me back the equivalent of 30 US cents. I was blown away. I still am blown away. What really makes this impressive is that it was REALLY hot and REALLY REALLY humid yesterday, like a sauna, and he got out of the car! Thank you Qatari man, I am blown away by your kindness.

July Pictures

This is the entrance to the pedestrian area in Munich. This portion of it is known as Karsplatz, or Karl's plaza. This area feeds into Marienplatz and everything in that area.
Me and my Beer. That was about all I drank, I smashed my finger and didn't want any more after that. Also, Beer+vegetable soup isn't as good as you would think. Next time I'll go for the pork.
This is on top of Cannon Hill above Rowlesburg, West Virginia the day of the reunion. Dad came out to see me and so we were the family representatives of the Chuck Shaver family, lots of fun.

My July trip

Ok, so it has been a long time since I posted, but that it ok cause I haven’t been near a computer. So let me update the masses.

Munich, Germany- I had a great time here. I was a little frustrated at the railway stations in Frankfurt cause nobody had signs up explaining what was happening. Of course I don’t speak or read German so that wouldn’t have mattered so much. A very nice lady was also on her way to Munich and helped me get there without getting lost or really confused. I did learn that ‘glies’ means track in German, handy piece of information to have when riding the train in Germany. Anyway, found my hotel in Munich and then slept for about 1.5 hours. I didn’t sleep much on the train or plane and was REALLY tired. I then took a 1 hour bus tour of Munich which turned out to be very helpful for planning the rest of my stay. I found my way to Karlsplatz and Marienplatz and did a little bit of shopping, got dinner, and then drug myself back to the hotel. The next morning I just walked around the city taking pictures and enjoying Munich. I had lunch at the Hofbrauhous and then proceeded to smash my figure on a chair in the beer garden (hey, beer gardens are dangerous places.). I wasn’t hungry after that but I had a little more of my soup, pretzel, and beer. I couldn’t finish my beer, it was ½ liter and I know that all of my Sarvela ancestors are turning over in their graves. I went into a cathedral and when I came out it was pouring down rain. I waited in the awning for about 20 minutes with a man from southern part of Eastern Europe who spoke no English. Interesting time there, but when the tourist gets rained on, the tourist will knit. I found a store that had yarn and needles and made it back to my hotel for a nap and some knitting. That evening I went to the Oktoberfest grounds, Julyfest is not so exciting, and then found dinner to repack up stuff for the train back to Frankfurt. The train to Frankfurt left at 5:23am, yes in the morning, and I made it just fine. Then back to the airport and on to Atlanta.

Atlanta, Georgia-I did a lot of shopping and went to a wonderful teacher training. I enjoyed Mexican food, Target, T-mobile, and a bookstore that was closing. Shopping is good in Atlanta and got even better when I found the REI store.

West Virginia-I GOT TO SEE DAD! That was probably the highlight of the trip was having Dad fly out to see me. We went to the Shaver family reunion, I won furthest traveled, and just did a lot of talking and eating and eating and eating…. I was able to see cousins that I hadn’t seen in a very long time which was nice. Dad went home after the reunion weekend and I stayed on for another week. I also managed to get a cold which turned into an upper repertory infection. Before bed and my Great Aunt’s house we would take our pills together, kind of funny. Since I wasn’t feeling well I stayed in the Kingwood area and rested. I found out that Claritin D is my new best friend for flying. I would take pill about 1 hour before landing so my ears would clear.

Back to Doha-I made it back to Doha just fine if not tired. On the plane leaving Doha I sat next to a man who was going to Oregon and we talked about Oregon since my sister is there. When I boarded the plane to go back to Doha from Frankfurt I was sitting next to the same man! Funny funny.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed the brief update, I’ll try to post pictures later today.

He once was lost and now is found.

GUS IS HOME!!! It turns out that he was found in the middle of the road on Friday and was picked up by a very nice lady. She took him to her house, she has a kennel, contacted her vet for some reason, and then gave him a bath and kept him at home. Dad was calling vet clinics and on the 3rd try the person at the vet told Dad where Gus was. He was a little hungry, he doesn’t like changing food, but he is fine. I am so thankful that he is ok. I got to see him on the web cam so that was good.

I leave tomorrow for vacation so I'm getting ready for that now. I've got a train ticket to Munich and a hotel and a map so I'm set. I have packed up a lot of stuff but still have more to go tonight and then the last minute stuff on Thursday after work. Exciting!

Gus

As most people know, I am a little bit attached to our dog, Gus. We got him 1 week before I graduated high school and I spent that summer working and playing with the dog. I got a little bit found of the dog (and he got a little bit spoiled). The bad news is that Gus is missing. We think he went after a bear that hanging around our place and he hasn’t come home in 36 hours. Dad went looking for him but couldn’t find any trace of him. He has a few more placed to look tomorrow but it isn’t looking good.

Only a few more days until my next trip. I am excited about that, in fact, I am ready to leave now. Well, give me a few minutes to pack and then I can go.

I need to go check on a reaction in the lab.

Wow, life is exciting, isn't it?

So I was going to start this post by listing all the exciting things that are happening but there really isn't anything going on. Most people are getting ready to leave on summer vacation or have already left, I am with the former group. I leave in 8 days for a 3 part trip, none of the parts are very long. I am spending next weekend in Munich, Germany and I am excited about that. I really want to change my ticket and leave early but I'm not going to do that. It wouldn't be honest and I don't have it in the budget for this month. Europe isn't cheap to visit.

I have a new toy. It is a Sony eReader for ebooks and I love it. I figured that since I got the stimulus money I should help some economy so I spent most of it on the new toy. It is very handy and nice to have. I have probably spent about 10 hours on it so far and the battery holds the charge nicely. The screen doesn't hurt my eyes either. The interface for buying books is similar to iTunes, dangerous but Continent. (New books are only a click away!)

I am watching my neighbor's dog for about 2 weeks, until I leave next week. It is nice having a dog, but she isn't my Gus. Before my friends left I asked if Rosie, the dog, needed to be let out in the middle of the day. The owner said that I could try but she probably won't go out. One day he went to let her out and she stuck her nose out, sniffed, and would leave the air conditioning. She is lonely but ok.

Anyway, that is all that is exciting for now. Take care!