Another view out of my window, this time trying to emphasize the desert beyond the West Bay. If you are wondering why I keep taking pictures from the same spot, here's the deal. For citizens of nearly every other developed country in the world, you just have to show a valid drivers license, and they will issue you a Qatar driving permit. But...a while back, I am told, a Qatari citizen of prominence tried to get a New York drivers license and was met by a typical display of New York City municipal worker diplomacy and a dizzying array of hoops that needed to be jumped through.
Long story short, papa won't be doing any driving until he; a) gets his RP (Residency Permit, which has required a medical exam, blood work, chest X-ray, blood typing and finger printing), b) takes and passes a complete eye test, c) passes a written test (which I'm told was translated from arabic and contains lots of triple negatives), d) passes a driving test (advice here was "be aggressive", especially in the roundabouts), and finally e) passes a test involving walking out to a car with it's hood up and identifying random engine parts. I'm told my RP is coming tomorrow or Monday...
But I digress
Dr. Aeby's Top Three Reasons for Coming to Doha:
#3 Mid-life need for an adventure - While I love the UH Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women's Heath and all the people I worked with, I've been there 28 years! Do the math, that's half my life! Honestly, I started the ball rolling nearly 3 years ago, at a time when parts of my job were pretty frustrating. Lots of good changes are happening in the department, the frustration level was way down, but hey, the ball was rolling...
#2 The Sequester - Remember that gun that congress put to their head, hoping it would inspire them to reach a bi-partisan budget agreement? Remember how the automatic cuts of the sequester were so draconian that only a house of suicidal fools would ever let them come to pass? Remember that congress proved they were a self-destructive bunch of idiots? Well, if you are sitting there saying "heck, that wasn't so bad", then you are not in the research business. Dr. Greta is arguably the top expert in coral disease of the pacific, but she has always been on soft money. Her lab, along with her collaborators, is on the cutting edge of research in her field. They are discovering new diseases, new pathogens and the pathophysiology and microbiology behind it all. Still, NOAA and NSF budgets got slashed and her funding went to zero. According to their World Cup hype, Qatar is only a 4-hour flight for over 2 billion people. Greta's goal is to use the Doha hub to create an international coral disease consortium that will have a great chance at competing for international funding. She already has great collaborators in UAE, Saudi Arabia, India, Tokyo, Okinawa, Taiwan, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Hope I got that right, honey :-)
and #1 Being on the Ground Floor of Something Great
Long story short, papa won't be doing any driving until he; a) gets his RP (Residency Permit, which has required a medical exam, blood work, chest X-ray, blood typing and finger printing), b) takes and passes a complete eye test, c) passes a written test (which I'm told was translated from arabic and contains lots of triple negatives), d) passes a driving test (advice here was "be aggressive", especially in the roundabouts), and finally e) passes a test involving walking out to a car with it's hood up and identifying random engine parts. I'm told my RP is coming tomorrow or Monday...
But I digress
Dr. Aeby's Top Three Reasons for Coming to Doha:
#3 Mid-life need for an adventure - While I love the UH Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women's Heath and all the people I worked with, I've been there 28 years! Do the math, that's half my life! Honestly, I started the ball rolling nearly 3 years ago, at a time when parts of my job were pretty frustrating. Lots of good changes are happening in the department, the frustration level was way down, but hey, the ball was rolling...
#2 The Sequester - Remember that gun that congress put to their head, hoping it would inspire them to reach a bi-partisan budget agreement? Remember how the automatic cuts of the sequester were so draconian that only a house of suicidal fools would ever let them come to pass? Remember that congress proved they were a self-destructive bunch of idiots? Well, if you are sitting there saying "heck, that wasn't so bad", then you are not in the research business. Dr. Greta is arguably the top expert in coral disease of the pacific, but she has always been on soft money. Her lab, along with her collaborators, is on the cutting edge of research in her field. They are discovering new diseases, new pathogens and the pathophysiology and microbiology behind it all. Still, NOAA and NSF budgets got slashed and her funding went to zero. According to their World Cup hype, Qatar is only a 4-hour flight for over 2 billion people. Greta's goal is to use the Doha hub to create an international coral disease consortium that will have a great chance at competing for international funding. She already has great collaborators in UAE, Saudi Arabia, India, Tokyo, Okinawa, Taiwan, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Hope I got that right, honey :-)
and #1 Being on the Ground Floor of Something Great
Apparently you even get to drink coffee while you're seeing patients!
Don't forget to give the puzzle a try!
Don't forget to give the puzzle a try!
RSS Feed