Doha Diaries: Days 81-88, Dominating Washer-Dryers, Chicken Anus

[Day 81] January 18, Communication Via Icons Is Not Ideal

I had been having ongoing issues with mastering the demonic beast known as a combo washer/dryer, as pictured below.

I was using regular detergent, but I changed to one that had a combo washer icon on it, like so:

But apparently, that was not good enough.  This detergent generated too many suds, leading to a tiny amount of spillage, nothing as amusing as you might expect from an episode of a sitcom, though.

So...back to Carrefour to buy a detergent that *only* has a combo washer-dryer icon.  Hmm, only two choices, both that are completely new to me and the description is, once again, in Arabic.  Umm, let's pick this one:

[Day 82] January 19, Washer-Dryer Dominated

Yes, finally.  I have mastered the beast and I can actually wash and dry a load of clothes effectively. Huzzah!  Excelsior even!

So, here's my approach.  First, it is accepted that these machines only dry effectively with 1/2 to 2/3 of a load.  Second, the dryer will not automatically start when the washer finishes unless you push in the button to use half as much water.  OK, so I limit my loads to about 1/2.  I don't like residual detergent though, so I flip the switch for extra rinsing.

The end result is clothes that are either dry or are just very slightly damp and dry very rapidly after being removed and laid out.  The joy of clean clothes is dampened by the horribly inefficient, and thus probably not Earth-friendly process.  Meh.

[Day 83] January 20, Chicken Anus

Yes, you read that correctly.

So, Eric, a buddy that works at Shell, and I head to Thai Snack.  After selecting our curries, we decided to examine the menu more closely.  And we found this:

Being professional, adult, cultured, Western men...we found this far too amusing.  Hence the picture.  Neither of us was brave/foolish enough to try them, but wow, what a deal!


[Day 84] January 21, No Idea

Yes, you read that correctly.  I have no recollection of what I did today, so I assume I was just killing time, relaxing, and coding for OwlCon.

[Day 85] January 22, Gold Souqs

Ed took me on a tour of the Gold Souqs and showed me some cool, off-the-beaten-path places for souvenirs and such.  I shall return...

Note: I may not have bought anything, but it appears that, in hindsight, they gave me some free germs, as I was on the verge of becoming very sick for the rest of the week. 

[Addendum: whoops, forgot to include some pictures]

Here are some examples from what I call the "wedding bling" shop, which is full of complete sets of gold jewelry for that special day.  The numbers on the stickers show the grams of gold in the jewelry.  I love the craftsmanship on the 106.74 g set in the middle of this first picture.

This second one is all about a shape theme.

Again, I favor the middle one.  The gold tassel hanging from the loop just looks cool to me.  The tear drop theme would be a close runner up, though.

[And thus ends the added content]

[Days 86-88] January 23-25, OwlCon

For the most part, my days were focused on busting ass to get my work done before the weekend and my evenings were focused on coding for OwlCon.

I credit exercise and diet with allowing me to fend off what seemed to be a potentially very bad illness that kept creeping up but never quite taking me down.  I did have to sleep in a bit extra one day, but I still managed to get in a full work day.  Hooray for fitness!

All went well, and the way was clear for my trip to Abu Dhabi...