Discovery Day

It's 22:58 in Doha, 05:58 in Melbourne and in either location I'd usually be tucked into bed with my eyes closed in some semblance of sleep. Not so tonight! I just got home from work about fifteen minutes ago and it would seem that 10 minutes (and two rounds of Mum's sock) of knitting just doesn't quite cut it as a wind down from a busy day at work.

I'm currently 58 rounds into the 198 round sock and there still another one to go! I'm really amazed that it's taken me this long. I used to knit a sock per night. Admittedly I've been "distracted" by a job that I love that's taken me to the desert but still!

I'd actually like to thank anyone who's left a message/commented on my blog. All comments are greatly appreciated and make me smile. So thank you.

Today I've learnt many things. Workwise I've ingrained the safe work method statements of forklifts (both smooth and rough terrain), scissor lifts (both electric and diesel) and diesel knuckle booms. I've also discovered that I can't spell when I'm tired (I kept spelling diesel "diesal") and I can't type either (I kept typing "exhause" instead of "exhaust"). That's all work related though.

On a non-work related learning curve I discovered the difference between temperature and apparent temperature (which is I think what the weather man should probably give us if he doesn't already). Temperature is well the temperature of air (from what I understand and recall). Apparent temperature is the air temperature combined with the effect that the humidity (among other things) has on our experience. So while it may be 37 degrees celcius in Doha, with a humidity of 57% that makes us experience an apparent temperature of something between 50-57 degrees celcius or something to that effect. The charts for Doha differ to the ones for Melbourne but it's all making sense now. I was really confused as to how 37 degrees here seemed so much hotter than 37 degrees in Melbourne. That's the humidity for you! Very interesting read though. Bureau of Meterology website is pretty cool. Discovered it while working at M2006 as we used to watch the weather charts to make sure we knew if any storms or strong winds were headed our way. I still like watching them if I have nothing better to do. Ah yes, a world of weather geekiness!

So the apparent temperature got up to 56 degrees celcius today. While the air temperature was at 37 degrees. I think I'm going to comment purely on the apparent temperature from now on as it gives a more accurate picture of the weather here. For example, the five day forecast for the temperature is 37 degrees celcius every day. The apparent temperature fluctuates from 48-54 degrees celcius for the same forecast. Never though I'd say this but I'm looking forward to the 48 degree day!

I chatted to Dad online tonight which was great. Being the point of contact in the office can get a bit quiet sometimes and I don't really see my housemates because I've been staying back at work to try and get some of my paperwork done. My brain works better at night in most countries and Qatar is no exception. The cooler conditions at night help too. I am however grateful that I have housemates and would happily share them with Naomi if I could because they're pretty awesome housemates!

06:15 Melbourne time and I probably should get to bed (23:15 Doha time). I'll inevitably wake up at 05:20 like I do most mornings as the sun rises at around 05:12 in Doha. When I say rise it shoots up in the sky and is almost at the peak of its arc by 08:45 when I usually arrive in the office. It does stay there for quite awhile only setting at around 18:00. As quickly as it rises it drops out of sight. Quite literally in a matter of minutes. You have to be fast with your camera if you want to catch it. It's a gorgeous giant red sunset too most days.

It really has been a day of discoveries, small but it all adds up right? Okay it probably has to do with my vocabulary dying down in order to allow me to stay up longer.

Now what was that I said about bedtime?