Hester's Head

This is a blog that I've been meaning to write for a long time. About a month ago I even told Sarah that this would be my next post. It wasn't, but I'm writing it now.

I bought my house from Dorothy - perhaps one of the Tait St residents who had been there the longest. I don't know how I was so lucky to get her house, but I was very lucky. I had been looking for a long time and it had been on the market for a while. The house was right, the neighbourhood was right, the location was right, the price was right. I bought her house.

I can't thank you enough Dorothy. Everything is better than I first imagined - especially the neighbourhood. It's not just the neighbourhood; it's also (mostly) the neighbours. John and Sarah and family across the street, Moira (I had to mention her as an enticement for her to upgrade her computer so she can check out my blog), Mark and Jeannette, Darryl and Kelly. People to help you out when you need help, people who can tell me which is a flower and which is a weed, people who can tell me how to get rid of the moss on my roof (Tide really did the job), people to give you advice, maybe lend you the necessary tools, probably even come over and help you get the job done. People who will look after your house and your pets while you are gone. There's an entire neighbourhood keeping an eye on my house while I'm away. Roxy's been seen going for walks and getting exercie and your house is still standing Dorothy.
I can't remember when you last came to see what I've done, and I'm not quite sure how much more I've done - at least the dining area. I'll have a beer waiting for you the next time you come to town. I hope you liked what I've done to your place.
Thanks again Dorothy, I'm a very lucky guy. I had hoped to see you at John's funeral, but it wasn't to be. I've probably thanked you before, but I hope I get to thank you in person again soon.

By the way, you still get the occasional bit of mail, but now it's just junkmail...

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First, let me thank those who voted for my blog. I first saw the link to it on bossdog's blog and then canucker PM'd me the link. I was just happy to see my blog on the list. I have to confess to be very pleased to have garnered the most votes. I'm glad people enjoy reading my blog, I certainly enjoy writing it. There are quite a few blogs that I enjoy reading. There are also some that I avoid. I enjoy the diary style blogs - bossdog, lily, dimoreien. Istanbul has a great blog - but it really struggled under Gus. I have to check out kitty's, canucker's, Subsandwich's as well. geek's showed promise but she didn't keep it up.
Thanks again for the votes and the kind words. I'll keep looking for bloggable incidents and writing. I hope you keep reading.


And I recently discovered that there is at least one other blogger here on HMCS Ottawa. LS Corrina Hipfner is a Marine Engineer on board and has been very studiously keeping her blog up to date. Marine engineers are still called "stokers" -though she no longer shovels coal. If you want more info (I know nothing of the stoker world), more insight and a different angle on being at sea, you can check out her blog at Around the World in 188 Days. I'm only halfway through her blog - her posts are as long as mine - but she has a very good story for the crossing the line ceremony and another good one for buying fake Rolex's in Dubai. I still have three months to catch up on. I hope you enjoy her blog.

Our first stop after Christmas was an overnight visit to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the emirate of Abu Dhabi and the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

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It is still bigger than Dubai, but not for long. I'll get back to that.
Abu Dhabi is a beautiful place that seems a little more laid back than Dubai. I was able to get ashore for the evening. Mike and I helped Christine find a guitar and then we had some Indian food for dinner - we ate for C$5. We had to hurry with the guitar shopping because she had to get back to the ship for a cocktail party. I don't do cocktail parties, I'm not a mingler - I'd rather stand there and watch the ice sculpture melt. Mike and I walked around a bit, saw some mosques, and went to the mall for some necessities. Like shaving cream and dental floss. Then another taxi back to the ship. The taxis were surprisingly cheap here.

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Who knew it would be so cold here? I was here in the summer of 2002 and was shocked at how hot it could get. With the humidity around 60% the humidex would be near 60. Air conditioners were set at 28 and that would feel cold. Now I'm back in the winter of 2006 and it is cold. The average daily temperature is supposed to be 20, but this is a cold year. It might've hit 20 a few times. I read the papers and it has been below zero in some places in the Middle East. The cold snap was newsworthy. I still wore shorts, except when I visited a mosque, but I carried a light fleece top with me. And probably wore it at some point every day.
Even more newsworthy was the Hajj. So was Saddam, but I'm sure you saw the same news coverage, cell phone video, uproar, demonstrations, that I did. But the Hajj was something else again. It is the yearly expedition of pilgrims to Mecca. Almost 3 million made the trip this year. If you are not familiar with it, look it up on the Internet and try to find some info and some pictures. There were sections of the paper dedicated to the Hajj, and I watched 24 hour live coverage in my hotel room. Masses of people, masses of tents - almost total silence. It is a weeklong affair with an itinerary that I would love to experience. I know so little that I cannot do it justice. It is one of the five tenets of Islam - everyone is supposed to do the Hajj once in their lifetime. If you are physically and financially able to participate you are supposed to. You can't borrow money to do the Hajj. People wear two pieces of seamless white cloth so that all rank and class are removed. You are not to wear jewellery, because not all people can afford jewellery. The Al-Haram Mosque in Mecca is stunning. There are semi-permanent tent cities built to house the pilgrims - pictures of that are amazing as well. Tents fill valleys. The logistics behind it must be incredible. I look at the pictures and wonder how I would be able to do it. Where...

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We've been in Dubai for a few days and will be for another few. CKA isn't too welcome here, I can get to the home page. But this is what I get when I try to view the forums, comments, post a new blog entry, PMs, and a few other things:

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I can still read the blogs.

I've had a great time in Dubai and I hope to have an entry soon (it'll be long - sorry) with some good pictures. I've taken well over 400 - can't post 'em all.