Medical and Weekend

Me at the Marina Mall

Amr ( Egyptian ENT ) smoking Sheshia as we have Turkish coffee at Cafe.

Blury night scene at Meridian Hotel across street from our hotel at a outdoor cocktail lounge. Construction on island in background has 13 highrises going up at same time.

Hi All,

Friday 10am and it's the weekend. Well this past week has been stressful. I had my physical on Sunday and got a call on Wednesday that the xray showed a infection in my left lung so off I go to employee health and they send me to a Pulmonologist for a consult. I go to the Medical clinic for this and I'm "escorted" to the location and then left to my own devices - so I find registration and it's a mob scene After showing my doctors orders I'm told it's the wrong place - go to and points - I think he means admissions to get registered. Off I go - they tell me - go to Patient Affairs - for what reason I have no idea - I finally find it and get queued up and seen. They make an appointment for me on the 23rd -not good- ( and by the way, I'm listening to my cheapo laptop speakers I bought - much better than the built in one and -Kevin - As my Guitar Gently Weeps - is on - for all who don't know this is Kevin's "it" song ) So then I must go next door to see some guy who stamps these papers - ( stamps are big here ' The Official Stamp" ) signs off on them and sends me on my way. I return to Employee Health and tell them what has transpired and the Doctor takes my papers and disappears - she returns in about 15 min and I have an appointment for yesterday Thursday.

Thursday I head off to the clinic and my appointment but first I have to get registered at Admissions where they will "make my chart" which they do and I go over to the medical clinic - again a mob scene. I get queued up again and finally get to the head of the line - If I haven't told you , line jumping here is the national sport, don't matter , don't wait , barge to the front and interrupt the clerk who is working with another patient or customer and get your problem taken care of NOW - so odd, I was actually Guarding my place in the front of the line to discourage line jumpers and still some guy slips past me and - naturally the clerk attends to his needs over mine - why - it's the national sport . Again so ODD by western standards.

Well AGAIN the guy sez - not here go somewhere else - I think he says Employee Health - ARGH so I walk back over there and guess what - not open - So I ask this other person in the lab and he walks me right back to the same place in Medical BUT through the back door and into the inner sanctum itself - AHH I'm a line jumper now - I get it - screw them - just jump the line ! So now I'm in the corridor and I get the attention of a nurse - which here they call "Sister" so this sister takes me to another sister who then takes my vitals and gets me set to see the doctor - SO I'm standing in the corridor again and another nurse escorts me to a room to wait in , I finish 2 games of backgammon on my phone games and get called in. Doctor takes my medical history - all the while they are searching for the xray - which after 20 min they give up and the nurse goes to look - HA - 15 min she returns - no xray - so the doctor ( who worked in Millersburg VA for 20 years) sends me upstairs to get another xray and to return with them - I go up , they all wonder why I'm there again and one guy gets pissed and says not to get my xray as HE will find the original - he sheepishly returns in 5 min - says get your xray - I felt like - No Shit Sherlock - but I smile and head into the room with the attendant. I get my xrays and return to the Pulmnologist and he looks at the films and lo and behold - there's no problem at all.

Whew - I think I felt my blood pressure dropped 20 points. So now I'm waiting to see if my chart now ends up back at Employee Health so they can then then get a report from the Radiologist and the consult and send it to Human Resources where then I will be cleared for the residence visa. To get this, I send in my visa, my passport and the clearance letter from the hospital and the AUTHORITY stamps( another stamp) my passport/ visa and returns them - all in a week. The wheels turn slowly.

It's Friday and Marcel ( from Ghana but is US citizen) and I made plans to go to the fish market for a late lunch today at 3. .

I need to do grocery shopping , get a haircut and get a iPod cable - lost mine along the way somewhere and it's lost it's charge.

Well that's it for now from Yabba Dabba Abu Dhabi

Shout out to Roger and my pals at RichO's, all My friends in and Family and my lovely wife Christine.

Love to all

Scott