Quick Update

Just to let you all know that things are still quite calm here at the moment. the protests are still ongoing but recently they have been very peaceful. We dont see them or hear them. The school closed early yesterday but it is because of traffic disruption only. We are still waiting to see what happens over the weekend here.


I played golf today and christened my new trolley. It performed well and I managed to get round in 6 over par 76. An OK score but not good enough to be near the prizes. One guy had an 8 yes 8 under par score off a handicap of 11. A scratch 73. Am I bitter, not a bit of it. As I've said before I play for personal pride.

We spent the afternoon lazing on the roof terrace in the sunshine. It is beautiful here just now. Sheila was in her bikini on the roof - lovely.

Cheers for now
David

Many happy returns

Many mant thanks for the gifts and cards that arrived today. The golf shirt looks awesome, one of the nicest I have seen. My children know what makes me tick. I am looking forward to setting some DS Lite records too. Cards are on display. I will need to ask Mary Doll, our maid to dust around them for a wee while.

Things have settled down here quite a bit although its not over. There is a big demonstration planned for tomorrow and the school is closing early. Only because the traffic is likely to be significantly disrupted and we want the students to get home, not because we are expecting trouble. The last few days have been very peaceful and good humoured protests. Lets hope that continues. The British Embassy is still advising against travel here but we cant really see any reason why at this moment.

Anyway, its thanks once again.
David

School opening again tomorrow

The school is opening again tomorrow and we can start to try to get back to normal. The situation is far from over but the word on the street is that talks are under way although its not being openly admitted. I think there is a realisation that something has to give to find a solution. Anyway it seems much calmer now and hopefully a satisfactory solution will be found. A number of students havent returned from holiday and some families were sent home by their employers so we will be down a bit on numbers. Not sure how many are involved, not too many I think. I have spent the day preparing a wikispace website so that we can provide some work for those who are not at school. We went out this afternoon to the supermarket we normally use. Things were absolutely normal, perhaps a little quieter than we would expect.

We "interviewed" our new maid today and she is starting tomorrow. A bit of cleaning here and there so that Sheila can relax a bit more and I can feel a little less guilty! Sheila has not relinquished the washing and ironing yet. I think she secretly loves those chores!


Thanks for the many messages and enquiries as to our well being.

David and Sheila (Two staff now)

His 'n' hers trollies

Hi guys, took delivery tonight of the rest of our birthday presents to each other. We have invested in the top of the range de-luxe, all singing, all dancing push trollies for the golf. these are the real McCoy you know. They are so smooth you can push them with one finger. I remember thinking when I saw them first, "what mugs would pay £170 to PUSH your clubs around the course". Well today we join those mugs. It will be much better than the cheap and nasties we brought with us (but not as nice as the motorised model my dear children bought me for my fiftieth). We can hold our heads high in the equipment stakes now and push our clubs right to the front of the clubhouse instead of sneaking them surreptitiously onto the first tee. Not sure if we'll hit the ball any better but at least we will look good.

I know they dont look much in the picture but trust me, anybody who is anybody has got one. Note the DS lite being used in the background. I am off to push them around the livingroom for a while. I dont want to get the tyres dirty.
Bye for now
David and Sheila

Bahrain Unrest - more

The troops have been withdrawn today and the police are now in charge. The internet is now dodgy and may go down from time to time. All is very calm and extra quiet in our area. The school is closed tomorrow as a precaution but we will need to see what happens after that. I think it is definitely a bit more serious than all previous outbreaks but we still feel completely unthreatened at this time. I played golf again and shot a very respectable 5 over par in the seniors. It was the second best scratch score but nowhere near the prizes as those with "questionable" handicaps were about in big numbers today!
Cheers for now
David

In the prizes again

My respectable 6 over par was good enough for 6th place. Got a voucher for BD15 about £25. That's not bad for an old man. We went back to the golf club for the presentation and everything about the place seems very normal.
D

Latest News

It's pretty hard to distinguish between fact and fiction here in Bahrain. The local press has a somewhat biased view and tends to underplay everything that has taken place. Sky news on the other hand takes an opposite view and is trying to dramatise everything out of proportion. Its reporting of "Pearl Square" is just trying to bolster the situation. Pearl is a ROUNDABOUT nothing more. The protesters occupied a roundabout. It is definitely not a town square by any stretch of the imagination. You might as well call preston roundabout or stenton roundabout in Glenrothes the town square! Anyway I think last night was reasonably peaceable although there are reports that there will be trouble after Friday prayers today because it is the funerals of those who sadly died. There seems little doubt that the police were heavy handed in their approach. Sledge hammers and nuts come to mind. I was at the golf this morning as usual and saw nothing at all out of the ordinary. I shot a respectable 6 over par in windy conditions finishing with 4 over for the last three holes. It was going very well up to that point!

I returned to Budaiya where all is normal. We had lunch and then a relax on the roof in the strong sunshine. It really is bliss up there at this time except for the pesky flies. They seem to be around in big numbers due to the perfect temperature for them. Fortunately we cant sit out too long anyway so just when they are getting on your nerves too much its time to come in. We will watch the golf this afternoon and decide later whether to return to the golf course for tonights presentation of prizes. With the exception of driving through part of the village we actually live in we can get to the golf course without going through anywhere else so we might go down later. We got a few provisions in yesterday morning so we dont need to go out for some time if we dont want to.

The next few days probably are crucial as to whether this situation calms down or escalates. The police and army seem to be preventing any gathering of people. We see the helicopter patrolling overhead. At this moment we still feel no danger or concern and look forward to calmer times ahead when we can return to normal and enjoy the weather.

I am playing golf tomorrow again - in the seniors competition. Yes I know, I know, its over 50s so I qualify and I will play.

Cheers for now
David

Out and about

Today the school was closed as a precaution so we went to the shops to get some messages and then we went to the golf for our game. Everything was just like a normal day. It's a bit like all the riots and disturbances that happen all around the world, if they are not right by you then you dont notice a thing. We did see a whole load of tanks being deployed up the highway when we were on our way to the golf. The road on the other side was temporarily sealed off to allow the tanks onto the highway. I guess that having dispersed the protesters the authorities have no intentions of allowing them to re-gather. Anyway for us all is normal so don't worry.

David and Sheila

While we were sleeping

It is being reported here today that police broke up the protesters from the Pearl Roundabout site just before dawn this morning. It is said that many were injured and two people were killed. We of course slept peacefully throughout. We are too far away from this area to see or hear anything and have no need to go anywhere near there either. We do our shopping at local supermarkets. The school have announced that they are planning to open as normal on Sunday and there's a lot of golf to be played before then!
David

Bahrain Unrest

I know many of you are seeing news items regarding unrest in Bahrain. Please be assured that at the moment this is confined to an area in the town centre. We have been at work today and played golf as usual. There is to be another march of protesters on Friday and it is thought that that will be an end to the protests. That may or may not be the case we will have to wait and see. Those who have lived here for many years say that this happens from time to time and they expect it to die down soon. I suppose the protesters may be a little more enthusiastic this time around after the success in Egypt.  I will keep you all posted but I expect to be at the golf this weekend trying to get that handicap down a bit more!
Cheers for now
David

Holiday Update

Hi guys, hope this finds you all well. I thought I would just update you on things here in sunny Bahrain. The sun is getting hotter every day, I think "winter" is behind us now. It was very hot today on the roof terrace. We had a wee relax there after lunch but we had to come in because it was too hot. We'll need to go out earlier or later because of the powerful sun. We played golf this morning. Sheila was on holiday today too because it is the Prophet's Birthday today. Its a national holiday and lots of the shops are closed. Sheila was on an enforced holiday yesterday too. I know you will be aware of the problems in Egypt recently, well yesterday was Bahrain's "day of protest". The authorities were well prepared and it passed off fairly peaceably. There were no problems near to us although we could hear the incessant car horns blasting in the distance because the main roads were blocked by protesters and people couldnt get home. Our boss decided that, to be on the safe side, the school would be closed to all staff. We decided, to be on the safe side, to spend the day at the villa. We had bought in some stuff from Menazels and spent some time getting our roof garden planted. We are trying again to grow some veggies but this time we have covered everything with a fine mesh to try to keep the pesky varmints out. If they can get through the fine mesh then they are indeed small and we will likely have to give up. We are optimistic however that we will soon be munching our way through our own produce.

Sheila is back to work tomorrow from 9-12 so we go golfing after that in the afternoon then its into town to visit the bank. If this weather keeps up then the water in the pool will soon heat up again and I can get back to my daily swim. Anybody want to join me?

Happy birthday to me

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday dear me-ee, happy birthday to me.
OK OK so I'm 51 now, big deal. I played golf today in the "Bud Lite" golf competition and shot a 2 over par 72 which is not bad for an old guy. My handicap will be cut back to 5 today which is another step in the right direction. Thanks so much for the good wishes and especially to Dave and Babs (mum and dad now) for a wee parcel that arrived with an awesome slazenger golf shirt designed especially for hot desert conditions. Thanks, I feel sure it will help me get my handicap even lower. I will wear it in theBahrain Open which is coming up next month. Today the sun is shining and the temperature is perfect. I am going to get a new golf trolley for my birthday and then back to the club tonight for the presentation of prizes. I second at the moment but will be lucky to stay in the prize list, there are a number of "questionable" handicaps in the club. Anyway, I dont play for prizes I play for pride and today I was proud of my 72.
Cheers for now, lunch has jsut arrived.
David

A wedding with a difference

Sheila was invited to an arabic wedding and went last night. It was some relative of her work colleague. Men don't go apparently, well at least not to the same bit as the women. I suppose the bride and groom must be at the same bit at some point! The women were all there at the dance and the bride arrived ... at 11 pm! I think the groom was there too because all of the women who had hitherto been dressed in strappy sleeveless outfits suddenly covered themselves with their black gown things because a man was arriving. Sheila said it was interesting. ALL cameras and mobile phones are taken from you as you go in. Bags are searched and these items removed so there are no photos of the event for you to see. There are official photos at some point. You get your phone and camera back as you leave. It was apparently about to go on into the wee small hours but Sheila has work to go to so she left shortly after the bride arrived! Speaking of which, time to go.

David

At long last!

Today we finally got around to getting Sheila's gift for her 50th birthday. She picked a ring with an amethyst stone from a local goldsmith. Why amethyst? Because that was the ring she liked best. It turns out it is the birthstone for February which is when we bought it so let's hope it brings us luck.

We played 15 holes of golf today because the weather was so beautiful. Warm and sunny but not too warm. Gentle breeze from the south - perfect. Sheila is really coming on. She played four consecutive holes in only 6 over par which was really good considering that there are no separate ladies tees here and ladies have to hit the ball the same distance as men. One of the holes was over 500 yards par five and she scored 7 with two hacks to get out of an unfortunately positioned bush! Ladies get a handicap adjustment to compensate for there being no ladies tees. Sheila is trying to get to a standard of two strokes per hole, a handicap of 36. If she keeps up todays standard it won't be long. The problem is the fact that we can only play at weekends and I usually use up at least one day playing in a competition. This work malarkey really gets in the way!

I was 8th in this weeks competition with a five over par 75. I am playing pretty consistently now and am looking for a very good day to pop up. I think I'll wait until the weekend of the Bahrain Open next month. That would be a great time to record my best score. Some of the holes have championship tees further back than the regular tees. they only get played from in a few competitions. I have been walking back and playing from there to get a feel for them. the course sometimes looks very different from 40 yards further away!

Another weekend is now over and its back to work tomorrow morning. But then again, its a day nearer to next weekends golf.

Have a great week.
David and Sheila