It is nearing midnight on Day 238, Monday, 9th July, 2012. I am writing this post to describe how I returned to the old house I was at before I was sent packing about a month ago. My ex-room-mate, a surgeon by the name of Dr. Shahid Hasan broke the news to me after a day of my return from India: his family was coming to visit him, and I should therefore search for an alternative place to spend my next few weeks. In the event, I could not find a reasonable accommodation, and got relief when Dr. Shehabeldin, the medical director of the hospital, allotted a room within the hospital, to spend a few days till I found a place to shift to.
I lingered on for almost three weeks, making a plea that I be allowed to stay for a longer time as I had a genuine problem, not of my making. In the third week of my stay, I went to T'aif, and after the weekend, to Jeddah, for different reasons. When I returned on the following Sunday, I was told that I had overstayed and needed to leave the room that same day. I shifted all my stuff to the room of a locum anaesthetist Dr. Taher (my homonym), and requested him to allow me to spend one night in his room. He agreed readily, and in fact, gave me the entire room to myself and went off to sleep elsewhere in the hospital. The next day, I proceeded on substitutional duty at Zalm, leaving the unnecessary luggage in Dr. Taher's room.
For the next five days, I was at Zalm, and the problem of my not having a place to stay had receded to the back of my mind. However, when I returned on Saturday 7th July, I was once again made aware of the problem when Dr. Shahid informed me that he was leaving the same day, but not right away. He said he had some more winding up to do, and that he would let me know when he was finally departing. I kept my fingers crossed. It was at about half past three when he called me to tell me that he was on his way to the hospital to meet me. Eventually, he came at around 3.45 p.m. He handed over the house keys and then we said our goodbyes. He apologised for the problems he had caused me, and asked for my forbearance. I readily complied with his request.
After this, I reached the house to find it full of lots of trash and things lying arounds house. I called two wardboys to come and clean the place. They worked hard that evening, as well as the next, and removed a huge amount of unnecessary and useless stuff, including, but not limited to, dozens of old clothes, accessories, broken toys, old papers, and mostly, just dust - from the windows, the curtains, the flooring (rugs or tiles), and so on.
It was on the second evening that I started arranging all my stuff in the most easily accessible pattern. I had already purchased a new gas stove yesterday night, and I arranged my kitchen in the most aesthetic way possible. Later, after the Ishaa prayers, I called the local taxi driver Mr. Khalid, and he helped me take my empty gas cylinder to the local trader, and bring a new one in its stead. I installed the gas and ran a trial. The stove worked well, and I now have fire in my house.
I ended up spending SR 300 to set my house in order, besides the money spent on water, detergents, mops, cloths, and so on. In the end, though, my home became liveable, and I will now continue here all alone, or perhaps welcome a partner just as Dr. Shahid had done over 8 months ago, when he took me in as a partner.
I lingered on for almost three weeks, making a plea that I be allowed to stay for a longer time as I had a genuine problem, not of my making. In the third week of my stay, I went to T'aif, and after the weekend, to Jeddah, for different reasons. When I returned on the following Sunday, I was told that I had overstayed and needed to leave the room that same day. I shifted all my stuff to the room of a locum anaesthetist Dr. Taher (my homonym), and requested him to allow me to spend one night in his room. He agreed readily, and in fact, gave me the entire room to myself and went off to sleep elsewhere in the hospital. The next day, I proceeded on substitutional duty at Zalm, leaving the unnecessary luggage in Dr. Taher's room.
For the next five days, I was at Zalm, and the problem of my not having a place to stay had receded to the back of my mind. However, when I returned on Saturday 7th July, I was once again made aware of the problem when Dr. Shahid informed me that he was leaving the same day, but not right away. He said he had some more winding up to do, and that he would let me know when he was finally departing. I kept my fingers crossed. It was at about half past three when he called me to tell me that he was on his way to the hospital to meet me. Eventually, he came at around 3.45 p.m. He handed over the house keys and then we said our goodbyes. He apologised for the problems he had caused me, and asked for my forbearance. I readily complied with his request.
After this, I reached the house to find it full of lots of trash and things lying arounds house. I called two wardboys to come and clean the place. They worked hard that evening, as well as the next, and removed a huge amount of unnecessary and useless stuff, including, but not limited to, dozens of old clothes, accessories, broken toys, old papers, and mostly, just dust - from the windows, the curtains, the flooring (rugs or tiles), and so on.
It was on the second evening that I started arranging all my stuff in the most easily accessible pattern. I had already purchased a new gas stove yesterday night, and I arranged my kitchen in the most aesthetic way possible. Later, after the Ishaa prayers, I called the local taxi driver Mr. Khalid, and he helped me take my empty gas cylinder to the local trader, and bring a new one in its stead. I installed the gas and ran a trial. The stove worked well, and I now have fire in my house.
I ended up spending SR 300 to set my house in order, besides the money spent on water, detergents, mops, cloths, and so on. In the end, though, my home became liveable, and I will now continue here all alone, or perhaps welcome a partner just as Dr. Shahid had done over 8 months ago, when he took me in as a partner.
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