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Saturday, March 22, 2014

Over the long weekend: Tuesday evening and Wednesday (18th and 19th March, 2014)

Tuesday evening was wasted, as my car lay with the mechanic Mr. Vazir. He had promised to repair the car by Wednesday evening, but he would start the repairs only on the morning of Wednesday. I retired to my room, doing this and that, and even debated whether I should go to work the next day instead of waiting it out at home (I had already taken leave on Tuesday and Wednesday). 

Eventually, I stayed home. I got a call from the mechanic at half past ten in the morning. I went to his workshop. He confirmed that the clutch plate had broken and needed to be replaced. I purchased the said part from Mr. Gazi's shop (he is the land-lord of the house I stay in, and has an extremely large and profitable shop selling auto-parts) and returned with the new part to Mr. Vazir. He assured me that he would try and get the car ready before Asr' prayers. He also asked me to get a new ball-bearing that goes with the clutch plate. The two items together cost SR 450/=. Add to that the labour cost (SR 450/=) and the cost of gear oil (SR 60/=) and my estimate of nearly SR 1000/= came true. 

True to his word, Mr. Vazir called me a little after three p.m. I had just finished having post-lunch tea. I prepared my bag for the trip to Ta'if. Also, I readied my home for the three-day departure, and then went and picked up my car from the workshop. It drove very nicely indeed. 

I left the house at a little after half-past four. It was my intention to complete the following tasks in Ta'if the next day: first, a trip to King Abdel Aziz Speciality Hospital (KAASH) - I was to pick up my MRI report, and then try and visit an Orthopedic consultant for my frozen shoulder; then, a drive to the office of the Patient Safety and Quality Management Director, where I was to pick up important guidance documents from Dr. Md. Ragab, the P. S. and Q. M. investigator who had come to our hospital on Tuesday morning and had stayed with us (Sister Jennifer and me) through the day; and third, I was to go to the Muderiya and enquire about Dr. Narendra's pending money.

I reached Ahle Saif hotel at about seven p.m. I took my usual room on the first floor, then went about killing time by downloading stuff (this activity would continue over the next few days, as I wished to download a lot of things). I had dinner at the Asian Restaurant below the hotel, then retired early for the night.

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