Day 1128: A week after my last post: More car trouble.

As I related in my last post, I was able to repair my car's suspension locally, and was, thereafter, driving the car as usual in Al Muwayh. On Thursday, I took a day off to drive to Taif to get my car's wheel alignment corrected as there was a slight wobble and lack of balancing between the left-sided and the right-sided front wheels. Having left my house at a little after noon, I was brought to a halt about 19 km away when my car's ignition simply switched itself off and the car slowed down to a stop.

I had, by then, driven the car outside the highway on to the lip of the road. I tried to turn the ignition on, and when the key turned, I could sense that the ignition motor was purring perfectly. However, the engine never throbbed into submission. I then opened the hood, but, naive that I am, I could not understand the problem. I shut down the hood and began calling for help, mostly to the car electrician and then the car mechanic, but it soon became apparent that quick help would not be forthcoming. Then, to my surprise, Dr. Moataz, who was also travelling to Taif (with his family in his own car) stopped a little ahead on seeing me, and reversed his car to help me. He discovered immediately that the problem was that the timer device that controls the engine had broken (he showed me the ruptured cover and the broken spring inside the device), and that this would need the car to be towed or winched to the mechanic. He provided me with the telephone number of a Sudanese gentleman who lives in Al Muwayh and operates a winch car. I got in touch with this guy, a Mr. Abdul Wahab. He made me wait so long that when a passing winch car approached me and agreed to take me to Taif, I readily agreed. The rate he was quoting me was also more attractive. While Mr. Wahab had asked for SR 400, this Pakistani man, a Mr. Bashir Khan, agreed to take me to my Taif mechanic for just SR 250. 

As he was loading my car on to his winch, the Sudanese turned up. He was shocked that I had decided to abandon him. I felt sheepish and offered to pay him some money for his trouble, but, clearly piqued, he refused payment and went away disgruntled. To cut a long story short, I felt very bad about my own behaviour, and wondered if what I had done was the right thing. I did call him, actually, when the Pakistani man and I had reached an agreement on the rate and I had asked him to start hauling my car above his vehicle, but the Sudanese said he was only 5 minutes away from where I had said my car was. Hence, this problem could not be averted. 

I arrived at Nadeem's Garage at about 5.15 p.m. The car was off-loaded. Nadeem and his friend took a look at the problem, and agreed that the problem was indeed the timer. Their verdict was that they would be able to learn the actual damage only when they opened the engine, and this would be done only on Friday evening as Thursday evening and Friday morning were their off-days! I was stunned because I was unprepared to stay in Taif. I decided then to go back to Al Muwayh by the state-run bus service (SAPTCO's naklil jamaai), and to return to Taif when the car had been repaired. 

I then went to Tahweel-al-Rajhi to transfer some of my money, and some of Dr. Afzal's too, to India. From there, I went to the SAPTCO stand, where I got a 8.00 p.m. bus to travel to Al Muwayh. I contacted Dr. Tahir Mir, who has just purchased a beautiful second-hand Toyota Corolla Automatic 2012, to come to the rest place that is located 20 km before Al Muwayh, and where all buses bound for Riyadh and beyond always stop for a meal, and pick me up. After coordinating with him, he came over at half past nine, and drove me back to my home in Al Muwayh. Dr. Afzal had also come with him, and the journey back was quite uneventful.

In the end, I lost one whole day to a completely unforeseen incident. And could not even study for an hour as a result.

That's all for now. Take care, and keep visiting the blog for more news. Do leave your comments here. Thank you.

Accepted for the January exam and received final letter (MRCPCH)

Ten days have passed since I last posted something useful. Now, I must share the captioned news with you all. Yesterday, I received my final notice that I have to sit in the final installment of the MRCPCH exams on the 18th of January 2015. This means that I have just over a month to go. I feel totally lost. True, I have been studying these past several months, but the thing hit me with full force only yesterday evening when I realised that it was finally on! I mean - really on. No more just thinking that one day I will sit for the exam. I AM REALLY GOING TO SIT IN THAT EXAM.

My tickets to Ahmedabad are already booked. I will proceed to India on the evening of the 31st of December, and will be in a taxi in Mumbai when the year changes from 2014 to 2015. Most likely, I will reach home after midnight - more likely, after one a.m. Twelve days later, I will fly to Ahmedabad, and stay in a hotel for nearly a week before the exam date. On the 18th evening, once the exam is over, I will be a social butterfly for the next few weeks, before taking my family on a holiday within India. Those who are reading this and are from Mumbai, please do get in touch with me after the 19th of January and we can then meet for a social "intercourse".

Let me quickly update you on things that are happening with me here in the Kingdom. Last week, as I was returning to Al Muwayh from Taif (I had gone there for 2 days to attend a mini-conference related to the theme of Patient Safety), my front right wheel of the Hyundai Accent probably hit some stone or something and the tyre burst. I had to change the tyre with the stepney (this was my first attempt to do so, and it took me well over 45 minutes to do so); even then, the wheel did not sit properly, and I realised that my shock-absorber had broken on that side. I had to call for a winch operator, who charged me a whopping SR 225 to haul my car over his vehicle all the way to a mechanic's garage in Al Muwayh. The next day, I ordered a new shock absorber from Taif through my colleague Dr. Moataz Talat, who had gone to Taif for his own work; he brought it from there, and by the later part of the evening, the mechanic (a very nice Syrian) returned the car to me. 

In other news, I have been studying at least 2-3 hours every day, mostly with my friends on Skype. I now feel that my knowledge base is really expanding and I am looking forward to doing well in the January exams. I am now in the refrigerator cleaning mode. I have stopped cooking. I fish out the stuff that occupies all the space inside and am heating it and eating it! I guess the stored food in the lower and the freezer compartments may easily last me for over a week more. 

That's it for now. Do use the comments area to leave behind some words of encouragement! Thank you.

My car goes kaput

Yes, I sang the possible requiem for my car a few days ago. Actually, it was a day after I returned from Taif. The car refused to start in the morning, and continued to stay asleep through the day with repeated attempts. In the evening, I had an electrician and a mechanic take a look and the verdict was clear: this car would not start not because there was an electric problem, but because the engine had finally given up on me. 

I now had two options before me: either I could sell this car to scrap, or send it to Taif to get the engine repaired. I know that some of you must be thinking ... the sane thing to do is to sell it off to whoever agrees to buy it and purchase another second hand vehicle ... but the reasoning I was following was this: I am not likely to stay more than a year here in the Kingdom, so it makes perfect sense to spend a few thousand SR and repair the car rather than spend a bigger amount, buy another car, and then re-sell it at a discount a year down the line. 

The car was mounted on a carrier vehicle (known here as "Saatha" in Arabic, or "Winch" in pidgin English) and sent to Taif to my mechanic Mr. Choudhary Shabir on Saturday, the 15th of February 2014. I must wait for a week before the car would be ready for me again. (I hope).

After the car was sent away, I have had a difficult time going to and fro from and to the hospital from my home. On Saturday, I was on call, and had to walk it up once; on Sunday and Monday, as I write this, I had to take help from other doctors, workers at the hospital and even patients with whom I have created more than a passing acquaintance over the last few years. Let's see what the next three days bring for me. On Friday, I am planning to go back to Taif to get back my car. 

Until then, I am going to make a day of it, and use the walking to stay more fit.

Good news and possibly bad news

As of yesterday, I have been given the additional responsibility of becoming the Director of Patient Safety in Al Muwayh General Hospital. Now, whenever someone gets a "title" it should be good news, right? The reason why this news has given me mixed reactions is that this job needs a lot of work: one has to draft protocols, interact with the ministry, be ready for periodic overhauling of the system, and be prepared for evaluation of your department by a special team that would be sent from the Ministry of Health. In other words, the post is time-consuming and tiring if one applies oneself to it assiduously. I am therefore not very exhilarated. 

There are other bits of news as well: I am writing this from Ta'if where I am lodged in a hotel room. Today, I attended a refresher course for Basic Life Support (BLS) or what is called CPR in normal parlance. I passed the course, which means that I now have the BLS certificate renewed for two more years.

In other news, I managed to get signatures from two qualified MRCPCH doctors to attach to my application form for part 3 of the exam. These two doctors were both working in the Children's Hospital in Ta'if. The first, Dr. Gaafar, is a senior Sudanese consultant, while the second, also a consultant paediatrician, is Dra. Amal from Egypt. Both of them were kind enough to give me their bona fides without much ado, and my thanks go to them both. The flip side of this news is that I do not know when and where I will give my Part 3 exams, as the centers in Jeddah and Dubai are both already over-subscribed for May 2014. In view of this, I did not prepare the payment for the exam, and will await the announcement of dates from India, where, too, I can go and give my examinations. 

My car again gave me trouble - yesterday, as I entered Ta'if city, it stopped suddenly when I was trying to negotiate an incline. It re-started after a wait of about 30 minutes, but stopped again as I reached the Ta'if center. I had to leave it there overnight and proceed to the hotel by the local taxi (dabbab). Today morning, after I got relieved from the BLS, I contacted Choudhary Shabbir, my local car mechanic and friend, and when he came to where the car was parked, it started immediately - without any intervention by him - so that I could take the car by my own self and park it near my hotel for the rest of the evening. Let us see what tomorrow brings. According to the mechanic friend, this car's engine is near moribund, and it will be safer for me if I dispose of this car and buy another one for the next year or so. Hmm ... I have to think seriously about this. 

That's it for now. Thanks for reading this, and wish you a good day. Do leave a comment if you please. Join up to receive updates whenever an entry is made. Like us on Facebook (click HERE).

The last week before the annual vacation: Sunday evening (17th Nov.) to Thursday morning (21st Nov.)

After my return from Turabah on Sunday evening, I started my preparations for the annual vacation coming up this coming week-end. I had expected our liaison officer, Mr. Ali, to bring my passport from the MOH Muderiya on Sunday and hand it over to my colleague Dr. Niaz Qureshi (OB-GY from Pakistan), but Ali did not oblige. However, he had assured me on the phone that he would hand me the passport on the next day if I went to Ta'if. I had no choice but to take permission from our medical director Dr. Shehab and request Dr. Yasser to allow me to go to Ta'if. 

On Monday, I received my passport from the Muderiya directly, as Ali had arranged with one of the employees to hand me the required document without him being present. I was greatly relieved to have my passport with a valid, stamped exit-re-entry visa. This is the exact moment when all my stress dissipated! Now, I was, for the first time, sure that I would, indeed, be going on Friday, the day of my flight to India. 

I then allowed Yasser to proceed on a two days' leave and said I would look after the work.  One of my other friends, Dr. Emaam Sayed, had co-ordinated his ER duties in such a way that he would be free to take me to Ta'if in his car. Things were finally going my way, I thought smugly. Yasser wished to return on Thursday afternoon, and I okayed this, since I was sure Dr. Emaam would not mind taking me in the evening. 

Then things again began to go wrong. Emaam said he would be going in the morning ... and when I tried to re-arrange my understanding with Dr. Yasser, he went into an incognito mode! His official cell number was switched off, and he did not pick up the other number, his personal line, which he has shared with me. As Tuesday turned to Wednesday and morning to night, my panic increased. I had to contact him and request him to join the next morning, or I would be left without any mode of transport to go to Ta'if. 

In the end, he never did pick up my calls, but, to my pleasant surprise, he turned up for duty on Thursday morning. Thus it was that I finally left for Ta'if with Dr. Emaam at ten a.m. on Thursday. 

My vacation had finally begun!

P.S. On Tuesday evening, my car again gave me some trouble. One of the belts that connects the engine and generator to the car battery had probably fallen off and the battery, therefore, was not getting charged. I managed to get the necessary belt replaced and rectified the problem on Wednesday evening.

News In Brief: Car problems, Cakes and Chocolates and Walking for Health

Since I have become an occasional blogger on this site, I am going to share some news in brief. These may not be in chronological sequence, but please bear me out as I go about describing stuff that is happening in my life.

I have begun walking in right earnest. Every day for the last about 8 days, I have walked about 6 to 6.5 km at an average pace of 6 km/hr. I have walked a bit less than this only once in these 8 days, when my mood was not up to it. For several days now, an Egyptian friend of mine who works as an ER doctor in our hospital has been my walking companion. His name: Dr. Emaam Sayed. He has become health conscious just recently; he is about 42 years old, and is feeling the ill-effects of overweight. He is a nice, entertaining guy with a simple heart and a natural flair for comedy. I find that he slows me down, but it's okay, since, with him by my side, I am at least never bored to walk.

My village continues its steps of progress. A new bakery-cum-chocolate shop has now opened! It is a big chain that is HQ'ed in Riyadh. They make finger snacks, chocolates, decorative chocolate hampers, sweets and stuff like that. When I visited it today, there were three men, working to create hampers of biscuits and salted snacks. Each of them was from a different country - an Indian, a Pakistani and a Bangladeshi! I chatted with them for a while before leaving the shop. Here are a few pictures of the offerings of the shop:

To have such a hi-tech shop in Al Muwayh means a lot of things: the people here have more options to choose from, they can find a greater variety of snacks without having to go to Ta'if for such treats, and, of course, a higher family expenditure on the occasion of someone's birthday or on the arrival of a new kid in the family or at the time of a wedding. On the other hand, it will provide the females of the village with one more place to visit to kill the time when their husbands are away at work. 

An Indian-driven van banged into my car's front and broke the left side headlight and signal indicator light a few days ago. He claimed that it was not his fault as I had parked in a non-parking area. In fact, it was his fault, and several bystanders agreed with me being blame-free. However, the man seemed only to be a paid driver, and I let him go as I did not wish to aggravate matters. 

Just yesterday, however, I discovered to my utter dismay that someone had removed and pilfered my car's front number plate and the Toyota trademark sign. This is an unusual crime to happen to an old car like mine! I was dismayed. I went to the police station and registered a complaint regarding the same and was given a paper that will allow me to drive the car wherever I want to drive it to. A new set of front and rear number plates would be sent to the station after a month or two, and I am expected to then receive these and get them fitted to the car. If the same number stays on the car, well and good, otherwise, if they decide to cancel this number and allot me a new one, I have to pay registration fees, insurance etc. anew! Really, readers will agree with me that this car, which seemed to be a dream come true in the initial few months, has proved to be an expensive and troublesome purchase for me ... and I regret this purchase that I made last year from my outgoing friend Dr. Narendra.

Next month, if things go all right, I should be in India on my annual vacation. Let us see what happens. I am eagerly awaiting it, not withstanding the fact that India is certainly in a mess on all fronts, be it the economical one, the one on social security, on honesty, on superstitious stuff, on religious harmony, on politics, on crime and criminals, on terrorism, on Pakistan or China policy matters, on relations with each other, on national integrity, etc. The only hope that keeps Indians alive and smiling is that they will be able to bring Narendra Modi in as the next Prime Minister of India ... and that he will wave his magic wand and all will be right with India. 

If wishes were horses ....

Thanks for reading ... do leave your comments. Have a nice day.