So where's Qatar?

I've been asked a number of times now about the location of Qatar. To answer this question, I went to Altapedia and pulled this map.

Qatar trip

I received an e-mail last week from the director at Weill Cornell Medical College-Qatar (www.qatar-med.cornell.edu), and I get to go to Qatar in a few weeks for a full interview!

I am really excited to get to go to Doha to meet the library staff and interview. The Qatar Foundation (http://www.qf.edu.qa/output/page1.asp) is doing a lot of good things with education, and my brief (which will be detailed quite soon) look at the information online has been very impressive. Facilities are top-notch, and people are expending a lot of energy and effort into building what I believe will become a world-class research and education center. The whole complex is called Education City. In fact, it is becoming a city of sorts, as there are shops, cinemas, housing, primary schools, and other necessary/desirable perks to living just outside Doha.

The medical college in particular is doing a lot of information literacy outreach with other schools in Education City as well as hospitals in Doha. This especially appeals to me, as I'm interested in "in the trenches" librarianship.

I hope that I do well in my interview, and that the other staff feel I would be a good match for the team. It would truly be an honor to be offered a position.

Scuba gear change-up

The most interesting piece of news I have today is I get to change my octo. setup. I'm diving an Aqualung Titan with Aeris Atmos2 computer console and Oceanic Integrated Octo which I purchased for a ridiculously low price. However, I went through Rescue Diver, and found that I didn't care for the Integrated Octo. So I finally decided to do something about it.

I'm purchasing an Aqualung ABS Inline octo from another diver for a ridiculously low price, so I can finally jettison the Integrated Octo.

Now I just have to find someone to sell the Integrated Octo to... they may be good for occasional recreational divers, but certainly not for advanced diving.

I'd also love to go metric on my console, as I prefer to work in metrics. After all, every other country in the world uses them, and that's how I learned to dive. Even now, I tend to think in meters when diving. Honestly, who understands feet anyway? I could switch out my computer, as I can choose imperial or metric measurements, and just purchase a new console. Eventually...

I'm planning to research local dive conditions and perhaps put together an inexpensive road trip to go diving, once I get my equipment all configured.

Snow and more snow

The storm we got last week gave us a heap of rain starting Tuesday evening. It rained all day Wednesday, and Thursday, when it cleared off, showed snow in the foothills. At Georgetown Lake, which is about 6,000 feet (about 1,800 m), there was 10' of wet snow. My town sits at about 4,000 feet (1,300 m) , and Butte, which is a mile high (5,280'/1,600m) also got snow.

The rain has given Western Montana an unusual look--green. Other years by now it would be all brown and burned up from lack of moisture, or on fire.

Official Librarian--Will Travel

What I've deemed my $30,000 piece of paper arrived in the mail today. So I guess it's official--I'm finally a librarian. Now if I can just find a library to work at, I'll be set.

Back to Montana...

So now I'm back in Montana, after a 2-day car trip from Arizona. It's actually quite a nice drive. I drove from Tucson to Flagstaff, and then kept going north on 89 to the Arizona border. From there, I stayed on 89 past Kanab, Utah, and eventually cut across 14 to Cedar City. Then I got on I-15 and headed north to Payson, where I stayed overnight.


The next day I left from Payson (40 miles or so south of Salt Lake) and drove the rest of the way.

I engaged in drive-by tourism while on the road.


If you've never taken this trip from Arizona to Montana, here are some of the things I saw:


The mountains near Flagstaff.






The area around the Grand Canyon, which reminds me of Mars.



The area past the Grand Canyon, which reminds me of either the moon or the Badlands of North Dakota.


A sagebrush forest in Utah...



Leads to a nice scenic drive past Kanab.




On 14, I actually saw huge piles of lava, kind of like driving around Hawai'i.



The Wasatch range near Salt Lake is quite nice.




Eastern Idaho is a lot of rolling farmland. This is a Budweiser field.



And, finally, the mountains of Montana.