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Well it's Wednesday once again, which for most of us means... its nearly the weekend!
First up, this morning was the transit of Venus in front of the sun. I heard on Oman FM yesterday afternoon an interview with the guy who curates the PDO Planetarium (currently being refurbished) who said that this morning would give us the chance to see this phenomenon, that happens twice, 8 years apart, every 120 or so years. It last happened 8 years ago, and so the next time it will happen, we'll all be dead.
I saw this picture of the transit posted on the twitter:
Moving on, tomorrow at noon is the rather suitably timed I-Care initiative. essentially this is a gathering in Wizarat at the car park near to the Ministry of Housing at 12:00.
Here's what the blurb says on Facebook:
First up, this morning was the transit of Venus in front of the sun. I heard on Oman FM yesterday afternoon an interview with the guy who curates the PDO Planetarium (currently being refurbished) who said that this morning would give us the chance to see this phenomenon, that happens twice, 8 years apart, every 120 or so years. It last happened 8 years ago, and so the next time it will happen, we'll all be dead.
I saw this picture of the transit posted on the twitter:
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| Thanks to fatewm of the blog Live From Muscat for the picture! |
Moving on, tomorrow at noon is the rather suitably timed I-Care initiative. essentially this is a gathering in Wizarat at the car park near to the Ministry of Housing at 12:00.
Here's what the blurb says on Facebook:
The gathering you've all be waiting for.. Are you guys ready for another awesome one? Well, here it is!
Join us on Thursday to distribute cold bottles of water to construction workers and bring along your friends, family, and your SMILE! Yalla! What are we going to do? - Make sure you confirm your attendance and inform everyone you know. Invite everyone to make sure we distribute as many bottles as possible. - Gathering at 12:00 PM. (Make sure you make it on time) - Collecting your contributions to buy water bottles. - Bring an ice box with you if you have one to make sure that the water is cold. - We will be providing you with directions of the targeted areas. - You can either join any of the groups or drive around by yourself. - Distribute with a SMILE. - Go back to the meeting point and share experiences. Just like our previous gatherings, you will get to experience distributing cold water bottles to construction workers, collecting smiles and meeting amazing people. Please confirm your attendance; it is going to be fun! See you soon! 
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Given that it is ridiculously hot and humid outside today, why don't you consider helping out tomorrow? Whether you turn up and help distribute bottles of water, or donate some boxes of water, or even cash to buy water - have a thought for those less fortunate than you and help out. This is a rare opportunity to donate to a charity that does not take "administrative fees" - 100% of what you donate will go to helping laborers around Muscat cool off for at least a few minutes. And it's not just the water, it's showing these people that they are not totally disregarded and that people do care for them - I'm sure that in itself will help a lot of them in this horrendous heat.
After working up a sweat with the water-giving, I plan to check-in at the Hyatt for the weekend & attend the Muscat Rugby Football Club's Oval Ball, which is the only event worth mentioning for the Thursday evening :)
Then on Friday at 5pm Oman kicks off at home (in the Bowsher stadium) to Australia's Socceroos in their bid to get into the World Cup - the pressure is really on after their loss to Japan 3-0 last week. Tickets are still on sale should you wish to go.
Friday also sees the start of the Euro's football tournament, with the first game kicking off at 8pm with Poland V Greece, followed at 10:45pm with Russia v Czech Republic. Most of the bars around town are showing the Euro matches, but my pick of the bunch is of course the MRFC's adoptive bar, the Habana Sports bar. Really no other bar even comes close for sports coverage in the Capital, and with pints at RO 2.380, its amongst the cheapest pint in Muscat to boot.
le fin.
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le weekend
Reviewed by Sythe
on
Wednesday, June 06, 2012
Rating:
Reviewed by Sythe
on
Wednesday, June 06, 2012
Rating:
even though the charity is for a good cause, maybe they need to consider whether what they are doing is really beneficial or instead harmful to these laborers. Last i had spoken to someone who worked in a similar field, i learned that they are provided with plenty water and that too of appropriate temperature. very cold water is actually harmful to the health of these laborers, just as for any normal person, going from extreme heat to extreme cold could cause headaches and such.
ReplyDeleteEither way, good luck!
It is a very good cause and nice intention, but as the person above said, usually these laborers are usually provided with big bottles of water by the companies they are working for. We can see them drinking during their break time. In such scorching heat, I don't think this is lacking or really the problem. Working under such condition might be...
ReplyDeleteMrs.S
How patronising! Minimum expense, maximum feel good factor for the giver. "Then I will check in to the Hyatt" says it all.
ReplyDeleteEven if not provided, all mosques are equipped with huge water coolers that are accessible by all people at all times. I do actually come across them filling their bottles. Some homes even have large coolers installed outside their houses, so that's that.
ReplyDelete"After working up a sweat with the water-giving, I plan to check-in at the Hyatt for the weekend....."
ReplyDeleteWhat a twat!
A ridiculous "non-initiative". Giving ice-cold water to labourers is simply dumb, and shows a complete lack of awareness.
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions."
Here's a nice experiment for the Dudley-Do-Rights to have a go at.
Take a nice brisk walk into the mountains say at the back end of Bausher at around 1pm. Do it for an hour and make sure to do some sort of strenuous activity as well.
Work yourself to the point of near-exhaustion.....and then chug a litre of ice-cold water.
Maybe get a friend to do the following for you at the same time....
1. Have some medication to deal with the massive stomach cramps you're about to have.
2. Check your heart rate after the fact. You probably won't be able to because of the cramps.
3. Keep an ambulance on stand-by for when you go into shock.
Seriously......everyone appreciates the gesture.....but GET INFORMED first!
You should credit my super photography skills of taking a picture of the TV, you know. ;)
ReplyDeleteI've worked in hot weather like this and would totally appreciate some ice cold water. We also were lucky to get ice packs...... ahhh ya keep it cool.
ReplyDeleteSalalah
The law prohibits working in the afternoon - why not collect money and supply shelters and give out ice cold water to use as 'cold water bottles' while lying down. Also campaign against outside working in day hours in this weather unless the labourer is given a guaranteed premium of at least 250 rials a month.
ReplyDelete"check in to the hyatt..." truly a mitt romney-esque gaffe lol
ReplyDeleteHonestly, around lunch time, I find most workers get their water at Mosques. But the gesture is nice. They really liked it though when my mother would drop by with lunches (like potatoe samboosa) and birayani rice ect...
ReplyDelete:)
Nice to know about the facebook group.
Thanks for the comments everyone, even the haters. Good to learn about many mosques having water coolers available. People who didn't want to help out with giving water yet felt the need to start abusing the idea, it's a shame you posted anonymously - you know who I am!
ReplyDeleteFatewm - thanks for letting me know it was your picture, I didn't know it was yours, given you the duly deserved credit :)
And as for checking in to the Hyatt... as I wrote in my post - it was the MRFC ball, which was held at the Hyatt, for which I gave up some of my time at the Hyatt to go out of my way to contribute some time towards what I still feel was a good cause. I could of just not publicized it and not donated money towards the cause, but I did... and got called a twat for doing it. How nice some people are!
Sythe,
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had quite the weekend! Just ignore the haters. That's what comment moderation is for! ;-) Keep up the great blogging!
I gotta say, lots of people think this is a useless cause...
ReplyDeleteyes, law prevents workers working around noon, and they are given some water, but if you have been involved in this event previously, you would see that alot of them are walking around at that time and usually are given a bottle of water which has been sitting in the sun for hours... go to ghala if you think that the work hour thing applies....
honestly, just one thing matters, these guys smile and ask for 2-3 more bottles....
before criticizing someone else's initiative to do good, ask yourself....what have you done lately?
Sythe, thank you so much for the blog post! I just got to read it.
ReplyDeleteI'm the person behind the I-Care initiative. I just wanted to add that people are forgetting the main objective behind this simple idea, which is basically to care for those who are building our roads and houses. Showing appreciation is the least we can do whether they get provided with water in Mosques or not.
Creating awareness through our events every 2-3 months is what we actually aim for and what you do with it later is up to you. The initiative is for everyone who’s willing to help.
As long as it's going to make their day then I'm willing to keep going for the good deed with those who believe in the idea behind this initiative.
Thank you all for the support and we hope you get to experience this during one of our events.