Angela update

For those that do not have Facebook, I wanted give you an update on Angela.

Her surgery went fine, they removed a golf ball size tumor, but got all the cancer. The Doctor has ordered Chemo (6 treatments, 1 every 3 weeks) followed by radiation treatments (not sure how many) as a precaution only, which is a blessing.

Tuesday night we had a Prayer "Flash Mob" at our house! Between 30 and 40 women showed up to pray and encourage Angela before her chemo, it worked for both of us. We are very blessed to have such a great church family! We feel the prayers everyday.

After a day and half of testing, Angela had her first chemo treatment today. It went better then she expected, tired but not sick. A friend who has gone through a similar cancer brought us dinner and has been a big encouragement to us.

so keep on praying, thanks for the cards, calls, text and facebook messages, and visits, it has been a blessing to us to know others genuinely care for us.

Here is Angela's new short haircut

My Arabic Name

Names were written in the following order: first name, followed by the father’s name, then grandfather, then family name and last, the tribe’s name. Thus, my name tells people that I am Jeffrey, son of Carl, son of Hobart of the family Salyer.

The Arabic word bin means “son of” and the prefix al before the tribal name means “people of.”

In other words my arabic name is:

"Jeffrey bin Carl bin Hobart al Salyer"

Winding Down and Heading Home

Our project is ahead of schedule and so I get to come home early!
I will be home this Friday July 8th. The bad news that I will be unemployed again! This was only a contract job for 11 weeks. Celerant is interested in hiring me full time according to the VP of Celerant for Qatar, but nothing official yet. I also had a 2nd interview with Nationwide Insurance while I was home a couple of weeks ago. They were supposed to let me know last week if they interested in talking further, but I did not hear anything yet.

I know God is in control of my life. He provided a job when I needed one, in a place I had never heard of, doing something I always wanted to do. In addition, I was home with my Dad when his brother passed away, and will be home when Angela has her surgery. Skype has allowed Angela and I to see each other almost everyday, which has made the time pass so fast.

I have really been blessed to see this part of the world. It is an interesting place as all the pictures show. I can’t wait to everyone again, I have missed a lot of family things while gone, but there will be many more events this year, most notably the big wedding in October. I get the privilege of marrying Brandon and Julie this fall. That is one event I will not miss!! That’s all for now, hope you missed me as well! (If you didn’t, don’t tell me, LOL)

“I know who holds the future and I know who holds my hand!”

Jeff

pictures of my drive to work and back

		Jeff goes to work! VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Starting Phase 2 of Jeff’s Middle East Adventure

 

Well I am back in Qatar to complete my contract with Celerant Consulting. Qatar is just like I left it, when I got off the plane at 7 PM it was 102 degrees and windy. My apartment was covered in dust on the inside since the doors and windows do not seal very well. Spent about the 1st hour just cleaning up before unpacking.

Have a little bit of cough and sneezing, think it is mostly from the dust in the air. But generally feeling fine. Got over the jet lag in about 3 days. I was supposed to come back last Friday, but flight was canceled in DC, before I left, so got to spend another day at home. The bad part was that I arrived Saturday in Qatar and had to work Sunday (remember their workweek is Sunday through Thursday).

Miss Angela and home, but Skype really helps, would not know how to survive without it. Skyped with Brandon and Julie, Tyler and Rachel on Father’s Day, Corey chose the Twitter route to be different. It was good to talk to them. Somehow the Father’s Day presents didn’t arrive in Qatar but sure they will be waiting when I get home. LOL

That’s all for now, keep Angela in your prayers for her upcoming surgery. Also pray for my Uncle Henry’s family who passed away while I was home. Give the family the strength to get through it and draw closer to God as result.

Heading back to Qatar

Sitting in Washington Dulles Airport waiting to head back to Qatar for Round 2 of my trip. Got the blessing of another day at home when my flight last night was canceled after i sat in the Columbus airport for 4 hours. The plane was supposed to leave DC arrive in Columbus, then take us back to DC. Weather was so bad in DC, plane never left the first time.

It was great being home with Angela again. I wanted to see two other (besides her) things when I got home; rain and green grass and trees; I got both!

I also enjoyed seeing family and friends, with the only bad news being my uncle Henry passed away yesterday. Spent time with my mom, she is progressing very slowly, if at all, so keep her in your prayers.

That's all for now, 13 hours to Qatar on the plane. Then back to the desert! Here are few more pictures of Qatar

Top 10 things I missed while gone to Qatar

10) Oprah leaving (Didn't really care, but needed number 10)

9) Meredith Vieira leaving Today show (watched her everday!)

8) Missing the end of Survivor and Amazing Race

7) Missing Olivia and Maura's Graduation

6) Missing Memorial Day weekend family party

5) The death of my old high school football coach (Paul "Hoss" Starr)

4) Missing seeing Brandon and Julie when they were home for Jenna's wedding

3) Rain

2) The color green (in the desert it is all brown)

1) Angela!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

winding down phase 1

This is my last week in Qatar for Phase 1 of this project. I arrive back in Columbus this Friday PM, get to stay home for a week, and then back for Phase 2. That schedule depends on what Angela finds out at the Surgeon on Wednesday.

The TV over here is kind of interesting. In the apartment I get 5 English speaking channels, Fox News is my favorite, usually Bill O'Reilly is on before I go to work, so I watch him while eating breakfast.

Other channels have a variety of shows, not really tied to a network, but seems like a combination of CBS (CSI:NY, for example) and NBC (The Office). One show I have watched but do no get is "Gossip Girls", seems like a soap opera so it is hard to follow, starting in middle. Everything here is edited so cannot really tell what type of show it is.

Will not miss the 0330 AM wake up pray time everyday from the nearby mosque. Imagine in the USA what would happen if 5 times during the day TV shows are interrupted for a prayer time. Actually it would be a good idea if all christians prayed 5 times a day, wonder how that would change ourselves, workplaces, and our country.

Brought a personal DVD player with me. I am watching Season one of "24", almost done but his poor daughter just got kidnapped for the 3rd time during this season! Jack was captured by the evil Victor Drason, but somehow I think Jack will survive. Hope so, I also brought along Season 2.

Got to drive tonight for the 1st time in Qatar! No problems, but long story. No problems with any of the roundabout intersections. The car was almost empty of fuel, so we filled it up for $1 per gallon!!!! Wish I could bring a tanker truck home for everyone.

Cannot wait to see you next week! Keep me in your prayers for safe travel and Angela as she goes to Dr. later this week.

Pressing On!!!

HHH

Hazey

Hot

Humid

That describes the weather this past week on Qatar It is about 90 when we go to work at 0700 AM each day. By noon it is over 110. The last couple of days the humidity is starting to get worse. The locals say that is the only difference between now and summer, it does not get any hotter, but the humidity gets worse! UGH!

Talking to one of the plant guys about the weather. He said last year in the plant it hit 150 one day!! It was so hot the workers work 15 min and take a break for 45 min. It was so hot that a part of the electronics of the overhead crane in the plant actually melted! Now that is hot.

Been keeping in touch with Queen Angela using Skype. Skype is amazing! Free video calls to Angela everyday, the boys about once per week. It is easy so if you have friends and family out of town, i would suggest you download it on your computer. Not the same as being together, but is the next best thing, if I could only use it to hold her!

Missed seeing the family on Memorial Day, but video chatted with some of them on Skype, made it a little easier to ge gone, but still missed all of them.

Coming home next Friday!!! Can't wait to see home again. The time is going fast, the work is very interesting, the food has been great, and the people are also interesting, but nothing I want to put in writing LOL!

Every weekend, we get to leave our 1 bedroom apartment in Masseied and stay in the 5 star W Hotel in the capital city of Doha. Met up with some other Celerant guys last weekend, went to a Moroccan place and ate Camel, it was in a stew tasted like beef, but actually a little better.

Went shopping at the "souk" an outdoor market, that is very interesting. You see all types of people from all over the world and things to buy and see (sorry Tammy no table clothes yet) . Lots of birds and animals that people are selling. Many types of perfume shops (the men here wear a lot more than the women.). Look for pictures later.

Just relaxing today, got a great nights sleep in a soft hotel bed going out to walk the Mall this afternoon when it opens.

Love to all! Keep Angela in your prayers, she goes to the surgeon next week and will know more then.

interesting facts about Qatar I didn't know

1. The work week is Sunday to Thursday, they go to "church" on Friday AM
2. Friday is family day at the shopping malls, they do not let single Arab men into the mall then
3. You never see Arab men and women holding hands, usually the women walk behind the men
4. You cannot make a left turn, at all intersections there are traffic circles or U turns are allowed, so you go past where you want to go, turn around and make a right turn
5. There are wild camels in the desert, you have to watch for them crossing the road, like we do deer in Ohio
6. 90% of Qatari live in the capital city of Doha
7. Highest income per person in the world
8. Not unusual to see several old small shops next to a Porsche or Lexus dealer
9. Gas is fixed at $1 per liter (think this is close to $2 per gallon)
10. There are people from 35 different countries working at the plan I am at, mostly from Ghana, Africa and the Philippines.

Hello from Qatar!!

Hello everyone!

Thought I take a few minutes and update everyone on the last 3 weeks. For those who had not heard i have taken a consulting job in Qatar. It is in the Middle East, next to Saudi Arabia, but away from all of the fighting. The whole country is the size of Connecticut, so it very small. It is, though the wealthiest country in the world. So what buildings, malls and stores there are , are pretty new in Doha at least.

It is hot here everyday, just like you think it would be in the desert. Most days over 110, and very dry and windy. Drink lots of water each day to stay hydrated. I am working for Celerant Consulting at a place in Mesaieed, Qatar called Qatalum (short for Qatar Aluminum). On the weekends they let us come to the capital city of Doha. (might check google earth for a closer look)

Food is great, lots of variety, except no pork because it is a Muslim country. Trying new food everyday, must with names I cannot pronounce. Think I have gained weight, which was not in the plan.

Qatar is not as strict as Saudi Arabia. Most Qatari mix easily with people from other countries. Some women are fully veiled while others dress in normal clothes to us. It is very interesting to watch all the cultures interact with each other.

I talk to Angela everyday through Skype an on-line video chat that is free. She told me yesterday she found out she has stage 1 cancer, but Doctor said they caught it early. She sees a surgeon next week. So keep us all in your prayers a little more than before

I will home on June 10 for a week, then back still the end of July. Hope to see everyone then. More stories and stuff later. If you have a question, reply back and i will try to answer.

Love to all, I miss everyone, ttyl

80 days that changed everything

• It has been 80 days since Mom went into the nursing home.




• January 25, 2011 was the day my Mom was transferred to the Convalescent wing (we used to call them Nursing homes) of Newark Health care. It is a great place and the staff does a wonderful job taking care of her. Mom is progressing very slowly, but some day, God willing, she will walk out out there on her own.


• January 26, 2011 I lost my job


• January 27, 2011 was the day, I started preparing my parents house to sell, so Dad could move closer to Mom and into a place that is all on the same floor, no steps.


• I had these 3 goals in mind: First, end up with no clutter. Second, the objective is not to make a lot of money from selling things (Dad thought everything was worth $1,000's). Third, the goal is to make Dad feel good at the end of the day.

During the last 80 days here is my life (some numbers are estimates):

• Took 25 bags of clothes to the Amvets donation boxes


• Donated 2 bedrooms of furniture to a half way house for alcoholic women in New Albany


• Explaining the difference between "what you need" versus "what you want" to Dad = 25+ times.


• Asking Dad why he needs to take 22 different coffee cups to his new home = 6 times


• Arranged for Appleetree Auctions to come and take the contents from Dad's house to sell


• Spent 4 hours and 4 stores finding Dad a new phone charger that got thrown out by mistake


• Called Goodwill, Salvation Army and Got Junk to take the stuff out of the basement


• Spent 1 week cleaning the basement walls so Corey could spend 2 days repainting them


• Found new carpet for the TV room, went back to the carpet place to add more rooms that needed replaced


• Got the rest of carpets cleaned by Bauman's Carpets, got fans to put in the house to help dry since it rained all day today.


• Answered around 200+ calls from Dad wanting ask me a question. Average length of the call was 30 sec.


• Went to Lowes once per week for something


• Took Aunt Rhoda's upper plate to Dentist today (extra credit)


• Convinced Dad that the $38 for a 12 piece cookware set was not a good deal when only need 1 pot and 1 pan that at Walmart would be $10


• Cleaning out mom's drawers I found: 10,000 straight pins, 15 note books all with writing on the 1st 5 pages only, 19 packages of dental floss, 53 scarves, 23 turtlenecks, 1 whole drawer full of panty hose, and name badges from every place she ever worked.


• Still have not ventured into Dad's room, but that is next.


• New carpet tomorrow, final cleaning of bathrooms and kitchen by professionals is Wednesday, and new windows arrive on Friday.


• Realtor comes on Monday, so if you are looking for a new house on the west side of Newark, let me know!!!

So you get the idea. I believe God had me losing my job during this time to get everything cleaned and ready. Now the house is ready, I can go back to work, right God??

How life has changed since being unemployed

Getting 2 to 3 phone screen calls per week, but none have turned into a face to face interview. Potential contract opportunity, good pay, but 100% travel until July.

Keeping busy with mom, (Medicaid approved today!) Dad (starting to clean out his house getting ready to sell) and Aunt Rhoda (see below)

(posted on Facebook 3/8/2011)

Today it became apparent how much my life has changed since becoming unemployed.

A few short months ago I was traveling to Singapore and China working on large projects impacting several thousand people.

Today I took Aunt Rhoda to the Dentist and when we got in the car to leave, she looked at me and said very proudly, "I haven't wet myself yet!"

God love her! That put's things in perspective

Things unemployed people do

It has been a pretty slow week on the job search. There have been a couple of calls from headhunters that have some pretty interesting jobs in Columbus, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Atlanta. But have not heard from any hiring managers yet. Not losing hope, it has not even been a month yet.

Thought I would let you know what I have been doing to keep busy (no particular order):

• Take your 95 year old Aunt to the foot doctor to get her toe nails trimmed. They asked her for a picture ID and she gave them a picture of herself.
• Help mom apply for Medicaid, required many many hours of calling people, getting copies of all kinds of papers, making copies, meeting with the medicaid people.
• Helping at Awana last night, listening to kids recite Bible verses. I was with the 1st grade girls, it was pretty fun.
• Choir practice at church, always a good time
• Looking a used cars (newer than my 1992 caddy), day dreaming of buying one
• Teaching college @ MVNU last class tonight, been a great group, have been asked to teach another class in May (anyone know what "Moodle" is?)
• Visiting people at hospital when the Pastors are busy
• Exercising some, but not enough, hard to get motivated to keep it up
• Attending a Men's Leadership book study group, that was fun, met some new people, getting back to reading some more
• Attending auctions at Appletree Auction, that is interesting
• Going to Columbus to meet with my outplacement case worker, nice guy, always leave encouraged
• Checking in with some old Abbott colleagues and other ex-Abbott employees
• Keeping up with my 100 day Bible Reading plan
• Babysitting for Brock, Jakob, and/or Bryson on an emergency basis

So you can see for the most part I am keeping busy, which is the plan.

Just need one company to call!

God still in control.

"Thank you for your oustanding contribution"

That was the message on the award I received yesterday, ironic isn't it?

Go back a few days, we got a call from Fedex saying there was an important package coming that we had to sign for. Being the optimist I am, I was thinking we had won a major prize from some sweepstakes or maybe keys to a new car. I even thought that maybe it was some more papers from Abbott about the downsizing.

So yesterday, I had a meeting in Columbus with the outplacement firm, and while I was gone it came!!! A big box from Abbott!! So I began to wonder, was it stuff from my desk that I forgot? Did I win a lifetime supply for Zone bars?

It was neither, it was a very nice award to sit on your desk from a project team I had been working with before I left. I really appreciate it, they could have have not went to the expense of sending it and I would have not known either way.

I just wish they had sent it to the person who picked me to lose my job, maybe it would have changed their mind.

"...I know who holds the future, and I know who holds my hand."

Unemployed week 2

Well not much has happened on the job front :(. There are a few jobs in the Columbus area I have applied but have not heard anything. I remember from the last time being downsized that companies work at the their own pace, and it slow to someone waiting for a call.

Calls and emails have slowed down from my old coworkers (but not stopped). Went to my 1st meeting at the outplacement agency, was surprised by some of the other people I knew. 1 guy had worked for Abbott for 35 years! Another over 20, most of the rest of us were between 6 and 8 years. Some taking it much harder than me, but it is their 1st time being out of work in a long time.

There is news with Mom this week. They moved her to the convalescent wing of Newark Healthcare. Her Doctor now thinks she has a form of Parkinson's disease. The good news is I think the meds they have her on seems to be helping. Taking Dad down in the morning to get mom signed up for Medicaid to help pay her bills.

Still have mixed feelings about mom being there, she is safe and has people to take better care of her than my dad can. On the other hand, it is sad to see her physically unable to even get out of bed herself. Not sure she will ever walk out of that place. I know dad is missing her being at home.

Think I have dad convinced to sell his house and move to a place much smaller and closer to mom. That is the next step, getting the house cleaned out and ready to sell. LOTS of work ahead on that front.

Still working out everyday I can, walking on treadmill and Crossbow machine. Keeping busy between Aunt Rhoda, mom, dad, teaching college class and church, so time is moving pretty fast.

That's all for this week, remember "...I know who holds the future, and I know who holds my hand."

Downsized Part 2

Today I begin the 2nd week of being unemployed.

It was a week ago Wednesday that I got the ax from Abbott. I was one of 1,900 in the US, and 1 of 100+ in Columbus to lose their jobs. In my department in Chicago there was also 1 other person downsized, so 2 of 10, we were hit pretty hard.

As you can imagine, it has been an emotional roller coaster. I thought I would be able to retire from Abbott, it is a great company and a really miss the people (most of them anyway :)) Now we are facing the possibility of relocating away from here, a thought that we are not enjoying. But we know God has plans for us and will lead us where he wants us to be.

I have been keeping busy this past week, mostly dealing with mom and dad. Mom is moving out of the rehab side and into the long term care side of Newark Healthcare. A sad day but she is safe there and it gives my dad a break. I am trying to convince him to sell his house and move but I need to plant the seeds now and let him work up to a decision in a few weeks (Angela says I am just like that also, I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.)

Starting to prepare myself for the job search, had an opportunity in Iowa, but it is too far away. Another opening in Columbus, but have not heard anything yet. One good thing is that I can apply for others jobs within Abbott as they come open, SO I am also watching the job board closely.

Began walking on the treadmill and using the Bowflex almost everyday. Wanted to do it before, but now i have the time and motivation to start it. Just need to consistent.

Went the auction today, nothing but junk, but had breakfast at their restaurant.

That's all for now, will keep you posted on how it is going

"...I know who holds the future, and I know who holds my hand."