Well strap my face to the side of a pig and roll me in the mud! Tie me to an anthill and smear my ears with jam! It's update time.

Ramadan in imminent and commences on the 13th. This is the season when those of Musilm pursuasion wake up early, eat like crazy before the sun comes up and then fast until the sun goes down again. By fast I mean no food, drink, sex and, I'm told, smoking. The shops open weird hours, i.e they're closed when you want them to be open and open when you don't care.

Restaurants are closed too, so no Saturday breakfast or grabbing a quick lunch. The only places open are those attached to hotels and those are very expensive. Of course the restaurants all open when the sun goes down and offer these really great iftar meals to break the fast - usually great local dishes at good prices. Trouble is everything is seriously crowded.

The locals drive even worse than usual during Ramadan, They're hungry, their blood glucose level is bordering on hypo glycaemia and they're in a hurry to get to mommie's house for iftar. Never stand (or drive slowly) between Waleed, Ahmed or Khaldoun and their iftar meals!

The up side is that the work day is shortened and we finish at 15h30. The schools finish at 12h30 so the kids are happy. They've been back at school for exactly 3 days and then into the lazy times of Ramadan.

Work continues to get worse. Now they've decided to cut costs and I don't actually know if I'll even have a job next month. They've said to a couple of us that if we'd like to leave, they'll pay us until end October. If they'd said end December, I would have left there and then and hightailed it off to the UK and looked for something there. God is in control and I trust in Him alone. Maybe this is the out I've been hoping for...Please pray for a clear leading from God in this.

The knee is about the same - still stiff and sometimes sore but not hugely so. I get around fine. I'm now 8 months post-surgery with another 10 to go so nearly half way.

J is bored because the guy she was working for has left the company he was with and so she is currently unemployed. I hope she finds something to occupy her not so much from the financial point of view but to give her something to do.

That's about all I can think of for now. I'm going to sneak out of work early, try to get ahead of the pre-Ramadan shopping rush and get home early.

Have fun one and all and remember: to condemn the past simply because it is the past, is to invite condemnation on the future. (No idea where that came from - just figured I'd end off with something profound and philosophical).

PS - I hear that Lorena Bobbitt's sister Luanne tried the same thing with her husband as Lorena did a few years back. However, she missed and managed to stab him in the upper thigh instead, inflicting serious muscle & tendon damage. The police nailed her and she's been charged with.. wait for it...a MISDEWIENER!!!

Bye