Life in Gulag Ras Laffan, Qatar

It has been a frustrating week here, i had been moved into the camp at site as i didn't have a regular driver to bring me to the site every day, i was deeply pissed off at this as the hotel i was using, The Ramada, was extremely nice and the food was nice and the bedroom was fantastic and clean. I had heard the old camp was miserable and bad, when i moved in i was surprised the find that they had put in lots of trees and bushes and it had lots of birds and a few cats so it felt quite homely and the rooms though small were clean, but the bed was tiny and the matress was hard as hell, the bathroom was primitive but functional, food in the camp is very average and little variety, so i still eat in the site restaurant as it is cheap and with great variety, so actually the camp isn't as bad as i had expected but it is regimented and if you miss the bus then you have to walk which i had to do on the third day in the camp, walking isn't such a big deal for me as i enjoy the fresh outdoors but here at the moment the miserable cold wind was tearing off my face again, and luckily it wasn't raining. It has been raining like the tropics here, pounding down for huge storms very often and even miserable and drizzly all day long just like England. I cannot believe how horrible the weather has been here during my first 45 days in this place. The last two days have been acceptable during the day after the sun has been out for a few hours but overnight and in the morning the air is chilly and even cold requiring you to wrap up warm, the rooms in the camp don't have any heating as you would expect so you have to make yourself some pyjamas to keep warm, i am using a T-shirt that has finally left the wearable area and joined the "for painting and decorating" area. my boots have finally decided that they are going to disintegrate while i am wearing them, with the insole falling apart into black grains of hard rubber powder that are ruining my new work socks.
This has all made me feel pretty miserable and i had a few days really desperate as the old camp has no phones and no TV and no internet, it meant i was cut off from my beautiful latin wife. i was writing desperate demanding mails to my boss daily demanding i be replaced but there is such a shortage that there is no one to replace me, I had thought about what i can do next contract year to get away from this horrible travelling and being away from my lovely wife. My company has other divisions it works for and i would love to be able to travel in the latin american countries as it is closer and i would have no jetlag and if i could work on maintenance job so i would only be away for much shorter times, i think i am going to try for a half time contract, they do a 700 hours a year thing and that would suit me fine, i dont need to work like a maniac anymore as my house is paid for. When you have suffered in a posting like this then you really have to assess what you want out of life, the job itself here has been so slow as to be not really any job at all, we had a few problems but a boy out of school could have done it, well almost.
I have a leaving date of the 16th but that is loosely termed provisional as if they don't get a replacement then i stay until they do, but they cannot keep me here indefinately once i have reached the 8 week mark then i can leave not problem. but i am getting worn out with it all, i need a long rest.

I am off to a wedding at the end of March in Florida and my wife is planning all activities like flights and baby sitters as we are planning on leaving the little girl at home, and i am really looking forward to going to the everglades to see some of those fantastic birds that they have, and the alligators and pythons that have started breeding there, should be great fun and i think i deserve it all.