How to marshal a golf tournament? DPWTC.

I'll let you know how I got on next week after the European Tour concludes in Dubai on Sunday along with the Race to Dubai at the DP World Tour Championship

For now I have my golf shirt and tournament cap. I've purchased sturdy trainers and golfing skorts. I've read the marshals handbook and have plenty of water and suncream for the day.

My role is to ensure no one disturbs the golfers when they tee off and putt and to keep the crowd safe, provide information on crossing fairways and give directions for toilets, food, tee's and greens.

I'm one of 270 volunteers out on the course and on Tuesday I'm attending the pro am to familiarise myself with the course and my role.

The caddies will let me know if I've been successful at marshalling on not. Apparently, if a caddie has to speak to me, it means I'm doing something wrong and will have failed in my role.

Peter and I have watched golf at various venues in the UAE and South Africa, we used to live on a golf estate in Centurion, South Africa, which is part of the Sunshine Tour. Peter plays golf, I've only ever been to the driving range. I know the rules to some extent and can name most of the golfers, which will help for sure. But I'm more comfortable outside the ropes and prefer the 19th hole.

Building with Bamboo. Construction project in Hong Kong.

On a visit to Hong Kong last year, we noticed a lot of scaffolding on buildings where they were being repainted and maintained, on looking closer we discovered the scaffolding was made from bamboo and most of it was fairly complex in it's design.

I had no idea bamboo was actually this strong and I'm assuming lighter to use, especially when you see the video below of the construction workers assembling it all. Nylon straps tied into knots 

are used as couplers.

If you're interested in seeing more of the construction projects I've been documenting in Dubai and around the world, then click on the links below:

Week 158 Dubai Bluewater Islands and Dubai Eye. Man made island a 210m high Big Wheel
Week 159 Dubai Dubai Marina - Reflections
Week 160 Dubai Dubai Frame. A window between the Old and New Dubai and a 150m high glass floor.

Week 161 Dubai Dubai Marina 3 years apart.

Week 162 Dubai Dubai Water Canal Bridge Construction and reconfiguration of roads

Week 163 Dubai New Metro Line for Expo 2020
Week 164 Arizona and Nevada Hoover Dam 2002 - 2010
Week 165 Dubai Dubai Opera House What a difference a year makes
Week 166 Dubai Unfinished buildings. The Pentominium
Week 167 Coventry Mixing the old and the new. Coventry Catherdral
Week 168 Dubai New Dubai Metro Station 
Week 169 Dubai The new extension of the Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa 
Week 170 Dubai Hotel fire After the Address fire 
Week 171 Dubai Unusual designs The Opus Building
Week 172 Dubai District Cooling. Keeping the desert cool.
Week 173 Dubai Can I visit the Burj Al Arab
Week 174 Dubai The Almas Tower
Week 175 Dubai The Cayan Tower
Week 176 Toronto The CN Tower
Week 177 Nevada The Paris Hotel 
Week 178 Dubai Ibn Battuta Gate
Week 179 A Wedding Our first child got married
Week 180 Dubai The World's Tallest Tower
Week 181 Dubai and Wales Al Fahidi Fort and Chepstow Castle 
Week 182 Dubai New Metro Station in Al Furjan 
Week 183 Dubai Ski Dubai
Week 184 Another Wedding
Week 185 South Africa Life in a township
Week 186 Austria Ski Jump 
Week 187 Dubai Green Plant Bio Dome 
Week 188 Dubai Update on the Metro Station
Week 189 Dubai My view from the balcony changed in 8 months
Week 190 Greece Just how instagramable is it?
Week 191-192 Dubai Before and After. 3 months out of Dubai
Week 193 Dubai Building a boat in the sky
Week 194 South Africa An African Sunset
Week 195 South Africa Building with boxes Charity work in South Africa
Week 196 Another family wedding and a year of travel
Week 197 Dubai What are they building now? World Trade Centre
Week 198 Monmouth Building work in South Wales
Week 198 Dubai The cladding is going on, on the metro station
Week 199 Dubai They're building on the beaches in Dubai

One daily Positive - Week 45

More bloody tests, had to go on a lactose and fructose free diet on Sunday in preparation. Started the week with a migraine also, probably too much screen time over the weekend (which is Friday and Saturday for us in Dubai) trying to get google on the new laptop in English as translating Arabic is not easy every time you want to sign into a new account. Peter has been very busy with work this week, so spent a lot of time in the evenings alone

308 Sunday Spent the morning cleaning the house, sweeping up dog hair and sand as we've been able to have the doors open and of course the sand has been blown in. Caught up with blog comments and in the evening had my induction for Marshalling at Jumeriah Golf Estate for the upcoming DP World Tour, Race to Dubai.

309 Monday 3 hours at the doctors, hadn't eaten or drunk since 11pm the night before so straight off to the coffee shop afterwards, got my nails done, visited the garden centre and after sunset planted my new shrubs out. Peter was out for the evening with work. No bonfire night here so Bob and I took a walk around the neighbourhood to look at the Diwali lights.

310 Tuesday Dog park to catch up with human and doggie friends. Did some gardening in the afternoon, suffered with heat exhaustion, it's cooler but still in the low 30's.

311 Wednesday Tested my new walking shoes/trainers out in the Marina Mall today with a friend. Did a food shop and had a nap. Pub Quiz and dinner out. Peter was out with colleagues from work.

312 Thursday Peter announced he was bringing a colleague over for the evening so gave the house a quick dust and swept up the cat hair I seem to be collecting. Popped out for a coffee and another trip to the Doctors for more results and more 'what next?' Can't believe how quickly my seeds are growing.

313 Friday Met friends for breakfast at Dubai Mall then went to see Bohemian Rhapsody, which we really enjoyed, spent the evening in the garden.

314 Saturday Woke up to a mess downstairs from Bob, he'd been poorly in the night, think it was the raw bone I'd given him the day before. Popped out for coffee and off to a Thanksgiving dinner this evening.

On the blog this week:
Why I'm sick of being sick. I've really had enough of test after test and for what?
Autumn and Spring on my travels to UK, Dubai and South Africa 
What makes good customer service? I'm fed up of being laughed at when I ask a question.
They're building on the beaches in Dubai

An InLinkz Link-up

I'm sick of being sick

The thing is apart from random pain in my thigh and hip bones and a general feeling of lethargy, I’m not actually sick, however my blood test results over the past 16 months are telling the doctors otherwise and they keep calling me back in for more tests including a bone marrow biopsy in May to rule out cancer.

Finally my white blood cell count has stabalised, it’s still elevated but with no baseline to measure it by, it could just be my normal level.

Since February this year I’ve been taking iron tablets and yet my levels are still dropping, I’ve also been receiving monthly Vit B12 injections and daily tablets yet my levels are not rising either.

I went to the Doctors in June 2017 with a migraine that had lasted 9 days and pain behind my left eye. I’ve suffered with migraines since I was a baby. Every 18-24 months I get one so bad I need medical assistance to sort it out. I have 2-3 migraines every month and I am a chronic migraine sufferer as it impairs my ability to function for 2-3 days each time. I have aura’s, sight is blurry, I can smell burning toast and my cognitive ability is affected. I take medication at this point but most times it doesn’t work.

I also have chronic pain in my neck and nerve damage that affects my fine motor movements, I live in constant pain, it also makes my migraines worse. This was a direct result of an assault 22 years ago. Usually when the migraines get worse it’s due to my neck and I get help and support with that also.

But after the last big migraine, I developed a chesty cough and started getting random shooting pains throughout my body, mainly in my legs and hips. I didn’t go back to the doctors, I put it down to stress after my father died in the July and on my return to Dubai in November I was diagnosed with walking pneumonia, that cleared up but I still had a cough which turned out to be reflux and has settled down with over the counter medication.

I spent 3 months under the care of an oncologist this year, that was frightening, after the bone marrow biopsy she referred me to a different GP to test for coeliac disease (border line) and I’m now under the care of a gastroenterologist for further tests to find out why my body just refuses to absorb iron and B12.

As I live with chronic pain it makes it difficult for me to identify when I’m ill outside of this. 4 weeks ago I twisted my ankle, I casually mentioned it to the doctor last week, I’ve torn the tendons and it’ll take a further 6+ weeks to heal and is now heavily strapped. 

But apart from the migraines, the neck pain, the torn tendons, feeling tired all the time (not lacking the will to do anything) and the random bone pains, I’m actually feeling ok, until the doctor calls me back in as there are concerns with the results of my latest blood tests and we explore an other avenue to try and get to the bottom of it.

I’ve got a new symptom now, excessive salvia that I’m constantly sucking from the inside of my cheeks, but my tongue feels dry as does the roof of my mouth and the skin is peeling on my feet. My husband is sick of me being sick, but not half as much as I am.

October and Autumn in the UK and Dubai and Spring in South Africa

With 4 boys, the UK year was run around the school holidays. We knew two birthdays could possibly be outdoors if it didn't rain, but the other 2 were indoor events for sure. We marked the year also by events, such as Easter, holiday, halloween and bonfire and of course Christmas. Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter taken care of. We weren't big gardeners, so things got hacked back when over grown or planted out when bought from a nursery.

On moving to South Africa our seasons turned back to front, celebrating Christmas when it was in the middle of summer and 35c was confusing. Spring and autumn were similar to the UK's autumn and winter, the rain in South Africa is in summer, not winter. Summer in SA is the UK's winter, so to some extent it felt the same. But having temps of minus 5c in June and witnessing snow in July was all very weird and for the 4 years we lived there, I never really got my head around it.

Of course now living in Dubai, it's pretty much summer all year round. They have 3 ways of measuring the temperature here, which are 'hot, hotter and 3rd rock from the sun' Nothing happens outdoors during the summer, the humidity is high, condensation forms on the outside of the windows as the hot air hits the cold of the air con the other side.

In the UK the condensation is inside the room.

So whilst it's autumn in both the UK and Dubai, it is spring in South Africa. The UK is preparing for winter, giving the garden one last tidy before the frosts, rain and snow, yet Dubai and South Africa, although in opposite seasons are preparing for the outdoor life, wlaks, parks, picnics and BBQs or Braai's as they call them in SA.

October in the UK

South Africa

Dubai