Cat in the Gulf: What is fun and where to find it?

Somehow lately I noticed that my life is totally devoid of all things fun (no offence to all the fun people I socialise with - that can be considered as fun, of course, but it is not my personal achievement).

Fun things happen to someone else, somewhere else, I am always a little too late (too early) or too far (too blind?) to even catch a glimpse of anything that can be remotely considered as FUN.

Maybe I am just getting old?

See for yourself: these are the things (in no particular order) that happened to me in May.

Stomach parasite. Now, one can argue that spending 10 days (and nights!) within 5m radius of the toilet can be fun just because it sounds funny - but trust me, fun it isn't.

Toyota Prado. You might remember that this is the car I covet. I took my own car to the garage for service, and borrowed the Prado from someone who actually trusted me with it. You can say that this is fun - being able to drive my dream car for a few days. Ha ha. It was HELL. I was paranoid! I had nightmares that something might happen to the car, that I would have an accident, I didn't get any sleep, I feared the worst, I drove it for a grand total of 24 km (to work and back, ONCE) and sighed with relief when I returned it back. Bottom line - it was NOT fun at all. I hate borrowing stuff!

Tennis. So you know I am a tennis junkie. I don't really play, I just watch. I have favourite players and players that I don't like, I watch some hoping they'd win, I watch others hoping they'd lose. I root for my country players (I have like 5 countries I consider "mine" so that's quite a long list), and there are few countries that I root against (for no special reason). If a player I like loses, or if a player I don't like wins, I am not a happy bunny. When I watch tennis I get too hyper, too nervous, I fidget, I binge, I am incommunicado to the rest of the world, I twist and break things, I snap at people, I am probably fun to watch - but is it really FUN? No, I don't think so. It's a condition, and probably there are some meds I could take. THANK YOU MOMMY AND DADDY FOR FORCING ME TO COME WITH YOU TO QATAR OPEN! I was as indifferent to tennis as all normal people, and now I am hooked and I can't help it.

Internet. With the weather in Doha taking a sharp turn towards HELL sign, outdoor activities are pretty much limited to running to and from the airconditioned car in and out of airconditioned indoors. Indoors in my case mean home and work as I am not a shopping fan. Home and work mean internet access. Internet, by definition, is fun. But it is vicious, vile and contagious, and I have developed certain (not funny) symptoms of an internet addict - I actually said "LOL" to someone the other day. I can't write - I can only type. I find it difficult to talk to people, I don't know where to look, I don't know where to put my hands, I'd much rather there was a screen and a keyboard in front of me than a person, it makes the whole communication thing much easier. Does it sound fun to you? Me neither.

(Much hyped) Doha Trade Fair. I went with a friend, and believe me when I say to you it was the worst event I've ever been to (first meeting with the prospective in-laws, which firmly occupied this position for 8 odd years, is the runner-up). Imagine stall after stall filled with cheap knockoffs and fake designer goods, isle after isle filled with screaming, running children and pushing, arrogant men and women and you will have an idea. Trade Fair a la Asia. The only thing I brought home with me was a nasty eye infection and sore feet. In other words, never again, not for any fun in the world.

The list goes on and on.

And now my boss announced that the deadline for the project I'm working on is shifted to the end of THIS week (instead of the last working week before my holiday). I am sure he's just being funny ;-)