More rain

It's started raining again. After a couple of days back in the sun, with everything washed down, and us all cringing at the awful luck we had on Opening, it's back with a vengeance.

There are now just 10 days of rehearsals until Closing, but most of today was lost for the rain. The forecast is for rain every day until, and including, the night. The livestock compound, where there horses, donkeys and camels are kept, and which play a major part in the show, is completely flooded.

The same goes for most of the streets in Doha - there is a foot deep muddy lake out the front door of the office, and without drains many streets are filled up the gutters. My cab driver tonight, an Indian man who has lived here for 18 years confirmed that there are generally only one or two days of rain a year, sometimes none. He has only seen rain like this on two other occasions.

Shame for the athletics part of the Asian Games which is about to start as well...

We have tomorrow off, and with any luck it will clear up for long enough for Gen and I to go for a walk and catch some of the madness through the lens. If not, we will enjoy the weirdness from the couch with a DVD.

There are so many people who are over it right now, even the most dedicated and positive types. I am not very busy, lots of people aren't yet, so there's this awful lagging calm before the storm feeling falling over the office. The rain just adds the impression that everything is shit.

But to get us through: in 9 days we will be on a jet plane to sunny Muscat, Oman for some slow-paced sunny resort action. It can't come soon enough...