Rain, Rain Go Away!!!!

Seven Months of bone dry weather, and the day that Fred is due to arrive, it's a ground soaker....The weather is suppose to clear up tomorrow, so Fred should get to enjoy plenty of UAE sunshine. It will be my first week to get to be a tourist in Dubai. The roads are extremely slick, as the intersections around the Dubai mall are granite.
Planning on going to the Abu Dhabi golf tournament on Sunday. Phil Mickelson, Padrig Harrington and many of the worlds top golfers are playing in it. Probably going up in the Burj Khalifa on Monday. One day in Al Ain and generally just enjoying my best friends company. I will have Fred be a guest blogger (hopefully a fun tradition to begin) while he is here.
We had an extremely tough week at work, morale is down. The out of stock situation, and mediocre performance of some support staff is taking its toll. Getting the attitudes turned around is job one. We are extremely short staffed in the sales team, but help is on the way. Juan and Ceren start the first week of February and Nick should start the second week of the month.
On the interview front, one of the things we do with Account Executive interviewees is make them take a "problem solving" aptitude test. You know the ones, if a train is traveling from the North at 28 KHM's per hour and a stray American puppy is walking south along the tracks at 2 khms per hour, and it is the middle of Ramadan and its 44 degrees C, how many steps will the Infidel American puppy take before the Arab train splatters it, and what temperature will the meat be when the buzzards enjoy a feast of American Cuisine? Well, I made a bet with Human resources that Bob and I would together score less on the test than Fred by himself. I have 3 copies of the test sealed in an envelope...So Saturday, we will take the test...we will see...
Bob, Richard, Karim and I got invited to a reception at the United States Ambassadors home in Abu Dhabi this past week. There were a lot of different American dishes. Ambassador Richard Olson was polite, security was tight, and his home was beautiful. He was appointed in 2007 by President Bush and his assignment is up this summer. He was gracious  and we enjoyed ourselves.
Bob and I went to the opening of a new concept (ChopSticks) at Dubai Mall today. It is reasonably priced and "yummy". There are several new restaurants opening in the next few months including Pot Belly,  Olive Garden and Red Lobster. Now if I could just get Waffle House, Cracker Barrel, and Chick Fil A I would be satisfied.
Fred's plane lands in 4 hours, and I have a few things I need to do before he gets here, so hopefully you will enjoy your week as much as I will surely enjoy mine. Look for a "Fred" blog, coming here very soon...
John