This is a difficult week to blog, in so many ways this was the most difficult week that I have had since I arrived last July. The heat of the approaching summer is emerging and it has zapped me of some of my will. Don't get depressed, it is not desperate, just an extremely tough week.
I guess we will start with the personal life, it was a lonely week in so many ways. Last weekend I did get to have a couple of nice dates with Rodz, she is so much a part of my everyday life here. On "Idol night" (Nick made his now very popular sloppy Joes again) she fell asleep with her head on my shoulder and slept for over an hour, of course I was in trouble for not waking her up to watch American Idol...go figure...We have not gone on a date since last Sunday, and tonight it will be just a ride home for her...we have to find more time for each other to make this work...
Bob returned from the states into a tempest. While he was gone, Hani (Bob's boss) had meetings with The head of contract accounts, Head of procurement, and the head of sales (that's me)...Well by the end of the week Cowboy and I had a lot of additional things to do and Kawa was no longer with the Company.
We will end up with a record growth in both percentage and gross sales, but not as much as the big boss would like. The pressure is there, hopefully we will continue to respond with record numbers, and the mood amongst Senior Management will improve.
Bob, Hani, Kelly and I joined a couple of our best customers for a charity dinner at Ruth's Chris this past Wednesday. It was a dinner to raise funds an bring awareness to the plight of the children of Ethiopia. It was absolutely delicious, and the only thing better than the food was the company. There was some irony in gorging yourself on food while trying to raise funds for starving children. We had great conversation, and it took a little of the edge off of the brutal week at work. I am so impressed with Kelly as an employee, but even more so as a person. She truly has become a close friend and definitely is a leader amongst her peers in every way.
Vineet (Vinny the Pooh) and Reem are finishing up their crash courses in training. they both will have their first weeks in territory this week. They have both been impressive in their training, let's hope that translates into good sales careers. I have a full plate of work for Saturday, and it is the last day of the month, so customer service will have a full day of entering orders...I think Sunday could be a record shipping day...oh well enough about work.
Nick is coming over tonight to have dinner with Bob and I. We are having Ribeye steaks, baked potato's and green beans (and yummy French bread). After our sure to be delicious dinner, we are going to watch the first two episodes of "Game of Thrones" the new HBO series - hopefully we will like it and give us something else to amuse ourselves with. Then I will be off to pick up Rodz from work at 9 pm.
I haven't spoken much with the parents or Fred lately, I did see on TV and the Internet the rough weather the states endured last week. I hate the heat, but I fear tornado's much worse. There doesn't seem to be much death defying weather here (sure the heat could kill you). The UAE is located on a major earthquake fault that extends from Iran.
The political unrest in the region is actually benefiting the UAE. It is about the only safe place for the oil rich Arabs to safely vacation. The irony here is all of these oil barons are reaping the benefit of $100 dollar a barrel oil while filling their SUV gas tanks here on $1.80 gallon gasoline...
They say money can't buy happiness, I certainly hope the money that I am earning to pay my way out of debt and to replenish my retirement will make these years away from family, friends and the country I so desperately love worth it. We shall see. It's been a great 1st 10 months, but a lousy couple of weeks...Let's hope you have a safe relaxing weekend, and that your American friends here in Dubai have a great week at work and play.
Time to help Bob to prepare dinner....
John
Friday, April 29, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
Just can't seem to find any Easter eggs...
Easter in the Middle East, an interesting concept...Of course it is Friday morning here and I should be enjoying Easter service here, but I didn't get my lazy bones out of bed on time....
The local Du cable company added ESPN and ESPN America to their offerings. For 27 cents per day I now get the sports networks...I have been watching sports centers and baseball games like crazy. I am really excited about the NFL availability to me now. This will really help me with my America withdrawals....
Speaking of TV, it is really one of our few links to normalization...Nick (and sometimes Bob) watch American Idol with me, and Nick and I watch Survivor weekly. The show is about 18 hours behind when you see it in America, and we tape them to watch once a week. Well Mimi and Chelsea (Nick's wife and daughter) just can't seem to help themselves with giving Nick show spoilers. Alright Mimi and Chelsea, let me help you keep your old man happier....when you tell Nick that the person voted off Idol is not a surprise...that makes us know when the 3 are left standing - who probably goes, or when you say its a shocker - we know then that it's Pia when the last 3 are left standing....I know Chelsea is a little mad at me for bringing her daddy to the Middle East - but...I'm just saying...Actually we still enjoy our time, Nick just enjoys telling me stories about his family...
Nick is getting settled in, buying furniture piece meal from individuals...we have continued our dinner deal, Rodz and I buy Nick dinner one night, and then Nick fixes us dinner the next night, then the 3 of us watch American Idol. This weeks treat was pork bacon and Omelette's. Well Rodz did enjoy her dinner...me not so much, first Nick absolutely destroyed my package of bacon. It was blacker than the ace of spades and my apartment was so smokey it made me nauseous. Rodz called the bacon "Kenyan" bacon...well Nick scrambled my entire carton of 18 eggs and made these humongous omelette's...I think Rodz enjoyed the whole mini fiasco....she has asked to have sloppy Joe's this week...lol, her new favorite. Rodz and I had a fun dinner out at Bini Hanah's last Sunday - (I know I am not spelling that right). It was her first Japanese steak house, and they put on a nice show and the dinner was good.
Bob is enjoying his trip to the good ole USA. I spoke with him on Wednesday and he said he was having a great time. He comes back on Monday night. His boss has scheduled a meeting with me to go over sales issues first thing Sunday morning...Happy Easter to you too. We are having major IT issues, hopefully Hani will help them get resolved. We should beat our old record month by a lot and have a record growth month in percentage also....
Have yourself a wonderful Easter, I hope you find the most eggs!
John
The local Du cable company added ESPN and ESPN America to their offerings. For 27 cents per day I now get the sports networks...I have been watching sports centers and baseball games like crazy. I am really excited about the NFL availability to me now. This will really help me with my America withdrawals....
Speaking of TV, it is really one of our few links to normalization...Nick (and sometimes Bob) watch American Idol with me, and Nick and I watch Survivor weekly. The show is about 18 hours behind when you see it in America, and we tape them to watch once a week. Well Mimi and Chelsea (Nick's wife and daughter) just can't seem to help themselves with giving Nick show spoilers. Alright Mimi and Chelsea, let me help you keep your old man happier....when you tell Nick that the person voted off Idol is not a surprise...that makes us know when the 3 are left standing - who probably goes, or when you say its a shocker - we know then that it's Pia when the last 3 are left standing....I know Chelsea is a little mad at me for bringing her daddy to the Middle East - but...I'm just saying...Actually we still enjoy our time, Nick just enjoys telling me stories about his family...
Nick is getting settled in, buying furniture piece meal from individuals...we have continued our dinner deal, Rodz and I buy Nick dinner one night, and then Nick fixes us dinner the next night, then the 3 of us watch American Idol. This weeks treat was pork bacon and Omelette's. Well Rodz did enjoy her dinner...me not so much, first Nick absolutely destroyed my package of bacon. It was blacker than the ace of spades and my apartment was so smokey it made me nauseous. Rodz called the bacon "Kenyan" bacon...well Nick scrambled my entire carton of 18 eggs and made these humongous omelette's...I think Rodz enjoyed the whole mini fiasco....she has asked to have sloppy Joe's this week...lol, her new favorite. Rodz and I had a fun dinner out at Bini Hanah's last Sunday - (I know I am not spelling that right). It was her first Japanese steak house, and they put on a nice show and the dinner was good.
Bob is enjoying his trip to the good ole USA. I spoke with him on Wednesday and he said he was having a great time. He comes back on Monday night. His boss has scheduled a meeting with me to go over sales issues first thing Sunday morning...Happy Easter to you too. We are having major IT issues, hopefully Hani will help them get resolved. We should beat our old record month by a lot and have a record growth month in percentage also....
Have yourself a wonderful Easter, I hope you find the most eggs!
John
Friday, April 15, 2011
April 15....That date seems special...
Happy Tax day to you....It is so nice to not be dealing with Uncle Sam's heavy tax burden this year....My tax man back in the USA, says I have small refunds coming from my time at Kuna Foods that ended last July 2nd. It is a good time to think about taxes....It amazes me how much further money seems to go without sales tax, or many visible taxes. The UAE does have a tax on alcohol (30%), but most of its revenue is from government fees on imports (5%), rent (5%) and money they get from businesses they own...(phone companies - local land line calls even cost you)...
I will try not and drone on about work today, I hear from one of my regular readers that work numbers and stories are boring, that you want to know more about my "love life" and my observations about the people here. Well, in a "Readers Digest" version - The meeting with the big cheeses went well last Saturday, Vineet started, and yes he is Vinny the Pooh. He really had a nice first week and I know you will hear more about him. Reem starts next Tuesday. Have two more people that Bob and I have decided to make offers to. Things with work keep rolling along, and when you work 70 plus hours per week, it dominates your life.
We do have a new chain from America that opened at the Mall of Emirates (the second biggest mall -the one with the indoor ski slope) called Shake Shack. I ate there last week - Outstanding hamburgers (use American patties) I may end up there today....
Today is the three month anniversary of my first date with Rodz. It is like a few of my other memorable love life adventures (shared with Fred). Time flies, it just seems like last month that Fred was here visiting. I would like to tell you about my big romantic plans for the day, except she works a twelve hour shift on Fridays (9 to 9) and the highlight will be my picking her up from work so she can go home and go to bed...I will spend the day with Nick.
Rodz and I dropped Bob off at the airport last night. He is home to spend a couple of weeks with his family. I don't think he won the movie reviewer contest, so back to just running food service for him. Nick is busy trying to find furniture for his apartment. I loaned him my inflatable queen sized bed, and that and his TV is all that he has so far. One of the many fun things about dating someone from a different country and culture, is introducing them to foods and customs that I enjoy. Rodz is always reluctant to try new things, but then seems to really enjoy them once we have shared them together. Her favorite restaurant is now PFChangs (she is not a big fan of May, my favorite server there-go figure) and her second favorite is Fuddruckers...lol. PFChangs egg drop soup has become a new favorite soup of several of my fellow expats. Georges, Ceren and Rodz had never heard of it and all loved it. I finally talked Rodz into trying a "hand-made" soft pretzel at Festival City mall. She liked it, so last night after we dropped Bob off at the airport when I asked her what she wanted to do...yes, go to the mall and have a pretzel...yes, she has a very nice figure that I am trying not to destroy with her newly developed American pallet. Nick decided to repay us buying him dinner by making us "sloppy Joes" on American Idol viewing night. Rodz was intrigued with the name - I had a hard time convincing her this was a good food...lol. Well when Nick promised sloppy Joes he had in mind picking up a can of "Manwich" and a pound of ground chuck...not so fast Nicholas. There is no sloppy Joe sauces in the grocery stores here, so Nick consulted with his bride Mimi back in the states, yes Ketchup, onions, peppers, spices, brown sugar and New Zealand ground beef...it was delicious and Rodz had two sandwiches...this weeks menu will be another new one for Rodz...Cheese Omelette's. I will try and remember to share how it goes.
Well spring ended in the UAE with some real rain...We had thunderstorms on Monday night. It was nice, rained like cats and dogs for 20 minutes. I had been in Festival City and had to drive home as it stopped raining. There are no sewers - more accurately no gutters on the streets, so lots of standing water. The road was full of standing water and sand that was washed out of the air. The skyline was beautiful without the sand in the air. We had another good burst of rain a couple of hours later, then some sprinkles the next couple of days. Now the clouds are gone, the dry summer has begun. Just really happy we got that one good rainy night before the long dry season. The chance of rain from May through December is virtually zero (the statistic is nine measurable rainfalls in Dubai during the last 30 years) during those months.
I booked my airline flight back to America for August 5th. It was $300 dollars less to fly into JFK in NY, over flying to Atlanta. my 12 day stay sadly will not include my 30 year high school reunion, as the graduating class of Lebanon High school of 1981 has overwhelmingly decided to go with a fall date instead of the August one that I lobbied for. Someone please send my regards in September...I will plan on seeing Dan Scott and Rodney & Janie in Pennsylvania, of course my parents and hopefully some old school friends in Virginia, Fred and Debbie in Knoxville, and then Chad, Nate, Amy, Rez and other of my Kuna and SYSCO friends in St. Louis. I don't have Atlanta on the schedule....maybe next year. The two of my friends that bought (acquired) all of my furniture before I left St Louis last July, might want to pay for it, may make it a more comfortable reunion with me this August.
Fred did manage to sell my car last month, so one less long term bill, still have to finish up with a few obligations, it is great gaining financial independence.
I think I am headed to the pool for a couple of hours (it's 11am - 90 degrees and bright sunshine!) have yourself a great Friday and even a better weekend, I hope you have already finished your tax forms and that Uncle Sam is returning some of your hard earned wages to you.
John
I will try not and drone on about work today, I hear from one of my regular readers that work numbers and stories are boring, that you want to know more about my "love life" and my observations about the people here. Well, in a "Readers Digest" version - The meeting with the big cheeses went well last Saturday, Vineet started, and yes he is Vinny the Pooh. He really had a nice first week and I know you will hear more about him. Reem starts next Tuesday. Have two more people that Bob and I have decided to make offers to. Things with work keep rolling along, and when you work 70 plus hours per week, it dominates your life.
We do have a new chain from America that opened at the Mall of Emirates (the second biggest mall -the one with the indoor ski slope) called Shake Shack. I ate there last week - Outstanding hamburgers (use American patties) I may end up there today....
Today is the three month anniversary of my first date with Rodz. It is like a few of my other memorable love life adventures (shared with Fred). Time flies, it just seems like last month that Fred was here visiting. I would like to tell you about my big romantic plans for the day, except she works a twelve hour shift on Fridays (9 to 9) and the highlight will be my picking her up from work so she can go home and go to bed...I will spend the day with Nick.
Rodz and I dropped Bob off at the airport last night. He is home to spend a couple of weeks with his family. I don't think he won the movie reviewer contest, so back to just running food service for him. Nick is busy trying to find furniture for his apartment. I loaned him my inflatable queen sized bed, and that and his TV is all that he has so far. One of the many fun things about dating someone from a different country and culture, is introducing them to foods and customs that I enjoy. Rodz is always reluctant to try new things, but then seems to really enjoy them once we have shared them together. Her favorite restaurant is now PFChangs (she is not a big fan of May, my favorite server there-go figure) and her second favorite is Fuddruckers...lol. PFChangs egg drop soup has become a new favorite soup of several of my fellow expats. Georges, Ceren and Rodz had never heard of it and all loved it. I finally talked Rodz into trying a "hand-made" soft pretzel at Festival City mall. She liked it, so last night after we dropped Bob off at the airport when I asked her what she wanted to do...yes, go to the mall and have a pretzel...yes, she has a very nice figure that I am trying not to destroy with her newly developed American pallet. Nick decided to repay us buying him dinner by making us "sloppy Joes" on American Idol viewing night. Rodz was intrigued with the name - I had a hard time convincing her this was a good food...lol. Well when Nick promised sloppy Joes he had in mind picking up a can of "Manwich" and a pound of ground chuck...not so fast Nicholas. There is no sloppy Joe sauces in the grocery stores here, so Nick consulted with his bride Mimi back in the states, yes Ketchup, onions, peppers, spices, brown sugar and New Zealand ground beef...it was delicious and Rodz had two sandwiches...this weeks menu will be another new one for Rodz...Cheese Omelette's. I will try and remember to share how it goes.
Well spring ended in the UAE with some real rain...We had thunderstorms on Monday night. It was nice, rained like cats and dogs for 20 minutes. I had been in Festival City and had to drive home as it stopped raining. There are no sewers - more accurately no gutters on the streets, so lots of standing water. The road was full of standing water and sand that was washed out of the air. The skyline was beautiful without the sand in the air. We had another good burst of rain a couple of hours later, then some sprinkles the next couple of days. Now the clouds are gone, the dry summer has begun. Just really happy we got that one good rainy night before the long dry season. The chance of rain from May through December is virtually zero (the statistic is nine measurable rainfalls in Dubai during the last 30 years) during those months.
I booked my airline flight back to America for August 5th. It was $300 dollars less to fly into JFK in NY, over flying to Atlanta. my 12 day stay sadly will not include my 30 year high school reunion, as the graduating class of Lebanon High school of 1981 has overwhelmingly decided to go with a fall date instead of the August one that I lobbied for. Someone please send my regards in September...I will plan on seeing Dan Scott and Rodney & Janie in Pennsylvania, of course my parents and hopefully some old school friends in Virginia, Fred and Debbie in Knoxville, and then Chad, Nate, Amy, Rez and other of my Kuna and SYSCO friends in St. Louis. I don't have Atlanta on the schedule....maybe next year. The two of my friends that bought (acquired) all of my furniture before I left St Louis last July, might want to pay for it, may make it a more comfortable reunion with me this August.
Fred did manage to sell my car last month, so one less long term bill, still have to finish up with a few obligations, it is great gaining financial independence.
I think I am headed to the pool for a couple of hours (it's 11am - 90 degrees and bright sunshine!) have yourself a great Friday and even a better weekend, I hope you have already finished your tax forms and that Uncle Sam is returning some of your hard earned wages to you.
John
Friday, April 8, 2011
Those hazy days of April....
It is really heating up here in Dubai, As I type this, it is 11:30 in the morning and it is already 91 degrees outside. 100 degree weather starts rearing it's ugly head by the end of the month....The sand storms have been swirling around, about half of us Americans are walking around with a chronic cough (I call it sand lung) and my eyes are scratchy all the time. You have to put the sun shades on your car window when you park outside or you come back to a furnace. In about a month, I can turn off my hot water heater in the bathroom, because the water is heated up naturally through the dessert pipes, so I will have to get my cool water from the hot water tank...unbelievable yes, but also not an exaggeration.
I got to see a couple of innings of the Reds game before work on Wednesday morning (12-4 Reds win - Made them 5-0 so far), I really hope I get to watch more baseball this year. It truly is one of my favorite passions. The country here was into the big Cricket matches last week. First, there was the semi-final match between Pakistan and India (the country is about 35% Indian ex-pats) - No work was done (started about 12:30 in the afternoon - match lasted about 8 hours...) Indian beat Pakistan (made me smile), then in the championship last Saturday India beat Sri Lanka...haven't seen do many happy Indians since I spent an evening at a Seminole casino in Miami. I am gonna have to make an effort to figure out Cricket.
Bob and I went to church this morning, the early service (seats around 200) is packed, and the later service (Cowboy and Mary attend) is standing room only. Who would have thunk that I would have had to move to an Islamic country half way around the world to see people pack a church service like Christian sardines. Our pastor (Jim from Georgia) just returned from a convention in Atlanta. Bob, leaves for a trip to home to his family at the end of this week. This will be the first time since Karim quit that I will be at work without Bob. It is a nice challenge to steer the ship in Bob's absence. We have a meeting on Saturday morning with Bob's boss Hani, and Hani's bosses from Lebanon (Sammy and Maroon). It is a meeting for me to discuss sales structure, numbers and strategy's going forward.
The good news about this kind of meeting is the timing. March was a record month in sales with 6.4 million. We also had a growth rate of 61% over March 2010 sales, and we had the best margin we have had since I took over the sales force in October 2010. We need to enjoy the ride, but also need to put the pedal to the metal....
Vineet starts this week. He is a young man from Bombay, India...I will have to work on a nick name...Vinny the Greek, or Vinny and the Jets or Vinny the Pooh are the early nominees. I really liked his work ethics and the story of his life during his interview. He worked full time putting himself through school and he was just plain likable in his interview. He reminded me of John Achurch (SYSCO colleague from St. Louis) hopefully he will perform like Johnny.
Reem starts on April 18th, she is back in the states visiting family in Texas right now.
The local radio station that I like (Virgin radio 104.4 FM-top forty/dance? music) had an audition/competition for a movie reviewer this week. You had to call in if you wanted to be the personality to do a weekly movie review...Well Monday morning I hear Bob talking to someone on the phone at the office about radio...Wednesday morning I am driving to work, and there's Bob on the radio reviewing "Salt" - an Angelinie Jolie film that I haven't seen (Bob rated it 4 out of 5 stars)...He did fine, but I don't think we are going to lose him to the radio yet...I will let you know.
Nick has moved into his new pad. It is a nice high rise apartment that costs about 20% less than mine, with a much better location (nearer new office/no new construction going on)...The building itself is not as nice, but I am thinking seriously in moving there when my rent contract ends in July. Nick is buying a TV today, and some furniture this week (I have loaned him my inflatable queen sized mattress) he is trying to make it livable until Mimi and his 16 year old son Riley arrive in June.
I am headed to the pool for an hour, then to the Mall of Emirates to get my hair cut. Nick and I are meeting for an early dinner at a new customer of ours (Shake Shack) then back here to watch Survivor and American Idol. The girlfriend doesn't get off until 9 pm on Fridays (9 to 9 on Fridays -very long day) so it's a guys day. I have Poultier in my golf pool, so late tonight I will be watching the Masters and hoping to make the cut!
Busy time, and the days are soaring by!!!!
Have a great weekend,
John
I got to see a couple of innings of the Reds game before work on Wednesday morning (12-4 Reds win - Made them 5-0 so far), I really hope I get to watch more baseball this year. It truly is one of my favorite passions. The country here was into the big Cricket matches last week. First, there was the semi-final match between Pakistan and India (the country is about 35% Indian ex-pats) - No work was done (started about 12:30 in the afternoon - match lasted about 8 hours...) Indian beat Pakistan (made me smile), then in the championship last Saturday India beat Sri Lanka...haven't seen do many happy Indians since I spent an evening at a Seminole casino in Miami. I am gonna have to make an effort to figure out Cricket.
Bob and I went to church this morning, the early service (seats around 200) is packed, and the later service (Cowboy and Mary attend) is standing room only. Who would have thunk that I would have had to move to an Islamic country half way around the world to see people pack a church service like Christian sardines. Our pastor (Jim from Georgia) just returned from a convention in Atlanta. Bob, leaves for a trip to home to his family at the end of this week. This will be the first time since Karim quit that I will be at work without Bob. It is a nice challenge to steer the ship in Bob's absence. We have a meeting on Saturday morning with Bob's boss Hani, and Hani's bosses from Lebanon (Sammy and Maroon). It is a meeting for me to discuss sales structure, numbers and strategy's going forward.
The good news about this kind of meeting is the timing. March was a record month in sales with 6.4 million. We also had a growth rate of 61% over March 2010 sales, and we had the best margin we have had since I took over the sales force in October 2010. We need to enjoy the ride, but also need to put the pedal to the metal....
Vineet starts this week. He is a young man from Bombay, India...I will have to work on a nick name...Vinny the Greek, or Vinny and the Jets or Vinny the Pooh are the early nominees. I really liked his work ethics and the story of his life during his interview. He worked full time putting himself through school and he was just plain likable in his interview. He reminded me of John Achurch (SYSCO colleague from St. Louis) hopefully he will perform like Johnny.
Reem starts on April 18th, she is back in the states visiting family in Texas right now.
The local radio station that I like (Virgin radio 104.4 FM-top forty/dance? music) had an audition/competition for a movie reviewer this week. You had to call in if you wanted to be the personality to do a weekly movie review...Well Monday morning I hear Bob talking to someone on the phone at the office about radio...Wednesday morning I am driving to work, and there's Bob on the radio reviewing "Salt" - an Angelinie Jolie film that I haven't seen (Bob rated it 4 out of 5 stars)...He did fine, but I don't think we are going to lose him to the radio yet...I will let you know.
Nick has moved into his new pad. It is a nice high rise apartment that costs about 20% less than mine, with a much better location (nearer new office/no new construction going on)...The building itself is not as nice, but I am thinking seriously in moving there when my rent contract ends in July. Nick is buying a TV today, and some furniture this week (I have loaned him my inflatable queen sized mattress) he is trying to make it livable until Mimi and his 16 year old son Riley arrive in June.
I am headed to the pool for an hour, then to the Mall of Emirates to get my hair cut. Nick and I are meeting for an early dinner at a new customer of ours (Shake Shack) then back here to watch Survivor and American Idol. The girlfriend doesn't get off until 9 pm on Fridays (9 to 9 on Fridays -very long day) so it's a guys day. I have Poultier in my golf pool, so late tonight I will be watching the Masters and hoping to make the cut!
Busy time, and the days are soaring by!!!!
Have a great weekend,
John
Friday, April 1, 2011
April Showers bring, wait April sand storms bring May sand dunes...
Friday, April 1st - 2011, this week will mark the completion of 9 months since my arrival July 5th. I guess it would be a good time to reflect on the good and the bad...
Work - Has gone exceptionally well, record months in sales, hired some really good people, bonded with my coworkers from retail. Bob is pleased with me, as well as his boss Hani, I probably am disappointed that some things have not happened as quickly as I want them to. The current sales force has grown from the 8 that I inherited in October (when I switched roles) to the current sales force of 13. In the month of April, Reem, (Palestinian 30ish young lady from Jordan, Vineet (23 year old Indian young man from Bombay) start with the company. Still need to hire an Abu Dhabi Rep (to replace Rami) and a rep for the Northern Emirates and Oman. Definitely have to have both if them hired before the end of the month. I have also hired Haley, a young lady from the United States that is here currently working in the Raddison's Hotel Management training program. Her contract is finished in early June and she will hopefully start by July 1st. I will get the final sales figures for the Month of March tomorrow, along with the quarterly numbers...of course I will update you (it was a record month) ;-) !
Isolationism - I definitely miss my friends from the states, I especially miss being able to pick up the phone and call Amy, Todd, Chad, Danno or Wes. I talk regularly with Fred (a couple of times a week) and at least weekly with my parents. The 8 hours time difference and lack of coverage here of American Baseball or the National Football league is one of the worse things. I did get to watch the Nationals/Braves opening day game last night...it was a nice treat. I have been involved with or actually responsible for the same fantasy baseball league for the last 25 years, I miss the interaction with the guys in that. Dan is going to try and keep me involved this year - The draft is this weekend - so maybe that will go well. We do have Fox News and CNN International on cable so I am able to keep up with politics and the news of America.
Social Life - I actually do more here socially than I have the last few years in America. Bob and I do quite a few things together. As you know one of my good friends Nick Dean, accepted our offer and has been here for over a month now. It's been fun to interact with Nick at work and watch taped Survivor and American Idols (both series are only delayed by a couple of days over here) with him. I am dating a beautiful young Lady, and she and Nick have become fast friends. She even watched American Idol with me last night - Something I couldn't get her to do, but Nick convinced her. It has been nice to have one to enjoy the evenings in Dubai with. Cowboy (Richard) and his wife Mary have settled in well. She even came to work with him last Saturday, his spirits are so much better now. Still enjoy hanging out at the pool with Sasha and Dominik. Spent an hour with them today, Sasha with his fiancee and Dominik with a couple of young gals from Bulgaria and their Mom. 21, 22 and 39 and no, I don't know which one or how many of them...well you know, it's a contest for Dominik...I just keep my gal pal away from him, lol...
Climate - The lack of seasons is not entirely a true statement, we have the winter months when the sand blows in the air and everyone gets the flu (I think its a respiratory infection caused by the blowing sand. Then you have 6 months (April, May, June - October, November, December when it is resort beautiful - no rain (at all) highs in the 90's - then you have 3 months of hells inferno - July, August and September when highs routinely reach 110 and on bad days 120, and the humidity is hellacious.
This past week I attended the Restaurant of the year Awards with Richard, Mary, Bob, Frederique, Kelly, and Nick. It was a red carpet event, with tuxedo's and formal gowns. It was a fun evening, but highlighted to me how few of the restaurants we are players in.
Left out a good story about my parents visit...I have shared with you many times about the lack of crime here (justice is swift - just google UAE and drugs- one of the harshest systems where usage will get you several years in prison and trafficking will even get you the death penalty)...Well, I gave my mother several Thousand Dirhams to have and spend while the parents were visiting. Mom left her purse in a taxi with 4,000 Dirhams (over two months pay for the cab driver) and her passport. The cab driver knew what building he had left her in, and security had (Bruck) listed with my apartment number. Well they came to the apartment (mom and dad didn't realize yet that she had left her purse behind) the driver and building security and returned mom's belongings. They had mom count her money to see that it was all there, I asked her what reward she gave the Cab driver....got a blank stare back...oops. So, at church mom decided to put some money in the offering since she failed to reward the cabbie.... 5 dirhams ($1.36)...maybe it was good she didn't think of rewarding the driver....Back to work in the morning...have a great weekend in the states!
John
Work - Has gone exceptionally well, record months in sales, hired some really good people, bonded with my coworkers from retail. Bob is pleased with me, as well as his boss Hani, I probably am disappointed that some things have not happened as quickly as I want them to. The current sales force has grown from the 8 that I inherited in October (when I switched roles) to the current sales force of 13. In the month of April, Reem, (Palestinian 30ish young lady from Jordan, Vineet (23 year old Indian young man from Bombay) start with the company. Still need to hire an Abu Dhabi Rep (to replace Rami) and a rep for the Northern Emirates and Oman. Definitely have to have both if them hired before the end of the month. I have also hired Haley, a young lady from the United States that is here currently working in the Raddison's Hotel Management training program. Her contract is finished in early June and she will hopefully start by July 1st. I will get the final sales figures for the Month of March tomorrow, along with the quarterly numbers...of course I will update you (it was a record month) ;-) !
Isolationism - I definitely miss my friends from the states, I especially miss being able to pick up the phone and call Amy, Todd, Chad, Danno or Wes. I talk regularly with Fred (a couple of times a week) and at least weekly with my parents. The 8 hours time difference and lack of coverage here of American Baseball or the National Football league is one of the worse things. I did get to watch the Nationals/Braves opening day game last night...it was a nice treat. I have been involved with or actually responsible for the same fantasy baseball league for the last 25 years, I miss the interaction with the guys in that. Dan is going to try and keep me involved this year - The draft is this weekend - so maybe that will go well. We do have Fox News and CNN International on cable so I am able to keep up with politics and the news of America.
Social Life - I actually do more here socially than I have the last few years in America. Bob and I do quite a few things together. As you know one of my good friends Nick Dean, accepted our offer and has been here for over a month now. It's been fun to interact with Nick at work and watch taped Survivor and American Idols (both series are only delayed by a couple of days over here) with him. I am dating a beautiful young Lady, and she and Nick have become fast friends. She even watched American Idol with me last night - Something I couldn't get her to do, but Nick convinced her. It has been nice to have one to enjoy the evenings in Dubai with. Cowboy (Richard) and his wife Mary have settled in well. She even came to work with him last Saturday, his spirits are so much better now. Still enjoy hanging out at the pool with Sasha and Dominik. Spent an hour with them today, Sasha with his fiancee and Dominik with a couple of young gals from Bulgaria and their Mom. 21, 22 and 39 and no, I don't know which one or how many of them...well you know, it's a contest for Dominik...I just keep my gal pal away from him, lol...
Climate - The lack of seasons is not entirely a true statement, we have the winter months when the sand blows in the air and everyone gets the flu (I think its a respiratory infection caused by the blowing sand. Then you have 6 months (April, May, June - October, November, December when it is resort beautiful - no rain (at all) highs in the 90's - then you have 3 months of hells inferno - July, August and September when highs routinely reach 110 and on bad days 120, and the humidity is hellacious.
This past week I attended the Restaurant of the year Awards with Richard, Mary, Bob, Frederique, Kelly, and Nick. It was a red carpet event, with tuxedo's and formal gowns. It was a fun evening, but highlighted to me how few of the restaurants we are players in.
Left out a good story about my parents visit...I have shared with you many times about the lack of crime here (justice is swift - just google UAE and drugs- one of the harshest systems where usage will get you several years in prison and trafficking will even get you the death penalty)...Well, I gave my mother several Thousand Dirhams to have and spend while the parents were visiting. Mom left her purse in a taxi with 4,000 Dirhams (over two months pay for the cab driver) and her passport. The cab driver knew what building he had left her in, and security had (Bruck) listed with my apartment number. Well they came to the apartment (mom and dad didn't realize yet that she had left her purse behind) the driver and building security and returned mom's belongings. They had mom count her money to see that it was all there, I asked her what reward she gave the Cab driver....got a blank stare back...oops. So, at church mom decided to put some money in the offering since she failed to reward the cabbie.... 5 dirhams ($1.36)...maybe it was good she didn't think of rewarding the driver....Back to work in the morning...have a great weekend in the states!
John
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