September 1st, was the beginning of my 15th month in the UAE. Bob and My contracts were for 42 months (Dec. 31st, 2013), so 14 months complete, 28 more to go. After my two week vacation in the states I feel like I have gotten my second wind.
The numbers are in for the month of August. We had a record growth rate of 137 percent in this year verses last years sales. Bob and I got a very nice congratulatory note from Bob's boss, hopefully our review meeting for the month will go smoothly. If we make our plan numbers for September, it will be a new record month. Keep your fingers crossed.
This past Tuesday was the first day of our three day national holiday called EID. It is a big celebration marking the end of Ramadan and the breaking of fasts. I don't remember the malls being as packed last year as the throngs of people escape the heat to celebrate in the mall. You can not find a parking place. Mall employees (like Rodz) are having their off days cancelled because of the onslaught of people. All I know is that the instability of the Middle East is creating a boom in business for the super safe and stable UAE. We have more Arabs here vacationing, the hotels are booked solid, it is absolutely great for business.
Apparently, from feedback of my blog readers, one of the things you all like the most is hearing what Nick is up to. Two of the funnier moments since I have been here happened this week, involving Nick. The first one is to hear Nick describe what happened when an invoice blew out of his hand in front of one of his customers. Nick, took off running after it, and needless to say the wind won the race. Nick said he thought he was going to die from a heart attack, and Mimi (who was watching from their car) said she couldn't stop laughing. The second incident occurred this morning in church. Once a month we partake in communion at our church service. This morning was that day. Well, they passed the bread wafers and shot cups out so that we could all share communion at the same time. Pastor Jim (from Georgia) asked us to bow our heads while he said a prayer, then asked us to eat our bread representing the body of Christ (I noticed Nick not moving between Mimi and I) then he prayed another verse and asked us to drink from our cup representing the blood of Christ. Well, good ole Nick, had zonked out, he woke up downed his drink then proceeded in a very confused moment to try and hide his bread. I was shaking the seat laughing (quietly suppressed)....Nick said after church for me not to dare blog about it, Mimi and I over ruled...it was too funny. I am so thankful for Nicks being here, I have always enjoyed our friendship, and his self deprecating humor is right down my alley.
Speaking of Alley's, a couple of my salespeople bowl on Saturday evenings in the fall and have invited me to join them. It sounds like something I absolutely would enjoy doing, so hopefully I won't worm my way out of it.
Have two new employees starting this week, JP (a young Philippine man) is joining our Customer Service team, and Kumail (An Indian gentleman) is joining our sales team replacing Lal in the Jumerah Beach Territory. The team grows stronger each month, hopefully we will lead them down the right path to sales successes!
Oh well, enough rambling today...Hope your EID is happy, enjoy your Labor Day weekend!
John
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