It will be a normal busy Friday at the malls today, no "Black Friday" in Dubai, in fact very little chatter about Thanksgiving day at work. We Americans did a lot of explaining about the tradition and what it meant to Americans, and the most common response I got from my Arab colleagues was "I have seen Thanksgiving on TV"...it looks nice...I was fortunate enough to celebrate a big dinner with Kelly, Hayley, Loren and her hubby, Juan and his wife and daughter, and our hosts Nick and Mimi. The food was very good, and I am stuffed. Now after everyone is gone, I am sitting here with Nick and Mimi waiting for the Cowboys game to start just after 1 am here. I do miss America, but it was a nice get together.
Bob's boss sent an email out late this afternoon offering a free turkey to all of our American employees, a little late since we had bought our big Butterball 18 lbs Tom Turkey on Monday...It is the thought that counts. Bob and Sandy celebrated Thanksgiving for the second straight year with Feda's family (Bob's equal in Retail) and Sandy heads back to Atlanta this weekend. Bob heads back to the states in Mid December.
It was a tough week at work, it felt like I was flying solo a few days this week. We had a new American concept start to do business with us this week, and I was fortunate enough to host Kelly and Bruce from the US on a couple of plant tours trying to find the right products for them. Reem is the sales rep (Jordanian American) that handles the account. Well I was my normal self, chatting away with Bruce and Kelly all day long. trying to entertain with my stories and mini education about the UAE to our two visitors. They had a franchise supplied body guard (Egyptian) that was driving them in his car and monitoring our conversations. Unfortunately, Reem did not fare as well for me. It turned out that Bruce's real name is Stu, and I had called him by the wrong name all day long. Reem told me after they had parted ways with us....sigh. She didn't know how to let me know while I was doing it. Sadly, I used some choice cuss words to let Reem know of my displeasure with her lack of business saviness to let her manager make a boob of himself. Fortunately, when I later apologized to Bruce/Stu, he was kind enough to share a laugh with me at my expense over my poor memory and name recall.
Now the interesting part of the day occurred when there Egyptian "host" through a fit about parking and the tardiness of our third tour, by abruptly ending the day, and removing our new found American friends.
We were victims of a scam that cost the country over 100,000 Dirhams this week. A company ordered all this product, then abruptly closed their doors and shuttered there warehouse. I felt really bad about being victimized by these thieves. I now know for sure that we are not immune to crime here.
Rodz started her new job as a supervisor at a beauty salon. the 10 am to 9 pm hours six days a week has Rodz worn out, but she is actually starting to enjoy it. I wish she would have been able to join us for our Thanksgiving feast.
My apartment is still not ready to be moved into, now they are saying Monday or Tuesday next week....I certainly hope they geterdone!
Well the Cowboys are about to receive the opening kick-off and I need to start concentrating....lol.
Hope your Thanksgiving was as nice as mine.
Friday, November 25, 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
Paul McCartney, he plays the guitar, right?
Thanksgiving is approaching, and it is a nice time to reflect on what I have to be thankful for. My immediate family are all alive and relatively healthy. Other than thinning hair and expanding waistline I am hanging in there also.(Is thinning hair life threatening?) I am dealing with loads of stress in my job, but that has been the norm for me for awhile. I have a good job and am living safely in the Middle East. I have a beautiful girl friend that has an infectious smile and personality. My employer trusts me to make good decisions and allows me great latitude to get my goals accomplished. My boss has been a friend of mine for over 15 years, and one of the friends that SYSCO brought me (Nick) has joined me here in the UAE on this Great Adventure. One of our other Account Executives has become a very trusted friend (Kelly), that has joined some of you "blog followers" (who would have thought that I would ever write anything that dozens - ok approx 55 people a week would actually read) as I hope a friend that I will enjoy for a lifetime. I moan and groan a lot, but the bottom line is that I have so much to be thankful for.
One of the booming areas of the UAE is Yas Island. Juan services that area for us, and business there is exploding. It is where Ferrari World (largest Indoor theme park in the Galaxy) calls home, and there are a number of hotels that have sprung up next to the beautiful Marina and F1 race track. Its a 15 minute drive to Abu Dhabi from there, and a little more than an hour from Dubai when traveling on the Sheikh Z super fast hiway. Well part of what they are doing on Yas Island to attract tourist is have concerts with world famous groups and artists. Britney Spears appeared there last week as did famous Beetle, Paul McCartney. Now my previous mentioned bff Kelly scored free tickets and front row VIP access to the concert. Nick and I were excited for her. What an opportunity that probably all of us would love to enjoy. Probably one of the top 5 greatest singer icons of all time. Well, 27 year old, blond Kelly really appreciated it also. As she shared with Nick and I about this concert she was going to, where this guy that plays the guitar will be preforming. LOL....Nick immediately correctly identified the moment as "Blog able"....
By the way, Kelly loved the concert and now understands that this guy - Paul - can sing also.
Work update, sells are going ok this month as we are on pace to top 11 million. We still have an outside shot of reaching our company goal of 96.1 million. Do you remember Juvy from one of my previous blogs? (a very nice Filapena that Rodz introduced me to) Well I finally helped her land a new job. I hired her to join our Customer Service Team. I am as excited as she is about her joining us around January 2nd. Rodz's job search hasn't gone as well. She has been offered a job that would allow her to stay in the country, but I don't really like anything about it. For a very meager wage, she would have to work 10am to 9 pm 6 days a week. She has basically this weekend to find something better. I pray that she does. She and I have grown closer during this stressful time, and it really pains me to watch her struggle with these decisions.
I stayed last night at the Crown Plaza in Festival City, and will be staying the next two nights at the Holiday Inn Express in Internet City before I enjoy the hospitality of Nick and Mimi until I move into my new apartment. That's right it is finally completed and ready to move into. All we are waiting for is the Certificate of Occupancy from the Dubai Government. I am psyched. I should be moving in by next Wednesday, with any luck on Thanksgiving Day I will be in my new place.
So please keep all of us Americans that are over here, helping to keep the unemployment figures down in the states, while you enjoy your Thanksgiving meal with family and friends. Please try and remember all of the things that we should be thankful for, one of them that I am is I have friends that one to keep up with me, while I enjoy my Great Adventure.
Happy Thanksgiving!
One of the booming areas of the UAE is Yas Island. Juan services that area for us, and business there is exploding. It is where Ferrari World (largest Indoor theme park in the Galaxy) calls home, and there are a number of hotels that have sprung up next to the beautiful Marina and F1 race track. Its a 15 minute drive to Abu Dhabi from there, and a little more than an hour from Dubai when traveling on the Sheikh Z super fast hiway. Well part of what they are doing on Yas Island to attract tourist is have concerts with world famous groups and artists. Britney Spears appeared there last week as did famous Beetle, Paul McCartney. Now my previous mentioned bff Kelly scored free tickets and front row VIP access to the concert. Nick and I were excited for her. What an opportunity that probably all of us would love to enjoy. Probably one of the top 5 greatest singer icons of all time. Well, 27 year old, blond Kelly really appreciated it also. As she shared with Nick and I about this concert she was going to, where this guy that plays the guitar will be preforming. LOL....Nick immediately correctly identified the moment as "Blog able"....
By the way, Kelly loved the concert and now understands that this guy - Paul - can sing also.
Work update, sells are going ok this month as we are on pace to top 11 million. We still have an outside shot of reaching our company goal of 96.1 million. Do you remember Juvy from one of my previous blogs? (a very nice Filapena that Rodz introduced me to) Well I finally helped her land a new job. I hired her to join our Customer Service Team. I am as excited as she is about her joining us around January 2nd. Rodz's job search hasn't gone as well. She has been offered a job that would allow her to stay in the country, but I don't really like anything about it. For a very meager wage, she would have to work 10am to 9 pm 6 days a week. She has basically this weekend to find something better. I pray that she does. She and I have grown closer during this stressful time, and it really pains me to watch her struggle with these decisions.
I stayed last night at the Crown Plaza in Festival City, and will be staying the next two nights at the Holiday Inn Express in Internet City before I enjoy the hospitality of Nick and Mimi until I move into my new apartment. That's right it is finally completed and ready to move into. All we are waiting for is the Certificate of Occupancy from the Dubai Government. I am psyched. I should be moving in by next Wednesday, with any luck on Thanksgiving Day I will be in my new place.
So please keep all of us Americans that are over here, helping to keep the unemployment figures down in the states, while you enjoy your Thanksgiving meal with family and friends. Please try and remember all of the things that we should be thankful for, one of them that I am is I have friends that one to keep up with me, while I enjoy my Great Adventure.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Friday, November 11, 2011
Fool me Once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me, 3rd Time, I am a Gullable Idiot
It has rained this week, and the weather is absolutely beautiful. On Monday morning, I woke up to the sound of rain hitting my Holiday Inn windows. Rain has come early to Dubai. the "rainy season" usually is mid-December until Late February. This weeks rain was the first rain since last February, and although it was only scattered showers it was the most it had rained in the 17 months that I have been here. It probably rained less that a half an inch, but since there are no storm sewers there was puddling in the roads. The remarkable thing was the beauty of the city after the rain. The cars were covered in sand from the rain cleansed sky, and the beauty of the clear Dubai skyline is so different than the normal "sand haze" that is always prevalent here in the UAE. The daily high is now in the mid 80's and the humidity is low, frankly for the next 30 days I am living in a weather paradise.
Monday we were off, and I spent the afternoon with Rodz ferrying her to job interviews. She was like a happy youngster (ok - she's 26) giggling about the rain. I guess in her home country rain is a routine part of the day, and she (as do I) love to see it here. Last winter it rained during the day 3 different days, and only one of those rains lasted more than 5 minutes. Life in the dessert...
Speaking of Rodz's job search, she had a very promising interview on Thursday, and she has been scheduled for a second interview on Sunday. I think a lot of stress will be released when she finally lands a decent job. Her old employer has made it very difficult by delaying canceling her current work visa, demanding payment from her to get it released. We did have a very enjoyable evening at the "Global Village" on Wednesday evening. Global Village is a seasonal shopping mart that is open from November through March, It has different buildings with country themed shopping. Rodz of course made a bee-line for the "Phillapene pavilion". We snacked on fresh grilled corn on the Cob and watched a local Emirate woman make a traditional Arabic bread. She would take the bread batter, spread it out on a searing hot pan - Then she cracked a raw egg on it and spread it out over this flour tortilla like bread. After melting a small amount of cheese on it, she folded it into a tri-angle, and for 10 dirhams ($2.73) we enjoyed a hot Arabic treat. It was a very nice evening together.
On the housing front, it has been a drain on my meager savings to stay in hotels the last two months. I now have a tentative move in date to my new oasis home....Nov 22nd. With sending money back to Fred to settle my American debts, I wish that the people who owe me money back in the US would pay. When I moved from Atlanta to Florida I sold some furniture to Kathy Gonzalez. She ran human resources for Buckhead Beef in Atlanta. She wanted some of my furniture and I sold her lots of my household stuff (bedroom suites, theatre seating, big screen television at bargain pricing. Well, sadly, she made it a bigger bargain by not paying. Well, you would think I would learn, alas, I did not. When I landed this job and moved to Dubai, I sold almost all of my furniture to Devin, a young salesman I worked with at Kuna. He eventually paid $370 of what I would estimate the $2,000 he owed me. The third person bought a big screen tv and stand that I owed $1,100 on for the promise of $600 (funnily, less than I was offered by Devin...Hmmm) I sold it to her because I liked her, and it was a way for her to get a much better tv than she could afford. Well, she paid $350 of the $600 and only owes $250 to me. When I was in St.Louis this summer I went to see her. She apologized, asked for deposit tickets to square her debts, and promised to pay what she owes.- Yes, she reads this blog, so this is a posting to pay up, or join the ranks of other people who took advantage of my trusting. Sadly, these people's actions change my gentle trusting spirit in friends that owe you....3rd time, yes, I am the idiot.
So, back to my homelessness, if we are lucky, when you sit down for your Thanksgiving dinner, hopefully I will be settling in my new apartment. I am not sure what Turkey day will bring us this year, Bob and Sandy will be the guest of Feda (Bob's counterpart in Retail) again this year, and I am certain that Nick, Mimi, Hayley(American for New York) and I will have dinner together.
My mother and brother have booked their travel for January. They will be here from the 19th through the 28th. Fred is still planning on visiting in March.
We have had a big start in sales for November, on pace for over 12 million. It is amazing that the strong numbers sales team produces with our growth challenges. The whole team has returned from vacations (except for Vinny whose attending a family wedding in India) and the push to hit our year end target is on. Bob thinks we will make it (96,100,000) with a couple of hundred thousand to spare, I think we will fall short by less than a million. Let's hope that bob is right....In 2010 the company sold 48 million, doubling is outstanding, I will do everything i can to make it happen, but it rests on our 12 sales people.
I want to go back and catch a few z's before I face the day. I hope yours is a fruitful one...
Monday we were off, and I spent the afternoon with Rodz ferrying her to job interviews. She was like a happy youngster (ok - she's 26) giggling about the rain. I guess in her home country rain is a routine part of the day, and she (as do I) love to see it here. Last winter it rained during the day 3 different days, and only one of those rains lasted more than 5 minutes. Life in the dessert...
Speaking of Rodz's job search, she had a very promising interview on Thursday, and she has been scheduled for a second interview on Sunday. I think a lot of stress will be released when she finally lands a decent job. Her old employer has made it very difficult by delaying canceling her current work visa, demanding payment from her to get it released. We did have a very enjoyable evening at the "Global Village" on Wednesday evening. Global Village is a seasonal shopping mart that is open from November through March, It has different buildings with country themed shopping. Rodz of course made a bee-line for the "Phillapene pavilion". We snacked on fresh grilled corn on the Cob and watched a local Emirate woman make a traditional Arabic bread. She would take the bread batter, spread it out on a searing hot pan - Then she cracked a raw egg on it and spread it out over this flour tortilla like bread. After melting a small amount of cheese on it, she folded it into a tri-angle, and for 10 dirhams ($2.73) we enjoyed a hot Arabic treat. It was a very nice evening together.
On the housing front, it has been a drain on my meager savings to stay in hotels the last two months. I now have a tentative move in date to my new oasis home....Nov 22nd. With sending money back to Fred to settle my American debts, I wish that the people who owe me money back in the US would pay. When I moved from Atlanta to Florida I sold some furniture to Kathy Gonzalez. She ran human resources for Buckhead Beef in Atlanta. She wanted some of my furniture and I sold her lots of my household stuff (bedroom suites, theatre seating, big screen television at bargain pricing. Well, sadly, she made it a bigger bargain by not paying. Well, you would think I would learn, alas, I did not. When I landed this job and moved to Dubai, I sold almost all of my furniture to Devin, a young salesman I worked with at Kuna. He eventually paid $370 of what I would estimate the $2,000 he owed me. The third person bought a big screen tv and stand that I owed $1,100 on for the promise of $600 (funnily, less than I was offered by Devin...Hmmm) I sold it to her because I liked her, and it was a way for her to get a much better tv than she could afford. Well, she paid $350 of the $600 and only owes $250 to me. When I was in St.Louis this summer I went to see her. She apologized, asked for deposit tickets to square her debts, and promised to pay what she owes.- Yes, she reads this blog, so this is a posting to pay up, or join the ranks of other people who took advantage of my trusting. Sadly, these people's actions change my gentle trusting spirit in friends that owe you....3rd time, yes, I am the idiot.
So, back to my homelessness, if we are lucky, when you sit down for your Thanksgiving dinner, hopefully I will be settling in my new apartment. I am not sure what Turkey day will bring us this year, Bob and Sandy will be the guest of Feda (Bob's counterpart in Retail) again this year, and I am certain that Nick, Mimi, Hayley(American for New York) and I will have dinner together.
My mother and brother have booked their travel for January. They will be here from the 19th through the 28th. Fred is still planning on visiting in March.
We have had a big start in sales for November, on pace for over 12 million. It is amazing that the strong numbers sales team produces with our growth challenges. The whole team has returned from vacations (except for Vinny whose attending a family wedding in India) and the push to hit our year end target is on. Bob thinks we will make it (96,100,000) with a couple of hundred thousand to spare, I think we will fall short by less than a million. Let's hope that bob is right....In 2010 the company sold 48 million, doubling is outstanding, I will do everything i can to make it happen, but it rests on our 12 sales people.
I want to go back and catch a few z's before I face the day. I hope yours is a fruitful one...
Friday, November 4, 2011
Shopping with Rodz....
Eid Mubarak! The celebration has started as the three day holiday begins tomorrow. This is the celebration that occurs 70 days after the Eid that occurs at the end of Ramadan. It is marked by gift giving and sacrifices. I have studied up on sacrifices, the way it works here is that you go to the lamb market, and pay for a special sacrificial sheep, and then the company, ritually kills the animal, part of the animal is given to the poor. There is a little stir about the high price of the sheep this year. They cost about 900 Dirhams ($250), up about $25 since last year...inflation gets everyone...
The Eid holiday has given us a couple of things, we are closed on Monday, so I get to enjoy a true day off, and Sunday is going to be a 7 hour work day....Making it a restful weekend. Business is absolutely booming. We ended up having a bust out month in October with over 9.7 million is sales at 117.7% growth over last October. That has been followed with business of around 3 million this first week of November, yes another record. We are struggling to get orders processed and keyed correctly, and shipped. The "IT System" is still not keeping up with our needs, maybe we will get it solved before we have a critical meltdown. The account Executives are very frustrated by lack of support in getting their job done efficiently. Time is ticking to solve some of these issues, while our growth is not giving us a chance to catch up. For the first time, I actually feel like we have a chance of making the goal of 96.1 million in sales this year, I just got to keep leading, without pushing...and the talented group of Ex Pats that we have recruited will get it done!
I went to church this morning, and was very pleased to get to see Sandy has returned safely. I finally got to give her that face to face apology that I owed her, and in the sanctity of church- she was kind enough to forgive me, now if I can just go awhile before I have to apologize again for my social Faux Pas (yes Mimi, I had no idea how to spell that one).
Rodz has come down with the dreaded "sand lung". It's that respiratory infection that all of us seem to catch regularly, but especially in the fall and the spring. I think her depression over her job search has made her susceptible, she seemed like she had turned the corner last night in getting better. Last weekend, I needed a new belt to replace my worn out brown one. So before we went to Fuddruckers, Rodz took me shopping. We went to KM trading first where the prices were very low (to me) but so was the selection. The belts were about $10 there, we didn't like them, but Rodz said they were expensive...hmmm, so I asked where should we go to find better deals...Rodz said "Green House", Ok, this may be boring, but we headed to Deira and went to greenhouse. It was absolutely packed with shoppers, heavily dominated by Indians and Fillapeno's. (did I actually spell it right?).... Well. I bought 6 pair of dress socks, a nice brown belt, and a pair of swim trunks (for the hotel). Total bill....45 Dirhams ($12.25) and of course, no sales tax...lol maybe She and I will return to bargain shop again. Still no job for Rodz, but has a couple of interviews scheduled for next week, so keep your fingers crossed...
A new feature for this "tired" blog...what's in the newspaper? Since I get a free paper at my door each morning at the Holiday Inn (at least two more weeks...sigh) I am enjoying reading the "Gulf News". The writing is sometimes lacking, but the angles of the stories are fascinating. This week there was a statistical analysis of people injured and killed in auto wrecks. It was linking nationalities to the accident rates. So the reporting goes like this, so far in the first 9 months of this year, Indians (no surprise in this corner) had the most injuries and casualties at 365. 23 of those died, and 328 were men. Locals, or as they are known "Emiraties" had the second most with 264, then came Pakistani's with 242. Somehow I think I could make this into a contest for Nick, Bob and I to wager on....lol.
Well, heading to the mall to meet Nick and Mimi for lunch (new pizza place), then an evening out with my gal. Several of our Reps are out of the office on vacation. Kelly is in England, Magy and Ceren are in Turkey, and Muzzy is headed to India. Reem is licking her wounds form her adventure in Israel. She was visiting her Palestinian Grandmother in Israel. Well, the Israeli's confiscated her papers, and Jordan would not allow her to return to her homeland with out the proper paper work. She now has a new appreciation for being an American Citizen. The Embassy came to her rescue, and a week later she was out of the country and has now returned to work.
I have started riding the bike in my Holiday Inn gym. So I am rather stiff, hopefully I can keep motivated to keep working out....got to live long enough to enjoy the prosperity I am hoping to enjoy before I leave....God willing, I will blog about another week of my life here in The Middle East!
The Eid holiday has given us a couple of things, we are closed on Monday, so I get to enjoy a true day off, and Sunday is going to be a 7 hour work day....Making it a restful weekend. Business is absolutely booming. We ended up having a bust out month in October with over 9.7 million is sales at 117.7% growth over last October. That has been followed with business of around 3 million this first week of November, yes another record. We are struggling to get orders processed and keyed correctly, and shipped. The "IT System" is still not keeping up with our needs, maybe we will get it solved before we have a critical meltdown. The account Executives are very frustrated by lack of support in getting their job done efficiently. Time is ticking to solve some of these issues, while our growth is not giving us a chance to catch up. For the first time, I actually feel like we have a chance of making the goal of 96.1 million in sales this year, I just got to keep leading, without pushing...and the talented group of Ex Pats that we have recruited will get it done!
I went to church this morning, and was very pleased to get to see Sandy has returned safely. I finally got to give her that face to face apology that I owed her, and in the sanctity of church- she was kind enough to forgive me, now if I can just go awhile before I have to apologize again for my social Faux Pas (yes Mimi, I had no idea how to spell that one).
Rodz has come down with the dreaded "sand lung". It's that respiratory infection that all of us seem to catch regularly, but especially in the fall and the spring. I think her depression over her job search has made her susceptible, she seemed like she had turned the corner last night in getting better. Last weekend, I needed a new belt to replace my worn out brown one. So before we went to Fuddruckers, Rodz took me shopping. We went to KM trading first where the prices were very low (to me) but so was the selection. The belts were about $10 there, we didn't like them, but Rodz said they were expensive...hmmm, so I asked where should we go to find better deals...Rodz said "Green House", Ok, this may be boring, but we headed to Deira and went to greenhouse. It was absolutely packed with shoppers, heavily dominated by Indians and Fillapeno's. (did I actually spell it right?).... Well. I bought 6 pair of dress socks, a nice brown belt, and a pair of swim trunks (for the hotel). Total bill....45 Dirhams ($12.25) and of course, no sales tax...lol maybe She and I will return to bargain shop again. Still no job for Rodz, but has a couple of interviews scheduled for next week, so keep your fingers crossed...
A new feature for this "tired" blog...what's in the newspaper? Since I get a free paper at my door each morning at the Holiday Inn (at least two more weeks...sigh) I am enjoying reading the "Gulf News". The writing is sometimes lacking, but the angles of the stories are fascinating. This week there was a statistical analysis of people injured and killed in auto wrecks. It was linking nationalities to the accident rates. So the reporting goes like this, so far in the first 9 months of this year, Indians (no surprise in this corner) had the most injuries and casualties at 365. 23 of those died, and 328 were men. Locals, or as they are known "Emiraties" had the second most with 264, then came Pakistani's with 242. Somehow I think I could make this into a contest for Nick, Bob and I to wager on....lol.
Well, heading to the mall to meet Nick and Mimi for lunch (new pizza place), then an evening out with my gal. Several of our Reps are out of the office on vacation. Kelly is in England, Magy and Ceren are in Turkey, and Muzzy is headed to India. Reem is licking her wounds form her adventure in Israel. She was visiting her Palestinian Grandmother in Israel. Well, the Israeli's confiscated her papers, and Jordan would not allow her to return to her homeland with out the proper paper work. She now has a new appreciation for being an American Citizen. The Embassy came to her rescue, and a week later she was out of the country and has now returned to work.
I have started riding the bike in my Holiday Inn gym. So I am rather stiff, hopefully I can keep motivated to keep working out....got to live long enough to enjoy the prosperity I am hoping to enjoy before I leave....God willing, I will blog about another week of my life here in The Middle East!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)