This is going to be one of the tougher blogs that I have written since arriving in Dubai with Bob 17 months ago. This past Sunday, Bob and I met with Bob's boss to go over some proposed promotions (Kelly to Sales Manager & Nick to Category Manager/CAB Specialist). I have been advocating both of these promotions strongly, and have not had the satisfaction of definite go's on either one of them. Well I finally received the go ahead for Nick's promotion to begin December 1st. Kelly has to complete one more step, then her promotion is in line to take place January 1st. The meeting concluded about 6:30pm Sunday night, and Bob's boss asked me to give them a few minutes of privacy, 20 minutes later I was called in and informed that Bob's last day with the Company was to be the last day of November. It came as a surprise to me, Bob, of course has already gotten job offers from the states and I believe he is accepting one that will bring him back to Atlanta and get Sandy happy again. I know she has been pushing him to return to the states, and I am very happy for her to get her hubby back. So at the beginning of 2011, Bob, Richard and I were running the show, now less than a year later, two of the three of us have not gotten to fulfill our contracts (runs through Dec 2013) and the predictions of my demise have already begun. My new boss starts work this Sunday, I have seen his resume, it is quite impressive (British - mid 40's - years of food service experience in the UK) - I hope he finds me to be as valuable of an employee as Bob has through the years. The big boss is very supportive of me both publicly and privately, hopefully that will continue. Change is scary, sometimes it works out, and one thing is for sure, that is we will find out shortly.
My new apartment still is not ready, so I continue to camp out at Nick and Mimi's. I try to stay out from under foot as much as possible, and I have actually enjoyed staying with them. The apartment is ready, I visited it today, only waiting for the gov't to issue the certificate of occupancy, which is scheduled to be completed this Monday. So God willing, Tuesday I should be able to move in. Hopefully life will. return to some normalcy then.
It seems that several of my employees have also moved places, Hayley (American from New York) just moved into Kelly's building and they are one floor apart. Hayley begins to report to Kelly on Jan. 1st, so I am not yet sure how smart it is to move into the same building, but they are two of my favorite people, I am sure it will work out. Ceren (Turkish lass) has just moved to near where Nick and Mimi's apartment is. Since Nick has been promoted, and Kelly is about to be, I have lined up two potential replacements. Gina (Syrian/Swede) and Jasmine (Italian). I hope to get both hired right away. We celebrated another record month (Nov. 10.4 million) Wed. night at the new Hard Rock Dubai. Hani joined us and spent the evening chatting with my sales reps. At the close of the evening he pulled me aside and commented what a nice team that I have built. I take pride in that, because I believe selecting the right people to support sales is the most important part of my job. It was also a chance for the team to say goodbye to Bob, and wish him well on his trip home to continue his career. It all happened so quickly. Bob fly's back next Thursday night.
Today is the 40th Anniversary of the UAE. National Day is widely celebrated and maybe bigger than our 4th of July. I wonder if on America's 40th birthday, the enthusiasm was similar. The locals all paint and decorate their cars with the UAE's flag colors and it's a 3 day celebration in the country. There is a huge antique auto show outside the Dubai Mall, lots of old American Roadsters. Rodz has pointed out to me that I am older than the country. I guess that means I am officially older than dirt. Of course, there is no dirt here, only sand and the oil underneath it.
December is going to be full of changes, with a new boss and a new apartment, hopefully it will make the calendar move faster. My mom and brother visit in January, and Fred in March, before you know it summer will be upon us, and I will get to visit the good ole USA again. Today, I am enjoying the celebration of a country born 40 years ago, but my heart is still definitely with a country born 235 years ago. (yes Rodz - some things are older than me).
Enjoy your weekend.
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