Well another American is escaping Dubai, Mimi and Nick are on the way to the Abu Dhabi Airport right now. Mimi wanted to go home to her kids and the country that she loves...If only she was still a resident...lol, yes Mimi wondered out loud to Nick and I about not being a "resident" of America anymore since she had a UAE resident Visa....Nick laughed so hard that he turned red. So please Homeland Security - be nice to Nick's wife, as she sneaks back into the US...
The white blackberry saga...I don't think I have told this story, but if I have, please bear with me. When Bob and I first arrived here in July of 2010, we had to go to the phone store and pick up a couple of Blackberry's. Well I picked out a nice traditional males black model, and Bob had to be different and picked out a white one. I immediately started making fun of him and his "cute" phone, and asked him if Sandy knew about his feminine side..lol, well when we got back to the office the IT department took our phones to load our contacts and set up our email. Yes, you guessed it - they got our phones mixed up I ended up with the white one, while Bob got my black one. Bob spent the next several months endlessly teasing me about my alternative lifestyle phone. Well this past spring, I found a way to save money by signing up with a better phone plan. The best part of my new plan? I got a new Blackberry for signing a one year contract. I now had two phones. At about the same time, I hired a young Indian Account Executive named Vineet Varma (really funny to hear Muzzy try and say his name - Wineet Warma...lol - Muzzy doesn't pronounce V's). My boy Vinny happened to need a new phone. Well to make a long story a little shorter, Vinny and I struck a deal for my (Bob's!) pretty little white phone.
He used that phone all this past year, enduring teasing from Nick and I, well all good fun must come to an end. This past New Years weekend - Vinny decided to join some of his fellow country men on a long weekend in Goa, India.
Well unfortunately, Vinny was riding along late at night on New Years Eve, his friend was in no shape to drive, sadly fell asleep at the wheel. Well they had a very bad accident (nobody died), as they were in this bad accident, a local Goa'n ran up to the "totaled" car, and asked Vinny if he was "alright"? Vineet, said yes, and the young hooligan grabbed Vineet's white phone from his hand and took off. Vinny was phone jacked by a Goa'n thug as he lay recovering on the asphalt from his accident. Somehow, it seems very funny that some criminal in Goa, India is now being poked fun as a "pansy" criminal...all because Bob wanted to be different and have a white phone, that he never once used...
I spent New Years eve alone, No Rodz, few friends want a third wheel on the ultimate date night. I left my apartment (I am still the only resident - very peaceful) and drove to a bridge in the center of the fireworks viewing. I could see the Burj Al Arab (Big sailboat hotel), Burj Khalifa, and the Dubai Marina Beach fireworks (for those of you keeping score at home, the best ones looked to be at the Burj Al Arab). It was sadder than most holiday's, but that of course is understandable. 2011 was filled with some sad happenings, as I watched my American Colleagues get asked to leave one by one. First Kawa, then Richard, than Lal,and finally Bob. The good news is, the rest of us appear to be very secure in their positions. Nick is settling into his new Managers position, while Juan continues to blaze trails in Abu Dhabi with some of the best growth numbers on the team. Hayley is fitting in well as our newest hire and both my new Manager Steve, and the bigger boss Hani have been very supportive of me and my teams accomplishments. 2012 should be a banner year!
We had another record month with over 11.3 million in sales and a growth of 103% over December of 2010. We are celebrating with a party at Outback, to be followed by bowling...this could be interesting..lol.
My mom and brother arrive two weeks from now, hopefully they will do some things that are bloggable....
Have a great weekend, I will try to finish unpacking at my 98 room mansion (since I am the only one living there I can pretend)....
John
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