Dreaded Sand Lung Rears It's Ugly Head

I am looking out at the world from my bedroom window, and it looks like a nice day. Yes, I have succumbed to the condition that I have named as "Sand Lung." It is some kind of upper respiratory infection that I think is triggered by excess sand in the air and fools like me inhaling it. Cold Medicine doesn't slow it down, and it seems to take longer than the common cold to shake it. I was worn down from burning the candles at both ends during the Gulf Trade Show. The four day show ended Wednesday, and I was absolutely worn out. It seemed to go fine, no major incidents, plenty of smiling faces from Senior Management. The calendar keeps churning along.
Nick returns from his trip to the states tonight, I have missed the old lug. He has been named "Pappy" by our customer service supervisor, and keeps a smile on most of the Westerners faces with his self deprecating humor. From his emails, I know he was very sick during his vacation, hopefully he feels better now that it's time to return to work (I am sick on the weekend also...sigh-poor planning). Our little "Soprano's" group hasn't gotten together since Nick left, I am looking forward to getting back on schedule next week, with 80 episodes to go, we have to get back at it.
Speaking of entertainment, it is nice that Survivor has started back. Something about that show is so Americana, and I really look forward to seeing it every week. It is on here at midnight Fridays, and I find myself playing along rooting away every week....American Idol is also on here, Nick loves Idol, I enjoy it, it helps make the calendar turn...
February is winding down, it's going to be a close call if we have a record month. Every time the numbers seem to get close to not being on schedule (plan for February is 11.3 million, record month is 11.287 million - Not sure how smart I am planning for a record month- ok I am not sure how smart I am over a lot of things) I have a fear that we have hit a growth wall, with some of the sales "obstacles" that Bob (and now Steve) and I have not successfully removed. The pressure is on to keep the pedal on growth, I fear the sales engine  needs a tune-up before we break down...nice metaphors to confuse my Arab followers...
Fred arrives in Dubai a month from today. During the week we often speak about things I can't blog about (a pastime of Nick and I also) because of some of the locals that read the blog (friends and censors-there are several examples here of bloggers that got deported) and you have a need to be delicate for obvious reasons (for instance Rodz read the blog regularly, also upset about the length of the blog - always either too short or too long she just never seemed happy...hmmm) Maybe this is one of those instances that we should impose self-censorship. lol....So on Monday Fred and I talked about several things that I should catch you up on...sadly I am mentally spent, and can not remember any of them right now....my age and mental state might have been one (I can't remember if I mentioned this in an earlier week-a sure sign of my age), but my whole adult working life I have always been that "young manager" who managed people much older than myself, and I could always relate to the young sales reps around me, sharing with them the importance of being patient with their career. Suddenly (with the departures of Richard and Bob) I find myself the elder statesman. In our Food Service Company Org chart I am a relic. As you may know, I turn 50 this fall. My new manager Steve has just turned 46, Nick is around 46, and Nasser is 42 (looks 60-doesn't read the blog, so I don't have to censor myself-lol). Juan is in his mid 30's, Reem is 33. The entire rest of the team is in their 20's....all of a sudden I am the old guy. It is even more apparent looking at our retail counterparts at work. They won't even interview you if you are over 26 (there are no age discrimination laws here), so not only am I part of a dwindling American population, I am also an old guy...retirement from the Middle East will obviously come before retirement in my working life. Now one of the nice thing about "maturing" is that you sometimes seem to have the wise view of life, whether the young folks you surround yourself with listen, whole nother story...
Oh well, time to raid the drug cabinet, hope you have a nice weekend, while I recuperate here in the UAE. Hopefully you have found this weeks ramblings way too short, and not too long....

Q-Tip Countdown....

Spring has definitely sprung here in the UAE, today's high is fore casted to hit 90 degrees, the sad part for me, spring will last about a month and a half, then it's the beginning of a 6 month summer...Fred is flying to Dubai in late March, and we should have highs in the mid 90's when he is here, definitely a great time of the year to try out Dubai's beautiful white sand beaches, one of the things that we didn't get to enjoy during Fred's visit last year.
One of the things that you contemplate when someone is coming to visit from the States, is what do you need that is not readily available here. I have to check my inventories of toothpaste (Crest Pro-Health), deodorant (Arm & Hammer) sugar free candy (Russel Stover) and paper-stemed cotton Q-Tips. I am well stocked in all of them with the exception of Toothpaste....(Fred - Are you listening?).
The Q-tips are interesting, Richard brought me a 500 pack last year when he came (it was a great surprise gift) and my mom brought a package last year. So my eyeball estimates of available Q-tips in my medicine cabinet right now is approx. 700. Interestingly enough, it's about the same amount as I have days left in my contract....hmmm, so will I need to restock next year, or will I be returning to a country where we have the freedom's to buy Cotton Q-Tips - God Bless Our Great Nation, where Q-tips can be bought in any grocery store or pharmacy!...the burning question of 2013 has now been defined...
I am feeling somewhat "blog Challenged" these days. (see above paragraphs...lol), but I can see the number of readers each month (252 last month) - now I know that a lot of these are the same person 4 times, but I do feel good that more than 50 of you a week read the blog, I apologize if it has gotten stale (my life over here feels a little stale right now) and I know some of you (Danny Messimer!) read regularly like driving by a car wreck...I know, everybody enjoys reading about my love life fumbles or crazy Arab stories...maybe they are all still happening, they just aren't remarkable to me any more since I am living the dream here...
The gi-normous Gulf Trade show begins this weekend. It is so big, it entirely fills the convention center here along with several "circus size big top tents" on adjoining grounds. We have a large booth that we have had to re plan in the last week - We expanded it's size due to the stand next to us dropping out of the show. I am keeping my fingers crossed that we can pull it off in grand fashion.

Sales are continuing to soar, we are heading towards are first 12 million sales month, and our street teams growth continues to be a bigger part of it. Last year we were behind plan in the 1st quarter and spent the entire year catching up, we beat plan in January, and if we can continue our pace the second half of this month we will exceed plan by over a million this month. Not bad...
My age may catch up with me this week...Five day's of trade show and four nights of dinners and my feet are hurting in advance of the days standing on the concrete floors of the convention center....ouch...I am truly looking forward to the momentary influx of visiting Americans...made a new friend yesterday. Joe Gunter from De-Bel Eggs did a training session at our sales meeting. He is a country boy from Louisiana, he just got his passport, and his visit to Dubai is has first time outside of America....I am going to enjoy interacting with him at our booth this week.
Well, it's time for the mayor of Sandoval Gardens (that's me for you novice readers) to put the swim trunks on and head to my beautiful pool. BTW, I really like my apartment and the complex, there are about a dozen neighbors for me now, with new ones coming almost daily now. This apartment feels much more like home than my first residence here.
Have a great day, and I pray that we are both able to be here for a few minutes next week.

Nearing the half way Mark...

Well as February sails by quickly (even the extra day doesn't slow the month down...lol) I am reminded by the calendar that my contract will be half over at the end of this month. I am left wondering how long will I be here. If I measure the positives, surrounded by good and loyal employees that I am very fond of, making a decent living, having a job where (at this time) I am highly appreciated, good friendly boss, and measure against the "not-as-positives", being away from America, friends, family and sports, there is a lot of pondering to do...Oh well, I am sure that we will revisit this topic in the coming months, the question is will we be reviewing it in the coming years...
I am "Nickless" for the next couple of weeks. He returned to the USA last night and will spend a week in Florida with Mimi and his children, followed by a week in Arizona at the CAB Conference. He needs a break from here, hopefully he will learn some things that will help him be successful in his new position, but more importantly he enjoys the time with his family. He needed a break, and I am hoping that he really enjoys it. February sales have started out ok, I am concerned that the huge Gulf Trade show will put a damper on our sales for the month. We are spending a lot of time and energy preparing for the show, It starts a week from tomorrow. One of the nicer things about these international shows is that I usually get to catch up with a few of my friends from the states. Sam Hodge will be here, along with David Chandler and I know there will be several others that will be nice to catch up with.
I have gotten a couple of notes from friends that are worried about my safety with the war drums beating here in the Mid-East. It is more and more apparent to me, that something will eventually happen with Iran. The UAE government has aligned themselves squarely with the West, as the leaders here oppose a "nuclear Iran." It is less than an hour by motorboat across the Arabian Sea to Iran, and up the coast of the UAE is the Straight of Hormuz that is the narrow passage that almost all of the Middle East oil leaves the region through. There has been construction of a pipeline through the UAE desert to bypass the Straight, but I can not imagine a scenario where the "Western Coalition" will allow Iran to block the Straight. On the other hand, its only a matter of time until Israel will take unilateral action to stop the development of nuclear weaponry in Iran. If this all happens, the UAE will be effected, how much???remains to be seen. Hopefully it's well into the future, and when it does blow up (as I think it will) it will be quick and decisive.
Oh well, I have been invited for lunch at the beach, and I need to pretty myself up, .lol...hope you have a great week...

Superbowl weekend...I think...

Well my mom and Mike have returned to America, they seemed to really enjoy their vacation in the UAE. They didn't spend too much money and stayed busy seeing the sites for their 10 days here. They didn't have as much interaction with my coworker friends here as Fred did last year. but there were some memorable moments. Hayley and Nick spent the most time with them...Mike has already befriended Hayley on Facebook, and Hayley gushes about the fun she had with "Helen". Seeing mom and Hayley sharing a camel ride in the desert is a site that I will never forget. Mike stayed with Nick, and mom helped me to finish moving in to my apartment, fixing my curtains and giving bountiful opinions to decorating my place. I am happy that they had a vacation to remember for a lifetime.
Kelly hosted our dinner at AL Hallab, the obligatory Lebanese meal. She is so adaptable and so damn like able. I was so happy to finally get to promote Kelly this week. She has worked so hard, and is so deserving. Her new title is "Sales Development Manager." A nice catch all that allows her to help in so many ways.Speaking of work, we had another awesome month (ho hum), with 116% growth in sales, and our second biggest month ever. January is traditionally the second slowest month (behind August) here, so to sell over 10.5 million and have our second biggest month ever...wow...the team just continues to set new bars. February brings the Gulf Food Show to Dubai, so it will be a busy month with plenty of distractions, we will have to keep our eyes on the ball.
Last night we had "Transmed has Talent" event. We had it at one of our country club customers, and I am truly surprised that I had as much fun as I did. I sat at a table with most of our team (remember Transmeds retail team dominates our company, over 10 times our size, and probably 20 times the employees) and watched the show. We had one member of the food service department participate (sang and danced Indian song) and he won. there was a 6,000 AED (almost $2000) prize for winning, and he was overjoyed. "Saif" works in supply planning, and I had absolutely no idea of his talents. The event was outside right next to the golf course, and was first class. It didn't end until after midnight....I am such an old man.
I am still getting to know Bob's replacement Steve. He took the approach of observing first, then making some changes. I think he now understands that it is not as easy to Westernize, and shape our company's Food Service department into the profitable, full line distributor that the company's top management wants to see work here, and then replicated throughout the Middle East. He did win an award this week. Most expensive driving month...lol...Steve now has learned the cost of not obeying the traffic laws here. He got his first bill from the car rental company. Five speeding tickets, and three parking tickets...not a record that I would want. ( yes a lot of damage in less than one month of driving)...We are building a good relationship, as he is steering my actions while allowing me to run sales (seems like an obvious move with our growth, but trust me , in my career I have seen a lot of bone headed managers that want to change and control for no good reason.) I seemed to have dodged a bullet, my fears that Bob's replacement would come and change what Bob allowed me to build in a team are now alleviated. There still is the pressure to change the compensation plan for my sales reps, that has been a constant now for over a  year.
This morning when I woke up, turned on Fox news, and checked out the latest on the Internet (I am so happy to finally have cable and Internet) it dawned on me that this is the big football weekend. It is an example of how removed I am from the western world. I may watch some of it (no commercials and 3 in the morning kick-off) so I am not sure how much I will check out. This is a "Soprano's" weekend. Hayley and Nick are coming over tomorrow night to watch the next two episodes of the HBO Series that I so loved when I first watched it. Kelly has a date with her new boy interest (Syrian guy that I have not met or approved of yet...lol) so already a crack in our fun night. We are watching shows 3 & 4, so awfully early to already have an "I forgot and made other plans"....sigh...
Nick is getting to fly home next weekend (CAB meeting) and he is so looking forward to it. Fred is coming to visit in late March, that is my next "event" to look forward to. The calendar keeps ticking of days until I can move back to my homeland....My mission here is not completed, and I can not see the light at the end of the tunnel yet, but my apartment is now my home, and I can return to some normalcy here. Hopefully, I will have something entertaining to talk about next week....