OSHA? Apparently they don't rule over Dubai....

The blog is a tad early this week, I will explain why before I finish this sitting. I am splitting my attention between writing and watching the American Idol finale. My favorite contestant (Jessica) is in the final 2, against a Georgia native (Phillip Phillips)...Now before we delve too far, Phillips dad's name is also Phillip Phillips. Somehow it doesn't seem right that they couldn't think of at least one different name to pair with Phillips....Now one of my past gal pal loves was named Tiffany Phillips (she is now married....sigh) BTW, she checked in as one of the "fifty" - I had no idea....but I like it! So, back to my American Idol clatter, I got home this evening planning on watching the contest on dvr and then the results show live (starts in 45 minutes)...sadly, when I signed on...saw the headline ...I spoiled it for me...Now I am blogging knowing who won,,,,it sucks! Last week was the Survivor finale, I enjoyed this season, and can't wait for next season this fall. Finishing with "John's TV life in Dubai" saga, I have been taping "Game of Thrones" and will watch season two when I return. Return you ask???? That's right! Since there are no shows to watch, I might as well find something else to do.
The reason I am a little early (Muzzy/Tonto will be excited) with the blog, is that I catch a flight to New York at three in the morning! Yes, I have decided to take my vacation earlier. Twenty day's in the land that I love starts Friday. I am visiting St. Louis, Chicago, Knoxville and of course seeing the parents in Virginia. I am so psyched! The highlight in advance is Fred and I going to Cincinnati on Sunday and watching a Reds baseball game, and then after the game driving to Chicago and on Memorial day Fred and I will be at Wrigley Field watching the Cubs play...what a great time I know we will have. I was planning on leaving Dubai in August to return home...but I needed a break now! The Senior management was worried I was pulling a "Nick" and sneaking out never to return, and I met with Steve for an over a hour last night and Hani today for almost an hour sharing with them what I think my future career path holds (curiously we weren't all in agreement)...it was interesting and I will leave that story until I return to work on June 14th.
I did work on a project this week that has needed to be done for over a year. I spent three days at the warehouse checking every item out and better identifying what we have for our chains that we can sell to our street accounts. So I spent three days on a forklift in the freezer and cooler checking each and every item. I tried to write good notes, but my fingers got so numb that I couldn't feel the pen. My feet and hands are still numb three days later...I was cold!!!!

Now my Indian friends in the warehouse got a kick out of having me 4 levels high, on a forklift that was not secured with no safety harness, and driving fast through the aisles. I was more than nervous...A couple of the funnier moments occurred when I found out that the guys zooming around the warehouse in the fork lift did not have a drivers license...Another memorable moment occurred when Arshad and I were four levels up checking a pallet of miscellaneous things, and we tried to get lowered only to find that the forklift operator had fallen asleep....It all ended happily, as I got Arshad nominated for employee of the month for his efforts and the project was successfully completed. Steve and I took Arshad and his best friend in the warehouse Shereef out to lunch for a treat (you remember Shereef from his date of the century with Hayley...lol, Hayley can get a same day truck approved with a phone call...Shereef is smitten...it's too funny.

They do make a cute couple...lol
Well, there is a massive sand storm blowing outside, Airports all over the Middle East are closed, hopefully my flight will take off on time at 2:55 AM...sigh let's hope I can sleep...Enjoy your weekend, I will check in from the States...Idol is finishing, yes I am disappointed and it's not over ...darn Internet spoiling my fun...lol, and I need to pack and shower,,,,then a short 14 hour flight that I can only hope the sand storm here or the tropical storm in the Atlantic doesn't delay me too much. My vacation time is precious! Emirates Airline #203 awaits!

Eat your Veggies and Say your Prayers

I need a vacation. It is so hot so early here in the UAE. This past week the  temperatures hovered around 110 each day and as previously advertised the lows near 90 (On Tuesday the overnight low was 94. Man it is hot. Muzzy (now affectionately known as "Tonto") and his cousin Kumail have both taken vacations with their families to travel to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. I am sure that they are both praying for me (such good men), as they have left me behind here in the oven of the Middle East in what I am sure is purgatory. Well , let's hope it is purgatory and not a permanent resting place. Pay your taxes, eat your veggies and say your prayers and maybe God will be good to you...
I was missing some of my old buddies especially much this past week. According to the blog stats about 50 people read this each week. Now I know some of them, Mom, Fred, and Muzzy Tonto never miss a Friday morning.
Danny Messimer sends me an email allmost weekly asking for more sex and violence in my ramblings (I am wishing for the same thing to report about...lol). Danny wrote me recently saying he was getting married (sure sign of the Appocolypse) again, and I want to meet his bride.
This time 27 years ago, I along with Fred, Janie and some of my other life long friends (followed a year later by Danny, Nancy and Lee) donned the cap and gown and graduated from King College. My decision to attend King was the best and most fortuitous of my life. Those 4 years were the glory days of my life, and I made awesome friends that I love like family to this day. This core of friends (and Dan Scott whom I met in Law School - That was my first time in Purgatory lol) have stood by each other as other friends have come and gone from my life. I made some close friendships in my my years in St. Louis (Todd, Rez, Chad, Amy, Nate and Stacy) and I am sure that they will always be close to me - But, being over here in this isolationism I have found myself clinging to people for friendship and support. I have been influenced by men like Richard Ashlock, who have passed through my life, and hopefully some of the goodness that he exuded in his daily life has rubbed off on me. Bob and Nick and I hunkered down over here in some respect, clinging to each other in an almost needy way fighting to keep our santity and endure the trials that life has presented to us. All of the people I have mentioned above will always be friends of mine. I truly hold each of them close to my heart, and get a little misty eyed when I think of them and how special they all are to me. Now I am sure I missed one of those exceptional people that have passed through my life, but that's the point of the above....these people have not passed through my life, but have joined me on a journey through a life. Each and everyone a better person than me and I have been blessed to know them and to share that loving friendship. Well an unexpected blessing has been bestowed to me here in Dubai, I have suddenly been surrounded by some very special people who I cling to, and I don't want them to pass through my life. I want them to share my journey. Kelly, Tonto, Juan, Hayley and others need to meet my other "life mates, because they are joining the fold and it's very nice. I guess I will serve my time (as tough as it sometimes) with my new friends, I can only vacation in America, I have a journey to complete here for now.

I do need to teach my house keeper how to make my bed before this "Adventure" returns to the States. Every Thursday, he comes and spends three hours scrubbing my apartment and removing the sand from my balcony. He puts my freshly laundered sheets on my bed, and makes it inside out. somehow he feels that the blanket goes under the sheets, so every Thursday when I get home from work, the first thing that I must do is remake my bed. I know, a boring little tale, but I have been telling it to Fred every week, and he has grown tired of this trivial never ending house keeper saga...so as a favor to him, I have now "blogged" about it, maybe that will serve as my need to bore others with this trivialness, and relieve Fred of the obligation to pretend to listen "about my housekeeper" challenges...lol...
There is big suprising news to come....This time next week, the suprise begins....Enjoy your week....Thank you for being one of the fifty...

Just over 105, My weight or the temperature?

I forgot how the heat just starts here in May, and now I am trying to remember when it starts to cool down (October seems so far away). Yesterday it was almost unbearable here in Dubai. We hit 109 again (hit that a couple of times this year now) yesterday, but this time the humidity was with it. It is draining, and what is truly scary, we aren't even close to the extremes of July and August when it will routinely be 10 degrees hotter....10 doesn't seem so perfect. I will be returning home to good ole America in early August, and I will be visiting St. Louis, where the temps can scorch you at 101 or even a couple of degrees higher for a couple hours in the afternoon, it can be extremely humid there also, making the heat index soar into the 115 degree range, the difference here is remarkable in as much as 115 is a routine non index high in the summer here in the Middle Eastern desert, and the heat indexes that are published don't measure high enough (the ones I have seen stop at 140 degrees, and the charts just don't go high enough). The other thing is the length of the heat during the day, it will be 100 by 10 am and not dip down below 100 until well after sunset at around 9 pm. Most nights during the peak of summer the overnight lows are in the low 90's....Thank God for Air conditioning and underground parking. I guess my body is being prepped for my retirement years in the desert of Arizona...lol.
I had my regular Doctor's visit yesterday, and those of you that are worried that my blog will disappear because of my untimely expiration will be relieved to know that I have lost 2 kg's so that I now weigh just over 105 KG's. (sounds so much better than 231 lbs),(for those of you who want to play the lb to kg game at home 1 kg = 2.2 lbs) Good news; my bad cholesterol (HDL/LDL?)lol is very low, bad news; so is my good cholesterol...they just try and make this confusing, my blood pressure is higher than it historically has been, but with the stress that makes up my daily life here, I would be shocked with other results....I need to exercise....enough on this, it is depressing.
We have a visitor from New York in town, yes Hayley's brother Jerry is here on an internship for a couple of short months...

We enjoyed dinner together at Urbano's in the Souk Al Bahar this week. Hayley is so happy to have him here, and I actually enjoyed interacting with him also. He will be spending a lot of his time in Abu Dhabi while he is here, but I know Hayley is enjoying the diversion, I of course enjoy any excuse to dine out with friends, we will have to go visit our Thai friends at the Royal Buddha this week and see my favorite server (of course I torment her) E E.

I know, too many pictures (I will now make a rule, no more than 2 photo's per blog).
My social life is progressing slowly, a weekly dinner date is all there is to report, but I really like her company....we will see what it evolves into.
Speaking of dinner companions, Juvy came in for 1 final interview for the customer service position, her interview went very well and I am confident we will make an offer for her to start with us this summer. I had dinner with her after her interview and she is really excited about getting an opportunity to start a new career. I am glad that I can help her out, while at the same time help our company, because Juvy is going to do great.
Reem and Tonto (formally known to the world as Muzzy) landed a big chicken contract with a huge caterer this week. It is worth millions and runs through December. Our sales plan will be easily made (add to the fact that Cheesecake Factory will be opening this fall and IHOP this summer-both under contract with us) should push us to close to over 180 million this year (in just over two years to go from the over 40 million Bob and I inherited to the 180 million we will finish this year with)...you think someone would be happy...
Time to get out and head to Subway for my Sesame egg and cheese sub...yes, it's all about the food,,,,have a great weekend, and Happy Mother's Day Mom, I will call shortly...

Beefing things up in Dubai

Things are heating up here in the good ole UAE. The weather is one thing (109 degrees on Wednesday - and no its not "dry heat") the sabre rattling is another. Iran is picking a fight with my host country. There are three small islands between Iran and the UAE (along the straight of Hormuz in the Arabian Sea) and both countries claim ownership. America is selling new fighter jets to the UAE (the Monarchy is a close ally of America) and the 6 Gulf Coast Nations have formed a tough alliance (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman , Kuwait, and the UAE) and have agreed to act as one militarily
to deter Iran from aggressive action. The US Navy has a huge base in Bahrain and things are tense between the Governments. Throw in the high probability of Israel taking action against Iran's nuclear ambitions....well things are heating up. If something flares up, I will try and update the home front through this blog.
We are beefing up things at work also. Muzzy and I are finally going to order some Australian beef this week as Management has asked me to devote my attentions to beef, lamb and chicken. Karim has returned to the company after a year away to a regional sales management position as we attempt to replicate our food service success around the Middle East. One of my favorite managers from our much larger retail division (Anis - from Lebanon) is also joining our team as of July 1st. I may finally get to hire Juvy, as we are beefing up our customer service department to handle the growing business (Juvy is on the right - with Rodz on the left). She was approved for hiring last fall, but a visa issue kept us from adding her.

 The team just keeps on growing, we are adding another young Lebanese salesman fresh out of school and a couple of Retail route salesmen are transferring in to the department. We have added to our procurement team also, as our internal team now numbers 30. I was the number two guy in the Food Service Organization, but now Anis will be second to Steve and his planned successor. It is very apparent to me that I have a limited shelf life here. My contract is through December 31st, 2013...somehow, my inkling is that I will be like my other American friends that were here, and are now back in the states and not make it to my own expiry date...lol.

It is just past 4 am here in Dubai, I am typing away late as I watch a Washington Nationals/Arizona Diamondback baseball game and I try and appease Muzzy. Every week he gripes because he says he can't read my blog til lunchtime on Friday. So this is for you Muzzy, a breakfast treat...lol.

BTW, Muzzy has a new nickname,,,,"Tonto" ...yes, it fits  him.

So it's time for the "Lone Ranger" to hit the hay....Hope your weekend will be as relaxing as mine.