Half Century...Now that's a long time...

Well it has been a whirl wind of a week. As almost all of you know, this past Monday was my fiftieth birthday. I spent the day flying 7 hours to Paris for a large food convention. Two days walking miles (I guess you actually walk Kilometers in Europe and the Middle East) around 8 convention halls (Sial Paris is a huge show that only happens once every two years) and then trying to sleep in a hotel with no air conditioning...Being in Paris with no friends to hang out with. I went to the same convention two years early and had Fadi as my trusted guide....I missed having Fadi around. The French passport control agent wished me a happy birthday, I got a lot of nice messages on my facebook page, but truly dinner alone in Paris is not as romantic as it sounds...(I did enjoy the pepperoni pizza)...
I did run into several friends and made a couple of new ones in France. I spent some time with John Chiade and Sam Hodges (I buy American beef from Sam- Worked with him at Buckhead Beef....it is a small world)... While visiting their booth, Hani and Anis from Transmed walked up. I was greeted warmly by both, but it was awkward when Hani began to interrogate me. I am usually so quick with my quips, but this was awkward, and I was a deer in head lights. Well, I moved my career for valid reasons, and although I could say a lot of things, probably best if we move this blog along...Success will be the truest victory!
Speaking of good times and good friends...Let's talk about Hayley. Hayley took me out on Sunday night for my birthday dinner (Texas Roadhouse of course). During dinner she complained about Kelly being my favorite (I know, it makes me smile thinking two cute 20 somethings fighting for my friendship - OK, one, Kelly doesn't care about my other friendships...lol) according to Hayley I speak glowingly bout Kelly, for the record. I love Kelly and I love Hayley, trust me I have plenty of friendship love to share...lol, but back to our dinner, Hayley also complained that her eyes were hurting her (she has also been complaining a lot about headaches), so I did what every good true love friend would do, I went upstairs in the mall to the eye doctor with her. Well, too make a long story short,(I know - too late) The doctor (a rather strange gentleman) put her through a rigorous eye exam...

She looked goofy, so I did what any good loving pal would do (I would never do this to Kelly-lol) I took a picture and published it on a blog for our amusement. The Doctor kept the old is this better, or this better until Hayley got dizzy and finally ended the exam. Hayley visited another Doctor while I was in France and she has informed me that she is now sporting glasses, I can't wait to see them....
My other birthday treat, Vineet (Pooh) took me to lunch on Sunday, got me nice gift of Cologne. I guess my Indian friend was tired of being around a stinky American...lol. It was very nice, and of course he treated me to a nice Fuddrucker lunch.
Speaking of celebrations, today marks the beginning of Eid al-Adha. This is the biggest celebration for Muslims marking the testing of Abraham. This has to do with God testing Abraham, by ordering him to offer his son Ishmael as a sacrifice. Abraham couldn't bear to see his son die, so he was blind folded before he cut his throat. When he took his blind fold off, he discovered he had slit a Rams throat instead...God later reworded Abraham with another son (Isaac) for his faithfulness. So the Muslim world (and the UAE) is enjoying a three day festival, that will last longer than that. The malls are open 24 hours a day during the festivities. Faithful Muslims, have sheep sacrificed, offering a portion of the meat to feed the less fortunate. It is amazing to me, how similar the Old Testament of the Bible, the Koran, and the Torah are all so similar with their teachings...It is amazing that there is so much divisiveness between the religions, we share the same God...
So if you have any Muslim friends (like I do), make sure you great them with an Eid Mubarak(Happy Eid) during the next three days, they will appreciate it.
Well I am sick during my Eid. I guess the jet setting and massive exposure to germs during my travels wore the old defense system down. So I am popping Advil cold and sinus medicine and will stay hunkered down until I return to work on Sunday. I did go to Spinney's and get some shaved ham and fresh home style bread to make ham and cheese sandwich's with. The Ham cost $49.25 a pound...lol, it was Belgian, and not that great....but the ham and cheese sandwiches made for a nice treat on my sick day. The guilty pleasures that I reward myself with....Well enjoy your weekend, God Willing, I will see you back here next week....
Eid Mubarak!

Pack your bags, we're headed to Paris!

Resort weather has arrived in Dubai. It is absolutely beautiful, temperatures in the low 90's and the sky is clear and very blue.

The above is the view from my Sandoval Garden Balcony this morning at 10 am. The early morning sun worshippers are out, of course, I am staying out of the sun....wouldn't want the Sun to ruin my pastie white complexion. No chance of rain (December/January can't be that far away) and forecasts of low to mid 90's for the next week put a smile on my desert weary heat stressed face. It has been a long summer.
Speaking of nice weather, the forecast for Paris next week is nice fall weather. highs will be in the low 60's and lows near 50. I am flying to France on Monday morning to attend the Sial International trade show. I attended the same show two years ago with other managers from Transmed. This time, I am the sole attendee and have lots of scheduled meetings to pack into just a few days. I am returning on the "red eye" flight back to Dubai on Wednesday night, arriving after a 7 hour flight at dawn on Thursday morning.
Speaking of long flights, my dear friend Kelly is boarding a flight(s) and flying a total of 18 hours back to Dubai today. I heard from her a couple of times during her Ace corporate training in Chicago and she claims to be learning a lot. It's funny not having her around for a couple of weeks has been stressful. We are each others psychologists, sadly I lie on the couch much more than she does in our relationship. I hope I can squeeze a lunch in with her before I leave town (wouldn't want her to miss me for another week)...the poor gal...lol.
It was nice to have my friend and former Transmedian colleague Kumail join the Barakat sales team this week. He is going to be a main cog in the newly created restaurant channel. Surprisingly, Barakat has never pursued the restaurant business, concentrating instead on the 5 star hotels. I have begun budgeting and setting the plan numbers for 2013 for our food service group (Barakat International). It looks like the final goal will be 150 million or 100% growth. These companies in the Region...sigh...I thought the 86% growth the Transmed team achieved in 2011 was tough...lol.
This is Fred and Debbie's anniversary weekend. The crisp Autumn air of Knoxville, Tennessee will be alive with romance this weekend! I am blogging it in case I forget to send my wishes. They have been married now for 25 or so years - it seems like yesterday that I threw snowballs at their parked car on their first "real" date on a wintry evening in the King College parking lot in 1983...what a great lifelong friend I have been...lol, probably have been the cause of over more of their "disagreements" in their quarter century of marriage...Remember, adversity will make your bonds stronger...you're both welcome - glad that I have helped!
Well, I need to hop in the shower, and get ready to face the world. Lunch, dry cleaning drop off, and face driving in Dubai trying to accomplish all of the normal Friday errands that need completed.
I hope your weekend is nice (no Nick I am not going to blog about the Cardinals every week, and how sweet it is for them to be going (almost) to the World Series while the greedy Albert Pujols sits at home counting his millions)...but I did mention it - hope you are happy.
So happy weekend to all, especially Fred & Debbie!
I am going to go and get ready to mingle with the French!!!!

The Weather has broken, Thankfully I have not....

Finally, last weekend we had our first day since June that the high in Dubai stayed beneath the century mark Gratefully, it hasn't risen back that high since. This past week, highs were in the mid 90's each day. Over 100 days in a row of 100 degree plus heat can take its toll on you. How in the world people over here survived before iced drinks and air conditioning is a mystery to this oh so soft American. It is funny how every day in the mid 90's feels very comfortable, I guess it's just what you get used to.
Last weekend the existing sales team and I had some sales training in Dubai Industrial City. We then visited the construction site of our new plant and warehouse.

They (from left to right- Rima, Suresh, Bijith(the Professor), Sudheer, and Jitesh (the Banker) got to see the rapid progress being made. This week the concrete will be poured finishing a critical phase. I think it will be much easier to see the progress every week. Our engineer assures me that the new site will be open for business sometime in February of 2013.
The new Barakat International Plant will have a modern Butchery (cut shop) that will feature American products. It is right across the street from one of Barakat Quality Plus's 2 plants (the one that processes vegetable products)

It is about 20 minutes from my apartment in the desert on the Road towards Abu Dhabi. It will be great when the new plant is operational.
Kumail has been promised that his Visa will be cancelled this Sunday. He will begin to work immediately after Transmed completes this task. I can't wait!
Kelly is learning and training in Chicago. I miss having her in town. Hayley and I still manage lunch each week, but that just about covers it. Muzzy and I frequently have lunch together, but there is an edge to things as he is sent out to sell against me and my team regularly.
I finally started watching some of my taped television from the last 45 days. I am enjoying X-Factor (more than I thought I would), and Boardwalk Empire, True Blood, Survivor and Cougar Town (yes, a laugh out Loud show for me) are still waiting for me to watch. I got to watch my Cincinnati Reds choke last night, baseball is over. In football, I can't say that my Dallas Cowboy's choke (you have to be good to choke...sigh). They are on TV here this Sunday against Baltimore....will be a very tough game for them, thankfully it starts at 9 pm here not midnight, so when I go to bed disappointed I won't be tossing and turning at 4 am...lol.
I watched the Vice Presidential Debate this morning. Both guys are very likable, but I must say I was bored with it. Maybe politics at 5 am in the morning is not the best way to start your day. I have began to research the history of the Middle East as related to World War II and the years after. There is so much misinformation in the region about the Genesis of Israel, and the Palestinian conflicts that endures to today. I think as a Christian outsider, that the brutal history of the crusades and how that struggle between the Muslims and Christan's is at the roots of our histories. In the same vain, I think that the migration of the Jewish people out of post WWII Europe to be placed in the dessert displacing the Palestinians is also a history we should understand if there ever is going to be peace in the Region. Oh well, expect some of that history to be sprinkled amongst the future blogs.
I noticed some pumpkins in the vegetable market, and it made me think of life in the States. I guess Halloween is approaching...the fall air has to be crisp as the leaves show their colors. It is my favorite season, I miss America, I need to come for a visit soon...I think it has gotten much more difficult for me flying solo without any of my American colleagues to have my back....Bob, Nick, and Richard all made it much easier with our shared struggle. Juan and I speak regularly (he lives in Abu Dhabi) but I would be lying if I didn't tell you that I often feel very alone...
You are in my thoughts, please keep me in yours....

Custer Taming the Indians....

Please take no offence in this weeks blog title (surprisingly it took over two years for my first blog title apology...lol), but I have been trying to blend into my Indian dominated company (Just shy of 1,000 employees, approximately 900 of which are of Indian Nationality), and this week I feel like I have made some good progress. The customers are responding well, and so are the sales people in the corporation.
There is a new British Seafood Chain coming to the UAE. It is a white table cloth restaurant that is opening it's first Mideast eatery in the financial district in downtown Dubai. We hosted the "Chef Team" at our retail outlet http://goodliving.gulfnews.com/GoodLiving_Planner/planner-details?pid=1027&display=1
and they enjoyed the fresh juices and seemed to get really excited about our fresh Ice Creams that are made from our fresh juices and Camel's milk (I had a nice Camel Milk Vanilla Ice Cream myself). Then we took them on a tour of our Fruit and Vegetable Market. Trying to tie the 7 total Barakat managed companies together- concentrating on the three that I am responsible for, has been a challenge that I am just beginning to understand the magnitude of.
You must remember my friend and former Transmed employee Vineet Varma.(Known affectionately as Winny The Pooh) He has joined one of our sister companies (Mehtab Produce) and I am responsible to try and aid his development of a "Restaurant Channel" in a company that mostly sells to Hotels and Grocery stores. He accompanied the tour interjecting his good humor and much like me listening and learning also.

Good ole Vinny the Pooh is now the Sales Manager and is really excited about his opportunity. I am quite proud of him. Our Business Development manager from Barakat Fruits and Vegetables (Jitesh - Not the same one from Kenny Rogers Food service Fame-lol) Led the Tour and is quickly showing himself to be a integral member of my team.

Jitesh is on the left in the above, and was feeding California grown grapes to our guests from one of our coolers. We continue to have running jokes about how superior the American Fruit is, but I am quite happy with the tone of our employees. Jitesh is in his early 30's and has been with the company for 11 years. Very Professional and just a good guy.
Wrapping the business blog, Kumail finished his last day at Transmed, and he will be joining our Food service Restaurant team as soon as his Visa is ready (hopefully within a week). JR(Baraket CEO) and RK (Barakat International GM) have left for a quick trip to Morocco. There are a lot of short Regional trips for business opportunities, but with the Regional unrest - I am sitting on the sidelines keeping hunkered down in Dubai.
I was privileged to share a nice dinner with Kelly on Wednesday at a nice Italian Eatery near my office. Kelly has started at ACE Hardware and she is loving it so far. She fly's to Chicago for a couple of weeks of training tonight. I am so happy for her. It is very rewarding to be a friend and mentor for her, and I can't wait for her career successes to pile up. She has come such a long way in two short years, and I cherish her happiness.
The pending Israeli/Iranian conflict has seemed to paused, it feels like the "red line" the Israel talks about has been pushed to the spring. That, of course could be just a head fake to set up an element of surprise, as I have been convinced that something would happen shortly after the US elections and before Inauguration Day. Speaking of Elections, I got up early yesterday (just after 4 am sigh) to watch the debate on Fox News. Somehow, when I left for work I felt fine and refreshed, probably a lot better than our President felt. I must figure this Vote from abroad thing out. I am officially registered in Tennessee, so it is not critical (not a swing state) that my vote gets counted, but I haven't missed voting in a Presidential Election since I first voted for Ronald Reagan shortly after my 18th birthday in 1980. My how time flies....
In sports news, (sometimes this blog is as painful to write as sure as I am it is painful to read) My Cincinnati Reds are officially in the playoffs, and I can't wait to watch them hopefully plod towards the World Series. My Cowboys are certain of not losing this weekend (they have a bye - off week) lol, and are very frustrating to watch. Dan Scott's and my fantasy baseball team finished 3rd this year (made a few $$$$'s) and somehow I am still in first in the football pool (this is truly a miracle, 105 players and 20% of season done). Golf pool, Fred and I have somehow climbed into the money race. It sounds like a lot of stuff to keep up with, and yes thankfully it is. American sports and TV keep me sane and help the time to go by. Have a great week, I will try to join you in that mission.