Is it just me, or is the world a mess - at least from an American perspective. We have civil war in Syria and Iraq. Egypt is quickly becoming a non-ally. Iran is progressing along on their path to developing nuclear weapons. North Korea is flexing their muscle, threatening to destabilize the world. Russia has annexed part of the Ukraine and is poised to grab more Ukrainian territory. Meanwhile our allies are not as supportive as they used to be...the UAE and Saudi Arabia are unhappy with how the US has handled themselves in both Syria and with Iran. Other allies like Great Britain, have suddenly found their own voice and are not as supportive of American Leadership as they have been in the past 50 years. Five years ago Americans were promised by our President that he would usher in a new era of respect from the worlds leaders. So after touring the world, apologizing for our past transactions, we now are less respected and viewed as feckless and a paper tiger on the World Stage. I learned from many of my Arab friends, that their culture respects strength, not unilateral kindness. Hopefully, this down ward spiraling of American Leadership and relevance can be halted and reversed by our next President. Freedom and safety in the World is dependent upon a strong America...
Speaking of strong Americans, my confidence in our legal immigration is wavering. I wish I had a positive update in Rodz's attempt to legally immigrate to America. I have no update, except that my patience is shot... Hopefully, the long wait will be over soon. Rodz is much more patient than me, but sadly she is stuck in the cycle of a working Philippine lady in Dubai. She says, "work - home, home - work, it's all I have"... of course, it makes me feel helpless in my efforts to help her immigrate and fundamentally change her life. Please keep us in your prayers.
Speaking of prayers being answered, winter is winding down and my favorite sport of baseball is back. By the next blog in 2 weeks, the games will have begun. As you may recall, I am a huge Reds fan, and I am once again optimistic that my team will have a great year and win the World Series. I am traveling to Atlanta the first week of April to see my baseball buddies and participate in my fantasy baseball draft (as I have since 1989). Baseball has given me countless hours of entertainment over the years, and during my homesick times in the UAE, being able to watch games at 4:30 in the morning, helped to keep me sane.
Vinny and I spoke last week, he starts a new job in the UAE this Sunday. Kumail has also started a new job, it pleases me that my old friends are landing on their feet. Joseph is running his own company, and they are all doing great. I also chatted with Suresh this month, he still is working very hard for Barakat. I miss all of those guys (my Indian pals) -of course don't forget Muzzy. One of my new customers here in Missouri is an Indian Lady (from Mumbai) named Jay. I have to admit, that my understanding of her is probably much better from the experience I gained working with my Indian brethren in the UAE. We live in a small world.
I shamefully have to admit, that when I saw that this Malaysian Airliner went missing in the Bay of Bengal, that I suspect that it landed in Southern India in RK's hometown...lol. Of course, I am not serious, but I do find myself fascinated with the riddle of what happened to the plane.
Time to start my weekend, but I will check back next week, hopefully with progress on Rodz's attempt to join me here in America. Thank you for checking in, and I hope your March ends on a high note.
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Tragic week in my nice City
Springfield, Missouri is the perfect sized city for me. The population is a little more than 150,000 people, and it has a good mixture of dining establishments. It is about a three hour drive up I-44 to St. Louis, and Kansas City is a tad bit closer to the Northwest. It is the perfect size city, with the big cities close enough to enjoy. Last week this city was shaken to its foundation. Hayley, a ten year old girl that lived within 10 minutes of my home was abducted in broad daylight. It was 4:45 in the afternoon, and there were witnesses. A man pulled up in a gold truck, asked her for directions, then grabbed her and pulled her into the pick up truck. One of the neighbors chased in his car, while the others called the police. They had the license plate, a description of the gold truck, and a detailed account of the man that grabbed the little child. The Amber alert went out, within two hours they had arrested the man finding 10 year old Hayley with a bullet in the back of her head, her life snuffed out by evil. It was a sobering evening, followed by a couple of weeks that a grieving community was left to try and make sense out of the tragic crime. It was a sobering week in small town America.
I wish I had better news to report on the Rodz front, but the good news is that there is an update. I talked to Sarah at the State Department on this past Wednesday. She informed me, that Rodz's immigration file was shipped in a "Diplomatic pouch" from the Philippine's to Abu Dhabi on February 7th. Well, then she informed me that the Diplomatic pouch would take 4 to 6 weeks to arrive. It looks like March will be another month of waiting. My good friend Vineet (you remember Vinny the Pooh) has agreed to drive Rodz to Abu Dhabi for her interview when it finally gets scheduled. I guess we are making progress, just feels painfully slow. Poor Rodz had to go to the Iranian hospital in Dubai where she was treated for a respitory infection.
She keeps plodding along, patience is a virtue that she seems to have much more of than me.
The big trade show happened last week in Dubai, and I heard from several of my old friends in the UAE. It was a year ago last week that I gave my 30 day notice, and began the process of coming home to America. I am so happy that the harsh winter is winding down, the return of spring training baseball games as a harbinger of what is to come.
I feel like I am in a rut with work, but I am very happy that another new chain came on board for me. Fenway Steakburger received their opening order last week, and I am very excited to have been a big part of the first one. Finally, the really depressing news. My BMI is 29. That may not sound like horrific news to you, but to qualify for the lowest rate of insurance I now have to attend four weeks of fat class. The next four Wednesdays I will be amongst the heavy weights at work, where they will try and convince me that Lucky Charms is not good for you. All I can say is....Sigh.
See you in two weeks, with a hopefully lighter blog.
I wish I had better news to report on the Rodz front, but the good news is that there is an update. I talked to Sarah at the State Department on this past Wednesday. She informed me, that Rodz's immigration file was shipped in a "Diplomatic pouch" from the Philippine's to Abu Dhabi on February 7th. Well, then she informed me that the Diplomatic pouch would take 4 to 6 weeks to arrive. It looks like March will be another month of waiting. My good friend Vineet (you remember Vinny the Pooh) has agreed to drive Rodz to Abu Dhabi for her interview when it finally gets scheduled. I guess we are making progress, just feels painfully slow. Poor Rodz had to go to the Iranian hospital in Dubai where she was treated for a respitory infection.
She keeps plodding along, patience is a virtue that she seems to have much more of than me.
The big trade show happened last week in Dubai, and I heard from several of my old friends in the UAE. It was a year ago last week that I gave my 30 day notice, and began the process of coming home to America. I am so happy that the harsh winter is winding down, the return of spring training baseball games as a harbinger of what is to come.
I feel like I am in a rut with work, but I am very happy that another new chain came on board for me. Fenway Steakburger received their opening order last week, and I am very excited to have been a big part of the first one. Finally, the really depressing news. My BMI is 29. That may not sound like horrific news to you, but to qualify for the lowest rate of insurance I now have to attend four weeks of fat class. The next four Wednesdays I will be amongst the heavy weights at work, where they will try and convince me that Lucky Charms is not good for you. All I can say is....Sigh.
See you in two weeks, with a hopefully lighter blog.
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