24 Hours of Dubai, maybe should be renamed 24 hours of no sleep for Motor City...

       Brrrr, this week one morning it was 52 degrees, Rodz and I nearly froze...All kidding aside, I have been watching Fox news and the weather alerts, looks like the snow has hit Middle America. The winter here has been unusually wet. We have had measurable rain already 3 times since Nov. 29 when we returned to Dubai. I don't believe it rained more than 7 or 8 times during my entire first 3 year stay in Dubai.
         Rodz and I have continued our support of restaurant chains here in the UAE.

Denny's Dubai Jan 2016

       This past week we tried Pee Wei Changs. It's a miniature - higher priced, slimmer menu of the daddy - PF Changs.  We love PF Changs, Pee Wei probably won't see us again anytime soon. We tried Denny's and IHOP, but both are challenged to be as tasty as the American versions without pork. The restaurant that we keep going back to is the Olive Garden, bottomless soup, salad, and breadsticks with refillable soda's - it's a hit for us. We have been eating there at least twice a week.
         Motor City, Rodz and my new home city, hosted the 24 Hours of Dubai last week. It's a 24 hour endurance race that is located at the race track that's less than a quarter mile from our apartment home. I got zero sleep - Mark my words, next year, I will be spending the 24 hours of Dubai, somewhere other than Motor City...

         I neglected to share the story of Rodz at the New Years Eve party at Dubai's Burj Khalifa. She decided that she wanted to join her sisters for the fireworks and party, while I decided to work late and catch up with work. I said goodnight to her at about 9:45pm, and settled in for a peaceful night of sleep, while Rodz was waiting for the mega firework's show at the mall's waterfront next to the Address hotel. Well, at 10:30pm, my phone wakes me from my much needed sleep, it's my bride chattering hysterically about terrorist attacking the Address and killing Americans. She is worried that she is next, I assured her that she's not an American and safe and sound. We didn't have a TV yet, so I got on my phone's internet and after seeing the video of the 62 story Address going up in flames, called her back in a panic. Happily, she was back in Satwa safe and sound far away from the mysterious fire that has still not been explained, nor has terrorism been ruled out....By the way, in the fog of war, no American's died in the fire, just one poor guy that had a heart attack.

            Work is going great, I was promoted to General Manager in early January and my mission is to make sure that the company has bottomed out and heads upward in sales and profitability. I will say that I have already begun to try and make it a better place to work for our poor and dependent employees. Most of the factory employees pay package includes food and housing. So, One of my first actions was a surprise inspection of our company accommodations to get a first hand look at the rooms and facilities. After my visit, the housing authority has agreed to repaint the interior rooms and hallways, and add more frequent cleaning of the bathrooms. We are now exploring the possibility of installing internet in their rooms to give them a way to contact their loved ones that are back in their home countries of India, Nepal, and the Philippines. Hopefully, I will accomplish both the turning around the company and at the same time help make my employees' lives better. It's a nice challenge that I am determined to win.

          This past week I had lunch with Muzzy. I have seen Juan and Georges while having lunch. Kumail and I met for lunch at Cheesecake Factory. It seems like a lot of my old friends haven't missed a beat. I still spend lots of time with Vinny Varma. He is a friend for life, joining the nice group of friends that are a permanent part of my life. I do have a visit to my home country planned for the first of April. I need to see my twin Fred, the gang in Atlanta, my St. Louis pals and my parents, while I squeeze in my baseball fantasy draft in Atlanta on April 9th. Unfortunately, it does not appear that Rodz's travel visa back to America will be approved in time for her to join me, as the US Government has now asked for resubmission of some forms. The good news is that Rodz's spouse Visa here in the UAE is finally done. Our certified stamped affidavit that the US Consulate helped prepare for me, satisfied the local authorities.Now, she can work and even try and get her drivers license. Happy days are hopefully ahead.

         Time to go, Rodz and I are taking my HR Manager (Ritesh) and his wife to dinner at the Olive Garden. Bottomless soup and salad are calling my name...stay warm and safe, and I will try and stay cool and safe here. See you back here soon....

 

          

Almost banged my first camel...lol

       Before I get too deep into this edition, please feel free to use the search tool in the upper left hand corner for "camel" and it will bring back the Jan. 14, 2013 posting that I shared my story with Kumail and Camel banging. Probably my favorite posting. Yesterday, while leaving my office for lunch, I noticed trucks stopped and blocking the two right lanes on the 3 lane freeway that leads you out of my office park. I did what most ignorant Westerners would do, I swung out into the left lane to bypass the stopped traffic. Just as I came even with the trucks I slammed on my brakes as several camels were crossing the highway at their own leisurely pace. I wish I would have snapped a picture as these magnificent animals were less than 10 feet in front of my car. Luckily, I did not bang my first camel, and I stayed out of the slammer. It did get me to thinking, what do you call a group of camels? Are they a herd? Or maybe a harem...lol. So I almost plowed into a harem of camels...I can hear my explanation to Rodz now.
        Speaking of Rodz, her quest to get a visa is coming to some sort of climax today. It seems that our American "original certified" marriage certificate from Missouri is not "stamped". It does have the county seal, and is notarized, but that's not good enough for the local authorities. After our human resources "PRO" tried to get it accepted, I had to go to Emeriti immigration to meet with the officer in charge. He originally said not acceptable, but then changed his mind when I shared with him what a raised seal is and how that is more valid than a simple stamp. So, he agreed that it was fine as long as we got the Dubai authorities to "stamp" it. Unfortunately, they refused. They said I would have to go to the American Embassy or consulate and get them to stamp the certificate. So, I made an appointment on Thursday, and proceeded to the Bur Dubai (old downtown) area where the American consulate is located (the Embassy is in the Capital of Abu Dhabi). After a lengthy wait (appointment? ha ha ha), I met with a staff member who said they weren't allowed to stamp the document, that I would have to have it couriered back to the states and John Kerry would "stamp" it - no wonder we are losing the war on terror, our state Department is busy stamping marriage certificates and college degrees to keep the Arab world happy. I was presented with a possible alternative, if I would pay $50, they would stamp an affidavit that I could write saying that I got married and the attached document is true. So I wrote it, they stamped and sealed it in four different places and my companies PRO is working on getting it approved...fingers crossed, if it doesn't work, Rodz will have to leave the UAE for at least 21 days, flying back to the Philippines at my expense. I guess you will have a good update next time I sit down and write an update.

Rodz at Joe's Crab Shack, Dubai Mall Jan. 2016
 

           Rodz and I have continued our quest of trying to keep the new American concepts in business. Rodz had a big bucket of Queen crab legs, and didn't do too much damage to her bib...lol. We have found ourselves at Olive Garden frequently, where I enjoy the bottomless soup and salad bar for a Dubai sized price of $13.33. Rodz typically eats a meal and has salad, so I guess only one of us is dieting.
           Time to run, I promise to check in again soon...

Another Year Passes by...

       Rodz and I have just finished our first month back in Dubai and it feels like so much is happening and at the same time, progress is painfully slow. Speaking of Rodz this New Years eve, she is with her sisters-in-law and brothers in downtown Dubai waiting to enjoy the annual fireworks show at the Burj Khalifa. It is an amazing 10 minutes of unmatchable firework excitement as the worlds tallest building is used as a platform for an awesome show. I decided to work late on this New Years Eve instead of fighting the mega crowd that gathers downtown for the celebration.
      We finally have gotten settled into our new apartment in Motor City (suburb just East of Dubai). We found a nice one bedroom flat the will cost us just shy of $1,900 per month. The cable tv and internet is scheduled to be hooked up on Saturday, and hopefully life will begin some normalcy. A similar apartment in rural America would be about $800 a month, in a big city 11 to 1,200 per month. We are trying to buy inexpensive furniture to fill it up...pictures coming in future blogs.
       Rodz's life in 5 star hotels came to an end this week after our first 31 days in the country were spent in various Rotana hotels. Vinny's wife (Agum) was an absolute life savor by getting us "family rates" at her company properties. We were upgraded at each and everyone of them, spending Christmas at the Almarooj Rotana in downtown Dubai.


Living the good life in Dubai - Christmas 2015

Our room came complete with a private outdoor Jacuzzi. We made the best of it. I will say that I am going to miss a chef making me a cheese omelet for breakfast every morning.  It seems like it's going to be either cereal or a stop for a breakfast of cheese Fataya that I buy at the gas station next to my work.

       It may not look like it in my photo bomb of Rodz's selfie, but I have reached a new low (95kg or 209lbs) - It isn't because of exercise, its change in diet. I eat soup and salad for about half my dinners now, and actually am enjoying it, not feeling like I am punishing myself. Rodz seems to like playing the role of the GM's wife.

 



Mr. & Mrs. Bruck Dec. 2015



     She has also now accepted my role when we dine at customer's and potential customers (something she hasn't always been comfortable with). There are some new American chains that have come to the UAE since my last tour of duty (Denny's, Olive Garden and Five guys). Don't worry, we are contributing to their bottom line...and as always to our favorite restaurant here, Texas Roadhouse!
       I finally got my UAE visa straightened out this past Monday. We are now getting Rodz's visa changed to a spouses visa (in a nutshell, you can't be in Dubai for more than a visit without a work visa or a spouses visa). I had to pay almost a  $1,000 to begin the process. It seems like every time I turn around, I am paying for another visa or visa application. Once Rodz's visa is approved and processed she can begin working. I think she is anxious (understatement of the year) to have her "own" money. I have now learned as a husband, what I earn is ours, and what she earns is hers...lol. I will be happy for her.
        Work is going well, although there is much needed to do. Leading a company is a big responsibility, and I feel like my moves are being watched carefully, although no criticism so far (fingers crossed). I was honored to cut the ribbon on our companies new prayer room.

We only have maybe a dozen Muslim employees (probably 2 dozen Christians and the remaining 100 employees mostly Hindu's and Buddhist) .

It was quite moving to see the reaction of the Muslim's to have their own place to go during their prayer breaks.

      I think that limiting my posts to twice a month is too big of a gap. So going forward, I will post at least every 15 days, if not more often. It is good therapy for me to reflect and makes me feel like I am talking to my friends and family. Speaking of which, one of my best friends' (Lee Croy) mother passed away this week. It was sort of odd for me that the surge of emotion that I felt. Lee's wife Cheryl sent me a note on Facebook saying that she had passed (Lee and I had talked a couple of times about her declining health in November before I left the states) and I started to cry. Rodz didn't understand my reaction, and I guess upon reflection I began to understand why someone that was as sweet to me as could be, but that I had only met in person a little over a dozen times in the 34 years that I knew her. I realized that I had a similar reaction to Danny Messimer's dad dying a few years ago. It wasn't the sadness of them dying, it was knowing the loss and pain my good friends were enduring. Even half way around the world, I only wish the best for my friends, and I know these same friends are rooting for Rodz and I to be happy and healthy.

       So, it's after 8 pm on New Years eve in Dubai (the number one New Years celebration spot in the world (so they claim - lol) I am at my desk at my office taking a break from the "catch up" work that I am doing while Rodz is out partying. So time for me to get back at it...Here's to a special 2016 for all of us!

Happy New Years, see you soon!

Back in Dubai, the adventure resumes....

Greetings from sandy wind swept Dubai. Where to start???? Let's begin with the job, I got s call in October wanting to know if I would return to Dubai to be the General Manager for BIFCO Foods (one of the Barakat Companies). The offer was generous, Rodz was missing her sisters and brothers in Dubai, and unfortunately I wasn't that happy with my American employer, so we accepted the challenge and returned to a warm welcome.

I have quickly settled into my new position, with about 150 employees to nurture and a brand new manufacturing plant to get cranking, the opportunities are tremendous. I have quickly made some easy to make changes (reduced employee working hours, working on new compensation plan, and hiring some needed key personnel), the first two weeks have been busy. I leave our hotel at 7:45 in the morning and return back by about 7:30pm each day. Every day we have a morning management meeting, I steer the team in what I feel is the proper direction and fortunately so far I have been well received.

Burj Khalifa December 14, 2015

Last night I was a guest at a dinner at the Armani hotel which is part of the Burj Khalifa (the 162 story mega sky scraper) in Dubai. It was chilly and very windy, but as much as I hate selfies, I could not resist. I actually snapped sitting in my seat at dinner. I am still awed by the giant technology marvel every time I see it.

Rodz and I have started looking for housing and a car. Getting a lot of pressure from my peers to buy a BMW, I would be fine with a Turbo Optima...will see if I succumb to the peer pressure...I think we have decided to move to Motor City (a suburb of Dubai), we haven't found the right place yet, but hopefully by the next blog I can share pictures of the new digs.

Rodz still isn't allowed to work (Visa Issues) so she spends her days at our 5 star hotel, swimming, hanging out in the Sauna and spending time in the YaCoozie (as she calls it). Say's its like prison...lol, lock me up. A quick update on past Dubai connections...I speak with Vinny Varma (Vinny the Pooh) almost everyday. He is a manger at Unilever here in the UAE and his career is soaring. Steve (my old Transmed manager) is now running Chef Middle East, and has hired my friends Georges Louis and Juan Lopez. Kelly got married to Sammi, and I have totally lost touch...as far as I know she is still a Regional Manager with ACE Hardware. I haven't spoken to Reem yet, so TBD her status - Hayley is now a corporate Manager with Shake Shack USA - living back in NYC, I couldn't be prouder. Suresh is working for a company out of Western Europe selling paper goods in the market, he is also doing great. Elie Saber is still credit manager at Transmed and he and his wife have invited us for Christmas eve...love them...

My health is a little sketchy, I fell down the steps at me parents house in June and I still have  a severe limp (messed up my ankle pretty good). The good news is I have lost a good amount of weight. I now weigh 212 lbs (96.3kg's lol) - the lightest I have been since I challenged Hunter Jones my old King College classmate to a weight loss contest in December 1981. that's a 20 lb loss since early October...

Time to go to dinner (Beni Hanna's tonight)...see you soon....Merry Christmas from your friends half way around the world...

The Return of an active blog...what could possibly cause this?

Time to check back in, and start regularly writing again. Since I last left you, Rodz arrived in America on October 3rd.





Rodz arrives in America!
 

In a surprisingly quick time frame we were married on October 21st. Yes, one day before my birthday, forever dooming me to getting ripped off at gift receiving. We filed the paperwork to change her legal immigration status and wrote the check (yes another one) for $1,070.

Everything seemed to be falling in place for Rodz to begin her long term life with her hubby in Columbia, Missouri. Then I got an unsolicited and definitely unexpected phone call...My old employer that I left in Dubai almost 3 years ago decided that I was missed and made a generous offer for me to return. After a quick chat with my new wife we accepted the new career opportunity, and then our new immigration challenge began. You see, if Rodelyn leaves the United States before her paperwork has been processed and her "Biometrics" are completed (ok, tried to slip that one past you - biometrics is fingerprinting and pictures done at an official government center) her immigration status would be considered abandoned and if she wanted to return to America we would have to start the whole process over. We contacted USCIS and found that we could apply for "expedited" processing. It was late October, and we needed to report for the new job on December 1st. Plenty of time according to everyone...we would know within 10 days....not so fast batman - 10 days became 20 and still no answers...we met with the field representatives in Kansas City and they gave us little hope. Finally on Wednesday, November 18, the person at the call center advised us our only option left was to go back to Kansas City and beg. W could ask for an "emergency" processing that could be done in 48 hours if approved. We made the appointment and headed to KC for our last hope request. When we met with the field agent, he shot us down quicker than a fat mallard on opening day of duck hunting season. We were not eligible for "emergency" processing...Rodz looked like she lost her best friend as I tried to console her, and the Immigration Agent said it broke his heart, but there was nothing he could do. So we spent the next 10 minutes going over the "what ifs?" and he decided to check and see if he could see online where our file was physically. He said, "good news" your file just moments ago got assigned to an agent case worker in Chicago, and the file was just delivered to their desk. We talked a couple of more minutes, and our KC field agent said, let me make a phone call before you leave. There was no answer on the other end, and then he explained he wanted to see if when the Chicago Agent received our file if he logged in a Biometrics case number. He said that if he did, a notice of and appointment date in the coming two weeks would be mailed out on Friday. But, if the supervisor at the biometrics center wanted to they could move that date up as long as they had written proof of our pending appointment.
Sounded like a "hail Mary" to us also. so, he tried to call again, and could not get through. So he stated that he would call Monday morning, and if he got through we could possibly have the biometrics done in Washington, DC the day after Thanksgiving. I said I would call him, and sadly once again we were thwarted, it is strictly against the rules for him to give out the centers phone number. I asked if there was anyway he could call us, and he just smiled and said, why not and asked for my mobile number...we had made a friend...We got up shook hands and he wished us the best...then he said wait, let me try calling the center that does the testing one more time...He got through to the Supervisor. Listening to them talk, it was clear that he had a good relationship with the supervisor...He gets off the phone and smiles at Rodz and I, says go to the center right now, they will process you. Unbelievably, within a half an hour Rodz had been fingerprinted and mug-shotted, and now we could legally leave the country without abandoning her case for legal immigration. So we now wait for her temporary green card, that will allow Rodz re-entry into the US for the next two years...Hooray!

So, after that long dissertation, I am sitting at the Dulles Airport Holiday Inn, waiting to catch a morning 13 hour Emirates Airline flight on Saturday to Dubai. I will begin writing once again on or about the first and fifteenth of every month to update you on our great adventure....

Until then, I appreciate your prayers for a good and happy marriage, a good success at my new job (more on that next time) and a safe journey to the UAE for me and my bride...



Update, unfinished business, my Princess is on her way...

I sometimes miss the therapy this blog provided me. Writing about what was going on in my life, gave me a good time to reflect. I also felt that I had left this blog with no ending causing people that stumble upon it to wonder what came next...well, here is your update...

I went back to work for Kuna Foods in St. Louis as Rodz and I went through the immigration process. We continued to answer the government requirements, and eventually had a final interview opportunity scheduled for Sept. 9, 2015.

Rodz made a trip home to the Philippines this past summer to finish getting her documentation. One big final hurdle was Rodz's father. I called him to ask permission to marry his daughter, we had a long (very long) conversation in which he asked a lot of questions, but in the end he gave his blessing. The change in Rodz was immediate, I hadn't realized how important this was for her. Well to keep a long blog short, my good friend Vinny, drove Rodz to Abu Dhabi to the American Embassy for her interview, and she was granted her Visa to travel to America and join me. It's unclear what date she will be coming (between Sept. 26 & Oct. 10), but we are both very excited. 

I promise to update periodically....thank you for checking in.

All things, Good and Bad must come to an end...

     You will be amused to know that my patio furniture was delivered on the 19th.

My patio August 2014

The comedic value didn't stop with delivery, I am still getting emails requesting the return of my lost furniture. I like my new furniture, but boy what a pain in the butt!

 

I am planning a nice trip for the month of September, I have tickets to both the Dallas/St. Louis football game and the Reds/Cards baseball game the same weekend. I am going with my good friends Rez and Chad.

 

Business has been slow but steady, and I continue to add products and new customers.

 

Sadly, the readership of this blog has dwindled steadily, I thank you for keeping up with me, I invite you to facebook me or email me (jbruck1022@aol.com).

 

This has sadly become a chore, and I will say goodbye to all of the readers. Please keep Rodz and I in your prayers and I wish you the very best of luck.

 

Hopefully you will find ways to stay in touch with me...