Well, after I finally woke Fred up at 1:30pm, he is now ready to guest blog...so returning to Dubai, just so he can guest blog....Heeeerrreees Fred....
"If you know me, you know that i am quiet and a man of not many words. You may guess then that blogging was not on my bucket list. John is a great host but the toll he exacts for the hospitality is this painful exercise at the end of the week. Since this is my second trip to Dubai and we did all the tourist things last time, this trip was about rest and relaxation. As a means of relating my trip to John's readers I thought I would share the international tour that has been our meals this week. Upon my arrival on Friday we made a stop on the way home from the airport for a taste of the UK at London's Fish and Chips. Saturday was a taste of the southwest at Chilis for lunch and a taste of Italy for supper at a local pizza joint (beef pepperoni is not the same as pork). One note off subject, my spelling is no better than John's and you do not realize how much you miss spell check until it is not available. Sunday was a taste of the orient at a Thai restaurant in the Holiday Inn. Monday it was back to the far east at P F Changs. Tuesday was a very special meal, John's favorite restaurant, Texas Roadhouse! It is amazing the unique and special cuisine you can only find in the middle east. Wednesday John had a work function at night so he came and got me for lunch with his coworker Kelly at a real unique place, TGI Fridays. This was real special for three reasons, one was having lunch with Kelly, two is that the Fridays in Maryville closed last year and it was one of my favorites and finally this particular Fridays has a window that looks out on the indoor ski slope. A little surreal to be having traditional American fare in the middle east looking out the window at skiers swooshing by. After John's event that evening he treated me to a chicken sandwich at Wendy's. On Thursday we had lunch again this time at Hardee's. Thursday's supper was the one I looked the most forward to all week. A true middle eastern meal at a Lebanese restaurant called Al Safadi. Another of John's coworkers, Eli Saber, ordered traditional dishes Lebanese style (like family style in America) and it was really good. Of all the things we did last year when I was here, dinner with Eli and his family was my favorite. I will have to say that while I missed the rest of his family, dinner with Eli has been my favorite this year. Today we had lunch at another unique restaurant, Red Lobster. Yes we had lunch before the blog so sorry you had to wait. For those of you who know John, which I assume is all of you or why are you reading this blog, it will not surprise you that he has our meals planned for the rest of my stay. Although I can't comment on the experience yet to happen, I will tell you were we plan to go. Tonight it is Hard Rock, Dubai. Tomorrow is lunch at Fuddruckers and dinner at Beni Hanas Japanese steak house as we make one more trip to the far east. My farewell meal on Sunday will be our first repeat. See if you can guess......John's favorite...........Texas Roadhouse. You may have noticed the number of American chain resturants on our list. Maybe somewhat due to us being Americans, but the real reason is the American chains are the only ones that give free soda refills. The one disappointment for the trip is we were suppose to do a desert safari today, but all the participants canceled on us so we had to scuttle the idea. Considering it is 102 degrees today it may not be the worst break. I hope this was enough rambling for you dear readers of John's blog. John is watching American Idol and I need to finish and get ready for the end of our Spartacus prequel season viewing. Talk to you all again next year."
Well Fred's visit is in the final couple of days...After proofing it (I need a proofer) I realized why I am eating my way through my time in Dubai. I have a couple of more day's with my pal....catch you next week...
Friday, March 30, 2012
Friday, March 23, 2012
Love is not in the air, but plenty of sand and Fred are...
OK, I admit it, I am not that clever in my post's titles, but I try...The sand has been awful. The whole mid East around the Arabian Sea has been engulfed in a sand storm. Our airport in Dubai was shut down for a few hours earlier in the week, but because of the same storm the Kuwait Airport was closed down for 3 days this past week, and people were advised to stay indoors. It has definitely affected regional tourism, as the residents of Saudi, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Bahrain are not traveling here to sit in the sand. It looks like dense fog, and as you breathe the air you cough and sneeze, and you do your best to keep the sand out of your eyes. The good news is that the weather forecast says that it is just about over(hopefully today)...
Fred will also arrive in about 9 hours. He is over the Atlantic on his 14 hour flight from Atlanta. So next week, we get another guest blog, and I get a week off from attempting to be clever or trying not to sound too homesick for America. It really will be good to spend a week with my best friend. Not too much planned, (dinner with Elie Saber, and a desert safari with Hayley, Ceren, Elie N. and Magy - interesting group...) plus lots of dining out. Last year we did a lot with Rodz plus the site seeing in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, this year (sand storm permitting) will be lots of pool and beach time...should be nice and relaxing for both Fred and I.
I can just imagine that some of you are wondering about the date of the year (see last weeks blog). Well, Shereef and Hayley had their lunch date, and yes it was a fun lunch, but what has been even "more funner" has been listening and seeing the unmerciless teasing Shereef is getting from his warehouse co-workers. It was a nice morale booster. Sales are still very unrobust this month, but hopefully the weather will break and the numbers will improve. I am confident that my spending spree with Fred on food this week might turn the economy up.lol
Sorry for the short blog this week, but I need to get out and about and run some errands. Have a great week, see you back here very soon. Plenty of Fred's visit stories coming the next couple of weeks.
Fred will also arrive in about 9 hours. He is over the Atlantic on his 14 hour flight from Atlanta. So next week, we get another guest blog, and I get a week off from attempting to be clever or trying not to sound too homesick for America. It really will be good to spend a week with my best friend. Not too much planned, (dinner with Elie Saber, and a desert safari with Hayley, Ceren, Elie N. and Magy - interesting group...) plus lots of dining out. Last year we did a lot with Rodz plus the site seeing in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, this year (sand storm permitting) will be lots of pool and beach time...should be nice and relaxing for both Fred and I.
I can just imagine that some of you are wondering about the date of the year (see last weeks blog). Well, Shereef and Hayley had their lunch date, and yes it was a fun lunch, but what has been even "more funner" has been listening and seeing the unmerciless teasing Shereef is getting from his warehouse co-workers. It was a nice morale booster. Sales are still very unrobust this month, but hopefully the weather will break and the numbers will improve. I am confident that my spending spree with Fred on food this week might turn the economy up.lol
Sorry for the short blog this week, but I need to get out and about and run some errands. Have a great week, see you back here very soon. Plenty of Fred's visit stories coming the next couple of weeks.
Friday, March 16, 2012
The Dust Settles, but the Sand Still Blows...
I will try and be more light and breezy in my rantings today, for the glass is truly half full. We are having a slower than anticipated sales month in March, I believe the weather is definately a factor. The blowing sand that makes February less than desirable has carried into March and made the normal pool and ocean activities undesirable. Tourism has slowed and the malls and eateries are not packed. The weather looks to be changing and hopefully we will have a strong surge to finish our month off. The high for Monday is only fore casted to be 70 degrees, that is not normal for here.
Trying to get a sense of normalcy with Nick now being gone. I gathered some of his pans and dishes that he left behind. Reem got a few pots and pans as did Hayley. Kelly got his wooden cutting board and I grabbed his left over cleaning supplies. The big winner in the "Nick left behinds" sweepstakes.??...That's right...Shams. He got Nick and Mimi's plates (IKEA's finest green plates from their value line) glasses and left over cooking utensels. He was like an 8 year old on Christmas morning. The scavenging got Muzzy thinking about the future, as he let me know how nice my tv's are....sigh.
Last night Hayley and I dined at one of my favorite places. The Royal Buddah at the Holiday Inn Al Barsha (the hotel I primarily lived at between apartments). They have a very minutive waitress from Miramar named E E that is our regular server. She is very shy and cute, so of course she gets my full grilling about her life and service every time I see her. Well it's always a treat (I have a great fried rice and shrimp dish there) when we go there. Last night, I met Hayley right after work, and while dining I got a phone call from Muzzy about a work issue (yes, the blue cube keeps us working to correct their issues all the time) and I spoke with him. Now it was a normal call that lasted about 5 minutes with me mostly listening. The vacationing British retirees at the adjoining table were not keen on me taking a phone call. The Mrs. ripped into Hayley as I talked on the phone, about my rudeness and if I had a business call I should take it outside. I ended my call and bit my tongue. Her husband sat quietly and I of course felt sorry for him....I probably should have apologized, but I was too mad....Hayley laughed at the lady...oh well, at least I felt young for a moment.
Fred arrives one week from today. I really need a break from the routine. Still haven't planned much. The big event of the month is occurring today. One of our best employees in the warehouse is a young man from India named Shereef. Now Shereef's English is poor, but his work habits are excellent. He routes our trucks and handles delivery emergencies for us. Well, Shereef steered us through a couple of difficult days a couple of weeks ago when our system went down. Well I asked Shereef if there was anything I could do for him to help compensate for his extra work....His answer surprised me. He wanted lunch....with Hayley. lol...Now Hayley is an attractive 25 year old from New York, and under normal circumstances, this just wouldn't happen. Well, Hayley is a trooper, so she agreed. We asked where (I am the chaperon and have the credit card)he would like to dine....he said Chilies(no you can't make these things up). So in a couple of hours, I am hosting a much anticipated lunch date (the warehouse guys are teasing Shereef unmercillessly) by a company. I hope we all have fun, I know my primary responsibilities are driving (Shereef doesn't), paying, and taking lots of pictures.lol.
Steve left yesterday for a 5 day weekend in the UK. The rest of the office was also short of employees as our company soccer team has a match against the head quarters company team in Lebanon this weekend. The company actually is paying for airline tickets for our employees to go root our team to victory. Its nice to see these kind of activities, but no one from Food Service made the team, or is traveling in support.
We had a new joiner to our team (Josie from Kenya) this past week, and two more start this week (Jina from Syria and a young Turkish lad is joining Georges team). I still have three openings to fill - One exciting thing to share about work, is it looks like I need to make a business trip to Australia in April...Enough about work for now.....
I am excited about the approaching American baseball season (My Reds have had a good off season) and TV in general. Survivor (craziest, weirdest show ever last week), American Idol, and Entourage are all in current season, and Game of Thrones returns in April to help pass the time here in the desert. I am going to get a massage this evening, and then hunker down for another 6 days of work on my calendar of servitude. Time now to get in the shower and begin my preening for the lunch date of the decade....Dining in Dubai, will never hit a pinnacle like today again. I will see you here next week, have a great weekend.
Trying to get a sense of normalcy with Nick now being gone. I gathered some of his pans and dishes that he left behind. Reem got a few pots and pans as did Hayley. Kelly got his wooden cutting board and I grabbed his left over cleaning supplies. The big winner in the "Nick left behinds" sweepstakes.??...That's right...Shams. He got Nick and Mimi's plates (IKEA's finest green plates from their value line) glasses and left over cooking utensels. He was like an 8 year old on Christmas morning. The scavenging got Muzzy thinking about the future, as he let me know how nice my tv's are....sigh.
Last night Hayley and I dined at one of my favorite places. The Royal Buddah at the Holiday Inn Al Barsha (the hotel I primarily lived at between apartments). They have a very minutive waitress from Miramar named E E that is our regular server. She is very shy and cute, so of course she gets my full grilling about her life and service every time I see her. Well it's always a treat (I have a great fried rice and shrimp dish there) when we go there. Last night, I met Hayley right after work, and while dining I got a phone call from Muzzy about a work issue (yes, the blue cube keeps us working to correct their issues all the time) and I spoke with him. Now it was a normal call that lasted about 5 minutes with me mostly listening. The vacationing British retirees at the adjoining table were not keen on me taking a phone call. The Mrs. ripped into Hayley as I talked on the phone, about my rudeness and if I had a business call I should take it outside. I ended my call and bit my tongue. Her husband sat quietly and I of course felt sorry for him....I probably should have apologized, but I was too mad....Hayley laughed at the lady...oh well, at least I felt young for a moment.
Fred arrives one week from today. I really need a break from the routine. Still haven't planned much. The big event of the month is occurring today. One of our best employees in the warehouse is a young man from India named Shereef. Now Shereef's English is poor, but his work habits are excellent. He routes our trucks and handles delivery emergencies for us. Well, Shereef steered us through a couple of difficult days a couple of weeks ago when our system went down. Well I asked Shereef if there was anything I could do for him to help compensate for his extra work....His answer surprised me. He wanted lunch....with Hayley. lol...Now Hayley is an attractive 25 year old from New York, and under normal circumstances, this just wouldn't happen. Well, Hayley is a trooper, so she agreed. We asked where (I am the chaperon and have the credit card)he would like to dine....he said Chilies(no you can't make these things up). So in a couple of hours, I am hosting a much anticipated lunch date (the warehouse guys are teasing Shereef unmercillessly) by a company. I hope we all have fun, I know my primary responsibilities are driving (Shereef doesn't), paying, and taking lots of pictures.lol.
Steve left yesterday for a 5 day weekend in the UK. The rest of the office was also short of employees as our company soccer team has a match against the head quarters company team in Lebanon this weekend. The company actually is paying for airline tickets for our employees to go root our team to victory. Its nice to see these kind of activities, but no one from Food Service made the team, or is traveling in support.
We had a new joiner to our team (Josie from Kenya) this past week, and two more start this week (Jina from Syria and a young Turkish lad is joining Georges team). I still have three openings to fill - One exciting thing to share about work, is it looks like I need to make a business trip to Australia in April...Enough about work for now.....
I am excited about the approaching American baseball season (My Reds have had a good off season) and TV in general. Survivor (craziest, weirdest show ever last week), American Idol, and Entourage are all in current season, and Game of Thrones returns in April to help pass the time here in the desert. I am going to get a massage this evening, and then hunker down for another 6 days of work on my calendar of servitude. Time now to get in the shower and begin my preening for the lunch date of the decade....Dining in Dubai, will never hit a pinnacle like today again. I will see you here next week, have a great weekend.
Friday, March 9, 2012
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow Part 2
What a bad week this has been. I got done writing last weeks blog and checked my email to find a note from Nick. He has given up the fight and moved home with his family. He left without notice and I didn't get to say goodbye, but it was probably the toughest departure for me personally. I love cowboy and his Christian witness that will outlive him. He is still mentioned at work and his name is usually followed by, I really liked him. Bob and I both realized his days were numbered, and we have shared a 15 year friendship and working relationship that has been interrupted by job changes before. I guess what has made Nick's departure the toughest on me, is the realization that I am next. My American partnerships in managing this dream have all gone. Steve is Scottish, and sometimes I feel like he is stuck with me rather than being happy to have me. The satisfaction of a job "well done" (another huge month with 90% growth over last year in February) and a fiercely loyal sales force that I feel an amazing obligation to, is what I cling to. A mercenaries life is a lonely one, you can have personal goals, financial ones and enduring ones, but the days are numbered...
One of the charges that my critics level at me here is that I am too "easy" on my employees and over compensate them. I would quickly point out that this multi national group (2 Kenyons, 5 Indians, a Colombian, Canadian, Moroccan, Jordanian, Turk, Philipino, Lebanese and an American) that I hired and guided in the ways of doing proper business. They are working long hours and growing our sales at a furious pace (remember the pace of sales growth when Bob and I arrived in early July of 2010 was around 15% (actually negative 6% in August of 2010, Bob promoted me to sales manager in September of 2010, and the first thing that we did was change the compensation plan to allow the Account Executives to make money if they began to sell. Well the end results are in 2009 22% growth, 2010 18% growth (35% in the 4th Quarter) and 86% in 2011. Through the first two months of 2012 - 103% growth. On the other hand the decrease in American Managers has been even a more dramatic number, with one being left...
Two weeks from today Fred arrives for his second tour of the Middle East and his visit is much needed for this Americans sanity. The challenge for me is to re plan his visit since Nick flew the coop, plans will have to change. I think his visit will be composed of a lot of pool and beach and dining time, and not so much on events. I can't wait.
Half way through my contract, I have finally met my first financial goal. As of April 1st, I will be out of debt for the first time since my junior year of high school. I don't own a lot of things, but not owing anything or anyone is going to be sweet. I will let you know how it feels, although I feel like most of my friends have been better financial stewards than myself, so you already know that freedom from debt that I will soon taste for the first time.
Not having Bob, Nick or Rodz in my life here has had me renewing my bachelor culinary skills. This week I had dinner at home (eggs in different forms) for 3 meals and had KFC one night and Fish and chips the other night. Eating alone is no fun, but by my post mortem calculation put my 5 week day meals at a total of $20. Tonight I am having dinner with Hayley to break my solo act. Nick left behind his "Entertainer" book, so 2 for 1 will be the fare...lol.
I finally got rid of my bronchitis (yesterday) and I slept in this morning, but it is time to get up and get out of the apartment. Keep me in your thoughts, and of course lets keep Nick's stateside job search in our prayers. I defiantly am looking forward to seeing all of my friends this summer. The calendar's pages keep peeling off, and August will be here before you know it. You have a great week, I am confident mine will be better than last weeks.
One of the charges that my critics level at me here is that I am too "easy" on my employees and over compensate them. I would quickly point out that this multi national group (2 Kenyons, 5 Indians, a Colombian, Canadian, Moroccan, Jordanian, Turk, Philipino, Lebanese and an American) that I hired and guided in the ways of doing proper business. They are working long hours and growing our sales at a furious pace (remember the pace of sales growth when Bob and I arrived in early July of 2010 was around 15% (actually negative 6% in August of 2010, Bob promoted me to sales manager in September of 2010, and the first thing that we did was change the compensation plan to allow the Account Executives to make money if they began to sell. Well the end results are in 2009 22% growth, 2010 18% growth (35% in the 4th Quarter) and 86% in 2011. Through the first two months of 2012 - 103% growth. On the other hand the decrease in American Managers has been even a more dramatic number, with one being left...
Two weeks from today Fred arrives for his second tour of the Middle East and his visit is much needed for this Americans sanity. The challenge for me is to re plan his visit since Nick flew the coop, plans will have to change. I think his visit will be composed of a lot of pool and beach and dining time, and not so much on events. I can't wait.
Half way through my contract, I have finally met my first financial goal. As of April 1st, I will be out of debt for the first time since my junior year of high school. I don't own a lot of things, but not owing anything or anyone is going to be sweet. I will let you know how it feels, although I feel like most of my friends have been better financial stewards than myself, so you already know that freedom from debt that I will soon taste for the first time.
Not having Bob, Nick or Rodz in my life here has had me renewing my bachelor culinary skills. This week I had dinner at home (eggs in different forms) for 3 meals and had KFC one night and Fish and chips the other night. Eating alone is no fun, but by my post mortem calculation put my 5 week day meals at a total of $20. Tonight I am having dinner with Hayley to break my solo act. Nick left behind his "Entertainer" book, so 2 for 1 will be the fare...lol.
I finally got rid of my bronchitis (yesterday) and I slept in this morning, but it is time to get up and get out of the apartment. Keep me in your thoughts, and of course lets keep Nick's stateside job search in our prayers. I defiantly am looking forward to seeing all of my friends this summer. The calendar's pages keep peeling off, and August will be here before you know it. You have a great week, I am confident mine will be better than last weeks.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow....
As March rolls in, I was reminded this week how suddenly things can change here. One of my favorite customers, that I had developed a very good relationship with, suddenly vanished this week. Tuesday I spoke with him on the phone (he is Danish) (as I routinely did) and Wednesday morning his email bounced back saying that he was no longer with his company. His phone is turned off, and as of this morning I have not heard from him. This kind of thing did happen in the states, but the difference is if you lose your job here, you basically have 30 days from your Visa being cancelled to leave the country. Ex-Pats can not retire here and us employed ex-pats are basically at our employers mercy to remain here.
There was a major melt down of our computer system at work last weekend and I am not confident that everything has been fixed and restored. We were headed for another record month, but may have fallen just short (I won't know for sure until Saturday). It was a very stressful week, as I actually had to go into work one night and manually set up delivery sheets (yes, John can type...lol). I left for home that night at 1 am. My "sand lung" wasn't getting better, so I went to the Doctor. Apparently "Sand Lung" has a different name here...."Bronchitis"...I am now on day 3 of my anti-biotics...sigh.
I had a nice surprise at the Gulf Trade show, a couple of businessmen from the states made an appointment to try and sell us some goods. They turned out to be from Knoxville, Tennessee. It is a small world. There was some joint knowledge of people from Knoxville and we spent more time than I probably should have at the show. They invited me to dinner before they returned home, and they treated me to a very good meal, and even better conversation at the Intercontinental Hotel. I plan on visiting their business when I am home in August.
Speaking of good friends from Knoxville, Fred will be arriving for his annual visit 3 weeks from today. I have been trying to think of things we can do and preplanned some of them. After the fun day in the desert I spent with my mom, my brother, Hayley and Nick during their visit (I will never forget the site of Hayley and my mom riding a camel together in the desert) I have decided to repeat that adventure with Fred. Nick and Hayley. Ceren is going to join us (that alone will be worth the price of admission) on our desert Safari. I am sure it will give something funny for Fred to "guest blog" about.
Nick is back from his trip stateside, but we have both been so busy with work we haven't spent much time goofing off. Soprano's night is way overdue - maybe my illness has as much to do with our gang of four getting together, but Kelly's love life probably has more of a damper. Somehow it is hard for me to believe that she would rather spend her weekends with her 28 year old fitness trainer than with Nick, Hayley and I.....
I have found another place that I now eat at weekly. It is "Lucky's Pizza" in Motor City. It is an independent establishment that has an onion and pepperoni that eats quite nicely. There are a lot of places that you can get pizza in Dubai (a lot of the Arabic diners have pizza on the menu) including Papa John's and Pizza Hut. Some of them have "non western" toppings. I have seen "Blue cheese" pizza, a "Submarine" pizza (Pineapple, tuna, shrimp and sweetcorn). My favorite one of all is on Lucky's menu (not to eat-but to grin at) it is called Tuco's revenge. The menu describes it this way....Topped with hot mince and jalapenos (make sure the toilet paper is in the freezer before ordering)...
Who puts that on a menu...lol. The one thing I don't get to eat....Pork pepperoni..
Speaking of eating, the one good thing that my Doctor had to share with me, I have lost 3 kg's (8 lbs). Don't get too excited for me, it's about 2 kg's heavier then when I got here, but it's a good sign. Speaking of good signs, you can probably sense that this blog is wrapping up, I'll see you here next week, have a great one!
There was a major melt down of our computer system at work last weekend and I am not confident that everything has been fixed and restored. We were headed for another record month, but may have fallen just short (I won't know for sure until Saturday). It was a very stressful week, as I actually had to go into work one night and manually set up delivery sheets (yes, John can type...lol). I left for home that night at 1 am. My "sand lung" wasn't getting better, so I went to the Doctor. Apparently "Sand Lung" has a different name here...."Bronchitis"...I am now on day 3 of my anti-biotics...sigh.
I had a nice surprise at the Gulf Trade show, a couple of businessmen from the states made an appointment to try and sell us some goods. They turned out to be from Knoxville, Tennessee. It is a small world. There was some joint knowledge of people from Knoxville and we spent more time than I probably should have at the show. They invited me to dinner before they returned home, and they treated me to a very good meal, and even better conversation at the Intercontinental Hotel. I plan on visiting their business when I am home in August.
Speaking of good friends from Knoxville, Fred will be arriving for his annual visit 3 weeks from today. I have been trying to think of things we can do and preplanned some of them. After the fun day in the desert I spent with my mom, my brother, Hayley and Nick during their visit (I will never forget the site of Hayley and my mom riding a camel together in the desert) I have decided to repeat that adventure with Fred. Nick and Hayley. Ceren is going to join us (that alone will be worth the price of admission) on our desert Safari. I am sure it will give something funny for Fred to "guest blog" about.
Nick is back from his trip stateside, but we have both been so busy with work we haven't spent much time goofing off. Soprano's night is way overdue - maybe my illness has as much to do with our gang of four getting together, but Kelly's love life probably has more of a damper. Somehow it is hard for me to believe that she would rather spend her weekends with her 28 year old fitness trainer than with Nick, Hayley and I.....
I have found another place that I now eat at weekly. It is "Lucky's Pizza" in Motor City. It is an independent establishment that has an onion and pepperoni that eats quite nicely. There are a lot of places that you can get pizza in Dubai (a lot of the Arabic diners have pizza on the menu) including Papa John's and Pizza Hut. Some of them have "non western" toppings. I have seen "Blue cheese" pizza, a "Submarine" pizza (Pineapple, tuna, shrimp and sweetcorn). My favorite one of all is on Lucky's menu (not to eat-but to grin at) it is called Tuco's revenge. The menu describes it this way....Topped with hot mince and jalapenos (make sure the toilet paper is in the freezer before ordering)...
Who puts that on a menu...lol. The one thing I don't get to eat....Pork pepperoni..
Speaking of eating, the one good thing that my Doctor had to share with me, I have lost 3 kg's (8 lbs). Don't get too excited for me, it's about 2 kg's heavier then when I got here, but it's a good sign. Speaking of good signs, you can probably sense that this blog is wrapping up, I'll see you here next week, have a great one!
Friday, February 24, 2012
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....
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....
Friday, February 17, 2012
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.
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.
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