Another Bad Day at the Office

It happened Tuesday in Kingston, Jamaica. Approach in heavy thunderstorms resulting in a runway overrun.

American Airlines B737  from Reagan International, USA.

AA 331 crash

Very fortunately, no fatalities.

Look how close the aircraft ended up to the sea!

Christmas Time Again! Wooo Hooo!

As you know, I am not one that has to look far to find something to complain about, it's part of my nature to want my world to be perfect and I tend to get my nose out of joint when things don't go my way. This Christmas is one of those times.    

As might be expected, Christian holidays in an Islamic country are low-key at best. The twinkly lights, Christmas carols and other trappings of the holidays are usually found in the malls, tourist hotels and other public venues. Places I usually avoid unless absolutely necessary. The balmy weather is very un-Christmaslike, too with highs in the 80F range.

I have not been a huge Christmas fan since I was about 10 years old, but there is still something about the holidays that stir the old excitement. I always dreaded the shopping aspect of it and dealing with the crazed consumers at the stores, but I always took pride in decorating my house with the best tree I could find and competing with the neighbors for the most garish front yard display of lights. I risked life and limb crawling around on the roof of my house installing lights only to repeat the same to remove them a couple of weeks later. Some of the best times I shared with my ex-wife were spent drinking hot rum toddies in front of a roaring fireplace in our seasonally decorated living room.

I also hosted the "unofficial" office Christmas party in my home. Most all my coworkers looked forward to it and showed up. The booze flowed freely and there were more than enough stories created there to provide water cooler gossip for weeks afterward. I miss those times.

Fast forward to now. Most of my coworkers are out of the country visiting their own family and friends, there are no parties here that I know of . My right arm is swollen and painful with tendonitis and I am feverish and achey. This is more than enough to put me in a bad mood but because it is holiday time, it seems worse for my mental state.

I wish all my family, friends and readers happy holidays. For those fortunate enough to be with loved ones at this time, make the most of your time together, life is short!

I will be OK, its just a tough time to be so far from home and family. I promise I won't end up like this jolly old elf!

The Latest from Uncle Sam

In keeping with the spirit of this blog, I am responsible for providing, from time-to-time, some useful information of concern to folks interested in visiting and/or working in the United Arab Emirates.

Many months ago, I did my duty and registered my presence here with the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi. I did this with reluctance as I am not generally fond of getting on "lists" and leaving a trail of bread crumbs behind me, but in this case I thought it would be prudent so if I contracted a debilitating illness or had an accident, my family would contacted and I would not end up with a "John Doe" toe-tag somewhere.

The US Embassy in Abu Dhabi is a strange looking angular building surrounded by embassies of other countries on the same quiet street. I expected to see heavily armed US Marines wearing starched uniforms at attention surrounding the place but what I saw were Filipino contract security guards. They were friendly but very professional and the security in the background seemed very tight. Metal detectors, bulletproof glass and cameras were everywhere. All the doors were very heavy with that special glass installed and had prison cell type latches that made a lot of noise. It is literally a fortress and for good reason considering the events in the last few decades.

Make no mistake, I am sure every eventuality has been considered. I have no doubt there were USMC personnel somewhere on-site, its just they are not visible to the casual visitor anymore. No photos were allowed...anywhere! I had to leave my car keys and change at the front entrance.

Another reason I registered is that although the UAE is very stable and safe, it is common knowledge that their are some "tensions" in areas outside the borders here that historically have caused some volatile events on occasion. In that unlikely event I would expect to receive a call on my mobile phone advising me that a fleet of US Navy ships were "haze gray and underway" to get my scrawny ass out of harm's way. I was in the USN years ago and I know a priority is to protect American citizens living in foreign lands in case of a conflict. One of the things that the US does well is take care of it's own and allies.

I have never felt uncomfortable being an American here and do not obsess of such things but it is good to have that kind of insurance policy. Here is a youtube link to a dynamic situation the famous New York chef Anthony Bourdain experienced in Beirut when he was filming an episode of his show "No Reservations" for the Travel Channel. It depicts how things can get ugly real quick!   No Reservations Evacuation

I am om the Embassy's mailing list and have included the link to an updated email I received today from them. After living here for awhile, I would have to say that except for a few embellishments IMHO (I will let you guess which ones), the rest of the information is spot-on and a worthwhile read!    UAE Update

Haircut Adventures....Again!

Any resident in a new country and culture has challenges in discovering how simple day-to-day things are done. This includes grocery stores, dentists, doctors, traffic laws and personal grooming. The personal grooming, mainly haircuts, for us guys is probably the most difficult. There are hundreds of “Men’s Saloons”  in the city of Abu Dhabi but I live in the suburbs and the choices are slim.


I recently posted about going to a local barber and was asked if I wanted a scalp massage in addition to the trim. As one that will try anything once, I agreed and was treated to what I would call a handful of pink axle grease worked into my hair. At least it washed out!


A few weeks ago, I decided to try a barber in a nearby 5 star hotel. The barber did a good job and was friendly. At the end of the haircut, he noted that I had some stray hairs in my ears and suggested he “wax” them out. Again, being the adventurer that I am, I consented.


I felt him put some warm substance inside both of my ears and after the heat subsided, I felt a sharp pain in my right ear followed by the same in my left as he ripped the wax, and wayward hairs, out. The sting lasted for 20 minutes but was not all that unpleasant.


I now admire people who get more “sensitive” and much larger areas waxed. 


In the US, I went to a traditional barber and knew what to expect when I settled into his gold metalflake chair, a trim and bitching about the government with him and the other guys that were waiting. There were old hunting/ fishing /car/motorcycle/gun magazines to read while you waited as well as conversation with the crusty regulars. A real guy's place. My barber's name is Cliff in St. George, Utah USA and his shop is on Bluff Blvd. Go see him if you are in town. Haircuts and opinions.....$10.00.


Cliff never offered me a Brazilian ear waxing although I obviously needed it. That's where I thank my newly found barber in Abu Dhabi.

In Transit---Part Deaux

When I left you last time, I was awaiting a phone call from the technicians that were to arrive at my humble abode and finish the job of internet connection the previous guys left incomplete. What follows is a tragic comedy of incompetence, bad timing and piss-poor customer service.

The good news is I did get the all important call, the bad news is that I was in the shower when it was made. After I dried off, I noticed that the little blue lights on the side of my Nokia were blinking, indicating activity. It was a missed call from a number I didn't recognize. I punched the recall button and my phone died due to battery depletion. I plugged the phone into the charger for a quick shot of juice.

After about 15 minutes, I tried the number again and it was indeed the dispatcher of the Local Internet Monopoly. He told me to call another number for the technicians on-site. I tried that number and I got a recording informing me the recipient's phone was turned off....just great!!! I waited another 10 minutes and tried the number again. This time it was answered and I told the guy who I was, my Complaint # and a brief description of the problem. I heard wind noise in the background like a car travelling at highway speed and considered that bad news. This was confirmed when the tech told me he had already left my apartment complex and maybe he would be back in the next three days. I called the dispatcher back and was told the same.

I waited the next day, and the next and then on the third day I called the dispatcher's number again and asked if/when someone would be out here to fix my problem. Over what sounded like a loud party in the background, he told me that it was a holiday and the techs would be off for the next two days which I realized would bring us into the two day weekend for a total of four day at least before another attempt would be made. He suggested I call the main customer service center and hung up.

At the customer service center, a pleasant sounding woman answered the phone. I told her my predicament and after I gave her the original Complaint # there was a pause and then she dropped the bomb! According to her, the original Complaint # had been cancelled back on the first day!!! When I asked why, she said the reason was that I could not be "contacted". I told her the tech tried to call me exactly ONCE and that I called back the same day and talked with both the dispatcher and the tech guy and made follow-up calls on the following days. The tech had cancelled the complaint after he could not get me on the phone with his single attempt. I was in the shower, remember?

To make a long story short (I know, too late!), I had to get a brand new Complaint # issued and start on the bottom of the stack again. Three days later the problem was fixed by two guys, one worked hard setting up my WiFi and his sidekick that used my bathroom without the courtesy of asking and then sat and watched a History Channel show that was on the TV. I didn't care as long as the job was done.

So I am all sorted out now. It "only" took the Local Internet Monopoly 3 1/2 weeks to shift my internet service to a different apartment in the same complex. I sure chose a hell of a time to take a shower on that first day!

In Transit

Again, I apologize with the lack of posts here recently, but I am in the midst of moving to a new apartment. The new place is in a recently completed phase of the same complex I lived in before. I was offered a brand new, larger apartment and I accepted having long forgot the trials and tribulations of relocating in this part of the world.

The physical moving of all my worldly items went smoothly enough. The movers showed up on time and were efficient, careful and polite. In a few hours all my goods were settled into my new place just 300 meters from the old. All that was left for me to do was unpack the boxes and sort things out.

The REAL struggles I knew that were ahead of me would be the shifting of the electricity, TV cable and internet accounts to my new address. I was not wrong! I now have electricity and cable, but after 2 weeks I still do not have the internet due to a screw up by the government owned monopoly that administers online services.

I wanted my web services shifted on the 14th and had to spend 3 hours of my life that I will never get back to go downtown and let the internet monopoly know this requirement. I could not do it online or by phone. As an aside, transferring the cable TV took TWO trips to their downtown offices. I also owe the electricity people a second visit.

So a few days ago I get a knock on the door and there were two guys standing there with electronics boxes under there arms. I was ecstatic that I was finally getting back in contact with the outside world as I had already gone through my DVD movie collection twice and terminal boredom was settling in.

Those two guys were there a total of 10 minutes and after confirming I had a proper picture on the TV and the remote control worked, they were gone. I noticed that my internet modem had more lights lit on it than before and assumed the installers got that going too. I got the PC fired-up and ......nothing. I tried all sorts of things to get that little green "internet" LED to light on the modem, but to no avail.

I gave it a day thinking that the authorization may take some time, but the modem was still dead. I finally broke down and called the customer help phone center. The unusually helpful guy had me run some diagnostics, but in the end we were unsuccessful and he agreed that a technician visit was inevitable. Something was badly wrong. I was sure the installers had forgotten something in their whirlwind visit.

What the phone center guy said next was a great example of the state of customer service in the UAE. I asked when I can expect to get the problem resolved as I had been webless for 2 weeks, he said "someone will call you", I asked "when?", he said "soon". Kind of what I expected, but here is the good part, he followed that up with "if it is not our fault, you will be charged 100 Dirhams ($37USD)" for the service call. I then asked him if the problem turns out to be on his company's end, will I receive the same 100 Dirhams from them for MY inconvenience caused by their slacker installers? There was a long silence and finally he said "That is not our policy."

So there you have it! I thought my logic was perfect....tit for tat, but that is not the way government utility monopolies operate here or anywhere for that matter, you gotta go along to get along. That was two days ago and I have yet to get the phone call that someone will be coming over to take care of the problem.

By the way, in case you are wondering how I am posting without internet service, I am pirating some anonymous stray WIFI signal from some other resident in my apartment complex. Many thanks to those who choose to have there networks unsecured, they are providing an invaluable service to folks like me!

Real Americana in Abu Dhabi

Today I stepped outside for a work break and immediately this beauty caught my eye. It is a 1955 Oldsmobile 98 four door sedan. It was in excellent shape. It had been recently painted as I caught a whiff of dying enamel as a did a brief walk-around. I noticed at the center of the vintage wide-whitewall tires were chrome hubcaps that were labelled "Chrysler" but they fit well and you couldn't tell 3 feet away anyway. I guess the real one were hard to get.

Surrounded by Kias, Toyotas, Hondas and Land Rovers, it looks as out of place in this Middle Eastern country as I do. It seemed as if as I was in the presence of a fellow countryman because these cars are so uniquely American.

These dinosaurs represent a time when Detroit Iron set the automotive world standard. General Motors, Ford and Chrysler were then industrial giants that dominated the American economy and were respected and feared. GM is now partly owned by Uncle Sam, Chrysler is owned by Fiat, but Ford is surprisingly doing relatively well on its own. Hell, they don't even make Oldsmobiles anymore, the brand was retired a few years ago. Oh, how the mighty have fallen!

American cars of that era were huge, powerful, fast, reliable, chrome encrusted tanks. They were the ultimate status symbol around the world. Kings and Sheiks drove them. Everyone wanted one!

No one back then in the U.S. would think about buying something foreign. Most imported cars were considered to be uncomfortable, ugly, underpowered machines that only ran properly during the full moon. Repairs and parts were impossible to obtain for them. That was a fact!

Besides VW Beetles, the only other imports that were readily available in America at that time seemed to be English sports cars that were usually owned by the weird old guy down the street. He never socialized with the neighbors because he was always working on the car to keep it running.

American cars seemed to run forever. They were crude and could be repaired with bailing wire and chewing gum. If needed, repairs and parts could be had at the corner gas station. They embodied the independent American culture and soul back then.

The reality now is that the foreign manufacturers have more than caught up in the auto biz. Compared to the modern stuff, these old American cars were unsafe, didn't handle well at all and didn't last more than 50,000 miles. Usually folks bought a new car annually because the body styles changed radically every year to "keep-up with the Joneses". The rollout of the new models in October every year was a big event in most communities. Planned obsolescence is also a Detroit invention.

I know that this post is not much about Abu Dhabi, but the reason I wrote it was that the 1955 Oldsmobile 98 pictured in the photo above was same year, make and model as the first car I remember my father owning. He had that Olds for many years and that car may have be responsible for my being a lifelong enthusiast of all things automotive. My eyes got misty when I saw that big old hunk of steel in the parking lot today!