During lunch the day of the dust/sand storm!

This is about the same view on a normal day..

Had a new experience this week:  sand and dust storm!!  Ok, so it wasn’t like in the movies where it comes as a wall of sand a thousand feet high with a snarling face but it did “roll in” across the gulf of all places!  Kind of ironic that the dust came from the water!  I know this because I sat at my desk and watched it roll in!  It resembled fog as it blocked out the light and visibility.  For any of you that have lived in the Midwest and have seen tornado weather, it was very similar to what it looks like when the weather is perfect for a tornado.  I walked to lunch that day which was without a doubt a mistake!  I was, yet again, thankful for the “farm boy” in me that insists on having a bandana in my back pocket at all times!  On my way back to the office I probably looked a bit like a “dandy bandit” with my dress shirt, jacket, bow tie and bandana around my face!!!  I’ll leave that for your mental picture.  Just breathing was tough and I’m absolutely sure it was equally bad for my lungs too!  I coughed for a couple hours after getting back into the office.  When we left work that evening I was reminded of winters in the Midwest and how an early light snowfall looked at night.  The lights had halos around them, there was drifting as the wind blew the dust around and there was a layer of dirt all over my nice clean car!  The next day though the air was clear and it was back to normal.  I’m just happy it didn’t rain that day!  One of the guys I work with was in Jeddah when it rained MUD!  There was so much dust and dirt in the air that by the time the rain drops got to ground it had become glops of mud!!  Yuck!  He said it was really nasty.

This is week 14 of my 2 year commitment….it’s going OK.  Honestly at this point I’m not able to say whether or not I’d re-up at the end.  There are good things but there is so much that has to be given up when living in Saudi.  Things we take for granted every day at home.  I think I told you before but I bought a candle for my apartment and it took me 2 weeks to find a lighter (never did find matches!) so I could use it!  I really miss the civilized driving in LA though!!  Until you’ve driven here you’ll think I’m totally nuts so just take my word for it!!  I’m getting used to driving the wrong way on a one-way, not stopping at stop signs, crossing lanes (all of them!) without using a signal, honking and pretty much parking just wherever I feel like it!!  I’ll have to amend my ways when I get back to the States!

I was at a very large hardware store last Saturday and saw somethings I’d never seen before.  Like the boxes of inflatable spas and pools where someone had been given the task of taking a black marker and “putting cloths” on the bikini clad women in the pictures!  There were short sleeves and long sleeves…. (see photo below)  But then there are some really advanced and modern bath tubs and showers!  Thought I’d taken a picture of this one shower unit but I guess I didn’t.  It was incredible!  Picture a half-round enclosure with radiused glass doors that slide on tracks.  This shower had color changing LED lighting, multiple shower heads, steam ports, seating for 3 (!) with rotating back scrubbers and on one side of the enclosure a powered foot scrubber but the best of all…..this thing had a waterproof TV and sound system in it!!  That thing was like a spa vacation in a box! I think the only missing items would be an espresso machine and refrigerator!!  I’m already accused of spending too much time in the bathroom…..can you imagine if I had one of these??  I might have to quit my job!

I think that every day I have at least one “…wow, look at that…” moment!  I’m not judging!  It’s just that I’d never thought of whatever it is in that way.  Here is an example: I see many people just open the window of their car and chuck out trash, this on a daily basis!  At first I was appalled and could not believe the total lack of care for the environment or how the roads look.  Then, I was informed that IF people didn’t toss trash on the road all the East Indian guys with brooms and buckets would not have jobs.  See what I mean?  Different perspective!  Ok, so I still take my trash into the apartment or office to discard but I sort of get it now and try not to be as offended.

High tech bathtub!

Look closely at the picture of the lady on this box….

Did I tell you about the practice of tipping here?  Well, there really isn’t one.  That said, I tip and when I go back to places where I eat and tip I’m treated extremely well!  So much different here than in the States where if you don’t leave 20 to 25% you might get spit in your dinner!!  Here 10% gets you the “royal” treatment!  Some of the service workers only make about 50 riyal a day.  That’s about $13!  So when I leave 10 or 15 riyals for a tip it makes a huge difference in that persons income.  Trust me, I have NEVER felt wealthy, ever, but living here has made me at least feel extremely fortunate, a feeling I hope to maintain even after I’ve been back home for a while.  We really are extremely fortunate living in the US.  I won’t get onto a political platform so you can relax now!!

Time to take a shower and get ready to go to dinner with a couple of the guys I work with.  We’ll either do Thai at a total “hole-in-the-wall” or Outback Steakhouse.  We were supposed to have dinner with our Scottish friend but he fortunately was able to get out of the country and home for a couple of weeks.  He has been having major visa and passport issues.  Last week we heard his passport had been taken by the police and he was in danger of getting put in jail for 90 days as well as a 10,000 riyal ($2,665) fine followed by being banned from working in the Kingdom!!  I’m very happy to know that as I write this he will be at home in Scotland and with his wife!

Have a good weekend!  More later…..

Oh, have to tell you this before I forget!  I took a drive into a part of the Eastern Province I’d never been to this morning after my run at the beach.  I came across a crew of construction guys digging up a busted water line in the street.  It was pretty much the same as you’d see at home; one guy sitting on a backhoe, one guy in the hole with a shovel digging and 4 guys standing around doing nothing.  Again, typical road crew at home.  The difference…..they were wearing utility company issued uniforms, gloves, hardhats and….wait for it…..wait….. sandals!!!  Ok, that was it….gotta go now.

I just realized that it’s been over a month since I last made an entry!  It’s been busy and I’ve been in the States for a good chunk of that time.  I left for my first trip home on October 2nd.  The flights out of Dammam are rather limited so I was on one that left at 4:30am.  I thought that I’d go to work on Oct 1st, go back to the apartment and get some sleep then have my ride pick me up about 1:30am.  Since my departure day was also the beginning of Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) and Eid (week long holiday) the transportation department at work insisted that I get to the airport no later than 11:30pm on the 1st.  I didn’t know this until I got to work that day so hadn’t planned to be up for 3 days straight!  The airport wasn’t as busy as I think they thought it was going to be but it did still take me about 2 hours to get checked in and through customs and security.  I’m also the type of person that HATES to be “cutting it close” when it comes to air travel.  The Dammam airport really doesn’t have much to do while waiting for flights in the middle of the night!  I bought a cheese sandwich, diet Pepsi and read my book.  My flight from Dammam to Dubai (about 1 hour and 15 minutes) was mostly uneventful except for the guy in the middle seat next to me that apparently felt that at least part of my seat belonged to him as well!  What a jerk!!  Thank goodness the flight was so short and he wasn’t on my 18 hour flight to LA!!  I would probably have been arrested when we landed!  Once we got to Dubai the sun was up and it was a beautiful day.  The first thing I noticed when I got off the plane were women without coverings!!  Woohoo…..  In my time here I’ve learned to avoid looking in the general direction of women but the occasional really nice pair of shoes will catch my eye!  I think I just walked into the terminal and stood there for a few minutes just looking around.  The next thing that struck me was that the terminal was TOTALLY packed with people!!  I’ve been to busy airports before and I’ve been to Dubai before and never have I seen this many people packed in.  It was difficult to walk.  I ended up asking someone working in one of the stores what was going on and he told me that this particular day happens once a year and everything, EVERYTHING in the shops is 20% off.  That includes everything from candy bars to watches costing tens of thousands of dollars!!  I was in line behind a very tall (probably 6′-3″) beautiful blond woman who was shopping for perfume and bought just under $3000 USD in that single purchase!!  I made a comment about her really liking the Tom Ford line of perfume and she told me that she does this every year because it’s the cheapest you’ll ever find Tom Ford.  Ok, I get that, but $3000 really??!!  She had several other bags so based on what I saw I can only imagine how many thousands she had spent!  I’m guessing that day sees sales at the Dubai airport in the millions!

So, after eventually making my way through the terminal to my connecting gate I pleasantly found out the plane was about half full!!  And this is how I think…..if it’s half full they must have available seats in Business and First Class, so really, how much would an upgrade cost?!  I’m thinking that getting a couple hundred is better than having those seats empty….yeah?  Oh no!  For me to upgrade it was going to be just under $3000!!!  I admit that I’m now a snob when it comes to sitting in coach or economy as they call it when it’s an international flight but even I won’t consider paying that much for more room and better food!  In retrospect maybe I should have!  I’ll get to that in a bit.  Anyway, I get on and take my “economy” seat.  At least I’m on the aisle with an aisle behind my seat as well.  I learned on my flight over that this is a very good seat to be in as one can stand behind and still have headphones connected and watch movies.  I would have had a row to myself if some guy hadn’t decided to take the seat at the other end of the row.  There went my chance to lay down! I would have asked that he move but I’m much to timid or nice to do that.  Surprisingly I was not as tired as I should have been so I started out watching movies.  Actually I started ready my book but once we got off the ground and all the announcements were done then I started watching movies.  Don’t ask me what movies I watched….I have no idea and I started to try to remember but decided that it wasn’t worth the effort because most likely you don’t really care anyway!

The flight from Dubai to LAX was just over 18 hours and it went pretty well.  I met a 12 year old kid from India that just competed in a Rubic’s Cube contest.  He was the youngest there though he didn’t win.  I asked him about how long he’s been doing the “cube” and he said about a year.  The flight attendant then asked him how long his average time was for solving the “cube” and he told us it was around….get this….40 seconds!!  To which she promptly said what I was thinking….show us!  He handed it to her and she twisted and turned until it looked thoroughly mixed up and handed it back.  The kid then looked at all 6 sides then looked up and said he was ready.  The flight attendant said “go” and his fingers took off in a blur.  Several times during his maneuvering of the cube he was looking at us and not at the cube!!  38 seconds later and it’s done!  Wow!  I told the kid’s mother that I had solved the cube once when I was young.  The middle white block is a sticker that covers a screw holding it all together…..I took the screw out and put it back together the put the screw back in.  So, which of us is the most impressive; me or the 12 year old that followed the rules??  Don’t respond – I don’t really want to know what you think!!  Hahaha…

Here comes the part about why I maybe should have considered paying $2.77/minute.  About 3 to 4 hours before we got to LA I started to notice that my left leg was beginning to hurt.  Yup, you guessed it – blood clots!  You know, those things that can kill you and they are always telling you to make sure you avoid when on long flights!  The frustrating part is that I was up walking around, standing, stretching – I even used the restroom at the top of the stairs just so I could go up and down stairs!  My first week at home had me in my doctor’s office twice, at an imaging center and then the pharmacy.  Before I came back I was at the doctor 5 times!  Now I’m on blood thinner most likely for the rest of my life!  It really sucks to get old!  I’m now on this drug called Xarelto (rivaroxaban).  The first 3 weeks of the prescription was $535!  Thank goodness for insurance!!  I brought back a 90 day supply because that’s how long I’m going to be here before I can get back and get more.  The tablets are small but look like little orange Ninja throwing stars and in some ways are just as dangerous.  Apparently the “downside” to this drug is there is no way to counteract its effect.  So if I’m in an accident and I’m bleeding the only way to keep me from bleeding out is to continuously transfuse until this drug is flushed from my system!  Now I’m afraid of a paper cut!  Or at least I was until this afternoon when I got one!  It only took about 10 minutes to stop bleeding!!  Woohoo….I’m alive!

I had a great time at home overall.  Got to see friends and hang out and get paid for it too!!  Of course there were stresses but I won’t bore you with those!

Now I’m back in Saudi and just completed my first full week back.  Only 11 to go before I get to come home again!!  The weather is actually about perfect here now; upper 80’s to low 90’s during the day and mid 70’s at night.  Of course there is the sun though I did experience a cloud this afternoon while sleeping by the pool!  Must be fall!!

This post will be mostly photos with captions, assuming the photo upload link is working tonight!

There are lots of things I’ve noticed about the construction here and the “way things are done” compared how things are done in the States.  One major difference I’ve discovered here is that at home the majority of the cost of a construction project is labor, somewhere around 60 to 75% of a project depending on the level of finishes, difficulty, AHJ (Agency Having Jurisdiction), distance to a major city, availability of skilled labor, etc.  The major cost of construction here is material.  Labor is extremely inexpensive so what you’ll typically see when a project is starting to get behind schedule is the addition of labor.  I got to visit a project that was on an extremely accelerated schedule in Jeddah when I first got to the Kingdom.  I don’t have the exact numbers but the project at that time was contained on one floor and about 40 rooms.  For that portion of the project there were over 400 laborers!  Yet, work was being done!  I’m not sure how with an average of 10 workers per room!  That’s just how it works here.

ADA ramps are a bit different here!

This is one of the stair treads in an Exit stair at the office….it’s been on the “snag list”, known at home as the “punch list”, since before the building was opened! The level of finish is high but the follow-through not so much!

There are lots of little “details” that never seem to get completed or resolved.

I really didn’t think you could buy these anymore!! I almost bought a bunch but then had to admit that I’d never use them.

The following is a series of different types of toilets and toilet type devices in the hotel I staying in originally when I got here. I think this is for foot washing prior to prayer.

This is a “bidet” style toilet it just happens to be basically a “hole-in-the-floor!

Just your “almost” average floor mounted toilet!  Did you notice the tile behind?  They look different.  Well this particular toilet has a tank mounted inside the wall!

A urinal with a lid!!

This is a shower in my apartment…..I still think it’s the smallest shower I’ve ever seen!! What you can’t see in this photos is the faucet…..one would almost have to be sitting on it to take a shower!!

Goodnight!  Must get up at 5 tomorrow, Sunday, to start my new and short week!!  Going home this week and quite ready to do so!!

On a daily basis there are things that cross my mind about the differences between here and home.  There isn’t really a theme so bear with me!

• Paper products here are not at all what we have in the States.  Kleenex type tissue is placed on tables in restaurants often instead of napkins.  At least they are unscented!!
• Toilet paper comes on really large paperboard rolls so the amount of actual toilet paper is not a lot.  This must have some direct correlation to the sprayer and hose found beside every toilet here.
• On parking attitude: “…if there is half a space between cars it’s enough for me. Who cares if half my car is still in the street!”
• The major streets here are usually boulevards which means there is a center median so not only does one have to watch for cars turning in front of you, overtaking you from behind, you also have to watch out for the ones heading at you on the wrong side of the road because it’s a shorter distance than to the next U-turn!
• Grilled tomatoes are VERY popular here!  I have a hard time with them because of the texture and usually can’t eat them.
• Ketchup is served with just about everything!!  I’m pretty sure that if I ordered a doughnut and coffee it will come with 2 packets of ketchup!!  I often get chicken and rice for lunch and yes, it comes with ketchup!  I have yet to use the ketchup.
• Coffee is a very big deal here but the coffee in the office is instant, not even drip!
• Gas here is 42 cents per gallon!!  And it’s full service!!
• There is so much construction happening here!  It’s not fast but it’s everywhere you look!
• I finally found a laundry/dry cleaner: shirts and pants are $0.80/each!! And they do them in 24 hrs.
• The mall I live above has these wonderful dress boutiques with incredibly beautiful long dresses but I have not seen a woman wearing anything but an abaya.  So where do the dresses get worn?
• Apparently it’s only Americans that tip
• There is only one holiday in Saudi that is not religious; that is today, Saudi National Day.
• The streets remind me of Vegas; there is dirt and debris.  I think it’s a desert thing.  There is almost never any rain to clean everything.  I might actually be starting to miss the rain a bit!
• Some things are really inexpensive here; a bottle of water is about $0.27 but a bottle of contact solution less than half the size of the standard water bottle is about $9.00!  I’m bringing a couple bottles back with me!
• Apparently one does not require a prescription for medications here!  Just walk into the Pharmacy and ask for what you need/want!  I can’t believe that’s true for the serious stuff though I haven’t tried nor will I!
• I can’t find dryer sheets….you know the softener things
• At work there are guys who do nothing but clean the restrooms on our floor!  Every floor has this.  They are always there…..at least they don’t hand you the paper to dry your hands and then expect a tip like they do in some restaurants in the States!!  I’d go broke just paying off the paper guy!
• It’s very strange to see construction workers wearing sandals and a hardhat!
• I bought an expensive candle for my apartment but they didn’t have matches or a lighter.  It took me 2 weeks to find a place that sold lighters!  What I don’t understand – lots of people smoke here, I’ve only seen cigarettes sold in one store and why is it so hard to find a lighter or matches?  It’s nice to have a nice smelling candle.

Good night.  Time for me to go to bed….

Well, that is definitely another lesson learned this week!!  I just typed for about 40 minutes on a post only to have it gone when I came back to finish it!!  Now I have to start over and that stinks because it was a really good one!  I’ll never be as witty the second time around!!  Lesson learned:  save, save, save!!

Let’s try this again!  Tomorrow will be 6 weeks for me here!  Time is starting to go pretty fast (thank goodness!) now that I have a routine.  It goes something like this:  get up at 5am, make coffee, drink coffee, make more coffee, drink more coffee, shave, check email from the night when you all are up and I’m sleeping, make more coffee, drink more coffee, put in contacts, shower, dry, dress, pack up and leave for work about 6.  Work 12 hours, pack up and go back to the apartment where I either fix a sad little dinner or go down to the mall.  Then it’s back to the apartment to watch a movie on Netflix or read a book on my iPad, either way I’ll most likely fall asleep in the middle of each.  Wake up with a stiff neck, get up go to bed and repeat the next day!  Last weekend was really exciting, I polished 3 pairs of shoes and my cowboy boots!  Oh, I ran on the Corniche where I only saw 5 people other than myself and a kitten.  By the way, it’s so hot here that even the cats pant! Back to the apartment where I do things like laundry, dishes and read or watch movies.  I did meet a guy at the pool last Saturday.  He is a Brit living in Scottland.  He and his wife just got married in March and guess where…..VEGAS!  They actually had Elvis marry them!  He told me they flew the whole family over to Vegas for the wedding and none of them had ever been there before!  They loved it!  Anyway, he took me to a Thai place for dinner and it was the best meal I’ve had here so far!  The place was a hole-in-the-wall and I would have never found it if not for Tony.  I’m hoping to go there for dinner again this weekend.

This week I became a bit of a celebrity in the office!  I’m betting you want to know how.  I have been parking my car in pretty much the same spot for the past almost 4 weeks now.  So Sunday after work I go out to my car and find a yellow piece of paper under the wiper.  I can only assume it’s one thing – a parking ticket!  I don’t REALLY know if it’s a parking ticket because it’s all in Arabic so other than a few numbers I can’t read any of it.  Monday I take it into work with me to ask one of the Saudis to tell me what it is.  He was like, “wow….where did you get this?!”  Apparently no one I work with has ever seen one much less received one!  Remember my comments about the driving?  Well, the parking is even worse!!  It is not at all uncommon for cars to be “triple parked”.  Cars will be parked IN the traffic lane so that everyone has to pull out to go around the parked car!  I’ve seen cars parked on sidewalks, in yards, diagonal in parallel spots, parallel in diagonal spots, you name it I’ve seen it here!  I’ve got to take pictures of some of these things….it’s crazy!  Anyway, any of you that know me well know that I’m a bit, mmmm, obsessed, with doing things the “right” way.  So now please explain to me why I get a ticket!  I’m parked about as perfectly parallel to the curb as one can possibly be!  I’m completely out of the traffic lane with the perfect amount of space between me and the cars in front and behind.  So do I get a ticket because I’m too perfectly parked??!!  Anyway, the ticket is SAR150, that’s $40!  Now my biggest challenge is trying to figure out how and where to pay it.  $40 is about what it costs in Los Angeles!  This is Saudi Arabia!  There are many people here that don’t make that in a week!  Like the guy that washes my car 3 times a week for SR100/month – that’s $27.00/mo!  Some things just don’t make sense!

Alright, it’s after 11pm here so I’m going to bed.  Will try to write more this weekend.

This will be short but I had to tell you.  On the road that I take to get to work they are doing LOTS of construction so basically it is closed to through traffic and all cars are diverted around the construction.  Just before the diversion there is a U-turn lane separated by the concrete “Jersey Barriers”.  I take this U-turn to get back to the office.  Okay, so Monday I get in the U-turn lane behind a silver SUV.  There are a lot of cars lined up to make this turn and it’s worse this week because the schools are now back in session.  So I’m inching forward and just before the concrete barriers this black, Chevy Suburban slides up along side the SUV in front of me and starts to “push” his way into the turn lane in front of the car ahead of me.  The guy in the black car keeps getting closer and closer but the other car won’t back off and let him in.  The black car guy is now so close he sticks his arm out of his window and pounds on the hood of the car next to him which, you guessed it, only makes this driver even more determined to not let him in!  At this point I’m probably sitting in my car with my mouth open wondering just what in the world is going to happen right in front of me.  Now these are both Saudi’s and I can tell because they are both wearing the white robes and checkered head gear.  The guy in the black car is now so mad that he literally uses his car to push the other slightly smaller SUV out of his way and pulls in front to make the U-turn!!!  Both guys are hanging out of their windows yelling and swinging their fists in the air but neither stop and both complete the turn and roar off in the same direction!!  I can’t see what happened to the silver SUV but the side of the black one is all scratched and dented now!  I’m thinking, wow, did this really happen??!!  For me at this point the smart thing is to hang back and stay away from both of these guys!  As crazy as this was what really made me mad is that the guy in the black car had his kids in the back with him!!!  What kind of example is this to children??!!  No wonder there are so many terrible drivers here!!

Now let’s fast forward to Tuesday morning….same time, same place.  I’m in the U-turn lane and guess what I see coming up on my right from behind!!!  Yup!  The very same SUV from Monday!  Same guy, same attitude!  Thank goodness when I see this I have just passed the concrete barriers so there is no way this guy can bully himself in front of me at this point.  Now if he had been there a few seconds early and tried, I would have gladly backed off and let him in because we have already established this guy is certifiably nuts!  Anyway, I’m now fascinated and so I slow down and watch the same guy do the exact same thing with the car behind me!!!  He reaches out, pounds on the hood then gets so close the other car’s rear-view mirror gets mashed off and who knows what else may have happened!!  Also, kids in the car again!!  WOW….

Double fast forward to this morning…..I’m getting ready to pull into the U-turn lane and guess who I see!!  Oh, you’re getting good now!  Yup, same psycho from the past 2 mornings…..I do the smart thing this time, I pull out of the turn lane and go another half mile to a different U-turn and get to work just fine!!  I’m driving a company car, not yet a month old with under 1000km….no way am I risking the hassle of battle with Mr. Road Rage!

By the way, we were told in our Defensive Driving class that to get bodywork on a car repaired here in Saudi you MUST be possession of an accident filing/report by the Insurance Police.  Without that report NO one will touch a car!  If they do, they can be put in prison, deported or fined heavily and have their business shut down!  So this tells me the aggressor in this story just really doesn’t care about himself, his kids, his car or anyone else for that matter!

I need to find a new route to work!!

After my trips to the meat counters at the 2 grocery stores I’ve been to I decided that I was going to try something with an “exotic” meat!  I went to the store that is below my apartment with the intention of getting a rabbit (Easter Bunny) to make a “coney stew”.  Imagine my disappointment when I discovered they were out of rabbits!!  Since I am here alone I decided that a whole goat might be a little over the top so I settled for……(drum roll!)…..Camel!  Yup, that one or two humped furry thing that wonders the deserts here!

Being a typical guy, I refused to look up recipes for camel and decided to “hump” it!!  Hahaha…The term “wing it” just didn’t seem appropriate for camel meat!  I bought the smallest package they had in the case just in case it tasted awful but, you know, I’m here and it’s a local thing so….  I also bought more potatoes, onions, garlic, broccoli and some spices.  I had fresh green beans in the refer already.  So I made a really midwestern version of camel.  Onions, garlic, potatoes and meat.  Really had to cook the daylights out of it to make it tender enough to chew so after maybe 3 hours in the pot I couldn’t wait any longer!  Sat down to my camel stew about 9:30 last night.  Ok, maybe it was the spices or just maybe I’m an awesome cook but it tastes great!!  Whew, success and dinners for 2 more nights!

My track record at the grocery is not very good.  I seem to get to the checkout lane just as they close for afternoon or evening prayer so then I’m stuck wondering around in the store for at least another half hour waiting for them to reopen the checkout.  I even have an app on my iPhone that tells me exactly what time all the prayers are and I still get caught.  Ugh, today I promise myself that I won’t let that happen!

I’m going to checkout a couple of places over by the Corniche.  The Jafir Bookstore, a clothing store and a cafe.  Probably spend too much money again on stuff I really don’t need.  The bookstore is very well known here and has far more than just books.  I think this store is 5 or 6 levels and has just about anything you can imagine.

Other than that for an outing today, I don’t have much planned.  I really do need to get my expenses submitted so I can get all the money back that I’ve had to spend over the past 4 weeks+.  I also have to finish dishes and laundry.  Maybe then I’ll have time to watch another movie tonight…..  I thought about getting a room in Bahrain for Friday night but found out that I’m not currently allowed to take my car across the causeway.  So much for that idea!  I’ve now applied for the paperwork to cross over.  Maybe I’ll get to go over there this coming weekend.  So this has been another weekend pretty much sitting in my apartment reading, eating, drinking WAY too much coffee and web-surfing.  I’m getting tired of all of those things so next weekend if I don’t go to Bahrain I think I’ll go see about renting a Harley and riding around!  Maybe this afternoon I’ll go to the dealership and buy another tee shirt I don’t need!!  Off to explore…..

My camel meat!!  I wonder what the “FRESH” means; or maybe I shouldn’t ask!  So you might think that 22.42 is a lot to spend on a little camel meat….don’t forget, that is Saudi Riyals so divide by 3.75 and you get US dollars.

Success…..it’s camel stew!

I am completing my 4th week in Kingdom tomorrow and have to admit that I’m starting to get used to most of the differences between here and home.

This post will be mostly unrelated thoughts and observations of what I notice from day to day or what has been happening.

Wednesday at work we had 2 full fire alarms.  Both were “false alarms” but only because there wasn’t actually a fire.  What tripped the alarm were broken sprinkler pipes or heads.  Evidently these are just breaking off rather randomly and once the water starts to flow it triggers the fire alarm.  I know at home we always kind of enjoyed the chance to get out of the building and stand around talking for a while.  Here though….not so much!!  The first alarm happened about 10am.  So remember that I work on the 9th floor which because of parking levels and a mezzanine level I’m actually 13 floors up!  The stair is NOT air-conditioned and there are over 1000 working in the building.  The stair is also at the very minimum width per code (I think it’s less than code but it’s hard to prove) so you can’t really go down the stairs 2 abreast.  I think it took about 10 minutes to actually get to the ground floor.  And if you know much about codes…..the Exit stairs only open INTO the lobby!!!  Not to the “public way”!!  Go figure!  Any way, once I finally got to the ground floor we exit the building and head to our assembly location which is 2 blocks away in a dirt parking lot.  Oh, it’s also about 100 degrees out, humidity is in the 80% range and the sun in blazing.  I’m in my “signature” bow tie and dress shirt and sweating like a race horse at the end of the Kentucky Derby!!  Since I’m a “farm boy” I just happen to have a bandana in my back pocket which I use to mop the sweat from my bald head and then wear like a hat.  Believe it or not….it helps!  So there are about 1000 sweating men standing around in the sun in a dirt parking lot for about 30 minutes!  They finally tell us we can go back so now we all trudge back to the lobby.  There aren’t that many elevators in the building so think about several hundred, hot, sweaty, smelly men trying to get packed into elevators that are no more than 4′ x 6′ to get back to the upper floors!!  I took the stairs back up!!  Yeah, it was hot and I was panting like a dog when I got back to me desk but at least I didn’t have to pack into an elevator with guys oozing garlic and curry from every pore!!  I’m a white guy from the Midwest, I need my personal space!  Besides, taking the stairs is about the extent of my exercise since I’ve been in Kingdom.

Fire Alarm #2 came about 3pm…..now it’s about 111 degrees!  Same story just more sweat this time!

Something else that I’ve noticed here.  More often than not when a building has outlived it’s usefulness it is often just abandoned, not demolished and a new building is built right next to it.  I can sort of understand this as there are hundreds of miles of undeveloped desert out there so the city seems to be “moving” to the West over time.  Oh, and the new buildings…..well, they never seem to actually get completed!  More about that phenomenon in a future post.

It’s Friday morning here, Holy Day, so most businesses are closed if not for the whole day at least until after afternoon prayer.  I woke up bright and early at 5am feeling rested and anxious to do something different today.  So I got up, got ready and drove down to the Corniche (the beach) for a run.  I got there about 6:15am and it’s already 92 degrees and humid again.  But I’m determined.  This will be my first run in over a month and I’m not going to let a little heat and moisture take that away from me!  I’m thinking, it’s Holy Day so I should have the beach to myself.  Wrong!  Not even 6:30 in the morning and there are already families on blankets having picnics!!  The place is really busy.  There are lots of Eastern expats fishing using poles and cast nets.  And apparently they are catching fish!  So I take off on my run.  I get out about a mile or so and decide….enough!  Turn around and head back to the car.  Hey, at least I ran!!  Maybe I’ll try it again tomorrow only earlier!  Say around 5 am.

Here are some photos of misc stuff…..

Fire alarm evacuation #2….heading to the assembly location. Most of us just stood in the shade of the building until they told us we could go back.

On my way to work this week. Looks like I’m taking this selfie in a mirror doesn’t it? It’s the elevator door in the apartment building! They keep things very shinny here! snacks in the plastic bag….

I had to take a picture of this mural. This is in the Hardee’s/Carl’s Jr. across the street from the office where I work. Just a little reminder of home!!

This is the Jacobs ZATE building. We have the entire space except for the car dealership on the street level in front. It’s a very nice building but it was designed for apartments not office space. There is a pool on the roof – empty though and they are going to fill it in and make an outdoor lounge/lunch room. I’d rather they fill the pool with water and let us use it!

First of three photos looking North out of the window on my floor at the office. Kind of a panorama series….
The Gulf is on the far right in this picture.

Looking pretty much due North.

Looking Northeast…. Basically into the desert beyond the city.

My new car! Not the upper end model but hey, who can complain?? It’s paid for and costs me nothing to use for the 2 years that I’m here. I even pay an East Indian guy to wash it 3 times a week. He does this for SAR100/month. That’s $26.67 USD or $2.22/wash! Wouldn’t it be great to get that kind of service in the States?!

So I thought that I should do a bit on the food here.  When I was staying at the Le Meridien Hotel I always ate in the dining room where they had a buffet for each meal.  I’m not a huge fan of the buffet usually but the food they regularly had out was for the most part pretty amazing.  The breakfast buffet had everything from cook to order omelets and scrambles, there were several types of meats, cold salads, steamed and sauteed vegetables, pastries by the ton, many fresh-like juices, hummus, dates, fresh fruits, cheeses, lunch meats, breads, oatmeal, espresso, etc.  I could always get a quick, fresh and relatively healthy breakfast while I waited for my driver each morning.  The did not have bacon or pork sausage.  There was something they called “sausage” but it was really nothing more than chicken hot dogs!  And there was a warmer with “beef bacon”.  Now neither of these tasted anything like the real thing but I ate it anyway.  My typical breakfast would cost me 110SR which equates to about $30.  Seems steep to me but I was pretty much a captive without choices.

The dinners were themed each night and cost 175SR ($47) plus anything to drink, even water!  Again, the food was really good.  I would always leave a tip which I found out is very rare here.  This would also explain why the waiters were always REALLY friendly and always hovering around my table!  Because of the disparity of wages here it is quite possible that my tips were more than what these guys would actually earn that day!  Compensation is a subject I’ll address in another posting.

Now, I knew this was going to be true but had kind of forgotten just how prevalent American fast food is here in Kingdom.  As we would leave the hotel for the office we would pass the following restaurants within 1 mile!

• Starbucks
• Chili’s
• Red Robin
• Taco Bell
• McDonalds
• Burger King
• Fat Burger
• Domino’s
• Pizza Hut
• Red Lobster
• KFC
• Hardee’s
• Tony Roma’s
• Applebee’s
• TGI Friday’s
• Carl’s Jr
• Subway

What I determined is that I can eat just as poorly here as I could in the States….maybe even worse here!!  I try to not eat fast food but for lunch fast food is about my only option within walking distance.  If I were motivated I would buy stuff and make my lunches…..if I were motivated!  So I typically get as good a lunch as possible across the highway (via a pedestrian bridge) as I can get.  Maybe if I can get a parking space in the garage at work then I’ll drive to lunch somewhere once in a while.

Since I’m living in an apartment over a shopping mall I go to this store called Carrefour.  It’s definitely NOT gourmet but it does have the basics of everyday necessity.  It very much reminds me of a Walmart superstore…..it has about everything.  Convenient for sure, as all I do is get in the elevator on level 3 where my apartment is and get off on 1 and walk right into the mall and Carrefour!  I’ve already spent quite a lot of money there getting food and apartment basics.  It is definitely Middle Eastern!  I was there last night after the 7:49pm prayers and watched the butcher carve up a whole goat starting with removing the head!  By the time he was finished there really didn’t seem to be all that much meat.  There was a lot of fat! There won’t be any pictures of that little episode.

Tang! Haven’t seen this since I was a kid! Apparently it now comes in 2 flavors!

After watching that show I ended up walking by a freezer case and found all kinds of exotic (in my opinion) meats.  Rabbit, Quail, Duck, Pigeon to name a few.  There is also a very good fresh fish selection but all the fish are whole and not gutted.  I’m not an experienced cleaner of fish so I think I’ll not try that out for a while.  Plus the prices are very high.  They do look very good….if you don’t mind having your dinner look back at you!

Tonight I went to Fuddrucker’s for dinner and had a burger and fries with a Diet Pepsi.  The burger was very tasty, the fries lousy and the diet lacking.  I don’t know what it is but the soft drinks here are not at all what you would expect to get in the States.

I love coffee and drink it every day however, coffee here….is instant!!  They also don’t sell, at least that I’ve seen, half and half but instead use condensed milk.  I’ve gotten used to the taste.  I did spoil myself tonight and on the way back to my apartment bought a Nespresso coffee machine!  Now I can make “real” coffee!!  I just couldn’t face instant all the time!!

I’ll try to load some pictures of some of the things I mentioned….we’ll see how that works.  The photo upload hasn’t been working well lately.

Quail eggs….now, really, what do you do with these?! These things are tiny! I almost bought them just to try.

Just a portion of the fresh fish…..

Look closely….Quail….tastes like chicken!

No respect for the Easter Bunny here!!

So there really is something pigeons are good for!! Not that I’m too anxious to try them.

I woke up early this morning after a pretty good night’s sleep.  I was told that to get a decent parking space one needs to be at the office by 6:30am.  So in order to snag a good one I pulled out of the garage about 6:15…..promptly made a wrong turn and got lost!  I usually have this great sense of direction maybe from growing up in the country.  But for some reason I get really turned around here.  You should also know that the apartment is so close to work I can see the buildings from the office!  I don’t even think it’s even 2 miles!  Anyway I somehow drove past the office and ended up finding it by accident.  I’ll do better tomorrow!

Work was better today.  I actually have something productive to do now and it feels good to actually be making a contribution.  Tomorrow I have several meetings so it now feels like I’m starting to get into the swing of the office.

Until tomorrow, the building design portion of the office has been located by discipline but tomorrow that changes.  We will be moved into teams by project.  So the architects and engineers will be sitting in the same area.  I think that will be a better way to increase the inter-team communication and ultimately improve projects.  With this coming move I will now have occupied 4 desks in 8 days!  Oh, and there is also a chance that I might be going back over to Jeddah again for about a month!  I just got back from Jeddah!  I’m also completely unpacked and have purchased stuff for the apartment….what am I going to do with all my stuff if I have to go over there again?!

I think it’s time to go to bed now.  Have to get up at 4:45 so I can get a good parking place again tomorrow!

And by-the-way….it was over 100 degrees today with humidity in the 80% range!!  I walked out of the office tonight and it was like hitting a wet wall.  I could even feel it in my lungs when i breathed!

Good night all…..more later.