Locally...

This is not the first time "toy pistols" have been used to commit a crime... No need to play "guess the nationality," as the gang involved in the "gold heist" was "comprised of two Yemenis, three Bangladeshis, one Sudanese and a Somali." The "leader of the gang reportedly admitted committing the crime and led the police to all his accomplices."

I am always just a bit fascinated that whatever the crime and whoever is involved readily admits to it. I think I discovered why, yesterday, when I learned about an incident that took place several years ago. Am I the only person that didn't know about Bill Sampson? I do not ever recall hearing about any of this on the news or reading about it in the papers - before we got here - or after we got here. What are the chances that I can find his book in our library, here, or at our local bookstore? Slim to none...

Women do drive here, occasionally. It is not legal to do so, yet [will it ever be?], but every once in a while you read about a woman getting behind the wheel of a car. "The woman was released after her guardian signed an undertaking that she would not repeat her action." Yep. That's how things are done, here, in the Sandbox. The woman is never held responsible for her actions; her guardian is.

True story: I got my first speeding ticket on our compound just weeks after we'd arrived. We had not yet purchased a vehicle and had a little rental car. Little. Little, as in the golf cart we had purchased [my DH had HIS priorities in order!] was bigger than the rental car. I was, at the time, still quite unfamiliar with my surroundings, couldn't read Arabic numbers [which is no excuse whatsoever because the speed limit signs are posted in Arabic numbers - big Arabic numbers - and in English numbers - small English numbers] and was pretty clueless as to just how fast 65 kilometers and hour is - or isn't. I left the house that morning in our little rental car and went to the store and on my way home got pulled over by our compound Security for speeding. The nice officer told me that I was going 71 kilometers and hour. Really? How could I possibly have been going that fast? Didn't seem, at the time, like I was pedaling any faster... [Picture one of those kiddie cars that you pedal - that was what we had for our rental!] Our compound Security is quite serious about making sure that we, us ex-pats, anyway, follow the speed limits. So I got a ticket. I had to return to our house where my DH was waiting for me and he said, "Did you get a newspaper?" To which I responded, "Yep. And a speeding ticket." He was not pleased. Why? Because it is HIM that gets in trouble for the speeding ticket; not me. The men are responsible on our compound for their wives actions. He knew he was going to get called into his manager's office to get "scolded" for MY speeding ticket. And he did... [My second speeding ticket, a couple of years ago, was much more serious - I refused to sign the ticket - and gave the nice Security officer a difficult time over it. My DH, who was out of the country for his job at the time, received an e-mail from his boss that he was to immediately report to the office because "his" actions were quite unacceptable. Only it wasn't "his" actions; I was the one responsible. DH was NOT pleased, to say the least.]

Let's see... What else is happening on my side of the world...

The authorities are going to make an effort to "rehabilitate beggars." Yeah. Good luck with that. We'll see how it goes. I, for one, am not expecting the practice to stop at any time in the near future. We keep getting promised that there will be a crackdown on the practice, but see nothing by way of results.

OOOOhhhh! This is sure to be the event of the season! One THOUSAND couples will be tying the knot in a "mass wedding." Nothing says intimate and romantic better than getting married along side of 1,999 of your closest friends, relatives and complete strangers.