New Printer

I tried so hard to keep the old printer alive. It conked out about a month ago - started making a really funny tick-tick-tick-tick-tick - it was constant - and nothing would print. Couldn't copy, couldn't scan, and couldn't download pictures. NO! The printer can't die. We have twelve printer cartridges for it that I brought back from the States [they are a lot less expensive in the States than they are here]. Somehow I got it up and running again after "fiddling" with it for a couple hours. I unplugged and replugged cords. I took the back off and stuck my hand in it to see if something was loose [probably not my brightest idea - I should have at least unplugged it first]. I took the cartridges out and reloaded them. I pulled at some flat white cable inside it. To be quite honest I am not really sure what it was that I did that got it back up and running again. Thought for sure we were all set. That it would live at least long enough to use the ink cartridges we have. Nope. It was not to be. The printer died again and nothing I did could get it to work again. DH couldn't fix it. Nothing we did was going to make it work. Tick-tick-tick-tick-tick.

This morning DH and I went downtown to our "electronics superstore." Both of us were skeptical that we'd be able to find a 110 volt printer in a country that is wired for 220 volt. Our compound was built by Westerners and thus we are probably the ONLY place over here in the Sandbox that uses 110 volt electrical outlets. I think was a good idea in some ways, but not such a great idea in other ways. You cannot find appliances - like vacuums or food processors with 110 volt cords, here, they all come with 220 volt cords. However, all of the appliances we had in the States, are usable, here, since it is wired for 110. So it is both a good and not so good thing.

We got to eXtra and the parking lot was packed. Good grief - what's going on here? A sale or something? I don't ever remember seeing the store so busy. We go in, go straight to the printers and took a quick look at our choices. I so wanted to find a printer that takes the ink cartridges that we already have! Nope. Not a single printer there took the same cartridges. But of course, right?!? We had to hunt for a salesman - there are plenty of them working there - but they are all busy. Finally find a guy to help us and ask him what the power cord is - and if it is like our TV, which we got there, and can use either the 110 volt cord or a 220 volt cord. Did the guy have a clue what we were talking about? Nope. His English was the most basic - we had a communication problem. He had to go ask someone else. I am not faulting him for not being able to speak English. This is after all an Arabic-speaking country. I suspect that if so many people here did not speak English then we would be speaking fluent Arabic by now. When you are forced to communicate that way - by immersion - you have no choice but to learn the language. I've taken three Arabic classes and my Arabic is as basic as basic can get. The salesman says that the printers are all 220 volt cords. Great. A new printer waits until we go to the States and gets packed in a suitcase and brought back with us...

As we were about to leave, I looked at the side of a box. It says "This appliance is fitted with a 220V SASO Approved plug. The customer is entitled to a free SASO approved 127V plug from the local dealer." I ask DH what "127V" is. He tells me that there is no such thing as 127V. Oh, really? Then what does this mean, and I show him on the box where it says 127V. Hmm... So we find another salesman. And we got lucky. He knew how to speak English and he knew about the printers - almost ALL of them have interchangeable with 220 and 110 volt cords. Glad I didn't just leave after the first salesman said that they were all 220 volts...

So we finally have a new printer and I can print, copy, scan and most importantly, download pictures again!

Feather Pillows, Physicians and Queues

We are in desperate need of new pillows. I "pluff" up our pillows every day when I make the bed. Doesn't seem to make any difference. Bedtime rolls around and I put my head on the pillows and they go flat. What are the manufacturer's recommended replacement age for pillows? Not that I would adhere to any manufacturer's recommendation, because they are, after all, in the business to sell more pillows, so they probably would recommend replacing them at ridiculously short increments - say, every six months. Yeah. RIght. I'm not paying $50. for a pillow that is going to be replaced in six months. I paid $50. for each of the king-sized feather pillows on our bed. I remember purchasing them at home store in Raleigh when we first moved there, and that was in 1998. And, when I paid $100. for two pillows, I recall saying to myself, "They are really nice pillows. At this price, they better last forever!" The pillows are ten years old. I guess I could say we got our $100. worth out of them. But now, they are in dire need of being replaced with new ones.

My dilemma is whether I will find nice feather pillows on this side of the world. I haven't looked yet, so I am not going to say that I won't find them. I just don't know where to begin looking. Marks & Spencer? [DH hates the black towels I got there, for his bathroom, and I paid a small fortune for them!] Marks & Spencer seems to be on the pricey side, to me. There is a mattress factory downtown. I wonder if they sell feather pillows? We'll be going home for the Holidays so the pillows could actually wait - if they had to - but I want to fill my suitcase with other things that I want to bring back and pillows, especially two king-sized ones, are going to take up an awful lot of room. J.C. Penney ships world-wide. I could find them there and have them sent here. A pillow is something you need to touch and feel before you buy it. I'd be hesitant to get on-line and order pillows without being able to touch and hold them and squish and squeeze them.

I must say that The Mall of Dhahran is outdoing itself to cater to Westerners! I have been to The Gap and to Banana Republic. The prices are no different at those stores here than they are in the States. Life would be almost perfect if they had "fitting rooms," but that is never going to happen in this part of the world, and frankly, it just can't. There are some very valid reasons that there are no fitting rooms. [Use your imagination...] During my trip downtown the other day - I did go to the Mall - and found a perfect pair of jeans for DH at Banana Republic. Best part? They were on sale. SR105 for a pair of jeans!!! [$28.15] The return policy for "sale" items is a pain in the butt - you have one day to return whatever you buy if it is on sale and it doesn't fit. Not exactly convenient. I got lucky, though, and the jeans fit great. While racing down the mall "hall" I noticed a linen store - the name of which escapes me - but I bet if I check it out, I can find feather pillows...

I have blogged several times, now, about the Egyptian physicians that are in jail, here, that each received sentences of 15 years and 1500 lashes, for "addicting" a patient to painkillers. [Apparently, the "addicted" patient, in this particular instance, is absolved of any personal responsibility.] The matter is simply not going to be swept under the proverbial rug; Egypt has now banned medical professionals from working in the Sandbox. "The Egyptian Ministry of Manpower said in a statement that it would not approve Saudi contracts to hire Egyptian doctors 'until further notice.' Last month a Saudi Islamic court sentenced Egyptian doctors Raouf Al Arabi and Shawki Abd Rabuh... The sentencing has drawn angry reaction from Egypt's human rights groups and media, who have accused Saudi authorities of unfairly treating Egyptians working there. Protesting the punishment, relatives of the two convicts and rights advocates on Wednesday gathered outside the Press Syndicate in Cairo raising placards reading: 'The 1,500 lash judgment is unprecedented in Islamic history.'" For certain, we have not seen the end of the matter.

Chuckle, chuckle. Snort, snort. "Goodbye to long airport queues." Only if you are a man! A new service is going to "facilitate travel of citizens as they would not be in need of standing in long queues at the immigration [sic] to get their passports stamped. The new service is currently available for Saudi men traveling... It will be introduced for Saudi women and expatriate travelers at a later stage." [Probably about the same time women get driver's licenses...] Pluheeze! We all KNOW that no one queues in this country - it is a completely foreign norm and beyond the realm of comprehension. It will be comical to watch the men all push and shove to use the new technology, which involves swiping their passport or some kind of card through a scanner, and NOT "queue" to go through the process. Not that officials should not be given some praise for making the effort to smooth the process, but... The only way to eliminate a fuster cluck here will be to issue a piece of the equipment - whatever it is called - to each and every individual "male" passenger. Pictures will be unobtainable - not even a possibility of getting a photo of something like that. Notwithstanding the fact that I choose to go across the Causeway and fly out of Bahrain where there is the pretense and at least some semblance of civility that "queuing" is adhered to. [But, hey, that is just my opinion!]

DOH!

I think it is Homer Simpson who says that, right?

The other day I turned comments moderation on. It had been off for quite sometime. I was under the mistaken impression that the comments would be e-mailed to me [some were] so that I could decide whether I wanted a particular comment posted or not. For whatever reason, I went to "Moderate Comments" on Blogger and whoa! 498 comments to be moderated. WHAT?!? Where did they come from???

Many have been sitting in "Moderate Comments" for almost two years! Yikes!!! I just spent over two hours going through them and publishing the ones that should have been published - a long, long time ago - and deleting all the junk and spam. No, I don't need Viagra or Cialis, thank you. I am not at all interested in "younghotsexygirls" or in "hotgayyoungstuds," either. I am not looking for a mortgage and I am not interested in making money at home. Two thirds of the comments that needed "moderated" were just junk and spam. Geez!

Interestingly enough, I had quite a few comments from "Anonymous" whoever he/she/they are and I am not going to post them. They were the usual, "All you do is complain about everything." Someone has read my blog "a few times" [a "couple" is two; a "few" is three or more] and says "there is nothing entertaining about it." If you weren't entertained the first or second time, why did you bother returning? That same person - in the same comment - tells me that I am a "bitter, arrogant, egotistical, materialistic, superficial, hateful and grumpy old woman." Au contraire, but I think perhaps it is you, "Anonymous," who is bitter, arrogant, egotistical, materialistic, superficial, hateful and old and you don't have your own blog to bloviate on and think you are going to be able to do so here. Wrong. Another Anonymous said that I "use racist terms" and that my "writing is just venting hatred that I have for everything including my husband." Really? Point me to ONE single post where I have ever said anything remotely negative about my husband! Someone else - another "Anonymous" said that I am "hurtful and hateful and I should just move." Yeah. I'll take your advice under consideration, on a day that doesn't end in "Y." But you be sure to keep checking back to see if I'm gone, yet, okay?

Wow. With all those fabulous compliments I am glad "Moderate Comments" is on. However, if you were one of many commenter's whose comments never showed up on my blog it isn't because I didn't want your comment - it is because I thought they were all being e-mailed to me and only a some of them were - so you've sat in "Moderate Comments" for a long, long time, and for that I apologize. All the comments are now "moderated" and but for the "Anonymous" who want to spew their wrath at me, all have been posted. If you weren't posted at this point, you were deleted because you are a "Reject." This is my blog and I can giddily "Reject" or "Publish" whatever comments I want. Oh the power! I'm laughing now...

Army of Workers for Lazy Americans

Last night was "Fantasy Football" night. I know one player's name. Two if you count one who is in jail. I could care less about football. How unAmerican is that!?! I didn't go for the football - I went for the food - and it was delicious. It was also a late night. I forgot to unlock the gate and unlock the side door for Inam this morning so the doorbell woke us. It was hardly his fault that he had to ring the doorbell since I didn't do what I was supposed to do. I got up out of bed to open the door for him and went right back to bed. A few minutes later the doorbell rang again. It was the pool guy - the back gate was double latched so he couldn't get in, either. And shortly after that Appuk [the gardener] and Hadar [Inam's brother] came to string wire across the back wall for the jacquemontia and bouganvilla. No doubt that they are all thinking, "Americans are lazy. The two that live in this household are still in bed!" Are we - the Americans that live here - or at least the two that live in our house - viewed as lazy by the workers from other countries? Probably.

I had a productive rest of the day even if my morning was lazy. There should be photos of The Pretty Princess posted here, but after fighting with the printer - which is where I stick the little "film thingy" to download them onto the computer - for over an hour, I gave up. The printer gave me a hard time last week, too, and I thought it was broken. [It was almost broken this afternoon! I wanted to pick it up and just hurl it. The green light goes on - then I click "download" and then I get a "device is empty" message.] We cannot have a broken printer! I need it too often. And I will never find the same one here to replace the one we have. There are 12 printer cartridges that need to be used before the printer can break! I will have DH play with it later to see if he can get my pictures to down load. The man has a heck of a lot more patience than I do when it comes to this kind of stuff.

Blaming L. Brent Bozell, III

I have decided to blame L. Brent Bozell, III, for all but ruining my life; it is HIS fault I never get all the things I need to do, done [Today's Agenda]! My “to do” list just gets longer and longer and longer every day…

To further assimilate into a part of the culture which is so prevalent in The Sandbox, I have decided that from hereon in, I will take absolutely no responsibility for any of my actions, and that I am going to assign blame to someone else or to something else for absolutely everything. [What’s the saying… Something like, “When you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em… Well, that’s what I’m going to do. I will become a real “local” in this sense – in this sense, only, mind you.]

When we moved here, for the very first time in my life – well, since I was fourteen – I didn’t have a job and I didn’t have to have a job! Life was going to be oh so wonderful without having to get up and get ready to jump on a hamster wheel five or six or seven days a week. And it is. I am truly thankful that I am not employed. This allows me the opportunity to spend time doing all of the things that I enjoy and never had time to do before my life here – spend leisurely hours with the Kids and my husband – read, sew, do cross-stitch, organize all those photos that have never made it to albums, lay in the sun, join various women’s groups, socialize and entertain friends – dinner parties and the like – take Arabic classes – travel, etc., etc., etc. Or, it used to.

At some point, I added “surfing the Web” to the above activities and that is when
Mr. Bozell came into my life. In the course of surfing one day, I found a news site that I really liked. One day led to the next and the next, and all of the sudden CNSNews.com was my first double-click of the day. L. Brent Bozell, III, is the founder of CNSNews.com and that is precisely why he is getting the blame – because this is where – his site – I discovered a blog – something that until then I knew existed but had no clue what it really was.

I can remember that first blog just like it was yesterday – Michelle Malkin. One double-click was all it took – I was addicted. But one wasn’t enough. Oh, noooo… It was all downhill from there. Although, in all honesty, “downhill” isn’t accurate. My addiction to these blogs more resembles that of an avalanche which is torpedoing down a mountain at breakneck speed and continues to spiral recklessly and wantonly out of control. With a current list of more than a hundred or so, right now, all calling to me for a double-click, it’s a wonder that I can post on my own blog once in a while, and do all of the other things I want to do.

And, that is why, Mr. Bozell, it is YOUR fault that I no longer have time to do all of the things I need to do, that I want to do and really, really should do!

Internet Blamed for Drug Abuse

Okay, the Internet is not really being blamed for drug abuse, but instead for the “increase” in drug abuse. Dr. Muhammad Ali Koman says here that:

“[T]he Internet played an important role in the circulation of drugs and that many criminals used the worldwide web to learn ways of smuggling and distributing narcotics.”

This, in and of itself, amazes me. I can’t track wine baskets that I’ve sent as gifts to relatives in the States as the sites are “blocked.” But I could, if I so desired, learned new ways of smuggling and distributing narcotics? What would one even search for to find the newest ways to smuggle and distribute narcotics? I need to start thinking more like a criminal and I’ll be able to figure this all out…

“The Internet is like any other technology; its misuse can lead to creating new types of crime. The Internet has been responsible for many ills within society,” he said.

If you don’t know, it was only within the last year or two that camera phones became legal here, in The Sandbox. Until then, they could and would be confiscated and immediately destroyed. That evil technology – those evil camera phones – and now – the evil internet! Who knew technology would one day be blamed for just about everything!?!

Dr. Koman further states:

“[T]here are no clear statistics about drugs in Saudi Arabia but compared to other countries drug abuse is very low in the country, thanks to Islamic awareness and social unity.”

Yeah, okay, you can go ahead and thank “awareness and social unity,” but I am more inclined to believe it is thanks to this Country’s “deterrent program” where the mere possession of drugs presents the possibility AND probability that one will have an opportunity of getting to be close and personal with Abdullah Sa’id Al-Bishi [Heads Will Roll, June 23, 2006].

DSL Hook-Up

We now have DSL. Got it today – the nice man came at 8:45 this morning – and refused to come in until, of course, the “Kids” were “put away.” The Boy – I’ve said before – goes to his crate, happily, when he is told to. The Baby – HA! Runs for her dear, sweet little life if she thinks she is about to be put into her “torture chamber.” No matter. I put The Baby on her leash – got her all excited – she, is, of course, thinking “Walk Time!” This, naturally, makes The Boy go NUTS seeing that The Baby has a leash on and even though he is in his Happy Place that he is NOT going is not going over well with him, at all… Hopefully he was relieved to find out that all I did was walk The Baby upstairs to show the nice computer man where our computer is and where our telephone jack is. The nice computer man, apparently, was unable to concentrate with The Baby [who weighs all of forty pounds – she’s a six month old puppy for goodness sake!] in the same general vicinity. I had to lock The Baby in the kitchen – so now both Kids are barking, crying…

I know I’ve posted already about what a wonderful thing is it that we can dial “202” and have maintenance come and fix about anything, almost immediately. Well – they come – but don’t necessarily fix it whatever it is – and often this requires several visits from lots of different little laborers imported from a variety of countries.

We have a similar number to “IT” and we dial it and they “fix” whatever it is. A couple of months ago, when we got the new computer that I didn’t know we needed, with the big flat screen, the wireless keyboard and wireless mouse, and NO diskette drive, we called to get a DSL hook-up – we’ve been using dial-up. Yesterday I get a call that they have made it down the list of 450-something installations – and it’s our turn, finally – and that the DSL would be installed this morning at nine o’clock. I’ll give the workers in The Sandbox this – they are almost always early – unlike in the States where when they say your cable will be hooked up on whatever date – and they can’t give you a time…

The nice computer man is here for a little less than an hour. He says, “You are finished.” [I had no idea how much he meant this, at the time!] He clicked on the little “Explorer” icon and said, “You put this on – that is all you do.” Okay, maybe the English lacks some – but they are almost always early! And, the nice computer man leaves and I release the Kids from their misery.

About an hour later, I come upstairs, sit down at the computer and “put this on,” or “click” the “Explorer” icon. I get an error message. I can’t even recall exactly what it said, but I couldn’t get on-line, at all. I am not happy. I am no longer calling the computer man the “nice” computer man. I call the IT people. I tell them that my DSL was just hooked up, that the man left an hour ago, and now, I can’t get on my computer. I go through this exact same conversation with about a half dozen people over the course of an hour and a half. It is now almost one o’clock and I feel as though I have done nothing constructive with my day so far but try to explain what my computer is doing – and try – I tried so hard, I really, really did – to do whatever it was the IT people were telling me to do. I ended up, with the last guy, just losing it. It couldn’t be helped. He was telling me to do things much too fast – go here, do this, click on this – no right click – “tools,” no “properties.” What? “Which one was I supposed to click first?” It was useless. His parting words to me were to shut everything down and turn it back on in ten minutes and call back. WTF?!?

Speechless. He left me just speechless. No – I had plenty to say – but I was off in high-gear headed to the point of no return in my rage! Just fuming. Can’t describe it in words. Knew that I had to take a break – couldn’t work on the problem any more at that point. I knew I’d end up saying – or worse – doing something that I would later regret. So, went without a computer for the entire afternoon. Later – around four or so – I called the IT desk back. Explained the problem, explained that I’d spent an hour and a half on the phone earlier and no one seemed to be able to help me, blah, blah, blah. Finally, got “Agent #21’s” supervisor on the phone – he had a name – not a number [they use “Agent #16, #11, #34 when you talk to them – I don’t blame them though – because if people like me could identify them by name and find out where they live…]. So I talk to the supervisor. He promises to call me right back, “In Shallah.”

I know what “In Shallah” means! It means, “God Willing” and the moons all line up, and the day doesn’t end in “Y” and it starts snowing, you will get a call back. That was all it took. I went over the edge. I could barely talk. I ended up muttering through semi-hysterical sobs that this place doesn’t know how to do anything, that it takes eleven people to fix a dryer and a freezer, that it takes five refrigerator deliveries to get a freezer that is not broken or that fits, that the computer guy screwed up my computer and I don’t want to click and do stuff anymore I want someone to come fix it – at my house – right now – that it’s hardly my fault that I have no communication with the outside world and now the only communication I have they have taken away from me. WAAAWWAA!!! The guy tells me I need to calm down – that he will call me back – he promises. Yeah, calm down. Right…

He does call back. He tells me that he has spoken with his supervisor – there are always more supervisors here than workers – it’s the way it is – and that there is nothing they can do until the next business day. WHAT?!? Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no!!! This is a long weekend! I don’t know what Saturday is, here, but it’s a holiday, so you’re telling me that no one is going to be able to help me until Sunday? No. I don’t think so. I’m sure he’s thinking in the ten minutes we’ve been off the phone that I’ve had time to calm down and return to being a “normal, sane” person. He is wrong. He is really, really, really wrong! I almost feel sorry for him – nah, I don’t either – it was his fault for saying it would be Sunday until I could get my problem fixed… Yes, I might have said a few things I regret…

“You are going to leave me with this problem until Sunday, I have no way to go anywhere, I can’t just jump in my car and drive to the nearest ‘internet café’ to use a computer, and I wouldn’t be able to use one even if I could drive – or take a cab – because they are for men only! What kind of Country is this, why does everything everyone touches here just make things worse, and how can things possibly get any worse than they are?” I went on… It wasn’t pretty. “Okay. Fine. If Sunday is the best you can do, then I guess I don’t have much of a choice, pretty much like everything else here – my feet are tied together tighter than you ever tied a camel’s feet – women have no choices here – and for God’s sake if there was Vodka available then we’d all be alcoholics because that’s just the way things are here – YOU make us want to drink – and if everything wasn’t such a problem which you create for yourselves then this Country would be a lot further along than it is – and don’t even bother getting someone to fix my DSL on Sunday – just hook my computer back up the way it is and save me the aggravation that is just going to get worse because no one has a fucking clue in this place!” Slam! Conversation over. [That’s pretty much a general description of how the conversation went – I don’t have a recording of it to transcribe, but I know it was probably recorded – and I should care, but don’t at this point. They say on the recording when you call, “This conversation could be recorded for training purposes…” Train this, why don’t you!]

I did get a call back a few minutes later. It was the “nice” computer man that was here this morning. He wanted to know what the problem was… I explained, as rationally, as possible, at the time, and said that I needed it fixed, that someone has to come here and fix it. He asked me when? What? When?!? NOW!!! He was here in about thirty minutes, and for the time being, I think the problem is fixed. It’s a temporary fix. I don’t expect it to last long… That’s the way things are here. It took over a week to get a new refrigerator delivered – when all I had was a broken freezer door – they delivered several – it was an unbelievable parade of refrigerators coming in – and going out – and more work than it was worth. It took ten different men to fix my dryer hose. Do you honestly think that I think that my computer is fixed? Yeah, right! In Shallah…

Exercise in Futility

I tried, and tried, and tried… No less than a half dozen times yesterday I tried to log on to post a couple of items. I kept getting this:

Network Error (tcp_error)
A communication error occurred: ""
The Web Server may be down, too busy, or experiencing other problems preventing it from responding to requests. You may wish to try again at a later time.
For assistance, contact your network support team.

I could not help but think of the many warnings I’ve received from friends and other bloggers that my Blog could, and likely would, be short-lived, through no fault of my own. Should my Blog come to an end due to circumstances completely out of my control, I like Saudi Eve's viewpoint:

What happens when a site gets singled out and blocked in Saudi?It gets more hits than it ever did.(Remember; there's no such thing as bad publicity)

So, if you spent any time wondering why there was nothing new here, suffice it to say that my stilettos were stuck in the sand.

Technologically Challenged

That IS an understatement! This is all new to me, this being on “inside” of the computer. [Oh come on, now, didn’t you, as a child, just ONCE think that there were little people INSIDE the television set doing all the acting?] This is totally uncharted and unfamiliar territory for me and I will readily admit right off the bat that I’m not quite sure how everything works – this whole “blog” thing. I know this will probably come back to bite me in the ass, but I’m just gonna do it – jump in head first and pray there’s water in the pool! Okay, let me give myself more credit than that. I do check to see if there’s water, I just don’t check to see whether it is ice cold or scalding hot. Yes sireeee, life is all about chances... Good Lord, I hope I have the right shoes for the journey that I am about to embark on!

In that vein, as a first-time blogger, but for reading the Terms of Service when I set this blog up, any other rules and regulations are, as yet, quite unknown to me. Surely there are some, and if anyone reading this wants to provide me with just a little direction, including a hint as to what shoes are best to wear while blogging, I’d appreciate it. Am I allowed to post things here I’ve copied from somewhere else? Can I copy them if I give the author credit? Do I first obtain permission, then I copy, then I give the author credit? Do I have to pay to use certain things that I want to copy and give the author credit for? And, if I do copy something that I’m not supposed to copy, am I going to get sued? [There an old proverb: “You can’t get blood from a stone.” Or, “You can’t squeeze blood from a Turnip.” Either way, I, personally, have nothing. No property, no money, no job, and no job prospects for any potential income. So, go ahead, sue me.]