Locally...

At least I can type today. I actually started a post two days ago - with local news - didn't finish it - and then so severely injured myself yesterday I couldn't touch my keyboard. My finger is not quite as tender and sore this morning. Still hurts though. Yes. Poor me.

Death penalty deserved here. A "youth" raped and killed a THREE-YEAR-OLD little boy! The rapist is 22 years old. He is hardly a youth! A 15 year-old is a "youth," a 22 year-old is a young man. Get it right. The little boy's body was discovered "following the arrest of a 22-year-old unemployed youth whose name and nationality were not released." We now know his nationality - if he was any nationality BUT Saudi he would have been identified. "On arrest, he confessed to abducting and raping [the child], but he claimed that he abandoned the boy in the desert alive." You did what? You left a little three-year-old boy to fend for himself in the desert?!? There is no way the unnamed "youth" deserves anything but the death penalty. Is there an alleged hierarchy here in Saudi in prison's where certain criminals are given a special kind of justice by their fellow inmates. I hope so. Again I will say, justice in Saudi is swift and to the point. [Heh. The pun just works, there.] No coddling of criminals. The United States could learn from this system. Recently I read an article at Sweetness & Light that "Executions Are Now Too Expensive" so we, American tax-payers, will be paying dearly to have criminals languishing around our jails and prisons for far too long. Just get rid of the degenerates that litter society. Do it like it is done here.

Meddling in a marriage when it is none of your business. What gall some of these family members - brothers - have. Interfering in matters that do not concern them. I posted about two such cases, recently. One which has separated a couple for a couple of years... Now, another marriage is about to be broken up because a woman's brothers want part of her inheritance and to get it they say she is wrongfully married to someone. Get a life. Leave your sister alone. Do you not have enough to be concerned with? Seems to me that somewhere I have learned that here when there is an inheritance the men in the family get twice what a woman in the family gets. I could be wrong on that, but if that is the case... Interesting that the woman and her husband are named, but not her brothers. Couldn't possibly do that as it would shame them, right?

Don't even know what to say about this. A man is on the run because his wife [who he hasn't lived with for four years] says a child on her ID isn't hers. The man is a Saudi so I do not understand why he had to use the ID of his estranged wife - he can have four wives, after all. Supposedly he "registered a child of his foreign housemaid as that of his wife's." The wife is named - but not really; she goes by "Umm Mohammed" which simply means "mother of Mohammed" and it isn't really her name. According to her, she and her husband have no children from their marriage of 15 years. "Now she wants a divorce, claiming also that he has not once provided for her in the past four years. She said she had left him to stay in a charity home after he lost his government job because of absenteeism and other violations." [Talk about work ethic!] She says that four years ago her husband and his brothers visited her and asked for the family identity card which she supposedly handed over after being beaten. Yeah. Have to call B.S. on this story. Just have to. "... he disappeared for four years... one day he appeared with another family ID-card but wtih a new son registered in it." I guess it could happen but I'd be willing to bet that this is more about a woman scorned than anything else. She is pissed off because "he told her the boy was the son of his Christian housemaid," [huh?!] and that is what this is all about. Yep. Nonsensical B.S.

Lots and lots of illicit substances being confiscated. The authorities here are, obviously, hard at work. I know that drugs are a problem world-wide, but I will never be able to understand why, when the risk is so great, that so many try. Supply and demand. If there was no demand, there would be no supply. The money must, somehow, make it all worthwhile.

Note to Self

Do Not Clean Freezer Ever Again! My goodness, I have hired help. What was I doing - cleaning my own freezer... Why??? Actually, I am the only one who can clean the freezers - we have three - the two over our refrigerators and one chest freezer in the storage room off the garage. I needed to do inventory. Which isn't to say that I really needed to do inventory, but if you're going to rearrange "things" you may as well do inventory. How else would I know that I have 6 bags of peas, 8 bags of frozen blueberries, 11 bags of Mexican shredded cheese, 21 cartons of cigarettes, three cooked bags of Kids' food, etc.

I needed to make room for the 23.1 pounds of hamburger I cooked yesterday. Yes. 23.1 pounds [10.5 kilograms]. And 23.1 pounds of chicken, too. I cook it all up and then bag the hamburger in individual freezer bags to mix with The Kids' food that I get from The Honest Kitchen and ship over, and the chicken I cook up and then mix in batches with 16 cups of brown rice, a couple of pounds of sweet potatoes, 4 bags of green beans and 2 bags of broccoli. After I've made that concoction in industrial sized bowls, I bag it up in indiviudal servings and put it in freezer bags. Comes out to be food for about a month. Takes me two days just to do all the cooking and bagging. [And, yes, I do my own clean up work for all of it. There is no way I would trust Inam to clean and sterilize all of the bowls and utensils properly.]

So, early this morning, I had one refrigerator freezer completely done and nicely rearranged and inventoried. I opened the second one. It is filled with cheese - more than just the Mexican shredded cheese - you name it, it is in the freezer. Along with 21 cans of Limeade [makes great "faux" margaritas - wink, wink!] and some bags of frozen stuff - mostly pasta and veggies. I was taking care of my "inventory" and stacking everything up all neat and pretty and the frozen pancakes went over - along with bags of other "stuff" and instead of letting it drop to the floor and on top of my bare feet I went to "save" it and managed to smash my left index finger into the edge of the freezer - bent my fingernail ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE QUICK. The Pain! Searing pain!!! Radiating throughout my entire body. My entire left hand felt like it was on fire. Dayum it hurt. Saved it all though. Nothing hit my feet. I'm pretty sure frozen pancakes and frozen pasta crashing onto my bare feet couldn't have hurt nearly as bad as the tip of my finger did, though. I should have just jumped back and let it land. I could have spared myself.

And I have way, way, way too much to do to not be able to use my left hand. Even when I did the quick little blurb earlier that I had broken a nail - I used ONLY my right hand to type it. I am now using both hands. Very, very gingerly. I was planning on doing my nails this afternoon, anyway, but that didn't happen. The left hand I need to use to do my right hand and since I can barely touch anything with my left index finger - and it is too sore right now to even contemplate taking acetone to - to remove old polish - and then priming it and putting arcrylic on it. No way! I did finish the freezer inventories. I have packed all the newly cooked food for The Kids so that they'll be well-fed while I'm gone. Everything I have done today has taken me three or four times longer to do than it normally would. Suffice it to say that I barely even touched my "to do list" and I'm leaving for Singapore on Saturday.

Some days just don't go as planned.

Oh, and by the way. Rev called yesterday morning at 10:21 to say he was coming to hook up the pump. "When, Rev?" "In an hour." He finally showed up at 3:45! Yes. I had a few words for him. Remember the extra tile he was going to return for us? Um-hmm. Trying to pull a fast one, aren't you Rev! A friend of ours is putting a pool in. He called DH yesterday and asked him about the extra tile we had - Rev is doing his pool. When Rev came by he said he was taking the tile and he thought we would get about 700 riyals back for the extra. [Way over estimated the amount of tile we needed, I'd say.] He told DH's friend that the tile was going to cost 1000 riyals. WAIT JUST ONE MINUTE REV! We've already paid for the tile - and don't even think for a mere moment that we don't realize you marked the price up. Now, you're going to sell OUR tile to a friend of ours and pay us 700 riyals and pocket the other 300? Oh, I don't think so. DH is dealing with this. I about blew a gasket when DH was telling me what was going on with the tile. Better that DH handles it so that I don't hurt Rev.

Can't Type

Broken nail. There was blood. Hurts. A lot! Back after nail is repaired.

Pool's Full

And about to overflow. A couple of Rev's guys came yesterday morning to do some clean-up work in the pool and then threw the hose in it and turned it on before they left. I was out doing errands. Got home and there was all of three inches of water in the pool. DH said later, after he got home from playing golf, "It is going to take at least two days to fill it." Wrong! DH had to work at four o'clock this morning. Apparently it didn't occur to him to check the pool before he left. I woke up a little before seven, went out to the kitchen to get coffee going, looked out the window - and whoa! The pool is full! Less than twenty-four hours. So much for it taking a couple of days. Of course the pump isn't on - it isn't even hooked up. How long before Rev comes by to take care of that, I wonder...

Meat Street

I was going to wait to post these until I could get downtown and get more pictures. I took these last week when I went down for my cheese bread fix. Thankfully I ate my cheese bread before I had my driver take me down "meat street." That is not the name of the road - that is what I call it. By the time we got to "meat street" it was no longer a quiet morning. Everyone was out and about and cars were double parked and there was no way to get a good shot of either up or down the street to give you an idea of just how many meat stores are there. I will try it again at some point after I return from vacation. Have to tell you that my driver and I had a bit of a communication problem. It is enough to say that he probably already thought I was "a crazy American lady" from my picture-taking episode at the cheese bread bakery. I told him [my driver: SaH-mee] that I wanted to go to the butcher shops to take more pictures. Somewhere in my "English" instruction he misunderstood and we drove through the "wedding dress district." Up and down all of the little side streets and alleys where the shops had all their wedding finery displayed in their windows. I will return to "wedding dress district" to take pictures and share those, as well, at some time in the future. After I was able to make SaH-mee understand that I wanted to go where "all the animals are hanging," he dutifully drove me and shadowed me in a most protective way, for which I am most appreciative. Thanks SaH-mee!

For each of the shops where I took photos, I asked first, if it would be okay. The first shop I went in the guy working said, "Yes. 50 riyals." What? I'm not paying 50 riyals to take a couple of pictures! "50 riyals." No. "I will give you 10." "25 riyals." "I don't have 25 riyals, I will give you 15." We bantered back and forth for a couple of minutes - with him laughing the whole while and then he said, "Halas." Finished. The driver I was with had to tell me that he was only joking and that it was okay for me to take pictures. Both the butcher and the driver got a pretty good chuckle over the whole exchange. This was the first shop I where I took pictures. I will go back and deliver the photo of the butcher to him when I return from vacation - I doubt I am going to have time to go down before then - although I might try to get the SaH-mee to deliver the pictures for me...

This was the second shop. It was busy. The butcher / shop worker didn't have time to smile or pose but he was willing to let me take photos.

This was the final shop I "snapped." I wish I would have asked the two young men - locals - sitting outside in plastic chairs if I could take their pictures. But I didn't, because, frankly they were rather intimidating - and I am not easily intimidated. They were dressed in their white thobes which were COVERED in blood. [I'd hate to have to do their laundry! No amount of bleach could possibly make those dresses white, again.] The shop worker happily posed for me - again, on the condition that I take a copy of the picture to him.

As I was putting the camera away and SaH-mee and I were walking toward our car, one of the young men dressed in white red asked SaH-mee - in Arabic - why I was taking pictures. Do I really know what SaH-mee's response was? No. If I was only fluent in Arabic... For all I know, SaH-mee said, "She is just another crazy American that I've been blessed with driving today." All three of them - the two locals and SaH-mee - got a big laugh out of whatever it was SaH-mee said to them. Crazy American? Maybe. But pictures of "meat street" had to be taken!

PCRC Solved

This is going to make all the difference! Sending those who have committed traffic violations an SMS message to their phone. And a "yellow slip." We are going to immediately see a drastic reduction of violators, now, I bet. A company "has been tasked with monitoring traffic accidents and has started updating motorists' data. ...when the company finishes updating motorists' data, it will start sending messages to them through their mobile phones informing them of the traffic violations that they have made." Did anyone even for one quick second stop to think that many of those violators are going to be getting the messages on their phones WHILE they are in a vehicle DRIVING? Probably not. And it isn't going to matter because if all you're getting is an SMS that you made a traffic violation you're not going to be very upset about it. "The administration which has been assigned to look into traffic violations will continue its work until traffic courts have been set up when traffic vilators will receive yellow notification slips indicating the traffic violations for which they have been responsible." Am I the only one who believes that NONE OF THIS is going to deter anyone from making traffic violations???

Woman Driver Arrested! Locally...

There is no other country in the ENTIRE world where the headline "Woman driver arrested" means the same thing as it does in THIS country. Ut-oh. She's innnn trouble! Of course if women could drive here - and they can't and they never will - it wouldn't be a headline. The woman, whoever she is, might well be a good driver. Isn't it a fact that women cause fewer accidents than men? It was not until the woman saw a police car when she tried to make an escape "an in the process hit another car." Next time, young lady, throw one of your brother's thobe's on, and a gutra. Hold your mobile to your ear with one hand and a lit cigarette in the other. Break every traffic law on the books. Drive at break-neck speed and don't bother stopping for those pesky traffic lights. You'll fit right in and no one will bother you.

PCRC. Speeding mentioned as a possible cause. That the man may have fallen asleep at the wheel isn't being ruled out. No. Of course it isn't. Speeding couldn't possibly have been the cause.

Just another bunch of imported UNPAID workers complaining. So what that a small group of cleaners - twelve of them - haven't been paid in a couple of months. Their wages are probably so meager that being paid and unpaid is close to the same thing. [I am being sarcastic. Their wages amount to what most of us spend at the grocery store in a single shopping trip - and that is their wages - for the MONTH! It is a small fortune to them. To many of us, it is a pittance.] The workers that are imported that come here to do the jobs that no one else wants to do should be the first ones that are paid. I do not understand why it is okay to see story after story about the way these workers are handled and how authorities refuse to do anything about it. The Bangladeshi workers are "protesting the delay of the payment of electricity bills and rents for two months a matter that made the landlord disconnect the water and electricity from the building." Yep. The workers are being punished for not being paid; as if that isn't punishment enough. It would appear as though it is the employer who is supposed to be paying the rent, from the article, and he just can't be bothered with such trivial matters. The employer, Muhammed Al-Bashri [yes! he got named and shamed], "has promised to find a solution to the workers' problem by paying the delayed rents and salaries soon." What the!?!? The solution, you asshole, would be to pay your workers and your bills [the workers' rent] on time. There found it for you. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.

Quick blurb on the blind leading the blind. "Study reveals general ignorance." About abuse and domestic violence. It says, "Fifty-seven percent of women have been victims of domestic violence." But. But. But. I thought that only occurs in "Western countries."

The count is up to 13 according to Watan Arab American Newspaper. Beheadings. Two men were beheaded earlier this week; one on Monday and one on Tuesday. Someone had their camera phone out and made a video. It was just yesterday that I was reading on some news forum - and I can't link it because I can't remember where it was - that said if the United States would quit coddling criminals and started beheading people then there would be fewer drive-by shootings by thugs in Chicago. I agree.

Shoes I Don't Care About and Back to Work

Just a busy day in Sabra's Sandbox. I worked today - all afternoon - for the first time in months! Felt good to be out there. The Boy spent much of that time with me - both of us covered in sun-something or other - him with 50 SPF* sunblock; me, Jam tanning lotion [absolutely no sunblock whatsoever!]. Both of us lounging on chaises. It was a lovely afternoon. Certainly not bathing suit weather, but shorts and tank top were just right. [Don't need a bathing suit - the pool STILL isn't done!] Not quite as warm as I like it, but the sun was out and shining, semi-dusty blue sky. [We've been having awful dust storms lately! Makes it just nasty, nasty, nasty to be outside. Everyone that is outside wears what looks like doctors' masks for protection from breathing in lungs full of dust and sand. Definitely a good thing.] Read half of "Predictably Irrational," by Dan Ariely. Interesting enough, it held my attention for three or four hours. [I read several books at a time, always.]

I made plans to go to Mall of Dhahran for coffee this morning with a friend. It was a twofer - kill two birds with one stone kind of thing. I need a pair of shoes that I don't mind if I ruin in the rain to take on my upcoming trip with me - and friend wanted some hand-towels. Starbucks. Debenhams. Shoe stores. The friend I am going to go visit next week sent me an e-mail that said, "Bring shoes that you don't care about because they are going to get soaking wet every day." Shoes that I don't care about... I DON'T OWN ANY SHOES I DON'T CARE ABOUT with the exception of my old sneakers - but they are not going to look very good with any of the outfits I plan to take. What the?!? So, as much as I absolutely detest going shopping, here, I decided I needed to go to the Mall. Did I find any shoes? Yes. They'll suffice. Believe me when I tell you they are nothing to write home about, but they have a "plasticy" type bottom versus wood or cork - which I would ruin if I wore in the rain. I didn't spend much money on them, and I don't care if they get ruined. I think this is the first time in my life that I have ever shopped for "shoes that I don't care about." Interesting concept. That. Shoe shopping is something that should be savored and enjoyed. Even if it is just on-line. "Shoes that I don't care about..." Hmm. Found 'em, though.

The mall was packed. A gazillion kids. Yes. A gazillion. On a school day! As we were walking into the mall we stood back so that two little choo-choo trains of a dozen kids each [kids lined up with each child's hands on the shoulders of the child in front of him or her] could enter. It was adorable. Just adorable! The little boys - and I'm guessing these kids were pre-school to kindergarten age - had blue trousers on with blue and white striped pinstripe long-sleeved, button up, collared shirts [a couple had navy or grey cardigans on]. Very smart looking. The little girls had navy blue "midi" length jumpers on with white blouses underneath. Uniforms. All of them. Cuteness factor to the nth degree. [Something I do not say about two-legged kids very often. Pretty sure that if you read every post in my archives you are not going to find two-legged kids and cute together in the same sentence, anywhere.] The children were being escorted by their teachers who were all completely covered head-to-toe in black. The kids all stared - long and hard - at me and my friend, "Those women don't have their heads covered!" Oh my goodness. One of them has "yellow" hair! [Goes without saying that blonde hair rather starkly stands out in The Sandbox.] You just KNOW that that is what they were thinking.

Once in the mall friend and I headed straight for Starbucks. No. I'm not a big Starbucks fan. But I will say this. I have never encountered such outgoing, friendly and professional "barista's" as I have at Dharan Mall's Starbucks. They go out of their way to get your order, make it perfect, deliver it to you... We go there because it is the ONE place in the mall where women can actually sit and have coffee AND a cigarette. Women are not allowed to smoke anywhere else in the mall. Men - they can smoke wherever the heck they want - directly under a "No Smoking" sign, and it is okay. Women? Ha! No way!!! We are in no hurry - only have a short list on our agenda - and we just sat and chatted and leisurely drank our latte's and smoked cigarettes before we hit Debenhams and a half dozen shoe stores.

As we were headed down the mall corridor, it was really strange that there were SOOOO many kids - and not just little kids - kids of all sizes. More older boys / young men than girls. Ahh. That's why. There was some sort of safey exhibition taking place. Makes sense, now. Field trip to the mall for the safety exhibition. That is why there are so many kids. The older boys / young men were beyond obnoxious. I snickered when I saw three security guards giving a dozen of them a hard time. Where were the chapperones for that group? And how come they didn't have to "choo-choo" to the safety exhibition? Here's what I think. The groups of pre-school / kindergarten age children were all carefully being watched and escorted by their teachers; ditto for several other groups of elementary aged boys. The older boys - more teenagers than young men, but not kids, either - their teachers were off somewhere [not at Starbucks] drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes and the boys were left to run wild and rampant through the mall corridors. Very, very few of the teenage boys [all of whom were dressed in thobes and gutras instead of blue trousers and pin-striped shirts] were anywhere near the safety exhibition. No. They were much too busy harassing young girls in abeyas and middle-aged Western women with uncovered hair.

The cleaning men were out in full-force this morning. They had to be. I saw cigarette after cigarette being tossed to the FLOOR - many stubbed out by a sandaled foot - others left right there in the corridor to burn on their own. I'm a smoker. I'm not going to lecture anyone about smoking. But come on! At least if you are going to smoke, do so responsibly. And by that, I mean, smoke in only designated areas and at least dispose of your cigarettes properly. Like I said, "men" or anyone of the male gender, can smoke anywhere and no one does a damn thing about it. The complete and utter disrespect of the majority of these "youts" to their surroundings is despicable. Do you throw your still burning cigarette butt on the floor in your home? [Probably. The maid will take care of it. Just like the cleaning men in the mall will take care of it.] Try - just try - smoking in a mall corridor in the United States. Yeah. Let us know how that works out for you. You'll be escorted out, and quickly, right after you are threatened that you will be arrested for trespassing if you dare return. Better, yet, I'd like to see the whole lot of you try doing that in Singapore. See what happens to you, then! Much like corporal punishment here, they take a cane to your backside in Singapore for such offenses. From what I have read it is not very pleasant. Ask Michael P. Fay. According to a Singapore travel guide, regarding caning, it says, "This is no slap on the wrist: strokes from the thick rattan cane are excruciatingly painful, take weeks to heal and scar for life." Granted Mr. Fay was caned for vandalizing cars, but a caning is a caning.

It is more than obvious that the majority of your parents have NOT done their job in guiding you in your upbringing. I see it every single day - unruly, obnoxious, boys / young men. I have a Son. He was no angel, but I can assure you that if I would have ever seen him toss a cigarette onto a marble-tiled floor in a mall corridor he wouldn't have been able to sit down for a week. ...long time ago, he and I were walking - don't even remember where - and DS threw a gum wrapper on the ground. I stopped. Abruptly. "What do you think you are doing?" "What, Mom?" "That. You just threw a gum wrapper on the ground." "So." "So, nothing! Pick it up. Now." "What for?" "WHAT FOR?!?" I do recall making a bit of a scene about it. Didn't start out that way. DS wanted to argue. With his Mother [and to this day I do not believe he has ever won an argument with his Mother]. I. Don't. Think. So. DS picked the gum wrapper up, and put it in his pocket. Lesson learned. Here? Nope. No one even bats an eye-lash at the unacceptable social behaviors.

As friend and I were leaving the mall to go to the designated pick-up area, we were trying to cross the parking lot. Danger! The gazillion young men who were at the mall were also leaving and they had absolutely no intention whatsoever of carefully driving through the massive parking lot to avoid the slew of black-robed women traipsing across the same asphalt. What? Is it some kind of game to you hooligans? "How many abeya-clad women can I hit in one quick race through the parking lot?" Do you get extra points for women who are not wearing a head-covering? Yeah. That's what I thought. Oh, and by the way, the six or seven of you pimply-faced, overweight, greasy-haired thugs who were joy-riding through the parking lot at 11:23 this morning at the Mall of Dhahran in the filthy-dirty white 1990 Chevrolet Caprice with your bass turned up so loud to your thumpa-thumpa music that camels in the desert thirty kilometers away were scared... NONE OF US thought you were cool - hanging out the windows - screaming whatever it was you were screaming at us in Arabic - as you raced next to us. I only wish I'd have gotten your license plate [I can read Arabic letters and numbers]. I would have reported you for harassing us in a heartbeat. If you were the last "males" and we were the last "females," I can guarantee you that civilization would come to an immediate complete standstill!

*The Boy is NOT going to be thrilled with being sprayed with sun protection every time he is outside. When the vet told us to be careful if he was going to be out in the sun, and to "protect" him, he didn't say anything about whether or not it was going to be harmful if the sunscreen was "licked" off... Note to self: Call vet tomorrow. The other thing it does - even though it says it is "non-greasy" - is leaves a residue. Great. I'll be giving him a bath every night, and that isn't going to thrill The Boy much, either.

Getting Ready for Short Vacation

Going somewhere I have never been. Ought to be interesting. Not going anywhere in the "Middle East," but instead, "Far East." I am going to visit Dear Friends who used to lived in Bahrain, and now live there.

As I was prancing around the house tidying up the other day, DH was sitting at the computer, I pranced into the study and said, "Honey, where was it they flogged those boys some years back for vandalizing cars?" DH said, "Where you're going." Yeah. Okay. Do not really have plans to vandalize any cars so I should be all set.

Read on-line this morning though that you are not supposed to take gum [I am an avid gum chewer!], but if you have a few single pieces for personal consumption they'll let it slide. A few single pieces will last me a morning OR an afternoon. Oh. Also read that I am only allowed ONE - ONE - open PACK [no, not carton, a SINGLE PACK] of cigarettes. What are the chances that they will have Kool Super Longs there? Of course, I can't get on-line to research anything like that because anything having to do with "alcohol or tobacco" is blocked. But, of course it is.

Another interesting little tidbit I read is that "absent from cheap eateries is any form of napkins or tissues." Good to know. I don't leave home without several packages of wipes. I'll be okay. Apparently, due to the country's lack of welfare, people sell little packages of tissues on the streets for $1.00 a pack. That's how they make their living. I can deal with that.

Does anyone want me to send a post card? I'm happy to do so. Just shoot me an e-mail with your name and address.

I'm not leaving for a week. Lots to do, though... And I am not one of those kinds of people that can just throw a few things in a suitcase and take off. No. I plan. I organize. I leave lists of instructions for DH on how to take care of his own Kids. [I'm the caretaker for the most part. It isn't that I don't trust DH, but I have a really, really hard time trusting anyone but ME with The Kids! Sad, isn't it?]

In The Sandbox...

A television anchorman has divorced his wife at a police station. Why? Because she went there to seek assistance from authorities to prevent his [alleged] further physical abuse of her. According to the report, the unnamed woman "complained to the police that he had been beating and kicking her for years. The anchorman considered that being called upon to report to the police was a defamation of his social standing and a demeaning of his famous name." What about your wife? Your [alleged] beating of her was not a defamation of her, though, was it? "The wife's brother claimed that she had suffered for six years for the sake of her three children, and when she could stand it no longer, she decided to refer the matter to the police." Spousal abuse, like child abuse, is wide-spread. It takes place all around the world. Kudos to the woman who had the guts to try to stop the cycle. Interesting that the police made attempts to reconcile the relationship. Those efforts failed. There is no further information as to whether or not the, now, ex-husband was detained, or whether or not there is some sort of order that would offer the woman further protection. Let's hope for this woman's sake that there is.

The last couple of days, I have posted on the story of a little seven-year-old girl who died at the hands of her wicked step-mother and her own father. In one of those posts, I admitted that I did not know how custodial issues are handled, but that at some point the children are considered old enough to be taken away from their mother and that the father, typically, ends up with custody. Today, there is an article in the paper about a man who spent five months in an attempt "to have his daughter returned to him after she was kidnapped from her school by the family of her divorced mother." It says, "It all started when the girl turned eight, which is the legal age at which her father is allowed to take care of her." So, now we know. Mother's can have their children until they are old enough to get married. Then, custody is given to the father. In this particular instance, it would appear as though the child's mother and her family have tried to do everything they can to protect her. "An urgent letter was sent to Jeddah Police to contact the mother's family and return the girl to her father, but the family refused to part with her." The "case was closed" and the mother is now allowed to visit the child for two days, every two weeks.

There was a "shake-up" in government offices here, just a short time ago. I mentioned it, albeit briefly, and did not offer much in the way of comment. The report said, "One of the dismissed men was the head of the controversial religious police force. The other was the country's most senior judge... The sacked head judge... caused controversy last September when he said it was permissible to kill the owners of satellite TV channels which broadcast immoral programmes. ...some 'evil' entertainment programmes aired by the channels promoted debauchery." Well. Okay, then. In yesterday's Gulfnews.com, there was an article that said that "A Saudi religious scholar has issued an edict calling for the prosecution of a royal tycoon and another Saudi businessman, accusing the men of being as dangerous as drug dealers because the television channels they own broadcast movies." The two "prominent Saudi figures" are named. "The edict issued on Saturday... came in response to a question regarding... assertions last month that there will be movie theatres in the kingdom one day and that movies play a 'positive' social role in Saudi Arabia." The television "programmes" in question are aired by MBC.net. Take a peek at their programming and the movies being shown. I will admit to watching this station - I'm pretty sure I've seen "The Devil Wears Prada," The Nanny Diaries," and a few other movies via their airing. I even, occasionally, turn to MBC Action and catch old episodes of "Lost," and "Law and Order." The article contains a direct quote by the religious scholar who issued the edict, "Movies are a tool that hypocrites use to implement their plot to Westernise [sic] society, corrupt it and drive it away from (religion)." Who knew?!?

Underwear woes continue. Many women, here, may not have the choice of whether they can go to Bahrain or some other country to purchase their delicate undergarments. I refuse to buy them - any "undergarments" - here. Just won't do it. As long as men continue to work in the stores in The Sandbox, and as long as they think they know what size fits and what size doesn't, I will not even walk into one of our lingerie stores. The subject is back in the news, again, today. The is a "Facebook campaign to boycott lingerie shops that employ men" going on. A Saudi academic, Reem As'ad, is leading it and she "is aiming at the whole lingerie business in Saudi Arabia since women are not allowed to work in such shops." I wish Ms. As'ad success. And, for the record, I thoroughly, thoroughly agree that men should NOT be in those shops, and that women SHOULD be. There is a "never-enforced law that allows women to be employed" in the shops, but it "has been lying in a drawer for two years now." Yep. It has. [Much like other laws that are made but never enforced, i.e., not driving while talking on your mobile...] It is a good article. Worth reading. Oh, and for anyone who can't get to another country to buy these particular items? JCPenney delivers internationally [Psst! They are having a sale on bras right now.] As does Victoria's Secret. Yeah. Good luck getting to that site. It is blocked. From what I understand, if you have internet through satellite, you can get to it. We don't. I can't.

Totally Off Topic

Hey. It's my blog. I can "topic" whatever I want, right?

Has anyone seen any of the "Comedy, Inc." shows? They are brilliant. Just brilliant, I tell you! I can't find them on DVD and I MUST HAVE the entire series. I need two sets. One for a gift, and one for me. It is funny stuff. Really, really. Funny stuff. Can't find any of the DVD's on Amazon, or Amazon.UK or anywhere else. Help! Please???

Not, by far, their funniest stuff, but the selection [in English] was scant...

Just one example:



And another:



And, one more:



I can't find a good clip that does justice to the women of this comedy troupe, who, all three, do an excellent job.

Enjoy!

Locally...

Today sadness, or insanity. Both? Definitely both!

Sometime ago a couple was forcibly divorced. Meddling half-brothers decided that their sister married the wrong man. A judge nullified the marriage, which effectively divorced her from her husband. She has been estranged from him ever since. The woman, Fatima, has been living at an orphanage for the past two years, and she refuses to leave to go home to the "half-brothers" who caused this mess. Who can blame her? Her family [that would be the meddling half-brothers] "claimed that the husband had lied and misled them about his tribal background." So? Fatima had had the permission of her father to marry the man, Mansour Al-Timani, who denies that he lied or misled anyone. There are two children which were born to this marriage. A three-year-old boy and a five-year-old girl. The little girl is in the custody of her father, Mansour, and the little boy is at the orphanage with his mother, Fatima. An unnamed source at the Human Rights Commission "told Arab News that the case is still pending and there has been no new developments. The reasons as to why Fatima is still awaiting a decision even though her case started three years ago are unclear to her." They are unclear to everyone. Fatima sits in limbo, unable to even take her child to the hospital when he is sick. Why? "His name is not included in the family ID card she has. Her husband's ID has also expired and he is unable to renew it because of their pending case." Apparently, "there are many angles to Fatima's case that need to be tackled." How long must the two consenting ADULTS, who had the permission of Fatima's father to marry, remain separated from each other and their children before the "angles" get tackled??? Fatima's father gave her permission to marry Mansour. They want to be married. Yet, they can't be, because of Fatima's half-brothers. Go ahead. Shake your head in total bewilderment. I don't get it, either. There is another case with the same type of "angles" that is now pending. "A couple, who had been married for a year and a half and had a four-month-old daughter, were divorced in absentia by a judge in Qatif. The wife's father filed the case against his son-in-law... on the basis of tribal incompatibility." [Didn't you, initially, agree to the marriage and allow your daughter to marry the man? Now, you can change your mind?!?] A judge has "ordered separation of the wife... from her husband." Seriously. You can't make this stuff up!

A newborn baby girl has been abandoned and left at the hospital where she was born. The 38-year-old mother "escaped" from the hospital during visiting hours. "The mother, whose identity has not been disclosed, had just given birth to her seventh child. ...she might be either mentally unwell or suffering from family problems." Hmmm. Seven children and maybe "suffering from family problems." How about maybe she is just sick and tired of being a baby machine? Ya' think??? Nah. Couldn't possibly be...

Yesterday I posted on the little seven-year-old girl who died after being tortured by her wicked step-mother and her father. The mother of Kulthoum [the little girl], "who was allegedly [emphasis, mine] beaten and tortured" said that she "had difficulty recognizing her own daughter when visiting her for the last time at the morgue." I cannot imagine. "The abuse she suffered had totally distorted the features of her face." Unbelievable. Who does this to a child? Anywhere! Child abuse knows no boundaries. It goes on everywhere, world-wide. It is reported today that Fatima, the child's real mother, was married to the little girl's father for ten years and divorced him eight months ago when he married another woman, Layla. Fatima "has decided not to pursue a personal case against her ex-husband. 'His utter lack of humanity makes him not worth my time and effort... He has no mercy or compassion in his heart.'" Her decision is commendable. She is right. There is more to the story. "Fatima had two children by her ex-husband, and authorities are now investigating his and his wife's connection with the premature death of the first, Uhoud, who was two years old at the time of her passing six months ago." TWO CHILDREN died at the hands of these monsters?!? The father - and I use that label in the loosest possible sense of the word - refused to let the two little girls live with their mother. Shortly after the divorce, Fatima received a telephone call from her ex-husband informing her that "Uhoud had died and been buried." Oh my gosh. "Then six months later he told me Kulthoum had died. When I asked him how she'd died, he said that she had developed a high temperature and then passed away." The internal anguish and suffering that Fatima has to be experiencing is beyond anything I can fathom. Fatima says, "When I was told she had been beaten and tortured, I began to remember the last time I'd see Kulthoum three months ago. She said she was in pain all over her body but she was too scared to tell me why. She also had a broken wrist." Any mother can only imagine the red flags that Fatima must have been seeing... The warning signs were all there and Fatima cannot be held to be at fault for any wrongdoing. Her hands were certainly tied. Women who divorce their husbands in this part of the world almost always lose their children as custody is bestowed upon the father. Kulthoum's father [father?!?] "claims to have had no knowledge of his wife beating and torturing his daughter while he was away at work." You lying sack of shit. You are a pathetic excuse for a father and a much less excuse of a man. You didn't see that your little girl was suffering at the hands of your current wife? Are you blind?!? His wife, Layla, however, "has reportedly admitted to beating the child but that she did not expect her actions to lead to the girl's death." Exactly what did you think, Layla? Do tell. We're all waiting to hear what you thought your actions were doing. Fatima, we will all be thinking of you and hoping that you will find strength to get through this horrific nightmare into which you are now entranced.

Remember a year or so ago when a two-and-a-half-year-old child was decapitated at a grocery store in Jeddah? It's in the archives, here, somewhere. "The parents... have waived their right to execute the child's uncle who committed the crime." Huh? You're kidding, right? Nope. They're taking "blood money," instead. Come on! What is wrong with parents in this world?!? A man - who you are related to - DECAPITATES your child in the produce section of a supermarket IN FRONT OF OTHER SHOPPERS and you don't want to see him get the death penalty? I just don't get it. Never will.

Locally...

It is raining! We need rain. Probably one of the only countries in the world where a rain day should be a holiday. [It isn't. Tomorrow there will be reports of PCRC all over, though, because like southerner's in the snow, no one knows how to drive in "rain," here.]

Somehow I missed this during the last week. Did not know that Saudi nurses were being attacked. It says, "Recently the media have addressed the increasing number of assaults against Saudi nurses." I don't recall seeing a single article in either of our newspapers on this. Media as in television news, then? But, then, if it was reported in one of the papers, I could have overlooked it... Saudi nurses are being attacked by other women, as "the chivalry of Saudi men prevents them from using their own hands to slap the weak nurses so they ask their wives or relatives to do it on their behalf. They want to give Saudi nurses a lesson on how to treat the 'noble Saudi family.'" What? And, doesn't the Saudi "noble" family have their own hospital? No. Wait. They go to the States for medical treatment. I don't think "royal" and "noble" are the same thing. The author of the article, Salem Sahab, says, "As usual, there will be opponents and attackers to anyone who dares to criticize our 'specialty' claiming that these are individual cases and not a phenomenon." Well okay, then. Now we know. Here's the thing... "These cases, which some of us like to undermine by saying that they are rare and isolated include, among others: Maltreatment of foreign housemaids, humiliating them and depriving them of their monthly payments. Financial scams... Abusing children and physically torturing them and their mothers. Addiction to drugs... The fatal traffic accidents that result from speeding and other violations." Bingo! See, I am not the only one who thinks this - that PCRC is the result of speeding and other violations. Validation, indeed. Thank you Salam Sahab. Read the article. It isn't very long. Twelve paragraphs. The tenth is a humdinger, though. [H/T and thanks to Joseph who pointed this out to me!]

A 50-year-old Indonesian housemaid was abandonded by her Saudi sponsor in front of a recruitment office in Dammam. Nice. She was given about half of her owed wages and photocopies of her passport and working papers. The police have given her aide; she is now at a deportion center. Will her sponsor's be tracked down and made to pay the wages she is owed? Pay her plane fare back to Indonesia? Anything? Hmmph. Doubtful. Just another maid. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along. On the bright side, there is no indication that she was abused in the report. She is one of the fortunate and lucky ones...

The "sheep thieves," remember them? The two young men who were sentenced to 2,000 - 4,000 lashes and years in prison. Them. I've gone back and tried to ascertain their ages and can't find any reference to how old they are - I could have missed it - but they are "young," according to the reports. The fathers of the two boys, "said the verdict of six years in prison and 4,000 lashes... is unfair and is not commensurate with the crime the boys committed and does not take into consideration their young age." They have a point. And, don't forget that the men who tried to steal 16 sheep were given much more lenient sentences. ["The more you steal, the better."] Yes, what these two young boys [men?] did was wrong, but IMHO the sentence really is a bit harsh. One of the father's said that his son, "the fourth of six brothers does not exhibit aggressive behavior nor did he have any particular motives for committing the crime. Instead... [the son] and his friend were led astray by their own ignorance and became involved in the theft of two sheep worth SR700 [$187.66], which has landed them in prison." Perhaps we don't really know what the "particular motives" of the two boys actually was. Anyone care to expand on that? No. Just. Don't. All of the articles so far make it pretty clear that they were stealing the sheep because they were hungry and wanted to feed their families. Yes. What they did was wrong. But even the owner of the sheep has forgiven them. Don't they deserve some leniency? I think so. Just an opinion.

Earlier this week a little 7-year-old girl died after being abused by her own father and wicked step-mother. Both are "cooling their heels behind bars" and both are "charged with torturing the girl to death." According to the girl's mother, "identified only as Fatima," she said she "had been separated from her husband - the girl's father - for over two years which also separated her from her daughter." According to a spokesperson of the Makkah Police, "it was clear that Kulthoum [the little girl] had been severely beaten resulting in bruises and internal bleeding." Another authority has stated that "such practices are forbidden... and there is no acceptable justification fo rthe torture of Kulthoum whatever her crime was." Excuse me? What crime could a little 7-year-old girl possibly commit? Not wanting to go to bed at the required time? Not eating all of her peas at dinner? Not picking up her toys? Those are NOT crimes. That is normal behavior for a child. Little 7-year-old girls do not commit crimes. I am glad that the PTB are looking into the matter and that the father and wicked step-mother will, hopefully and eventually, be charged with murder.

I don't recall what was in yesterday's papers. I would have done a post if there was anything earth-shattering, though. Don't think I missed too much. If I did, someone let me know. I'll add it to today's round-up.

No Offense...

...to Captain Chesley Sullenberger. He IS to be awed and admired for his incredible piloting skills...

Tonight, at our house, a couple of pilots were hanging out. One of them had just returned from the States and had come over because he had brought a couple of bottles of Aleve back for us [thank you, Dan!]. Dan is telling us that he bought a big bottle of something-or-other at Duty Free on his way home even though he knew he was only going to be at that particular stop for two nights, but instead of buying the fifth he bought the big bottle - what is it, a gallon? DH says to him, in the conversation, "You didn't have a "Sully Special?" Dan says, "No. Just the JD. What is a 'Sully Special'?" DH says, "Two shots of Grey Goose and a splash of water." Everyone cracked up.

That is pilot humor. And, probably if I hadn't been married to a pilot for as many years as I have, it would have gone "Whoosh." Right over my head. It is funny. Two shots of Grey Goose and a splash of water. Don't make me explain it.

Quiet Weekend

Pretty dull, here. I like it that way. Dull is what you want it to be. We had a beautiful day outside yesterday. Sun was shining. Birds were singing. It was 80 degrees in the sun with no wind. The Boy laid in the sun and I sat out with him. We have freed him of his hood. He is happy. Today we are going to take him for his first walk since the day before he had his surgery. DH asked if we should go yesterday and I would have like to have done so, but there were just too many children outside playing. Children frighten The Boy. [Heck, many of the children here frighten me!] They make The Baby nervous as well.

All of the two-legged kids go back to school today after having had a week off. Finally. With all that there is to do on this compound it, apparently, isn't enough. We have parks, pools, a BMX and roller-blade "rink" with all those "half-pipe" thingys and other apparatus geared to doing great bodily harm if you are not experienced, there is a bowling alley, a movie theater [one of the ONLY ones in The Sandbox which is for the compound residents only], a library [please don't go there - many of you have no clue how one is supposed to behave inside such a facility], soccer fields - dozens of them, a recreation building that has pool tables and ping pong tables and such, a horse farm, the beach [you need to ride the bus to get to the beach] and wide-open outdoor areas for you to go and hang out and enjoy. Why, with all of those choices, did you have to hang out in front of our house all week?!? So that The Kids could bark at you, that's why. Glad school is back in session.

We have another month of generally perfect outside weather. Once April rolls around people begin hanging out inside - too hot. Not for me, but for many. For me, it is time to get back to "work." No more inside projects. Heavy-duty reading time, outside, either next to or in the pool. [Will Rev have the pool ready for the beginning of tanning season? He better! He better be here today. It is the 28th. DH told him the pool had to be done by the end of the month. DH is off today so Rev can be guaranteed a phone call from him. If I call him - and I won't - I'm done trying to deal with Rev - all I would get from him would be a "yeah, yeah, yeah." Rev doesn't talk to DH like that.]

I actually need to be out there working on trying to get some color even though it isn't tanning season quite yet. I am going to go to Singapore next month for two weeks to visit friends who live there. Weather there is warm and humid, year-round. If I am going to be outside in light-weight spring dresses, and shorts or capri's, I need to have some color. Getting back to working six days a week will be a good thing. You won't hear me complaining about how hot it is here, ever, and the weather we have for eight or nine months of the year is definitely one of the things I will miss when we finally leave. I like the heat and I want it to be hot and sunny every day!

Hate to bore y'all with dull. Sometimes that is what life here is like. I did take a small group of pictures the other day downtown that are as exciting as the cheese bread pictures - but NOT nearly as appetizing. Since I am going to have to go back downtown to get some groceries at some point this week, I think I want to take some more. The few that I have are good, but not enough to convey the "real" picture. And, surely, by tomorrow the newspapers will be reporting on the "local" happenings so I'll have that, too.

Score!

Most successful outing downtown today at breakfast time! Cheese bread!!! Delicious. Just. Delicious.

I got a car and driver, first thing, and said, "this is where I want to go - but first to Farm Five in Doha to get cheese bread." When we arrived there was quite a little stack of bread ready and waiting and only a few men milling about either as customers or conversing. [By the time we were ready to leave there was quite a little line forming. We got there before the rush.] I asked if it would be alright if I took some pictures and the three men [there is a fourth that works out back that I had never seen until today] were all most pleasant, accommodating and willing to let me snap away. Even allowed me to move in behind their counter to get a better photo of the inside of the oven. How sweet is that!

Mr. Customer Relations on the left, Mr. Bread Baking Oven Expert in the center, and the man who controls the magically tasty ingredients - Mr. Baker, on the right. Thank you Gentlemen, for allowing me to take photographs.

So it was a score. Score for the pictures so that I can share them with y'all. And a score for me, because I got cheese bread. [Trust me on this one - I am getting the better deal, here...] In return for me taking pictures all that was requested was that I please e-mail the photos to one of them. I am happy to oblige. The photos were e-mailed to the gentleman who requested them before I started this post. I will also be making color copies and delivering them in the next week or so - at the earliest possible opportunity I have to get downtown to indulge in more cheese bread. [Saturday!] The bread, alone, can't possibly be that fattening. But, if you could see the amount of cheese that goes into one of the "loaves" then it would be pretty easy to figure out how it is that I've managed to put thirty pounds onto my frame that I did NOT have when we arrived years ago.

Cheese bread is not the only option. There is bread with za'atar and plain bread and they have a sauce the will serve with the bread if you ask for it. I have had the za'atar bread. Yes. It is tasty. Much, much less caloric and much, much less fattening. Thanks, anyway, if I'm going to go there, I'm having the cheese bread. Eat it while it is hot! [If you have the man slice it and bag it for you, to carry home, I guarantee you that you will NOT be able to resist the aroma that fills your vehicle, and you'll start by just pulling off a little bite, and then another, and then a couple of more, and which point you may as well just eat the whole quarter-piece. As filling as it is, it is also very, very easy to eat a second quarter-piece. I know I said yesterday that one piece could feed a family of four. I lied. It will only feed a family of two. The cheese bread goes great with orange juice!]

The oven where the baking yumminess takes place. [Top photo - oven opened; bottom photo - oven closed.]

See that little hunk of dough back there on the counter? It is FILLED with cheese. Just filled with it. And, it's mine.

The baker preparing my order of bread. Cheese for me, please. And, my driver would like a piece of za'atar bread.

The bread on what looks like a nylon foam-covered cushion, about to be tossed into the oven.

In the oven. Look closely at the opening. You can see a loaf of bread - stuck to the wall of the oven - baking. There were probably four or five pieces in the oven when I took this picture - I'm glad that at least one of them can be seen - my photography skills do not do this process any justice. Click the photo to enlarge it. You can just barely see another loaf baking directly underneath...

Bread's done!

This bakery is located in Doha, in the Farm Five shopping center. Enter as though you were going to Farm Five - but don't park in the front - continue through the parking lot like you were going to go around back - past Starbucks - keep going, around the corner. There is what looks like a little "strip mall" area of shops - with plenty of parking. There is a barber shop there, and a cleaners, a couple of other shops and "the cheese bread shop." The bakery is two stores down to the left of the barber shop if you were facing that direction. You'll see it. There will be men waiting in line for their daily bread fix... And one blonde-haired, crazy American woman with her camera!

Locally...

PCRC. Four in the "speeding" vehicle were killed, the driver of the truck that the car rammed into has been critically injured. Finally. An admission that SPEED is a factor. Perhaps authorities will begin to notice that all the education in the world is not going to be preventative. Someone needs to act. And that act means giving the Traffic Police the tools and permission to do their jobs. I believe they would do a fine job if they had the opportunity to do so. After all, isn't it just human nature to want to succeed at whatever it is you do? Whether that be in personal relationships, or school, or employment? So far, that remains to be seen because they do not have the tools and they have to be worried about repercussions. Let them do what they need to do - even if it is only on a trial basis - and see if, statistically, the number of motor vehicle accidents decreases.

As soon as I finish typing the above, I go to the Saudi Gazette to see what is happening, here, today, and there is this: "30,000 traffic violations were found by authorities within a short span of two days... The violations were found after authorities installed radars and surveillance cameras on highways as part of [the] traffic department's fight against increasing traffic accidents." About time. Now, let's see some real action! Fines. Driver's licenses confiscated. Cars impounded. You'll see a dramatic decrease in accidents when punishments are doled out.

Oh my. Just a little "TMI." A marriage has been annulled due to the husband's impotency. Nope. No picture of the husband; no names of either party mentioned. Come on, now! Does this really qualify as news?

If anyone knows about the marathon taking place in Riyadh today, can you let me know if it was "open" for everyone, men AND women, or JUST men??? How does that work? What is the running attire? No, doubt, if women are included they must be fully-covered.

A daughter-in-law has pardoned the man who killed her father - who, I think, if I can get the "family tree" down, is also her uncle AND father-in-law. Perhaps someone who has a little genealogy experience can correct me, if I am wrong.

So Much for Cheese Bread and Other Plans

Rev can go ahead and call and force me to sit around all day today if he wants to. I was planning on going downtown - I really need to go to the airlines to see how I use my trillion miles to get a ticket for an upcoming excursion. And, of course, since I was going to be there, I wanted to go get cheese bread [any excuse to get a piece of that incredibly yummy cheese bread will do!] and I was going to take the camera to get pictures of the process, which I cannot adequately describe. What was I thinking? I knew DH had to go to work at four o'clock this morning. His wallet has money in it. Mine? Not much. I have 18 riyals - all of $4.82 [which would buy six pieces of cheese bread - that is a LOT of cheese bread - one piece can feed a family of four!]. DH also has the money card in his wallet. Never occurred to me to get either cash or the ATM card from him last night, and he snuck out of here so quietly this morning I never heard him. It costs SR43 for a round-trip in a car downtown with one hour of waiting time. That would be all that I need - to go to Qatar to see about a ticket on miles - and to go to the kiosk that sells cheese bread. I'm going to wait another half hour - until it is a more reasonable time to call a friend - and see if she's got some cash I can use for my morning outing. If she doesn't? Well then, I'm just going to be SOL...

Please. Allow Me To Rant. Some More.

May as well do what you're good at. It has occurred to me that I would have a whole lot more time in my day - everyday - if I wasn't surrounded by idiocy. Is it their fault, or is it mine? Good, good question. Their fault for not understanding me, or mine for talking too fast and expecting that I am being understood?

For the last couple of weeks - as long as The Boy has been in a heavy-duty "cast" type of bandage that has required that I cover it with a plastic bag before I take him outside to do business, I have told Appuk [the gardener], "Do not wash the sidewalk and patio. It must be dry." [Actually this has been an ongoing issue - for far, far longer than just The Boy being bandaged up, because Appuk wants to hose the patio down and the salt water is killing the outdoor furniture. DO NOT hose it down. Sweep it. Yes. It is more work for him - but too bad - that is what I am paying him to do, work!] " Yes, Madam. Verree dirt-ee." I don't care, Appuk, do NOT get it wet. " Yes, Madam. I will clean." No. No. No. No. No! There is a language barrier between us, Appuk, but when I turn the hose off and say NO, I figure that you have got to be semi-understanding what it is I am trying to tell you. [I think these guys understand me better than they let on.]

So, Sunday morning, I get home from the vet's office with The Boy and don't 'cha know - the sidewalk is wet. What the heck is wrong with you Appuk? Do I need to beat you with the hose? [And, this, is exactly how abuse of domestic help starts. I am getting it. I haven't done it, but I am beginning to understand why it is such a problem.] Appuk tells me he watered the flowers. "Must give water to flower, Madam." Yes. I understand that. But that does not require watering the sidewalk. DO NOT get the sidewalk wet again. DO NOT hose the patio down. DO NOT get my patio furniture, or The Boy's chaise wet. DO YOU UNDERSTAND. "Yes, Madam. I will clean it." UUGGHHH! Stop. Do not. Leave. Now. See you tomorrow. Best you leave right this minute before something happens that both of us are going to regret. You won't have a job and I won't have a gardener.

Beyond the fact that The Boy has had this bandaging on that we were given very clear instructions to not allow it to get wet, the pool tile is done... What does one have to do with the other? There are seven and a half boxes of tile left over. Rev way overestimated what was going to be required. He has promised to return the unused tiles so that we can get our money back. The tiles were neatly stacked on the sidewalk that Appuk watered. Now, Rev, or one of his workers is going to come in here, grab a box of those tiles and it is going to go smashing onto the sidewalk because the cardboard that the tiles are boxed in got wet, and we are not going to be able to get our money back for a pile of smashed and broken tile. Appuk was clueless when I tried to point this out to him. Looked right at me with such an empty "look" that I'm quite positive that "no one is home" inside. Heck. The lights aren't even on. Who am I kidding? If he didn't do as good of job as he does with the yard and flowers...

The pool. The guys came on Friday to finish the pool work. Well, mostly. The tile was actually all up on Monday of last week, but it had to "set" and "dry" before it could be grouted. Three of them came, first thing in the morning and got to work. That was the easy part, I guess, because they were done in about five hours. Have to admit, I am quite impressed with one of the guys that Rev sent to do this work. He was just so neat about everything, and cleaned up his mess, and didn't leave his lunch trash. [Yeah. The same guy that I yelled at for putting smoother than glass tiles down on the perilously dangerous steps.] So it was him - don't know his name, and our regular pool guy, and another man I don't think I've ever seen before. They worked hard. Got the job done. Cleaned up and then sat. Waiting. Waiting for Rev to come and pick them up. They sat for a good hour - if not longer - before finally one of them asked me to please call a cab for them. You poor guys. Not enough that you are here working on what is supposed to be your ONE day a week off - Friday - but now, Rev isn't around [wouldn't answer either of his cell phones] to come and pick you up. Exactly, how, Rev, did you think these guys were going to get home? That I was going to pile them in our truck and take them to Khobar, myself? Since I'm not allowed to drive outside our compound walls, that isn't likely... And, you know damn well DH golfs on Friday and that he is not available to take them to Khobar, either. How thoughtful, kind and considerate of you, Rev. Leave 'em all stranded here. I happily called a cab for them - and was about to pay for it, too, and then came to my senses. It isn't because I wanted for the three poor [in a literal sense] workers to have to pay for it - but I think it is Rev's responsibility and if I would have paid for it then Rev would be able to absolve himself. So I didn't.

Anyway... Rev was here a couple of days ago to inspect the work. Must have been Saturday morning. He doesn't have a key to the gate so he calls me when he wants to be let in. Never any warning - I can be in the middle of something, doesn't matter what - and he calls and says, "I am here, Madam. You will need to open the gate." If it was just once in a while I wouldn't mind. It is often. Too often. And that he doesn't give me any warning just pisses me off. The man has already surpassed his quota of "patience" with me. So, I quickly make myself presentable [involved getting out of my p.j.'s] and go open the gate. "Yes, Madam. We bring the light tomorrow." "What time tomorrow, Rev?" "Yeah, yeah, yeah." Whoa! He didn't. But he did. I lost it. "Rev, do NOT, under any circumstance say 'yeah, yeah, yeah' to me ever again. Do you understand? Yeah, yeah, yeah is not an answer - you say that to everything I ask you or tell you and you think that you can play like you don't understand what I am saying when you know exactly what I am saying and it is your way of not having to answer a question. "What time will you be here tomorrow?" "In the morning." "What time in the morning?" "I will call you." "No, Rev. I want to know what time you are going to be here. I have things to do and I have no intention of sitting around waiting for you to call when you say you are going to call and then you don't call. What time?" "Around nine o'clock, Madam." "Fine."

We did have things to do. We waited until nine-thirty. Rev didn't call. I know. Shocking. DH and I left. We went downtown. Needed to go to the gas store [LP gas for the grill], and to the glasses store to drop his sunglasses off to be repaired. We've been going to the same place for glasses for a while, now. Couple of years. There is a really, really upscale looking store next to the glasses store that has lovely window displays of clothing for men and women. I decided to wander in. Can't believe I've not been in there before. Pricey. Very pricey. But nice. Big, airy shop, two stories - elegant marble stairs going up - with antique chairs and chaises and big mirrors [for what? there are no dressing rooms!]. Mr. Manager, who was Saudi, had an attitude about him - snooty. I said good morning, and he turned his nose up and didn't even bother acknowledging me. Although, in all likelihood probably it had to do with my attire and demeanor, in that I am sure at the moment I did not look like the sort of woman who would wear such high-end fashion couture when I walked in [and if he guessed that - he would be correct - I don't wear that kind of thing]. No make up, hair - not done - sunglasses holding it in place like a headband [had them on top of my head], abeya that looks as though it has never seen a lint brush [it hasn't] or a washer [never!], old white sneakers on. Do I blame him? No. But, then if that is the way he is going to judge me on the basis that I am not all coifed and dressed to the nines, why would I want to shop there? I looked through some of the ladies things - a shop that actually had some "normal" clothing - although it was also full of the foo-foo stuff with glittery adornment and lace and ruffles and things that I wouldn't be caught dead in. SR500 for a pair of brown capri's - sale price - is way, way, way more than I am willing to pay, though.

I went upstairs to see what they had for men. Jackpot! A store that carries XLT!!! The first one I've come across the entire time we've lived here. DH had no idea that we'd end up buying him a car-length black leather coat yesterday morning when we went off to do errands. Very, very nice. It was 50% off - but the man working [Lebanese or Egyptian, maybe?] said, "Speeshell prize to you. The first time I ever geeve theese discounts. Seeksdee-fife bacent discounts." We, apparently, are very, very fortunate customers. I'm pretty sure he has never given a "seeksdee-fife bacent discounts" to anyone else. [Sarcasm, off.] We didn't have enough cash and I didn't have my credit card - so we'll pick it up later this week when we go back downtown to get DH's glasses at the repair shop next door. It is the kind of shop where there is a tea/coffee boy who comes up to you with a silver tray to offer you a beverage. You are expected to have one or the other, you are expected to stay, to chat, and to shop. When DH went to take his denim jacket off to try the leather coat on, I went to grab his coat, and out of nowhere the tea/coffee boy [man, really, probably 30 years old] was there with a wooden hanger. We were the ONLY customers in the shop for the entire time we were there - a good thirty minutes. As we left the snooty Saudi that snubbed me when I first went in tripped over himself and raced us to the door to open it for us. "Have a pleasant day." Yeah. I'd think his opinion of me might just have changed a little bit. Seeing as how we just bought one of his [ridiculously over-priced] leather jackets - but at least we got a "speeshell prize" and a "seeksdee-fife bacent discounts." For the very first time, ever, I can report a positive shopping experience. The first! Yes. I will go back to that shop for DH.

Then we continued. We had to go get those Cuban's that DH so likes, that I couldn't get for him for his birthday last week because I couldn't find them. The "other" grocery store just happens to be next to the awesome bread place. [Pictures are very necessary.] The outdoor kiosk that has the brick oven and makes the MOST delicious bread you have either ever smelled or tasted in your entire life. Is it clean and sanitary? Are you kidding? The place has never seen a can of Lysol for as long as it has been standing. Or a pail of hot sudsy water and a sponge, either. Are the men that work there dressed in white uniforms? Yes. But those uniforms have long been tan they are so stained. I am just hopeful that the temperature of the oven kills everything - it must - it is not the first time I've eaten the cheese bread from there, and I have yet to get sick. I am actually a bit surprised that I even ventured to try it one day - usually I avoid such not-necessarily-sterile atmospheres like the plague. I am incredibly fussy about "germs" and the like - you will never catch me without a package of anti-bacterial wipes and I wash my hands a gazillion times a day... Oh my gosh. It is soooo good! The smell alone will drive you crazy. You salivate at the mere aroma. Yum yum yum!

Anyway, we finally get home and of course DH can't be happy with just cheese bread for breakfast lunch. Nope. He needs - wants - some sort of meat, and eggs. He wants roast beef hash. Fine. I'll make him roast beef hash and eggs to go with his cheese bread. We have only two cans of roast beef hash left - we had to ship it over - a case of it - from the States. It will be another six months before we're in the States again to get another case [we'll get two!] of roast beef hash. I open the can and put it in a frying pan. It is cooking on the stove. Inam is here cleaning. At the very minute I put the roast beef hash on the stove, Inam decides it is time to sweep the kitchen floor. No! How many times must I tell you that if there is food in the kitchen you cannot sweep? For the very same reason that I don't feed The Kids or put their water bowls down if Inam is sweeping - I just don't want dust and the Kids' hair flying up in the food thankyouverymuch. Inam and I have gone over this and over this and over this. The same thing - at least weekly. If there is food out - if I am cooking - you CANNOT sweep! "Yes, Madam. I will sweep." NOOOOO! When I am done you can sweep, but not until then. Inam makes a gesture with his hand as if to say, "but the pile I have already started collecting with the broom" and I grab the broom out of his hand and put it in the closet. Surely he does this on purpose. It happens far too frequently for it to be a mere coincidence. The man has always been slow - a box of rocks has more common sense. Appuk, is his uncle - not his father - but that old saying, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree" is most applicable.

Inam is always underfoot. DH accuses him of following him around. If DH is sitting on the couch reading the paper, that is the exact moment that the leather needs to be cleaned; if DH is in the study at the computer, then that is when Inam chooses to fetch the vacuum and run it around him. It is probably Inam's way of getting back at us for paying him to clean up after us. There are dozens of tasks to be done in the house - and only when they can be done to most inconvenience us are when Inam chooses which task to tackle or accomplish next. I will say this, though, he does an excellent job cleaning the bathrooms and the floors. Why we have to have the exact same discussions - well mostly it is me that "discusses," and Inam "listens" [but not very well!] - on such a regular basis bewilders me. If I didn't let you sweep when I was cooking last Thursday - what makes you think that it is okay to sweep while I am cooking today?!? When you get here in the morning - and no one is in the kitchen at seven o'clock - don't you think that that would be the most opportune time to sweep the floor? Never mind.

I started this post the day before yesterday - Sunday - it is Tuesday - it is almost one o'clock. Has Rev called? Has he brought the light? Has he picked up the tile? Of course not. DH has the day off and is playing golf. He can call Rev when he gets home and find out when the new light is going to be installed in the pool. Supposedly we were going to be able to start filling the pool on Thursday of this week. But, the grout is going to have to dry around the light, which has yet to be delivered or intalled... The pool, sitting empty, is a death trap. As concerned as I am about one of The Kid's falling into the pool when there is water in it - I am more concerned about one of them falling while it is empty. Since The Boy has to be on a leash - until the toe is completely healed - he cannot be running on the patio tile and scraping it - and opening it up - I can control just how close to the edge he can get. The Baby on the other hand... I want the pool finished. It has been two months. DH told Rev that the pool had to be completed by the end of this month - Rev still has four more days... I've got things to do tomorrow and DH has to work. Because I've got plans, and DH won't be home, tomorrow is going to be the day that Rev will decide he needs to come to install the light and pick up the tile, and he'll call and then not show up. After all, why should tomorrow be any different?

This picture does not do the stair tile justice. You cannot tell how smooth and shiny and slippery it is. DH says that now that it is grouted, that is going to make a world of difference and keep me from slipping. Don't think so. Will look for those "bathtub safety strips" tomorrow.

Our pool is at least twenty years old - perhaps older - and installed when there was no such thing as a "building code." From the patio to the first step it is 22 - almost 23 - inches down - just less than a two foot step.

From the first step to the second is just over 16 inches.

It is more than two feet from the second step to the bottom of the pool. Quite a drop.

It would appear as though the pool was designed and then constructed and "whoops" maybe some steps should be put in - certainly an after thought and that is being generous. Not much thought put into having steps at all.