As you can see the cranes are standing still and there isn't a worker to be seen.
Artists impressions
28 June 2009
a ghost city
Stu took these photos the other day when he was passing Ajman. All work appears to have stopped completely on "Emirates City".
As you can see the cranes are standing still and there isn't a worker to be seen.
As you can see the cranes are standing still and there isn't a worker to be seen.
more stresssssss, sigh
I am sure you are all waiting with bated breath to find out how the water cooler saga was concluded. Well let me put you out of your misery and tell you how it ended.
Stu and I carted the bloody thing back to Sharaf for the third (and in our minds final) time, and Stu calmly told the "customer service" representative that they now had two options, either give us a refund or give us a new unit. After much too-ing ("oh please sir let us take it for another 3 days and try and repair it") and fro-ing ("no, either give me my money back or give me a replacement unit") we demanded to see the manager, or someone who at least had some authority to make a decision. After keeping us waiting another 10 minutes we were finally attended to by someone who looked semi-officious (well he WAS wearing a tie at least). I won't bore you with the details of the argument that ensued, nor the shouting (me) and swearing (still me) and excuse making (all them) BUT he eventually agreed to compromise and made an exception for us. He then told us he would give us 80% of the original amount we spent (he had to deduct a 20% restocking fee!!?) as a voucher, which annoyingly meant we had no choice but to purchase another cooler from them. Some compromise! We did however purchase a different brand, here's hoping this one will be a little better.
Stu and I carted the bloody thing back to Sharaf for the third (and in our minds final) time, and Stu calmly told the "customer service" representative that they now had two options, either give us a refund or give us a new unit. After much too-ing ("oh please sir let us take it for another 3 days and try and repair it") and fro-ing ("no, either give me my money back or give me a replacement unit") we demanded to see the manager, or someone who at least had some authority to make a decision. After keeping us waiting another 10 minutes we were finally attended to by someone who looked semi-officious (well he WAS wearing a tie at least). I won't bore you with the details of the argument that ensued, nor the shouting (me) and swearing (still me) and excuse making (all them) BUT he eventually agreed to compromise and made an exception for us. He then told us he would give us 80% of the original amount we spent (he had to deduct a 20% restocking fee!!?) as a voucher, which annoyingly meant we had no choice but to purchase another cooler from them. Some compromise! We did however purchase a different brand, here's hoping this one will be a little better.
21 June 2009
legal again
I am happy to report that I am legal again, well in terms of my UAE residence visa that is. After being in visa limbo for a week or two, which felt weird, I was handed my passport today complete with my new residence visa. As part of the process I had to go for another round of medical tests, namely HIV (blood) and TB (chest x-ray) and have been declared, according to the Dubai Government anyway, free from infectious diseases (because there are only 2 that one should worry about right?) Anyway I am sure you are all really relieved by the news.
15 June 2009
the "driller"
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| [poor visibility in Jebel Ali] |
The Shamal winds blow off the "empty quarter" for about two weeks. Looks like they have started :(.
14 June 2009
more complaints, and a milestone
Looking at some blogs written by people living in the region it seems that customer service, or at least the lack thereof, is a very real and ongoing problem. Ann, from "A Canadian in Abu Dhabi" is having fun and games with Etisalat; Seabee over at "Life in Dubai" has written numerous times about poor customer service whilst I struggle on with the banks here, not to mention a new wrinkle this weekend which I will go into in a sec.
7 June 2009
be careful out there
I guess the warning on aerosol cans really SHOULD be taken seriously.
A South African chap, Steve Hawthorne, returned to his Pajero last week, after parking it in the sun for an hour or two over lunchtime, to find that the aerosol can of "cooling spray" he kept in the car to cool down the steering wheel had exploded in the heat. Not only that but it had sliced right through the door!
We all know how dangerously hot vehicles get here, there are stories every year about people dying after falling asleep in cars or buses, but it seems even more care is needed. Don't leave aerosol cans or electronic goods in your car. I would say even original CDs won't last long this way.
The full story is here.
Image scanned from the Xpress paper, June 4
A South African chap, Steve Hawthorne, returned to his Pajero last week, after parking it in the sun for an hour or two over lunchtime, to find that the aerosol can of "cooling spray" he kept in the car to cool down the steering wheel had exploded in the heat. Not only that but it had sliced right through the door!
We all know how dangerously hot vehicles get here, there are stories every year about people dying after falling asleep in cars or buses, but it seems even more care is needed. Don't leave aerosol cans or electronic goods in your car. I would say even original CDs won't last long this way.
The full story is here.
Image scanned from the Xpress paper, June 4
5 June 2009
cancelled
In these uncertain economic times it's probably a good idea to be cautious and careful. So with that in mind we decided that it might be prudent for me to change from a husband-sponsored to a company-sponsored visa, that way if anything (G*d forbid) should happen to Stu's job, then we aren't both visa-less, and can hopefully avoid the drama being visa-less would unleash, especially with the bank (but we won't go into that again).
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