Busy Saturday

Day started off with breakfast at Marina crescent with friends, followed by a trip to Tristar see previous blog post. Lunch at home, then out bike riding around 15:00. Khaleej Road was congested, too many cops and a couple of accidents, and way too many idiots on the road. After 90 minutes of riding, I decided to call it a day head home. My Buddy picked me up to take his bike to the dealership, sawalef with some old faces, then headed to the powder coating shop and picked up my rim for the Blitz Bomber. Home at 20:30, sat with the kids, then out by 21:00 for a long walk with some friends to end the day. Not bad for a saturday!

Kids at Marina (ranting)

Since the weather got better, I started riding on my motorcycle to Marina, either early morning or late afternoon. However this year it seems that the number of kids around Marina has quadrupled and to aggravate things, their guardians have no control. This episode happened last week, after a quick coffee at Starbucks in the late afternoon I returned to my bike to see a bunch of kids jumping on and off the bike, stepping on my exhaust, twisting the throttle and sitting on the tank. I was getting enraged with the sight of my beloved Blitzy getting fornicated by a bunch of imbeciles in public.So I shouted get off the Bike and the kids looked at me and ignored me, I went straight to them and lifted the kid of my seat and told him off. From behind me I hear Esh Da3wa Yuba, I turned around with daggers flying out of my eyes and told him eshh da3wa? if I find your car open the door and play with it, and while at it jump on the hood. He was taken aback by my answer, then I continued to lecture him. He probably thought I was stupid and this is  only a piece of junk. Junk or no Junk, this is my private property so back off next time you see a bike parked. He disappeared uttering some words with no apologies whatsoever.

How the hell can you educate people around here and get them to understand that a motorcycle is not a public toy.

What age is considered “OLD” these days?

I remember when I was young, I thought anyone over say 50 was old. Not that I am 47 in 2009, makes me really think about it. True our bodies get older with time and we start facing health related issues, but this does not mean, that we are loosing it. Our aging process is slowing down, the 60's generation cant be compared to the 40's and 20's for the exception of Hugh Hefner in picture. My kids are 10 years old and they think that Dad and Mom are Kool, they know music, heavy in particular, they both drive bikes, they are adventurous and yet they are both nearing 50.

So am I considered old? not in my book, as long as I can race and beat some young kid on a bike at over 260km, as long as I can hike, and take my kids camping I consider myself young. So to all of you youngster out there 50 is not old and I have not started preparing my bucket list.

Head Hunters

Throughout my 20 years career including the last 10 in Kuwait, I have never resorted to headhunters to find a job. I was always approached by one of them, mainly from Dubai. This time around, I am the seeker and its a first for me. My opinion of headhunters in Kuwait has not been a favorable one. I have used them to recruit resources and they always managed to send the wrong candidate or to be fair fitting 40% of my requirements. I am interested to see how this will be played out. They asked for my CV, my current package and what position I am interested in. That was on Thursday the 28th, until now no follow up, I wonder when they are planning on getting back to me? Nevertheless I will try contacting a couple more, to see the type of interviews they will line up.

Update: just contacted two headhunter companies in Dubai, RMI & Indigo, let see how these two respond.

Time Warp

On the second day of Ramadan it seems everything at work is grinding to a halt. Employees chatting about everything and nothing, no sense of urgency to get things done in time. People coming late into the office and leaving early. Motivation and productivity are downhill, tempers flaring for everything and nothing, nicotine addicts keeping a low profile. This syndrome will last a couple of days more until our bodies get adjusted and by the last ten days in Ramadan, you must as well throw in the towel. I feel I am walking among the living dead, god knows how much I need a change of job, if this situation persists, I am tempted to take the rest of Ramadan off this year.

Time to Move on?

So how do you assess your professional situation? Well for starter you need to look at your role, is it fulfilling is it adding value to you and your organization, do you see the growth potential of the organization, where is it heading in the coming 5 years and where do you see yourself. I have weighed all my options and the next step for me is to move my cheese. Chances are we will relocate outside Kuwait, which poses some tough challenges for the whole family. I am still in discussions with several companies and I am hoping to choose Dubai, although we will be leaving lots of good friendships behind that we have built over the course of 10 years. I am looking forward for the change, for starter we can own our house. Driving on weekends will not be limited to 100km to cafe 26, as Oman offers excellent vistas. Kids activities will be abundant and professional career advancement is widely available. Will keep you posted on the outcome.

First Day of Fasting

Today marks the first of the holy month of Ramadan. temperature is still way up there in the mid 40's. This is what we call life in the slow lane, people attitude changes, some are moody, some are serious and some keep their cool. Its funny when people are deprived of some of the basic needs tend to get a bit edgy and frustrated and the number of car accidents starts multiplying. This is nothing new to any of us, however the news is this is the first time I see my 2 nine years old daughters fasting willingly. I have never been the type of person that forces things on my kids and fasting is one of them. The fasting was not planned either, the girls last meal was yesterday at 20:00 and they had some water before bedtime at 23:00. They unanimously decided to try fasting today, it went very smooth until about 17:00 where T had stomach cramps, I told her to hold on for the next 90 minutes and to lay down, she ended up sleeping for the whole 90 minutes, R on the other side never felt a thing. At the end both were proud to make it through the day including Mom & Dad. Tonight I will wake them up at 3:00am for Sohoor making sure they get a decent meal.

Resurrection

After taking a three months break from blogging on this site and finalizing the Blitz Bomber project. I am back again with more news from the Kuwaiti & International motorcycling scene.