Getting back to personal - Part Deux

I meet a lot of men and one would think that there would be something to be said about the law of averages.  You would think that through volume, I might find someone acceptable for a relationship. 

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. 

I liked Mr. Monte Carlo.  Seemingly good catch, but just wanted me around to show off to his friends that he could “catch” an ajnabia (foreigner).  No dinner.  No dates.  Nada.  And please, I don’t belong to a college club/frat:  No one drinks as much as you do and that is not all that everyone is interested in.  Grow up.  You’re 45.

I gave up on his sorry ass.

Then, I met another guy that I liked.  (I call him, “Envoy” because that’s what he drives.)  Lives in the next block (how convenient!).  Divorced.  2 boys.  Loves my dog.  We went out to dinner a few times to nice restaurants.  Walk on the beach.   Took me by his house (after he fixed my car – to pick it up).  Told his sons about me.  But, during our brief relationshit, he was a no-show twice and the third time was 3 hours late. So, of course, he was dumpsville.  I gave him the opportunity to explain, but he couldn’t produce any words after almost a week, so I showed him my 2014 dance.  It's a little thing I like to call BLOCK – DELETE.

If you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch.  Forget it.  You have my number.  You want to make it better?  Send me flowers with an explanation and I MIGHT talk to you.   If not, bah byyyyyye.  I’m not in the mood.  While you are sitting there with your thumb up your ass, trying to figure out what you want to do with me, I’m out meeting more men.  It’s simple.  If you can’t impress me, I’m on to the next best thing.  I don’t care.  You don’t get it.  I’m not home, crying into my pillow. Second rate isn't worth it.  I’m out meeting the next potential (whatever).

So, I met another guy I liked.  Divorced with 3 kids (only he neglected to mention to me that it was the Islamic 1^st divorce).  Owns horses.  Cool badass job.  We talked on the phone for hours.  Indications good for a nice guy.  After standing me up for our first date, sent me a message saying that he would never be able to marry me, so we should just stop talking.  Okey dokey. Thanks.  That saved me from having to block/delete you.  Whatever happened to being friends and letting a relationship progress?  We haven’t even had a date yet and he’s talking about how he’ll never marry me.  Did I miss something?  (Like my 5K diamond engagement ring, perhapsee?)

Yawn.

So I met another guy (who was way too short for me) I liked.  First date, brought me a pink rose (without knowing they are my favorite.)   We went out to dinner (in an out-of-the way place.  Nice place, but there were only 2 other people there.  I kinda felt like he didn’t want to be seen out, although he never said it.  Date #2 was at a club with a restaurant.  His brother is a manager of the club I guess.  I thought we would be eating with the other restaurant patrons, but it turned out that we had a meal in his brother’s office.  If he was maybe 2’ taller, I probably could have dealt with this situation better.  I have a problem with men just tall enough to stare into my boobs and then take me to dinner seated in office/closets.

Sigh.

This year sucks for me in the relationship department.  My birthday horoscope said that it would.  

Getting back to personal

I haven’t blogged about personal stuff for a while.  I was inspired to do so by a new blog I found called “I Date Kuwait” by a Kuwaiti woman telling her perspective of the scene here.  She will probably eventually become old and jaded like me and realize that a whole lot of her friends, family members, and colleagues have figured out who she really is.  At that point in time, she’ll decide to start posting info about her dog (cat?) and less and less info on her real personal life (just like me!).  Until then, I’m really enjoying her perspective.

So let’s talk about me!

Post 1

Mr. Clean et al:  I shoulda stopped going to his family a long time ago.  Y’alls told me to stop.  But, I just really longed for that family gathering feeling that I’m lacking here as my family is on the other side of the World.  So Clean’s family became my Friday afternoon crutch.  Which was fine, for a while.  Until September 11th (2014, that is).  I’m Instagram buddies with Clean’s brothers (all 5 of them).  A few of which I’ve always thought have had prejudiced or judgmental opinions, but hey – to each his own.  That’s their karma.   However, on September 11th, the Challenged One posted a photo of Osama Bin Ga7aba with a caption that read something like, “The day Osama made the Americans cry.  May he rest in peace.”  It was “liked” by Clean.  It was commented on by another brother who said something in agreement like, “Yes!  Great!”

And if anyone from Kuwait State Security wants details on the
people posting or "liking", write to me at amerab@gmail.com

Ok, Osama Bin Ga7aba was no friend to Moslems anywhere.  He was evil.  Moslems do not kill innocent people.  Terrorists and demons do.  September 11th did not make life for most Moslems easier or happier, as we all know.  So why idolize him?  And if you do idolize him and make a statement like this about Americans, does that mean that you hate me also, as an American?  Yes, I did cry on September 11, 2001.  So did many people around the World because, not only did it affect many of us personally (as it did similar to when Kuwait was invaded in August of 1990), but it affected the World as we knew it.

I went ballistic when I saw the Instagram message.  I sent it to his other family members.  One of his sisters answered immediately, “Ha ha ha.  He’s stupid.”  I didn’t see the humor.  I sent it to his father.  No response.  I finally called one of the brothers that I’m closest to and told him and I sent along a threat that if his family was pro-terrorism, they should probably be more aware of the investigations that are going on in Kuwait right now and that perhaps they should re-think promoting terrorism via the internet.  The Challenged One took it down [but not until people like his friend (7son_alqallaf” tagline Special forces… explosives – kinda scary if he’s in the Kuwait forces!) and 30 other people in Kuwait had “liked” it or commented positively.]

It is now September 25th.  I think I have been rather vocal about how I felt about that message.  I stopped going to their house for lunches and I haven’t called any of them.  How have they responded?  With silence.

Ok, so it’s like that.  If you hate Americans, you hate me.  You can’t call someone a racial slur and then expect them to go to family lunch at your home (for example).   I’m not in the habit of hangin’ with people who are pro-terrorist.  Especially these days.

Dog Pedigree Registrations Available in Kuwait: Announcement Conference

Please pass along to anyone who would like to attend.

Kuwait: Animal Torture Case September 2014

Horrific photos and video of man on a residential street in Kuwait torturing a rabbit and skinning it alive with his teeth
WARNING:  Don't scroll down if you are sensitive. GRAPHIC CONTENT 


I saw part of the torture video on Instagram last night, posted by a lawyer.  I immediately blocked the lawyer (regardless of his intentions, I was so traumatized by the 2 seconds I saw; without even knowing what would happen next,  that I have no intention of associating myself with the person who would post it).

Life In Kuwait blog has the full story (Link Here) without the graphic video, thank God.  Pictures however, are pretty graphic.  I cropped the torturer's photo, but he looks like a rabid dog (no insult to dogs) with the rabbit's blood covering his face.

My theory is this:  If this man is finding joy in torturing an animal, he is also finding joy in doing it to his own children, children in his neighborhood, weaker people.  His wife?  He should be sent in immediately for psychiatric evaluation.  Get him OUT of our community!!!

Update:  Arab Times Today - September 18, 2014

Source:  HERE

I am not posting this to encourage him or his followers.  I am posting this because I would like to see him arrested for the safety of animals and humans in our area!  

Mariam Al-Kharafi:  I commend you for immediately stepping forward to take legal action.  You are an outstanding member of this society!

The below was circulated on Facebook.  He obviously has no fear of repercussion as he posts his full, un-edited Civil ID card (Kuwaiti national identity card).  I can't read the name...  It sounds like a subconscious plead for help; that he really does want to be caught.  I hope that happens - and soon.

I will keep you posted as I hear more about this horrific story. 

In my 18 years in Kuwait, this is the 2nd-most-awful story I've heard (and I had the distinct misfortune to see part of this one).  One would think that I would be desensitized to a lot of the things I've seen in my life, but something like this just makes my blood boil to the point that I want to commit homicide against the perpetrator....

Angel appearances

I didn't sleep well last night.  I usually sleep great, but things have been bothering me lately and I haven't been very happy.  My best buddy is out of the country and I've been spending a lot of time alone and with my dogs.

Last night, I couldn't understand why I kept waking up all night.  This morning, I got it: it was foggy, but I had a dream about Shamlan.  Usually, my dreams of him are vivid, but last night it wasn't so much.

But I got his message.

Usually when I feel really low, he comes to my mind (or maybe he just comes to me to help me through it - which is more of how I feel).  I wake up in the morning, and his name is on my lips.  I just say it out of nowhere and I know he's around.

Anyhow, last night his message was that even though I've idolized him all these years, maybe today, at this place in this year, he would not be the man who I wanted him to be.  All is destiny.  Maybe I would have been disillusioned now, if her were alive today.  I'm disillusioned by most men I meet these days in this time of technology; when your most personal relationships are the ones you have via WhatsApp and Instagram.  No one bothers to call or get together anymore.  Are we all so busy?  Maybe he would have been the same way.  The phone calls and personal appearances may have stopped and perhaps he would have just communicated with me the way that many of my old/dear friends currently do now - by chat.

Shamlan died in the prime of his life.  He is eternally youthful and perfect to me.  Nothing will ever change because time stopped when he was killed.

So my perfect angel shows up and gives me little messages every now and then and I totally appreciate it and look forward to it.  Especially when I feel tired and down.

I'm more important than you are....

I hate rush hour in Kuwait - especially in the morning.  I can't take Fahaheel "Express"way because it is bumper-to-bumper all the way into the city.  So I take the Gulf Road because, for the most part, it keeps moving.

Overall, it isn't a bad drive and very very pretty.  It is much better, of course, when the kiddies are home and out of school and people aren't crowding the streets after taking the little urchins to school and heading to work... with me....

However, I have some peeves I would like to discuss.

Po-Po:  Please read this and do something about it.  Ok?

Where I would like the police to add barriers is along the stretch from Sultan Center to the light at the entrance to the Sea Club (light just past the Yachts Club).  Why?  Because the entitled arseholes of the Universe converge in this area to race in and out of parking lots and entrance ways along both sides of the road to get a few cars ahead of  everyone else because (you guessed it)...

THEY ARE MORE IMPORTANT than every one else.

I try to stay in the middle lane, as close to the ass-end of the car in front of me as possible.  I don't look to the left or to the right (as "jumpers" try to get one over, thinking I'm a "nice" western female and will let them in).  I'm not nice.  I'm bitchy and aggressive in the morning - especially pre-coffee.  I'm not letting SQUAT in.

Another peeve I have is the light at Hamad Mubarak Street.  Fucktards use the left (turn-only) lane to jump back into traffic in front of everyone else who has been waiting for the light because (you guessed it)...

THEY ARE MORE IMPORTANT than every one else.

They really should build a 6' concrete barrier there.  Jersey barrier.  Yeah.  Maybe blast-proof would do it.

Personally, I've never seen a car flip ("turn turtle" in Briddish) on this stretch, but fer damn sure, I wish I had.  I wish it could be because the (imaginary) giant cattle pusher I've had installed for this very purpose (like the one pictured below) has sent all the cars trying to weasel their entitled-jumper-asses off the side of the road. One by one, they would just flip and tumble out of my way.  That's right.

Guess what's coming? The Causeway....

Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway

I've been looking out my window (and the window of my physical therapists) for the past several months now, watching this thing be created out in the water... and wondering if it could be the causeway starting.

Kuwait is full of hachi al fathi and  you never know what project is actually going to get off the ground.  Heck, I didn't even know/believe that Khiran city was down there until I actually went to see it.  However, I'm seeing this causeway go in with my very own eyes.

Here is what I see:  Progress!  (Amateur photo taken by serious amateur through dirty window, same time/day with 2 different colors.  Why??)

Now, just imagine flippin your Mitsubishi Gallant doing 200kms/hr flying over THAT thing!  Wooo hooo.  Makes "seafood" take on a totally different meaning.  Awesome.


More on the causeway HERE and HERE  and yo, again HERE.

Departures

So many people I know are leaving Kuwait permanently that it feels kinda weird.  Stella has been gone for a while now, but at least she's close in Dubai.  I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to Slaperella before she moved to Australia.  Butterfly flew the coop months ago and has her old gig back at CNN in Atlanta.

And now, come to find out (only through our shared part-time housekeeper) that Spanx is leaving after 5 years.  5 years?!  How did that happen?  It seems like just the other day I was introducing her to Butterfly and they were both newbies here.

I really don't socialize as much as I used to.  My time is filled with dogs (well, the big one mostly) and work.  My free time is now downtime or re-charge time and I swear I would never get to this place in life.

When did I get to be the kind of person who doesn't get around to see my friends that are leaving? Slaps and I have been friends for years, but then both of us got so busy and took different directions. I really should have called her (guilt...)

So for those friends that I haven't gotten around to see or to keep in touch with lately, I am sincerely sorry.  I should be a better friend.  I promise to get in touch soon.  I always tell other people that you can maintain friendships if you just MAKE the time to do it.  I need to take my own advice.

I LOVE this quote!

“I no longer have patience for certain things, not because I’ve become arrogant, but simply because I reached a point in my life where I do not want to waste more time with what displeases me or hurts me. I have no patience for cynicism, excessive criticism and demands of any nature. I lost the will to please those who do not like me, to love those who do not love me and to smile at those who do not want to smile at me. I no longer spend a single minute on those who lie or want to manipulate. I decided not to coexist anymore with pretense, hypocrisy, dishonesty and cheap praise. I do not tolerate selective erudition nor academic arrogance. I do not adjust either to popular gossiping. I hate conflict and comparisons. I believe in a world of opposites and that’s why I avoid people with rigid and inflexible personalities. In friendship I dislike the lack of loyalty and betrayal. I do not get along with those who do not know how to give a compliment or a word of encouragement. Exaggerations bore me and I have difficulty accepting those who do not like animals. And on top of everything I have no patience for anyone who does not deserve my patience.” _ Meryl Streep