Yes, it's been a while. I'm a big believer in "when you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." So sorry for the delay while I work through my tough spot.
But things are getting better now. We've had some good and funny things happen to us recently, and I've got some good posts coming up. Not to mention, this has been a good reminder that you DO read my blog and you DO notice when I don't have anything new. (Sometimes it's easy to think that I am writing to a black hole and wouldn't be missed.) So a big thank you, thank you to Miss Bloobyrd and ASF - dear friends who don't know each other, but both emailed on the same day at almost the same time to notice that I've disappeared for a while - and also IEM and my daddy, for pinging me when I really needed to be pinged. Deep breath, buck up E, get back on that horse.
(You guys can't see it, but I've got a rather large piece of pound cake covered in powdered sugar icing and strawberries to help me out here.) (Because there's no wine in this bleep-ing country.)
OK, anyway, hopefully I've made it clear by now that the quality standards are not as high over here as they are at home. For anything. Here is a big something that is a good example of that:
See this building?
It is a new fancy-schmancy Company building called the Al Midra building. They are all very proud of it. And pasted below is a fancy-schmancy article about the new building. It's worth a click - just take 15 seconds to peruse the article and get the sense of just how fancy-schmancy it is.
http://www.saudiaramco.com/en/home/news/latest-news/2011/new-complex-sets-course-for-future.html#news%257C%252Fen%252Fhome%252Fnews%252Flatest-news%252F2011%252Fnew-complex-sets-course-for-future.baseajax.html
Hmm, yes. Fancy.
What they don't happen to mention in the article is that THE WINDOWS ARE FALLING OUT. Also the solar shade parking doesn't work, and did I mention that THE WINDOWS ARE FALLING OUT! Luckily, all the windows that have fallen out so far have fallen onto the side of the building that has grass and no one on the ground or in the building was hurt.
Rumor has it that they have fixed the remaining windows so that they won't fall out. Rumor also has it that they have not fixed the remaining windows so that they won't fall out. Rumor has it that I will never ever get near a window in this building.
I think there is only one lone soul from HDR who is reading my blog, but for you, IEM, and anyone else in Mike's old (highrise) office who might remember us....remember how every time I brought the kids up to see Mike, both in the new and the old buildings, I was SO paranoid about the kids banging on the windows? "I don't know how good the contractor was who installed the windows," I would say as I held the boys back by their clothes as they leaned forward to bang on the glass, "Boys, don't get too close, you're making my toes tingle!" This is why! The fact that these windows are falling out makes me nervous to live in my house here. What's next? Upstairs bathtubs falling through the ceilings?
The other crazy thing about this is that all the people who live here just shrug their shoulders and go "Oh well. The windows are falling out." Or "Huh. Well, I'll be careful when I go in there." It's just the way life is over here. Expectations are so low, that while it's a small shock when you hear about this the first time, it's not really all that surprising in terms of life over here. Windows just fall out, the commissary doesn't have any ground beef today, and the road to the gas station has been completely blocked off and gas is unavailable. Oh well. Things will get better soon, InshaAllah. Which takes me to my next post....
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