Been a while, since I could
Hey ladies and gents,
Sorry for the delay. I have been busy, it is true. Also, I have been lazy. Neither of these should be a surprise to the majority of people that are reading this.
Work continues to move along pretty well. Set up a bunch of stuff in Egypt this week which turned out well, eventually. The thing about Egypt is that they are really big fans of making you jump through hoops for any little thing. So I really could my fingers a workin' for faxes, emails and other entirely unnecessary items which could easily be achieved through a phone conversation. Highlight from this experience - I was calling a federation which oversees worker's rights in Egypt. It is also associated with the government...sort of like an oversight committee of them while simultaneously being an advocacy group which is a rather...shall we say interesting duality. So I call them to ask about some workers that were striking, around 400 were doing so at a factory. They said, oh no, no one was striking. Just 15 workers were taking a little break from work, and hanging out here while they did so. Oh, ok, so I guess all I read was faulty. They said the articles I were speaking of were examples of "adolescent intellectualism". So I said ok...they're just going to straight up lie to me without providing any evidence.
So I asked for a phone number of the factory where this strike had taken place. He provided me with a phone number.
I said...oh, this is a mobile number (in Egypt, all mobile phones have 201 at the beginning, as this one did. Land lines have 202).
He said yes, it is.
I asked if this was the phone number of the head of the plant?
He said, oh no, this is my phone number.
But I asked for the phone number of the plant.
This is the phone number of the plant.
But you said this was your phone number.
It is.
Oh, so I am talking to the XXX plant right now?
Yes.
Wow, ney? He must have two jobs.
Oh, I did end up going to the Deep Dish concert. It was fucking righteous but I didn't take any pics because I was too busy spending money I couldnt afford to spend and getting drunk. Oh man, that was rough. Me, Nanna, and Kimmo polished off more than 1.5 bottles of vodka ourselves. Then the guys from my office arrived late and helped us finish it off. It wasn't pretty trying to introduce Kimmo and Nanna to them in that state but I did my best. Afterward getting home with Kimmo was a whole set of different adventures none of which can be posted in public I'm afraid.
That's a British thing I picked up, I'm afraid. They use it if someone, say, asks to speak with me on the phone but I"m on the other line. He's currently on the other line, I'm afraid. Picked up a lot of colloquialisms from them, but I'm afraid is one of my more favourite ones. Damn it. I spelled favourite with a u.
Went with Jackson to Wild Wadi ( a water park) last Friday. Had a hell of a good time. Afterward Jackson and I hit the tennis court where he beat me 7-5. We're pretty evenly matched though, it's nice to have someone at a similar skill level as me to hit with. Afterward tried to go out to Boudoir ( a pretty shee shee night club) but failed miserably due to a couples only policy. Apparently they didn't buy that I was a chick. It was funny, they actually said "Sorry, no stags". Ouch.
Well, that is all from me. On the way to the airport to pick up my mom. She was in the US to pay a visit to Zak just after his spring break. Nasty flight that, 10 hours to Hong Kong from here (direct) then 14 hours direct to Los Angeles.
Hope all is well,
Peace
Sorry for the delay. I have been busy, it is true. Also, I have been lazy. Neither of these should be a surprise to the majority of people that are reading this.
Work continues to move along pretty well. Set up a bunch of stuff in Egypt this week which turned out well, eventually. The thing about Egypt is that they are really big fans of making you jump through hoops for any little thing. So I really could my fingers a workin' for faxes, emails and other entirely unnecessary items which could easily be achieved through a phone conversation. Highlight from this experience - I was calling a federation which oversees worker's rights in Egypt. It is also associated with the government...sort of like an oversight committee of them while simultaneously being an advocacy group which is a rather...shall we say interesting duality. So I call them to ask about some workers that were striking, around 400 were doing so at a factory. They said, oh no, no one was striking. Just 15 workers were taking a little break from work, and hanging out here while they did so. Oh, ok, so I guess all I read was faulty. They said the articles I were speaking of were examples of "adolescent intellectualism". So I said ok...they're just going to straight up lie to me without providing any evidence.
So I asked for a phone number of the factory where this strike had taken place. He provided me with a phone number.
I said...oh, this is a mobile number (in Egypt, all mobile phones have 201 at the beginning, as this one did. Land lines have 202).
He said yes, it is.
I asked if this was the phone number of the head of the plant?
He said, oh no, this is my phone number.
But I asked for the phone number of the plant.
This is the phone number of the plant.
But you said this was your phone number.
It is.
Oh, so I am talking to the XXX plant right now?
Yes.
Wow, ney? He must have two jobs.
Oh, I did end up going to the Deep Dish concert. It was fucking righteous but I didn't take any pics because I was too busy spending money I couldnt afford to spend and getting drunk. Oh man, that was rough. Me, Nanna, and Kimmo polished off more than 1.5 bottles of vodka ourselves. Then the guys from my office arrived late and helped us finish it off. It wasn't pretty trying to introduce Kimmo and Nanna to them in that state but I did my best. Afterward getting home with Kimmo was a whole set of different adventures none of which can be posted in public I'm afraid.
That's a British thing I picked up, I'm afraid. They use it if someone, say, asks to speak with me on the phone but I"m on the other line. He's currently on the other line, I'm afraid. Picked up a lot of colloquialisms from them, but I'm afraid is one of my more favourite ones. Damn it. I spelled favourite with a u.
Went with Jackson to Wild Wadi ( a water park) last Friday. Had a hell of a good time. Afterward Jackson and I hit the tennis court where he beat me 7-5. We're pretty evenly matched though, it's nice to have someone at a similar skill level as me to hit with. Afterward tried to go out to Boudoir ( a pretty shee shee night club) but failed miserably due to a couples only policy. Apparently they didn't buy that I was a chick. It was funny, they actually said "Sorry, no stags". Ouch.
Well, that is all from me. On the way to the airport to pick up my mom. She was in the US to pay a visit to Zak just after his spring break. Nasty flight that, 10 hours to Hong Kong from here (direct) then 14 hours direct to Los Angeles.
Hope all is well,
Peace