Family Visit Visa

I’ve been thinking about bringing my mother to Riyadh for quite some time now, I stared to work on the needed papers almost 10 days ago, I filled the online application, my mother’s details, mine and my sponsor, I also asked my mother to send me a photocopy of her passport which she happily did, I photocopied my iqama, KSA’s residence permit, signed and stamped the online application from my sponsor, paid SAR 25 in the chamber of commerce and got the receipt for it, as said all what’s left now is a short trip to the ministry of foreign affairs to submit the papers.

I have a good friend who I knew is doing the same for his mother, we agreed to go together, we had to do it no later than two weeks from the date I filled the application online, 10 days ago, the decision was taken , the faster the better, and the date was selected, Today, May 11th 2010

Both of us knew we had to be there early, we knew they open at 8:00 am, and we also knew we won’t be alone, the earlier we arrive the earlier we finish, and we both can report to work on time.

We arrived there at almost 6:45 am, about 20 guys were already ahead of us, we stood in the queue and waited, we knew about that of course, I mean the act of having to wait in a queue, but the surprise to us was, that we had to wait outside, the sun was hot, early thirties and rising, I was fully prepared to head directly to work after that, I was there wearing my black suit, the only one with a suit if I remember correctly, I felt odd, I couldn’t set on the ground not to ruin it, I could feel the formation of sweat on my forehead which I continued to wipe it off regularly for the course of that hour, not to mention the other type of sweat that runs from your nick down along your back, and defarts to the unknown.

I didn’t allow this to bother me much, I was telling myself we’re almost there, and 20 guys ahead of us is nothing.

Of course, while waiting there would always be those assholes that surpass the line and jump in front, we counted about 10 of that kind, and each one of them got a silent but honest F word, the trick is known, they start a conversation with someone and they stay there, but again I didn’t allow that to bother me, I thought 30 guys ahead of us is nothing, and we should be finished on time.

The clock is ticking, and it’s 7:45am, 15 more minutes, the gate opens, and over a sudden what used to be a group of people standing in queue turned to be another group struggling to go inside, the queue was destroyed in a minute, and all that waiting went with the wind, we ran with the runners, trying to catch an early entrance, being the person I’m, and my friend being the person he’s, we weren’t competent to do that, and we ended up surpassed by what I assumed like 100 guys.
We go in, we take a number, mine was 89, I stayed optimistic, people were saying the queue walks fast, at the same time; I stepped from heat to an air-conditioned room, big change, good change, so I sat and waited.

My friend was one number before me, 88, and having seeing he was done in two minutes, I was glad it’s almost over and it’s not even 9:00 am yet, I could even make it to work on time.

It’s my turn, I step in, give the guy my papers, by just looking at him, I felt this negative vibes all around, he’s a different guy than the one who served my friend, an old Saudi guy, thick beard, eye glasses, wearing the Saudi national dress, the thoub, and the red ghotra.

He took a look at the papers; he held my slip number in his hand, pointed it at me and asked:

Him : Where is your slip!

Me : What!

Him, pointing my slip and looking at my face: your number, your slip, like this one

Me : you’re holding it

Him : What!

Me: you’re holding it, number 89

Him, looking at the papers, checking his system, he looked back from under his glasses and said : the receipt you paid at the chamber of commerce is not showing on our system, you need to go back to chamber of commerce and let them send us an email confirming your payment!

Me, the little I know about IT, but this is an obvious lie: How is that possible! This receipt was printed off the system, how on earth it can’t be there.

Him, giving me back my papers: go to the chamber of commerce, let them email the confirmation, and oh yes bring your wife’s iqama with you!

Me: What wife!

Him : Bring your wife’s Iqama

Me, thinking, did you even bothered to read idiot!, I said : I don’t have a wife! I’m bringing my mother, not my mother in law, I’m single.

Him: raising his voice up, as if I didn’t hear him, take your papers! Get the confirmation and your wife’s iqama and come back, go yalla next!

I took my papers, I knew by heart, this guy was faking it, he just didn’t like me, maybe he doesn’t like people with suits, maybe he doesn’t like Christians, maybe doesn’t like Jordanians, or maybe someone with my looks at this or maybe at another life, fucked the shit out of him, and now he wants to get even, or even maybe he enjoys putting people generally in more hassle for a simple thing like a family visit visa, else he would be bored!

or maybe I’m just totally wrong, maybe for some reason it wasn’t entered to the system, it might happen, no need to assume bad stuff from now, I’m going to play along.

I called my HR manager, he told it never happened with him, but that I should go and check either way.

I had some thoughts going through my mind at the time, I thought to just forget the whole idea, no need to bring my mother here, there’s nothing to see or to do, nothing else but sweat, but then I thought again, it’s still nice to have her around wherever that was, and apart from the sweat part, she would like to see my uncle and aunti, how her son been living the past 6 years, and to experience life in KSA, wearing abayya for the first time, and enjoy Riyadh shopping malls.

Not to forget also, that in case I decided to forget about it, he’ll have got what he wanted, I’m certainly not going to give him the satisfaction he seeks, so we went back to chamber of commerce to check.

Both of us are late for work now, my friend was kind enough to stay with me, we went back to the chamber of commerce, I knew I’m going to hear what I was expecting to hear, I stood in queue again, it’s much better over here, more spacious, better air conditioned, more professional outlook and people, the minute I told the guy at the help desk my story, he took my papers, he confirmed my doubts, he said : “the receipt is already in the system, this guy was just giving you hard time”, he stamped my receipt and signed it, he even printed another document off the ministry of foreign affairs’ system itself and stamped that too.

I left with my friend, back to the ministry of foreign affairs, I was angry, who wouldn’t be, I could, both of us could have reported to work on time, if it was in any other country, well not all, at least any other G20 countries, which Saudi happens to be one, I will not face this situation, and if it happened, the rarely it does, I can sue his ass and make him pay triple the trouble he put me through, it’s the concept at the end even if took five minutes delay, how come with two more hours and on a working day!

This made me think, I felt bad for myself, the fact that I actually survived 6 years dealing with this shit and the fact I’m still here, it’s the right time to find a better place, fresh air, fresh green, fresh water, true colors, and certainly lots and lots of babes.

Jumping from one thought to the other,I felt bad, however this time not for myself, but actually for that guy, I felt sorry for him, he's the kind that obtain happiness by making other people sweat, and he be proud of it.

I wish I owned a mental institution, or a rehabilitation center, I would have helped him for free, I promise.

Anyway, I go back inside, I take another slip, it says 345 now, still few people are standing in queue, I made sure to chose another guy for this, the guy took my papers, didn’t even look to the confirmation slip, in fact just gave it back saying no need for it, my application went through, I have to wait till the end of the day and check if the application was approved or not.

In 99% of the cases it would be , but knowing my luck for the day, do you think, I’ll join the 1% left, have to wait and find out.

Virgin Mary’s Miracle in Amman, Jordan

Date: Saturday, 17 \ 04 \ 2010
Location: "Christ the King Church" Almosdar - Jordan
Time: 6:00 pm

The Story

Three girls went to Sister Rose, and asked her if they can pray inside the church, they got the green light to that but had never imagined that candle they wanted to light for Virgin Mary would actually be accepted from their hands with a miracle!.

Having arrived and lit the candles, and just before leaving, they saw a bouquet of artificial roses on the ground in front of the statue of Virgin Mary, quickly they decided to put the flowers in Virgin Mary’s hands as a token of love, but because the girls were short compared to the height of the statue, they decided that one girl “Selena Sweis” will carry her friend “Lauren Haddad” so she could put the flowers in the hands of the Virgin, the third girl stood there watching and waiting, when Selena carried her friend up, she felt some fatigue and that she wouldn’t be able go on with it, her friend was about to fall, where over a sudden she felt someone was helping her, the girls has just seen the statue of the Virgin Mary leaning and raising the girl, taking the flowers off her hand and returning her safely to the ground.

In the meantime, the third girl, seeing what she saw, started screaming outloud, the nun who was praying at that time heard the screaming, she felt the ground shaking throughout the church coinciding with the girl’s scream, she ran to see what is happening, and was shocked when she saw the flowers in the hand of the virgin despite the height of the statue compared to girls next to it, they told the nun what happened with them, who she then told the priest who came in a hurry to hear their story.

Obviously he did, and believed, and now the church’s prayers are going non-stop, praising Jesus and virgin marry, lots of people went to visit the place where this happened, and many still to go…

The question remains : DO YOU BELIVE IN MIRACLES!

The End

Twiggy

I never heard of her till today, but Wikipedia says that this 60 years old women is an English model, actress, and singer, At 16, she became the first prominent teenage model. She was known for her large eyes, long eyelashes, and thin build, and is regarded as one of the most famous models of all times.

that's all ok! but can u imagine how does she look like now! of course like a 60 years old women, the latest scandal however says she did a magazine advertisement for Olay! ( all ladies know Olay ha! ), her picture was heavily airbrushed in that ad! and the result a picture of herself looking 30 years younger.

Hundreds of people have formally complained about the ad, The British advertising watchdog says the ad portrayed an unrealistic image and therefore is misleading, the ad was banned all over UK, the yet most funny thing in the whole thing is that the company still insists that the retouching was minor!!

check it out

Burj al Arab - The Largest Christian Cross in the Arab World

It's probably old news! But I just heard of...

Did you ever thought to look to that amazing construction from the back, that's from the sea facing the land? You might be surprised...

The story says that this amazing building which was designed by Tom Wright of WS Atkins PLC, the world was told that it was built to resemble a sail, however after the tower was finished and everything was paid and settled, Mr. Wright, a Christian British architect, made a statement! which started as a private statement to fellow colleagues and friends, but later it came out and was all over the internet, it's in fact a shocking statement I would say to some especially that this tower is widely considered to be Dubai’s most important landmark.

The statement says that he, intentionally that's, had built what he referred to as " The Largest Christian Cross in the Muslim World", it was said that he wanted to have some sort of a Christian influence in a Muslim country, and it seems Dubai was the choice!

The funny thing is, that after this was discovered, Saudi Arabia prohibited cars coming from UAE to enter the country, that's because the old car plates in UAE had a picture of the tower on them!

In anyway, till this moment! The architect himself didn’t deny nor approve this conspiracy theory! but, even if looked like a cross! Does it matter much!!

I'm sure the answer is relative as well, and all opinions are respected.

Cheers

Things I call Random

Far from the eyes of the dragon
away and apart from all those that once mattered
miles and miles on a drift
It's a journey I took alone
A vow I made and a promise
A Choice
Voices, Shadows and Silence
Dark nights that never ends
Blues, Heartbeats and Despair
It's the Start
Just the Start
A start that very much looks like an end
We go in circles
Souls merge
Thousands of thoughts and more
Red lines
Danger
STOP!
Silence comes again
A Voice breaks the silence
It's time
JUMP!

I hate Mobily's Guts

It all started when I decided to get internet to my studio, and I thought of an easy yet affordable choice, I skipped the ADSL choice, because I knew its a lot of a hassle when you live in a compound in Riyadh, with all the visits and permissions I need to handle first so I just over looked it.

My second option, USB internet connection, and there was two choices on hand, STC or Mobily connect, both refer to two of the mobile operators in KSA, a friend of mine had Mobily and I got a good word about it, and after paying visits to both I’ve decided to go with Mobily’s since its cheaper with relatively the same quality.

At Mobily’s offices, I asked for 1G subscription, that’s SAR100 a month, and entitles you to a 1G of data transfer over one month, if you’ve went beyond the 1G the connection breaks and one needs to recharge, or that what I thought.

I finished my 1G in 20 days, and like a hero, I recharged it with 180 SAR, that’s 100 SAR subscriptions and 80 SAR others so that I would add only 20 SAR only when I recharge the next month, and I waited….. But the connection never got back… I called their customer service and after like two hours of trials I got hold of someone, who told me to pay their offices again and explain the problem.

Next day I went there and explained it, the customer service guy explained that the SIM card that comes with the offer is only for internet use and hence its programmed not to be recharged before the month ends even though the 1G finishes and another 100 SAR is already charged, he added I’ve to wait till the month ends before I can connect again….. I thought that was stupid.

I asked for a solution, you’re asking me to wait 10 days, I might not need it urgently but this is not a service nor a solution, I asked him to convert it to the 5G bundle, It costs SAR 200 a month instead of 100 SAR, but what the heck, @ least I won’t have to wait 10 days to get my connection back,

he said, I need a new SIM Card for this, prepaid cards for mobile connection service don’t allow service alter, a new SIM means a new number, I was stupid enough to go for it, the new number cost 75 SAR and come charged with the same amount, I gave 125 SAR more to make it 200 and give him the ability to subscribe me to the 5G bundle, supposedly he did, and he said 10 minutes sir and you can connect normally.

I went home, not happy about the service much, and the fact I still have SAR 180 SAR stuck in the old SIM card, which can’t be just moved to the new account just like that, I got a limit of SAR 100 daily to pass the credit to another number over 10 Trials each that can’t by pass 20 SAR, again STUPID, but I thought I’ll have time for that later, at least they’re not going anywhere.

I connected normally, felt somehow relaxed I got my connection back, even though it brought some headaches along that I need to look into it some other time, in anyway 24 hrs later, and after using 100M of my new 5000M bundle I got disconnected, and I couldn’t connect back again, what the hell have happened!! Not again! What could it be this time!!

I called the customer care, their system can’t handle calls well, very obvious, lots of people are having problems and no one can get to the service guy to talk to, whenever I press 9 to talk to the customer service guy it transfer me back to the menu options, STUPID, someone picked up at last, after long and multiple trials and I explained the issue.

• Sir, you’ve finished your credits!
• WTF!! NO way I just charged them yesterday, it’s right in front of me now Mr, 100MB only, I still got 4900MB, something is wrong!
• Sir, looks like you didn’t activate the 5G service, in this case, we charge SAR 2/MB
• WTF! This is totally Mobily’s fault, I walked out of YOUR offices thinking all I have to do is just connect the STUPID USB! , I don’t accept this, I want my 200 SAR back!
• It’s not possible Sir, you need to charge again with 200 SAR, and call 1100 to activate the service, don’t plug in the USB before you get a confirming SMS that you’re subscribed to the bundle.
• It’s not my fault, I don’t have to recharge, this is totally your company’s fault, u r ripping me off! You get me back my money!
• Sorry Sir, It’s not possible, is there anything else you need!
• My Money!
• Thank you for calling Mobily, have a nice day.

Just when I thought my problems with Mobily is over I get this, in anyway, I wrote a complaint email about the whole thing and send it, I know it would probably be over looked but at least I didn’t stay still about it.

I gave in to the fact, and I thought to recharge again, Mobily cards are of three segments, SAR 90 and it gives you 120 SAR credit, that’s 30 SAR extra, the other one is SAR 60 and it gives you SAR75, and the final one is SAR 30.

I thought, I’ll buy one 90 and one 60, which gave a total of 120+75 = 195 SAR, and I needed 5 more, so I just thought to transfer the rest from my other SIM card, it still have 180 SAR, I changed SIM and I opened the SAR 180 one, and WTF!! The balance is ZERO, my SAR 180 is gone!!! I’m so furious! It just keeps getting worse in a matter of minutes, where did they go!! I thought they might have activated the account again, so I reconnected using the old SIM but it was the same, no connection!! I really feel like killing someone, I hate Mobily’s guts, this is a total rip off and I’m just watching that!!

I didn’t feel like calling them again, can’t deal with this non sense anymore, I’ll just go buy the damn 5 SAR left, and I’ll deal with them later, I went to the supermarket, had to get SAR 30 since there’s nothing called SAR 5, and I charged it, I dialed *1411# to check the balance, its SAR 224 now, more than enough! Good.

I called 1100 to request the services, as usual, after sometime; I got a response, the guy their said

• You’ve 180 SAR only; you need SAR 20 more to activate it! I was like WTF, not again, my balance is SAR 224, I just checked for god’s sake.
• Sir, it’s SAR 180 on my screen, could you check again!

And after I did:

• Yeah, SAR 224 as I told u, I charged with 90+60+30 where they account for 120+75+30, that’s SAR 224
• Yes, this is for calls only, internet subscription takes the amount as is , 90+60+30 that’s SAR 180, offer doesn’t include internet even though it shows your balance is SAR 224, recharge with SAR 20 more.
• OK FINE, THNX
• Anything else you need sir?
• NO, THANKS
• Thank you for calling Mobily, have a good evening.

I went back and bought another SAR 60 just to make sure it covers the balance, I know SAR 30 would, but I never know anymore what they would come up with.

In simple calculation, on the assumption that this time it’ll work, they would have ripped me off with SAR 380

And by the way, I’m still waiting for their SMS. :(

10,000

Today, My flickr account views reached 10,000, Yeha :D

33 JDs

I was at orange today to renew the subscription for another year, I had to wait for 45 minutes before I got a responce saying, you still have a week left and I can't really pay now because the system doesn't show the due amout for the coming yeat....

anyway that's not the point, the point is while I was waiting, a guy came in, an average 40ish guy I would say, he went to the counter and the following conversation took place.

A: I want to close the account, and disconnect my landline, I don't need my phone anymore...

B: you have to settle the balance before we can disconnet it, that would be 33 JDs.

A: I don't have 33 JDs, I want to disconnect it now, and I'll pay the 33 JDs on monthly installments!

B: Sir, we can't close the account before you settle you bell!

A: I don't have money, any money!

B: your land line would still be active till you settle the account.

A: that means you'll add a monthly subscription on that, even if I didn't use it, the 33JDs that I can't pay now would increase each month! I can't afford that!

B: This is the instructions.

A: but this is redicilous! how can you help!

B: I can't

the guy sweared some words, and walked out!

I do believe this whole situation is stupid, he came with good well and had every intentio to settle his bell, the instruction sucked, he would never pay now, not only because he can't afford to but he also took it personal, orange should be more professional than this, what's the idea behind this is process! what would go wrong if they disconnected his line! the bell is there either way!

the other idea is, YES, its sad, but there are people who can't afford to pay a 33 JDs to settle thier telephone bell. very true! ...... O lessa!

First Gray Hair

I'm getting older, as a matter of fact we all are!!, however I didn't think that the day where age would reflect on my appearence will be arriving this soon, I've not guessed either that at 27, or almost, I would recieve my first gray hair ever, I did, today I've noticed the BIG surprise and gosh how I hate grays :D

A Lawsuit Idea

If you ever bought a coke can, 330mm, and while opening it, the metalic grap actually splitted in half?! , It happened with me, Twice, going through that now you have three choices to drink it:

1. pour it in another cup, which means that the can lost its value... or

2. drink it from the can itself, but please be patient and careful, which also means that you lost the joy of drinking it and ended up worrying about hurting youself or staining your clothes. or

3. have something that would force the other part out, or maybe in, u never know!

in all these cases, the meaning of a refreshing coke has disappeared, u r not getting the taste u wanted nor u r enjoying it.

the point here, do you think this would be a good argument or a valid case to win a Lawsuit for a million bucks versus the manufacturer?! :D