Decline of Western Civ

Monday, March 27, 2006 5:35 PM
I guess my 9 years of reading the economist has crept into my every day life.

But it is sad to see how fucked up me made the whole situation over there. It was fine before we suck our fucking noses in there. Sure they were not great but Saddam was not that bad to his people. I mean when money was tight he sure was but when it was not it was not a horrid place to live. I know Christian Arabs (Chaldeens in Deerborn) who had said it was fine they just came to America for the money. now it is a kill fest everyone is killing each other because of religion.

Welcome to the modern Vietnam. I am torn about the whole thing. Do you honestly think it is winnable? If it is winnable is it winnable at any cost? Because it would cost a lot more lives to win the war. We would literally have to put in a police state. We should see how Saddam ran the country and do the same. Really, he ran the country without the strife how did he do it? All we have to do is the same then slowly very very slowly back off. Let the people slowly take over responsibility.

Dude the weekend was a wash! Well the start of it was at least. We had Friday off work so I got totally stinking drunk on Wed. was sick all day on Thursday. Tita had bought me some wine and I found out how cheap it was on Thursday, puking my guts out to stay alive. That was Thursday afternoon. Then the allergies kicked in hard core on Friday.

We ended up meeting up with a friend from work Friday (holiday) at lunch. Went over to his house and hit the kiddie pool. It was a blast. Saturday the kids and I went on a jungle hike with a group of other kids. Had a blast the jungle here is awesome. It was a great time. After that took the kids to the beach for a hour. Had a good time. Tita stayed at home the whole time. She is studying for the teachers test. I hope she passes it is worth about $15,000 if she does. Then on Sunday we went to a birthday party. It was kind of lame but the kids love being around other kids so they had fun.

The one real advantage living here is you can have fun any day of the week for free. You just have to be a bit adventurous. You got the beach, the jungle, the mountains, all types of free things you can go and do. It is really easy but you do have to be adventurous. I am not alway that person. But when I do get out and see the island I am amazed by the place. You can end up just going to work and home as well. So you do have to get out of that mentality of at home doing nothing.


Rumptz

Did I tell you about the abandoned car?

2=-12-08

And you wonder Why I have to do a visa run every 2 months and one of my PDIs' kids do not have visas after 6 months.. Well read this and you might understand.

____________To the US Embassy in the UAE___________

P.S. I never got a response I had to go in and ask this question... Respond to e-mail with in 24 hours my ass!!!!
___________________On to the letter_________________

I am a little confused about the last step of the authentication of my daughter’s birth certificate. I do not want to have the document come here and then be told it has to go back to the USA (as that would cost us another visa run out of the country) so I need to be sure that that after it has the US State Department seal on it my daughter’s birth certificate can be sent her for the last authentication by the US Embassy in the UAE.

David Rumptz

Mom:

I got the word from the US Embassy that you can send it here next no need to send it to the UAE embassy in the Washington DC-BUT do me a favor and check with me BEFORE you send it. Just to be 100% sure I wrote the US Embassy here, so I will know more in a day or two.

Did I tell you about the abandoned car?

So this American woman I am driving with stops for us to get some coffee. She gets out of the car as if she did not leave it running!!! WTF? I have seen people do this for like 15 minutes just leave the car running no thoughts at all about it!

Rumptz

More Ramblings sorry not in order

About the no car theft- One of my buddies puts it this way "We live in a Police State." I do not see police presence but I think most people who come here do come from countries where they do live in a real police state- Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia - that they just keep that mentality going. I really do not think this is a police stat as I have said it is all very laid back here but the people who work here also know they could get bounced out in 30 minutes no matter if they have lived and worked here for 30 years. It is all combines to the mentality here of be a good guest.

Oh and that will bounce you out applies to me as well. This is where I get confused about how much I should get used to my new salary. I have a great salary but I am worried I might be bounced at any moment. I know I am a bit paranoid but I do know of people who have lost their jobs this year- we hired one in fact. So it dose happen to western “professionals” just as it happens to Arabic professionals and migrant workers alike. That being said I enjoy that we all share a common bond. It is going to sound weird but I am glad that my job is not protected by positive discrimination. It makes it a lot easier working with the Arabic professionals knowing (hopefully they know) that we both could be bounced. It means they cannot pull the “Well, you are white and are protected” crap on me in meetings. We are in the same boat and we both sink or float together.

Picture of kids and cat attached finally.

Trust me you have only begun to know how much paper work is involved. I have to say it amazed me the amount we had to fill out over the 12 years. It will boggle your mind as well. Just to be safe KEEP EVERYTHING! I am serious you will want to keep any evidence that you build up over the years. It should be easier for you as you will not live out of the US like. I think it will be a lot easier as your home – home is in the USA.

Anyway I would like to go to both weddings the one in the states and the one in China. I am not that far from China so it is possible. I also get 44 days of vacation a year so it should not be too hard to get the time off. But the family will have a harder time getting there as they are constricted by school schedules. Let me know as far in advance as you ca as we need to figure out school schedules.

Rumptz

Update on the 2-14-Post

Some time after 2-14-08

I have not been accepted yet into the PhD yet. It is a pretty serious application you have to do a bit of a research paper to get into the program. But the signs look good as far as all of that is concerned I have a topic and I know what to research I have to sit down and do the actual research so I am only informally in the PhD but my PhD Advisor is talking about coming out to sit with the one guy who is in the program and the other guy like me who is working on the application.

Yeah they do that all over the Southwest of the US they farm crops in CA and grow grass in Arizona and New Mexico it is all kind of strange but in the US they do not have to take the water from the ocean. That is the strangest part to me. The cost must be phenomenal. I could understand if it was just drinking water but to water plants in the desert that is a bit much for me.

The cats I had left have decided to go on an extend vacation in the jungle. I am pretty sad about it because I wanted them to be happy and healthy in their new home but they ran away I guess the person even went to my old apartment looking for them. If they went back there they will be well taken care of as i ti is a nice area for them. But still I had hoped to settle them into the new place.

Happy VD?

Feb 14, 2008

I saw my first camels (one hump not two) on my last trip back from Dubai. I almost stopped the taxi and had him let me get a ride but it was the middle of the desert.

Did I tell you that the pollution in Dubai can kill you?

What about the abandoned car?

So this American woman I am driving with stops for us to get some coffee. She gets out of the car as if she did not leave it running!!! WTF? I have seen people do this for like 15 minutes just leave the car running no thoughts at all about it!

Had my first meeting with my PDIs, It was strange as I am their supervisor. I have not had employees for a long time. It went much better than I had thought. Granted one of the employees is on my hit list. Not that I will act on it and not that I am trying to impose my will but they were way too full of themselves. The other one I thought I would have problems with was very cool. I know tell someone who cares. But still it is weird for me to have employees- very strange.

My boss has been VERY COOL of late. I have started to communicate with my boss by e-mail so that we are constantly communicating and it seems to work. It not that she wants to micro manage she just want to know what I am up to- as she knows what I am doing she is pretty cool about it. I still have some bugs to work out in the whole deal but it is much cooler for me now.

Speaking of working things out I am traveling a few days a week and that is oddly ok with my and the family. I finally broke down and rented a car, well I had work rent me a car. It is a nice car but it STINKS of cigarettes I will need to talk to the rental car company about this when I get back from my latest trip.

Did I tell you about Prince Abu Bu Ali Ahk Ababawa? He is our Persian cat, supposed to cost like a few thousand dollars if not $10,000. We got him because the people who bought him abandoned him at the vet. We got him for $200 my wife is still amazed she paid for a pet. Tita has never in her life paid for one so it was a bit of culture shock when the British lady asked her to cough up the money. No worries he is a blast. I used to live with a really BITCHY Persian so I was prepared for it but it is still strange. I mean our last cats were real easy always wanting affection, did not have time for games, or toys – typical street cats. Now the Prince, he is very different lot of personality- like a typical Persian, very unique. He also sleeps like a human- he stretches out on the bed. The first night we let him sleep with us but he kept licking Tita’s face and then farting to kill- made me proud to be his father. Now we keep him in the kid bedroom. Also he slept between us like one of the kids.

Well I am sorry to send this to you before I have responded to your e-mail individually but it has been a busy week

David

Got to work

OK that is all I can post right now I got a lot of catching up to do I know but I actually get paid to work and I got a real fancy title and all now check out my sig file,,,

--------------------------------------------
David Wayne Rumptz
CEPA Professional Development Supervisor
Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research
PO Box 45372
Abu Dhabi
United Arab Emirates
Mobile +971-50-411-7306

White Boyz in the City

Friday, March 10, 2006 11:16 PM

I was listening to Dave Chappelle (downloaded) and his take was the
white boyz in the city were the craziest cuz you never know what they
had to do to get their ghetto pass. Well that was not exactly what he
said BUT it is true to the sentiment of his true message. We both used
to go places and do things that our children will never know or realize
(at least both you and I hope) so going to the "Big City" is a good
idea. It shows the kidz (ok Ashley is throwing the measuring tape on
me while I write this so it might be incoherent) that you have some
special traits that they can talk about to thier friends. I am sure that
you still have the necessary skills to live on the mean Detroit streets
BUT with the kidz in tow you cannot exactly look as menacing as you used
to.

I think I was trying to say that I am sure you will be fine and that it
will show the kids that you are still cool. As far as getting your ass
whooped I doubt that you will have any disturbances. White people
actually go to the city to part now a days . Well That is what I hear
anyway. Tell me it is true. I mean they have the tigers and lions and
red wings all in downtown about a mile or two from each other so I am
guessing that that place is looking up. Actually I read on a web site
that a lot of old mansions are being rebuilt.

Talk to you soon. We are going to go to the beach and play in the sun,
sand and water - not to be a dick but that is the cheap thing to do on
island go hang at the beach.

Rumptz

Border - Bribe(?) - Bird

Feb 28, 2008

The border and Why

On Thursday I took the whole family with me up to Al Ain the Oasis town. I had scheduled a meeting with the Zone English supervisors in Al Ain. I took everyone as Ashley needed to do a run for the border like the beaner wet back she (and I) is. You see if you do not have a resident visa you have to leave the country every 59 days. Why does Ashley have to cross the border but no one else in the family have to? Well you see Ashley had the unfortunate luck to be born in the USA while Andrew was born overseas. To get a residence visa a birth / marriage certificate has to be notarized by the issuing agency then the notarization has to be verified by the county it resides in then the State has to certify that this is in fact true before the (US) State Department / Department of Foreign Affairs will authenticate it and then you need to take it to the Embassy in the country to attest to that it is in fact an authentic (US) State Department/ Department of State seal. In the case of our marriage license we had done all of that while we lived in the Philippines because we were not sure if and when we would be back and I was certain that the US would require this for Tita to become a citizen. So it was as easy as taking it to the Philippine embassy in the UAE. Andrew has a US Citizen Birth abroad certificate - issued by the US state Department - so the Embassy had no problem attesting to it. So we have to do a border run every 60 days or Ashley will get kicked out of the country. This being our first border run I was nervous and anxious about the whole process. I know that people do this on a regular basis I have heard tales of people doing to for years! But still I was nervous about it.

After a horrid meeting with the zone English supervisors I headed home to find the kids just getting ready to go to the pool. It was early and I was tired so I figured it was worth it to try to rest before we made the run for the border. Later in the day about 3:30 pm I decided it was time to go Ashley and I get all gussied up and head for the car. I wore my work suit as I figure it sets a good impression. The drive to the border is easy, but the first issue is I do not have Omani insurance on my rental car ($100 / week no chance I am going to pay that) so it becomes a literal run for the border at this point. I was prepared for this but I am wearing a suit. Next we park the car at the parking lot - I figure we are not the only people doing it this way- and walk back through the car lines!!! Next we hit our first snag "the bribe." You see I was not sure how much it would cost to do all of this so I brought a big bill (about $140 in US Dollars) with me. Turns out that the guy doing the exit stamps does not have change. I look at him in incredulous amazement as the line to cross the border is parked and I figure he gets twice this in a given hour in change. Then he shows me his drawer- and I mean literally it is a drawer of a table with the exit cards through in with the money. I am stunned but then he tells me to go "there." I go to the entry side and ask the man for change. He acts like he does not understand and goes on with his lame attempt at humor- "You want small money?" Then I turn to walk to the office building and he follows me, and then leads me into his office. Turns out he is in charge of the border entry; he opens his safe and pulls out two bags full of money - Omani and UAE money. Then he proceeds to ask how much change I want. I want change for 500 AED- You want 400? I want change for 500 - You want 450? - at this point I give up and walk away with the 500 AED left on the table I need to cool off before I scream at this guy. I really should not care but this guy is asking for a $27 tip in effect. He looks like he is wearing Emirati official dress and he is the boss so he should be making a lot more than me, and he is asking how much change I want! What ever as I am cooling down Ashley walks out with the full 500 AED in change! I was willing to let him give her what he felt was good enough!

We go back and pay our exit visa fee 20 AED - $5.5 each. Then we walk about 100 yards to cross the border into the no-mans land (I think). As we are walking past the gate a man coming form the UAE stops and gives us a ride! Turns out he speaks NO English but I understand and thank him! He points us in the right direction for walking and we do the Omani stamp. No big event here except it takes about 30 minutes to do what I think is done in 30 seconds in a car! No worries he stamps Ashley in and out of the country and does not even charge me- saving $20 US dollars- thanks.

Well we have to revert to our wet back nature as no one stops to give us a ride and most people are going to Oman anyway. As we are walking back to the UAE - I carry Ashley for about 1/2 the way- we see this amazing bird!!! I t was such a bright green at first I though it was a leaf! I was so amazing I want to go and take a closer look but was worried about being in no-man's land and all.

So all and all a very surreal trip across the border in the end it cost me a total of about $27 but what an experience it was.

David

WoW

i looked and saw that the last time I posed was June of 2007 maybe that is why no one would read this I have a lot of catching up to do I will trust me I will

Rumptz

Been a While

OK I have been lame posting as I have been lame! well i doubt anyone reads this ! I have no idea if there is any response to this at all but I will be better about centralizing my writing on this blog.

We are n a new country and I have a bunch of post i have sent out as e-mail and need to post so I will post them

David