Poor Customer Care

OK, now with my laptop gone completely bonkers, I can't post as often for a couple of weeks at least. My dear laptop (a fabulous Fujitsu Siemens) was supposedly a top of the shelf one at the time of purchase. So does a product being top of the shelf makes it a superior product ? HELL NO, I had to discover the bitter reality first hand, I mean my laptop is soooo "break down" prone to an extent of breaking down every 2-4 months. Why? Not really sure ! Especially in this day and age with all the Total quality management used by manufacturing companies ! :x

Anyhow I am not going to rant about the laptop this time (Already done that), but what I am going to talk about this time is the awful service us customers receive here in Bahrain. You name it, it doesn't matter what is the value of your purchase nor where you purchased it from it is always the something over here ! :x

Delayed parts, poor customer care, promises and deadlines which are unkept is something of the norm over here ! Why ? well, I've dropped my laptop 4 days ago and was told that I would be contacted early the next day. 96 hours later (4 days) I heard nothing from the Apple Center, so I had to call them just to discover that they didn't even know what I exactly wanted "it's JUST a lousy quotation" ! Not only that; they didn't look at the main problem either "fried mother board"! Now I have to wait for god knows how long, just to be told that there is nothing wrong with the laptop and the fault is user inflected ! :x

What ever happened to "The customer is always right" statement ? Come to think about it, I don't think that we actually had this moto applied here in Bahrain (EVER). :x

These are the so called user inflected faults that I've had:

1- 2 faulty DVD +RW Drives.

2- a faulty keyboard.

3- 2 fried motherboard.

4- a fried power supply.

5- Dodgy speakers

6- A broken casing (ok this one is user inflected) :P


All this and the laptop is only a year and a half old ?!


Wrapping up this rant, I have learnt the following lessons:


1- Fujitsu Siemens are bad manufacturers of laptops

2- The customer is always wrong "in Bahrain at least"

3- NEVER EVER take advice from Khalid ! He's the one who bigged up this lousy brand "used to have a faulty FS laptop too" :P

Michael Jackson quits Bahrain???

As probably most of you know, Michael Jackson has been living in the middle east after the conclusion of his trial in the US. Having close links with the royal family here (through his brother), he formed the Two Seas label with the king's son to release his next album in 2007; announced that Bahrain is now his permanent home; revealed his intentions to convert to Islam???

Getting to the point, I stumbled upon an article in the BBC today (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5380654.stm) which said that Jackson decided to quit the label and form his own company, The Michael Jackson Company. Given that he's been in Ireland lately, it makes me wonder whether this guy has now seriously quit the country. Some say he already did, others insist he's still around. Who knows besides Jacko???

My Top 10 Books List

A friend (frequent reader) of the blog, "Still breathing" requested my list of favorite books, so here you go. These books have been a joy to read. Read long and prosper! :)

1- Master of the Game: Sidney Sheldon; You all should know by now how much of a Sidney Sheldon fan I am. Sheldon was at the top of his game when he wrote Master of the Game. It is a classic Family Saga/Epic that spans decades. Many writers tried to duplicate Sheldon's success with the same formula but so many fell short because Sheldon was one of, if not the best when came to writing family drama. This is an excellent read, one I can guarantee will not only hold your attention and capture your imagination, it will not allow you to put it down, until you're finished.

2- The Motorcycle Diaries: Ernesto CHE Guevara; The diaries from the roadtrip of latin America which Guevara under went before becoming the freedom fighter we all know. Great five star biography. The only biography page turner :)

3- Gangster: Lorenzo Carcaterra; This book was recommended to me by a good friend of mine. I actually nicked this book off him. :P To me this is a more personal story than the Godfather book. I really enjoyed the transition from old school gangsters to new gangsters. I like how Carcaterra developed his characters and gave you the sense of feeling about them.
If you have any interest in crime stories, the mafia or immigration, this is the perfect book for u.

4- The Davinci Code: Dan Brown; I couldn't put this book down ! The storyline, characters, events and twists are tailormade for Hollywood. Shame the movie didn't live up to the same standards the book has set.

5- Rebel Code: Glyn Moody; The book gives a complete history of open source development in a fun non-nerd way. The strong point of the book is that the depth of coverage on open source history is unmatchable. My most favorite chapters are the ones that describe the early development of Linux. If you are into tech stuff then don't miss this one.

6- The Old Man and The Sea: Ernest Hemingway; The only Hemingway novel I've read "Need to read more", The only way I can describe this book is by saying "WOW", I mean you just can see "or read :P" why he got the Nobel prize for this one. The novel tells the story of an old man who faces physical, emotional and spiritual pain just to reach is goal "Catching a fish"

7- A Tale of Two Cities: Charles Dickens; What book list would be complete without a classic ? Well, this is my favorite classic novel. I mean what a way to start a book:

IT WAS the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way-in short

Enough said :)

8- If Tomorrow Comes: Sidney Sheldon; Yup ! You've guessed it ! My 2nd favorite Sheldon book. :P An amazing fast paced novel, it has it all, Love, betrayal, suspense, action etc. The book tells the story of an innocent dreamy girl gone bad (becoming the most wanted woman on the Interpol's list).

9- The Falls: Ian Rankin; This Author's work will always have a special place in my heart. His storylines are always set in my beloved Edinburgh. I used to get chills down my spine , walking the streets of Edinburgh "The ones mentioned in his books obviously". Anyway (The Falls) is about a missing wealthy young college socialite, and a miniature coffin which has been found near her home. Inspector Rebus (The main character of Rankin's novels) goes through his usual dyfunctional life trying to solve this mystery. A good read ! Don't let the Scottish slang and references put you off. :D :P

10- Stupid White Men: Michael Moore; I don't care what people say about this guy, the book is an interesting fun conspiracy style read.

That's my list feel free to add yours :) ;)

Ramadan Kareem

Well, I'd just like to take this opportunity to wish you Ramadan Kareem and I hope this month will bring happinness, joy and peace to all and let it be the beginning of a prosperous year :).

You Know That You're a Blogging Addict When...

- you have more blog friends than 'real life' friends.

- you're blogging in your head before you fall asleep.

- the only thing you converse in with your loved ones is your blog's comments.

- you tell your friends and family things like, "I'll ping you and you ping me back," or "Okay, I want to trackback on your last comment..."

- you blog in your head an event that's happening at that very moment! :D

- you actually take the time to figure out how to set up Active Desktop in Windows just so that you can make your Bloglines MyBlogs page your Windows background.

- and then you actually leave it that way because you like it... and you make that your browser home page. :P

- all of the visible entries in your browser's links toolbar relate to blogging!

- you check blogs more than you check the news...

These are the ones I managed to think of,feel free to add you own ! :P

Your Skin: Eskimo Style

Although they live in one of the harshest environments on this earth, the Eskimos have inspired a new revolutionary supplement that not only repairs sun damaged skin, but also ‘freezes ageing’ revitalizing the skin inside out. After months of intensive research in the Arctic, Lund University’s professor Jan Wadstein concluded that the secret behind the Eskimos’ smooth and youthful complexion that can withstand the sun, wind and the freezing temperatures is their diet. A further six years of R&D resulted in a 90-day skin rejuvenation program known as Nourella Delay Tactics.

The program is composed of two components: the anti-ageing cream (containing vitamins and collagen) that is applied twice daily to nourish the skin’s deeper layers and the food supplement which contains marine proteins and silica (Arctic diet key ingredients). Clinical trials’ results have been impressive, showing that skin thickness can increase by a staggering 200%, elasticity by 68% and moisture retention by 300%, with those improvements remaining visible even after a year.

Skin damage is a result of UV rays exposure, lack of sleep, smoke, pollution and alcohol among others, and affects our inner skin structure way before it’s evident on the outside. Using anti-ageing cream by itself isn’t enough as our skin needs to be nourished from the inside to repair the damage deeper structure. It is a known fact that people aged 25 and above lose 1.5% of their collagen annually and their skin elasticity decreases.

This supplement and patented cream uses encapsulation technology to deliver the following results:

• Rejuvenates the skin’s inner structure by providing proven rejuvenators such as colostrums, collagen and vitamin A to the deeper layers of the dermis where skin regeneration takes place.

• Repairs skin damage and visible signs of ageing.

• Protects against skin ageing, sun damage and dietary and environmental pollutants by using UVA and UVB filters.

• Improves skin elasticity and thickness.


This new program proved to be such a big hit that 150,000 people in Scandinavia alone are already using it. As expensive as this may sound, it’s actually quite affordable and much cheaper than facelift-type treatments such as surgery and injections. Think about it this way, it’s like a ‘facelift without the surgery’.

Well I hope all you guys, gals and modern metrosexuals out there learned something new. If you want to learn more about it, please visit: www.nourella.co.uk.

Am actually quite tempted to try it out myself!!!

The First Album I've Ever Bought

The weirdest thing happened today, was going through old boxes this afternoon "one of them contained stuff from the days prior Uni" and to my shock guess what have I found ? :) MY FIRST EVER ALBUM ! :D This came to me as a shock, I mean you don't come across a Milli Vanilli Cassette everyday, do you ? :P

I remember how 15 years ago, I asked my dad for a Dinar while at the Sheraton's shopping center "Bahrain's only shopping center at the time" to buy the Milli Vanilli "Girl You Know It's True" album. This cassette made me feel older at the time and I remember how I drove my family crazy by playing it continuously in the car. :P

Shame that they mimed their way to a grammy ! :D

Anyway speaking of first albums, what was yours ? When and how did yous get it ?

Child Abuse or Latest Fashion???

When I first saw this, I couldn't help but laugh hard. I just found it plain hilarious that a cute lil baby like this one will have the title "boob man". Having come to think about it more, as much as it's funny, can it be another form of child abuse??? It seems to be the latest fashion now that kidswear are designed with a sexual theme and there is money to be made out of this, but is it ethical?

Have your say...

Blogging

Blogging is becoming more popular by the day. We all do so because it makes us look hip and cool between our mates (go on admit it :P). Blogging became so popular to an extent of a band "The sprites" -NO I don't know 'em- :P dedicating a song in their album to owning a blog.


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So please share with us, how and why have you decided to have a blog. :) A penny for your thoughts ;)

Junkies Vending Machine

I was reading the Daily Mail late last night and boy was I shocked by what I read. Richard Brunstorm, Britain’s most controversial police man, aka Mad Mullah of the Traffic Taliban strongly backed the idea of producing a vending machine to provide needles for drug addicts. Out of all places, this one will be right outside a police station in the coastal town of Colwyn Bay, North Wales. The way this machine will work is through tokens, rather than cash, which will be given out to all registered addicts. Furthermore, they’ll be encouraged to dispose their used needles in a secure bin alongside the machine.

Charities and the local population have expressed their fear that this machine will only stimulate further drugs usage, whereas Brustorm argues that the bay sufferes from what he called a “really unpleasant form of Nimbysim” i.e. the bay doesn’t have a conventional needle exchanged operated by the local pharmacies.

Having previously supported the legalization of heroin, I wonder what this guy will be up to next???

My completely random post

No matter how many times I type the word, or how careful I try to type, I always type the word “Their” as “Thier”. Luckily, I am saved by spell-checker, but I live in fear of the day that an email sneaks out with the word misspelled.

I wish I knew why my brain insists on transposing the “i” and the “e”. Thanks a lot, brain. ;) :P

OK, so that was something totally random about me and came outta no where, so guys spare me a sec. and post something completely random about yourself ! :) Not that I am a pervert or someting ! :P This post is solely for scientific purposes ! :P ;)

Happy "late" birthday to my Co-blogger Khalid

Ok, I finally managed to do it ! :) I have finallly managed to find a solution to post the darn mp3 on the blog ! So cousin please forgive me for this late "Happy Birthday Post". :P Anyway happy birthday and may you have many many more ! Enjoy the tune ! :)

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My 10 things to do before the end of the year list

So I was watching "10 things a hate about you", I know it's a chick flick but what the hey ! :P The movie got me thinking, I know that you all must be thinking "ooooh GOD here he goes again !" but spare me a second to explain ! :P Anyway the movie got me thinking why not have a "10 things to do before the end of the year" list. My list looks like this:

1. Learn to eat with chopsticks.
"I mean just like the Chinese, not like the posers at every Chinese restaurant, you all now who I am talking about !" ;)

2. Shout of the top of smoke mountain
"Not really a mountain" :P

3. Go camping
"never done that" :P

4. Find a good Thai restaurant in Bahrain

5. Start to like Thai food while looking for the good restaurant. :P

6. Save BD 1000

7. Do the charity raft race.

8. Improve the traffic @ the blog

9. Cook for the whole family in Ramadan. 3rd Friday, I don't know why I picked this date!

10. Watch all the Sopranos Seasons

OK, now that the list is ready, lets hope I could do them all ! Wish me luck. :);)

Reality Shows, Good or Bad ?

Seeing a promotion of one of the popular Reality shows got me thinking ! Do we really need these shows ? I mean what made them such a popular genre ? What made them eat up a huge slice of the viewers pie ?

Big Brother, Pop Idol, Superstar, American Idol, Survivor, Fame or star academy are all names of an ever growing list of shows known as "Reality Shows". Love them or hate them, we all know that they are here to stay.

It isn't a completely new idea. I mean we all loved watching Candid Camera shows when we were kids, didn't we ? Everyday Joes (who had no idea that they were being filmed) were tricked into doing ridiculous things and it was sometimes very funny. And now we have those 'Funniest Home Videos' instead.

Then things changed. first came the dutch with the idea of taking ordinary people and turning them into 'stars' by putting them in unusual situations 'Big Brother'. A group of people were locked in a small house with cameras running 24 hours a day. It was called a 'watch and dial' show because viewers vote by telephone to decide who should leave or stay. Or 'Survivor' where a group of people are put in a hostile environment, like a jungle or a desert island. They are filmed while they try to find food and shelter and every week some of them are voted out. This is just to describe a few ! Not that we all don't know about them already ! :P

In my opinion these shows are basically, bad television, and just proves that TV Networks are running outta ideas ! I remember when Big Brother first came out while I was a University student, critics kept saying that this bubble "The Reality TV Bubble" will burst sooner than later, but did this happen ? 6 years later and still these shows are multiplying! Why ? because they are still as popular as ever. But why are there so many viewers ?

For the fans it's an opportunity to 'people watch'. Voyeurism is taboo and that's what makes these shows attractive. We all watch, but we don't admit it to anyone, because we've been raised to know better than watch people, right ? ;)

The TV companies like reality shows because they are cheap to produce and attract younger viewers, which makes advertisers drool on just the thought of it. The last 'Big Brother' in Britain attracted enormous advertising revenue. They aren't dependent on 'star' actors with enormous salaries. And your actors won't go on strike.

And why do people participate in them? Well, for fame and money of course. In the past, appearing on television wasn't for ordinary people. You had to be good at something, like sport, or acting. But not any more.

What really catches my attention is the fact that all shows do well at the their debut season but then the viewing figures begin to drop. And it varies from country to country too. For example, in Spain, 'Fame Academy', or 'Operación Triunfo', is very popular, but the British version is doing so badly that people call it 'Lame Academy'. Perhaps people are becoming more critical but everyone seems to agree that reality shows are here to stay. They've become an acceptable TV genre, like drama or situation comedy.

Finally, finding out what new show will the TV Networks come up with interested me, but deciding to search the web for new shows was a bad idea, a quick search yielded many results but one stuck in my mind, this show; in my opinion; will be the nightmare of all Reality Shows, The show is based on the idea of getting an unmarried women to choose between potential sperm donors. The title for the show is, well yes you've guessed it ! :) 'I Want Your Baby'. See Where I am coming from ? :o I hope this one doesn't make it ! :P So what do you all think ? Reality Shows, good or bad ?

Penny for your thoughts ! :)

Rich dad, poor dad ! cult scam?

Is becoming rich affected by the way we've been raised ? Does having poor folks mean that you will become poor yourself ? Do rich people have a secret which they use in raising their kids ? I really doubt that ! B)

I've been reading a book titled “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” lately, This book was recommended to me through a course which I was attending (Money Coaching) “Oprah Style :P”. The course tutor have claimed that the book contains ideas from the point of view of helping people whom have not had a good "economic" upbringing (MOI :P). The book speaks of how the author came from a middle class family (poor in the authors opinion) and that his dad's ideas about improving yourself (Education, Working hard, Work experience etc.) were wrong. While his friends dad “Rich Dad” had the correct attitude to become rich (No need for education etc) :o , This is highly arguable, for not all rich people were a disaster at school.

The author thinks that having plenty of money means success. Being a doctor or a teacher is not successful because all they do is make money and pay taxes. (No one would be a doctor or a teacher if this selfish view of success was embraced by all. Thankfully it isn't - according to the author's own father: "Schoolteachers really don't think about being rich. We just like to teach." Without people paying taxes only rich people would be able to afford even a basic education and healthcare.)

The worst advice was (The reason you want to have rich friends who are close to the inside is because that is where the money is made. It's made on information. the sooner you know, the better your chances are for profits with minimal risk. That is what friends are for). :o

The book makes a great read and I did enjoy reading it ! But it should be used to make you think positive about things i.e "not fearing investing your money" and not as a bible like the way the tutor was portraying it to be !

"Rich Dad, Poor Dad contains much wrong advice, much bad advice, some dangerous advice, and virtually no good advice."

John T Reed (publisher of Real Estate Investor's Monthly newsletter

This rang an alarm and made me think that if this book was topping the charts then lots of people (just like the tutor) are thinking that the book is the highway to all their financial dreams ! While books of this sort “get rich quick” should be approached with care and should NOT even be recommended in any course !

Is it fun to read ? YES ! Does it make you think postively when it comes to finance? YES! Is it a key to financial success ? HELL NO ! :x

I take it that I won't be shouting of the roofs that I am rich anytime soon :P :D

Super Granny

He had it coming, this guy picked the wrong person to hassle ! :D Treating the elderly with respect is the duty of everybody in the society ! ;) Put this in mind next time you see an older person, or something similar would happen ! :P

Farewell Crocodile Hunter!!!

I was shocked when I heard the news that Steve Irwin died this morning. It's really unfotunate that while he was filming a feature for his daughter's show, he boxed a stingray whilst swimming over it and got hit in the chest by its barb. Apparently, his heart was pierced and he died shortly after. This though is a one-in-a-million accident (3rd fatal stingray accident in Australia), which just makes it more ill-fated.

As crazy as you were and as much as you said "Crikey", you brought joy and inspired millions around the world to learn more about nature. You'll always be remembered for the time when you held your one month old baby and fed a croc at the same time.


My condolences to Steve's family, close friends and whomever fell in love with nature's legend. In the end all I can say is: REST IN PEACE!!!

"I'm fair dinkum, like kangaroos, winged keels and bloody flies," he added. "I think I've got animals so genetically inside me that there's no way I could actually be anything else."

Depressed Parrot + Related Joke

My parrot seems to be depressed these days ! :( No matter what I do to make him happy, he just gives me an annoyed look and squawks back at me. :x I am a great believer that music can have a huge affect on your mood so I am currently giving him a music treatment, he seems to have livened up a bit now while I'm typing this.

Anyway speaking of depressed parrots, this comes to my mind:

A guy becomes concerned about his depressed parrot, and takes the sad bird to a veterinarian. After examining the parrot, the vet says, "No wonder he's depressed. He needs romance."
The guy buys a pretty female parrot for fifty dinars, brings her home, and deposits her in the cage. Humming a romantic song, he goes into another room. Suddenly he hears a terrible racket. He rushes back to the cage, where he sees his male bird clawing at the female and ripping off her feathers. The man says, "What on earth are you doing?"
The male parrot says, "For fifty dinars I want her bloody naked!"

If music dosen't work, I'll definitely go for the female solution ! :P :D

Dishing out Bahraini passports

How should I start this post ? Should I start it with tears (which I am struggling to hold in)? Should I start smashing stuff around me (will this make me feel better)? Should I go out into the streets to protest ? Will this change the fact that our government started to dish out free (to people who will be a liability and drag us backwards) our not too precious (to them) nationality ! :x

I tried to ignore the subject, but this little itch I've been ignoring for a while had to be scratched after what I've witnessed today.

It all started when I had to go to the shops this morning, and while driving back I noticed an Indian guy standing at the bus stop, nothing abnormal there but this guy was doing strange movements, at the beginning I thought that he was itching his chest or something but after getting closer to the guy, I noticed that he was actually pulling a red booklet out of his shirts pocket ! To my shock this red booklet was in fact a Bahraini passport and this idiot was showing it off to every person who drives by him ! :x

Dishing out the Bahraini nationality have been inexistent forever but what really kills me that it had increased lately ! :x It seems that the government is panicing now that the parliament elections are nearing !

Why does a government go to such measures are beyond me ? instead of dishing out passports; in other words; buying loyalty, why not try to work on satisfying your own people ? why not work on making them loyal by making them happy ? which will be definitely more beneficial for both parties and much much cheaper for the government on the long run !

All what is left for me to say is (Can't the government see that they can NOT afford bringing on more useless, uneducated and uncivilized people (this is type of people which the gov seem to be targeting) to a country which its public services are starting to deteriorate ? :(

Penny for your thoughts people !