Byebye Blogger !

Well, we have finally ditched blogger and moved to wordpress ! It had been a project in the pipes for a while now but I have always held back due to the fear of losing our old posts and comments ! Now thanks to the import option in wordpress (supports blogger_beta now) there was no need for further delays ! So farewell blogger, its a new dawn for our blog ! Thank you blogger it was fun using you ! Now update your bookmarks and links people !

You can find us on http://www.bahrainidrivel.com/ or http://www.stickies.tk/ where the drivel continues to flow ! :D

Interesting Week!!!

It’s been an interesting 7 days I’d have to say filled with some surprising experiences.

Last Sunday was my first live boxing experience. A colleague of mine is a boxer and invited us to attend a Thai and kickboxing competition. Different, intriguing and violent are the three words I’d use to describe this sport. Never been a fan of it in the first place, never expected it to be quite enjoyable. It wasn’t Lennox Lewis vs. Tyson but it was quite competitive. My friend won his bought and came out with only a small scratch, whereas others were a bit less fortunate. From concussions to seizures to total knockouts, this competition had it all. I’ll definitely go to the next competition.

Monday was slightly different. Sitting on my computer at work early morning, I get sent an email about what is now an ex-colleague in the states. Now this girl was crazy but I never expected her to be that crazy, add to that overly stupid. Well, not only was she a thief (stole neighbour’s packages and mail), but quite deceptive (conned people into making ebay purchases worth thousands of dollars but never delivered any) and for some reason, featured on several escort websites. At the end of the day, she is charged on 23 different cases. What a good way to screw up your career and life. Now if you’re reading this miss, if you were smart, you would’ve gotten the hell out of the US, if not, you’re very screwed.

Today I decided to watch the movie 300, very interesting and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Now this movie has caused a great uproar especially with the Persians as it depicts the army of Xerxes as savage, monstrous barbarians. Honestly, this movie should just be taken for what it is rather than reading much into it. It’s not the first and it won’t be the last to be criticized. Anyways, I hope everyone’s week was enjoyable.

Good night.

Annoying People

At the office we have this guy who's job title states that his job is a secretary but he seems to think that he holds a bigger job at the institute ! For some weired reason this guy seems to think that he is the main figure at the establishment and will dish out orders to those who are in fact higher than him in the hierarchy of the institute ! And if this wasn't bad enough, the guy has this habit of sticking his finger in every cake claiming that he knows better. :x Anyway, although I have been avoiding the nut job for a while quite seccusfully, the dreaded day came two days ago, and here is what happened:

Nut Job: Mr. Almudawi, I need to speak to you URGENTLY.

Me: Sure ! :) What's up ? (To myself: Good God, How did I manage to cross paths with this nutter)

Nut Job: First of all, I'd like to complement you on your efforts that you have put in, ever since your promotion .

ME: Cheers Mate (To myself: wait for the bullshit to come)

Nut Job: But it seems that your performance of late have been quite low.

ME: MY PERFORMANCE ? Since when ? (To myself: he got to be kidding me !)

Nut Job: Ever since a month ! And there is nothing wrong with that, if matters were in my hands I'd give you some time off.

ME: No thanks, I am fine. But what made you think that my performance dropped ?

Nut Job: I know things ! And there is another thing ! Why don't you have any problems at your department ? Are you hiding something ? Especially with you being newly promoted !

ME: :o It seems that you have lots of time to waste mate ! :x I don't have time for this, I'd rather spend my time where I could be more productive ! Now, please excuse me I've got a department to run ! (To myself: What a nut ! I can't Believe that I wasted 45 mins on an aimless conversation :o)

To be honest, the 45 minutes didn't go to waste, at least it gave me a proper run for my techniques which I've been using to avoid this nut job ! Now I have to go back to the office , to fetch my faithful drawing board and sketch myself improved blueprints to continue avoiding that git ! :D

So lads and lassies, If you have a job or still live a happy life at school (GOD how I envy you:D), think about the most annoying colleague, subordinate, or boss you have at the moment. Then tell me the one thing that your own "nut job" did most recently to get on your nerves. ;)

Stress & Vacation Planning

So it had been a while since my last post ! I can't believe how busy I have been lately, :x work is eating a lot of my time ! :( And when I am back home from the office, the only thing I can do is basically eat, catchup with the family and sleep ! NO TIME whats so ever for posts ! I am getting to the point where I really do need a vacation ! Which I am planning to have in August. :) I am not one of those who stresses up easily but I am dieing for a time out ! So where am I off to ? Well, I haven't decided yet, but London is right up there on the list, not far behind is Sunny Spain B) but I am currently leaning towards London just because of the fact of K living there and it would be great to reunite with him and get into more nutty mischief :D after all what could be a better hunting ground than the metropolitan streets of London ! And before somebody cracks up with a cheeky comment, NO ! Soho is NOT one of them ! ;) B) Anyway gotta check out now guys, will be back soon with a proper post for yous ! ;)

My Top 10 songs

Yep, I've been tagged yet again this time by my mate Gazza ! Why does this keep happening to me, I am not sure ! Am I that much of an easy target ? No really I love this ! :D Anyway enough blabbing ! :P

Here are my top 10 songs:

10 - Champagne High by Sister Hazel: Brings tears into my eyes because it reminds me of my University years at Edinburgh
9 - Heaven by Bryan Adams: You can't beat that for a love song ! ;)
8 - Summer of 69 by Bryan Adams: Reminds me of my high schools days.
7 - Loser by 3 Doors Down: No reason just love this song :D
6 - Photograph by Def Leopard: 1st concert I went to in the UK was def leopards and this song was just CLASS ! B)
5 - Sultans of Swing by The Dire Straights: Great song to pump you up for a night out !
4 - Living on a prayer by Bonjovi: Again another party song for moi ! Keeps me going on all night
3 - Inside us all by Creed: Shame they split ! :(
2 - Billie Jean by Micheal Jackson: What list would be complete without it ?
1 - Broken Wings by Alter Bridge: I love this song, listen to on and on but never got bored of it !

Ok then, I tag:
Gazza
tooners
Hashim
Still Breathing

Now thats a tag list, we've got the taxi driver, the new mommy, the music composer and the bio student :P :D Waiting for the interesting lists ;)
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To Sir, with Love

The Future is for those who believe in their dreams, these words, I got quite attached to ever since I first heard them. One of my lecturers at James Watt College (Mr. George Campbell) once told me "At the end of the day son, you'll be what ever you want, the future is for those who believe in their dreams" and ever since these words became my moto. He said do you have a dream for the future ? Do you imagine yourself in certain place ? a certain career position ? if yes, then you have to believe in the beauty of your dream, you have to believe that you will achieve this dream someday.

Never have negative thoughts and always have beautiful positive ones. Everyday take steps towards your dreams, don't believe in them for the sake of it ! Work towards them for there is no point of setting them and hoping for the best ! Make them realistic and you'll be something son. These words still ring in my ears as if I've just heard them. George, sir, I would always be grateful for all the things you taught me and for the role you played in forming my personality !

Gaffer, I owe you loads and will always miss you, I will always be grateful to you sir and will forever have trouble finding the right words to thank you.

Contrasting Dining Experiences!!!

Well as the saying goes: “You get what you pay for”, but sometimes, that’s simply not the case. I’ve got two stories that highlight this point, a British one and an American one.

I’ve always been a critic of the restaurant service here in the UK and in general, I think it’s really poor compared to other countries. Moe, I don’t need to remind you of the steaks we had in Telford.

Anyways, recently I went out with a colleague from work and she suggested we go to Browns just off new bond street, which was perfect as it’s less than 2 minutes walk from work. We go in and ask for a table for two. We went a bit early, 12.15 so it was empty at the time with only a few people. We were directed to the dining area and it was empty with only 2 people sitting at one table. Out of all the tables available, he pointed us to the one right next to those 2 people (around 30 cm apart). I just cracked up and moved to another table. You must be kidding me…. Reminds me of one time when I went to a restaurant and it was absolutely empty and they asked if we had a reservation.

We sat down, ordered drinks and started studying the menu. I ordered a starter and the main course but my colleague wasn’t sure so we told the girl to come back. We called her again but yet again my friend wasn’t sure so we told her, bare with us for a minute. She went and then I waved at her and she totally ignored us. After a few minutes she showed up. She was pretending to be nice but we weren’t falling for it. Anyways, food was ordered and the starter showed up.

While we were eating the starter, the place started getting packed until it was full. We finished the starter, had a chat and kept waiting for the main course. I started to notice that the people who showed up 30 minutes after us had already received their dishes, so I called the waiter. Politely, I told him what’s taking so long, we were here before everyone but we still haven’t received our main dishes. Sarcastically, he (same guy who was responsible for seating us) said that all those people are eating their starters and that ours take a while to prepare, so we have to wait more. I laughed and told him, “Since when is Fish and Chips a starter??? Please go check the food”. I kid you not, less than 15 seconds later, the food was on the table.

Once we were done, the guy comes over and takes the dishes and asks if we fancy coffee and deserts. I told him, “No thanks, I fancy the bill more, so please get it”. We were going to pay by 2 cards so he brought the machine and it was my turn first. Half went on my card and that was fine. I verified my pin code and got the receipt. Now it was my colleagues turn. The guy set it up and left. It has an option to add a gratuity, which we obviously put 0. I wish they had a comments section, would’ve been happy to write something nice. Anyways, we got to the payment and we notice that the guy did not put half the price but rather the full amount so we cancelled the transaction. When he came back, without even asking, the first thing he said was, “YOU CANCELLED THE TRANSACTION”. We’re both like, “Ya, we don’t want to pay you 150%, check before you talk”. We took our receipt and just walked away.

One thing for sure, I’m not going back to that place again. It was an experience though, one that makes me laugh.


Over to the American story. This one is rather funny and just demonstrates the opposite. Around 3 months ago, we were just outside Philadelphia in the King of Prussia mall. We went to this restaurant for dinner. Initially we were 6 people. We ordered drinks and sat down to talk. Later on, other colleagues from work show up (by coincidence) and I told the waitress, let’s set up a big table so that we can all sit together. We ended up being 22 people.

Anyways, the lady offered to take our drinks over to the other table and I told her jokingly to not worry about my drink as I don’t want to torture her by letting her carry it. Anyways I got up and was talking with my friends and suddenly I just turned not knowing the waitress was right behind me. Well, to my embarrassment, I elbowed the tray with the drinks and showered her top to bottom in front of the manager. Besides being lost temporarily for words, I apologized and said that I’ll pay for them. Both the manager and the waitress were like, “Don’t dare you say that. There’s no way you’re paying for this. We’ll get you new ones right away”. Mind you, these drinks were worth around $40. Anyways, we were all laughing because I actually did end up torturing her, not technically hehe. Now this is why you end up tipping them in the first place.

I can go on for a long time about all the restaurant stories, but it just shows you that in a lot of cases, you’ll either get way less than what you bargained for, or way more.

If you do have any funny restaurant stories, do share them :).