Fonzation

Finally, its time to come out and reveal my surprise!!!

My surprise is this will be my final post!

Why?

Cos Fonzy is proud to present

An Ananyah Production

..........
........
......
....
..
.

!Click Here!

After every weekend, you find it hard to get your brain to start functioning the first day. So you are sitting at your desk struggling to get things done which on a day during the middle of the week, would take you half the time. Half the day has past and I am feeling like a truck ran me over. Best medicine is a nice kick-ass coffee from second cup to have while working. Got me a caramel machiato and am sipping on it with big smile :D Cheers!!

I believe in the saying "quality not quantity". This past weekend was one of those times that reminded me of how true this quote is. The past weekend was pretty different. We were supposed to go to a party in a far isolated area in the desert but things didn’t work out. So we ended up simply going with the flow and seeing where we end up. We ended up going to a friend’s chalet who was hosting a small scale party which was pretty boring at first but, half way through the night, we were having our own fun which was great; I even got the chance to DJ and spin some of my musicJ At around 2:00 we got a call from another friend inviting us to another party so we head to it. It was very chilled out, and more like a night cap kind of night, which was nice. We chilled there for a few hours, and I didn’t even feel the time pass; next thing I know I am at home 6:00 a.m.!! I collapsed instantly and spent most of my Friday asleep recovering and making up for many lost sleeping hours.

There will be a lot of demonstrating going on in Lebanon today. Yesterday, on the news, Dr. Samir Geajea was asked if there will be a demonstration today to overthrow the lebanese so-called president, Emile Lahoud, and he stayed quiet shaking his head. That didn't look good. Many say that overthrowing Lahoud wont help much as there is a bigger power behind him, Syria, which needs to be resolved. But getting rid of this useless president, who has done nothing for the country but make it easier for outside forces to interfere and ruin the country, will definitely be something good for Lebanon and its people since nobody wants the country to be ruled by him. After all these terrorist attacks and assasinations, the people are all wound up and want answers and will resort to violence if they have to. If Lahoud is out, the people will at least calm down. The chances of a civil war are growing by the day, and as much as I hate admitting it, it might come sooner than we think.

Personal Note: Im sitting here on my desk reading the same page over and over again cos the only thing on my mind is the state my country is in and what will I hear on the news at the end of the day. God help us.

After working myself to the max the past few weeks, I was feeling exhausted and I had reached my limit. Last night I was supposed to meet up with some friends for coffee, so decided to take a short nap and then get up and meet up with them; this was at 7:00 p.m. When I woke up, the clock read 5:00 a.m.!!! Ooops:P Yeah, I was pretty worn out, sleeping max 4-5 hours a day for over a month; there will come a time when you simply just cant go on and yesterday was my breaking point. But I really felt like going out, I guess I got some explaining to do :P Got me thinking though on whether this system I am following is healthy or not. I mean is it better to work yourself out to the extreme for a while then crash at once and make up for all the lost rest or sacrifice some of your entertainment and socializing hours at the end of every day and get an early sleep so you wake up refreshed every morning? For me, I dont think I can handle sleeping early and letting work be the only activity in my everyday life; if I dont see friends at least every two days, I know I will lose it. All in all, it was a terrific and refreshing much needed good sleep :)

Yesterday was my first day at my course at IBS. When I first walked in, they had name plates for each of the students which we had to pick up and place before us. To start with, the teacher was 20 mins late and it was extremely boring waiting for him; when I got there, there were only 3 other guys in the room but the front table was full of plates. When the teacheer finally showed up, most of the other people had shown up. As usual, I sat all the way at the back of the class, just like the good olds days in university:) When the lecture finally starts, the dude is speaking in arabic!! We are supposed to be in an english-speaking institute, yet he is speaking arabic. Well that was fine by me, but there was one Indian student who had to focus on the notes to understand. The good thing was that we were given a copy of his notes so no need to take notes, that was a relief. It was a 3 hour class during which we had a 15 minutes break, when I had a coffee and a cigarette. All in all, the material was diverse and had some interesting points, although I already know most of the stuff which is why I am looking forward to learning new stuff in later classes; the teacher knows what he is talking about but sucks at explaining stuff, is dull, and for some reason, I dont think he likes me. As annoying as it was having to attend classes again, it reminded me of the university days, best days of my life!

Finally, the move is over. For the past week, I've been very busy packing my stuff and closing cases for this day to come. Today wehn I came into work, I see my desk totally empty; there was nothing there, not even the chairs!! It turns out they finally made the move official and we are now located on the 12th floor and damn it is one hell of an incredible view!! :) I got an amazing sea view and I get to see the country from a perspective I have never seen before. Plus I got my own office, no longer a cubicle:) Thats a plus!! Also, it is all peace and quiet here so no worries about distractions and can now actually get some work done. The only problem is being seated on the glass and when the sun comes, it will hit me strong. Working on get some blinds for that! But, all in all, am happy with the move. These pics are what I see out my window!! Incredible:)

Today has been the slowest day ever. To start with, I slept barely 2 hours last night and woke up in the grumpiest mood ever not wanting to go to work although I knew schools were off and roads were empty. And it was very hectic at work and since I am so spaced out, it was taking me double the time to get things done. Also, I usually turn to blogging for a bit to change my mood but for some reason nobody is blogging, only a couple posts were up so far and extremely minimal visitors! And now that the day is finally over all I can think of is bed, my new boss comes up to me asking me to help him move a suitcase from the hotel to his new apartment but doesnt have a car. Since I am new, and so is he, I have to get on his good side as of now so I agreed. But if he asks me to carry it, am gonna shove it up his ass! Cant wait till tonight comes cos I got one hell of a night planned. Tonight we are going to Kabab-Ji to have dinner where a lot of people will be gathered up to bid Steve farewell, who is leaving tomorrow for a month's vacation in the States. After that, got a house party which I dont have to worry about getting cancelled:) Thats it for now. Am off to get all this shit out of the way and go hug my pillow.

When I came into work this morning and checked my work email, I received an email from the HR department requesting I fill in the documentation for the IBS program. IBS stands for the Institute of Banking Studies and supposedly offers the top programs in the country. It was usually made only for Kuwaiti citizens but has recently been open to expats who are recommended by big organizations. So apparently I was recommended to join this program! :) I guess I got the attention of someone upstairs:) Basically, it is a three month program, every monday and wednesday, three hours each session. Although I already know most of the stuff they are gonna teach, it will be good to refresh my memory and have a certificate which will be great for my CV; plus all expenses paid. But one thing is for sure is that I am gonna hate my mondays and wednesdays! I start tomorrow:P

Dont wanna sound like some romantic frenzy, but the sky seriously looked incredible this morning. This is exactly the view I want to see when I look up. Reminds me of home.

Working hours at the bank head office end at 2:30 but yesterday I walked out ay 7:30 in the evening so thats 12 hours of non-stop analysis of numbers and writing of financial reports, except for the hour I killed blogging:P Anyway, I had not had anything to eat except some biscuits in the morning so I passed by Jabriyah on my way home to pick up a sandwich for me and my dad, who for some reason likes Naif. So I went along with him. I parked next to Naif and walked into the place and started checking out the menu. Keep in mind that I worked 12 hours and had nothing to eat all day and was feeling very disoriented :P I was actually impressed cos I saw burger combos and hot dogs and stuff and was thinking "since when does Naif serve beef?" So I ordered what I wanted to order in the first place, chicken fillet combo, paid for it, and went outside to make a phone call while I waited for the food. I was pacing around talking on the phone with Soomi and I look up and I see Naif like 20 meters away. I WAS IN HARDEES!!!!! Damn I felt stupid!! :D

I am a member with the Lebanese in Kuwait (LIK) and been with them since over a year now. A few months ago, a new society was created called Cool Lebanese in Kuwait (CLK). LIK have been doing amazingly the past few years and ever since I joined them, I haven't missed any of their events. The CLK group have also been expanding and improving fast and are doing pretty well. They have been trying all sorts of different advertising and marketing strategies to attract as many members as possible and from what I'm seeing, its working. Been getting messages from them lately but never bothered to check their website until today. Personally, I didnt like their template and design much; I think its poor but they do have a lot of funky stuff up there. LIK, on the other hand, have a well organized and easy to read site. Also LIK events are on a higher scale and attract way more people. Still, lets not forget LIK has been around for years whereas CLK only a few months. Up till today, LIK attracted 1936 members and CLK 216 members. I see some strong competition coming up! Typical lebanese! Always competing!

For the past few months, my new department had no head so it was being run by the most senior analyst. But today, the new boss came in. He called us in one by one to interview and get updated on our backgrounds, what each is responsible for, what we have done, and what plans we have within this field. It took me a while to be on the liking list of my previous boss, and it seems it will be tougher with the new guy. He was impressed though by my background and my bilingual skills. Still, from my first impression, he is an up-tight, know-it-all, strict, and serious pain in the ass!! He wont last if he keeps up with this attitude! So I guess, in a way, back to square one.

For years I have bedazzled all those around me using my thumb with my SMS skills, be it the fact that I write messages blind folded as well as the speed at which I write. I can write a message while driving without looking at the phone and back in school and university I used to write messages to my friend at home asking for answers to exam questions, or during a boring meeting, or while getting a lecture from my boss or parents..... all under the table; and I never checked my spelling cos I rarely ever misspell. Today I ran into a very interesting article talking about the fastest SMSer who broke the guiness record by writing a 160 character SMS in less than 42 seconds. So I thought to myself.... big deal, I can do that!!

I set the timer and started typing like crazy and had a set text in front of me. I tried it with and without the dictionary. My results were:

Without dictionary: 1 min 13 seconds
With dictionary: 53 seconds

Everyday when I head to work I am surrounded by a mob of kids since there is a school facing my building. You seem them standing in the middle of the street beating the shit out of each other, running after each other, eating a sandwich or something, or hiding behind some car smoking. Every single one of them, maybe one or two exceptions, is a devil of some sort. I mean what do you expect when all the students are boys or girls. The boys end up being trouble makers and the girls end up feeling deprived of seeing the world. I have always been in mixed schools and I think I would have gone crazy if I were in an all-boys school. The shit these kids pull in the morning is unbelievable, I never even thought of doing anything similar when at that age. Take smoking for example, I started with I was 20; I saw 14 year old kids carrying packs and the stupid bakala dude was selling them although it is illegal for those below 18! I sometimes actually worry these kids would do something to any of our cars cos I have seen them flatten tires before of those who told them to get off the cars. But luckily, I got an alliance going on with some of them:)

So its the beginning of yet another week but this time I am starting it off with a flu!! I hate being sick, who doesnt?!?! Whenever there is a change in weather, I always end up being sick and when I get sick, I get really sick. It all starts off with some sneezing, which is when I start panicking, and then comes the sore throat. After coughing like crazy for one whole day, comes the running nose and more severe sneezing. The next day, which is today, comes the light-headedness along with the coughing, sneezing, and running nose; not to mention the extreme fatigue. I feel high!! On top of it all, I didnt get much sleep and am seeing doubles. Im expecting the fever to kick in later on today! What worse way is there to start off your week!?!?!

Update on Surprise: Sorry to say, the surprise is temporarily postponed due to technical difficulties :P I know its annoying but its out of my hands! Sorry people.... soon soon:)

As I submitted this morning all the papers linked to the cases I was assigned to and have been working on them the past several months, my transfer was finally complete. I was welcomed warmly into the new department and after all the shaking of hands and saluting, the FOUR department members including me had a short meeting to discuss team work and how important having team spirit is and all that stuff. Now am back on my temporary desk with 7 cases in my hands getting prepared to dig in. Moving on to the next step of my career!

Other than the occasional visits my mom pats to Kuwait, my dad and I are living alone here. Every morning, I go to my job and he goes to his. Then when I'm done, I go to my second job and we end up meeting up at home at the same time, around 7:00 p.m. When home, sometimes he prepares lunch and sometimes I do, but recently its been mostly me. After that come the doing the dishes, which I ofcourse take care of, no way would I let my dad do the dishes. Then comes the daily light house organizing which we both handle. Each one is responsible for his own room but both work together on the rest of the house. Luckily, we got someone who comes in twice a week for house cleaning. Then at the end of the night before sleeping, there is taking out the garbage. And then every Friday, I got the laundry to take care of and, after, sometimes got ironing to do. Although I hate all house chores, I hate them in this order (from worst to least):
(1) ironing
(2) dishes
(3) organizing
(4) taking out the garbage
(5) cooking
(6) laundry

Dont know why I wrote about this, but yesterday I was too damn tired that I didnt do anything and today when I woke up, I looked around and everything looked so messy. You can not postpone house chores cos it will only get worse and it is one thing you can not escape!

Note: I am against having "help". Got used to the idea of taking care of myself ever since university dorms life.

I turned 28 less than a month ago and I feel no different. I feel like I am still 23 living the life of a 28 year old, if not older. What I mean is I still feel young, whereas all those around me, be family member, co-workers, friends all see me getting older and most keep asking me one question.... "when are you gonna get married?" I give them all the same answer I have been giving for many years............ no marriage here. Im not against marriage and Im not afraid of commitment, God knows I have been committed before. But I simply just dont want to. The way I see it, you will get married when you feel you met the perfect match and you decide it is the next step in a relationship that has become so concrete. But recently the pressure has increased and is becoming unbearable. It feels like me against the world. My parents for one want me to tell them something like "ok I will think about it" so they feel more at ease, but I would just be bullshitting them and I know it will only backfire in the future so I end up being this stubborn hard headed asshole and say it again "NO MARRIAGE HERE!!" This is what they keep telling me:
(1) I am 2 years away from being 30.
(2) Get married early to see my kids growing up and grow up with them.
(3) If not now, I will be too old and cant be the family man I am supposed to be.
(4) Start a life with a wife early to build a base upon which to build a future.
(5) Time to stop with all the loose life and start a stable one.
(6) We need someone else to worry about you!! :P (probably the main one.. lol)

Although they all make sense, I am still not convinced. It just got me wondering.... is there an age limit to when a person should get married? What reason other than love should get two people to get married? Does being in a country like Kuwait, involved mostly about building a career, necessitate having someone to share your life with cos the way I see it, many push for marriage when residing in kuwait? When should you think of getting married?

Note: This post is not me asking for advice whether to marry or not.... cos my answer still is "NO MARRIAGE HERE!". It just got me thinking.