Category: Personal

Today morning we woke up early to take Geo to the dog beach. There were 5 other dogs there today and Geo was the youngest amongst them and also the smallest size wise. All the other dogs were bigger then Geo and they spent most of the time bullying him around. There was this really cool Great Dane that was just 1 year old but like twice the size of Geo. At one point he was running towards me and it’s just the freakiest thing. I wasn’t worried he was going to attack me or anything; I was just worried he was going to run in to me, it would be like getting hit by a truck. He was really cute and I think he gave Geo the hardest time. Geo swam for the first time today but only for a few seconds. Last week he spent most of the time jumping around in the water but today we went deeper and he managed to paddle a bit before he looked like he was starting to drown which at that point I decided to carry him back to the shallow end. I didn’t get a tan since we only spent an hour at the beach but I think by the end of summer I should get some color.

Urgh, according to Amazon my MacBook should ship out today. I preordered the MacBook on May 23rd and have been waiting ever since then. I even have overnight shipping which means once it ships out today it should arrive to my mailbox tomorrow but my order is still open and there is no sign of it shipping. The suspense is killing me!!

Well maybe not famous but my picture is in like two newspapers today. The pictures are from the KREA event and show me accepting one of the awards. So far I am in Kuwait Times and Al-Anbaa newspapers don’t know if I am in any other ones. I will be signing autographs at Virgin Megastore tonight from 6-7PM and you can also have your picture taken with me for a small fee 😀

I just got my Body Groom today from U Shop We Ship. It arrived to my mailbox in the States on the 2nd and it got delivered to me today in Kuwait which is the 6th. Thats 4 days to get from the US to Kuwait but it also included a Sunday which is a day off, so its usually should take 3 days.

I am very satisfied so far. The most impressive part is the fact that I paid for my package using Knet while the package was in the US. This also got me a 2% discount which is not much but better then no discount. My MacBook still hasn’t shipped from Amazon since they still don’t have it in stock but I just changed the shipping address to U Shop We Ship. The reason for that is USWS can clear my laptop from customs AND I can pay them the customs fee online with my Knet card. Thats very convenient and I love it. I am now going to start using USWS as my primary US mailbox and keep Aramex as secondary for my magazines. [Link]

FYI: Package arrived today morning at 10AM to Kuwait according to the tracking info. Delivery guy dropped it at my office around 12:30PM.. 2 and a half hours later. Thats something not possible with Aramex.

So my friend calls me up now tells me I should watch the movie The Omen at midnight. Sounds like a good plan.

I hate peeling mango so I usually have someone peel it for me and cut it up and give me it in a bowl. Nat was in the shower and I really felt like mango so I decided to try peeling it myself. Not as easy as I thought. The first mango I peeled turned into mango juice. The second faired better but still mostly juice.

I should have fucking googled for instructions.

I was filling out an inquiry form on alsayer.org trying to find out when they will be getting the Toyota FJ and there is a mandatory question asking me which nationality I was. What kind of question is that in this day of age? Why do they want to know where I am from? Will I get better or worse service if I answer I am from Uganda? What would the best answer be, USA or Kuwait? I am betting USA and thats what I put. [Link]

update: Alsayer have replied back:

Dear Mark,

This question is purely for analysis reasons, and we apologise if was misunderstood. Alsayer group is a privately owned business and we have genuine respect for all nationalities. However, ethnic studies in marketing is anywhere in the world including the USA. And we believe this is normal in multi ethnic societies. Asking the question doesn’t mean a racist. It is a pure and simple marketing question taken out of context.

Thank You

Maak

I am busy busy busy busy busy busy busy very busy.

I always complain about crappy service in Kuwait but this time I am going to talk about amazing service in Kuwait.

I was leaving Souk Sharq today after lunch when my Jeep Wrangler wouldn’t start… my battery was dead. So I called up the Jeep Road Assist which I got for free when I purchased the car last year. The woman on the line took my info and told me she would call me back right away. I hang-up and she calls back from a +974 number. She told me to hold and then put me on a conference call with a tow truck guy here in Kuwait. I told him where I was located and he told me he would be there in 20 minutes. 15 minutes later he arrives and starts my car for me. I then drive to the Jeep quick service garage on the Gulf Road with my AC off and the windows open because Road Assist guy told me to do this so I don’t risk shutting down the car. The drive to the garage felt like driving through hell as you can imagine.

With the burning wind cooking my ears I was thinking on my way how I was going to cause a large scene at the garage cuz the battery wasn’t just dead it was like all oxidized and shit like it was 100 years old. That shouldn’t happen to a 1 year old car and I wasn’t going to pay for it. Anyway I get to the garage and I explain to the service manager my Jeep battery was dead and that I also wanted to do the 20K service, he quickly calls another guy over and tells him to get someone from the Jeep parts so he could see the battery and then replace it under warranty. I stood there shocked, I didn’t even mention to the guy that I was pissed about the battery and that I wasn’t going to pay for it. I was all ready to argue, fight and send emails out to every Jeep board member complaining about how I got stiffed but the manager didn’t give me a chance to get pissed. He told me not to worry they would take care of everything and service my car and have it ready for me to pick up tomorrow. I thanked the manager a lot and told him their excellent service never stops to amaze met.

On my way back to work in the cab I get a phone call from a +973 number, some guy in a weird accent tells me he is with Jeep and was wondering if everything is ok and if someone came to help me out. I told him yeah everything is great and I dropped my car off at the garage. He asked me what time the tow truck came, I told him he came 15 minutes after I spoke to him. He thanked me and I thanked him and hung up the phone.

This is not the first time the Jeep dealers have been great to me. Since the day I purchased the car I had the salesman call me to make sure I had no problems, I had the showroom manager call to check up on my car and every 6 months I get a call from a +974 number asking me if I have had any kind of problem. Its hard to believe there is a company that provides service this good here in Kuwait or anywhere else for that matter. They are just superb.

The summer is here and all the cool shows are taking a break so this is a good time to catch up on some shows like CSI, Six Feet Under, The Simpsons etc.. and also find some new ones. One show I just started watching is So You Think You Can Dance. My friend first told me about it but I didn’t think much until I watched this funny clip on YouTube. I then ended up downloading episode 1 of season 2 and I just fell in love with the show. I just LOVE the popping and the break dancing, its just really amazing to watch. There are also some REALLY weird people that come on this show and its also extremly fun to watch them. Anyway if you get a chance watch the show, click on the links in this post to see some cool samples of what the show is about.

Toot are having a design competition for the best designed blog and I want to win either second or third place. The first place prize doesn’t interest me since I already have more cameras then I need but I could definitely find a use for the iPod nano (second place) or the $50 gift voucher from Amazon (third place). So help me win second or third place by voting for my blog. Click the link to go to the voting page, it will just take you a second. [Link]

Yesterday night I attended the KREA which stands for Kuwait Rewards Excellence in Advertising. I hate attending such events and yesterday was actually my first time attending one. I prefer being low profile and as Bruce Mau says, “Don’t enter awards competitions. Just don’t. It’s not good for you”. But, yesterday was an exception and I had to attend. A good friend of mine was one of the judges at the event and he was only in Kuwait for a few days and the only 2 days I would be able to see him were the night before the event and during the event. So, I ended up attending the event so I could see more of him.

Unlike what I was expecting, the event turned out to be pretty fun. I ended up seeing a lot of old friends and the whole thing felt like a high school reuninion. I was sitting with Nat and some friends at work on a table on the first row and we spent most of the time joking around and having some fun. The event honestly was a disaster although people were telling me this one was slightly better then the Kuwait Awards that was held a few months back. There were a lot of presentation mess ups and the whole thing didn’t feel very organized. There were also some fishy moments which didn’t help with the awards credibility. Agencies were only allowed to submit work that was from 2004 up till now yet there was one agency I know of that submitted work that was prior to 2004 and they ended up winning awards! I found that very shady.

Overall though it was a good night for my agency, we won a whole bunch of awards and I actually got on stage to receive a couple.. not a smart move for someone who would rather remain low profile. But it was fun and I was dressed up very formally which I only do like once every blue moon. The event finished before midnight but by the time I got home (it was held at the Hilton Resort) it was past 12 so I just quickly hit the sack. I don’t think I will ever attend another awards ceromony but atleast now I know incase I do it will probably be fun.

Today I took Geo to the Dog Beach. Its a beach where every Friday morning dog owners take their dogs there to interact with each other and play. They usually get there around 8:30 in the morning but since I stayed up late last night I woke up around 9:30 today. We got to the beach around 10 and everyone had left except for one dog and his owners. Geo played with the dog a bit and then we went down to the water. We have taken Geo to the beach before but he never goes into the water but today he walked all the way in until he was nearly fully submerged. He still doesn’t know how to swim so he spends most of his time jumping around in the water. He’s completely exhausted now so he is sleeping. The picture above was taken by Nat today at the beach.

I just got an SMS telling me that from now on the SMS tariff will be 50 fils per message. How much was it before? I am on MTC btw..

Today Geo learned a new trick.. a trick I would rather he hadn’t learned. Geo today figured out how to open the doors around the house. The whole house is dog safe (ie nothing for Geo to grab a hold of and chew) except for the art room where I have all my magazines and tons of other stuff lying around unprotected on the shelves. Now that he knows how to open the door I need to start locking it from the outside. Hopefully he won’t figure out how to pick locks anytime soon. I think this weekend I am going to shoot a video of Geo doing some tricks, he has gotten really good at them.