Category: Personal

Over the weekend I was at True Values and I found this huge gallon of pest control spray. It was a good brand (Spectracide) and was selling for only KD5 and offered 6 months of protection against any kind of bug. So I bought it but when I got home I started to read the warning label and this thing is scary. If I drop some of the liquid on my skin I need to wash the area for 20 minutes and then call the poison center. So I decided to wear gloves while I am using it. I don’t know how, maybe because I am extremely clumsy but I ended up spilling a lot of the liquid on my hardwood floor. Then I tried to wipe it up and now I think I have this liquid all over my hands. How am I supposed to clean up a toxic spill?!?! This thing is crazy, I have been sneezing like hell, my fingers have a tingly sensation going on, my arm it a bit itchy, and my gloves are soaked with this liquid. I should have just purchased Raid…

I am in so need of a vacation. I really haven’t been in the mood for work lately, most probably because I haven’t been on a vacation since October 2003. I need a break.

I hate listening to non-geeks talk about geek stuff. They talk as if they are “in” with the technology but they are soooo nooott…

We called the vet today, turns out the reason why Chips our family dog is sick and losing weight is because he is old and not in good health. The vet is recommending we put him to sleep, and thats what we will probably end up doing. He has been in the family for over 8 years now. He isn’t perfect, no one outside our family seems to like him but thats because he doesn’t like them (he has psychological issues). I think the day before we put him to sleep I will set up an open buffet for him with all his favorite food. He will have an unlimited supply of cheese, french fries, burgers and chocolate.

I was suggesting after we put Chips to sleep that we get him stuffed. That way we can still have him in the house. My parents are totally against it though and they wouldn’t want it in their house. Nataly also doesnt want it in our apartment since she thinks the ghost of Chips will end up haunting our place.

Update: Just got back from the vet awhile ago. We put him to sleep…

I was just checking the stats of unex-t.com (my site) and it turns out I was Boing Boinged back in September and I didn’t know about it!! [Link]

Update: I had a headace yesterday night so I couldn’t write a lot. Basically Boing Boing had a post on Anime murals in Montreal. When I was on vacation 2 years ago in Montreal I took a picture of this huge and really detailed mural on this wall. So I emailed them the link and they added it.

I have been shopping around like crazy for a new car but nothing had turned me on. Actually, every car dealer I went into I found a car I wanted. I wanted everything, a Toyota Prado, a Nissan 350Z, a Infiniti G35, an Armada, a BMW Z4, even a Citroen C2 (only KD3,850!!). Every car I looked at I wanted, thats when I realized I didn’t really want a new car, I just wanted to change my car. Its hard to explain but somehow somewhere I put it in my head that I needed to get a new car, so the past two weeks of shopping I wasn’t really looking for “The Car”, I was looking for “Any Car”.

So realizing that I decided to think about which car do I “really” want, which car would be “The Car” for me. With that I came out with 2 cars, the new Range Rovers, and the Hummer H2 SUT. The problem is both cars are out of my budget with the cheapest Ranger Rover I saw was KD14,000 and the cheapest H2 SUT I saw was for KD13,000. So since I couldn’t afford any of these cars at the moment I decided to just stick with my car until I could. So as simple as that, my quest for a new car is over. Now I just need to break the news to the guy who is supposed to be buying my car this week…

I am thinking of asking management for a raise since recently my responsibilities and workload have increased considerably but I don’t know how to. There is no time that seems like a right time and even if the right time came along I am not sure how I would start the conversation. Any tips?

I was checking to see if Jeremy Clarkson (the guy from the show Top Gear) had reviewed the Nissan 350z when I noticed he had recently reviewed the Murano. So, I decided to read his Murnao review since I couldn’t find a 350z one. I was a surprised to see he gave the Murano a full 5 star rating since the last car he gave a 5 to was the Aston Martin DB9. Now I am considering if I should get the Murano instead of the 350z. I know they are 2 totally different cars but I have been enjoying Nats Jeep lately and wouldn’t mind getting an SUV for myself also. It looks a bit like a chick car though no? [Link]

I just got back from watching Star Wars at Fanar. I went with Nat, Fadibou, Missundaztoood, Tivo Guy and Calmness. Fanar is definitely a much better movie theater then Marina. The sound was great and the theater much larger, the whole experience was much better then my marina one. The company I was with was also great, we booked the tickets from KNCC.com earlier in the day so we were able to get excellent seats next to each other. Even if we hadn’t booked beforehand I dont think we would have had a problem getting decent seats, the theater was basically empty, not a lot of Star Wars fans in Kuwait it seems. Thinking about the movie now, I think it was actually pretty good, specially if you look at it from episode 1 all the way to 6. Lucas managed to merge them all together very smoothly.

I can’t wait till they come out with the Star Wars Sixology DVD set, that would be amazing..

Remember when you were kids in school and if you did something good the teacher would give you a star? Well I am starting this trend at the agency. I am giving out pink and blue stars of various sizes to designers who work hard. The harder you work the bigger the star you get. Really funny stuff.. I think this should be applied to all of our offices worldwide. I also think I am gonna get fired when management comes back from their trip!

I am selling my car because I want to get a new one.
Here are the car specs:

Year: 2001
Brand: BMW
Model: 330ci
Color: Topaz Blue
Interior: Individual

Extras:
-Rear Shade -Sport Package -Seat Warmers -Xennon Lights -17″ rims -Business CD -Chrome Trim Exterior -Alluminium Trim Interior -Clear Signal Lights -Motorolla V3690 GSM phone ready

It has 69,000KM on the dial, if interested leave a comment and I will contact you.

More information and pictures of the car available here.

Update: I think someone from the office is going to buy it off me…

Just came back from a blogger meetup. It wasn’t planned as one but it turned into one. I had lunch with Tivo-Guy, Missundaztoood and Fadibou at Starbucks in Salhiya. The meetup was very cool, we mostly sat and talked about the PSP and Halo2, and Fadi was telling us about how Microsoft Longhorn will kick ass when it comes out in 2015. Compared to the planned “official” meetups, I think our unplanned one faired out evenly even-though we didn’t have an invisible celebrity guest!

As you know the other day I was contacted by Kuwait Cinema regarding my terrible movie experience. Well after the last phonecall where a guy from Kuwait Cinema wanted me to call him before I went to the movies so he could get me the free tickets, I sent another email to the general manager explaining how this wasn’t very convenient for me and he replied. Below I posted the email I sent to the GM and the email he sent back:

Mark to Alan

hi thank you Alan for your email and phone call. Its good to know that KNCC does care about their customers even though they have a monopoly on the market.

I do have 1 more minor issue though. Santhosh called me and told me about my 2 free tickets. He was very nice and all and told me to call before I go to the movies next time so that he can get me the tickets. I was wondering would you be able to credit the 2 tickets into my account instead of me having to call santhosh the next time I go. The reason for this is I would like to choose the seats myself and calling santhosh for the tickets and hoping he answers just before i go to the movies is a bit of a hassel.

If its not possible its ok.

thanks

And this is the email I just received from the general manager today:

Alan to Me

Mark

I have arranged for this to be done. We do care, very much, as to what our customers feel and experience.

Please let me know what your next movie is like.

Alan

As you can see he was very proffesional. I am now 100% satisfied with their actions regarding the incident.

ALL the management at my agency are leaving tonight for a three day seminar in Dubai. What does this mean? It means I will be in charge of the creative department for the next three days so I created a schedule of things to do for all of us here.

Day 1 – We all ditch work and go to the beach. This way by the time management come back on Thursday, everyones tan would have settled.

Day 2 – We all ditch and go to Entertainment City. Many of the employees here haven’t been to Entertainment City yet so it would be a good experience for them.

Day 3 – We go Ice Skating at the skating arena near the office. This way we can go skate for an hour and be back to the office to catch up on some work before management come back Thursday.

Day 4 – Management come back, find out what I did and then fire me.

Today I received two phone calls in regard to my complaint about the StarWars incident I had last week. The first call was from Alan Hall, the General Manager of KNCC. He apologized about the incident and told me they would investigate it. When I asked him if they had received any other complaints he told me no they hadn’t but that they also generally never receive any feedback from anyone, good or bad. He then told me they would contact me again soon.

Around 5 minutes ago I received a call from another guy, he again apologized for the incident and gave me his number and told me the next time I go to the movies to give him a call 1 hour ahead so I can get free tickets. He wasn’t very clear on the issue so I asked him if I brought my wife can I get 2 tickets, he said yes. I said thank you and closed the phone.

The free tickets gesture is nice of them but I don’t think its good enough. I am not being greedy or anything but there are a couple of issues here.

1) I already paid for 2 tickets last time and wasted my time going to the movies at midnight on a work day to watch the movie and they fucked up. If they give me 2 free tickets in return then I am not getting anything extra.

2) Do I get 2 tickets or more? I asked the guy if I need 2 tickets for me and my wife would that be a problem, he said no. What if I need tickets for me and my friends? The guy wasn’t very clear on this issue.

3) I have to call the guy before I go to the movies? Would he remember me? When is this valid till? What if he doesnt pick up? I think calling a person on his mobile before I go to the movies is to much of a hassel and I wouldn’t be in control. Plus do I still book the tickets online or do I tell the guy what movie I want and he books the seats and buys them for me?

4) I booked the tickets and paid for them online, why couldn’t they credit my account with the free tickets? That would have solved a couple of issues. First I would know the exact amount of tickets I got. Secondly I can book my tickets online whenever I want and pay for them with the credit I have.

In conclusion, I am glad they called me back but I am disappointed with their gift.

Update: I just called the guy again to get clarification on the booking issue. Turns out I have to tell him what movie I want and he will book the seats and get me the tickets. I should have asked him how many tickets I get but I forgot..

Update 2: Just received the email below from Alan, very nice of him:

Mark

I refer to our discussion of this morning and thank you very much for providing the feedback. We are in the process of a major investigation as to why this happened. We do not take such matters lightly.

As a gesture I would love to welcome you and your wife back to enjoy a screening of Star Wars, with sound, at your convenience.

Santhosh, our operations manager will be contacting you to co-ordinate.

Kind regards.

Alan Hall
General Manager