2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

A few days ago a friend asked me how I backup my computer files and I realized its a subject other people might be interested in. Everyone should have some sort of backup and if you aren’t backing up your files then you should get on it asap. My setup is a bit complicated just because I’m extra safe and super paranoid about hard drives failing and files getting deleted. So, I currently have all my data backed up to the following:

In my house:
2 x 1TB External Hard Drives
10TB Synology 5-Bay Server (pictured above)

Cloud Storage:
Apple iCloud
Amazon Glacier
Microsoft OneDrive

For those of you who don’t know what Cloud storage is, it’s basically storage over the internet.

Home Backup
First just to give you an idea of what I’m doing at home in terms of backing up. I have two Macs, my main workstation which is an iMac, and my MacBook Pro laptop which I use mostly for browsing the web and working on client designs every now and then. I don’t backup my laptop since I don’t save any files on it but my iMac on the other hand gets backed up daily onto two external hard drives. Why two? Because in case one drive fails, I have a backup drive. What doesn’t get backed up onto this hard drive are my clients design files. I do freelance branding work and all my clients files are stored on my 5-bay server. The reason for this is so I could access them from both my computers at home and also access the files from anywhere over internet (my server is connected online). The server has 5 drives but 1 drive is a safety net, so in case one drive fails on the server, the 5th one saves the day and I don’t lose any of my clients work. So when it comes to backing up locally at home I’m pretty much doing ok, but I also feel a lot more comfortable knowing all my important files are also saved to the Cloud.

Apple iCloud
The only important files my iMac has is my iPhoto library that contains nearly half a million photos. Basically nearly all the photos I’ve ever taken since my first digital camera. Because I’m pretty paranoid about losing the photos, other than the two hard drives the photos get backed up onto daily, I also back my photos onto Apple’s iCloud. That way in case my house burns down, I still have access to my photos. The reason I am using iCloud and not another service is because its one of the few ways to retain the file structure of the image library. It’s also the easiest way of backing up my photos to the Cloud.

Amazon Glacier
Now another thing you should know about me, I hate deleting files, I have nearly every file I’ve created or downloaded since the late 90s. I guess I’m a digital hoarder of a sort. I don’t have any use for these files anymore other than for nostalgic reasons and so these files are located on my home server which I can access anytime I’m looking for anything specific. Just to be safe I’ve also backed up these files onto the Cloud. They aren’t files that get updated and they aren’t files that I need access to frequently so I’m using Amazon’s Glacier service to back them up into the Cloud. Amazon offer a number of Cloud options, Glacier is their cheapest one but comes with limitations like it takes 3-5 hours to retrieve a file from the Cloud. But since I only need to retrieve data in case of a server failure at home, that isn’t a big deal. How cheap is Amazon Glacier? $0.007 $0.004 per gigabyte per month, so around 100fils a month for 70GB.

Microsoft OneDrive
Finally, I use Google Drive to backup all my clients branding work. I have my home server setup to backup all my clients files onto the Cloud every 30 minutes. This has a number of benefits. For one it’s a safety measure, in case something happens to my server at home, my clients files are safe in the Cloud. The second benefit is in case of a power outage. Last year I faced a number of long power outages in my neighborhood and during one incident I was working on a clients project. I ended up having to push back a deadline (I never pushback deadlines) because my iMac switched off and so did my server so I didn’t have access to the files. If I had my files on OneDrive as well, I could have just gotten on my laptop, connected online and gotten access to my clients files and continued working on them. The reason I’m using OneDrive and not Google Drive for this is because I get 1TB of storage with my Microsoft Office monthly membership. I could use Google Drive, I have no personal preference they’re both great.

So what should you use?
I don’t think there is one solution that fits everyone, it really depends on what you want to do and what you want to backup. Mac users will probably find iCloud the most convenient but because it doesn’t give me much control I actually find iCloud super complicated to use. I barely understand how the whole iCloud photo sharing/backup system work and I’m constantly worried I’ll click on a wrong button and end up wiping out all my photos. So iCloud freaks me out that way.

Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive would probably be the easiest for majority of users. Everyone has a Gmail account so you already have Google Drive and if you’re legally using Microsoft Office, then you also already have OneDrive. You can use both these services like external hard drives where you just drag and drop folders and files onto them or use software to automatically backup your files daily or as often as you like onto them. At the very very very least, if you’re not backing your stuff onto the Cloud you should be backing up your files onto an external hard drive. It’s super easy to do, on Mac’s you just plug in a new empty hard drive and it will ask you if you want to use it as a backup drive, that’s how easy it is so there is no reason why you shouldn’t be backing up your files.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Yanni will be performing at JACC in around 10 days time and tickets finally went on sale this weekend and sold out right away. That obviously upset a lot of people who had been hoping to buy a ticket. Tickets selling out at events is a common issue, majority of the popular shows I’ve attended like a Bob Dylan concert or a Connor McGregor fight for example, I’ve had to buy tickets on the second hand market and at ridiculous prices. In the States and the UK I tend to use websites like StubHub to buy sold out tickets, sometimes I buy them off strangers at forums as well. Where would one look for tickets in Kuwait? Not that I am interested in Yanni but this is kind of a new situation here and I’m curious to know where people are going to sell or buy tickets. 4Sale maybe?

Someone forwarded this video to me yesterday, I don’t have the backstory nor any idea what happened to the guy who is attacking the cop in the video. I found it odd how only one guy comes in to break up the fight and then he treats it like a regular fight between two random people. I mean if I saw a cop getting attacked and needs a bit of help, I would jump in and try to help the cop out not try and break up the fight like I just spotted two kids fighting. [YouTube]

Update: Turns out the cop himself was stopping a fight between the motorist and an Asian national when the man turned on the cop. He got arrested. [Source]

Video was shot by @Kuwait_a_minute

One of the first modifications I wanted to do for my new Lotus was to swap out the car plates. The car came with the squarish shaped U.S. plates but because of the low and wide stance of my car, I knew the much wider and slimmer Euro plates would look better on it. But I didn’t have any idea on what the process was to swap the plates, nobody I asked had any idea and I figured it probably meant I needed wasta or something. Turns out, all you need is a bit of time and patience.

A reader got in touch with me last week after he reading my Lotus post in which I requested info on plate swapping. He told me he was going to the General Traffic Department to get his damaged Euro plates swapped for new ones, and I could come along and swap my square plates for Euro plates as well. All I needed was:

– Civil ID Copy
– Car Registration Copy
– U.S. Sized Car Plates
– KD5 Stamp
– The Car
– Bdal Talef Loha Orobiya “بدل تالف لوحة اوربية” (you get this from the typing guys outside the traffic department)

I got this done at the Asma branch of the General Traffic Department. Not sure if you could do this anywhere else, the license plate printing facility is located in Asma and I don’t know if they have one located elsewhere. Below is the process to getting your plates swapped:

– First thing you do once you get to the traffic department is visit the container room outside that houses the typists. You need to request “بدل تالف لوحة اوربية” which is the European plates request form. They will request a copy of your car registration and civil ID. They charge KD1 for typing this request out onto the proper form.

– Once you get the form with all the copies stapled, you need to head inside the building and then upstairs. When you’re up you’ll find a stamp machine, buy a KD5 stamp and stick it on the top left of the document.

– Next you need to head over to the the raed’s office “رائد” (Police Major) who will need to sign the document. Now here things might vary for you. As the raed was about to sign my request, he asked what the car was and I told him a Lotus. He didn’t know what that was and so told me to take the car to the vehicle inspection area to have them confirm I could fit Euro plates on the car. I told him I had pictures of the car I could show him, but I think he just wanted me to do a little running around.

– The vehicle inspection area is right next door, so I took my car and headed there, gave them the papers and they just signed and stamped it for me.

– I then headed back to the raed, he took my paper and signed and stamped it as well.

– Now you’re nearly done. The next step is to make a copy of your signed document and then take both the original and copy of the document and head to one of the computers so they could insert your request. Depending on how nice the person handling your papers are, they might have on of the helpers make the photocopy for you which is what happened in our case.

– Once your request is inserted into the computer you need to leave the building and drive over to the car plates section which is located on the side of the main traffic department building.

– Make sure you have a copy of the request along with your old car plates. You need to remove them off your car yourself so make sure you have the correct tools with you. Hand over the final document along with your old plates to the guy sitting behind the desk and in around 10 minutes you will get your brand new plates.

The whole process took nearly 2 hours, it might take you less or more depending on the amount of people there and the steps that they make you take. No wasta is required though which is great and the new Euro plates look much better on my car now.

I haven’t been to this exhibit yet since I just found out about it a few days ago but going by the video it looks like it might be worth visiting especially if you have kids.

The Ahmad Al-Jaber Oil & Gas Exhibition plays an important role for KOC by telling the history of oil – both in the State of Kuwait and throughout the world. From the formation of oil to its discovery and the thousands of ways that oil products help make our lives better, the exhibition serves to answer any questions the public may have about oil and gas and the important functions they play in our modern lives.

The exhibit is located in Ahmadi and here is the location on [Google Maps]. The opening hours are Saturday to Thursday from 9AM to 9PM and Friday from 2PM to 9PM. The exhibit isn’t free, the cost for adults is KD3, KD1 for children under 12 and free for people with disabilities. For more information you could check out the exhibits website [Here]

Thanks jmdv

Gulf Business released the 2017 list of top salaries in Kuwait and the top jobs according to their research are the following:

1) Chief executive officer/managing director – multinational: $34,271
2) Chief executive officer/managing director – local company: $22,178
3) Banking – treasury manager: $13,224
4) Information technology – manager: $12,097
5) Construction – project manager: $11,853
6) Legal – lawyer marketer/manager: $10,355
7) Banking – retail/personal banking manager: $9,625
8) Real estate – manager: $9,610
9) Banking – branch manager: $9,577
10) Healthcare – general practitioner/ manager: $9,416

I was comparing it to the list from 2012 and the biggest difference I noticed is that everything related to print media like advertising, PR and publishing, is now no longer on the list. No surprise there since that field has basically crashed due to the shift to digital. Check out the 2017 list [Here]

Photo by Mohammed AlSultan

Lots of events taking place this weekend, check out the full list below:

Thursday
Exhibition: Third Identity
The AUK Biennial Literary Festival
Workshop: Tea + Meditation
Neymar Jr’s Five Tournament
Workshop: Middle Eastern Cooking
Q8 Readers Book Club: Guns Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond – Part Two
Spring Festival: Soul & Heart

Friday
Tai Chi in the Park
Hatha Yoga in the Park
Workshop: Jivamukti Yoga Kuwait Collective presents ELEVATE
Salwa’ Walk and Socialize Meetup
My Room – Music & Art

Saturday
Craft Fayre & Car Boot Sale
Yoga with the 3
My Room – Music & Art
Workshop: Directing for Cinema
Workshop: Spinal Flow
Ink + Paint
Co-Exist Concert
Global Peace Concert
Y Walk

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events click [Here]

Sometimes events get canceled or have details changed so always double check with the organizers.

The movies below are now showing at either Cinescape, Grand Cinemas and Sky Cinemas:

New This Week:
Aftermath (7.4)
Eat Local (8.3)
Going in Style (6.9)

Other Movies Showing:
Collide (5.7) ♦
Daylight’s End (5.3)
Get Out (8.2) ♦ ★
Kong: Skull Island (7.6) ★
Life (7.8) ★
Logan (9.0) ♦ ★
Max Steel (4.6)
Power Rangers (7.1)
Sleepless (5.5)
Smurfs: The Lost Village (5.9)

The movies below are now showing at the Scientific Center IMAX theater:

A Beautiful Planet 3D (7.9)
Flying Monsters 3D with David Attenborough (7.6)
Humpback Whales 3D (7.2)
Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Secret Ocean 3D (N/A)
Journey to Space 3D (6.5)
Kenya 3D: Animal Kingdom (6.0)
Mysteries of the Unseen World 3D (7.5)

Numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at time of publishing.
★ is for movies I’m interested in. ♦ implies movie might contain censorship.

Can we discuss the last episode? GIRLS, one of my favorite shows on TV right now is in its last season and they’re going out with a bang. The scene above was the saddest scene I’ve watched on TV since the finale of Six Feet Under (which is considered one of the best TV series endings btw). The acting was incredible, the subtle facial expressions and moments were so real, it reminded me why I loved the show so much, not that I needed reminding. GIRLS is real and raw in the same way The Wire was.

While some of my favorite shows like The Walking Dead, Homeland and The Americans have gotten pretty lame, GIRLS has not only managed to stay good 6 seasons in, they’ve actually gotten better. The current season is winding down all the story lines and there are only 2 more episodes remaining before the show comes to an end, and so far it’s looking like their best season yet. I don’t want it to end.

If you haven’t watched GIRLS then I highly recommend you do, it’s available to watch right now on HBO and OSN.

Just Bee is a local honey business that provides raw and local Kuwaiti honey. You might have come across them at Qout Market but what a lot of people don’t know is they are promoters of urban beekeeping and that they have a beehive installation service. Just Bee don’t have their own beehive location, all their honey that is sold is produced from beehive hosting. This past season for example, their honey was harvested from 8 different locations that includes people’s homes, chalets and farms (Salmiya, Khaitan, Sharq, Qurtuba, Messila, Abu Al Hasania, Nuwaiseeb and Wafra).

At Just Bee we promote Urban Beekeeping and our vision is to be able to provide our community with honey from every area in Kuwait, to do that we need to team up, and we do that by allowing locals to host beehives for us.

So how does it work?
The first thing they do is come over to your home and do a site consultation. The beekeeper needs to asses the space, check how suitable it is or not for the bees, and recommend needed shelter for the bees to protect them from the cold in the winter and the heat in the summer. They usually ask the host to let them set up a minimum of 6 hives so that it’s worth their time and effort.

All the work is on them, they handle the installation and all the costs involved with the hives. They also supervise the hives by visiting them as much as every two weeks. By the end of the season, they harvest the honey and give you 10% of the honey that has been produced as a barter for the space that you have given them to set up the hives.

The honey is then branded with the name of the Area, making their honey literally come from the homes of the people.

Kuwait produced these beautiful and varying colors of honey! In order from the left: Abdili, Nuwaiseeb, Sharq, Zahra, Egaila & Mishref

How many times do they harvest honey?
There are 2 seasons of harvest during the year:

– June/July where they harvest the Multifloral Honey, usually light in color and crystalizes within a month or so. Varies colorfully from one area to another.

– December where they harvest the better known Sidr Honey from the Ziziphus/Sidr tree that produces the Knarr, Jujube fruit. It is much darker and remains liquid if not, a lot of other floral sources are mixed in when the bees are gathering nectar to produce the honey.

Depending on the season, each beehive can produce between 3KG to 5KG of honey.

I love this idea a lot and if I had a home with a garden I would have definitely hosted some hives. If you on the other hand live in a home or have a chalet or farm and love honey, then get in touch with Just Bee and host a hive. Their instagram account is @justbeekw and their website is justbeekw.co

Something weird has been happening with me and cabs recently and I’m having a hard time understanding the logic behind it. Years ago on the blog I complained about how cabs weren’t using the meters and instead charging whatever they wanted even though the meters would result in a cheaper rate. So for example a ride might cost 800fils based on the meter but the cab would tell he wants KD1.5 for the trip. They basically made more money not following the meter which they are required by law.

Recently though the price of fuel was increased and along with that the taxi meter rates. But I don’t think cab drivers themselves have increased their rates.

This past month I’ve had to use a cab twice, and both times I was quoted a lower price by the driver than the meter eventually read. So first time the cab driver told me the ride would cost me KD2, I got in, he started the meter and by the time we got to the destination, the meter read KD2.6, but I just paid KD2. The second time I was quoted KD2.5 and the meter at the end of the trip read KD2.9. So I’m really confused, if they use the meter which they are supposed to by law, they get more money. So why are they not using it? I don’t get the logic here.

This is probably the coolest thing thats gone up for sale in my classifieds section so far, the rare Cayman GT4. The GT4 was one of the other cars I had my eye on before deciding on the Lotus. Check it out in the classifieds section [Here]

Post by Dr. H – A family medicine resident working in a polyclinic in Kuwait

Its been a while since I’ve posted due to the fact I’ve been on holiday. Now its back to reality and I was thinking about what my next blog post would be, when I saw this patient and realized that it should be on the least discussed ‘taboo’ topic in kuwait – depression.

I see so many patients who are truly suffering with this disease, however with the lack of supportive services in Kuwait, they continue to suffer in silence, told by their families to ‘become more spiritual’ or ‘just snap out of it’.

So first off.. what is depression? Depression is a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness, and a loss of interest. There are many other associated symptoms, such as trouble sleeping and loss/gain of appetite. There are many theories on the etiology (cause) of depression, one is biological – So it basically says that there are certain ‘chemicals’ in the brain, and when you have depression, these chemicals are a bit off, so you get symptoms. Its multifactorial, theres a lot of other theories, it’s still poorly understood what causes it.. but the bottom line is that it’s a disease. Yes a disease. Just like asthma is a disease.. ever asked someone to ‘snap’ out of asthma?

So.. back to my patient.. I saw a 30 something year old lady, who has been suffering with lack of sleep, low mood, anhedonia (loss of interest), and has been this way for the past 3 months. She was miserable. It was taking a toll on her work, her marriage, and her kids. She did every medical test out there, most importantly her thyroid (gland that produces hormones, when dysfunctional can mimic depression), all her tests came back normal. So I started discussing depression with her, and the treatment options available. I was met with ‘shno depression? lesh tgolin 3ani maynona’ ‘what depression? why are you calling me crazy?’. She refused to discuss treatment or medication and stormed out. This just highlights a huge issue in Kuwaiti society, the taboo of mental illness.

Depression can be very successfully managed with medications and lifestyle modifications, but mention an antidepressant and 90% of patients will refuse.

You must be thinking.. what about psychiatrists? doesn’t Kuwait have a new mental health centre? A centre dedicated to mental illness? Why not refer patients there? What is their role in improving mental health and increasing awareness?

Here’s a fun little fact.. people who get treated at the Kuwait mental health center wouldn’t be considered for jobs in sensitive positions, such as parliament, certain ministry of interior jobs, army, etc. that does a lot to defeat the taboo right? What a good way to move forward Kuwait! Its one step forward two steps back. On the one hand the ministry of health is improving mental health care, on the other they’re saying if you have a file in the mental health center or problems with your mental health then you’re banned from certain jobs. What kind of image does that project?

I was thinking of ways that mental health can be improved, and ways to increase awareness, and I remembered when I was in med school abroad, we had a student hotline and a suicide hotline. These were 24 hour hotlines that you call, free of charge when you feel suicidal, sad, overwhelmed, or unwell. You would call and there would be someone to hear you on the other end of the line to offer supportive services. I think implementing something like this in Kuwait would be a huge step forward, and easier to set up than changing the politics behind being banned from jobs for following up with a psychiatrist.

We’re a long way away from defeating the taboo of mental health in Kuwait, but I think small changes and an increase in awareness would go a long way. So if you’re reading this, and you notice that you or a friend or relative has been suffering with low mood, loss of interest, change in appetite, trouble sleeping, or anything similar, please go to your polyclinic and discuss it with your family medicine doctor. There are a lot of resources out there, antidepressants can be prescribed by your family physician in the polyclinic, and you can be referred to a more specialized clinic if need be. Please do, thats what we’re here for!

(If anyone has any questions, or is suffering with anything similar please do not hesitate to contact me, I’m more than happy to help)

Post by Dr. H – A family medicine resident working in a polyclinic in Kuwait

Last September my Datsun was used in a commercial for the groceries delivery brand Baqal. They were doing an old school commercial and my car fit the theme so they paid me to do donuts in an empty sandlot (always fun). Since then I’ve been waiting for the commercial to come out so I could post about it, and it finally did… a week after I sold my car. So I guess it kinda works out as a final farewell to the Z. She will be missed.

Those of you who follow me on instagram and twitter probably already figured out that I sold my beloved Datsun last week because I bought a Lotus Exige instead. It wasn’t a planned purchase, it just happened, I guess something like an impulse buy but on a grander scale. Last Saturday I went with a friend to check out a 1972 Chevy C10 pickup truck which I was planning to buy. On our way back I had to drop my friend off at a garage when I came across a used car lot that had a yellow Lotus Exige displayed for sale, the same one I had reviewed nearly a year ago. So I sent the Lotus brand manager a message about it and he told me if I had an itch to drive the Exige again, they had the roof off on their current vehicle and I could come in the next morning and take the car out for a couple of days. Who would say no to that?

The next morning I headed straight to the Lotus dealership and picked up the Exige. A few minutes after driving off in the car, I had a huge smile on my face I remembered why I loved it so much when I took it out last year to review. So when the brand manager messaged me back the next day to confirm I would be dropping the car off in the evening, I told him I had fallen in love with it and this time I wasn’t bringing it back. After a couple of days of negotiating on the price over whatsapp, I went back to the dealership and paid for the car. I’m still unsure if I got a good deal or not since I don’t consider myself a great negotiator (Tip: Do NOT tell the dealer you love the car), but I’ve got the car now with no regrets so thats all that matters.

When I originally wrote my review of the Exige last year, I described it as a car not meant for 99.9% of the people and I still stand by that. I actually spent most of that review complaining about the car. It’s extremely quirky to put it nicely with a lot of odd and unorthodox things about it. But, with all the issues I had with the car when I reviewed it, something about it really attracted me to it. I’ve reviewed a lot of amazing cars for the blog but nothing connected with me the way the Exige did. I love sitting inside the small cozy cockpit, I love the way it looks on the outside, I even love how awkward it is to get in and out of and I definitely love recording videos of my friends trying to get out of the car. If the Exige was a person, it would be an awkward introvert and I think thats why I love it.

There are only 3 Exige’s in Kuwait at the moment, my midnight blue one, a white one and a yellow one so it’s a pretty rare car and I feel special. But, I’m now curious to see what that means to the cost and availability of parts, supposedly service costs is similar to Lexus which is great, but I didn’t ask about the parts since I didn’t want to freak out and change my mind about buying the car. Speaking of parts, there is a pretty active online community of aftermarket parts and I’ve already got my eye on some carbon fiber body panels and other upgrades, but the first thing I want to modify on the car is the license plates. For some reason Alghanim (the dealer) installed square ones on the car but I think the wider rectangular ones would look so much nicer on it. So if anyone knows what the process is for swapping the square plates for the rectangular ones is, please let me know!