Weekend remainders

Father of the year he is not:  A man here has made it his mission in life to have 100 children. It is acceptable here to have up to four wives at a time so he keeps as long as they are fertile.

Here's an interactive map of gay rights in the US.  Jon Stewart points out that the best measure of how far we've come is that Republicans criticized Obama for being opportunistic.  I admit I was pleasantly surprised that not one of my far right friends on FB posted anything negative.

On a somewhat related topic, it appears John Travolta really likes happy endings from his massage therapists.  If you have a few minutes it is worth reading the lawsuit.

My alma mater Coe is now over $41,920 for residential students.  I am happy I went to Coe but I don't think I could make the same choice today.  Here's an interactive graph on colleges and their graduates' level of debt.  Student loan debt has now passed credit card debt and auto loans.

Pastafarians unite:  A man has won the right to wear a pasta strainer in his ID photo.

A Kmart in Kentucky was closing.  After the store had marked down the remaining merchandise to one-tenth of its value a man bought it all and gave it to a shelter.  He initially thought he'd try to resell it all but the 76 year-old had a change of heart.  Good for him.

And finally, a college friend is a trial lawyer.  He's developed a product to help companies to keep from being sued.

A sad reality

After changing back to atenolol (for high blood pressure) two days ago I started feeling very dizzy.  More than once today I felt so woozy I thought I might black out.  OK, so I'll stop taking the drug.

I took my last pill early this morning.  As I felt awful all day I hoped things would get better as time passed.  Unfortunately, I'm just as dizzy as I was earlier.  I won't go to the hospital because this is a relatively common side effect for the drug (although the websites say, "If you experience this symptom see your doctor.")  And death is not listed as one of the side effects so I'm gonna bet I'll be OK.

But...

Thursday is the start of the weekend here.  I've made no plans with anyone this weekend.  It would be Sunday before anyone might wonder what happened to me...

Tune in tomorrow because, 1.  I promise to post saying I'm alive and, 2. I have a list of stories I have missed blogging about over the past couple of weeks.

Summer School

When I was home in March I had tile laid in my basement and had a quote done for the upstairs.  The cost? $4900.  

This summer I want to go to Germany to visit the area my Great-Great-Grandfather came from.  I could afford the trip OR I could afford the new floor, not both.  So the opportunity came up to teach summer school.  The pay?  $4900

Therefore...

Now my plans are to leave here on August 7 for Germany and continue on to the US on August 16.

(No homeless person was intentionally mocked in the creation of this blog post.)

Tragedy in Pokhara

Pokhara is the most popular tourist resort in Nepal.  It is beautiful, serene and perhaps the only place I've been that makes *me* feel at peace.  Sadly, water backed up after a landslide and when it finally broke through the rush of water swept away 60+ people and many homes.

I found out about this from my friend Sanjaya - a hotel manager I met two years ago and we've kept in touch.  He was with me on my last trip when I took this picture of the river that tragically killed many two days ago:

Here's the latest news story.  It mentions that the victims of the families will receive 125,000 rupees and those who lost their homes will get 25,000 rupees.  That's $1,500 per death and $300 for a lost house.

Nepal is a spectacular country - beautiful in an almost fairy tale way.  It is also poor, poor beyond the imagination for this Iowa boy.  The people could easily be resentful of foreigners yet they are unbelievably nice.  If ever there was a country and people deserving a break it is the people of Nepal.

I'm famous!

This is from the front page of the "Youth" section of a national newspaper.  You can read the story here if you understand Arabic.  If you don't just trust me that it says "Steve is a god... he's so amazing it is beyond belief."

Maybe it doesn't quite say that but since I can't read Arabic I'm going to believe it does.

Quotes of the day

Comments that would be considered inappropriate are somewhat common here.  Partly, I think language barrier is part of it - just not using the right words.  Culture plays another role and good ole' fashioned rudeness must also play a part.

As I was going up an elevator today a woman I don't know said, "Sir, you used to be a little bit fat.  No you are not.  What happened?"

I had no response.  I am down 20 pounds so thanks for noticing but who are you?

My  barber speaks little English but since I give a 100% tip I'm pretty sure I'm his favorite client.  I never have to wait when I come in three times a week for a shave.  Clearly this has made him wonder how much I make...

Barber: Money.  How much do you get?
Me: What?
Barber:  Money.  Month (pointing to calendar). How much you take?

I should have told him it was none of his business but instead I basically cut my salary in half and told him that.  The sad reality is that he sits in his shop seven days a week from 10AM-11PM and makes less than one-tenth what I make.  Yes, he gets to sleep during the day when business is slow but imagine spending 13 hours every day at your job.  I have no problem giving a 100% tip and now that he has asked me how much I make he'll be expecting at least that much.

On the way to the airport

Gus isn't *my* dog anymore.

Dad never cared much for Duff, the pug I had while growing up.  I loved Duff because he was my only friend for several years of my life.  That said, Gus has one awesome personality.  This picture - taken with my iPhone while I was driving - captures Dad and Gus quite well.  

(Before anyone lectures me on the dangers of picture taking while driving it should be noted this was a lonely stretch of road...)

Corner room

On the trip to Vancouver a month ago I had a hotel room that was cool but it felt like I was in a fishbowl.

I'm thinking a 60" TV may be too small

I clearly have no reason to save for retirement.

Worth a minute of your day

Amazing.

The iPad

Just before I left the US a friend said he wanted me to bring back three iPads.  He had specific directions about color, 4g connectivity and memory size. I wasn't able to complete his order but I did bring back 2 iPads.  My friend was happy with his order and he said he'll make about $300 from reselling them.

I guess I should ask for a cut but that's not the way I roll; I'm happy to help a friend and if he can make a profit on the iPads then good for him. 

Flight to Abu Dhabi

For this trip I was going to eat 66,000 airline miles and fly business class. I found I could get seat 51C so I stuck with economy. What's so special about 51C? It's at the back of the plane where three rows of aisle seats become 2. It gives me the aisle (that I must have for claustrophobic reasons) and almost the room of an empty seat next to me. I can stand next to my seat for hours and not bother anyone. On my last trip I was really sick and had this seat. Sitting was not an option. I stood there and apparently looked like death warmed over because they didn't ask me to buckle up when we hit turbulence.

Anyhow, happiness is getting a good seat on an airplane.

Here's the flight if you want to track it:
http://uk.flightaware.com/live/flight/ETD150/history/20120407/0130Z/KORD/OMAA

*****
This was definitely a working vacation. I saw only a few people. On the bright side I had my basement carpet pulled up and new tile is being laid... My garage is the cleanest it has been since I moved in 9 years ago. It was also good to spend time at the farm with dad and Gus. The unexpected trip went quite well.

Kaplan in a nutshell

It's hard to explain just what it was like to work at Kaplan, but this nugget from a friend sums it up well:

"Last week I was yelled at for not attending a meeting I was not invited to."

Coming home!

It is Monday morning... I am tired of feeling sorry for myself so I am being proactive and coming home.

You can track the flight here:
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/ETD151/history/20120326/0545Z/OMAA/KORD

It is the direct from Abu Dhabi to Chicago flight that I like.  It's insanely long - 14 hours - but the good news is that is no layover in Europe to wake you up.  I plan to take ambien and sleep most of the trip away.

I am on an American Airlines flight into CR that will arrive at 10:40.  I think my roommates are picking me.  Hitchhiking at that time of night would not be fun.

Feeling sorry for myself

I have a former student/friend that I worked hard to get into the trip to Canada.  On the trip a woman jilts him and goes off the scale crazy - so crazy we had to keep him away from the conference and tried to send him home early.

This was the same guy who was supposed to be the tour guide for Ann and me in Egypt.  Long story short Ann and Mohamed went to Egypt.  I did not and I had to eat my ticket (zero refund for the package deal of airplane ticket plus hotel).

I decided to go to Paris to visit a friend.  Under a package deal I booked the flight plus six nights hotel for just under $2000 - a really good deal.  They ran my credit card and I headed off to the local bookstore to buy travel books for Paris.

A few hours later I received a call that said they couldn't confirm the hotel - or any hotel - so they had to cancel.

I wanted to go to Paris because it would be something new.  Since I've been screwed out of Egypt Paris would have been a nice consolation.

I may end up going to Nepal or I might just stay here.

*****
I have never had a friend do to me what Mohamed did to me.  He ruined the trip to Canada for several people, including me.  Egypt was something I was looking forward to for a long time.  I know he had periods of emotional instability in the past and I've had to walk him back from jumping off the crazy cliff a couple of times. While there is a likely underlying mental illness I've reached the point where I just don't care.

Fake Nike ad

I certainly mean no offense by this... but it really does capture the Type B attitude of the culture.

No joy in my world

What's worse than realizing you can't travel to Egypt because the friend you wanted as a tour guide went crazy?  It's having the friend go crazy and then be told that your package trip is non-refundable.

It's been a tough week.  I normally teach with a lot of energy but this week I had none.  It's easy to pass this off as jet lag but really the problem is a sense of betrayal.

Tonight I had friends over for fudge.  I bought a ridiculous amount of fudge when I was in Canada and tonight I shared it.  Of the group here about a half-dozen have been to Egypt before and they all said, "Go.  You can hire guides from the hotels.  Just go."

So I guess I will.

The future is hard to know in advance

Pretty much nothing on the trip to Canada went according to plan.  In the end I lost a close friend because he decided that getting revenge on another person was more valuable than our friendship.  That has made me incredibly sad.  This is the same person I was going to Egypt with next week.  Now my Egypt plans are cancelled and I will most likely be returning to Nepal.

I am completely gobsmacked at the series of events of the past week.  My former close friend is on a warpath that - if he continues - could destroy several people's lives, including me.  Anyone can say something nasty in the heat of the moment but what's playing out here over days is cold and calculating.  I could have never predicted things could get this bad and I have no idea how much worse they will get.

Even if the matter dies here I mourn the loss of a good friend.  Given his actions - and the lack of remorse for how much pain he's caused - I have to step away.

Sad. Sad. Sad.

Return to the Emirates

Vancouver to Frankfurt:

http://uk.flightaware.com/live/flight/DLH493/history/20120316/2320Z/CYVR/EDDF

Frankfurt to Dubai:


Hmm... Flight aware stopped working. It is flight 630 on Lufthansa from Frankfurt to Dubai.

Quote of the day

As we passed by some guys fixing an escalator one my students said, "That's the first time I've ever seen a white man working."