occupy

so without trying too hard I have been really busy. like not enough time in the day sort of busy. I am also a huge procrastinator and am not so much into the whole need for things. So with all of these forces at work I have gotten little done with regards to the house i bought. it is fine. like livable and I have had people over, friends, family, coworkers , randoms, others but it is by no means finished. i can actually list every single item in my house. a friend was talking about how much shit she has and her need to get rid of some crap and i mentioned that i could name everything including the # of pairs of socks that I have. they thought i was joking. I went through each room and listed off the items and they still thought i was joking. who after all has a bedroom with a bed, small nightstand, sheet set, and one pillow? I do. no comforter, no dresser, no mirrors, nothing else. Well long story short this coworker ended up at my home a few weeks later to pick me up to go out to a party and asked to come inside. I was unsure why but ... she comes in and looks around and looks at me and just sort of goes blank. I asked what was the matter and she says,"you werent kidding." and i was not. other than that i have a new bank account. MF bank. seriously mother fucking bank. ok really Mechanics and Farmers bank but still MF bank. How is the world not MFbanking? 1/4 done with this school year. time flies. will try yo keep up the posts a bit more.

help

somebody. So I had a strange experience with a woman in need. I was biking from my house back to the downtown and I was in a bit of a rush as I was trying to meet some friends for a concert and they were holding a spot for me on the lawn and as it was a free concert holding prime spots can be difficult. I was making a sharp turn onto the ATT and a elderly woman in an electric wheelchair was sitting still with her cell phone out. I looked at her and she pleaded "can you help me?" I stopped and asked what she needed. She had run out of power in not just her wheelchair but her cell also. She lived,"just at the corner" and could I ,"push her to her house" I am if nothing else a good person at heart so I locked my bike and pushed her to the corner. When we got there she informed me that now she could ,"see her house." It was another half a mile distant. It was about a thousand degrees out and I was already late but I couldnt just abandon her though there were more people around at that point so I pushed on and after much sweating and lamenting my kind nature i finally arrived at her home. I swear the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I finally got back to my bike and found 3 hoodlums standing around it looking at the lock and cable. I gave them a hard time and biked into town in time to catch the last of the concert but not in time to get a seat. Eventually I met up with the folks I was going to meet and had a beer, so in the end no harm no foul. But really who goes almost a mile away on an electric wheelchair that may or may not make it back and further why didnt she have a charged cellphone. To rely on the kindness of others is a bad policy, I dont know if I would do it again. Then again I would because many people have helped me when I was in a bind and I feel like somehow I can work it off. Its a hard life working off all the good that has happened to me. I should be thankful to be so in debt.

wild

The last few days have seen a bunch of wildlife in and around my home. Three sightings in particular. First, deer. That is correct there were deer near my home. I was biking on the ATT (American Tobacco Trail) and as I sped along I heard a rustling on the right side of the trail. I looked over and a Deer ran across the trail just in front of me, it was amazing until the second deer ran out following the first deer nearly colliding with me on the trail. I braked hard and swerved to miss the second one almost going off the trail, good times. The second animal was a snake in my house. IN my house. I was in the back room with the door open doing some work in and out of the house and when I can in and shut the door there was a snake, beautiful green little guy, about 18 inches long. It slithered out the back and onto the porch I followed and shooed it off the porch and into the yard where it slithered to the trees. I havent seen it since. I am not such a huge fan of snakes but this one didnt get all pissey when it had to go so I didnt mind it. finally a huge ant fight. Ant war really. There was a small hole in the deck which I had taken little notice of until today when I went out back for my coffee. I stepped onto the porch and looked down and it was covered with red ants. They were scurrying and biting each other and generally in a state of agitation. I quickly moved off the porh and into the yard for a better view of the action. Seems that ant team A lives in the yard. Team B in the hole on the porch. I guess team B did or said something to piss of team B because team B was attacking. They were up on the porch going into the hole and carrying out larva, and then returning to the yard. Team A was being slaughtered. Dead ants abound. I watched for a good 30 minutes as the battle raged. I wonder what happens to those captured larva? Are they eaten, raised as members of the victorious team? How did the ants decide that today was the day to fight? Was there planning did they have a meeting? Later when I went out back it was as if nothing had happened. All the bodies have been taken away, the hole on the porch is quite as always and the ants in the yard are again just milling around a few at a time. Just a strange thing to witness. I was going to get some insecticide to put around the porch to kill them but now I feel bad about it. They have a society that executes advanced maneuvers they took captives, they arent there to piss me off they are just there. If they dont come inside I think I will let them stay put. No harm no foul.

As an aside my matress arrived as did the couch and loveseat, and the house is coming along. The ivy has subsided and I have a bicycle. Life is good.

since i rocked and rolled

its been a long time...
lots has happened. I made it back to the US. I saw almost all of my family. I caught a bunch of fish. i ate way too much good food. and i moved. so now i am in my new house in durham. it isnt actually new just new to me. its a good place with friendly neighbors, close to the things i need and seems like it will be ok to be here for a little while. Things were looking real rosy when I was offered a job as a teacher however that went south with some administrative crap. Long story short i am still unemployed. also it is sweltering here in durham. like 100 daily and humid. this wouldnt be so bad but i have no ac right now as the house is old and the ac needs to be replaced. it is an investment so for now a box fan and sweat are all i got. also the back deck had no railing and the home insurance told me i had to get one if i wanted to keep insured so i spent some time building that. there are lots of things to do before i am ready to say i have settles in comfortably. I have no bed, i sleep on the floor. I have mo furniture so i cant sit except on the floor. I do though have an amazing case of poison ivy. it is horrifying. weeping blister on my legs, arms, torso, hands..truly uncomfortable. i took some medicine that should have helped but i just keep getting new spots of fresh ivy every day. the old spots dont heal they just turn bright red and swollen and then new blisters appear. on a plus side i learned how to install floors, bathroom vanity, toilets, and a few other things. I have another doctors appointment on tuesday to see what else can be done. probably nothing. but i will hope for the best. the itching is insane. it is like each separate area is connected to every other area. if i bump one against a door or brush against a wall all of the areas cry out to be scratched. its like they are alive and addicted to it so my whole body is constantly screaming to be itched and it never gets better. Needless to say sleeping is tough, hot, itchy, on the floor. Welcome to my new life. I will try to get pictures up soon. No promises.

excited

I was so excited throughout the night that I didn't sleep. At all. I get into a taxi in 45 minutes to head off. Happy, happy ,joy,joy.

hours

not that i am excited but i have just 7 hours until a cab gets me to take me to the airport. i have packed and I am just waiting for the time to pass. no sleep for me tonight. I am ready to go and cant wait to get out of here. It has been a long hard slog to make it this far. But in just a few short hours I will have completed another of the challenges that i set for myself. I deserve a beer for this one.

pissed

a valuable lesson for the day. seems like every time i try not to learn i do. so this morning one of the guys that lives in the same building as me left for the UK. He got off on time and had no problems. When I got back from lunch the front desk asked where he was. I told them and they freaked out. They said he owed one months rent. Now this guy arrived the day before i did and has paid at the same time as me for the last 7 months. I knew he didn't but i wasn't going to start something as he was gone. Then they told me I also owed a months rent. That was preposterous. I had them print a receipt to show me what was paid and when. They didn't have when I arrived nor the second month but insisted I owed them. I have been keeping my receipts and went and found them. I showed them the receipts and they still insisted that I owed. I had to call one of the administrators from the school who spoke arabic to help. This after I had produced more adequate records then they had. I just cant believe that people are so crap. Instead of looking through old ledgers which had the receipts in them or looking at the computer records and seeing that there was something odd about a month where there was no revenue reported they accused me and this other guy of trying to skip out on the money. After they finally accepted that the receipts I had were proof enough they asked me if they could make a copy in order to have records. So I learned that people suck.(Well I knew that already but it was reinforced) And I learned that keeping receipts is well worth the minute it takes to slip them into a folder. Keep your receipts they could be your ticket out of a shithole.

exit stage right

I received my final exit visa today which means i am actually allowed to leave the country. I have never been in a country where workers are forbidden from leaving without the permission of the employer. It is kind of scary actually. What if they had decided that I hadn't completed my contractual obligations? I would not be allowed out. I am sure that this happens to many of the laborers. They get here and have their passports taken they work 12-14 hours a day and sleep stuffed 10+ to a room earn barely enough to live and when they finally have had enough and try to go home their employer refuses to grant an exit visa. No exit visa, no getting out of the country. But of course slavery doesn't happen anymore. That ended a long time ago. Unless your a domestic worker or a laborer here in the kingdom. Glad to be able to go without much hassle. Looking forward to the long flights full of booze. And the sand and the water at the beach.

travels

so i finally get to go outside of the city of Riyadh. I will be taking a plane to Medina(second holy city of Islam no infidels allowed) then going up to madain saleh. I am really excited about it. From what I have read it is supposed to be remarkable, and as KSA only issues 1000 tourist visas per year it is virtually without tourists. I have also learned that aside from working here or going on the pilgrimage to Mecca(first holy city also off limits to non Muslims) it is almost impossible to get into this country. Not that many people would want to come. I will of course take some pictures and get them up. My flight leaves at 5 in the morning so it is going to be a long one. Coffee and the joy of travel will get me through. Mostly the coffee i think.

party

Went to an embassy function last night and had a bit much too drink, but I showed restraint and did not jump in the pool with the rest of the crew I was with. They were escorted from the premises and banned from all future events. I had a gin and tonic. I think if the bar had been closed I would have jumped, but as the sweet siren song of alcohol was still calling I decided to stay. A good time all around, I am looking forward to getting back to the USA. This is without a doubt the worst country I have ever lived in. There are no redeeming qualities. I shall not be returning no matter how much they offer in salary.