Back to My World

I just finished my second posting for the year.. that's 2 down, 2 to go.. i spent all night tonight finishing up the rest of my reports from the previous one, and organizing my schedule for the upcoming one..
Pray that my grades come out good..
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I decided that my SamPooL needs a helper!
For those of you who don't know who SamPooL is, he's my Palm :) he keeps me all organized and stuff.. problem is; i'm starting to find it difficult to stay on track.. too many things, too little brain space. Add to it my MILD OCD, and you can see where i have a problem..
So what did i do? I got this old white board, cut it in half (i actually asked one of the workers/carpenters to do it for me, but that's besides the point!).. n e way, i'm using the white board now to write my schedule for the week, and my to do list, instead of using scraps of papers and post-its.. YAY.. i'm loving it..















See?
I also wanted to show u my NEW paint color!! better than that weird flower wallpaper i had! :D
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I read a referral to a hilarious article today in a blog, about how Saudi Arabia has no right to control the price of its oil, and that the US should invade the Eastern Province and control the oilwells themselves. (!!)
I must say, this is a very intelligent argument. You see, this goes along the lines of logic which allow me to confiscate my friend's entire wardrobe if i ever see her wearing shoes that don't match her outfit.. LOOOOOOOOOOOL.. some people really are amusing..
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Dear Anonymous people,
welcome to my blog! I'm glad that ur liking what ur reading enough to comment on it. However, i would like to ask you for one thing; please write a name (any name) instead of anonymous; i really have no idea if they're all the same anonymous, 2 anonymouses,..
Thanks
Sincerely
DiDi
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I've been having this craving since the morning.. why don't i go and eat it? coz i have NO IDEA what it is!! looool.. HELP!!!!!

Germs!!

From Oprah's website: http://www2.oprah.com/health/yourbody/slide/slide_yourbody_embarrassing_111.jhtml

Warning: You may find the following information to be extremely disgusting.

Scientists have found:
- bacteria on the handles of doors, the toilet and the towel dispenser of public restrooms
- drool from three different people on an airplane cushion
- saliva from three people on the inside of a bar glass
- germs usually found in feces in the back of a taxi cab
- B. strep, usually found in vaginal secretions, on a movie theater seat. They say it was probably from a woman wearing a short skirt.
- dangerous E. coli bacteria, most likely from fecal matter, on a pair of public headphones


Solution? WASH YOUR HANDS ALL THE TIME!! (i don't believe in the antibacterial gel stuff. Sure, it'sbetter than nothing, but nothing beats antibacterial soap and water!!)

Letting Go..

I’ve always had a very hard time removing things from my life..
clothes..
Shoes..
Makeup..
Books..
Old college notes..
Old school notes..
CDs of computer programs I don’t use (circa ’95)..
Pretty pens that don’t work..
Ugly pens that work but I almost never use..
Photos..
Old letters..
Emails..
Email accounts..
Memoires..
Little dust-collecting junk..
DVDs I never watch..
files on my computer..
A whole other computer..
Newspapers clippings..
Cookbooks..
Random recipes..
Old receipts..
Magazines..
Teddy bears from when I was a kid..
Extra weight..
Messenger contacts..
Relationships..
People..

I’ve been getting better.. I started with the hard part.. letting go of people who add nothing to my life.. relationships which are just there for no reason; taking much of both our times (and sometimes emotional wellbeing) and giving nothing in return..

I guess the rest will just be easier, right?..

So what do YOU have a hard time letting go of? :)

My first on-call

During this course in college, we are given the option of being “on-call” (which is a fancy way to say that you’ll have to hang out in the hospital all night long all the way into the end of your next day. Some students leave the hospital at night and come back in the morning, which is technically allowed since this is an elective to begin with!).

I decided that it would be a good idea to try it out, so I signed up for Monday, and so did one of my friends. I was so excited that two more of my friends signed up for the same day. I soooo don’t regret it! Here are the highlights of my day:
- I have what is called an “anti-toxic” effect. That is, the second I step into a clinic/ER/ward, patients stop coming! That’s good, right?
- We had food delivered from Casper’s. YUM!
- The interns are so nice! One of them gave us an “orientation” on what actually happens, with all the ways to cheat your way into a smooth oncall :D
- Saudi men have control issues. Some of them need to be burned alive. This might sound harsh, but I saw enough today to back me up for a lifetime. I might blog about it later..
- It turned out to be a smart idea to take an oncall when I didn’t “have to”. At least next time I won’t spend more than half an hour finding an decent scrub suit and reaching the operating room in time to find them closing up the lady!
- As much as I try to stick up for nurses (especially for the new generation of Saudi nurses), some of them have an inferiority complex or something. I mean, when someone asks you a question, you answer it. You don’t give an order! And btw, before you get all obsessive about “infection control” (of all people on earth, couldn’t you find someone to lecture about this other than me?), how about you lower the temperature of the room (It was at least 26 degrees in there!) and stop the infections right there??!
- It’s the first time I’m at the hospital at such a late hour. It’s a strange feeling when ypu’re at a familiar place that has none of the familiar activities in it. It’s EMPTY. I had half a mind to walk around in fluffy shoes or something (maybe next time? )
- scrubs are officially jammies!! i even called being on-call a pajama party! which reminds me..
- who on earth designed those weird scrubs?? they're made for really short people, or people with really big asses!! i either get the small, which fits decently around my hips (not anywhere close to tight) and have the legs barely reach my mid calfs, or get the large, which barely reaches my ankles and have the crotch of the pants start somewhere around my knees!!
- I officially get high if I skip my nap and have coffee instead. Cute/ funny people make this even worse.
- We stayed up till after 2.30 am talking and laughing till the point of having tears roll down my face. That felt good.
- It’s funny how when you’re happy and excited, sharing a little tiny room with 2 tiny beds with 3 other people and having to wake up at 6-something a.m. sounds like a great idea.
- After hours, all the barriers come down. Everyone becomes so friendly. Or is it me?

Also, here is a list of things that a person MUST have when they’re on-call.. I learned about most of them the hard way (It might sound “obvious” that you have to get all these, but trust me, sometimes u just plain forget!)
- towel
- clean underwear
- shower gel and deodorant (Especially if in the summer, you’re in the operating room or delivering someone)
- body lotion
- facial wash
- makeup
- toothbrush and toothpaste
- Casper’s menu (other menus also help!)
- A book to read / study from
- A laptop?
- A complete change of clothes?
- A group game (uno, playing cards, 6awla,…) ß unofficial!!

That’s all I can remember for now..

P.S. Thanks Jewelz! :D

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Monday: i was on-call.. i had only one meal instead of lunch AND dinner.. no gym -obviously- but i think the running around in corridors and laughing is good
Tuesday: i was dead tired.. so no gym, and only one meal instead of lunch and dinner
wedensday: i went to the gym in the morning.. had lunch at 12.30 pm, then at 4 i had a couple of slices of pizza and some juice (ok, this counts as a meal!).. i had dinner at 4 AM and a hell of a lot of chocolate.. shit!
thursday: beach then lunch at 7 pm, then a mini dinner at 10 pm WITH CAKE
friday: beach, light lunch (but with french fries), so dinner was bran cornflake and low fat milk..

i tried on the dress.. well.. i look good, but i'm not really allowed to breathe.. MUST WORK OUT HARD

Unconventional Beauty

There are a couple of male singers whose voices i find extremly beautiful and touching.. however, they're not exactly the same people who pop into ur head when people say "beautiful voice" (or maybe they are; i just haven't met them yet!)

Guess who they are?
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Any ideas yet??
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They are (in no particular order)
1. George Michael (the fact that he's HOT makes it even better; it really soothes me)
2. Babyface (Where is he now?)
3. Massari (beautiful voice; really lame songs!)

How about u?

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Update about my "plan":
today i went to the gym, my wholoe body was aching from yesterday, but is still did what i had to do ;) I had no snacks today, but my pitfall was that i had dinner late and had some dessert afterwards.. so i guess on my "Free" day no more dessert.. we'll see.. i feel better already (i know it's almost impossible that i've already "lost weight".. but i feel good.. tananana ..

Fed Up

Ok.. this is it.. i'm fed up!!

I am gaining weight like there's no tomorrow..

I think I look fat..

notice the use of the word "I"

most people tell me that i'm just imagining things or whatever but i'm pretty sure they're just saying this to make me feel better..

thanks u guys but i'm not the kind of person who gets upset when told that they're fat (except when my own mother does it 15 times every day, but that's a different issue)

However, i hate people who complain to no point

I have a point

I WILL lose weight (inshallah)

I have a plan

my deadline is december 26

and my "check up" day is december 22 (Friday). If at that date i'm not losing weight then i'm crash dieting or whatever it is that people do (you can see that i'm not really used to crash dieting or whatever)..

so starting today (and for at least the next 10 days) this will be my diet and exercise diary
feel free to join me, encourage me, give me advice or just pray for me :)

the rough plan is the following:
- exercise 5 times every week, doing at least 30 minutes of cardio and at least 100 situps
- eat healthy food and stay away from junk; i'm only allowed to "break" the diet on 2 meals from now till then. first time is whenever, 2nd time is on dec 26.
- drink coffee before going ot the gym
- no food after 9.30. If i get really hungry, low fat milk or yoghurt is okay.
- PMS is NOT an excuse to eat like a cow (at least for now)

so here you go:
today: i had an omlette, an apple and coffee with lowfat milk for breakfast. i had hot chocolate and Fitness cereal with wole fat milk for a snack (i hadn't decided that i want to start the "plan" so they don't count!!). For lunch i had a little bit of macaroni with cheese, and salad with white cheese. for dinner AT 9.30 i had some grilled chicken (want the recipe?) with salad and a spoonful of macaroni and cheese.

i also went to the gym and started to work out quite hard. after my cardio i felt lightheaded and found my blood pressure to be quite low (it's always low, but this was even lower). AAh.. yalla inshallah tomorrow i'll compensate for the time i spent trying to get better.

Bubye for now!

Wearing Artificial Nails and Nail Polish in the Healthcare Setting

This has been somewhat of a controversial point, either among colleagues or between the administration and the employees. However, in our hospital, it's frowned upon to do anything that makes u pretty (including your nails), but they usually blame it on their concerns on hygiene.

Well, i read a very interesting article yesterday which clearly sheds the light on such a matter.. here is what i learned (all of the following info are supporte by actual data). Even if you don't work in a hospital, you'll know what 's clean and what's not!!

- fungal growth occurs more frequently under artificial nails, and the number of microorganisms (bacteria and such) is still higher than natural nails both before and after washing.
- Freshly applied nail polish does not increase the number of bacteria recovered from under the nails. however, there is concern that individuals with fresh manicures may be hesitant to perform rigorous hand hygiene in an effort to protect their nails.
- chipped nail polish may support the growth of larger numbers of organisms on fingernails, even after careful hand washing.
- effect of length of natural or artificial nails on infection risk is also unknown, because the majority of bacterial growth occurs along the proximal 1 mm of the nail adjacent to subungual skin (skin under the nail) --> all nails longer than 1 mm carry almost the same risk!!

so the recommendations are:

- wearing of artificial nails should be avoided and is "strongly recommended for implementation and strongly supported by well-designed experimental, clinical or epidemiological studies". It's required for those individuals providing care to patients at high risk of acquiring infections, such as in intensive care units, transplant units, or operating rooms.
- natural nails be less than a quarter inch long when caring for patients at high risk of acquiring an infection. (some associations require it, others just recommend it)
- If nail polish is worn, it should not be worn for more than 4 days. At the end of 4 days, nail polish should be removed and freshly reapplied.

What i totally loved is the following recommendation:
"Individuals who choose to wear nail polish should be guided by their surgical conscience, which requires a combination of clinical experience, judgment, critical thinking, and the ability to question a practice when one believes it is not the right thing to do."

I mean, how great is it to ask a person to think and do the right thing?.. quite refreshing in a world of "do this, do that"..

Part 2: the Wedding

Let me make one thing clear, I do not mind ANYTHING that people do, coz it’s their business and everyone should do what makes them happy. However, I am amused at people doing things for NO REASON. And in every single wedding!!
Why do things have to be soooo complicated?

Why is it that the poor bride “has” to be ready since 9’ish only to be “wed” at 2 am?..

Why do brides put on so much make up and shimmer and body makeup and fake hair and fake lashes and fake nails, when they actually look just as good (if not better) without all this?

Why do they have a thousand million roses and flowers and plants everywhere? (all this and I’m not even allergic.. imagine if I were!)

Why do the bride and the groom stand on a balcony and wave down to the tiny people down?

Why do they throw out the flowers to those same “little” people?

Why do they give each others rings in front of everyone?

Why do they dance together on that balcony (while the little people are waiting)?

Why do they go down the stairs from the balcony soooooo slowly? (little people still waiting)

(it’s obvious that the balcony specifically annoys me)

Why do they have a million songs right after each other?.. why don’t they just decide on one or two and actually enjoy them?

Why do they drink juice from the same glass and actually pose for pictures during it? What does sharing juice mean?

Why do they cut the cake together?

Why do they feed each other cake? Are they trying to make sure that they just married someone who shares food?

Why does the groom’s family make the bride take off her jewelry and make the groom dress her in his “gift” in front of all these people? (is it me or is taking very expensive jewelry in public not fun/safe?)

Why does the groom hang out for a million years in the wedding knowing that all the women there (other than his immediate relatives and wife) are quite uncomfortable?

Why are the women uncomfortable that the groom is hanging out at his own wedding and just want him to leave so that they can act naturally again?

Why does the singer choose such sad songs for people to dance on at such a happy event, and people actually do “enjoy” dancing to it? (specific song in mind: “sub7anoh”)

Why do brides put such an emphasis on the wedding photographs if 90% of the pics are of her and her groom? Is she afraid to forget what he looks like? What she looks like? What the dress (that she most probably will keep forever) looks like?

Why is the music so loud? Didn’t anyone ever tell the “singers” that loud music is actually more annoying than it is an incentive to dance?

Why is there this little “runway” which they want guests to dance on? What if someone gets caught in the moment and falls off it?

Why do the singers attempt to “remix” the songs by adding a wanna-be rap/”we will rock you” beat at the beginning?

Why do they serve dinner at 3 am? Is it normal to have dinner at 3 am? Breakfast maybe?

And the final question:
If weddings last for soooooo long (they roughly finish at 5 or 6 am), when do the bride and groom get to sit together and actually celebrate that they got married??

Hair Problems, Part 1: the ritual of getting ready

I’m sitting here at 5 am trying to undo all the tangles in my hair, and trying to make it less spray-stiffened.. and trying to make sense of today..
And of all Saudi weddings..

I don’t get it..

Yes, I am culturally challenged..

Or is it the “culture” that is “logic-challenged”?

Let’s start with the ritual of getting ready:
most women need anywhere from 1 to 4 hours and spend a lot of money in the process, and quite a percentage on temporary “washable” stuff, i.e. hair and makeup among other things. The entire process is usually a wonderful stress initiator and is quite a precipitant for headaches and migraines..
I for one avoid most of this by doing my hair and makeup at home, and it’s been working out quite well for the past few years..

However, since today is my friend’s wedding.. I decided to try something “new”.. I will have my hair “professionally done” at a hair salon.. with and updo and all!!

I discovered a hell of a lot in the process..

Apparently, women know what they want to have done to them ahead of time, and get with them little bags filled with “things” that they’ll use when having their hair done, such as little puffy bags full of hair used as a filling (!), hair extensions that are dyed and treated the same way as the lady’s hairs, and an assortment of ribbons, hair clips, and maybe even a box of glitter.

Poor me had to think for ages about the style I wanted to have done, and since it was puffy and stuff the hairdresser asked me if I got a “filling” with me (am i supposed to walk around with one of those?), and was actually surprised when I said no.. hmm..

Anyhow, I ended up with really nice hair (ofcourse you have to be on guard to avoid any sudden surprises, such as a bright red colored braid in the middle of your elegant bombe hair)

AAAAAAh.. at last I’m done.. yay!

Part 2: the actual wedding (soon) :)

I must confess..

Yes..

I am an adult..

Yes..

I'm a semi-doctor...

But i still love it..

You might find it wierd..

Maybe a alittle too neat/OCD/freaky..

But i LOVE to "ajallid" all my books.. (ajallid= cover with sticky plastic cover)

Thye just look and feel so pretty..

and they don't wear out..

and they're protected form coffee spills..

Now you know..

Random Thoughts!

I know i've been away for such a along time, and for that i am really sorry.. At first, i was too busy studying for my exam (which went great by the way; thanks for everyone who supported me and prayed for me).. Since then, I've been too busy "blowing off steam" to even blog.. more like lazy :P lol

Well, here are some thoughts from the past couple of weeks that I'd like to share with you :) (i really miss blogging!)

- Even though I'm so glad to finish my first rotation (that's 1 down, 3 to go) coz it was quite tough (the second toughest for this year), i must admit; i miss it! i miss the cute residents, and the ORAGNIZED department. I am very much guilty of passing by every once in a while (I am now just across the hall, so it's tempting!).

- i am LOVING my new rotation! The big dude and dudette are understanding, and the load is so light.. mwaaaaah! They even gave us 3 days off to attend a conference on a different subject, which reminds me...

- i love CONFERENCES! (especially ones in fancy hotels!).. I get to go whenever i want, leave whenever i want, attend any of the lectures that are running all at the same time.. add to it drinks and snacks all day long, plus a good lunch.. and the ability to leave to go to the beach anytime!! :P However, i was very much disappointed in the attitude of the WOMEN attending.. i mean, really, aren't they supposed to be doctors or something?? I'm sorry to say this, but looking and behaving like a bunch of gypsies doesn't really reflect professionalism.. i'm not being mean, but when ur attending a huge international conference, it's a good idea to dress nicely, come with a positive attitude, and STAND IN LINE and NOT YELL. oh yeah, and SHOWER. did i mention that you're not supposed to bring your CHILDREN to such events??..
(just to clarify, not ALL of them were like that; quite a few actually make u proud to be a Saudi woman; the elegance, the class, the knowledge, and above all, actually bothering to make small talk with their students! lol)

- My parents are away for almost 10 days.. WOO HOO!
أمي مسافرة وبعمل حفلة بس يا ريت ماتجيش على غفلة
the perfect opportunity to relax :D

- i do NOT like Benihana anymore.. :/

hmmm... i guess that's all for now...

Nighty night..

oh yeah, i forgot something really important..

I STARTED GOING TO THE GYM AGAIN...

YAAAAAY...

ME NO FAT NO MORE..

Exam coming up..

My exam is coming up...

No more sleep for me..

I think I'll be needing this..


AAAh..

Wouldn't it be a wonderful world? :)

Pray for me :)

What a difference a chair makes...

For the past five years, i've had this gray fabric desk chair, which i borrowed/took from my dad.. It had wheels and would rotate and have different heights.. It was good.. your basic office chair..

This poor chair has tolerated my ass (and my ass has tolerated that chair) for the past 5 years, on the goods days and th bad days.. I'd sit on it while i studied, while i worked on the computer, and sometimes i'd even stand on it (3 am-studying syndrome).. we're talking somewhere around 5 hours each day.. and it still survived..

Sometimes i'd think about replacing it, but then i'd push it to the back of my mind and forget about it.. i mean, if it's not broken, why fix it? (or in this case, replace it?)

But last month, I fell in love..

I went to Ikea, and saw this chair i liked, it's gorgeous; high back, curved, black leather.. and it costs 1,000+. No way i can afford that (if it were a pair of shoes, it would've been different, but whatever :P ).. AAAAAh

Last week, i decided to just go ahead with it; mu butt deserves such a gorgeous chair.. I went and bought it, plus a cute little plastic carpet thing that goes under it..

I'm still in love..

And it's worth every halala..

Moral of the Story: If you spend a lot of time on a desk/computer, you should NEVER skimp on a chair. Your butt deserves a good expensive chair, so get one. It feels soooo good!

And here is my new love..




Isn't it gorgeous?? :D

Food and Colors

I read an interesting article today, and here's what i learnt from it.. I'll keep my comments till the end though :)

(You can find the original article at: http://colormatters.com/news_fall_06/focus.html )


- color is a powerful psychological component of visual experiences. The visual cues of color can convince us that a product performs in a specific way and that it's fresh

- Margarine is dyed yellow to make it resemble butter. But in Quebec the law requires that margarine be white (its natural color).

- Since the pink color of meat indicats freshness, the meat industry has started spiking fresh meat with small (and harmless) amounts of carbon monoxide, which helps the meat retain a pink, "fresh" color for weeks. Consumer groups in the U.S. are protesting because the treatment could keep meat looking fresh beyond when it actually is – and this could lead to the consumption of spoiled meat. Also, there's the issue of labeling this meat as being treated with color.

- a similar deal with salmon, since wild salmon is vivid pink and farm raised salmon is gray. salmon farmers can feed farmed fish the chemicals canthaxanthin and astaxanthin. Some say the additives are safe; others disagree.

- the glowing pinks, reds and purples of port wine cheese, cherries, pink grapefruit juice and strawberry milk-shakes may be the result of carmine (an additive that may cause allergic reactions) or cochineal (crushed beetle juice). The Food and Drug Administration (US.) is considering a regulation that requires a label disclosing that the product contains an additive made out of bugs.

- there are new colors and pigments used to coat medications producing sparkly metallic, satiny and shimmery finishes by coating the mineral mica with either titanium dioxide or iron oxide, or both. The agency claims, "There is no toxic potential when ingested at levels estimated by the agency." They also want to use these colors in food now!
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If this is happening in "the West", what are we (3rd world residents) facing?.. a lot more i guess :)

and then we wonder why people's health is getting worse; the cancers, the abortions, ...

On second thought, would u stop drinking your strawberry milkshake if u knew there are crushed beetles in it?.. hmm.. as someone i know used to say.. "eish feeha?.. protein" :P

Around the World II

Dear Sailom Lailom

Dear Roonzz

I'm sorry I've been so busy i don't even have time to blog
I wil do so ASAP

Dear other bloggers

I'll explain later :D

Blogger Privacy Survey

I got an email from a lady doing her PhD, and she's conducting a research about bloggers' views and expectations about privacy and stuff, and she needs people to answer a questionannaire. it's interesting and not that long! :)

http://www.ccsr.ac.uk/privacysurvey/

Enjoy :)

Around the World

The day has come..

Ever since our senior year in highschool (which feels like a million years ago), my girlfriends and i used to say that we should set a reunion date, so that no matter how far we are from each other, we'll still get to meet up at least once a year, all of us, just like the "old days"..

We all had big dreams.. We ended up staying in the same country, even the same city for 4 more years.. I/We used to think it's a huge disappointment that we couldn't just travel and fulfill our dreams, I guess we were too young and excited to realize that the day will come when we will carry out our dreams.. Now that i look back, I thank God for those beautiful times i spent with my friends..

Last year, Sunshine left to Canada, for an entire year.. It was very strange getting used to not having her around.. Then she graduated, and between that and moving to Riyo for her job, she managed to squeeze in a week of semi-vacation in Prague where I had a great time. And now, she's in Riyo..

Another close friend was supposed to go to London to do her masters around 9 months ago, but for various reasons she kept postponing it.. she's leaving on ..

A third friend is leaving to Vienna for her masters also..

A fourth is leaving for Canada next year..

There go all my close friends.. I wish them all the luck in the world, and I'll truly miss them :)

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Sometimes i think i'm too attached to my friends, probably because i have no sisters or cousins my age that i'm close to.. maybe emotionally? I don't know.. It's just that I give a lot, and expect the same in return.. I worry about what will happen when they leave; will we still be friends? this close? even with all of life's everyday stress and being busy with a "new" life? I don't know..

But now I believe in something

If you love someone, set them free,
If they come back, It was meant to be..

I love you girls..

This was deep.. wow

Customer Service

P.S. I wrote this post 3 days ago at that same beach, and due to their HORRIBLE (and not even free) internet service I couldn't connect at all using my laptop.. I was pissed so it might be long :) Enjoy (?)

Customer service is a an art long forgotten in the land of Saudi Arabia..

For some reason, people in this country do NOT understand the concept behind customer service..

They think customer service is how nice you are to your customer who also happens to be your relative, friend, or billionaire/hotshot/celebrity

In other words; “mojamala”

It’s that you treat the customer nicely IRRELEVANT to whether he’s a relative, friend, or billionaire/hotshot/celebrity. Even if he’s a poor person whom you don’t know, you treat him nicely.

It’s not about ethics, or being nice, or any of that stuff; it’s pure business

For some reason, people tend to look to who or what their customer is at that specific moment, and how successful they are at that specific time. Like there’s no tomorrow. Literally. They will not improve their services, seek out more customer satisfaction, or care about word of mouth if their business is doing good right now. They tend to forget that there’s a tomorrow. A tomorrow when a better company (which avoided the first one’s pitfalls) will arise or a dissatisfied customer will stop referring people to them. That tomorrow is a little too late.

Why am I talking about business? Here’s what happened (one of a million stories that happen to me; I don’t know if I tend to look out for myself too much (or nag :P ) or I’m just plain unlucky):

At this beach we’re renting out, there’s a “gym”; a dungeon-like place underground. Since exercising is a very important part of my life, it’s something i take seriously. I’m not complaining about the few essentials that are missing (Free dumbbells for example) or the carpet that lines the floor (no comment) or even the fact that the stationary bicycles don’t have the little foot straps (coz according to the guy; that’s a new model (!!)). I’m complaining about the HEAT. Have you ever been to a gym that’s HOT? How about that? Isn’t that just a bit too excessive? A couple of months ago, I was exercising hard (coz of the deal), so obviously, when you exercise hard, your body heats up. It was so hot to the extent that I had to dunk my entire head under an open faucet of freezing water, twice. When I complained about it that to the trainer, he started giving lame excuses; he stopped after I told him that this is my routine exercise and that I’m not a gym-virgin. I’ve been going to gyms for ages now. When I asked him what the temperature was he said 22. twenty-two?? R u serious?? I SLEEP in 18.. I live in 22!! Their excuse was that this is the optimum gym temperature and that I am just exaggerating!! Being a person who wouldn’t let something like that go, I asked around; the optimum temperature for a gym is around 20, and even lower when it’s underground. When I told them that they said they’ll look into it.
Today I went to then gym again, and this time it was HOT and stuffy. Even before I started exercising. I couldn’t WALK for more than 12 minutes. I could barely do a few situps and pushups coz of how hot it was. And I talked to them again, and even though they were nice and tried to explain their position, they said that it was the normal gym temperature before but “members” were complaining that it was too cold (how could it be too cold when you’re actually working out, it’s beyond me!). obviously neither the employess nor the members have heard of a simple invention called “jackets”. You know, the solution to being cold. The problem is, no one had a LOGICAL answer for me. The second I ask them what SHOULD I do, they start talking about how other members want blablabla. You see, they were nice, but not very logical. I asked to speak to the manager, whom I hoped had a little bit more common sense. Was i wrong. He was a rude, arrogant and bad-mannered. (the 3 pillars of good customer service). When I told him that I was upset, he got agitated and said “why are you upset on my employees? you have no right to do that to my employees” (I think he doesn’t know the difference between upset and angry; no one forced him to speak a language he doesn’t understand, we both speak Arabic, but this is an attitude called “yitlabbash” or t2abba6a sharran تأبط شرا as my mom calls it). Then, he raised his voice saying that he doesn’t want to discuss this in public and that we should either go to the gym or to his office. I looked at him and said “you could’ve said that earlier if u wanted”. He said “ok then go to my office” with this raised tone that I found utterly inappropriate, so I told him that I don’t accept such a tone and behavior, and left him standing with his “employees”.

Now he lost a customer over something as DUMB as this, and he put himself in a horrible position. If the manager of a place treats you this way, then you pretty much know that it’s going down the drain. No improvement, no good word of mouth.

P.S. I think the reason he was acting like that was coz he thought I was a dumb 16 year old whom he could treat this way. Was he mistaken. Had he known the truth, he wouldn’t have dared to do so to a “smart 20-something year old”. Especially if she’s daddy’s little girl :P

Happy Eid!

Today was the last day of Ramadan..

It went by so fast..

I will miss it..

Happy Eid everyone!

what will you do for Eid? :D

Watch out from the Cola, girls!

The results of a prolonged study on 2,500+ people (50+ men and women) to show the relation between Cola consumption and bone mineral density (BMD) (the stuff that if it decreases would cause osteoporosis "هشاشة العظام") were released this week, here is what they found:

- higher degrees of cola consumption (average of 5-6 times per week) may be associated with reduced hip BMD among women. However, cola consumption did not affect BMD among men.

- Cola may reduce BMD through higher intake of caffeine, high fructose corn syrup, phosphoric acid, or some combination of these effects.

- Diet cola caused a similar effect.

- The effect was less for decaffeinated cola beverages

- non-cola carbonated beverages did NOT affect BMD.

Interesting!

My advice? For every cup of cola u have, make sure u have a glass of milk too (hopefully not at the same time, coz that would be sort of gross)

THIS IS NOT THE STUDY'S RECOMMENDATION, THIS IS DIDI'S RECOMMENDATION :)