but some spiders need to be squashed....black widows, brown recluses.....those.....they need squashing...I think they need squashing

Yes you are way wrong. I'll explain better later but it is the weekend and my computer priviliges are somewhat limited. If you check back Saturday, I'll explain.

Um. Saturday IS the weekend.

How is it the weekend on Wednesday where you are?

Tell the truth, you have a Tardis in your basement!

Right?

Thursday begins the weekend. But we are not in the same time zone - are we? Tardis? I had about a gazillion of them when I wuz in school. None in the basement though.

Oh, Louse-y-man! Yer SO punny!

I KNEW I had it wrong but without getting up and going to get the book I had to leave it like that.

LOL, that's twice now Kimbo, first time was the "commando/camo" debacle. I still blush when I think of that.

ROTFLMAOPIMP!

Baby, we loves you the way you are!

Now Kimmy - dem spiders need squishing!

So how big is that bookstore anyway that you couldn't get out of that leather armchair to look for the tome?

I thought I was lazy!

On a seperate note, if I live in Iowa, do I sell the house and move because the STATE supports gay marriage? If I don't move, am I a bad person?

Just to be clear, my KJV says "reprobate". [ I did have to look up reprobate in the dictionary BTW].

It's a bad thing.

Okay I have a few minutes. I don't live in a compound. I live in a small city of 7,000 homes. The "camp" has a 14.5 KM circumference (I've run it so I know). Officially we only have 14% Saudis on camp but the unofficial number is much higher. In addition to that, all expats live here with the majority being AOA (asian other arab). In the entire company, we are only 1,554 Western expats (less than 3%). The majority of my neighbors are muslim. We get vandalized if we put up xmas lights. It is illegal to buy roses on Valentine's day (or anything even remotely red, for that matter). OTOH, there is no problem getting a sat dish if I want porn TV. Go figure. There is a mosque 200 ft. from my house. In the summer, I don't need an alarm clock - at least if I want to get up at 4:10AM. In the winter I get to sleep in to about 5:00 because the days are shorter.

There are no "American" compounds here that I am aware of except for maybe one that the (US) military controls. The locals can live anywhere they want to.

Yes, I was very wrong. I imagined it a lot differently. So your neighbors are religious muslims and you have head scarves or whatever they are called there all around you? I somehow got the impression that you were living in a more westernized area...do most of the people who work for your company live in your 'city'?

Didn't you say that some people you know make their own alcohol/wine/beer? I recall you saying that they would be in deep trouble if caught.

I've never been to the middle east but from photos of your yard etc. you posted a long while ago I don't recall it looking that different than places in the states. I guess I may be wrong again.

When it was built, it was an expat only camp. When the policy changed it created friction which has progressively gotten worse. The locals don't like us being here and we, in turn, wish they lived outside. Many choose to live here because of the freedoms. Wives can drive (no license of course which is a problem by itself), men can have alcohol without (much) risk, kids can live like western kids. Security policy has also changed so outsiders (friends/extended family) can come on camp to visit. They like to use our pools, gyms and generally cruise around because their idea of western culture is that we are a nudist colony. Since the women don't go around covered up head to toe, it's close enough. You would be surprised how excited a local can get just seeing some "ankle".

Fascinating. I thought you lived in an American enclave.

Are any of the locals nice to you?

Please accept my apology for being so thoughtless. I've always admired you.

Some are very nice. Others ignore us and yet others are quite rude. Many were educated in the USA or UK. Many were not. There is not much socializing. I don't think I've ever seen a local woman not completely covered.

If I remember, you were one of the first to post on my original thread. In the really low times when it seemed like many had given up on me, you were always there to throw out a lifeline. I don't know that I got as much advice from you as understanding and encouragement. But, let's face it, there is an issue and I, for one, am not afraid to talk about the white elephant in the room. You and I both know what you did and, while it didn't have anything directly to do with me, it was so totally unconscionable that I have never been able to forget it or get past it. You did the one thing that goes against everything I hold dear.






You gave away a Harley Davidson Road King. :twobyfour:

Bwhahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Oh my! Hahaha I was reading that thinking, what in the world did B do?????!!!!???

Mwahahaha. I was pleasantly surprised.

I, too, find all of this fascinating. And, it's very interesting to think that an ankle can be so seductive. Especially with what we are used to here.

Let me go through my block. Opposite side of the street: Chinese-American, Saudi-American, American-American, Pakistani-American, Egyptian-British, Jordanian-American, Pakistani-Pakistani, Canadian-Canadian, Saudi-Saudi, Pakistani-Pakistani, Saudi-Saudi, Saudi-American.

My side: Indian-Indian, me, Nigerian-Canadian, Egyptian-American, Lebanese-American, Saudi-Saudi.

Nationality first - passport second. You have no idea how many foreigners carry US passports. It makes me a little angry that they don't have to pay taxes and I do. (well - they have to but they don't). Many carry US passports who haven't been there since they were a couple of weeks old. People send their pregnant wives to the US to give birth. Automatic citizenship and passport. Some have never been at all. If the parents are citizens, the local consulate will grant citizenship to the baby.

Compare an Egyptian engineer with Egyptian passport and MIT PhD engineering degree to his twin brother with the same credentials but an American passport. The twin makes five times the salary or his Egyptian brother.

Back in 1991, I had been living in Abu Dhabi for a couple of years and, while I traveled to every country on the peninsula (except for that "I" one I can't mention because it is illegal), I never left the Middle East. Then one day I had to go to Singapore on a business trip. The Garuda flight got in about 1:30AM and I got to the hotel about 3:00AM and went to sleep. I got up about 9:00AM and went for a walk outside and, I'm not joking about this, my immediate overwhelming thought was "OMG! These women need to put on some clothes!!!". It really was culture shock because I had just gotten used to the ME.