Personality Trait Website

Now this is the third time I am typing this post as some or the other error keeps showing up after I try posting this topic. :) Here goes 3rd take,

Another interesting Personality Trait website,

http://dna.imagini.net/friends/

The website basically contains a lot of pictures with a one liner on top. The idea is to connect the one liner to the picture which is of closest resemblence of your vision to the one liner. After a series of connecting pictures to one liners, you would get a description of your personality trait. :)

Interesting :)

Dusty Days

It's the third day since Kuwait played host to the dusts storms (well not dust storms but dusty conditions). The country was basically covered with dust since the last 3 days, The cars parked by the buildings looked like they have not been driven for a year or so. As said in the radio today morning, there were 70 ( I don't think she said 17) accidents (major and minor accidents). The major accident was the one early in the morning in the Gazelle Bridge, wherein a truck rammed into another vehicle and security personnel had to cut through the truck to free the driver. Hospitals all over Kuwait are also said to be filled with people affected by the dusty conditions (Asthma and Bronchitis being the main conditions). Kuwait airways also is said to have diverted more than 7 of its flights as a result of poor visibility.

If you guys saw the last two blog pictures (i.e. the pulsar bike and the Joop perfume) you can see the extent of the dusty conditions. The Joop advertisement picture was taken day before yesterday while the bike picture was taken last week.

Coming to office today saw labourers cleaning up the streets and cutting the scenaric plants strategically located around Kuwait. Do they have to work under these dusty conditions? Its still dusty outside and whatever they do to clean it up will be undone in a matter of minutes. The effort they put in is wasted not to mention the future health risks they ignore. Someone ought to put s0me sense into employers who send them to work in these dusty conditions. Atleast if they were provided a safety mask would be good enough. I am also pretty much sure that there would be a good bunch of people who work in offices who won't show up for work today.

The dust storms should be over in a few days. The kids will begin their summer vacations (3 months, how I miss them :) ) in a few days. All preceeding the hottest three months of the year in Kuwait i.e. June July and August.

Pulsar in Kuwait

Although I saw many Indian bikes on the road, was not able to catch a pic of any of them. Few days back on heavy traffic got this pulsar in front of me driving with full confidence. :) Although I would love to have a pulsar in India, In Kuwait it would be nothing less than a suzuki Hayabousa :) yesterday while checking out the Suzuki showroom, Saw the Maruthi Swifts in India as Suzuki swifts in Kuwait and the Hayabousa bike for 4,000 KD.

Here's a pic,




Hmm Hayabousa, suddenly feeling an anfinity towards it. :) Should I or should I not?:) hehehe

Joop Perfume

Yesterday went to look out for perfumes in Mubarakiya, Perfumes over there are the cheapest around. The number of perfumes shops replaced by grocery shops were much higher than last time. Barely saw more than 4 perfume shops onthe same lane where there used to be some 20 sperfume shops. But anyway went to one and within ten minutes of deciding took a Joop perfume. If you do watch MBC channels, You would see their ad once in a while. It has kinda a soft fruity flavour to it.

That was an ad I took of a bus

Cinabon

Yesterday got cake from Cinabon,Of all the cakes I tasted inn my life, Cinabon's coffee based cake beats them all :). Here are the pics taken,

It sure tastes better than it looks :) and it sure is expensive for a piece of cake, 1.400 KD!!!

:) but its worth the pay :)

Prevent Laptop Theft

Reading through the Economic times (Indian financial Newspaper), got this interesting piece of information concerning laptops

http://www.lojackforlaptops.com

http://www.pcphonehome.com/

http://www.ztrace.com/

Using Anti-Theft Software's from the above websites, actually helps retrieve you laptop if they are stolen, success rate been more than 70% as one website said. The article went on to say that more than 7.5 million laptops were stolen last year in the United States alone. The software's costs between 20 to 50 dollars

All that said, I don't think people are like prone to losing their laptops like losing their pencils. If the same was true I guess those guys need to attend Responsibility and Safety seminars :). I guess, the software would come in handy for those people whose job profile requires them to spend most of their time traveling or for people living in dangerous locations where stealing laptops at gunpoint is a common sight.

But at the end, taking precautions and using common sense is all that is needed to prevent a laptop theft. (unless at gunpoint!! :) )

Nintendo Wii

What started out to deciding to buy the Xbox 360 is changing fast to the looks of the nintendo Wii. Will be going soon to check it out as soon as I am free and subsequently follow the rule of buying.. which is.. see it 3 different times and if you still like it buy it :)..

Wii here I come :)

Amnesty

Interesting...

The government of Kuwait as per the usual practice every year , grants amnesty for a certain period of time to those individuals in Kuwait, who have either stayed beyond their residence permit or have entered the country illegally. Well everyone in Kuwait knows a large number of individuals come to Kuwait to look for a better life. But alas, the life does not end up the way they expected and they are stuck behind the country as a result of either not been able to afford their tickets back(90% of the reasons) or have expired residence permits which would cause a problem if they would try to leave in normal circumstances.

There are many such individuals in Kuwait, half of whom were promised of a better future in comparison to their native countries and the other half just desperate for a chance in life.

The government in providing amnesty to such individuals thereby giving them chance to leave the country without been fined or persecuted is a good thing.

But there is just one problem!!!, The amnesty period comes at the time when you got all the flights in the middle of rush season with the fare been the highest for the year. People who would want to go back to their native countries are first going to face problems getting a ticket, and second not been in a position to pay for their ticket.

So would the amnesty provided fulfill its purpose?

If nothing else is done, I don't think so.

Accident!!!

Prado was hit from behind yesterday.

Fortunately it happened while I was waiting at the signal to take a U Turn. Poor guy behind must have mistakenly pressed on his accelerator and bang. At first when I felt it, I was like shits not again!!! ( I thought I banged the car in front ) Then realized that it was the guy behind who banged into me. For a minute I was like great, Not even one year since I drove the vehicle and my bad luck :). Well as expected, I get out of the vehicle to give the faulting driver a piece of my mind and watch a pale looking old man behind a kinda new Camry. He looked more like some driver for a Kuwaiti (I felt so because of the scare in his face, he looked more worried not about me but on what's gona happen to him later) anyway my heart was in no mood to fire him, Went on and checked the extent of the damage and walla not a scratch on my vehicle. Thanks to the hook behind my vehicle, the pale old man's car who banged me got damaged pretty bad and the Prado never suffered a single scratch. Seeing the kinda comical situation, I looked at the old man and shout "Hey your car is damaged"!!! Kinda funny, I was more worried for his car (after I knew nothing happened to mine of course) :)

Well the signal turned green by the time all this happened and I didn't want to prolong when my vehicle suffered no damage. and went on my way home. :)

I hope the old guy did'nt continue to have a bad day..... :)

Job Hopping :)

Every country talks about their employment problems be it a developed country like the United States or an underdeveloped economy like Africa. But in Kuwait, at least among the Indian people I know, employment is not an issue anymore. I know a lot of guys who love to challenge authority to get what they desire (working conditions and remunerations). This seems to be a good shift from the day and age where Indians were struggling to find jobs and had to struggle hard. Although the fact still remains that a number of Indians are still struggling to get jobs, it is only astonishing to find a rising number actually enjoy job hopping for better prospects :).

Can job hopping be a good thing? Well I know guys who are proud job jumpers and those boasting of not staying for more than a few months in the same company. Mind you, these are not guys who are kicked out of their jobs, but guys who have the capability to play their employers in their court. The BPO industry in India further gave rise to this trend with the industry recording one of the highest attrition rates.

Job attrition affects all levels of the business organization and is not linked to just any one job category. The level of expatriate population has increased in the past few years. But I doubt if this will sustain in the near future. The mentality and options of employees are slowly changing, better options in home countries and elsewhere pulls them out. Many of my friends left the country for better prospects. I suspect, others will be soon follow.

In general, the tide of change has begun; now employees with more options and better understanding of markets are challenging employer’s importance. Employees have reached the point where they won’t take disrespect and non -professional attitudes from employers lightly.


Times are changing :)

Dunkin Donuts

Sis just loved it

Climate Change

The Heattttttttttttttttttttttttt

Kuwait getting way too hot alreadyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!

and its not yet June :)

Game Consoles

Okay Okay....
We got the gaming console war going on, or should I say half done. The Xbox360, PS3 and the Nintendo Wii.

After spending a significant amount of my life researching about the three consoles, This is my conclusion.

Xbox360

Came almost a year before the Ps3, took over the reigning market dominance of the Sony Game console Ps2. It's got excellent visual display and with a new software just recently released, it can play out Hdmi video (High Definition Media Interface - the best video definition available in the world today) to your flat screen.

Verdict
Worth the money, for an average to less than 24/5 gamer, this should do it. It comes cheaper than the Ps3 and has a lot more game titles out as of now. The graphics are simply amazing.


Ps3

Ps3’s predecessor the Ps2 had the distinction of the largest number of video consoles produced in its days. Ps3 never did follow suit, with its late delivery. But saying that, the Ps3 is technologically more advanced than the Xbox 360, and highly expensive too.

Verdict
Came 2 late, came expensive, no real games to push to maximize the gaming consoles potential which subsequently makes it a more expensive Xbox 360 :) There are features but nothing that you would really use :), The graphics beats all the other game consoles.


Nintendo Wii

When the Xbox 360 and Ps3 were bragging of their capabilities to produce the most visualizing graphics plus the amount of power in their gaming machines. The Nintendo Wii doesn’t even come close. But that's not why I never compared it to the Xbox360 and Ps3. The Wii is a new concept altogether with a remote control that acts as a motion sensor. Whether it’s hitting the tennis ball across the court or having a sword fight with the enemy. It's the game console that's thought out of the box, which is to go one step ahead and get interactive

Verdict
Okay you don't have the most amazing graphics drooling your TV, nor do u have the fastest computer put in your Wii, nor do you have the other 10 or so features that Xbox 360 and Ps3 have. But what you do have is a game that is interactive, a game the whole family i.e. from the kids to your grandparents totally immersed in it. You would find UTube videos of guys showing how they played on Wii and lost weight!!! Gaming has never been more fun. With the prices among the other gaming console been the cheapest, It’s not a bad buy :)

International Calls

I will never finish my loans... ask me why.. I say thanx to the international telephone system in Kuwait. I meam paying 350 fils per minute for a call to India is crap. I mean even from India its cheaper to call International.

This is cause I would say no competition or proberly fixed gameplay. I would rather go for an illegal international caller. But alas, convinience is not my option nor the fact that searching for guys who are lately been hunted down by the the telecommmunications Ministry any easy.

So that's one of my loans, my mobile bills.. average is 60 Kd for a month. Rather high for a guy who used to survive with 500 rupees card in my college days :)

For me well I can manage and continue to survive somehow...I just feel sad for those who can't afford to make a call to their loved ones atleast once a month. Esp. those who left their family behind and come to make whatever merge earnings they can. Its just not fairr.

I hope the Kuwait Telecom Industry starts playing on level ground as per international standards sooner. Again ITS JUST NOT FAIR!!!

Coffee Industry

What do you think of the premium coffee that you sip at Starbucks or the likes of those premium coffee outlets (Costa Coffee, Gloria Jeans, Second Cup and Caribou among others). Do you think that the price you pay for it is worth it?

Well my personnal opinion is well, in a place like Kuwait where the summer season is like ur breakfast and lunch (dinner been winter + weird climates), Coffee Shops are a blessing and its worth the pay.

Well that been settled, what do you think of coffee growers? Do you want to be a coffee grower? Well if you have done a little research, you would never want to be a coffee grower. Majority of the coffee growers are located in Brazil, Vietnam and Columbia and are in fact one of the poorest people around. Sounds funny nah when you actually think Starbucks charge 3 dollars (whew) for a cup of coffee. But while starbucks makes 3 dollars, we got the coffee growers paid 25 cents for the same cup of coffee beans. Now isn't that unfair!!! I mean the coffee growers struggle throughout the year on the coffee plantations and all they get is around 9% of the revenue generated!!! I know there are costs for the roasting and the transportation process and all but still!!!

Thats when the coffee fair trade came along. Under the agreement the buyers of coffee's who are the big multinationals such as Nestle, Kraft, Proctor and Gamble etc are required to pay a substantial amount (more than a dollar) for the coffee they purchase from coffee growers.

Starbucks says it all over their site that they were involved with helping the community and they are with the coffee fair trade community. But the fact is that it was under the pressure of activists for coffee growers who threatened to hold demonstrations on their outlets all over the world that compiled Startbucks to join the coffee fair trade.

Now whenever I think of ordering another cup of cold coffee, I think twice. But then go ahead and order it anyway. Starbucks making profits is not a bad thing. Everyone wants profits otherwise why do business, but being fair in business is also a kind of social responsibilty, Starbucks was forced by the plight of coffee growers. So as long as we got a system wherin we can keep a check on injustice and tackle it in time, You can just go ahead and drink the coffee cup you always wanted on that hot summer afternoon!!!

Have you ever left your bike parked out for long?

Well I know I have, But the prize goes to the guy who parked it below,

Now isn'nt that something!!

Haha

Vavavoom Store in Avenues

This is the second continous week of hearing the "vavavoom store" advertisement on the radio. Its supposed to be a really big fashion store in the Avenues which not only caters to women fashion needs but also to men!!!.. I mena like pedicure and manicure for men!!! Bahh.. are men really turning out to be the metrosexual beings (men who concern themselves at fashion). I for sure know men need to look neat and polished.. but paedicure and manicure??

Anyway Radio host Dr. Laboosh has got it covered everyday on the radio and the life she brings to the advertisement is simply amazing, The first time u hear it ...okie fine. second time ...../okie still fine... but u hear it every morning for two weeeks!!!! thats a limit. Right now I would prefer hearing any ad except the va va voom ad. I guess the doc would have got some big promotion pakage for making them look good the whole two weeks!!! :)

I wonder how many people out there actually feels the same way:)

A-380 in India

Heard of the Airbus A-380's??? If you wondering what it is.....

That's the biggest passenger plane commisioned at present, and the first A-380 in India which is owned by Kingfisher Airlines made its stopover in Delhi Airport today, The news clipping can be found at

http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/may/06jumbo.htm



Cool.....Can't wait to get in one of those, bet it won't rattle like the no frills airlines :)

Update: The first Indian A380 would land in India in 2011 by Kingfisher Airline, The above was just a publicity flight.

Link for Saudi Citizenship News

The link from where I got the news about the Saudi Citizenship on offer..


http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Saudi_Arabia_to_grant_citizenship_to_expats/articleshowcnews/2006402.cms

Saudi Citizenship!!!

It seems Saudi Arabia is giving away citizenships to residents who match up as per their standards (Phd's and Specialized jobs related individuals). Reading it made me interested for a minute, but then after thinking about it... Who would want to actually change their citizenship to a Saudi one. It looks more like a good try at buying the brains to run the economy. It reminds me of Qatar nationalizing african and other nations citizens as their own to run in the the Doha games. I know people who would love to have a US or Canadian citizenship, but for a Saudi or a Qatari citizenship,...hmmm... its goto be the flow of money for majority of the cases. My support stands for those who although have been working in another country all their lives, stil retain the citizenship of their original countries. I mean at the end , if you are a Saudi or a Qatari, a change in the paperwork doesnt make u the other.

Birds acting strange

Since the last few days, the birds around Kuwait.. am talking about the small ones which you would usually see around the palm trees and grass lawns.. well these birds seem to be always flying in front of my vehicle..It has been three days now since I am dodging these birds now and then. Hope I dont accidently strike them while driving.

Looks like the birds got a major problem in flying directions or could it be the effects of the BIRD FLU or the HEAT or the changing climates of Kuwait turning them mad :)!!!

1st day of the month :)

Was just thinking….What’s so special about the 1st of every month!

Pointers

Good point
I get to withdraw cash (Salary)
Oh I feel Richhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
I get to help someone out who is in need of cash

Not so good points
I got to pay the guy who washes my car
I got to pay the guy in office whose fridge I ransack every other day
I got to pay my car loans
I got to pay my other loans
I got to pay my mobile bills
I get to fill my vehicle to full tank
I get screwed if the guy I helped doesn’t repay back bahhhhhh

Hmm summing it up, first day of the month ain’t that great a day for me is it??? :) ;)

Lulu Supermarket in Kuwait

Finally Lulu supermarket has opened in Kuwait and was it a grand affair!

Well the affair was grand of course, looking at the scale of operations and the prices been offered for their products. It always used to be like, when you hear 'Lulu' my mind goes to Dubai, but now anymore I guess.

Well to talk about it, I guess all the mallu's must have been there atleast once now, since it opened about a month back :) The place is huge, got items from the likes of food items to electronics to perfume shops to gym equipments to Costa Coffee to exchanges to jewellery shops to departmental stores. Max showroom, from where I get most of my shirts are also just a block away from Lulu.

The salesmen at Lulu seem to okay okay, they attend to you when called, I found one sales guy a little prejudice, in a way like he was attending to only the guys in dishdada's and was half bothered when my dad was enquiring about some item. Well that problem was fixed when I started firing away questions about the TV. I don't think I was agressive but I guess he got the point. That brings me to the point that although there are many salesmen all around the place, the salesmen had very little knowledge about electronics (This opinion is based on blank information I derived from 3 employees when asked about TV's and home theaters. they didnt have a clue of the stuff I was looking for in a TV and home theater. But saying this... I can't really blame the sales guys, but in fact the management of Lulu could have trained the guys in the department so they would be able to explain features of different TV's or Home Theaters to the customers better rather than just say, "SONY IS THE BEST" "SONY IS THE BEST" :) But overall the sales guys were attentive in comparison to th Alghanim Electronic Showroom guys.

Alghanim electronic showroom guys have one thing that Lulu salesmen don't have... which is knowledge about the products they sell. But then saying that they have their own weak point which is that they never come forward to help the customer. Its always the customer who got to bring them to explain a product (Most of the times I was in Alghanim this was the case:)).

Well right now the competition is on. We got Alghanim, City Center and Sultan Center, all extra marketing their products and giving incentives to customers to shop at their departments. But looking at the way things are going and the fact that Carrefour, which would open shortly and sell products even cheaper, Lulu and Carrefour in my opinion would soon eat into the market share :). In my opinion, the worst affected would be Sultan Center.

By the way I brought an Samsung LCD from Lulu, It was 270 KD whereas the same LCD from Alghanim was 33o Kd!!! This is with the warranty and the fact that Lulu themselves would come and pick up the LCD if there is any problem(one year period).

Now...you make your choice :)

New Widget

Guys,

Have just added a new Chat box on the right hand side of the page, Pretty much acts like a chat window :), if u have a blogsite pls let it be known in the url message while chatting :)

Thanks

Work Vacation :)

Okay yahh thanks for reminding me guys.... its been some time since I blogged down, was caught up with work and stuff.....I like to term it as the work vacation (Vacation taken for work)

Well today's topic...hmm... can't think of anything.. oh well...

Things that happened during the time I neva blogged...

• Just found out that I have wasta like anybody else.... well atleast with the coffee guy in office.. nothing better than a good cup of coffee to start your day rite..:)
  
  
• I had checked out the swimming pool complex 4 times in a week before I had changed to the new flat, but since i have shifted to my new place (thats since three weeks ago), I have never been able to check out the sports complex even once!!!
  
• The Climate in Kuwait is getting hmm.. chaotic... you have cloudy, sunny, dusty and rainly seasons all in a week,

• Figured how to connect the lappy to the LCD and enjoyed some time playing games on the big screen,

• After something like 4 years, I get English channels on our LCD, I never had that in my old place, not that i was really concerned but its like i never even had Kuwait TV 2 (national free channel) till now. Isnt that a wonder!!!,

• Remember the earlier blog I wrote about reducing, well I think I am reducing alright, and that's without using the sport facilities,

• I actually actually love veggies.. more like green leaves with cucumber and tomatoes and mayonise in my sandwich.. or for a treat put in some meat. Well the sandwich doesnt sound extraordinary but I guess its mom's way of making it that makes it extra-ordinary ;),

• Baskin Robins milkshakes which consist of two to three scoops of your choice of icecream flavours along with a dash of milk is way better than a cold cup of coffee at Starbucks (Comparison unit being Coffee and Chocolate mix)

• Second Cup and Caribou brand of premium coffee chains actually have delivery services. I don't think Starbucks would have, will try them today :). By the way I had ordered from Caribou yesterday and the cold chocolate drink I had was as good as the ones we get in Starbucks.

• BMW vehicle service station can be comparable to local service station (Bad Service). Of course if u make a hue and cry about it to BMW headquarters, the response can be very positive (free service). (Source:248am.com) Thought: I should have done the same for my Dell lappy

• Today in Kuwait, ITS YET ANOTHER DAY!!! :)