Meeting the Boss

Posted on November 26, 2019 by TheJessicaness

We were to walk to his place around 7 pm so that Captain and Senior could call the crew that were up for advancement and let them know if they made it — three of them did. Well, turns out there are four different buildings that start with Fontana, so we ended up at the wrong one and the boss offered to come pick us up. While we waited I helped myself to some free coffee, two types of tea (of which I didn’t finish the last), and a date with tahina which was sweet.

Caleb and I tried out some of the chairs in the lounge and then the Nissan pulled up and we were off to the proper, and closer, Fontana building and all the way to the top floor. I didn’t expect anything to be fancier but was hoping to see the view. I meet his wife, the woman who will bring me a chair and a glass of water before disappearing and sit with the guys for a moment before joining Andrew’s dad in the living room to chat about work and travel and his three kids for about an hour.

I was gifted a blue and gold keychain with some knots learned from a boatswain mate (the guys in charge of ropes, paint, and hull maintenance) on a tiger cruise (when sailors invite people over the age of 8 years old sans significant other (anyone they’d have sex with) on the last part of a long deployment — his was from Pearl Harbor to San Diego. I’m grateful I got to be with Caleb at work before I got out as what happened underway definitely wouldn’t be appropriate if I was pretending to be his sister just to get a peek at his life out to sea.

Having learned some background I felt more relaxed around Andrew and on the ride home he gave us I learned that he was Caleb’s age, but besides that, they don’t have much else in common. Andrew has a twin sister and is a workaholic, finding any and every excuse to be at the ship and convince Caleb into working late (after the last bus leaves the yards), and doesn’t miss his wife on her long visits home. I could see being friends with Andrew, and definitely his dad, but I can see the difficulty in trying to work for someone who sounds ten years younger than their age.

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Night Lights

Posted on November 24, 2019 by TheJessicaness

I find myself at City Centre Mall walking every level to see what catches my eye — a lot of little Daiso-inspired shops, Lush outlet with naked (plastic-free) products, Cioccolat Italiani where they put melted chocolate in the cone before topping with gelato, other body outlets with soaps and lotions (that I have plenty of) but not the shampoo I like, and a bookstore where I can add books to my to-read list and soon my to-read-on-kindle list so that all the horizontal surfaces in the house aren’t covered with books.

Lunch with Said will be at Ric’s Kountry Kitchen and we are one of four customers in the place sans bunnies and chickens that used to roam the front yard. We talk about work and the hassle of being an entrepreneur, the lessons learned in marriage, thoughts about having kids, spending time with family, and knowing when to stay in or where to travel to next. I didn’t go to my high school reunion but it’s an experiment in nature vs nurture in seeing how kids that spent so much time together adult differently. Even though I’ve been gone three years it seems a lot has changed (relationships and jobs) while everything has stayed the same (constant moving and remodeling).

I’m not home long before Ozzy messages me to join him on a trip to Avenues Mall. We park by the long entrance to the Four Seasons and walk around the canal that still has bridges and buildings under construction so that we can see the purple, blue, and yellow lights from the walkway, cranes, and lampposts reflect off the water as the sun sets. Once darkness arrives we meander up to the 5-star hotel to enjoy the greenery lining the way amongst their three outdoor pools — all with a guy on watch to make sure we don’t do anything silly (which happened at the Ritz).

I’m usually up for trying new things — except a hotdog at Ric’s and a meal at Raising Cane’s that consists mostly of fried chicken. We opt for Blaze Pizza instead and the lady preparing my half pizza and side salad asks if I’m “veagen” as I order cheese with both so I tell her, “mostly”. We had plans to walk off our meal and actually look around inside this time, but Ozzy’s work called so that just gives us a reason to go back.

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Said and Science

Posted on November 21, 2019 by TheJessicaness
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Said moved to Riyadh after getting married to his wife in Turkey (she has family there) and had driven the four and a half hours to come visit. We agreed to meet at 10ish and I was on schedule to meet that time until I went on base to get the utilities check since Visa wouldn’t approve our card through the Electricity and Water Authority (plus municipality tax of 10% total rent) and got sidetracked by a “health” fair where there was candy at every booth except the dentist and it was more of a services offered awareness where I was able to get a reflective band for Caleb when he’s able to ride his bike to work, as it’s required along with a helmet and a bell.

The event looked more like a science fair to me but I was able to look into a machine that gauged my eyesight (still good), get a quarter of a wheat bagel with egg and cheese, and get a book recommendation from the lady running the air quality booth — cities have a long way to go in cleaning up one of the fundamental needs of human survival, such as the case with Bahrain allowing cars to idle for hours and block traffic as they honk for service from cold stores and restaurants.

Anyway, Said picks me up to join him on a trip to a government office to get his residence sticker put into his new passport. We walk up to a man at the service counter and he says this should be done on the causeway or at the airport to save time, but he’ll see what he can do. He comes back after two minutes and tells Said to go home and then we have a laugh as we realize just how quickly we were able to bypass going back and forth to ‘merge’ the data and paid nothing without waiting in line or on the system that is down.

We celebrate by having lunch at Hash House in Adliya and split some wonton tacos and rice wrapped in banana leaf. We’ll get some matcha tea across the street at Dose Cafe before he’s off to a business meeting and I’m hand-in-hand with Caleb on our way to yet another sale and deal on base — anything to keep us coming back for more and I’m not going to complain. I got a new pair of owl earrings from one of their pop-up booths and the man rewired the fish hook backs to ensure my ears wouldn’t get irritated.

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Household Goods

Posted on November 19, 2019 by TheJessicaness

It took three guys an hour to unpack 47 items (front bike wheel removed for easier transport counts as one) and nothing was broken but we seem to have misplaced the connector cable for our dive watch to the computer. Being that we had these things packed six months ago it’s difficult to remember what we chose to leave in storage and that we mostly brought clothes and kitchen supplies, but even there we managed only one coffee cup – Caleb’s happy birthday mug from a decade ago.

After a long day of reorganizing the kitchen, hanging smelly clothes to be washed later, and trying to connect electronics — stereo, Wii, mixer — we decided to go to Show Shha for dinner. I was craving spicy and I was in luck when I walked in and noticed the pani puri serving station. I stood there excitedly and absentmindedly popped them into my mouth without count until I remembered we were here for dinner. We only got two entrees, but Caleb ordered enough bread variety for catering… or take away.

The next day we would buy a mop because we couldn’t even sell our last one for a dollar so it stayed in San Diego. I got a new dustpan because using one without a handle and a rubber lip is hard on my thumb and patience. Caleb got a new toilet brush so he wouldn’t have to look at the poop-stained one that was left behind and a cheap blender with the only options being on, really on, and off since we didn’t bring ours and he plans to leave it here.

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S’mores and More

Posted on November 15, 2019 by TheJessicaness

After hearing about my night at Bennigan’s, Caleb wanted to go and try his luck at finding the sandwich with a pretzel bun — which is no longer on the menu. We had an early dinner around 4:30 as the BBQ invite was to arrive between 5 and 6, so I knew dinner would be later and it was definitely worth the wait. I got to meet Wasan’s husband, the French chef; her neighbor who likes cigarettes, Carlsberg beer, and dog kisses; and one of her triathlon training friends.

The rest of the crowd was waiting on the chicken, meat, and shrimp to finish on the grill while I enjoyed the asparagus and other veggies, two salads consisting of carrot and onion and another mostly olive and potato, two loaves of bread — one zaatar and the other olive, and baked potatoes. There were plenty of nuts, trail mix, and Cheetos and the drinks of which I had mostly water didn’t disappoint either, but there was champagne, red wine, XO cognac, and an alcoholic punch. I’d have stayed a couple more hours but my ride, without having to worry about a taxi, was ready to go.

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