Western Arab

Well it happened again. I had my blood withdrawn for my blood test today. I felt a little light headed after the first tube, and the second tube just must of sealed the deal. After it was all done, I started thinking about things, things I can’t remember now. And somewhere between the thinking, I heard a thump.

I woke up not knowing where I was and I saw two women walking in this strange room. I did not recognize them and not knowing where I was, I was on the verge of panicking, but I quickly remembered who the woman was and I realized what had happened. Yes indeed, it happened again. I passed out or as I like to say I took a small nap.

I woke up shortly after I passed out. It took me a few seconds to realize what happened and where I was and I was energized and alert. I tried telling the nurse this but she insisted on putting those strips below my nostrils to wake me up as I tried to shove the away telling her I was fine. They wouldn’t let me sit up and insisted I stay laying down, which was fine. I was very sweaty and they were taking care of me. One of them joked that I do this on purpose so I get all that pampering they were doing . Now they will insist I lay down for any other blood test I take as this was the second time this happened and they want me to remind them, not that they will need to be reminded after this. I am pretty well known at my doctor’s office. For this incident, the one before it among other things I suppose. But I woke up from my little nap energized, and the nurse insisted I eat the piece of candy she shoved into my mouth.

Well just been tired the past few days. Waking up early to eat before sunrise and going back to bed. Feeling lazy and tired. But I go outside and keep myself busy taking pictures of whatever I find. Here are some of the good ones the past 2 days. I am glad I bought the camera, I am enjoying my time with it.

Wasp Landing

Sneaky Squirrel

Red and white plane

The moon

Today is the first day of Ramadan. I went to bed around 10 pm last night so that I can awake around 5 am today to eat a little before sunrise. I don’t know what time I fell asleep but amazingly it did not take too long. I did wake up around 3 am. I am used to sleeping 5 hours, but I managed to go back to sleep and was up around 5 am. I had my tea, some string cheese and strawberries! So welcome Ramadan.

Have a happy and blessed Ramadan.

I don’t know why.

As Arabs, every now and then, we all get that call. A call we sometimes don’t answer, the phone rings and rings until the answering machine picks it up. And other times we answer. The manner may be different but the end result is the same.

“Hi we are coming over to see you.”

And with what are we supposed to respond?

“Ahlan wa sahlan”

A simple welcome. Sometimes I just accept it. Alright so and so is coming over, whether we had plans or not. But other times it can be very irritating. Sometimes I am busy or just not in the mood, it does not mean I don’t like you or that you are not welcome over.

The rule should be, you can invite people over or they can invite you over. Inviting yourself is a big NO NO!

… if this rule does not work, perhaps we should start responding differently to that call and to those that are uninvited.

Ramadan Kareem

Well Ramadan 2009 is coming up in a 3 days or 4 …. or 5. Yes of course it is that great time of the year when the Muslims and Arabs all have to be reminded of how divided we are. We can’t even agree on the first day of the month of Ramadan. And the reasons for this is all political, all the leaders in these countries want division. So thank you for the friendly reminder once again this year, perhaps 50 years from now we won’t have this reminder and we will have achieved a stronger identity and maybe will be united.

Have a blessed Ramadan.

Well today was my birthday. Yes I am now 30, if that means anything. People always make a big deal out of turn 30. I don’t feel any different and I am still young and handsome!

Canon Rebel XS

I went ahead and ordered myself the Canon Rebel XS instead of the XSi. I suppose my own birthday present, it is on it’s way to me and should be here Monday. It would be nice if UPS delivered it this weekend but that is not likely. Looking forward to the camera and hopefully can learn more about how to use the advanced settings. I may have to take a class or maybe pick up a book.

My sister and my nieces had a birthday party for me in a different state, but they made a cake and put the word “kalo” on it. Kalo or Khalo is Arabic for Uncle. Was cute and nice.

And I know, this economy and spending money isn’t the right time but that’s me and gadgets and I also was able to get a tenant for the other property so hopefully that goes smooth and cuts down on some of the bills.

Busy weekend of hanging out, dinner out and a little helping out here and there. And tonight is another dinner invitation, which I will have to leave earlier to head to the airport to pick up dad.

I spent a few hours at the Oakland Park Flea Market on Sunday. I had a good time remembering how it was to work like that, constantly interacting with people and being known by so many of the locals and visitors. I didn’t work in a flea market selling before but I did work selling music tapes back in the days outside two stores. It is nice to get to interact with people, make friends and enemies . But now with this work I do, I sit on the computer all day long, I don’t interact with anyone. So it was nice to be in that environment again. Working at home has some advantages but the little interaction with people, traffic jams, idiots and everything else is the price. It is nice to get away from all that, but not completely removing it. I think a split with 3 days working home and 2 days out of home is the how to get the best of both worlds!

Canon Rebel XSi

Other than that, I want to buy the Canon Rebel XSi digital SLR camera. I missed out on an instant rebate by a day or two for getting a 55-250mm telephoto lens with the purchase of the camera and since then I have been hesitant to purchase the camera since I missed that deal, but I will still grab the camera I think. The price of it has gone up and down the past week since I have started monitoring it and right now it is $13 more than the lowest it was, and I am waiting for it to go back to the lowest price I saw or less! 

Florida Sheriff

It is hunting season in South Florida. I was out this afternoon in a car and there were police cars everywhere. They were hiding waiting for their prey to go by. Saw one pulled over getting a ticket in the summer heat of Florida. The state needs money and this is one easy way to get it, but what state doesn’t need money now? What state isn’t doing this?

Tickets all over the place. Would be nice if they ticket the people who actually don’t know how to drive, the ones that stop to move to the turn lanes and the like. And of course Florida drivers who don’t signal when turning. Those should be double ticketed!

My hair cut

I got my haircut today. I think it was well needed. When the hair on the back of my neck gets too long, it is irritating.

This woman cuts my hair now, the last 4 times maybe now. And she does a good job so I use her. She was sitting outside smoking today and dropped her cigarette when she saw me so she can cut my hair. I was asked by her once before and by another guy who cut my hair if I wanted to trim my eyebrows. I always refused but today I felt a little daring and after initial hesitation I told her I will try it. She promised me that hair isn’t going to grow by cutting it or else bald men would get hair and that it is just a trim, not a big deal. Blah Blah!

Well it turned out it wasn’t a big deal. Nothing really noticeable, no one noticed and I like it. So going forward I will have them trim them, every now and then!

Me at Nickelodeon Hotel Pool

I went to Orlando for some business and some pleasure this weekend. I left Friday evening and returned today in the evening.

So business is just business. Nothing really to discuss.

The pleasure part. I went to Nickelodeon Hotel and being that I have been to Disney World, Universal Studios, Typhoon Lagoon and River Country before, Nick Hotel was awesome. It was the first time I went there and it is a water park inside the hotel. Now there is so much you can do but for a 3 day weekend, it was perfect. The water slides are fun, they are not crazy but rather simple half pipe loops. One of them starts as a closed pipe so you start off in the dark. There is also a bucket of slime they pour on people at specific times and of course a pool. There is in fact another side of the hotel with another set of slides and pool. That side, the slides drop you in the pool instead. I liked the first side better. I also got to use my face mask in the pool, but still managed to lose a contact and a group of young teenage girls were attempting to talk to me.

Now Orlando, specifically route 192 or what they call highway 192 feels very much like New Jersey’s Route 1. Just has that feel and look but with great weather and a lot of parks and places to visit.

Orlando seems to have a large Arab population as well. I went to Soq al Qahera or Cairo Market for lunch. Saw a sign in Arabic and it said halal food, great so why not drop in for lunch. Ordered some sandwiches and browsed the store. The store was full of Islamic books, frames and clothing as well as all the Arab food store usual. So I grabbed up a few types of teas to purchase after the sandwiches. I was being picky on what I wanted to drink and maybe there was a reason for that, as eventually I found a can of something, I didn’t pay attention to what was in it. The can was made by an Israeli company. This can was so out of place, why was it here between all this Islamic and Arab stuff? I decide to just ignore it, pretend it wasn’t there. Only the owner of this store just doesn’t know to keep his mouth shut and opens up a political conversation shredding him of any honor. No need for the details here, but I no longer was willing to purchase anything and the boxes of tea bags stayed in the store. The food was also not good and I lost my appetite. Thanks for nothing, this store is on my list of never to go to again.