Recently i wrote a comment in one of the blogs i follow regarding driving in saudi arabia,the comment was in reply to a topic regarding why saudi arabia is not yet ready to have new category of drivers added to its streets (in the post case,it was women),as i said in my comment,i have no opposition what so ever against women driving in saudi,but i do object on allowing a new caliber of drivers into the Streets of Saudi arabia while it remains the world in the number of traffic accidents worldwide.
this is a video that sums up pretty much the driving conditions in saudi arabia.
the Author of the blog where i dropped my comment (a great blog about everyday parenting from a full time mommy,i highly recommend following if u are a parent or soon to be), believed that if women drove,it will lead to less number of drivers coming from 3rd world countries,who are usually over worked and stressed there would be less accidents.
though her opinion might be correct to a certain point,i kept thinking of it all day and a question raised in my head,if they are the reason why accidents in saudi so high,why is it that its saudi is the leader in accidents,while the countries where they come from,which are considered "less fortunate" and not as civilized as saudi arabia,for instance,India and indonesia have a rate of 16 compared to 29 Road fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants per year according to wikipedia?
personally my experience through my childhood and early youth in saudi tells me other wise,having lost many of my high school friends in car accidents,i can pretty much say the majority of the accidents ive witnessed or been part of,were by young saudis,or young residents of saudi arabia who grew up in saudi.
My cousin died recently from a car accident,he fell asleep while driving.
one of my highschool friends happend when i was in the 8 grade,a classmate was driving so fast he hit a pole and flew through the windshield dropping dead. i still remember his name,his face like i just met him an hour ago.
another friend of mine,who thank god is still alive,now an aviator,got his car into an accident that costed him abit over 12000$ to have it fixed.
many of my friends of today,who i sit and have coffee with,and now successful professionals of dentists,engineers or accountants,talk about they early days of driving,and how drifting was THE favorite practice to them when they have time to spare,now they look back and wonder how on earth they did that and what were they thinking,i my self not so long ago used to zigzag across the busiest streets of jeddah driving around 140 km/hrs,and my motto was "drive it like you stole it".
things changed though,and i am glad it did for my self without much damage.
this is an example of what is seen everyonce in a while in the city streets of riyadh.
this one is a bit graphic,so if u are weak hearted you might want to avoid it.
Point is,the majority of the accidents happens by the ones who are strong enough to abuse the system and be above the law,expat drivers might get into accidents sure,but catastrophic accidents usually happens not from drivers,but from our youth and young ones.
Saudi arabia needs an aggressive approach to apply Strict traffic rules with sever consequences that brings the streets to order,felonies and fines doesn't seem to stop many,either they can avoid paying it since in saudi arabia (at least till now) does not revoke your license after a certain number of violation,and getting locked up isn't always a consequence for traffic violations,the majority of our youth,including my self in my early years,never took the law seriously,and i am afraid this will continue to happen and pass from generation to generation unless a strict application of law takes place.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Friday, December 17, 2010
Yes, Or No?
Labels:
discrimination
13
comments
So,
My mother in law, and sister in law were in town, we decided to go to a Japanese restaurant,
it was the first time we try the restaurant, it looked good and clean, made us all look forward to the experience.
we were 8,4 adults, and 4 kids, my two kids (1 year old and a 20 days old) and my sister in law also has two (2 year old and a 10 month old.
Each table must have 10 people to start taking orders, which is something i realized all Japanese grill restaurant in the US practice
The table is ready for us, and the receptionist escorted us to the table, we reached there, there were two people already, they were early 30s aged caucasian couple, we greeted,however, before we all sat down, the couple stood up, and left the table after some ear to ear whispers and exchanging looks.
The message was clear, we don't want to sit next to those people, i wondered, is it because we look indian asians, or is it because of the Hijab my wife and her family were wearing? i tried to fool my self and think she moved because we had the kids and its normal for kids to be noisy and loud.
15 minutes passed, the same couple were escorted again to the the SAME table, however, to the other end of it, and ironically guess who is sitting their? two families,one Caucasian Mother with her little daughter,and another Family of four,an indian couple with two also little daughters.
So after a little match a scratch,it only became clear that they did it because of Hijab.
We all were pissed to say the least,while they sat literally an arm fold away from us,and they still face us,and incase we wanted to harm someone,they are still within reach, and pretending like nothing happened while they dine and wine.
my night was ruined,i didn't enjoy one bite from my meal,and i just wanted to leave the place,before i make a mess,which i usually do if i tried to speak about the situation.
Dinner is over, paid the bill and carried my daughter to the car and sat her in the car seat, my sister in law came and said she confronted the couple and told them that their behavior ruined the night on all of us,and all the lady had to say was "am so sorry i work with kids all the time and the last thing i wanted was another kid next to me" as if the current table didnt have any, she got embarrassed because everyones face changed when they heard the little conversation between her and my sister in law.
A couple of days ago,i was watching TV and a Question was asked "Do u think there is still discrimination in the US?"
ill let you decide.
P.S. i do not to judge an entire nation upon one persons act,but some times an act can speak a thousand words,and leave deep percussions.
My mother in law, and sister in law were in town, we decided to go to a Japanese restaurant,
it was the first time we try the restaurant, it looked good and clean, made us all look forward to the experience.
we were 8,4 adults, and 4 kids, my two kids (1 year old and a 20 days old) and my sister in law also has two (2 year old and a 10 month old.
Each table must have 10 people to start taking orders, which is something i realized all Japanese grill restaurant in the US practice
The table is ready for us, and the receptionist escorted us to the table, we reached there, there were two people already, they were early 30s aged caucasian couple, we greeted,however, before we all sat down, the couple stood up, and left the table after some ear to ear whispers and exchanging looks.
The message was clear, we don't want to sit next to those people, i wondered, is it because we look indian asians, or is it because of the Hijab my wife and her family were wearing? i tried to fool my self and think she moved because we had the kids and its normal for kids to be noisy and loud.
15 minutes passed, the same couple were escorted again to the the SAME table, however, to the other end of it, and ironically guess who is sitting their? two families,one Caucasian Mother with her little daughter,and another Family of four,an indian couple with two also little daughters.
So after a little match a scratch,it only became clear that they did it because of Hijab.
We all were pissed to say the least,while they sat literally an arm fold away from us,and they still face us,and incase we wanted to harm someone,they are still within reach, and pretending like nothing happened while they dine and wine.
my night was ruined,i didn't enjoy one bite from my meal,and i just wanted to leave the place,before i make a mess,which i usually do if i tried to speak about the situation.
Dinner is over, paid the bill and carried my daughter to the car and sat her in the car seat, my sister in law came and said she confronted the couple and told them that their behavior ruined the night on all of us,and all the lady had to say was "am so sorry i work with kids all the time and the last thing i wanted was another kid next to me" as if the current table didnt have any, she got embarrassed because everyones face changed when they heard the little conversation between her and my sister in law.
A couple of days ago,i was watching TV and a Question was asked "Do u think there is still discrimination in the US?"
ill let you decide.
P.S. i do not to judge an entire nation upon one persons act,but some times an act can speak a thousand words,and leave deep percussions.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Bed Time Stories
Labels:
bed time stories,
parenting
0
comments
Let me be clear here,i might not be the best father out there,nor the most experienced, so by writing what i am about to write i am not claiming to be any,but i am rather sharing what i found quite useful in my humble experience.
putting your child to sleep can be a challenge,be it a happy baby who love to be around his parents to jump around and have fun,or the angry baby who just dont want to sleep cos to him the night is still early.
just after my daughter turned 10 monthes,which was about the time we came back from Saudi arabia after two monthes of summer vacation filled with family members visiting and party,my daughter went from " just put me to bed with my little bottle and ill sleep" to "i wont sleep alone,lay down next to me and hold me" only to realize how hectic this method became especially when the parents want to stay awake for a couple more hours,or if your kid is alight sleeper who checks up on you always to make sure u are by her side,luckily my daughter is not that type.
you might argue that there is nothing wrong with having your kid sleep next to you,but it gets hard after a while especially if parents are professionals,also from other people experiences they told us it gets alot harder as the kids grow up,they might develop fear from the dark and they will simply not fall asleep unless they are in mommy's bed up to ages like 9 or 10.
after few discussions with my daughters pediatrician,sherecommendedordered us to strictly follow what she says to over come the problem,which is to put her in her own crib,and talk to her out of crying and needing someone next to her.
tried it day one,hell of a trial,she cried so hard,standing in her crib with her arms reaching for daddy and tears dripping on her cheeks,i kept telling her its bedtime,and its the time where all the little birds and squirrels sleep,and i strictly avoid carrying her from the crib to soothe her,i talk to her from a considerable distance,and if i had to pat on her back,i make it in a way that she cant get a hold of me to carry her....she cried her self to sleep.
the next day,the same issue,i tried to read to her a bed time story,which grabbed her attention pretty well,and after i finished her story,i carried on reading my book loudly,which also helped in making her quite and attentive,then she fell asleep.
the third day,she started crying when she saw me carrying her to the crib,but when i put her in her crib,she saw the book,the bottle and her pacifier there,she reached to her bottle,and heard the story till she fell asleep.
the fourth day,she reached for the book,passed it to daddy,and sat there looking and listening,till she fell asleep.
That simple.
from the fourth day onwards,when bedtime comes,the moment we put her in her crib,she realizes that its bed time,the little birds and squirrels went to bed,and so she should. her sleeping pattern improved drastically,sleeping 8+ hours comfortably in her crib,though she still wakes up around 6 or 5 am asking for a feed,but as soon as she feel the bottle in her mouth she falls back to sleep on the spot "this habit will be stopped very soon as sleeping with the bottle is one of the major causes of baby bottle caries since the baby might fall asleep with his mouth is filled with milk,which contain lactose that is ideal for fermentation required for dental caries.
ill list the benefits i found from this habit for both,parent and child :
- the child becomes less dependent on his parent when going to bed,since the child doesn't require skin contact anymore to fall asleep.
-its the best way to train the child's biological clock to sleep,you notice as soon as the bed time approaches,the child start showing signs that he is ready to sleep,which will make the job of putting the child to bed alot more easier.
-i think its also one of the best way to make the toddler adopts the habit of reading at a very early age,which is something i am taking seriously to make my child a good reader.
-the child slowly becomes less afraid of the dark,because he knows that even though daddy is not holding me,i know he is there,if not sitting on the rocking chair reading his book,he is in the next room.
-its an excellent method to increase the bond between your toddler and you,with time you will find your toddler looking forward to bed time cos its the time that daddy dedicate solely to me,and my bed time story.
-somehow,and i dont know whats correlates it,the child becomes more happy,i noticed my daughter now smiles while in her crib,which is a positive way to fold the day.
-for the parent one of the major benefits i found for this is that i made its an excellent time to be dedicated to my own reading after finishing reading her book,especially after struggling with my readings and being way behind due to unorganized day schedules.
-for working parents,this is also a great time for the parent to catch up with his children,as am sure when they start speaking they will enjoy grabbing a small talk with daddy before they sleep.
-i found it also a great way to force my self to stay away abit longer from the internet,and all the time consuming social networking sites.
to all of you who are parents,will be parents,or were at a time parents of toddlers,what can u add?
P.S. yes,i know its beed way too long since the last time i blogged,and i am sorry about that,i do really miss my blog followers comments and discussions,but with twitter taking all my ideas so freshly,its kinda hard to keep my thoughts dedicated to my blog,but i am working on it,i promise!
putting your child to sleep can be a challenge,be it a happy baby who love to be around his parents to jump around and have fun,or the angry baby who just dont want to sleep cos to him the night is still early.
just after my daughter turned 10 monthes,which was about the time we came back from Saudi arabia after two monthes of summer vacation filled with family members visiting and party,my daughter went from " just put me to bed with my little bottle and ill sleep" to "i wont sleep alone,lay down next to me and hold me" only to realize how hectic this method became especially when the parents want to stay awake for a couple more hours,or if your kid is alight sleeper who checks up on you always to make sure u are by her side,luckily my daughter is not that type.
you might argue that there is nothing wrong with having your kid sleep next to you,but it gets hard after a while especially if parents are professionals,also from other people experiences they told us it gets alot harder as the kids grow up,they might develop fear from the dark and they will simply not fall asleep unless they are in mommy's bed up to ages like 9 or 10.
after few discussions with my daughters pediatrician,she
tried it day one,hell of a trial,she cried so hard,standing in her crib with her arms reaching for daddy and tears dripping on her cheeks,i kept telling her its bedtime,and its the time where all the little birds and squirrels sleep,and i strictly avoid carrying her from the crib to soothe her,i talk to her from a considerable distance,and if i had to pat on her back,i make it in a way that she cant get a hold of me to carry her....she cried her self to sleep.
the next day,the same issue,i tried to read to her a bed time story,which grabbed her attention pretty well,and after i finished her story,i carried on reading my book loudly,which also helped in making her quite and attentive,then she fell asleep.
the third day,she started crying when she saw me carrying her to the crib,but when i put her in her crib,she saw the book,the bottle and her pacifier there,she reached to her bottle,and heard the story till she fell asleep.
the fourth day,she reached for the book,passed it to daddy,and sat there looking and listening,till she fell asleep.
That simple.
from the fourth day onwards,when bedtime comes,the moment we put her in her crib,she realizes that its bed time,the little birds and squirrels went to bed,and so she should. her sleeping pattern improved drastically,sleeping 8+ hours comfortably in her crib,though she still wakes up around 6 or 5 am asking for a feed,but as soon as she feel the bottle in her mouth she falls back to sleep on the spot "this habit will be stopped very soon as sleeping with the bottle is one of the major causes of baby bottle caries since the baby might fall asleep with his mouth is filled with milk,which contain lactose that is ideal for fermentation required for dental caries.
ill list the benefits i found from this habit for both,parent and child :
- the child becomes less dependent on his parent when going to bed,since the child doesn't require skin contact anymore to fall asleep.
-its the best way to train the child's biological clock to sleep,you notice as soon as the bed time approaches,the child start showing signs that he is ready to sleep,which will make the job of putting the child to bed alot more easier.
-i think its also one of the best way to make the toddler adopts the habit of reading at a very early age,which is something i am taking seriously to make my child a good reader.
-the child slowly becomes less afraid of the dark,because he knows that even though daddy is not holding me,i know he is there,if not sitting on the rocking chair reading his book,he is in the next room.
-its an excellent method to increase the bond between your toddler and you,with time you will find your toddler looking forward to bed time cos its the time that daddy dedicate solely to me,and my bed time story.
-somehow,and i dont know whats correlates it,the child becomes more happy,i noticed my daughter now smiles while in her crib,which is a positive way to fold the day.
-for the parent one of the major benefits i found for this is that i made its an excellent time to be dedicated to my own reading after finishing reading her book,especially after struggling with my readings and being way behind due to unorganized day schedules.
-for working parents,this is also a great time for the parent to catch up with his children,as am sure when they start speaking they will enjoy grabbing a small talk with daddy before they sleep.
-i found it also a great way to force my self to stay away abit longer from the internet,and all the time consuming social networking sites.
to all of you who are parents,will be parents,or were at a time parents of toddlers,what can u add?
P.S. yes,i know its beed way too long since the last time i blogged,and i am sorry about that,i do really miss my blog followers comments and discussions,but with twitter taking all my ideas so freshly,its kinda hard to keep my thoughts dedicated to my blog,but i am working on it,i promise!
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Hajj,in the Eyes of A Stranger.
Labels:
Hajj,
twitter tweets
0
comments
Those lines are from someone i follow on twitter,telling Hajj the way he experienced it,he is from the US,never been to makkah before,and he express things the way he witnessed them,i wanted to share it with you so u can imagine what he felt when he was where he was during those holy days.
-Most challenging experience of my life, my Hajj is complete. Just said farewell to Allah's house in Mecca. Cairo for a day, then home.
-I Lived in two pieces of simple white cloth,slept in tents and on the ground, visited the most ancient symbols of spiritual oneness.
-I prayed and meditated on the plane where humanity will be gathered for the day of atonement.
-I slept in the dirt on the plane where the first man and woman descended from heaven and created humanity.
-I stoned the Jamrat, the ancient symbols of the devil to commemorate my rejection of my ego, greed, lust, anger, etc.
-I visited the home, mosque and grave of our beloved Prophet Muhammad in the illuminated city of Medina, established by the first Muslims.
-The Hajj is extremely difficult and grueling. There were funerals at all five of our daily prayers for 3 weeks without exception.
-There were somewhere between 3 and 5 million pilgrims from every country performing the same rites at the same time.
-You Literally get caught up and carried by the crowd of humanity. Terrifying, humbling and beautiful experience.
-Met some of the most beautiful people of my life and some really troubled ones. Imperfect people united by a perfect system.
-That's the most reflective and naked I've ever been. Tears of joy, repentance and immense gratitude.
-To be in place with millions of people with all the commotion and hear it get dead silent for prayer and all you hear is wind and birds.
-I got lost in the tent city of mina with no phone,no cars, no guides and no one speaks english. Didn't know if I'd ever find my group.
-I walked for 8 straight hours with no idea where I was going. I have blisters covering the bottoms of both feet. Still performed my rites.
-While living in our tents, it rained for two days in a row. Scary thing in the desert where it never rains.
-I never believed that you could go to place and feel the presence of God until this. Its tangible in the air.
-You can taste it. -The feeling of true brotherhood is electric in the holy precincts. Even the police are bound by it.
-People come from every corner of the world. Many on foot from africa and eastern europe. You see people on canes and crutches.
-People spend months walking thousands of miles and sleep in the streets. Other pilgrims feed and look after them.
-Saw a family with kids and the parents were sharing a pair of shoes. Went into a store to buy some things and a stranger picked up my bill.
-I've had some very low, dark moments in my life but it hit me on this trip that I Literally have received everything I've ever prayed for.
-I was challenged in every imaginable way. This has been the greatest exercise in patience I could imagine. I'm so very grateful.
-After loosing my father, my friend and making this pilgrimage all in 3 months, if you don't believe in God, let love be your god.
-Please don't assume you know Islam because of what you've heard. I've practiced Islam for 17 years and didn't truly understand until now.
-END-
its amazing how we all can be in the same place at the same time and do the same things,but have very diffrent out comes,ive spoken with many many people who performed Hajj,and realized the least people who actually learn somthing from it are the same people who takes the place so for granted.
i guess a True Hajj experience is when you Trully leave everything behind you,and go to hajj without looking back,and forget all of your luxuries at least for the days of hajj,a true hajj experience is when u walk from the holy mosque on your feet all the way to Mina,Arafat and Muzdalifa,when you sleep where u find space,not on plush beds and eating from open buffets.
Congratulations to everyone who perform Hajj this Year,and Rest in Peace to everyone who couldnt perform Hajj this year because they passed away.
And to all who are planning to perform Hajj,May allah give you the strength and vision to perform the Righteous Hajj that reward you the ultimate repentance,Amin.
-Most challenging experience of my life, my Hajj is complete. Just said farewell to Allah's house in Mecca. Cairo for a day, then home.
-I Lived in two pieces of simple white cloth,slept in tents and on the ground, visited the most ancient symbols of spiritual oneness.
-I prayed and meditated on the plane where humanity will be gathered for the day of atonement.
-I slept in the dirt on the plane where the first man and woman descended from heaven and created humanity.
-I stoned the Jamrat, the ancient symbols of the devil to commemorate my rejection of my ego, greed, lust, anger, etc.
-I visited the home, mosque and grave of our beloved Prophet Muhammad in the illuminated city of Medina, established by the first Muslims.
-The Hajj is extremely difficult and grueling. There were funerals at all five of our daily prayers for 3 weeks without exception.
-There were somewhere between 3 and 5 million pilgrims from every country performing the same rites at the same time.
-You Literally get caught up and carried by the crowd of humanity. Terrifying, humbling and beautiful experience.
-Met some of the most beautiful people of my life and some really troubled ones. Imperfect people united by a perfect system.
-That's the most reflective and naked I've ever been. Tears of joy, repentance and immense gratitude.
-To be in place with millions of people with all the commotion and hear it get dead silent for prayer and all you hear is wind and birds.
-I got lost in the tent city of mina with no phone,no cars, no guides and no one speaks english. Didn't know if I'd ever find my group.
-I walked for 8 straight hours with no idea where I was going. I have blisters covering the bottoms of both feet. Still performed my rites.
-While living in our tents, it rained for two days in a row. Scary thing in the desert where it never rains.
-I never believed that you could go to place and feel the presence of God until this. Its tangible in the air.
-You can taste it. -The feeling of true brotherhood is electric in the holy precincts. Even the police are bound by it.
-People come from every corner of the world. Many on foot from africa and eastern europe. You see people on canes and crutches.
-People spend months walking thousands of miles and sleep in the streets. Other pilgrims feed and look after them.
-Saw a family with kids and the parents were sharing a pair of shoes. Went into a store to buy some things and a stranger picked up my bill.
-I've had some very low, dark moments in my life but it hit me on this trip that I Literally have received everything I've ever prayed for.
-I was challenged in every imaginable way. This has been the greatest exercise in patience I could imagine. I'm so very grateful.
-After loosing my father, my friend and making this pilgrimage all in 3 months, if you don't believe in God, let love be your god.
-Please don't assume you know Islam because of what you've heard. I've practiced Islam for 17 years and didn't truly understand until now.
-END-
its amazing how we all can be in the same place at the same time and do the same things,but have very diffrent out comes,ive spoken with many many people who performed Hajj,and realized the least people who actually learn somthing from it are the same people who takes the place so for granted.
i guess a True Hajj experience is when you Trully leave everything behind you,and go to hajj without looking back,and forget all of your luxuries at least for the days of hajj,a true hajj experience is when u walk from the holy mosque on your feet all the way to Mina,Arafat and Muzdalifa,when you sleep where u find space,not on plush beds and eating from open buffets.
Congratulations to everyone who perform Hajj this Year,and Rest in Peace to everyone who couldnt perform Hajj this year because they passed away.
And to all who are planning to perform Hajj,May allah give you the strength and vision to perform the Righteous Hajj that reward you the ultimate repentance,Amin.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Ambition
its funny how everytime i think of doing professional photography,i scrap the idea outta my mind because, i still didnt meet my standards.
thing is,will i ever reach it?
thing is,will i ever reach it?
Friday, October 8, 2010
Love and Light
one of the most beautiful poems ive heard in a long while....
Bissmillah
may your day be,filled with love and light
may your rhymes be right,may your songs be tight
may your words give sight, may your nour shine bright
may you always be on the righteous side of the fight
may your lovers be loyal may your soil be fertile
may your khakis stay crease may your lock stay oil
may your plans never get foil may your plot thicken
may your chicken be halal may your style be sufficient
may your soul be free of its prison
Ameen
May Allah increase you and your vision
Ameen
may you find everything you've been missin
Ameen
may you wake for prayer before the sun has risen
Ameen
when you speak may your audience listen
Ameen
may you never feel trapped in the system
Ameen
may you sight many righteous children
Ameen
who will act on prophetic tradition
Ameen
may you always have food in your plate
Ameen
may you learn from every mistake
Ameen
may you raise above all the hate
Ameen
may Allah increase you in your state
Ameen
may you never pretend that you are what you aint
Ameen
may your friends be real and never be fake
Ameen
may your rent never have to be late
Ameen
may your health always be great
Ameen
may Allah forgive every sin
Ameen
now and forever if you faulter again
Ameen
may you always stay closer to your kin
Ameen
may he make all your enemies friends
Ameen
may he make reality of your plans
Ameen
may your present be pleasant may you have a good end
Ameen
may your heart be purified of its flaws
Ameen
may you act according to the laws
Ameen
that were revealed in the book of Allah
Ameen
may he catch you whenever you fall
Ameen
may the one guide you to the truth
Ameen
when you doubt may he show you the proof
Ameen
may you be like the ahla soof
Ameen
with the wisdom of the elders the energy of the youth
Ameen
may he accept your prayer and your fast
Ameen
the very first all the way to the last
Ameen
and remove obstacles that you have
Ameen
and may you receive everything that you ask
Ameen
may you never have regret for your past
Ameen
and receive mercy not the wrath
Ameen
and as you travel your personal path
Ameen
may you always have a reason to laugh.
Baraka Blue
Bissmillah
may your day be,filled with love and light
may your rhymes be right,may your songs be tight
may your words give sight, may your nour shine bright
may you always be on the righteous side of the fight
may your lovers be loyal may your soil be fertile
may your khakis stay crease may your lock stay oil
may your plans never get foil may your plot thicken
may your chicken be halal may your style be sufficient
may your soul be free of its prison
Ameen
May Allah increase you and your vision
Ameen
may you find everything you've been missin
Ameen
may you wake for prayer before the sun has risen
Ameen
when you speak may your audience listen
Ameen
may you never feel trapped in the system
Ameen
may you sight many righteous children
Ameen
who will act on prophetic tradition
Ameen
may you always have food in your plate
Ameen
may you learn from every mistake
Ameen
may you raise above all the hate
Ameen
may Allah increase you in your state
Ameen
may you never pretend that you are what you aint
Ameen
may your friends be real and never be fake
Ameen
may your rent never have to be late
Ameen
may your health always be great
Ameen
may Allah forgive every sin
Ameen
now and forever if you faulter again
Ameen
may you always stay closer to your kin
Ameen
may he make all your enemies friends
Ameen
may he make reality of your plans
Ameen
may your present be pleasant may you have a good end
Ameen
may your heart be purified of its flaws
Ameen
may you act according to the laws
Ameen
that were revealed in the book of Allah
Ameen
may he catch you whenever you fall
Ameen
may the one guide you to the truth
Ameen
when you doubt may he show you the proof
Ameen
may you be like the ahla soof
Ameen
with the wisdom of the elders the energy of the youth
Ameen
may he accept your prayer and your fast
Ameen
the very first all the way to the last
Ameen
and remove obstacles that you have
Ameen
and may you receive everything that you ask
Ameen
may you never have regret for your past
Ameen
and receive mercy not the wrath
Ameen
and as you travel your personal path
Ameen
may you always have a reason to laugh.
Baraka Blue
Monday, October 4, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
The Unseen Sea
Dear Clouds and Fog,ill never take you for granted ever again!
The Unseen Sea from Simon Christen on Vimeo.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Red Rocks
My Latest Piece...
for better Details
Red Rocks on Sonic Boom@deviant Art
Red Rocks by *Sonic-BooM on deviantART
Red Rocks
a Pan made with 35 images
the stitching was made in two phases so that images dont over lap faultily,had to tone map it so the image take some dramatic contrast with the red colors of the rocks.
Red Rocks,
Colorado
US
March 2010
Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Red Rocks Park
P.S.i promise ill take a break from panoramas =p
Make: NIKON CORPORATION
Model: NIKON D300S
Shutter Speed: 1/160 second
Aperture: F/11.0
Focal Length: 17 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Date Taken: Feb 28, 2010, 4:58:37 PM
Software: Adobe Photoshop CS5 Macintosh
for better Details
Red Rocks on Sonic Boom@deviant Art
Red Rocks by *Sonic-BooM on deviantART
Red Rocks
a Pan made with 35 images
the stitching was made in two phases so that images dont over lap faultily,had to tone map it so the image take some dramatic contrast with the red colors of the rocks.
Red Rocks,
Colorado
US
March 2010
Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Red Rocks Park
P.S.i promise ill take a break from panoramas =p
Make: NIKON CORPORATION
Model: NIKON D300S
Shutter Speed: 1/160 second
Aperture: F/11.0
Focal Length: 17 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Date Taken: Feb 28, 2010, 4:58:37 PM
Software: Adobe Photoshop CS5 Macintosh
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Guess who...
Labels:
polygamy
5
comments
..... is going under the knife of national tv shows audiance.....
Polygamy,is one of the matters that confused me the most,especially with my islamic upbringing,and my western influenced teen years.
they will be literally butchered by each and every person who is against polygamy...which is almost 95%+ of the american society,if not more.
but u know whats funny? the majority of all those who are against polygamy,have/or once had multiple sexual partners,they are only against marriage of multiple partners
i just dont geddit
do u?
P.S.A fellow blogger thought i was talking about my self going on national TV,Sorry if that how i made it sound but i was refering to the TV show.
Polygamy,is one of the matters that confused me the most,especially with my islamic upbringing,and my western influenced teen years.
they will be literally butchered by each and every person who is against polygamy...which is almost 95%+ of the american society,if not more.
but u know whats funny? the majority of all those who are against polygamy,have/or once had multiple sexual partners,they are only against marriage of multiple partners
i just dont geddit
do u?
P.S.A fellow blogger thought i was talking about my self going on national TV,Sorry if that how i made it sound but i was refering to the TV show.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Untitled
-Me pushing my daughters stroller while entring the mall through Sears
-A Young Asian Indian Couple pass by
-Are you a body builder?
-Me:No...what makes u say that?
-then u must live in a coastal city where u swim all the time to stay in shape.
-Me:Nope..not that either...am a dentist.
-Aaah..it explains it,u got ur shape from yanking peoples teeth out!
-A Young Asian Indian Couple pass by
-Are you a body builder?
-Me:No...what makes u say that?
-then u must live in a coastal city where u swim all the time to stay in shape.
-Me:Nope..not that either...am a dentist.
-Aaah..it explains it,u got ur shape from yanking peoples teeth out!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Making Future Magic: iPad Light Painting
ive been into photography for roughly 7 years,what made me get into this hobby is how photography give you the ability to create a fantasy from the world around you,if you have been following my work lately,u will notice that i always try to add the element of unreality to my photos,i always try to make the photograph look like its been shot in utopia.
conceptual photos and abstract photography always catches my attention,and its usually the hardest type of photography,not because the technique is hard,but because it pushes the creativity of the photography to the limit,and some time far beyond the limits.
its a beautiful thing,i tell ya,some times i look back at my work and i cant believe its actually mine.
but speaking of creativity,some times u stumble upon things that leave you utterly speechless in how creative,genuine and impressive the ideas some people come up with,like the one i am about to show you,
the most amazing thing about this is how they utilize everything they have at hand that was not once available.
Here,they used Apples ever successful iPad to create light,and Amazingly they used that light to build blocks of letters using light emitted from the ipad during a period of time where the shutter of the camera is open,and captured it with the camera.
...........the Most Creative yet,right?
nuff talk,lets watch...
i bet even apple them selves didnt see this as a possible utilization of their own product.
this is ladies and gentlemen,a new benchmark in light painting photography,and i assure you it is the future.
conceptual photos and abstract photography always catches my attention,and its usually the hardest type of photography,not because the technique is hard,but because it pushes the creativity of the photography to the limit,and some time far beyond the limits.
its a beautiful thing,i tell ya,some times i look back at my work and i cant believe its actually mine.
but speaking of creativity,some times u stumble upon things that leave you utterly speechless in how creative,genuine and impressive the ideas some people come up with,like the one i am about to show you,
the most amazing thing about this is how they utilize everything they have at hand that was not once available.
Here,they used Apples ever successful iPad to create light,and Amazingly they used that light to build blocks of letters using light emitted from the ipad during a period of time where the shutter of the camera is open,and captured it with the camera.
...........the Most Creative yet,right?
nuff talk,lets watch...
Making Future Magic: iPad light painting from Dentsu London on Vimeo.
i bet even apple them selves didnt see this as a possible utilization of their own product.
this is ladies and gentlemen,a new benchmark in light painting photography,and i assure you it is the future.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Norfolk Harbor
Labels:
Norfolk VA photography
3
comments
Norfolk Harbor by *Sonic-BooM on deviantART
Norfolk,Virginia
Definitely one of the prettiest coastal cities ive been into,which reminds me,i will retire in a coastal city,and hopefully even far before i retire,ill be living in a city with a sea front,and ill wake up every morning and have my breakfast on the sea view...
P.S.Click on it to get a better View.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Mail in Rebate!
Am back in the US,after two hectic months in saudi arabia,which were suppose to be vacation,but i had so much paper work i only managed to finish two days before i flew back to NC!
so,ive been waiting for a long time to buy my self a computer,and ive been wondering which one to buy and how much i should put in it,anyways,i ended up buying an iMac 27" running a i7 Quadcore processor,pretty amazing machine i must say.
but my post today is not about that,its about somthing that i noticed in the US that i dont think i ever witnessed anywhere else in the world,at least not in any country ive been into in my life,and ive been in around 10+ countries so far.
its the return/rebate/exchange policies that corporates in the US use,let me explain how.
One very Big chain of whole Sale super markets,that have almost what every household need from groceries,electronics,furniture,and some other things like hardwares and sport goods, has a no Question asked Return policy on any of its items,with two exceptions:
-Electronics,they have a 90 days return policy,
-Underwears,which cannot be returned for hygiene reasons,which makes total sense.
anything else in the store,if u bought it,and didnt like it,return it and get a full cash refund.
what i dont understand is,every return item,if used,is not resale-able,which makes me wonder,where is profit in that!!
i recently bought a 42" LCD TV,and after i got it home,i realized that the place that we wanted to put it in,didnt have enough space to put it there and we were forced to buy a smaller one,so we ended up buying a 37" instead.
upon returning the TV,as i said,they returned it without a single Question except the Reason for return,though i admit the guy gave me that look when i told him the TV is too big it didnt fit in my living room,but he did return it.
however,when he returned it,he put a sticker on the box that said,not for Resale.
another incident,I personally know a guy,who bought a shoe in 2006 from another store,and every time the shoe gets worn out,he returns it and they give him a brand new one in exchange for it, in the name of "100% customer Satisfaction Guarantee!!",this very same person,who is now a loyal customer to this store,bought his little son a shoe from there,and everytime the kid grows up,he exchanges the shoe with a bigger size.
Does that make any sense to you? if it does,please explain it to me,cos i dont get it!! how is that making any profit for them,i dont Geddit!
and the final thing that doesnt make sense to me is the mail in Rebate,which is somthing that doesnt exist in saudi arabia,and it simply goes like this,
in a Store like the Apple Store,if u were a Student, upon showing your ID,u are eligible for multiple educational discounts and offers,one of them is a Free iPod Touch on every Mac purchase.
so if you bought an iMac/Macbook,you qualify to get an iPod for free After mail in rebate,to get the mail in rebate,you actually buy the iPod and pay for it at the store,then u submit a rebate request,which gets ur money back in a form of a check in around 30 days,which u can either Cash it from the bank,or simply deposit it in your account.
in wikipedia,it mentions what benefit Mail in Rebate has over instant rebate,which is the discount you get while u shop,not after u submit ur rebate request,here is what i found,which i must admit,is very subtle idea.
-The information given in the rebate form, such as name, address, method of payment, can be used for data mining studies of consumer behavior.[10]
The information can be used as evidence of a pre-existing business relationship for marketing purposes, such as do not call lists.
-Customers tend to notice price increases and react negatively. Rebates offer retailers the benefit of giving customers a temporary discount on an item, to stimulate sales, while allowing it to maintain its current price point. This method avoids the negative backlash that could be perceived with a price being lowered and then raised later.[11]
-Rebates also allow companies to "price protect" certain product lines by being selective in which models or brands to be discounted. This allows retailers and manufacturers to move some product at lower cost while maintaining prices of successful models. A straight price reduction on some models would have a domino effect on all products in a line.[12]
-During the turnaround time, the company can earn interest on the money.
If the turnaround time crosses into the next fiscal year or quarter, a rebate offer can inflate sales in the current period, and not have to be accounted for until the next period and then it could be attributed as a cost reducing sales or expense for the next period giving companies an accounting advantage with their Wall Street projections.
-Extended warranties and other price-dependent factors always use the initial purchase price, not the price after the rebate. This is normally because if the company has to refund the customer the "replacement value", it would be the before rebate "in-store" price.
-Once the UPC has been removed from the box, retailers can refuse to accept a return of the item.
Not all buyers will meet the criteria to receive the rebate. Companies often require the original UPC barcode, receipt, and additional information, which a buyer may forget to include when redeeming the rebate. Companies almost always add other caveats to the rebate as well, such as the redemption having to be postmarked by a certain date. It works in the company's favor if buyers do not act quickly to redeem. However, a University of Florida study notes that shorter redemption periods actually increase the redemption rate in the consumer's favor because it gives them less time for procrastination to set in.[13]
-New companies that want to make a break into a market can offer substantial rebate savings on their new product as a means of capturing a customer's attention. Zeus Kerravala, vice president at the Yankee Group, has said "For companies that haven't been in a particular market, the rebate that essentially refunds the customer's money is a great way to get people to pay attention to them, This is especially true in consumer electronics, where brand name does matter. It's a good way to get customers to take a chance on a new brand."
.....Amazing,isnt it?
its really amazing how big marketing ideas that are made behind simple plans like these,one might think what difference does it make if they send me a check,over giving me the discount immediately,well,now u know! five minutes ago,i didnt know them!
ill end this with one incident that happened with my wife yesterday,we were at Dairy Queen,which is a
we got our food,and after we started eating,my wife felt like she want to have fried shrimps basket,so she went and ordered it and came back.
the waiter came with the order,and after he placed it on the table,he asked my wife,
Waiter : "ma'am,was this what u really wanted,but u didnt know when u ordered?"
wifey: "Yes,but i only felt that i am craving it after i started eating the cheese burger"
Waiter: "thats ok,allow me refund you on the cheese burger meal"
Wife: "What? why! i ordered it and i already took a bite from it"
waiter: "yes i understand,but we dont like you to pay for somthing u didnt really want in the first place,so go ahead,u can have it all that you want,and ill put it up in a box for you so u can take it home and eat it later,but i will also refund you for its price in full"
Wife: "ok,if you insist"
Waiter: " i do insist =)"
and he DID come back with a full refund.
i admit,we really like Dairy Queen because we think they are the best fast food resturant around us in terms of hygiene,and quality of food provided,but what happend yesterday made my opinion become alot more positive than it already is.
my question is,if we took albaik,in saudi arabia,which is THE best fastfood resturant in Hejaz Area,would they ever do this? i dont think so!
such incidents that i mentioned above,make me wonder how do businesses like those mentioned make money when it seem like they are paying back a huge amount of their sales? i dont know how,but its definitly one of the most intresting marketting techniques ive yet to see.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Bassnectar Massive Attack bass!
Lately,my taste in music has changed drastically,i lost intrest in almost all types of main stream music,and i found immense pleasure listening to songs and tracks that are created by amatures and underground DJs and musicians,and boy,off stream music is just tooo intense!!
i bring you here one of the most intense tracks ive heard in a while,for a bang that is quite known for being a phenomena that changed the way england listened,interacted,and even perceived music,its Massive Attack.
even though Massive attack is a band that existed since the early 90's,somehow,their immensely tasteful music managed to reach only certain people who were seeking music that has an identity that speaks of its own.
now,with all that being said,imagine having such unique tracks being tossed between the hands of insane DJs all around the world,the outcome is,complete insanity of musical orgasms,and one of the most powerful ive heard,is from Bassnectar,who cleverly combined the track with one of the famously known rappers of this time,lil wayne.
nuff said,ill let you hear it,and u judge.
Massive Attack Remix (FREE DOWNLOAD) by Bassnectar
Ear Poppin Base,i tell ya!
i bring you here one of the most intense tracks ive heard in a while,for a bang that is quite known for being a phenomena that changed the way england listened,interacted,and even perceived music,its Massive Attack.
even though Massive attack is a band that existed since the early 90's,somehow,their immensely tasteful music managed to reach only certain people who were seeking music that has an identity that speaks of its own.
now,with all that being said,imagine having such unique tracks being tossed between the hands of insane DJs all around the world,the outcome is,complete insanity of musical orgasms,and one of the most powerful ive heard,is from Bassnectar,who cleverly combined the track with one of the famously known rappers of this time,lil wayne.
nuff said,ill let you hear it,and u judge.
Massive Attack Remix (FREE DOWNLOAD) by Bassnectar
Ear Poppin Base,i tell ya!
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Makkah and the Vertical expansion
Labels:
Makkah vertical expansion
4
comments
It almost been a year since the last time i visited the city where i was born,Makkah,the holy city of muslims.
the changes that took place in the last three years are so intense i can barely recognize the city anymore,there is a monorail project on going which i believe has been waaay over due,as transportation issues were always critical during hajj times every year.
skyscrapers are taking over the city, makkah currently looks like a war zone from all the demolitions and trucks and tractors cleaning the scene,the streets are heavily broken and full with potholes from the heavy trucks,almost all the streets around the city are closed for either repaving or detouring due to construction.
all this should be considered impressive for a city that of prime importance to every muslim in the world,right?
Wrong
or at least not completely right, the expansions and huge constructions came out on the expense of many many historical locations and building that were landmarks of our city of makkah,one of the most is famous buildings that caused an outrage upon demolising was Ajyad fortress ,
Maktabat Makkah,which means the library of makkah which is also believed to be the birth place of the prophet Mohammad PBUH.
but let us not get into the political sensitive aspect of the matter,as some believe this city should remain as it is for its cultural values,others believe it should be the most developed city in the islamic world,each has his motives,and each has a point.
my main point of concern here is,with this rapid,impressive rate of vertical raise in buildings in makkah,i have not noticed any changes in the layout of the streets that accommodate these buildings,even though there are multiple projects that hopefully one day will provide a vital vessel for traffic to makkah one day,but the inner vessels within the city that have been of a deseperate need for a proper and complete redesigning to match the growth of this city which during peak times of hajj is mainly operated by buses.
the matter of traffic and the transportation has always been discussed about makkah,some strongly believe that Hajj should be and should remain a pedestrian practice,which i beileve is the most effective way too,as the traffic and buses only add congestion to an already heavily congested city.
in the current situation that makkah is in,it looks like its only a matter of time before the entire infrastructure of the city collapses unless some serious rehabilitation for the entire city takes place,which i hope ill live to see.
what are your thoughts?do u have a say! please share!
the changes that took place in the last three years are so intense i can barely recognize the city anymore,there is a monorail project on going which i believe has been waaay over due,as transportation issues were always critical during hajj times every year.
skyscrapers are taking over the city, makkah currently looks like a war zone from all the demolitions and trucks and tractors cleaning the scene,the streets are heavily broken and full with potholes from the heavy trucks,almost all the streets around the city are closed for either repaving or detouring due to construction.
all this should be considered impressive for a city that of prime importance to every muslim in the world,right?
Wrong
or at least not completely right, the expansions and huge constructions came out on the expense of many many historical locations and building that were landmarks of our city of makkah,one of the most is famous buildings that caused an outrage upon demolising was Ajyad fortress ,
Maktabat Makkah,which means the library of makkah which is also believed to be the birth place of the prophet Mohammad PBUH.
but let us not get into the political sensitive aspect of the matter,as some believe this city should remain as it is for its cultural values,others believe it should be the most developed city in the islamic world,each has his motives,and each has a point.
my main point of concern here is,with this rapid,impressive rate of vertical raise in buildings in makkah,i have not noticed any changes in the layout of the streets that accommodate these buildings,even though there are multiple projects that hopefully one day will provide a vital vessel for traffic to makkah one day,but the inner vessels within the city that have been of a deseperate need for a proper and complete redesigning to match the growth of this city which during peak times of hajj is mainly operated by buses.
the matter of traffic and the transportation has always been discussed about makkah,some strongly believe that Hajj should be and should remain a pedestrian practice,which i beileve is the most effective way too,as the traffic and buses only add congestion to an already heavily congested city.
in the current situation that makkah is in,it looks like its only a matter of time before the entire infrastructure of the city collapses unless some serious rehabilitation for the entire city takes place,which i hope ill live to see.
what are your thoughts?do u have a say! please share!
Thursday, July 1, 2010
A new way to manage the blogs you follow : Google Reader
i am fairly new to blogging,and in the beginning of it i started to follow people on blogspot by simple clicking the follow icon on each blog,while the ones on wordpress,i used to follow them manually by logging into each daily and check if there is a new post,
however,after a while i found a service that google provides,which made the job alot easier, Google Reader which allow you to check all the blogs you follow in one single page,its more like Mail in OSX and Outlook in MS platforms all you have to do is add a subscription and it will import all the posts to your google reader page,it even allow you to check the blogs while offline,and its iPhone, iPad Friendly and there are also multiple Apps in iTunes App store that are more like a stand alone app,but the same service.
whats the most significant thing about Reader?
you dont have to go to each and every blog anymore,you can read them all from one page.
how does it view the blogs?
you have two choices,either you view all items,and it appear all together in a "inbox" kinda view,with the publishers name on the left and the post on the right,upon clicking on the topic,the post expands so you can read it.
another choice,and that incase you have a favorite blogger,u can click on the publishers name on the left and it will show you all posts made by the publisher in a descending manner according to date of publishing.
google reader have multiple options that are pretty handy,it brings you statistics about your readings and show you which blog is the most active among all your subscriptions,it also has the "explore" bar which recommends blogs to you by guessing which would be of your liking according to your subscriptions.
what is it that i wish google reader improve?
the only thing that is not very practical about reader is that you cant comment directly from google Reader,when u click on comment,it redirect you to the blogs page so you can comment there,also,u cant read others comments from reader,you have to go to the blog page so u can do that.
Another thing,subscribing to a blog Via google reader doesn't notify the publisher that you are now subscribed to his blog,which kind of let you in the dark if you were the type that is conscious about the number of people who are following you and want to know if they are increasing or not.
All in all,its an excellent service,ive been using it for 4 months and got accustomed to it that its my main method to check all the blogs i am reading.
Are you using google reader? do you know anything similar to it? tell me your experience and how do you follow up with all your favorite blogs?
however,after a while i found a service that google provides,which made the job alot easier, Google Reader which allow you to check all the blogs you follow in one single page,its more like Mail in OSX and Outlook in MS platforms all you have to do is add a subscription and it will import all the posts to your google reader page,it even allow you to check the blogs while offline,and its iPhone, iPad Friendly and there are also multiple Apps in iTunes App store that are more like a stand alone app,but the same service.
whats the most significant thing about Reader?
you dont have to go to each and every blog anymore,you can read them all from one page.
how does it view the blogs?
you have two choices,either you view all items,and it appear all together in a "inbox" kinda view,with the publishers name on the left and the post on the right,upon clicking on the topic,the post expands so you can read it.
another choice,and that incase you have a favorite blogger,u can click on the publishers name on the left and it will show you all posts made by the publisher in a descending manner according to date of publishing.
google reader have multiple options that are pretty handy,it brings you statistics about your readings and show you which blog is the most active among all your subscriptions,it also has the "explore" bar which recommends blogs to you by guessing which would be of your liking according to your subscriptions.
what is it that i wish google reader improve?
the only thing that is not very practical about reader is that you cant comment directly from google Reader,when u click on comment,it redirect you to the blogs page so you can comment there,also,u cant read others comments from reader,you have to go to the blog page so u can do that.
Another thing,subscribing to a blog Via google reader doesn't notify the publisher that you are now subscribed to his blog,which kind of let you in the dark if you were the type that is conscious about the number of people who are following you and want to know if they are increasing or not.
All in all,its an excellent service,ive been using it for 4 months and got accustomed to it that its my main method to check all the blogs i am reading.
Are you using google reader? do you know anything similar to it? tell me your experience and how do you follow up with all your favorite blogs?
Saturday, June 26, 2010
13 things i realized i missed about Saudi
Labels:
compare,
NC,
Saudi arabia
15
comments
So,i just arrived back to saudi this week after a year being in the US,and as soon as i landed,i realized that there are quite a few things i missed about saudi arabia,but some how i didn't know that i did.
so i made a list of the things that came to my mind for now,i might add more later:
- Luggage carts are actually free!
yup! you dont have to pay 3 dollars every time you take a cart for less than twenty minute of use,you can take it for free!
-Gas is so cheap,you never have to worry about topping your cars tank,a full tank doesn't cost you more than 10 dollars maximum for a medium size sedan.
-Streets in Saudi are so well lit at night,u barely need to use the head lights to light your way when you drive at night,in fact,i only turned them on for safety reasons like to be visible in the rear view of other vehicles.
-Streets in Saudi are pretty wide,and in some areas they are wider than the widest street ive seen anywhere ive been.
-Speed limits in Saudi are high,ive never seen a single street or road or even a highway within north carolina that goes over 70 Miles per hour which is equal 112 km/h,and the only part that goes up to 70 is a long stretch in I-85 between North Carolina and Virginia,while ive seen many areas in riyadh,like the ring road that is connects the airport to the city where the speed limit is 120 km/h which is 74.5 miles/h,so i was kinda shocked to know that i was actually driving pretty fast even when i am following the speed limits.
and just to let you know,the norm is that people drive 140 km/h (87 Miles/h) in areas where the limit is 120 km/h.. and of course,some go even faster.
-Traffic lights are different in Saudi and US,at an intersection,when its green in Saudi for your way the intersection is completely reserved for your line,you can go straight or to the left or right without yielding,all the other three intersecting ways are red.
though some intersections in saudi are operated by opposites at a time,so for two opposite ways,it turns green to go straight only,then it turn red,after that it turns green to turn left only for both ways,so at any given green,all vehicles do not intersect paths.
while in the US,its a blend of both,when it turns green,u can go straight and turn left after yielding and making sure the opposite way is clear of cars that are not coming through.
personally after driving in the US for a year,i still get confused at traffic lights in the US and think if its my right of way or should i stop for the others to past first.
-You dont have to pay for receiving calls or texts,YES! its included in your monthly subscription fee,which is 30 Riyals (~9 US$)
for My saudi readers,in the US,you have to pay for every minute of usage,regardless who is the caller,and same goes to receiving text MSG's,you have to pay for each SMS sent and received.
-Banks are much softer on its clients than the nicest bank ive dealt with in the US,they dont charge you for cashing a check(at least i think!),or on money orders,they dont charge you for receiving a transfer,and most importantly,OVER DRAFT protection doesnt exist,yes,it might taste bitter that your transaction gets rejected because you dont have sufficient funds,but trust me,its alot more bitter to know that for every transaction you do when your account is empty,you are being charged 35$ EACH TIME.
-You can withdraw money from any given ATM in the street at any given time for free,there is no charge if you withdraw money from an ATM that does not belong to the bank that holds your account!
-Compared to North Carolina at least,you can buy freshly squeezed Juice from nearly any restaurant,which is something i realized is very hard to find in NC,and further more expensive,a cup of freshly squeezed orange juice might cost you up to 3.50 US$,while in Riyadh and Jeddah,there are Shoppes and drive through kiosks that sell freshly squeezed juices on the spot,and guess what,up to 16 ounces (0.5 liters) is for 5 riyals top. more over, in riyadh,there are Giant shops that sell fresh juices only,and they have over 100 blends and smoothies of all kinds of fruits,which are served in different sizes.
-for early birds and morning people,breakfast shops (mainly the traditional ones) open as early as 4 am in the morning in saudi arabia,or to be more accurate,after Fajr prayer,stores like Qarmooshi and Abuzaid which sell Foul and Tamees (Beans and Flat bread) and Ma'asoob (which is ground bananas with bread,sugar and shortening).
-Freshly baked bread,in Saudi,u can go straight to the Oven and pick up the bread right out from the furnace,and package it your self,one thing i must say though,usually by the time you arrive home,half the bread is already ingested by you,yes,its THAT yummy when its fresh.
while in the US,even in bakeries everything is packaged and bar coded like every other product in the supermarkets.
-People remain more courteous toward strangers in saudi than ive seen in the US,yes Americans are definitly more friendly to talk to while on the bus or the subway,while people in saudi are not,but when you are in need of help,like when your car stops working and need someone to give a push,or if you suddenly fell in the street and got injured,you always will find someone who will come and help you.
now i dont mean that in the US they dont exist,they do,but ive noticed that alot of people rather stay away due to fear that this person might be drunk or a troublesome person like a gangster or something,which is totally understandable as US street crimes are much higher than in Saudi Arabia.
i only realized those things after i actually arrived to Saudi Arabia and noticed them,i did not state the very obvious stuff like Al-Baik or umm..well,its only Al-Baik.
what about you,is there something you didn't know you will miss about Saudi Arabia and only realized that you actually did after you came back?
so i made a list of the things that came to my mind for now,i might add more later:
- Luggage carts are actually free!
yup! you dont have to pay 3 dollars every time you take a cart for less than twenty minute of use,you can take it for free!
-Gas is so cheap,you never have to worry about topping your cars tank,a full tank doesn't cost you more than 10 dollars maximum for a medium size sedan.
-Streets in Saudi are so well lit at night,u barely need to use the head lights to light your way when you drive at night,in fact,i only turned them on for safety reasons like to be visible in the rear view of other vehicles.
-Streets in Saudi are pretty wide,and in some areas they are wider than the widest street ive seen anywhere ive been.
-Speed limits in Saudi are high,ive never seen a single street or road or even a highway within north carolina that goes over 70 Miles per hour which is equal 112 km/h,and the only part that goes up to 70 is a long stretch in I-85 between North Carolina and Virginia,while ive seen many areas in riyadh,like the ring road that is connects the airport to the city where the speed limit is 120 km/h which is 74.5 miles/h,so i was kinda shocked to know that i was actually driving pretty fast even when i am following the speed limits.
and just to let you know,the norm is that people drive 140 km/h (87 Miles/h) in areas where the limit is 120 km/h.. and of course,some go even faster.
-Traffic lights are different in Saudi and US,at an intersection,when its green in Saudi for your way the intersection is completely reserved for your line,you can go straight or to the left or right without yielding,all the other three intersecting ways are red.
though some intersections in saudi are operated by opposites at a time,so for two opposite ways,it turns green to go straight only,then it turn red,after that it turns green to turn left only for both ways,so at any given green,all vehicles do not intersect paths.
while in the US,its a blend of both,when it turns green,u can go straight and turn left after yielding and making sure the opposite way is clear of cars that are not coming through.
personally after driving in the US for a year,i still get confused at traffic lights in the US and think if its my right of way or should i stop for the others to past first.
-You dont have to pay for receiving calls or texts,YES! its included in your monthly subscription fee,which is 30 Riyals (~9 US$)
for My saudi readers,in the US,you have to pay for every minute of usage,regardless who is the caller,and same goes to receiving text MSG's,you have to pay for each SMS sent and received.
-Banks are much softer on its clients than the nicest bank ive dealt with in the US,they dont charge you for cashing a check(at least i think!),or on money orders,they dont charge you for receiving a transfer,and most importantly,OVER DRAFT protection doesnt exist,yes,it might taste bitter that your transaction gets rejected because you dont have sufficient funds,but trust me,its alot more bitter to know that for every transaction you do when your account is empty,you are being charged 35$ EACH TIME.
-You can withdraw money from any given ATM in the street at any given time for free,there is no charge if you withdraw money from an ATM that does not belong to the bank that holds your account!
-Compared to North Carolina at least,you can buy freshly squeezed Juice from nearly any restaurant,which is something i realized is very hard to find in NC,and further more expensive,a cup of freshly squeezed orange juice might cost you up to 3.50 US$,while in Riyadh and Jeddah,there are Shoppes and drive through kiosks that sell freshly squeezed juices on the spot,and guess what,up to 16 ounces (0.5 liters) is for 5 riyals top. more over, in riyadh,there are Giant shops that sell fresh juices only,and they have over 100 blends and smoothies of all kinds of fruits,which are served in different sizes.
-for early birds and morning people,breakfast shops (mainly the traditional ones) open as early as 4 am in the morning in saudi arabia,or to be more accurate,after Fajr prayer,stores like Qarmooshi and Abuzaid which sell Foul and Tamees (Beans and Flat bread) and Ma'asoob (which is ground bananas with bread,sugar and shortening).
-Freshly baked bread,in Saudi,u can go straight to the Oven and pick up the bread right out from the furnace,and package it your self,one thing i must say though,usually by the time you arrive home,half the bread is already ingested by you,yes,its THAT yummy when its fresh.
while in the US,even in bakeries everything is packaged and bar coded like every other product in the supermarkets.
-People remain more courteous toward strangers in saudi than ive seen in the US,yes Americans are definitly more friendly to talk to while on the bus or the subway,while people in saudi are not,but when you are in need of help,like when your car stops working and need someone to give a push,or if you suddenly fell in the street and got injured,you always will find someone who will come and help you.
now i dont mean that in the US they dont exist,they do,but ive noticed that alot of people rather stay away due to fear that this person might be drunk or a troublesome person like a gangster or something,which is totally understandable as US street crimes are much higher than in Saudi Arabia.
i only realized those things after i actually arrived to Saudi Arabia and noticed them,i did not state the very obvious stuff like Al-Baik or umm..well,its only Al-Baik.
what about you,is there something you didn't know you will miss about Saudi Arabia and only realized that you actually did after you came back?
Sunday, June 20, 2010
The Mitchell's
The Mitchell's by *Sonic-BooM on deviantART
This house is located in the middle of a very country-ish part of North Carolina.
Pretty nice house,all Rooms view the pool and the farm.
i would say this would be my dreamy hideout one day.
Siler City
North Carolina
2010
My Own Work,All rights Reserved.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Pandora
Labels:
music,
online radio,
Pandora
4
comments
Pandora!
ive noticed that everything that has the name pandora,has to be somthing either facsinating or hip,from Pandora's Box in the infamous God of war PS3 game,to Planet Pandora where the Nav'i inhabitants live.
but this time,i bring you somthing that is far from Myth and more into Music and the Tech era.
Ladies and Gentlemen,i present to you Pandora Online Radio,somthing that i believe will change the way how we listen,carry and even think about music.
Simple open the website,register,create a station by simply typing a songs name or an artist and the website will Brilliantly recommends the next song to you,and i tell ya,its pretty good in coming up with suggestions.
its Free,or at least its an option,there is ads in between the songs and you are limited in how many times u can skip a choice,and u are limited up to 40 hours a month,somthing the majority of the listeners barely reach.
the upgrade option,makes u listen to unlimited amount of music for an entire year for 36$ dollars,though i havent tried it,but it seems that option too limit the amount of skips,but its 6 skips an hour.
the fun part is,if you have an iPhone,iPod Touch,Blackberry,Android OS based Phone,or Even Windows OS,there is an app for Pandora and u can listen to your music on the go,instead of having to carry your MP3 with u and take up space in your handheld devices,not even on ur computer.
i believe that this is the new direction the giants of technology are going toward,as HapHazard has mentioned in his blog,there are speculations of a new Apple Device that is gonna change the way we think of music,and i believe its gonna be somthing similar to Pandora,but more of an entire package of a Device that does it all.
ive noticed that everything that has the name pandora,has to be somthing either facsinating or hip,from Pandora's Box in the infamous God of war PS3 game,to Planet Pandora where the Nav'i inhabitants live.
but this time,i bring you somthing that is far from Myth and more into Music and the Tech era.
Ladies and Gentlemen,i present to you Pandora Online Radio,somthing that i believe will change the way how we listen,carry and even think about music.
Simple open the website,register,create a station by simply typing a songs name or an artist and the website will Brilliantly recommends the next song to you,and i tell ya,its pretty good in coming up with suggestions.
its Free,or at least its an option,there is ads in between the songs and you are limited in how many times u can skip a choice,and u are limited up to 40 hours a month,somthing the majority of the listeners barely reach.
the upgrade option,makes u listen to unlimited amount of music for an entire year for 36$ dollars,though i havent tried it,but it seems that option too limit the amount of skips,but its 6 skips an hour.
the fun part is,if you have an iPhone,iPod Touch,Blackberry,Android OS based Phone,or Even Windows OS,there is an app for Pandora and u can listen to your music on the go,instead of having to carry your MP3 with u and take up space in your handheld devices,not even on ur computer.
i believe that this is the new direction the giants of technology are going toward,as HapHazard has mentioned in his blog,there are speculations of a new Apple Device that is gonna change the way we think of music,and i believe its gonna be somthing similar to Pandora,but more of an entire package of a Device that does it all.
Taqwacore
Labels:
islam,
punk,
taqwacore
0
comments
When i thought i saw the end of it all,this comes along,
i mean,really? its that another part of islam that we totally misunderstood due to historical misinterpretations of hadeeths and our scholars abusing their authority?
i must say,they are as punkish a punk band can ever be. rebelling against everything and enjoy getting opposite attention and all that,but with an audience full of veiled women? now thats new.
i mean,really? its that another part of islam that we totally misunderstood due to historical misinterpretations of hadeeths and our scholars abusing their authority?
i must say,they are as punkish a punk band can ever be. rebelling against everything and enjoy getting opposite attention and all that,but with an audience full of veiled women? now thats new.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Dedicated to Gaza..
Labels:
Gaza,
Raggae,
song
0
comments
Raggea song made by a female artist from the middle east.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Happy Birthday Mukhtar!
Labels:
birthday,
humanity
5
comments
i Know he probably doesnt know this blog even exist,but i trully wish him a happy birthday,Cos every one of us Deserve to celebrate the humanity within him.
Makes you wish u were a bus driver in Denmark.
on the other hand,arent those are the people who were muslims supposed to boycott because one of them did somthing we dont accept?
i hope one day we learn from our mistakes,all of us.
Makes you wish u were a bus driver in Denmark.
on the other hand,arent those are the people who were muslims supposed to boycott because one of them did somthing we dont accept?
i hope one day we learn from our mistakes,all of us.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
How To - View any Website as IE8+ ~ | ˌhapˈhazərd |
Labels:
Browser compatibility,
IE8,
Mac,
Safari 5
0
comments
Thanks to ~ | ˌhapˈhazərd |
Finally,Safari 5 features a service that allows you to use websites that were built specifically for interzeft exploder.
How To - View any Website as IE8+
Finally,Safari 5 features a service that allows you to use websites that were built specifically for interzeft exploder.
How To - View any Website as IE8+
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Failure..
Labels:
Failure
8
comments
~Kenneth Boudling
What does not kill me makes me stronger
~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Saturday, June 5, 2010
AT&T and the iPhone 4
Labels:
iPhone 4
0
comments
So,the WWDC is around the corner,and the hype is up the sky with expectations.
since i read about AT&T Raising the termination fees on iPhone,and i am wondering,maybe,a BIG maybe....that the new iPhone 4G will not be locked to AT&T through encryption anymore,and rather they just locked it physically by utilizing the Microsimfeature?
well,for my self i hope so,cos probably by the time i go back to Saudi,Micro Sim will be old news,and probably by then i will still be using the iPhone 4G.
What do u think?
Lets See....
*Update*
Well, iPhone 4 is out! and apparently its encrypted as the hacking folks already jailbroke iOS 4 on 3G...so it seems like the story will go on with the other phones,right now everyone say 3Gs also can be broken but it has to be already broken before you upgrade the iOS..but the iPhone 4 Remain unknown.
since i read about AT&T Raising the termination fees on iPhone,and i am wondering,maybe,a BIG maybe....that the new iPhone 4G will not be locked to AT&T through encryption anymore,and rather they just locked it physically by utilizing the Microsimfeature?
well,for my self i hope so,cos probably by the time i go back to Saudi,Micro Sim will be old news,and probably by then i will still be using the iPhone 4G.
What do u think?
Lets See....
*Update*
Well, iPhone 4 is out! and apparently its encrypted as the hacking folks already jailbroke iOS 4 on 3G...so it seems like the story will go on with the other phones,right now everyone say 3Gs also can be broken but it has to be already broken before you upgrade the iOS..but the iPhone 4 Remain unknown.
Lessons To Self,
No Matter What kinda problem or conflict happens in any house,Communication is the first only way to start fixing and repairing the damage.
- When your spouse,son,daughter or wife ask you what did i do,they are honestly asking.
- NEVER use the phrase "if you dont know what you have done wrong...."
- Avoid assumptions at any cost,talk,discuss,debate it out.
- Your Wife,husband,daughter or son, dont always do things that piss you off on purpose,and if they do,then your problem is bigger than just "he is pissing me off" so work on that.
- You Cant Change everyone around you to your suiting, its a lot easier that you learn to adopt to your loved ones nature.
- Keeping things inside you for the greater good,does more harm than good.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
الهمه
نحن كشعب....مساكين
و نرضى باقل القليل
نعيش ساكتين و اخرنا اننا "نأمل" التغيير
اذا صار...عشنا كم يوم مبسوطين
و اذا ما صار نزعل كم يوم ونرجع نقول الحمدلله نحن في نعمه
ما اتعلمنا نطالب بحقوقنا
و اذا اتجرأنا و طالبنا
بنطلب باهدى الاساليب
افتكر ايام دراستي في مصر
صالح كامل شفر كاس العالم لتلك السنه
الشارع المصري انفجر و الناس في الشوارع عملوا صجه و رجه
و النتيجه...كاس العالم مباشر على القناه الاولى و الثانيه مجانا
فكر و ثقافه الاضراب او الاعتصام
فكره تكاد تكون ممحيه من الشارع السعودي
وهنا انا لا اقصد الاضراب التخريبي او المؤذي للعامه
ولكن الاضراب الهادف
تخيلوا
المطارات في اوروبا
اقوى قوه تتحكم في المطار
هم العمال المسؤلين عن الامتعه و العفش
اذا شنطتك اتعدت الوزن المسموح ولو بنص كيلو
و الحامل رفض يحملها
ما في قوه في الدوله تقدر تجبره
لان العمال يد واحده
اذا قالوا بطلنا شغل
المطار يوقف تماما
ولذلك كل طلباتهم تنفذ
و تجد الحامل يعيش حياه كريمه
و حقوقه محفوظه
نحن اذا كان عندنا ابسط عزيمه
كان بامكاننا نغير في الوطن الكثير
يعني
لما الدكتور طارق الجهني اتوفي
كان بامكاننا نعمل اعتصام عن الذهاب الى المستشفى المعنيه و نتوقف
حتى تتم المحاسبه
وهذا ليس بمستحيل ولكن يحتاج عزيمه
يا جماعه والله و رب الكعبه
لما ارتفع سعر عصير القصب في القاهره
الناس كانت كلمتهم واحده
ماحنشرب قصب تاني
كلها ٣ ايام
و الاسعار اتخفضت تاني
المهم
زي ما قلت
نحن مساكين
شعب رضي
السعر يغلى نقول والله كتير
بس نشتري
ادمغتنا مغسوله انه التغيير هذا حصل و لا قدره لنا في تغييره
و لكن انشالله الفكر هذا لن يدوم بهمتي و همتكم
و نرضى باقل القليل
نعيش ساكتين و اخرنا اننا "نأمل" التغيير
اذا صار...عشنا كم يوم مبسوطين
و اذا ما صار نزعل كم يوم ونرجع نقول الحمدلله نحن في نعمه
ما اتعلمنا نطالب بحقوقنا
و اذا اتجرأنا و طالبنا
بنطلب باهدى الاساليب
افتكر ايام دراستي في مصر
صالح كامل شفر كاس العالم لتلك السنه
الشارع المصري انفجر و الناس في الشوارع عملوا صجه و رجه
و النتيجه...كاس العالم مباشر على القناه الاولى و الثانيه مجانا
فكر و ثقافه الاضراب او الاعتصام
فكره تكاد تكون ممحيه من الشارع السعودي
وهنا انا لا اقصد الاضراب التخريبي او المؤذي للعامه
ولكن الاضراب الهادف
تخيلوا
المطارات في اوروبا
اقوى قوه تتحكم في المطار
هم العمال المسؤلين عن الامتعه و العفش
اذا شنطتك اتعدت الوزن المسموح ولو بنص كيلو
و الحامل رفض يحملها
ما في قوه في الدوله تقدر تجبره
لان العمال يد واحده
اذا قالوا بطلنا شغل
المطار يوقف تماما
ولذلك كل طلباتهم تنفذ
و تجد الحامل يعيش حياه كريمه
و حقوقه محفوظه
نحن اذا كان عندنا ابسط عزيمه
كان بامكاننا نغير في الوطن الكثير
يعني
لما الدكتور طارق الجهني اتوفي
كان بامكاننا نعمل اعتصام عن الذهاب الى المستشفى المعنيه و نتوقف
حتى تتم المحاسبه
وهذا ليس بمستحيل ولكن يحتاج عزيمه
يا جماعه والله و رب الكعبه
لما ارتفع سعر عصير القصب في القاهره
الناس كانت كلمتهم واحده
ماحنشرب قصب تاني
كلها ٣ ايام
و الاسعار اتخفضت تاني
المهم
زي ما قلت
نحن مساكين
شعب رضي
السعر يغلى نقول والله كتير
بس نشتري
ادمغتنا مغسوله انه التغيير هذا حصل و لا قدره لنا في تغييره
و لكن انشالله الفكر هذا لن يدوم بهمتي و همتكم
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Intro
Mic Check one two..
So,my name is Dentographer,which i believe is self explanatory, being a dentist by profession,photographer by hobby,i find my self usually in between these two parameters all the time.
been a while i was thinking of starting a blog,not that i have all the writing skills and stuff..but i realized that i happen to think alot,and end up with alot of scribbles and dribbles that go through my head and may be for a change i should start writing them down.
techinically if i wanted to name this blog a proper name...i would have named it fail blog,ironically,its the state ive been feeling for a long time.
So,my name is Dentographer,which i believe is self explanatory, being a dentist by profession,photographer by hobby,i find my self usually in between these two parameters all the time.
life..is pretty wavy,it goes up the hill and down the drain in seconds,and i just wish i knew how its gonna be life for me a couple of years a head.
so yeah,me,blogging.
you Reading
may be commenting
may be not
lets see
you Reading
may be commenting
may be not
lets see
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