This year the Lighthouse Church has its annual Harvest Festival on Nov. 14 (Sat) from 9:30am-4pm.
It takes over the entire Evangelical Church compound in the city (next to the Legislative Bldg where they are doing all the construction) and is a huge indoor/outdoor bazaar.
There are many things for sale including clothing & shoes, books, household and electronic items. There is live music all day by our various church bands and children’s groups plus games and other activities for children There are also food stalls from many different nations so you could snack all day if you like. Basically, there is something for everybody.
November 6, 2009
Posted by intlxpatr |
Arts & Handicrafts, Events, ExPat Life, Kuwait, Marketing, Shopping |
4 Comments
This ad is on top of my AOL mail account today:
I think this is SO clever.
November 5, 2009
Posted by intlxpatr |
Community, Cultural, Entertainment, Humor, Living Conditions, Marketing |
5 Comments
Today, on my way home from a marathon-fun day, even though it was full of errands, I got to thinking great thoughts – in my car. Some of my best ideas come when I am sitting in traffic, something about the enforced nothing-to-do frees up my unconscious to tackle things I don’t otherwise think about.
One of the things I was thinking about was what, when I studied it, was called The Decision Making Process. It’s something you study in Political Science, and, although I can’t say this for sure because I haven’t specialized in these other areas, I am betting you would also study the process in Business, in Economics, in Engineering . . . when you know the process by which decisions are made, so the theory goes, you can get better at predicting how the decision making will go, what people will decide.
Or so the theory goes. . .
My personal observation is that human beings are highly unpredictable, and sometimes will make an opposite decision, even an irrational decision, in order not to be so predictable. I hate to be so cynical, but I think we are not so rational as we like to think we are.
In my Kuwait life, I remember being at a not-so-important meeting, more just a gathering, but at one point, I saw four people – influential people – meeting off in a corner, very casually, probably no one else even noticed, but they were deciding an outcome of an election, I realized later that day. OOps – not THE Kuwait election, my friends, no no no, a much lesser election. But that was where the decision was really made. These four quiet people were people who had the respect of others, and once they decided, they quietly shared their opinion with others, who shared their opinion with others and on it went, until the deed was done.
I have seen decisions made in a swimming pool. I know decisions are made on golf courses. I was hired for one job once after attending a concert, and for another because I had a responsible position in my church (it had nothing to do with the job I was hired for, but the skills were transferable.) I was hired once because my hair and eyes matched another woman working in the front office, and the boss wanted a “matched pair.” (I didn’t know that until later.)
I know that at one time AdventureMan helped lay out a military base. He said they were in a truck, and as they drove along someone dropped big stones out the back to mark the boundaries. Don’t you love it?
Gulf women tell me that weddings are important; young women are often spotted by future mother-in-laws, so moms try to make sure that their daughters are well appointed for major weddings, major events where they may be on display . . . and then they ask around checking on character and personality and suitability. But I wonder on what basis those decisions are really made, deep down? Family alliances? Securing a future? Business connections? I know there are rare alliances based on true and lasting love; I wonder how often that happens?
I know there are matrixes, and even simple two-column + – lists by which people can rationally work out what to decide. What I am cynical about – after all the matrixes are filled out, after all the plusses and minuses are totaled – I think that the decision can go counter to rationality, because we are – if not irrational – then intuitive, we are people who make decisions with other than our conscious minds. I think our hearts get involved, and you KNOW that feelings/emotions get involved. Sometimes we have “a gut feeling”; sometimes we know something on an unconscious level that we don’t know on a conscious level. If we all acted in our own rational self interest, there would not be young drivers dying on our roads, people would not be irrationally exuberant about investments, young people would not fall in love with the wrong people and life would sure a lot more dull, wouldn’t it?
I am cynical even about decisions made at the highest levels, because even decisions made by boards and after studies – even these decisions are ultimately based by human beings, and sometimes on “hunches.”
So I am wondering if YOU have had similar experiences? Have you seen major decisions made irrationally?
All this because I was stuck in traffic . . . .
October 20, 2009
Posted by intlxpatr |
Character, Community, Cultural, ExPat Life, Financial Issues, Friends & Friendship, Kuwait, Leadership, Living Conditions, Marketing, Mating Behavior, Technical Issue, Work Related Issues |
4 Comments
I’ve written before about The Apple Market in Pensacola, but on this trip, I had a thrill – the Apple Market has grown. The aisles are wider now. They still have an incredible variety of things that are available, but their ready-prepared food section has grown, they have a separate coffee section – the whole place is larger and more spacious, but still neighborly and friendly. I love that place.
September 15, 2009
Posted by intlxpatr |
ExPat Life, Florida, Food, Living Conditions, Marketing, Shopping |
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Just looking at these photos, it would be easy to think I was still in Seattle. It gave me a big grin. The rest of my group were still shopping, so I took a few “not-Seattle” shots:
Look! Salmon!
Trout!
Looks pretty PWN to me, except maybe he needs a sweatshirt!
OK, here’s your big clue:
And here is where we ate really good Chinese food (no, sorry, no photos!)
We had spring rolls and crab wontons, then Hunan Beef, Orange Shrimp, Dali Chicken and Cashew Chicken with steaming hot green tea. After Iftar, you can read P.F. Chang’s Menu here. 🙂
September 14, 2009
Posted by intlxpatr |
Eating Out, Entertainment, ExPat Life, Food, Marketing, Shopping |
4 Comments
“I’ve never been to Ocean Shores!” my Mom says brightly. (I know what is coming.) “Have you ever been to Ocean Shores?”
Yes. oh yes. When I was at university, we would all rent a big chalet during Spring Vacation.
“Yeh . . . I don’t remember it being that great,” I reply.
She didn’t mention it again, but I knew she wanted to go, so yesterday we decided to take an excursion to go to Ocean Shores.
I remember back when there seemed to be a lot of (generated) excitement about Ocean Shores. It’s like someone had bought this big hunk of land and wanted to develop it and started making it sound like if you don’t buy a vacation lot at Ocean Shores, you are going to be really really sorry because ALL YOUR FRIENDS ARE GOING TO BE THERE!
I think mostly it was cold and rainy when we were there during Spring Break. What I remember the best was my friends taught me how to make a casserole out of taco chips and ground beef and taco sauce, with grated cheddar cheese. It tastes really good (all that salt) and it probably has zero redeeming nutritional value.
Holding that memory dear, after Mom and I toured the big nothing that is most of Ocean Shores (the entire “north beach” coast is pretty undeveloped, very old timey, honestly, I love it) and visited a schlock-shop, oops, tourist shop, so Mom could spend a little money, we found Las Maracas, which actually served very decent Mexican chow.
No, I didn’t drink beer – I’m driving, remember? And Mom would just fall asleep if she had a beer at noon.
I put my camera on the table so I would remember to take food photos, but not before I had taken a couple ‘location’ shots:
Someone had a ball with the upholstery:
And then the nacho chips came:
The servers yell “Salsa, por favor!” into the kitchen, and determinedly call us “Senyora” or “Senyoras,” out on this remote Washington State coastal resort area.
And then I totally forgot the camera on the table because my seafood tostada came, and it was so unbelievably delicious – shrimp, crab, fish – that I ate it all and then said “oh no! I forgot to take photos!”
Mom was still picking through her Camarones al mojo de ajo, so I got a shot of that:
This restaurant was worth the drive to Ocean Shores.
September 5, 2009
Posted by intlxpatr |
Cross Cultural, Cultural, Customer Service, Eating Out, Entertainment, ExPat Life, Family Issues, Food, Living Conditions, Local Lore, Marketing |
4 Comments
The Edmonds Market is one of my favorite things in my hometown, just north of Seattle. Street vendors set up early, and by nine in the morning the market is already going strong. I like to get there early, to get a good choice and – to get a parking space.
It was a wonderful, cool, cloudy morning, but there was no rain. I stopped at Celebrations, a bakery/catering booth, and bought chocolate covered brownies for a gathering later in the day, and an orange/cinnamon roll for my own sinful indulgence. (It was sticky and wonderful!)
All of the people photographed here gave permission for their photos:
The honey man who mixes all his own honeys and brings his bees to pollinate crops for various farmers:
The relish makers – a variety of homemade chutneys, condiments, relishes, made by them from herbs and vegetables they grow:
This lady sells wonderful lotions in divine fragrances – sandlewood, ginger and lime, etc.
This woman and her daughter knit and crochet darling little clothes for babies!
I found these wonderful squash / pumpkins:
There are all kinds of vendors selling flowers, at wonderful prices:
Just outside the Edmonds Street Market is the gazebo round-about, and every now and then, some kids think it hysterically funny to pour a little detergent into it, making it bubble over:
There is a Starbucks by the fountain, with several tables outside to accommodate dog walking patrons:
August 30, 2009
Posted by intlxpatr |
Arts & Handicrafts, Community, Cultural, ExPat Life, Food, Living Conditions, Marketing, Seattle, Shopping, Travel |
7 Comments
10 Cities Facing The Next Real Estate Bust
Rick Newman, U.S. News & World Report
From AOL News: Real Estate
The worst of the housing bust might finally be over, but another real estate tsunami is about to swamp many American cities. This time, it will be office buildings and retail space going vacant and facing foreclosure.
Like housing, commercial real estate goes through booms and busts, and the coming wipeout is likely to be a doozy. Commercial developers went on their own spending spree earlier this decade, racing to cash in on the hot economy with new office towers, hotel complexes, and retail projects. Banks supplied hundreds of billions of dollars in loans, often assuming that rents paid by tenants would keep going up. “The assumption was that the good times would go on forever,” says Victor Calanog, director of research for REIS, a real-estate-research firm.
If that mistaken assumption sounds familiar, so will the ramifications. Instead of going up, commercial rents have begun to plunge as companies downsize, warehouses empty, merchants go out of business, and huge retailers like Starbucks and Macy’s close underperforming stores and demand rent reductions. Office and retail vacancy rates are near record levels and going higher, and developers are about to face crunch time as billions in loans come due for repayment or refinancing over the next three years. Like homeowners who are “under water” on their mortgages, many of those developers owe more than their buildings are now worth.
The commercial crunch won’t hit consumers as directly as the housing bust, but they’ll still feel it. A resurgence in construction spending is often the springboard out of a recession, but in dozens of overbuilt areas, it won’t be. Many shopping centers could close completely. Urban development projects have been put on hold or canceled, giving blight a reprieve instead of chasing it out of town. As many as 3,000 banks may face significant losses on commercial real estate loans, according to economist Gary Shilling, which could crimp other lending and even threaten the banks’ solvency as losses start to pile up.
To determine which cities are most vulnerable, U.S. News analyzed data from REIS covering retail and office vacancy rates in the 79 biggest metro areas. At our request, REIS combined its retail and office data into a single commercial vacancy rate for each city, for several time periods. The research firm also provided its 2010 projections for each city.
To gauge the impact on each city over the coming year, we measured the difference between the commercial vacancy rate in 2008 and the projected rate in 2010. So the cities that landed on our list won’t necessarily have the highest vacancy rates next year, but they’ll experience the biggest increase over a two-year period. In most of these cities, commercial real estate woes are likely to hamper a recovery. In a few, they’ll compound a set of problems that’s already profound. Here’s where the next real estate bust is likely to hit hardest:
In Las Vegas (above), the real estate market could go from bad to worse, while Charleston (below) has been relatively stable until recently.
Las Vegas (projected commercial vacancy rate, 2010: 18.1 percent, up 6.8 percentage points from 2008). What happens in Vegas depends on the rest of the American economy, and until Americans start to feel wealthy again, travel (and gambling) budgets will remain crimped. Southern Nevada already suffers from one of the worst housing busts in the nation and a 12.3 percent unemployment rate. Vegas had a hot hand earlier this decade, which led to lots of commercial construction. But nearly one fifth of Sin City’s commercial space will stay vacant until tourists, conventioneers, and their cash start to return.
Baltimore (15.8 percent, up 6.5 points). Several large universities and proximity to recession-resistant Washington, D.C., have propped up Baltimore’s economy, but the city is still exposed to many economic strains. With the nation’s retail sector in a tailspin, shipments in and out of the Port of Baltimore have tanked, leaving acres of vacant warehouses. Other development programs have stalled as businesses have cut back on spending. Mayor Sheila Dixon has also been indicted for suspicious dealings with area developers, casting a pall over Baltimore’s business climate.
Detroit (24.8 percent, up 6.3 points). What else could go wrong in Motor City? Two of the area’s biggest employers, General Motors and Chrysler, declared bankruptcy this year, and the whole auto industry is undergoing severe cutbacks amid the biggest sales plunge in decades. So many companies have left Detroit that there’s barely a rush hour in this once bustling metropolis. If there’s any good news, it’s that prime office space is cheap: Rents have fallen eight years in a row and are likely to drop an additional 13 percent through 2010, according to REIS.
San Bernardino/Riverside, Calif. (15.9 percent, up 6.3 points). The availability of land once made Southern California’s “inland empire” a housing hotbed, with hundreds of mortgage brokers and a booming retail sector. No more. A vicious housing bust could ultimately drive home prices down 65 percent from peak values, and the unemployment rate could hit 16 percent next year. That’s knocked many of the mortgage brokers out of business and devastated the area’s ubiquitous strip malls. Even government jobs have been disappearing, thanks to California’s budget crisis.
Hartford, Conn. (20.2 percent, up 6 points). A recent survey identified Hartford as one of the first cities to bounce back from the recession, but local economists are doubtful. Many of the city’s insurance firms have slashed jobs in response to the financial meltdown. Aircraft-engine maker Pratt & Whitney may close two local plants, and the Obama administration’s push to end production of the F-22 fighter jet would hurt defense contractors in the area. With little new construction over the past year, most of the increase in vacancies is coming from businesses scaling back or shuttering their operations completely.
Dayton, Ohio (22.8 percent, up 5.9 points). After 125 years in Dayton, NCR is closing up its headquarters and moving to Georgia, taking 1,300 jobs with it and leaving more than a million square feet of office space behind. The collapse of the auto industry has also hurt the area, with several local parts suppliers dependent upon the Detroit automakers. In a survey of the 100 biggest cities, the Brookings Institution ranks Dayton near the bottom in terms of lost jobs and economic output.
New York (12 percent, up 5.9 points). Those lavish Wall Street bonuses you’ve been hearing about are going to a lot fewer bankers. The financial industry, Manhattan’s mainstay, has contracted by about 7 percent over the past year. Other industries have lost even more jobs, causing a sharp reversal in what used to be one of the world’s hottest real estate markets. Office rents skyrocketed in 2006 and 2007, when Wall Street was at its peak, but REIS expects them to fall 28 percent between 2008 and 2010. REIS’s vacancy data for New York include only office space, so the combined vacancy rate including retail space is probably higher than 12 percent.
Charleston, S.C. (16.6 percent, up 5.8 points). The antebellum charm has worn thin as this low-country mecca hopes for tourists to return and trade at its port to pick up. Several ambitious downtown hotel and redevelopment projects have stalled while developers wait for the economy to revive. Elsewhere in the state, manufacturing, retail, and construction companies have shed thousands of jobs, many of them gone for good. When not addressing his extramarital affair, Gov. Mark Sanford attempts to woo new businesses to the state.
Tacoma, Wash. (13.6 percent, up 5.8 points). Shipments are down at the city’s port, one of the nation’s biggest, which has left warehouses vacant and hammered the many area businesses that depend on trade. And many of the region’s most prominent companies, including Microsoft, Boeing, Starbucks, and Washington Mutual — taken over last year by JPMorgan Chase — have been laying off workers, helping push Tacoma’s unemployment rate higher than the state average.
New Haven, Conn. (17.2 percent, up 5.8 points). Education and healthcare have helped stabilize New Haven’s economy, but even Yale University has scaled back development plans and laid off workers, after its famed endowment dropped by $6 billion because of market losses. And a long-term shift away from manufacturing toward financial services and other white-collar industries has left the city exposed to the financial meltdown. That means New Haven’s recovery will probably lag the nation’s.
August 29, 2009
Posted by intlxpatr |
Financial Issues, Interconnected, Living Conditions, Marketing, Technical Issue, Work Related Issues |
7 Comments
I save space in my suitcases for special coffee blends I can’t get in Doha – like Gazebo blend. This Starbucks had TWO bags! As I was paying for all the coffee – after I had taken the photos – I still had my camera in my hand and the barista said “Oh! Starbucks has a strict no photo policy!”
I said “I did not know that!” and I did not take any more photos. No one has ever stopped me from taking photos in the Starbucks. Never! And no one has ever said anything!
Here is a blend from back when we used to go to the Starbucks – the only Starbucks – at the Pike Place Market. This was around the time the Seattle Champber of Commerce wanted to tear the market down to make way for downtown development. 😦 Thank God, that was roundly defeated – it is such a draw to downtown Seattle, now.
When you buy this coffee, a dollar of your purchase for each bag goes directly to African charities:
Some specialty coffee displays:
New Seattle travel cups:
And – coming soon – one of my very favorite Starbucks drinks, Pumpkin Spice coffee. 🙂
Whether you love Starbucks or hate Starbucks, you’ve got to admire their marketing genius.
August 28, 2009
Posted by intlxpatr |
ExPat Life, Hot drinks, Living Conditions, Marketing, Seattle, Shopping |
2 Comments
In a housing market many feel is near the bottom, there are some good deals available. Before you go looking, you may want to take a look at this tongue-in-cheek translation of what the agents are REALLY saying in their online ads:
Homebuyer’s translator
From AOL News: Real Estate
You can read the entire article from which this is excerpted by clicking on the blue type above.
Boyd, a past president of the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents, or NAEBA, was so amused by these codified euphemisms that he compiled a translation guide with the help of NAEBA members nationwide.
For example, he cites the commonly used term “cozy” and says the connotation to savvy Realtors is that there isn’t much space in the house.
“It triggers the Henny Youngman in us: ‘This house is so small that you have to go outside to change your mind,'” Boyd says.
Boyd says that although some of these phrases can be taken to extremes, a little hyperbole is not necessarily a bad thing for buyers.
“I would rather take the time to show a buyer an extra five houses that they don’t want because it’s too cozy or smells bad or whatever so that the buyer has a better reference on what they are getting and the compromises to make on the house they do choose,” he says.
The industry acronyms he’s more worried about these days are “BATVAI” and “IDRBNG,” which stand for “buyer’s agent to verify all information” and “information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.”
“We’re seeing more and more of those listings now,” says Boyd. “The idea is that the listing office doesn’t want to take responsibility for actually measuring the property or adequately describing it.
“Sometimes, they don’t even visit the property. They just put down the information from the assessor’s records and put it on the market and say it’s the buyer’s agent’s problem to verify it.”
They include:
* Grandma’s house: Realtors interpret this to mean a) the house hasn’t been updated since Grandma moved in or b) it still smells like Grandma.
* Great potential: The operative word here is “potential.” The “potential” in one case pointed to the fact that there was a large crack through the center of the foundation caused by an earthquake.
* Light and bright: Bring your sunglasses because everything in this baby will be white: walls, cabinets, tile. Where have you seen this before? Oh yeah, the hospital.
* Meticulously maintained: It could mean the owners never bothered to update the property. Maintenance is admirable for plumbing and HVAC, not so much for cabinets, carpets and windows.
* Mile to the beach as the seagull flies: And you’ll wish you had wings. Those straight-line calculations can mean some pesky traffic lies between you and the lifeguard shack.
* Needs TLC: You may freely substitute “OMG” for “TLC” here. Boyd says the phrase “TLC” often means the house has been abused and requires more than mere redecorating. “The average homebuyer who sees HGTV a couple times before they go looking is not sensitive to that,” he says.
* Newer furnace and AC: “Newer” has a certain “truthiness” to it. In one case, both units were 25 years old. When the listing agent was asked why she made such an audacious claim, she replied, “Because each one of them had received a new part within the last year.”
* Retro decor: It’s ’60s flashback time. Can you dig the original paisley vinyl floors and avocado appliances, man? Groovy!
* This house just had a total facelift: Loosely translated, it means the seller painted everything. But paint, like a facelift, can only hide so much.
* This house will go fast: Might have been believable in the first 30 days on the market, but not anymore. One home with this description had been on the market 247 days.
* Turnkey: Meaning they don’t want to have to haul away all that orange-and-brown-plaid-polyester-covered furniture.
* Very bright, sunny home: Often true because there’s not a tree in sight.
* Water view: Of course, you’ll need to stand on the upper deck railing and crane your neck. With binoculars. On an extremely clear day.
August 24, 2009
Posted by intlxpatr |
Cultural, Customer Service, Financial Issues, Marketing, Shopping, Work Related Issues |
3 Comments
Here There and Everywhere 