Posted in Uncategorized by Administrator on the September 30th, 2008
The US stock market had one of its biggest drops in history yesterday. I think this is a good illustration of why it is sheer folly for the government of a supposedly free market society to directly intervene in financial affairs. The Feds are behaving like socialists of commies, for God’s sake. 30 years ago if the government talked about bailouts and buyouts, people would have started screaming about commie influence. Naturally many advocates of a free market economy would like to see a Fed bailout because they’s like the Fed’s to throw them some cash. And of course our financial inclinations are largely determined by our own pocketbooks, so the average investor would like to see a bailout because currently he’s hemorrhaging money. We need to bear in mind, however, that the financial industry is not some mysterious vaccum into which money is sucked. Rather, finance is a zero-sum equation. Specifically, when somebody loses money, somebody else makes money. When somebody buys, somebody else sells. So while the average investor is hemorrhaging money, a lot of speculators made a mint yesterday. And we should look more closely at the presmises of a Fed bailout. Because finance is a zero-sum equation, somebody is making money, and somebody is losing money. So, were a bailout to occur, that would mean that mortgage lenders and insolvent banks would get funds. And it would mean that the US taxpayer would be handing the funds to them. This is a simplistic description but essentially the crux of the situation. So, as always with Mr Loco’s ideas, the Big Boys are making and everyone else is losing. This God-awful war in Iraq is another example; oil and defense interests are making a fortune, while the US taxpayer is funding the expedition. Anyway the Cheetahhhhhhh needs to eat some breakfast and is sick of standing on a soap box, so I will end it there.
On a more personal note, we found a wonderful, deserted beach outside of RAK, heading toward Sharjah and Dubai. The Bug loves it because there are many tidal pools with hermit crabs and shells.
Posted in Uncategorized by Administrator on the September 27th, 2008
Added a link don below to my sister’s new blog.
It’s day #2 of my 9 day vacation and I’m loving it. As is my want during vacation, I have few plans and do little. There is a great book about colonial Kenya called The Flame Trees of Thika. One of my absolute favorite books. Anyway one day the characters are all talking together about what they would ideally do, if they could. The hero, named Ian, says that if he could do anything he wanted, he would do nothing. Well, the Cheetahhhhhhh is not precisely an Ian, but when you think about it, doing nothing is actually a great luxury, and is actually quite expensive. I.e., you need a lot of cash in the bank to properly do nothing. The sum of this anecdote is I’m doing very little and enjoying it.
My mom brought me my new Amazon Kindle digital reader from the States. I ordered it a few months ago and have been anxiously awaiting it. I’ve had it for a week now and love it. I also have a Sony reader, and it’s fine actually, but the Sony library is very small. The Kindle library is huge and this week I have been reading a lot of books that have been unavailable to me. One of my favorite series of novels is the Black Company by Glen Cook. This series of novels actually has quite a cult following. Like most fantasy novels, you have to suspend your disbelief a bit and get into the magical world. The series is as rewarding as Tolkein after you get into it. Anyway for 2 years now, I have been unable to get the middle two books of the series. I read them on my Kindle this week and a lot of unanswered questions have finally been resolved.
Posted in Uncategorized by Administrator on the September 25th, 2008
The Cheetahhhhhhh is on Ramadan vacation now, for 9 days. Quite pleased about that.
Sorry to get all on a soap box in my last post. I get really annoyed when the government screws with me. One of the nice things about being an expat is I’m almost immune to being screwed with by the Feds. I am, however, invested in the US economy and this financial bailout scheme has made the US stock market into a big monkey pit, which screwed with me. Or at least, I perceive it as such. And it is impossible to invest sensibly if Uncle Sam is being all heavy-handed. What ever became of free market economics, eh? But actually what happened is, Uncle Sam accounced the financial bailout last Friday, and the stock market roared ahead, crossing the hedging line where I would start to lose money. So like any sensible investor, I immediately cut my losses short, and sold my iron condor position, losing $600. I don’t regret doing this because it was the only sensible thing to do at the time. It turns out, however, if I would have waited a day or two, the market plunged right back down, and my position would have been profitable again. Which goes to show, even Uncle Sam can’t mess too much with the stock market. I will say this, however. Anyone who pays any attention to finance has been well aware that the real estate bubble would collapse. I am not a brain bank, but I was warning people 3 years ago. Indeed I discussed it many times right here in this blog. So I find it preposterous that now Mr Loco (our president) decides there’s a crisis and something needs to be done. A little late, buddy. A little damn late.
We don’t have a lot of plans for this holiday, primarily because we spent a fortune settling down here and I’m none too keen to part with cash for anything new, like a vacation. However I imagine we will make an excursion to Dubai, and my mom is going to come visit us from Muscat.
Posted in Uncategorized by Administrator on the September 22nd, 2008
I have always voted for the Democratic Party, God bless ‘em, I’ve even voted for them when I didn’t particularly care for the candidate. For example I was a Hillary supporter, but I guess Obamba will get my vote. Philosophically, however, I am a Libertarian. I don’t bother to vote for them for obvious reasons (and if it’s not obvious to my non-American readers, well, I really don’t want to spend an hour explaining why) but my true sentiment is Libertarian. As such I believe the government should keep their damn noses out of our affairs. I will concede a few issues like law enforcement, but otherwise, I really believe less is more. For example, I do not actually recognize Uncle Sam’s right to tax us. I pay him just because it’s less trouble for me, but if he bothered to ask my opinion, I would say, “No, Sam, this is not your money, and when you try to tax my labor, you effectively make me a leaser of my own body and F that, you can kiss my ass.” Yep. That’s what I’d say. Not that Uncle Sam has ever troubled to enquire, but yes, I do indeed assert sovereignty over my own body and labor. Or property tax. I have to contribute a few hundred pesos to Gloria in the Philippines, and this effectively makes me a leaser of my own land. If Gloria bothered to enquire, which she hasn’t, I would assert sovereignty over my own land. As things stand, I will give Gloria a few pesos because it’s less trouble for me. But you all know where I stand on the issue.
Anyway for those of you who follow financial markets, the government has announced a massive bailout of the financial industry, amounting to billions of dollars of my tax money. For one thing, I don’t particularly feel like contributing to FannyMae etc. For another thing, this has produced a massive rally in the stock market.
Now, for proper investors who do their due diligence, and with ample evidence and research, make an investment in a clearly declining market, it is quite unfortunate when the government decides to toss around money and artificially influence events. I’m not just speaking of the fact that Uncle Sam caused me to lose $600, though to be frank, I’m a bit peeved about that. But que sera sera, I’ll make it back another day. I’m speaking more particularly of how it is actually necessary for Darwinian financial events to unfold, such as FannyMae collapsing etc, or the stock market tumbling. I’m not sure it’s a good idea for the government to hold massive shares of investment banks etc. I’m even less sure that it’s a good idea for the government to bail out failed mortgage lenders, because it was their own stupidity that got them into this mess. But here’s my real gripe. I really don’t think the government should be exerting such massive influence over the stock market. Uncle Sam’s got no business there. And if he didn’t stick his grimy mug into my affairs, I would almost certainly have made a lot of money this month.
Posted in Uncategorized by Administrator on the September 17th, 2008
My mom is on her way to visit us from Muscat. I am mildly concerned about her ability to handle Arab drivers. Granted, the drivers here are quite orderly compared to Saudi. Nevertheless it can get hairy. I remember when I went home to the States last Christmas. One of the first things that surprised me was how slow and orderly our traffic is in the USA. People use common sense like don’t follow 2 inches behind the next car, and they drive at a reasonable pace, fancy that! Anyway assuming my mom makes it here in one piece, we will show her around and let her play with her grandson.
We have engaged a part-time nanny for the Bug. We’ll start using her soon, though actually it has been so long since Vanessa and I could actually go out and do anything, we’re almost at a loss for what to do. I want to go golfing and see a movie… it would also be nice to go to restaurants and actually be able to relax and have a nice time. (At the moment, 90% of our energy in any public location is consumed by trying to keep a handle on the Bug.)
My job is a bit exhausting. I have to actually teach these kids. I managed to get really lazy in Saudi, where everything was pretend. I’d almost forgotten what a real day of work was like, actually. Teaching can be quite exhausting, which is part of the reason we get lots of vacation. I have an advanced writing class and I have set them to writing a children’s story. After 55 minutes I was literally beat, and came home and collapsed on the couch. When you consider that in Saudi I barely worked and made a grand a month more, you might think I’m displeased with my circumstances. Actually not. It’s nice to actually practice my profession. I don’t feel that incidious never-ending malaise any more. And actually I was not pleased in the morning, in Saudi, when I had to go to the office. Now I have no complaints.
We thought we had gotten Bug to agree to wear his clothes, but apparently not, he’s spent the day naked and has peed everywhere, including on his mother. We read on the web that this is common with toddlers and that it’s best not to make a big fuss about it, and eventually he’ll forget he wants to be naked. I hope this advice works with Bug. We’re just trying to ignore it. Maybe tomorrow he’ll agree to put on his pampers. It’s a little ridiculous to have to try to negotiate with a toddler, what the hell is that about? However he is a strong and big boy and if he really doesn’t want to wear a diaper, he’ll just throw an hour-long tantrum and rip it off. So we have to gain his acceptance before he’ll wear a diaper. This is something I never anticipated about fatherhood. Once or twice I just grabbed him and shoved it on. This didn’t work out well. Blunt fact is, if a toddler really doesn’t want to do something, good luck.
Posted in Uncategorized by Administrator on the September 17th, 2008
I’m in my office here at the uni. I have a very nice office I might note. Van said she’s going to decorate it for me, which will be nice considering I will be spending a lot of time here. I am not one for office decoration myself. Indeed if I wasn’t married to Vanessa, the office would undoubtedly go completely undecorated for 3 years. In Saudi the only remarkable thing at my desk was a Green Bay Packers schedule on the wall. In Korea I never even attended my office, and when I left, there was a good inch of dust on everything, which I found very funny at the time. I suppose my indifference to workplace decoration reflects a mercenary attitude; I view work as a place for the generation of cash, and little else. Is this mercenary or realistic? Hard to say. This is not to imply that I don’t try to be a good teacher or improve myself professionally or anything like that; indeed nobody has every suggested the Cheetahhhhhhh is anything but competent. However I like to stay firmly grounded in reality, by which I mean the big picture, and the big picture is we work for money, and so I stay in my office precisely as long as necessary and not a minute more, and the corollary to all this is it would generally never even occur to me to decorate my office. However I brought Van and the Bug by the other day and Van decided it needed decorating, God bless her, and I suppose that will be nice.
We’re all moved in to our new apartment. It’s quite nice. Mainly I like it because there is lots of space. I hate being cramped. This is one thing that makes me a little crazy at our home in Capoocan; it’s too small and there are too many people around. If I buy another house in Capoocan, it will be simply because this Cheetahhhhhhh needs a little space. Anyway our living room is the big hit with me, the combination of leather couch and HDTV is a good one. I’m on my way to becoming a couch potato. Yesterday Van did some more decorating, curtains and the like. I’m trying to pace her decorating schemes because it’s expensive and I have no desire to spend any more cash.
Actually the UAE is a bit more expensive than the States, I’d say, maybe 5-10% more. This is a big switch after Saudi, which was about 15% cheaper. The grocery bill is always a good way to eyeball the cost of living if you’re an expat. The Economist magazine calls this the Big Mac economic survey and it’s actually quite an accurate and simple way to determine your cost of living. Anyway a week of groceries in Saudi was about $120. Here it’s about $150 or so. We could eat a lot cheaper if we wanted to. For example we drink lemonade imported from the States and it’s $5 a carton, which is ridiculous for lemonade when you think about it, but we like it. If I complain about costs, Vanessa always reminds me that she’s Filipino and quite capable of subsisting on rice and eggs.
Gas is actually a lot more expensive here. IN Saudi it was so cheap, you didn’t even consider it. Here is is an actual expense. Filling my rental Toyota Yaris is AED50, which is about $12. Because gas actually costs money here, we are once again conserving power in the house. In Saudi we never turned anything off. I know that gas is pushing $3 in the States and twice that in Europe, so I know most of my readers are muttering to themselves that I have nothing to complain about.
I have my academic year schedule now and we have an extended holiday in January. Not sure what we’ll actually do yet. Also I am done with work on May 26, which is nice, I have a 3 month summer holiday now instead of 2.
Posted in Uncategorized by Administrator on the September 5th, 2008
The Bug got his first spanking today. I have mentioned previously that we can’t do a damn thing because we have a toddler. Sometimes life gets a little boring. Luckily we generally manage to amuse ourselves but today we were all getting a little stir crazy staring at the 4 walls of our room here at the Hilton. We went to the terrace restaurant, which is quite nice, with a good view of the bay and the lights. Also it has Arab style decor which is nice. Anyway the Bug was a wild dog, knocking over a lantern, throwing ashtrays on the floor, etc. It was actually embarrassing and the Cheetahhhhhhh is hard to embarrass. I’ve seen it all. If I get embarrassed, it’s really downright embarrassing. Anyway the Bug knows what he’s doing, when I say “no” he often stops or pauses. Then he will smile and be a rascal. So today he got his first spanking. I’m sure it hurt me more than him, because his Pampers softened the blow.
We are about to move into our apartment, and I think it will be quite nice once we’re settled in. We waited until yesterday for the Ramadan sales and it turns out every other woman in RAK was also waiting. Anyway we got a leather couch and chair set and some nice Japanese-style side tables. It’s quite expensive to furnish a whole apartment, even with my expense account from the uni. One or two things at a time, you don’t notice the expense so much. But when you have to get everything for living in the course of a few days, the expense is very noticeable.
Anyway the UAE is generally quite pleasant and I think I was just a bit jaded by Saudi, which kind of sucked. The UAE is quite pleasant to live in actually and I’m feeling a whole lot more positive about the whole expat endeavor.
Posted in Uncategorized by Administrator on the September 2nd, 2008
The Cheetahhhhhhh has been to work for two days now here in the Top of the Tent (which is what Ras Al Khaima means). The Cheetahhhhhhh is pleased. Nice office, office laptop, nice and seemingly competent colleagues. In truth I got really burnt out with my chosen profession in Saudi, because in Saudi we basically just go through the motions of education (teachers, students, and admin) and so, while it’s nice to collect a check for doing very little, on the other hand, it gets very discouraging. At one point I couldn’t even remember why I had wanted to be a professor. Now I am reminded that I like teaching and I seem to be in an environment where I can do it. Class size is about 6, which is great, I’m used to lecturing to 30 or 40, which is ridiculous in language education. I’ve seen the work previous students have done and it’s very heartening. They write proper American-style essays of several pages with very good English. In sum, the Cheetahhhhhhh has landed at a proper uni after 3 long years in the land of make-believe.
With my housing allowance we bought bug a race-car bed, which he is tremendously enthusiastic about. He loves cars. We also got an LG Scarlet, and HDTV. I’ve never had HDTV before and I’m quite excited about it, though this will eventually require an HD DVD player and HD DVDs. We’re waiting for the Ramadan sales to start on Thursday, when everything will be about 25% off. Then we’ll get a leather couch and chairs. After that my housing allowance will be exhausted and anything else will come out of my own pocket, so it better be worthwhile. Vanessa has lots of plans for the house actually. It’s 3 bedrooms, 2 patios, 3 bathrooms, in a compound with a pool and exercise room and playground.
