Kuwait: A Dusty but Profitable Week

Dust storms are wreaking havoc in Kuwait. But amid the dust, there is a silver lining, with a Cabinet decision to grant an extra KD120 (US $435) monthly bonus for Kuwaitis employed in the public and private sectors.

Let's start with the weather. Fonzy over at Fonzation talks about that and says:

The sky during the past two days was orange cos of all the dust flying around. With all the dust is a slight cold breeze. Personally, I haven’t stopped sneezing.

As I was walking out today, the amount of dust on the floor was so thick, footprints were all over my building entrance. According to the weather forecast, the dust is supposed to settle within the next day or two, and will be replaced with low temperatures. Lets just hope that it rains soon and cleans out the skies from all the dust or else we are looking at a very dusty summer.

Intlxpatr also speaks about the dust storms and paints the following picture:

This is what it looks like in a dust storm. Imagine fog, but fog that cakes on your face and makes it grainy, that gets in your eyes and up your nostrils. Dust that gets in your ears, dust you can taste. Your skin dries out like an alligator and there is a coating of slick grit on the road.

It’s a driving challenge. Visibility is low. But people are driving more slowly, at least along the roads I drive, so I am actually enjoying the experience. It’s kind of an adventure.

Now to the salary increments. Mishary over at somecontrast writes about the wage increase in Kuwait and says:

The cabinet approved Thursday a monthly bonus of KD 120 for Kuwaitis employed in the public and private sectors

On the other hand, Raybay, an expatriate living in Kuwait, speaks of the implication of it on him and other expats not working in the government

Hmmmm,,, i dont think this is a fair deal. While the locals get a raise, we expats face the music from local traders and price increase.Im a Trader too. Well PEOPLE & COMPANIES.. now pls dont cry, when i increase my prices for my IT services!. im facing inflation, i need to survive here!

In other interesting posts, Saint on a bench speaks of his experience of eating Nepali food – not in a fancy restaurant but in a small cheap one.

My favourite places to eat are places where the common folk like to go. Who the hell are the common folk? Maids, drivers, construction workers, sweepers and other people that don't give two ***** about dolce

Thouq asks a question about the traditional Arab dress for men in Kuwait and the Gulf – the Dishdasha – on his blog. He writes:

Dishdasha is a fundamental everyday wear to many young and old men living in the Gulf. And it has always been limited to locals.

Abdulhaleem wore it 40 years ago, and today we’re seeing more celebrities of non-Gulf nationals wear it as well, whereas some local celebrities here have abandoned it.

Is it time to see dishdasha embraced as a clothing option to others throughout the Middle East?

Kismat over at The 9th Tribe talks about a common problem with Kuwaiti bureaucracy.

Why the hell does it take more than 13 days to get your passport renewed

And last but not least, Mr_CHoCoLaTe discovers that a local daily newspaper used his registered logo for an advertisement in one of their issues and after a lot of searching he found out why.

تصل عليي شخص يصيرلي و يسئلني اذا كان الشعار مال موقعي انا مسوي
قتله اي أنا مسويه ليش ؟

قالي إن جريدة الشاهد مستخدمينه بعدد اليوم 19 فبراير 2008

A relative of mine called me and ask if the logo I use on my blog is designed by me.
I told him yeah, why ?

He told Alshahid newspaper used it on the issue of 19th of February 2008

استغربت و قتله الشعار موثق بإسمي و من حقي اطالبهم بتعويض
قالي كلمهم و شوف شصير

طبعاً مريت الجمعيه و خذيتلي نسخه من العدد

I was shocked and I told him that the logo is registered in my name and I'm entitled to compensation.
He told me to talk to them and see what happens.
So I passed by the Co-op and pick a copy of the issue.
و لقيتهم حاطين الشعار في بيان نازل من وزارة التجاره و الصناعه

للي يتحدث عن تحديد كميات التموين و ضبط غلاء الاسعار و جذي
كان نازل بكل الجرايد يومها
و بس الشاهد مستخدمين شعاري

بس الظاهر في موظف في الجريده كاتب بالجوجل : وزارة التجاره و الصناعه
وطالع له شعار موقعي لأني تكلمت عن الوزاره في موضوع سابق

I found that they have inserted in a public service advertisement from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, which talks about price control and which appeared on all newspapers but only that newspaper had my logo on that ad. It seems that a worker there searched using Google for a picture about the Ministry of Trade and Industry and found my logo and used it because I wrote about them when I posted about registering my logo.

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