suzannainthesand

I haven’t posted in a few weeks, the reason being that although I’ve attempted to find cool happenings to chronicle, nothing has panned out. Couple that with some ridiculousness that has gone on here recently and all I can blog about right now are the little disappointments in life.

Miracle Garden, Dubai
Sounds spectacular, doesn’t it? We drove to Dubai last September and found Miracle Garden closed for the hot summer months. I put it on the back burner until we cruised over there last weekend. What could potentially be an absolutely stunning display of flowers (below is the entrance; it looks nice, right?)

is just the wildest mix of oddities imaginable.

The Butterfly Garden is right down the road (calling it a street would be giving it too much credit). It’s expensive and no better than Miracle Garden. Plus, I’m kinda scared of butterflies in bulk, and there are TONS of them dive-bombing everyone in a relatively a small space.

Scarier than it looks!

My car
So I bolt out of work last Wednesday (as I do daily) to find I have a flat tire. As a renter, I was under the impression that the car company offered complete service. No, I must call emergency roadside service. They tell me I’m too far out of the city but can call another company for a tow- except I don’t need a tow. I resign myself to changing the tire, messy business in the desert, and drive home like the angry bitch on wheels that I’ve always aspired to be. The rental car company sends a guy to my apartment building to pick up the flat tire, but instead of repairing and returning it the following day as agreed, they’ve deemed upon inspection that I’ve misused the tire and need to purchase a new one. No, no, no, that’s not how this scenario’s gonna play out. So they pick up the car to check out the other tires and leave me with a junker of a Mitsubishi Lancer- all scratched up, so I appear to be a terrible driver (when we all know I rock). It also lacks bluetooth, so my fave podcasts are piling up while I’m stuck with Kenny & Daisy in the morning. Day 7, tomorrow, my car will be returned because it has been determined that I did NOT misuse that singular tire after all. I mean, I can careen around a three-lane roundabout with the best of them, but two tires simultaneously on the ground is my minimum. At least ‘til I get that car back tomorrow.

Work
One step forward, two steps back. Unfortunately, if I elaborate on that I might not have a job to report to every morning so I’ll leave the details for private conversations. I just think everyone should take a short minute to feel sorry for me. Shukran.

Apartment
I received a text from building management that my bathtub stopper has finally been installed and the work ticket has been closed. I call and explain to a woman that although I’ve been periodically calling for a year and a half, no one has showed up to install the stopper. She responds, “We just close out all the tickets after a certain period of time.” Oh, ok. If we could all resolve our issues in that manner, this post wouldn’t exist.

Apple Music
Disastrous. I signed up for a 3-month trial and the next thing I know all my playlists have disappeared off iTunes. Do they have any idea how many years I spent creating those? And I still can’t even find half my songs; I guess they’re in “the cloud.” The cloud better hope I never come face-to-face with it, because I will make it cry.
To top it off, as of yesterday Apple TV only offers streaming music stations to Apple Music subscribers. Come on, have you heard the radio selection over here?? But until Apple Music is “fixed” to my liking, I won’t pay a dirham (or even a fil, for that matter) for their service. Luckily, there’s a radio app that I familiarized myself with yesterday. Seems ok, once I accept the fact that it’s not commercial-free. Duh, maybe that’s why it’s free, you think?

When you break it all down, there’s really not too much to be disappointed in after all. Let’s be real; we’ve all dealt with way worse things in life. It’s just that in Abu Dhabi, when things go wrong they take ten times longer to resolve than they would at home. The voice of reason is non-existent. You want to squeeze the life out of the wrong people most of the time. Admittedly, the WTF factor does help to create a few laughs, though. Like when my buddy Jordan texted our group to ask how to wash rice. You’re washing rice, really? WTF? I can only respond that I’ve never washed rice, but I wash eggs ever since I bought one with a feather stuck to it. Now that seems reasonable! Or how Shannan’s apartment is more like an indoor waterfall- that’s a serious WTF. Or when Bettina got stranded in Isatanbul without her luggage and was proud that she found some granny panties at the “gift” shop to tide her over- that’s a Bettina WTF. Or when Ashley… oh, Ashley. She’s just a walking WTF (in a good way, AJ). It all contributes to the laughter, and sometimes it’s all we’ve got.