Days 5+6

We spent last night on the strip, watched a few short shows, and checked out a few more hotels (and got a 15-minute massage at the mall, specifically designed to “relieve stress”). The new Wynn Resort is amazing. Of the ones I’ve see in Vegas I think it’s the classiest, really nice blend of modern and classic design, not too flashy (like the other ones) but also not minimalist (like the Hotel at Mandalay Bay—also nice). Overall, I now hold the belief that the best hotels in the world are in Dubai. I had my doubts about this conclusion before I came to Vegas, but now I’m convinced. We also went to the Stratosphere Hotel (http://www.stratospherehotel.com/) it has the 4-highest thrill rides in the world (on top of the tower), the guys took two rides while I enjoyed the spectacular view and guarded their stuff from the observation deck. We ended the night with dinner at a café in the Wynn and headed back to our room. Today we head to San Francisco, a 9-hour drive with views consisting of a whole lot of nothing, something like Dammam-Riyadh highway with a few hills here and there.

Day 4

We started the day with breakfast delivered to our room (at 2 PM); great waffles, good coffee. After that we did nothing for a couple of hours, then went down to the spa, sat in the steam room, the sauna, then had a 50-min massage; it was amazing! A quick dinner (followed by Krispy Kreme) and then KA by Cirque Du Soleil, really fascinating effects and performance, so-and-so story, but certainly worth it. We then walk around the strip for a couple of hours and just returned to our room, around 3 AM, later than usual (we’ve been going back home at 10 or 11, a frightening sign of aging).

On "Intelligent Design"

·         This issue is considered to be hot and controversial in the US, but it’s so controversial in Saudi that no one is willing to even bring it up. The writer discusses “why ‘intelligent design’ doesn't deserve to be taught with evolution.” Op-Ed Contributor:  Show Me the Science

·         I used to like Greenspan, until he starting supporting tax cuts in 2001 and especially in 2003. I feel he lost his objectiveness and has gotten political.  Paul Krugman believes that “there's a rough ride ahead for the U.S. economy. And it's partly Alan Greenspan's fault.” Op-Ed Columnist:  Greenspan and the Bubble

·         "Ah, women. They make the highs higher and the lows more frequent."  (Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche)

Day 3

Ok, Hamad is clearly going to kill me when I return to Saudi. Today we checked out of the hotel (the luxurious Hampton Inn just off the intersection of I-5 and I-8 outside San Diego). We had lunch at a restaurant called Napa Valley Grill at this mall in downtown (it’s really nice with open roofs in the walkways), I decided to order from the brunch menu and had Monterey Eggs (crab cakes with eggs on top); there’s a good reason why I almost always order a burger, again I was punished for breaking my own rule. We had some chocolate from See’s Candy (wanted to know what the fuss is all about, Warren Buffett always talks about this store that makes millions a year in free cash flow), it tastes really good actually, but unlike Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, it isn't decadent enough. As you can see, our fun is mostly (completely?) concentrated in eating. Anyway, we were planning to go on a small plane tour above San Diego, but couldn’t find early reservations and decided to keep it until Seattle. We took off to Las Vegas (I stopped for a “ta9beerah” at Jack in the Box on the way—it’s a ta9beerah because I didn’t super-size it) and we arrived around 10 PM. After we checked in (the check-in line at the Venetian Hotel was about 10 deep!), the guys went for a walk on the strip, I was tired and sat at the hotel room, ordered room service (I like to try hotel burgers, or any burger for that matter), ate it while watching Fever Pitch, I looooved this movie. If you love Boston or the Red Sox (or both) and still haven’t watched it, run out NOW and get it. Finally, I forgot my camera’s USB cable in Boston, so I’ll upload the pictures we take during this trip when I’m back in Boston inshallah. Hamad, I’ll try to get you some Krispy Kreme doughnuts back with me.

Day 1 + 2

First day in San Diego: ended up having lunch at Jack in the Box. We then drove all around the city, really beautiful. We walked on the waterfront and all around the “Gaslamp Quarter”, and had GREAT chocolate from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. At night we ate Jimmy’s Wood-fired Pizza and finished it with the “Messy Sundae” hmmm. Ended the night with a great cigar from Habana Cigars (cost $25), a Persian guy owns the place and has been in San Diego since 1979.

 

Second Day: Lunch at In-and-Out. We then went to Balboa Park. Nice place, walked around, went to the Aerospace Museum, really nice. We then went and played a round of golf (we actually played 6 holes only), really funny! (yeah, funny, not just fun J). A group behind us hit a tree branch with a ball that was so fast it broke the branch and ended up hitting other branches that hit other branches, in the end a quarter of the tree’s top collapsed! Good thing no one was under it. After golf we ate at Red Lobster (ta5reeeeeeb), went to downtown, ate more chocolate from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, and watched fireworks on the Marina from the top of the convention center, and finally drover across the bridge to Coronado Island, amaaazing waterfront, especially at night.

Women Right to Vote

On this day in 1920, the United States Constitution 19^th Amendment, which guarantees women the right to vote, went into effect. When will Saudi women get equal rights?

Road Trip Starts

Our road trip started today. The “plan” is to go to San Diego, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Portland, and finally Seattle, where we’ll fly back to Boston on the 9^th of September. We just arrived in San Diego a couple of hours ago. Staying at the hotel to relax “for a while” then going for lunch (we passed by Jack in the Box on the way, I’ll try to persuade the guys to go there J--Ultimate Cheeseburger, hmmm, there’s also a nearby Krispy Kreme).

 

The guys insisted on not having a plan (which is causing a lot of stress for me), but they just want it that way and I’ll try to cope. They don’t want us to have a schedule or decide how long we want to spend in each city we visit (or plan what to do there). Hopefully we won’t end up sitting in hotel rooms for the next 13 days.

Existing Home Sales Down By 2.6%

With existing home sales down by 2.6% in July, the “bubble-talk” is back (as if it went away anyway). I’m so sick of everyone talk about “a” or “the” Housing Bubble in the US or the UK or wherever, sometimes I wish the housing market would just crash and we’d get over with the whole thing. Anyway, here are a couple of interesting articles about the subject that I was actually able to finish reading, something that I haven’t been able to do in a while:

·         Aside from any moment in the past decade, there has never been a better time to enter the real estate market. Op-Ed Contributor:  Bubble? What Bubble?

·         Robert J. Shiller is arguing that the housing craze is another bubble destined to end badly, just as every other real-estate boom on record has. Be Warned: Mr. Bubble's Worried Again

·         There’s a thing that has always baffled me with the term “existing homes”, aren’t all home existing once they’re sold? I mean the term is used to differentiate it from new homes, which are also sold after being built and so at the time of the sale they already “exist”!

 

And talking about bubbles reminds me of Oil prices; check out this really interesting piece: The $10,000 Question

 

 

To Tip or Not to Tip

·         I write to you from Boston where I’m relaxing and having fun (read: eating and watching TV). Here are some articles on the subject of tipping, something we were discussing over lunch yesterday:
Will you be stuck with a fixed service charge the next time you go out to dinner? One restaurant in Manhattan is going the European way.
We all like to think we pay a tip based on how good the service was. Well, waiters do certain things that prove to increase their tip regardless of service!
How much should you tip? This guide might help.

·         If the American military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan lasts another five years, the total cost of the war could stretch to more than $1.3 trillion. Op-Ed Contributor:  The Trillion-Dollar War .

·         "FOR YEARS, Muslims have been criticized for their seeming complacency about Islamic terrorism. Time and again, Islamist radicals have committed some savagery, and time and again non-Muslims have wondered why there was no outcry of condemnation from the Islamic world. Let a fictional TV show depict Muslims unflatteringly, and Muslim spokesmen thunder in outrage.” Full piece.

·         "In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted."  (Bertrand Russell)

 

Subservient Chicken

I know this is old, but check it out--hilarious!

 

http://www.subservientchicken.com/

Saving the world as we know it

·         “Normally we would storm a house killing everyone inside, whereas here we have to storm the house and keep everyone alive,” said one commander. “It’s not an easy job.” Psychologists on hand for army’s nightmare eviction of settlers.

·         Each month, the Internet Archive collects the equivalent of one Library of Congress, says Kahle. The collection, available at www.archive.org, has already surpassed one petabyte. That's a million gigabytes. Scott Kirsner of the Boston Globe talks about it in Saving the world as we know it

·         “Great spirits have always faced violent protest from mediocre minds”  (Albert Einstein)

 

·         كلنا ظواهريون!! – تركي الدخيل

·         لنختلف مع حكومتنا من القدم حتى مفرق الرأس، لكن اعتقادنا بأن الإرهاب هو البديل الأنسب للحكام والحكومات، يعني حالة مماثلة تماماً مع من يخصي نفسه ليعاقب زوجته لأنها لم تحسن إعداد وجبة غدائه!. – تركي الدخيل

·         يقول تركي الدخيل في مرحاض يمنح مليوني ريال!!:
أما الإنجليز فيبدو لنا ان مترجماً أطلعهم على بيت أبي الطيب فظنوه يضطرد مع العرب جميعاً على الدوام عندما قال:
وما قتل الأحرار كالعفو عنهم        فمن لك بالحر الذي يحفظ اليدا
لكننا نذكرهم بالبيت الذي يليه وهو ما لم يترجمه لهم صاحبهم إذ قال المتنبي:
إذا أنت أكرمت الكريم ملكته         وإن أنت أكرمت اللئيم تمردا

 

 

The following are from subscription websites, they should be available for a few days only for non-subscribers:

 

·         Inside a Major London Mosque, Extremism Shows Tenacity

·         Robert Noyce and Jack Kilby co-invented the computer chip, arguably one of the most important inventions, ever. Kilby passed away a few weeks ago in Dallas, and he is remembers in At the End of an Era, Two Tech Pioneers Are Remembered.

·         Scientists at the University of California, San Diego, invented the “The first electrical switch made entirely from carbon nanotubes”, will it end up being for this century what the transistor was for the last?

·         “It's tough to watch your parents age and lose the ability to manage their own affairs. It can be even tougher to step in and help them out -- especially when it comes to money” So what should you do?  HILARY STOUT and ANDREA PETERSEN  of the Wall Street Journal address the issue in The Parent Trap

 

 

 

Final note: I’ll be leaving to London tomorrow night inshallah, and then to Boston on Friday morning. Therefore, I’ll be updating the blog less frequently, but I’ll try my best.

What Makes People Gay?

·         Hillarious Op-Ed by Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times “Announcing the first annual Michael Eisner Award for Corporate Misgovernance,” in Announcing an Award for Greed

·         "With crystal-blue eyes, wavy hair, and freshly scrubbed faces, the boys look as though they stepped out of a Pottery Barn Kids catalog. They are 7-year-old twins. I'll call them Thomas and Patrick; their parents agreed to let me meet the boys as long as I didn't use their real names." What Makes People Gay? A very interesting article in the Boston Globe.

·         “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a though without accepting it”  (Aristotle)

Fifteen-year-old Egyptian boy sentenced to death in Saudi

·         TransFair USA is working hard to promote Fair Trade coffee, a friend of mine just sent me a brief background on the subject check it out.

·         Damon Williams’s investing philosophy is mixture of Peter Lynch, Warren Buffett, and many other. But he’s the investment expert you’ve never heard about, because he’s 12-years old!

·         When the evidence is tentative, we should not be embarrassed to call on common sense for guidance. Op-Ed Contributor:  In Defense of Common Sense

·         A 15-year old Egyptian boy has been sentenced to death in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

·         A well-known problem that everyone faces in Boston (in most major cities) is parking. Globe columnist Joan Vennochi tackles the issue in Ya cahn't pahk ya cah heah

·         Inspired by the documentary "Super Size Me," Merab Morgan decided to give a fast-food-only diet a try. The construction worker and mother of two ate only at McDonald's for 90 days -- and dropped 37 pounds in the process.

·         For many people, mainly women, fat on legs, hips, and buttocks may actually help ward off heart disease and diabetes, recent research suggests. Read more.

·         In a clever memoir about single life in New York, Amy Borkowsky shows how 12 years of credit card statements can be more revealing than any diary: Of Love and Money

·         Virginia Tech created segregated classes for Saudi faculty members of King Abdulaziz University. Gender-split Saudi faculty roils Va. Tech

·         شهوة القاعدة.. والتفريق الساذج! -- تركي الدخيل

·         “Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies” (Friedrich Nietzsche)

 

The following are from subscription websites, they should be available for a few days only for non-subscribers:

 

·         The WSJ’s Numbers Guy looks at very big numbers in Just How Big Is 600 Trillion?

·         How about a $200 apron? Yes, $200! Check it out in Once Dowdy, the Apron Ascends To Costly Kitchen Couture

·         Having trouble organizing information on your computer? EverNote Organizes Your Endless Stuff Onto an Endless Tape

·         An old interview (2001) in Fortune with Warren Buffet, very interesting insights, especially applicable to current Saudi Market conditions

Clanilism & Co.

This is a very controversial subject, but that won’t stop me from bringing it up and discussing it. My new essay on what I call clanilism is now online on before reloading.

Trouble with WSJ links?

Is anyone having trouble opening the links to Wall Street Journal articles? They should be available for seven days. Please email me if you do.

How to Avoid Taking A Vacation So Good, It Hurts to Come Back

·         How to Avoid Taking A Vacation So Good, It Hurts to Come Back

·         Reading Your Baby's Mind: New research on infants finally begins to answer the question: what's going on in there?

·         Still Life of the World Markets: Global finance is now a thick network, with multiple circuit breakers. Yet these same links may prove too weak to contain the next crisis.

·         A new website developed by The Gap asks you for your body’s measurements and allows you to changes, dance, and have fun with clothing online. Gap Deploys 'Viral' Online Ad To Pump Up Sales

·         Why service at restaurants should be included. Op-Ed Contributor:  Tipped Off

·         A company that has sent two wealthy tourists into orbit will now offer a trip around the Moon. The price for a seat: $100 million. Private Company Plans $100 Million Tour Around the Moon

·         Sleep Apnea Is Tied to Cell Loss

·         Is too much prenatal testosterone to blame for autism? Op-Ed Contributor:  The Male Condition

·         “All things are subject to interpretation; whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth.” (Friedrich Nietzsche)

NYMEX Light Crude is now above $64

·         NYMEX Light Crude is now above $64, but that is way off it’s all-time high of $94.77 (adjusted for inflation) in April 1980.

·         What can sports teach us about leadership and management,  A High-Seas Race Can Tell Some Tales About Executive Roles

·         Just like everything else in medical science, the effect of videogames on children is debatable, so what should we do? Taking the Violence Out Of Videogames: What Parents Can Do Before Kids Play

·         Hamad Al-Mohawis’ latest essay is now available online on before reloading, I was supposed to upload it a few months ago but I forgot to and just discovered my mistake. Always a good read.

·         Interesting article in Fortune about how diseases evolve and spread.

·         The biggest bank robbery in Brazil’s history happened yesterday, $68 million was stolen! Based on figures in Guinness World Records, this robbery ranks as the world’s second-biggest, just behind an estimated £2.5 billion robbery of Reichsbank in Berlin in April 1945 and ahead of the February 2003 diamond robbery (£65 million) in Antwerp, Belgium. In fourth place is 1987’s £60m robbery at Knightsbridge safety deposit centre, London.

·         “Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber.” (Plato)

 

For Kuwaiti Women, A Day at the Market Means Buying Stock

• For Kuwaiti Women, A Day at the Market Means Buying Stock
• Very interesting article in the Boston Globe, it talks about new technologies that enable parents to choose their baby's sex. check it out.
• Counting the Civilian Dead in Iraq*The WSJ's "Numbers Guy", Carl Bialik, talks about the difficulties of getting accurate casualty counts.
• Is allowing people to use their cell phones on planes a good idea? check out Can You Hear Me Now? All the Other People On the Plane Can, Too.

Pour Your Heart Into It

This is what Howard Schultz wrote in the prologue to his book Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time, really inspiring.

 

Care more than others think wise

Risk more than others think safe

Dream more than others think practical

Expect more than others think possible

 

 

Eugenics Archive

The subject came up in conversation a few days ago, so here’s a website about it. Very interesting.

 

http://www.eugenicsarchive.org/eugenics/

Today's Quotes

“The best executive is one who has sense enough to pick good people to do what he wants done, and self-restrain enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.” (Theodore Roosevelt)

 

"Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought." (Henri Bergson)

 

"The best minute I spend is the one I invest in people." (Kenneth Blanchard)

 

“Thou shall not stand idly by.” (Unknown, frequently used by Howard Behar of Starbucks Corporation)