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summer breeze

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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 26 November 2013 - 14:59
OP with the comments I have read from you, you give the impression that you have already made up your mind. I personally think you are going to have a negative effective on your step daughter unless you can let this go. Is it really that big a deal in the whole scheme of things?
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 24 November 2013 - 10:43
I highly doubt you would find a random person to dress up and come to your house for 20 minutes And if you did, its probably not the sort of person you would want near your kids anyway.....
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 23 November 2013 - 19:47
re-home? ditto I'm glad I'm not the only one! Was expecting more details such as likes 2 walks per day...
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 21 November 2013 - 10:48
yes, finally :) I can see that they are watering the grass in DIFC :) Perfect timing.... he... he... edited by mpp_jl on 21/11/2013 BDW, schools are closing as huge storm is coming. I am not sure what "huge" is here, but still... edited by mpp_jl on 21/11/2013 20 spots of rain and the chance to finish even earlier for the weekend I believe.
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 18 November 2013 - 15:51
No 34 - so true.
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Latest post on 18 November 2013 - 15:49
woo hooo....... On a side - how can anyone go a year with get a traffic violation? Since I got my licence I've had one parking ticket ever and that was in 1997 - nothing else!
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 16 November 2013 - 09:52
Would telling people it's on a first come, first serve, basis and whoever pays the money you are asking as "final offer" gets the stuff, work? If it is big furniture they need to hire a removal van for, get a hefty deposit from them and say you will only keep it for them for a certain amount of time. Might that not get rid of the time-wasters? Time-wasting is a sport out here....
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 16 November 2013 - 07:07
I have put stuff up at way less than 60% its just some people like to extract the urine. And I've just sent a rather strongly worded email telling said person that since they have neither paid nor collected they can go away and bother someone else. Some people have been awesome and collected within hours, others however think that the world revolves around them...same old same old I suppose. Clothing being donated, just want to sell furniture so that's not a problem.
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 15 November 2013 - 15:19
Don't know about you oopsiedaisy, but I can't afford to give away a few thousand dirhams worth of stuff!
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 15 November 2013 - 14:18
Why is it some people when buy your stuff from Dubizzle offer stupidly low prices before they see it? Why do people come and have a look at your stuff, say they'll take it and then change their minds without telling you? Why do some people assume that I'm also a delivery service? Why do they say they'll collect it on a certain only for me to still have it in my house 4 days later? Why do some people think that when you put a set up for sale that it is acceptable to TELL ME they will take one piece of the set for the price they want to pay? GGgggggrrrrrrrr. I HATE SELLING STUFF.
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 06 November 2013 - 06:09
TDB - focus on what's important. A perfect day is having fun with family and friends.
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 04 November 2013 - 15:49
I managed to get it in Toys R Us, but that was probably 2 years ago.
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 02 November 2013 - 22:09
Things which you don't think about that you may use from time to time but which have alcohol in them: vanilla essence, Bach Flowers Rescue Remedy, wine vinegar (you can get cider and balsamic vinegar here but not proper wine vinegar). Bring all your summer clothes, the winter season is in full swing in the shops here! Wine vinegar is available at Finer Things opposite Barracuda, just don't tell everyone!
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 30 October 2013 - 10:33
I always do mine and DH's every year. It is much more straightforward than you would think. For us there is not too much to fill as we only have rentals properties in the UK plus interest on savings - the rest we just pretty much leave blank (except the tick box bits etc). We also have to return supplementary pages regarding country of residence. Which part are you struggling with
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 28 October 2013 - 07:27
I wonder how many people open this thread in eager anticipation only to be disappointed that the rain is not for them?
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 27 October 2013 - 14:43
So it looks like in the very near future, after more years that I care to remember, I will be moving on. Before I go I want to make sure that I've seen and done everything that Dubai can throw at me. So I ask the wonderful and exceptionally knowledgable ladies of EW for an idea or two as to what you would make sure you do before you leave. My current interests and age have no bearing as I will have a go at most things..... So over to you....
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 23 October 2013 - 14:56
So now i have two flights to look forward to managing a frustrated infant on my own. You do have to wonder how a carrier as big as BA can be so far behind in CS and we haven't even stepped foot on the plane yet! It may well be as others have said that other people are travelling with infants and also require those seats. You said that your DH is on the return flight so why not take it in turns to look after your LO? That way you don't have to do 2 complete flights.....
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 17 October 2013 - 08:21
Wasn't sure with the bank holiday and the public sector getting longer off. Pretty sure they are closed until Sunday.
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 15 October 2013 - 07:04
Bump for pooch
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 12 October 2013 - 13:55
Duty free is around 75-90 Aed for 200 depending on brand.
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 12 October 2013 - 13:54
Left there about 1 hour ago. Car park was ok - I parked on top floor, but it was getting busier. If you go now you should be ok.
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 09 October 2013 - 09:05
OP needs to get over the fact that there are inadequacies in customer service here. Speaking Arabic is not a pre-requisit of the job. The poor person is being paid a pittance to work in these places. Yes great if everyone could communicate in other languages (I'm actually fluent in English, Arabic, Turkish and passable in 3 others). But to berate someone who cannot - that is rude. Oh yes, and to say Dubai has gone to the dogs because of this....seriously. And I'm not rude, just honest!
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 09 October 2013 - 08:45
75% of the people that I see shopping in Marks & Spencer are Emirati locals. No big wow to my Arabic, I learnt to count in Arabic before English, and where I grew up we needed to know how to count in Urdu as well. This is not a Govt dept to complain about food prices in Sonapur, or air bags made from children. This is about M & S, a household name. The United Arab Emirates is proud to be an Arabic speaking nation. To preserve the heritage of the UAE, all staff should have basic communication skills for the region. We must go to very different M&S stores as most people I see are Jumeirah Jane types! And M&S is really only a household name in UK, same as Target/Walmart would be household names in USA. Yes M&S have a few branches here, but I suspect if it wasn't for a significant expat population then they wouldn't have bothered bringing a bit of Britain to the UAE. You must be out of the loop. It is the Arab shoppers that have kept M&S going all of these years! They are not here for the expat population, I can assure you of that. If you read what I'd written I said what brought them here. And thankfully, my mind has far better things to worry about than what is keeping M&S Dubai afloat, so being out of that loop is more of a relief than a worry. Now I must go as I'm waiting for the manager of carrefour to complain that the cashier could not communicate with me in Glaswegian.
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 09 October 2013 - 08:35
75% of the people that I see shopping in Marks & Spencer are Emirati locals. No big wow to my Arabic, I learnt to count in Arabic before English, and where I grew up we needed to know how to count in Urdu as well. This is not a Govt dept to complain about food prices in Sonapur, or air bags made from children. This is about M & S, a household name. The United Arab Emirates is proud to be an Arabic speaking nation. To preserve the heritage of the UAE, all staff should have basic communication skills for the region. We must go to very different M&S stores as most people I see are Jumeirah Jane types! And M&S is really only a household name in UK, same as Target/Walmart would be household names in USA. Yes M&S have a few branches here, but I suspect if it wasn't for a significant expat population then they wouldn't have bothered bringing a bit of Britain to the UAE.
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 09 October 2013 - 08:05
wow summer breeze, wonder how you would feel if you were in your home country and someone insisted you spoke Tagalog or Arabic..... But if you look, at who is mentioning it, it's not the person directly concerned. A lot of the time the people concerned in all honesty won't give it a second thought, it's the do gooders of this world who interfere causing problems where thee weren't any to start with. I imagine the shop assistant, who was probably already speaking in a second language, wasn't insisting on the customer speaking English they just couldn't communicate in Arabic. And in my home country Polish is the preferred language of communication... And I wouldn't sweat it if an immigrant didn't speak English at home. It's not the worst thing that happens. I personally get more annoyed that they are given council houses and a benefits book as soon as they hit the shore!
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 09 October 2013 - 07:25
Wow you can count in Arabic and someone else can't - big deal! Surely the fact that lenient sentences are being given out to drunk drivers who kill others, parents allowing their kids to travel without seat belts, labourers being underpaid, property investors being ripped off due to the renaming of a development, prices for everything going up faster than wages ever will.......now that is something to complain about. Get over yourself!
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 04 October 2013 - 11:28
I know where they regularly stock Irn Bru.
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 04 October 2013 - 11:27
My niece asks me to send her cheap petrol.
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 03 October 2013 - 17:49
Banks need a letter from the police to stop a cheque: we were told that the letter would take 2-4 weeks to be issued.
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 29 September 2013 - 12:54
Normally I'd call it dinner, but sometimes, if I'm cooking something 'yer mam would have given ya as a kid', then I call it tea. Tonight I will be having nothing since lunch just made a rather ungracious reappearance. Sick as a dog...
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 29 September 2013 - 10:30
I liked the "scientific" report that more Saudis would turn to ho**se*uali*ty and po*no*gra**y if women are allowed to drive...clear corrolation that the rest of the world hasn't spotted. As for causing clinical disorders, clearly his mother spent hours behind the wheel.... Think they need to be more concerned with clinical disorders from inbreeding - saw a lot of that in the shopping malls of Riyadh.....
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 27 September 2013 - 08:55
Try AAA.
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 27 September 2013 - 08:54
Maybe schools should put up a few full length mirrors around the place because a lot of the mothers I have seen clearly cannot have one at home. That way they might realise just how awful they look. Never mind the cultural side of things, they just look hideous. Mutton dressed at lamb springs to mind. I'm sure some of the older kids must be embarrassed. Imagine if the dads did it https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=577288212317728&set=a.260035704042982.60113.112829642096923&type=1&ref=nf
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 26 September 2013 - 14:48
I have just read the most disgusting article in the Daily Mail (I am not putting the link as I wish I could go back in time and not open the page as it is so bad so do not want to subject others to it). Words just fail me as to how some people can be so cruel especially to someone just starting their life and the UK justice system only gives out a 14 year sentence. Sorry for being cryptic, but I just had to get it out there to try to stop it going round in my head. Hoping the family and victim can heal from the mental (and physical) scars..
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 26 September 2013 - 07:20
Some of the stuff he is selling is revolting. That gorges olive green bag ...yuck
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 23 September 2013 - 14:17
This is with better homes. It is 10k over what you said, but it has 7 beds and near terminal 2 http://www.bhomes.com/uae/residential/lease/dubai/twar/hah_villa/316192.xhtml
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 22 September 2013 - 17:17
The most important thing is to live within your means and save as much as you can when you can. Don't get caught up in the DXB 'all show, no go' lifestyle. I am in a very fortunate position of having a small portfolio of houses with no mortgages (not easy to have this, it took a lot of hard work). I live debt free as I strongly believe if you can't afford it, don't buy it (obviously a mortgage falls outside of this for most people). If you use credit cards pay it off each month - the interest rates are horrific. Have a good savings pot. Set a monthly budget and stick to it (include a set amount for savings if possible). Sometimes I do feel like the poor cousin out here as I don't live in a particularly wonderful house nor do I drive a flash car, but I suppose I also know that what I do have is mine not the banks.
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 22 September 2013 - 09:53
Maybe contact these http://uaehomeschool.wordpress.com/
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 22 September 2013 - 09:51
I'm surprised there's no Lidl. Or a Gregs or Chavs in hoodies (the female Chavs here prefer the fake LV from Karama) .lol
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 22 September 2013 - 09:46
We make sure that we keep the absolute minimum amount of cash in UAE and we sold our property here several years ago. As for the cars, they don't bother me as an an assets.
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 21 September 2013 - 05:09
A lot of schools have festive fairs where you can book a table to sell your stuff. I don't know of any specific dates but EC, DESC, Jess, DESS usually have them, amongst others. Also the Green Community used to do a craft fair but not sure if they still do.
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 19 September 2013 - 06:58
Anyone seen the vitriolic thread on Mumsnet about Dubai? Interesting reading from some people who seem to really hate it! I like the fact that so many start off with"I've never been there". Surely if you've not been you really cannot say much about it. Too many people have been suck in to the daily fail articles that regularly have a pop at UAE. Those that live here know its not perfect, but show me where is and I'll be on a flight there this afternoon.
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 18 September 2013 - 06:53
1. Stalk the customer around the shop. 2. Address them as MamSir. 3. Ask for a dirham when they are paying by cash. 4. Say 'yes' to everything even though you have no clue what the customer just said. 5. If they ask for a product you dont stock, just say 'out of stock' even though you never had it to start of with. And don't forget the classic, if you phone to make a complaint tell the customer someone will call you back in 3 days. On the 4th day when the customer calls again to say someone didn't phone tell them someone will follow up within 3 days.... And, particularly related to the telecommunications sector, make an appointment to connect services and don't turn up. Repeat processes of making appointments and not turning up until customer service gets bored.
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 18 September 2013 - 06:45
I'm pretty sure the ad on the radio I hear is probably true for all the finance companies out here - the ad says something along the lines of "this is X from pushy wont take no for an answer.....". I had one of these people call me once and I told them I have no money and if I did I wouldn't entrust it to them. Never heard back from them again.... I've also asked one of them where they got my number from so that I could report the person for passing on confidential info. Strangely the phone went dead...... Next time I have the misfortune to get a call from them I may string them along a bit and waste their time and effort.... <em>edited by summer breeze on 18/09/2013</em>
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 11 September 2013 - 08:28
I was just about to leave work to go and celebrate my birthday (which I still did). But for several years I used to get the comment 'oh what a bad day to have your birthday' which I never understood. why would it be a bad day to have your birthday on?!?!?! what is wrong with some people ? Any day is a bad day to have a birthday on when you get to my age lol!
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Latest post on 11 September 2013 - 08:25
Not just C4 and I suspect not just in UAE. Food prices do appear to be going up everywhere.
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Latest post on 11 September 2013 - 08:24
I was just about to leave work to go and celebrate my birthday (which I still did). But for several years I used to get the comment 'oh what a bad day to have your birthday' which I never understood.
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 06 September 2013 - 09:32
Are there any educational problems? Might it be that she has a special educational need that has not been spotted yet which is causing her to be frustrated and hence act this way? Might be worth speaking to her teachers. <em>edited by summer breeze on 06/09/2013</em>
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Latest post on 06 September 2013 - 07:18
Dragons??? It used to be EW witches LOL What I call it rhymes with that lol!
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Latest post on 06 September 2013 - 07:15
In a majority of cases Expat!