wuffles1183 | ExpatWoman.com
 

wuffles1183

1996
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 20 October 2012 - 08:31
No expert but my brother and I were only 9 months apart (mum wanted twins so that was second best for her!) and we were rarely invited to the same parties although my brother would always bring his party bag home to share and I did the same. It is part of growing up to learn you don't always do the same things as your siblings and another way of consolidating friendships made at school. I know those party years can seem endless at the time but the parties fizzle out as they go through secondary. school. I'm sure our parents had better things to do to-but if we wanted to go to a party I can't ever remember not doing so.
1996
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 19 October 2012 - 22:28
yay-so happy for you. Get those photos copied onto something now! Must say in 7 years of catching taxis (we don't have a car) we have come across very few taxi drivers we weren't happy to be driven by.
1996
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Latest post on 19 October 2012 - 12:42
Such sad news-glad you can be back in time for the funeral to say goodbye and give the family your support
1996
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Latest post on 19 October 2012 - 12:12
Thanks-thought that might be it though they have started early this year. best place to view them is our roof-no need to venture out!
1996
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Latest post on 18 October 2012 - 23:20
Not bling but nice all the same-believe they post overseas http://www.myphonedesign.com.au/
1996
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Latest post on 18 October 2012 - 21:47
Bloomsburys in Dubai Mall do a very nice afternoon tea, the menu is every bit as good as the Burj, not the same view of course, but not the same prices either. http://ilovebloomsburys.com/ The website says 55dhs per person-that doesn't sound enough-is it?
1996
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 18 October 2012 - 15:55
For some reason, a lot of UAE residents dismiss this, as they think the laws here are so strict etc and nothing happens here, and all of these case studies are based in the UK or US......but it is going on a lot. I now know of 2 cases of fb abuse within the UAE, and nobody is monitoring their teens laptops, and when they do find things, they are deleting or dismissing. Ahh yes, just reading (properly this time) your OP. It's really difficult with FB - I would never dream of letting my girls on it yet I know so many friends who actively encourage it and even send me friend requests from their children - unbelievable I don't know if I have done the right thing, but I do allow my DD on fb. She is my friend and I have her password so i can check everything that happens on it. With mobiles and laptops and all sorts of other ways to access fb and other social networking sites, she could have easily gone behind my back and got a fb page without my knowledge. I'd rather she had one and I knew all about it. To me, fb and the internet in general does hold plenty of potential for harm to our babes just as going down to the woods or out to play did when we were young. Our parents didn't stop us going out because they knew we had to learn independence and they taught us to be very careful and they kept an eye on us and knew where we were going. I have tried to take the same attitude to the internet today, but I don't know if I'm doing the right thing or not. I fear that she could be targeted if she's online but I also fear that if I prevent her from using the same social media that all her friends use, she'll just do it behind my back which is far more dangerous. What do EWers think? I am friends on Facebook with both my son and daughter but that doesn't mean I can see the posts they are sending and receiving from others-only mutual friends so it isn't true you can know everything that is going on. They can hide posts and change their security settings and you can't control that so it is best not to be too complacent.
1996
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 18 October 2012 - 15:35
fab thanks ladies! was planning on going to jbr some time anyway so can try our luck there and if not, we're going to dubai museum one day. Bastikiya isnt far from there, is it? No it backs on to it-the camel is in the courtyard in front of the restaurant near the stamp and coin museums-towards the creek
1996
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Latest post on 18 October 2012 - 15:24
The one by the Bastikiya is just lovely.-very gentle and user friendly. You can ride it for a small fee or pose with it and pat it for free. They sometimes have a falcon there too. The handler is really good with it. You can also have rides at Heritage Village but the other camel is such a nice one!
1996
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 18 October 2012 - 00:22
wuffles, I think the dvds here cost between aed75-180!! :P I guess I'll always end up spending more because my twins are always invited to the same parties. Its just sometimes I can't quite believe that I spend aed600 - 1.2k a month for kids birthday gifts. The joy of having multiples.. edited by mchristy75 on 18/10/2012 I was thinking round the 100 dh mark-no more-especially multiplied by two!
1996
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Latest post on 17 October 2012 - 23:21
No idea-but finding it somewhat amusing someone with the user name Gummy wants liquid latex!
1996
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Latest post on 17 October 2012 - 23:18
Not sure if it helps but back home the parents got together (as it was becoming ridiculous) and agreed to spend the equivalent of the cost of a DVD. Of course it didn't have to be a DVD-could be books or Lego or somesuch but at least it gave the mums a figure to work with.
1996
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 17 October 2012 - 22:55
I think if she is travelling to her home country it is at the airportt's discretion but she couldn't get back in without a new passport-you normally need 6 months rermaining valitidy to travel
1996
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 17 October 2012 - 21:55
No real help with this thread but does anyone remember the banana flavoured toothpaste we had as kids? Can't imagine anything worse now-though DS bought a tube of Coca Cola toothpaste the first time he visited us in Dubai!
1996
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Latest post on 17 October 2012 - 15:30
Taught in both public and private schools in Australia and both have offered excellent opportunities and enrichment activities for the students
1996
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Latest post on 17 October 2012 - 15:28
DS went to a very old fashioned school back home where they insisted on a very elaborate cursive script which was actually quite hard to read. He loved it and has beautiful hand writing (but the sort you'd see a century ago!). Not sure how outside examiners went reading it-even I had trouble at times. However he never really mastered printing as it wasn't taught so even at 25 filling in forms with boxes is a headache for him. However neat cursive handwriting is a must -especially when students sit external exams as studies show clearly written papers with the same content are marked higher than those with poor script. By the way my two were both left handed-one held the pen 'correctly'-the other who was a perfectionist devised a really odd way to hold her pen so she could see what she had written immediately before. Both wrote quickly and neatly. Your ds's learnt to write cursive left handed! How? Did you have to teach them differently? DD and DS both did-as I said DD held the pen oddly to save her smudging her work-DS seemed to not have the same problem except in art when using graphite pencils!
1996
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 17 October 2012 - 15:25
Anyone watching it? I wasn't going to but find myself wondering what's next for Lola and Marcello... :D Apart from the disturbingly shallow "beautiful but unlucky" line, has anyone watched it? No-couldn't cope with the horrendous dubbing-could it be any worse?
1996
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 17 October 2012 - 13:49
DS went to a very old fashioned school back home where they insisted on a very elaborate cursive script which was actually quite hard to read. He loved it and has beautiful hand writing (but the sort you'd see a century ago!). Not sure how outside examiners went reading it-even I had trouble at times. However he never really mastered printing as it wasn't taught so even at 25 filling in forms with boxes is a headache for him. However neat cursive handwriting is a must -especially when students sit external exams as studies show clearly written papers with the same content are marked higher than those with poor script. By the way my two were both left handed-one held the pen 'correctly'-the other who was a perfectionist devised a really odd way to hold her pen so she could see what she had written immediately before. Both wrote quickly and neatly.
1996
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 17 October 2012 - 12:34
oh thats a nice idea.. I have one (8) since I am six years old where i put my pennys in to buy one day my brideshoes. I think it will never happend that i am allowed to buy shoes. Oh if you saw a box recently please let me know where! It was at one of the Jashamal bookstores-can't quite remember which branch-maybe Deira CC or MOE-the newly renovated one anyway if that helps-oh hope you get those wedding shoes one day too! <em>edited by wuffles on 17/10/2012</em>
1996
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 17 October 2012 - 11:48
How about going to the ceramic cafe and painting a special money box called honeymoon fund. They can both put their spare coins in there and they will have a lovely fund by the time it's time to go on honeymoon. Personalised and practical! We bought my daughter one of those (readymade) at a bookshop in Dubai and she loved it
1996
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 17 October 2012 - 08:58
I am checking out apartments at the moment for me return to stay for a month, but the question applies to long term contracts... Why don't you rent a Golden Sands apt, or is that too far? Arenco Real Estate I'm not familiar with that area, is it far from everything? I want to be as close to New Dubai as possible Why? Old Dubai is closer to most of the things you seem to want anyway-would have thought New Duba was far from everything-give me the older part of town any day!
1996
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 16 October 2012 - 23:17
Not everyone who snores has sleep apnea, and not everyone who has sleep apnea snores. So how do you tell the difference between garden variety snoring and a more serious case of sleep apnea?. It was obvious with BH-you could hear him stop breathing for a prolonged period-then the snoring resumed-louder than ever
1996
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 16 October 2012 - 23:12
Try the Sleep Clinic at the American Hospital-I was set to smoother BH before he agreed to go! The CPAP machines might not be great to look at- but it is worth it for a good might's sleep
1996
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Latest post on 16 October 2012 - 21:11
http://travel.newarchaeology.com/beautiful_villages_england.php Have a look at the link. It makes me home sick! Thanks-omly been to two on the list-getting itchy feet now
1996
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 16 October 2012 - 20:59
You don't need a food processor anyway. Shell them with a nutcracker, place them in a plastic bag and use a rolling pin to crush them as finely as you need. Saves mess using the bag.
1996
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 16 October 2012 - 15:37
I haven't seen any pumpkins around. Bit surprised. Have any been spotted? Spinneys have them
1996
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Latest post on 16 October 2012 - 15:21
Thanks for the response and I can really appreciate what a difficult job it must be. What I cannot understand is how this benefits the customer!! Surely, when the customers are fed up with not getting a proper response or with poor customer service they will move on to another company that provides a better contact service. It just doesn't make sense to me, but more and more companies seem to be doing business this way. Is there someone that can explain the logic in this?? Guess it depends if the company has a monopoly! DS also says he has a share of 'old dears' who will keep him on line as long as they can because they are so pleased to be talking to anyone in their lonely days-and there is a fine line between keeping to the 4 minute allocated time per customer and not giving great customer service (doesn't help that he is soft hearted!). If he takes too long he is in trouble with his supervisor-if the customer feels they are being rushed they can complain........ It's the fact that more often than not a 'call centre' person cannot answer the question you have, you are then left with nowhere to go as the call centre is not allowed to give out the company office number and the company website number just throws you back to the call centre number and you end up going round in circles getting nowhere!! Except pulling your hair out with frustration. Perhaps this thread is a lesson to the companies that use such tactics in business that in the end they will lose their customers. No-if they can't answer something they forward them on to customer care who take the 'difficult' calls
1996
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Latest post on 16 October 2012 - 15:05
Thanks Shjbelle I was actually meaning to hire a professional photographer.... Personally I could think of nothing I would rather do!
1996
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Latest post on 16 October 2012 - 15:03
Thanks for the response and I can really appreciate what a difficult job it must be. What I cannot understand is how this benefits the customer!! Surely, when the customers are fed up with not getting a proper response or with poor customer service they will move on to another company that provides a better contact service. It just doesn't make sense to me, but more and more companies seem to be doing business this way. Is there someone that can explain the logic in this?? Guess it depends if the company has a monopoly! DS also says he has a share of 'old dears' who will keep him on line as long as they can because they are so pleased to be talking to anyone in their lonely days-and there is a fine line between keeping to the 4 minute allocated time per customer and not giving great customer service (doesn't help that he is soft hearted!). If he takes too long he is in trouble with his supervisor-if the customer feels they are being rushed they can complain........
1996
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 16 October 2012 - 14:26
Not sure if this fits your concept of call centres but DS currently has a casual job in a ticketting call centre. The other day he got in early and found 800 calls waiting! They try to staff according to the popularity of events but sometimes get it wrong. You can imagine how polite customer No 800 is by the time they get through to him!
1996
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 15 October 2012 - 21:06
Any Hallmark store will have them. if you are in an apartment block your doorman/secrity guard should have them too
1996
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Latest post on 14 October 2012 - 21:29
Not s a doctor or anything remotely resembling it-but when my MIL was depressed she often experienced panic attacks and the symptoms can mimic a heart attack-it was very frightening for her at the time. <em>edited by wuffles on 14/10/2012</em>
1996
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 14 October 2012 - 21:23
It is a very insidious form of bullying. My son was the brunt of this-he told us and removed himself from Facebook immediately but of course his school 'friends' told him what was being posted. We managed to get copies of what was being written but the boy who started it was one of the golden haired boys at school and it just wasn't taken seriously. Even his parents made the comment "boys will be boys". Made my son wary of who he befriended for years afterwards.
1996
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Latest post on 14 October 2012 - 13:02
I have one-and an electric blanket too-use the latter every night and we don't have the air con on-but then again I am odd!
1996
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Latest post on 14 October 2012 - 12:34
Borders at MOE had a clearance table of very cheap Christmas decorations-including trees-on Thursday- I left a few behind! Not sure they will still be there though as people were buying up big. Maybe ring first
1996
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 13 October 2012 - 15:12
What about Wafi Gourmet overlooking the fountains at Dubai Mall?
1996
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Latest post on 13 October 2012 - 14:46
Could this help? http://sharjah.dubizzle.com/community/services/other-services/2012/10/9/cat-hotel-how-about-a-home-to-keep-your-ca-12/ This thread was for cat minding in August-why bump it up??? I was going through posts and saw someone needed a place to keep their cat for Eid, and well, Eid is coming up.. Why not help? They were talking about the last Eid in August-hence my point it was too late to help. Maybe it's too late for last Eid, but there is another coming up. I don't see the harm done here.. Just thought you might be advertising a private service by bringing up such an old thread-anyway the link isn't working......
1996
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 13 October 2012 - 14:33
Could this help? http://sharjah.dubizzle.com/community/services/other-services/2012/10/9/cat-hotel-how-about-a-home-to-keep-your-ca-12/ This thread was for cat minding in August-why bump it up??? I was going through posts and saw someone needed a place to keep their cat for Eid, and well, Eid is coming up.. Why not help? They were talking about the last Eid in August-hence my point it was too late to help.
1996
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 13 October 2012 - 11:46
Could this help? http://sharjah.dubizzle.com/community/services/other-services/2012/10/9/cat-hotel-how-about-a-home-to-keep-your-ca-12/ This thread was for cat minding in August-why bump it up???
1996
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 13 October 2012 - 08:09
No-but once when BH was being particularly difficult I went though each room and listed what I would take if I left him-and what I would leave behind. Oddly the list wasn't as large as I expected-interesting when you have to think about what you reallly value. Living in Australia you always have the 'what to take in the case of bushfire list' in the back of your mind -if not on paper-but this list was quite different.
1996
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 10 October 2012 - 10:48
As neither my husband nor I have phones registered originally in our own names-one belonged to a former neighbour-the other to a friend of a friend-both of whom have long since left the country and aren't contactable-what do we do? edited by wuffles on 10/10/2012 Get a new number. That is why they are doing this so that they know who has what number. Wuffles, you don't need to get a new number, you just need to register the number you have under your name, which is what we are all doing. Just take along your passport/ID card as normal. :) No, you cannot re-register a phone if it is not in your name. All our Du services including my phone are under my husband's name and when I tried to re- register it earlier this week they said he had to do it. Or I need a letter from him authorising me to do it with copies of his passport/Emirates id. Etisalat says you can register a number in your name as long as you have sim and ID. I asked them a couple of months back as my sim is also originally in someone elses name. Perhaps DU is doing it differently. Thanks-the FAQS on the Etisalat site said you could do that for 6 months-unsure what happens after that-would prefer not to get new sim cards and have to change numbers obviously
1996
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Latest post on 10 October 2012 - 09:59
As neither my husband nor I have phones registered originally in our own names-one belonged to a former neighbour-the other to a friend of a friend-both of whom have long since left the country and aren't contactable-what do we do? <em>edited by wuffles on 10/10/2012</em>
1996
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 10 October 2012 - 09:49
I'm inclined to agree it is better to spend the money on her here. If she is coming from Europe it is a quick flight anyway-and if she is anything like my mum was she would consider it a waste of money too!
1996
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 10 October 2012 - 00:34
I know this is a really OLD advert lol but it's something your MIL could perhaps look into? Maybe then she could buy another handset and send it to you to use too? Other than that I can't think of another way for your DH to skype other than buy a new handset lol ETA ....the link would be helpful! http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=Iv42UMOnGWU edited by coco pops on 10/10/2012 Thanks-will take a look now the link is there-thought I was losing my marbles!
1996
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Latest post on 10 October 2012 - 00:17
Choueifat is the best school in Dubai if you want your kids to get into the best universities I wonder - the best universities where? Anyhow, not according to this (I hold no brief, just quoogled Chouieifat and found the SABIS system, it may well just be disgruntled teachers - but I don't quite understand which curriculum it is?). http://internationalschoolsreview.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?t=281&sid=e4cd14e65ec1faedbd2818adffc801e9 It's his own system that he created as he believes education is a bit like McDonald all children learn the same and will come out the same. Gobsmacked.. and this works, does it? I am wondering what happens when their sudents get into "the best universities" and actually have to think for themselves rather than relying on rote learning
1996
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Latest post on 10 October 2012 - 00:02
Ok I asked DH & we had a basic Tesco's phone which connected to the internet, thus enabling anyone with skype to call us free.....however, we never used it (!!!) so I can't help you further I'm afraid. DH did buy DS a 3G Pay as you go mobile phone with the Skype function, so, whenever we needed to call him, or vice versa, as long as we were logged into Skype it worked. We never really put any credit onto his phone though, as it wasn't needed for the Skype calls. I know there are ways around it in the UK, I'm not too sure about Australia though. Sorry I hope I haven't confused you more Wuffles. Thanks -it would only be for outbound calls away from the home computer-and MIL has no access to a compuer either
1996
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Latest post on 09 October 2012 - 23:06
It really depends on how much you spend on phone calls, he can buy a second hand iphone . I would recommend an older cheaper model Thanks-will suggest that to him
1996
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Latest post on 09 October 2012 - 22:55
Wuffles, I'm a complete technophobe as far as these advanced phones are concerned, but have a techno-savvy teenager and from what I understand, it is possible to use Skype even on pay-as-you-go, though it may be more expensive than on a contract. Don't quote me, though.. Thanks-good the kids have their uses!
1996
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Latest post on 09 October 2012 - 22:42
I updated my post. There are apparently plenty of Nokias that skype works on and they're not so fancy. Not sure if it skype works on the mobile network though. Might need wifi but your DH might not have that at work? edited by N0rdique on 09/10/2012 Thanks-will check-but his Nokia is very basic-don't think you can download apps on to it
1996
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Latest post on 09 October 2012 - 22:39
Shame, Wuffles, as it sounds as if investing in an iphone (or maybe Blackberry, I don't know?) would save a lot in calls to Australia in the long run? You may well be right-but not sure he would do it!! Would the app work for pre=paid as well as phones on a plan?-sorry I know very little about such things.