Comment Issues!

Dear Readers,
(1) I am annoyed: for the past month I thought all my readers were busy and not commenting on my posts! Turns out I had forty eight comments to moderate when I went to my bloggers' dashboard! Why did blogger stop sending my notifications by email when a new comment awaits moderation?! And I thought you were all ignoring me :) Thanks Mr. Sythe for asking me about a missing comment. And please accept my apologies for the delay. I guess I'm going to have to check my dashboard from now on. I was counting on email!
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(2) For those of you still interested in helping flood victims in Pakistan, donation headquarters in Salalah are at Muadh Bin Jabal Mosque مسجد معاذ بن جبل near the hospital/Khawla high school. They accept clothes, blankets, shoes, etc. Not sure about money, but you can ask (and if you find out, let me know). Please spread the word. They will continue accepting help for the next few weeks. Pakistan needs it and I know all of you have accumulated old clothes and things you don't need. It's the least you can do.
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(3) We had a few dry days last week where we were worried the monsoon had stopped. However, a few of days ago it started raining again ... heavily. It's been raining almost non-stop since Saturday and it's actually (believe it or not) rather chilly. I'm even wearing socks at night (without the air conditioning!).
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(4) My family 'attempted' an Iftar picnic yesterday in the mountains. Bad idea. Bad bad idea. The Evil Airnoots did their very best to ensure we had a splendid time (not). See my post on Evil Airnoots from last Khareef.
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That's all for now folks! What have you been up to lately?

Sleepy Saturday

I had an odd dream last night. Oh, well. How are you all today? Pleasant weekend? Me, myself and I are totally bitten! Yes, bitten. Thursday afternoon my family decided to go on a picnic to Iteen. Beautiful green spot, lovely weather, zaatar tea (thyme), and kites. Perfect, right? NOT. Let me introduce you to picnickers' worst enemy: *drumroll* The EVIL Airnoot! (3airnoot)...

So, here's how it works. You get to a perfect picnic spot, ok? (see picture - this was our picnic spot)

You get your chairs out of the car, spread the mat, bring out the tea, cookies; whatever you brought. Get the kids set up with their kites or their ball. Everyone settles down in their chairs and sighs. Everything is perfect. Then .... suddenly (and I'm really serious here. We're talking a few seconds) .. 3 million little insect-type-monsters attack you. They're so tiny you can't even see them. They head for your eyes, your nose, your mouth. You get up, shout, wave your hands around like a maniac, scream; and that excites them even more. You spend two or three minutes fighting for your life, then you quickly pack up your picnic and run for your life. You spend the next twenty minutes speeding in a pathetic attempt to get the remaining monsters out of your car. Here's how I imagine it:

A group of Airnoots sitting on a rock polishing their little wings:

Airnoot One: Dude, I'm like so bored.

Airnoot Two: Yeah, tell me about it man.

Car drives up. We (humans) start getting out.

Airnoot One: Hey! Joey, look! Humans!

Airnoot Two: Wha? Where?

Airnoot One: Over there! In that ugly big Nissan Armada!

Airnoot Two (jumping up and clapping its wings): Yay! A-C-T-I-O-N, baby!

Airnoot One: Ok, let's call the Chief and rest of the group.

Airnoots assemble in front of rock. Chief Airnoot speaks.

Cheif Airnoot: Fellow, Airnooties, humans have just landed on our planet Iteen. We must defend our space from these creatures. Wait until they unload the car before you attack. When they sit down and expose the food (loud cheer), Team A will attack the humans, and Team B will head to the food. Am I clear?

Airnooties: Sir, yes, sir!

Cheif Airnoot: Ok, everyone, get ready to rumble. They are now exposing ... oh, WOW, a huge platter of Basboosa!! Oh, our lucky day! Ok, ATTACK!

So, you see what I mean, right? Ok, end of my Airnoot drama. While we were escaping from Planet Airnoot, I caught this photo of a Cotton Candy Boy:

The Cotton Candy Boy phenomena started quite recently, only a couple of years back I think. Wherever you go in the mountains area or picnic areas, you see one of these young boys, usually barefoot, selling you plastic bags of cotton candy. I find it a little depressing, but does anyone know if these boys are benefitting? Are they making any money? Is it helping them?

Just thoughts. It's raining outside. Have a great day.