Job Discussion Forums

[veiledsentiments]

[Sheikh N Bake]

I actually did that awhile, VS--took in the rental income from the paid-off house in the States while working at the Petroleum Institute for a couple of years. The combination was certainly lucrative. But it all depends on the individual's tolerance for living in the Middle East. I imagine the majority here would not opt for the Gulf in the circumstances I mentioned earlier. Johnslat wouldn't, as he said. Jeeves (in PG Wodehouse) always put it as "the psychology of the individual, sir."

As for housing being as nice in the Gulf as in the States, no, I can't agree...not in my circs.... an apt in the Gulf certainly does not compare to a four-bedroom detached house in a leafy subdivision in the States...and kitchens and bathrooms quite frankly anywhere outside the US and Canada simply do not stand up in quality...this I know from only 34 years in 10 countries outside the US...god, it's bad enough visiting my mom in the hills of the Luxembourg Ardennes! So pretty and peaceful (TOO peaceful). But, that's a minor matter. Life here in West Houston, believe it or not, is so much more gracious, comfortable and convenient than anything I lived through in 11 years in the Gulf. Honestly, VS, the way you always go on about how life in the Gulf is so sublime compared to poor shabby America would make one think you've only lived in Detroit. It is so nice here...what a relief from the dust, heat, pollution, the arrogant and deadly drivers, the culture (if one doesn't like it)...my goodness, just the crisp air in the Fall...a lot of little things.

[veiledsentiments]

I don't know what circles you live in, but none of my single friends in the US have four bedroom houses or even three bedroom houses... or even houses. Most of them had 2 bedroom condos at best or rented flats that weren't anywhere near as nice as those I had in Oman or Abu Dhabi. Of course, the last thing that I would want is a 4 bedroom house... a big empty money pit!!

In the Middle East I was always living in new construction... spacious, open plan... light and airy... with new furniture too. Even as an accountant, I couldn't have afforded to rent a flat so large or new. Of course, I didn't rent in the US. I bought... and they were small properties in older neighborhoods that had the chance of appreciation... which eventually came through for me. Luxurious they were not! But location, location. location...

And whoever said anything about "sublime" ... I just pointed out the fact that the properties I was given gratis in the Gulf were nicer than I could have afforded in the suburbs of Washington DC as either a teacher or an accountant. Of course, rents are pretty high there... never been to Houston...

It wasn't until my last property that I purchased just a couple years before retiring that I was able to actually go to an upmarket condo in a posh neighborhood in VA that competed with the housing I got in the Gulf. Sorry that your employers put you in the dregs of their inventory. I guess I was just lucky.

VS

[eha]

'...What in heavens name does this have to do with topic... we are not talking about a colleague who might be having a problem in class. We are talking about those people who whine and whinge constantly and endlessly and repetitively about most everything either on this board or in the faculty rooms.....'

Ok, so if it bothers you, DON"T READ THEM. It's not your business to tell people when /why/ if they should leave; after all, you're not the one in their circumstances. I could understand someone young and arrogant and footloose and fancy-free saying that; but for God's sake, it isn't that easy for some of us. And, as I said before, a little historical insight wouldn't be out of place: change is NOT impossible; it may be slow, but it happens. And change starts with TALKING ABOUT THE SITUATION. You might call that whingeing and whining, and you're welcome to your opinion. But that doesn't give you the right to shut anyone up.

If you don't like that, PLEASE PLEASE DON"T READ THE POSTS YOU DISLIKE! There are plenty of other posts, saying things you approve of! Stick with those posts!

[Sheikh N Bake]

Yes, much as I liked working for IPA in Jeddah, their housing was street-level and not very good. DWC housing wasn't very good either, and that was back in 1997-2002, and for the last 6 months they made us move to a Sharjah location that had the worst traffic in the world...God, I hate Sharjah with a passion. You can literally get stuck in traffic for hours and hours on a Monday evening at 8:30 for no particular reason other than total lack of city planning. No need to tell you that--I know people who moved out of Sharjah just because of traffic and no other reason. (I imagine it's not so bad around University City.)

No, my four-bedroom house is not too a bad money pit if I live in it, because I don't trash it. Central A/C and water tanks and furnaces eventually die, but they last at least a decade or maybe two. But every time tenants move out, I have to spend $7000 in repairs and renovation. Early last year I had tenants moving out of both my houses and that cost me $14,000 in renovations and repairs.

Bathrooms and kitchens are primitive everywhere except in North America--if the latter are reasonably updated.

[sheikh radlinrol]

[johnslat]

Dear sheikh,
Why, that's easy to answer: the same way people can decide a book should be banned without their having read it.