| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
cmp45
Joined: 17 Aug 2004
Posts: 1475
Location: KSA
|
 Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2010 1:39 pm Post subject: |
 |
|
S&B,
Seriously, if I were you, I would stop reading those USA warnings / reports...they only serve to make you feel even more paranoid/ fearful. However, I 'get' that you feel like potential targets. Yes, you may be out numbered and feel like everyone around you is your enemy, because "they" think, look and dress differently than the 7 or 8 of you. Yes, I get, the potential threat feels real to you.
Is staying worth the psychological trauma you are presently experiencing.
If your gut says no, then get out; if you answered yes then cheer up and try to find some way to enjoy your time there because Qassim is the place you chose to live and work.
Last edited by cmp45 on Sun Aug 08, 2010 2:33 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Never Ceased To Be Amazed
Joined: 22 Oct 2004
Posts: 3500
Location: Shhh...don't talk to me...I'm playin' dead...
|
| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2010 2:18 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I may wind up regretting this, but here goes...
Altho he needs no support from me, I think that folk should go a little lightly on SnB. He has a right to his musings and I don't feel that he's being an alarmist...but rather measured in his response. My only basis of this is being a former resident of both the Jadawel and al-Muhaiya (known as the B-2 in my day) compounds which were both savagely attacked in 2003. My wife and I knew many of the other two and lost friends during that tragic day Being in Jeddah at that time, I was more than relieved to get my family out of the kingdom within days.
Grendal, I don't think that anyone in their right mind would "brag" about living is Qassim. Besides, anything can be found thru Google. The implication of you question isn't, IMHO, worthy of you...
NCTBA |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Grendal
Joined: 13 Aug 2009
Posts: 861
Location: Lurking in the depths of the Faisaliah Tower underground parking.
|
| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2010 2:24 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Sorry NCTBA,
It was intended to prove that S&B is in Qassim and therefore lay to rest all speculation as to his whereabouts.
I will retract if this is too ............ You know.
Regards.
Grendal |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Never Ceased To Be Amazed
Joined: 22 Oct 2004
Posts: 3500
Location: Shhh...don't talk to me...I'm playin' dead...
|
| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2010 2:59 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Grendal wrote: |
Sorry NCTBA,
It was intended to prove that S&B is in Qassim and therefore lay to rest all speculation as to his whereabouts.
I will retract if this is too ............ You know.
Regards.
Grendal |
Naw, no need to retract...altho, it seems we got to the udder one in a timely manner! 
This 'uns MY bad. I tend to bristle when I detect a questioning of someone's bona fides, which you, I know understand, weren't.
I don't know if SnB holds a security clearance as I did, but one can quickly lose it if one talks too much about one's job/area when it concerns a sensitive employer. Him being in the 'boonies', I'm assuming, "Yes". Heck! We weren't even allowed to drive the same ingress and egress routes into Riyadh AB and were warned by the RSAF and AlSalam that should we ingore this directive, we would be asked to leave. Such is the seriousness of such a posting. And, WE were in an urban area, not out in the middle of nowhere...
So, IMHO, the less said, the better.
NCTBA
Ughhh!!! Move over you big lout!!! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Sheikh N Bake
Joined: 26 Apr 2007
Posts: 1307
Location: Dis ting of ours
|
| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2010 5:42 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| cmp45 wrote: |
S&B,
Seriously, if I were you, I would stop reading those USA warnings / reports...they only serve to make you feel even more paranoid/ fearful. However, I 'get' that you feel like potential targets. Yes, you may be out numbered and feel like everyone around you is your enemy, because "they" think, look and dress differently than the 7 or 8 of you. Yes, I get, the potential threat feels real to you.
Is staying worth the psychological trauma you are presently experiencing.
If your gut says no, then get out; if you answered yes then cheer up and try to find some way to enjoy your time there because Qassim is the place you chose to live and work. |
STOP reading the warnings? Uhm...this is the first one I've seen in years! OK, O thou Insecure One.
Here are some facts:
1. Embassy issues a warning that credible sources say we are being targeted by terrorist(s) in Qassim.
2. There are only about 8 westerners and we mostly live in the same place.
So there is nothing to muse about or be concerned about? That's not the same as getting hysterical. Let me get this straight: you mean a smart man would assume it's nonsense and take no precautions and dismiss it as nonsense? As if the whole thing is outlandish and unrealistic? Then you and that Cuffs guy are lamer than your preposterous posts.
I certainly don't need your intercultural/international living advice. I've lived in more foreign countries than you can count on your toes when you squat down to pick at them--for over half my life. That includes 15 years in the Gulf. I'll give YOU some advice now: try and take a breather, maybe take a few years off to obtain some analytical skills (although that's obviously asking a lot) and respond to me when you've grown up, if ever. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
cmp45
Joined: 17 Aug 2004
Posts: 1475
Location: KSA
|
| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2010 6:00 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Heh...do you honestly believe that reading 'these' warnings will help you stay safe?
You are suposedly a smart enough character to know the area you are currently residing in. Do you really need the warnings to add to your already insecure feelings...you will do what is necessary to stay safe as you have been doing all along...so what will you do differently given the current warning? Hide under your bed? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Sheikh N Bake
Joined: 26 Apr 2007
Posts: 1307
Location: Dis ting of ours
|
| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2010 6:06 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Pearls of wisdom from a drunk who garbles all over Dave's ESL Cafe when smashed? Yes, some of us saw it. And most of us in our drinking days had better things to do. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
cmp45
Joined: 17 Aug 2004
Posts: 1475
Location: KSA
|
| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2010 6:19 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I supose it's easiest to attack the messenger, when all else fails...sheesh!
Apparently, judging by your last few posts one need not be drunk to 'garble' all over Dave's
Good luck then...RIP rest in peace
Last edited by cmp45 on Sun Aug 08, 2010 7:08 pm; edited 2 times in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Sheikh N Bake
Joined: 26 Apr 2007
Posts: 1307
Location: Dis ting of ours
|
| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2010 6:29 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Oh, my case had been rested. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Mia Xanthi
Joined: 13 Mar 2008
Posts: 955
Location: why is my heart still in the Middle East while the rest of me isn't?
|
| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2010 6:47 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Even though the case has been rested, I would like to applaud SnB for his apparently calm and rational approach to what must be at least a stressful and nerve-wracking situation right now. Even if he's not downright frightened over the warning, he deserves to at least be able to express some concern and anxiety over this very real threat to his safety. Even if the warnings are not accurate and attacks don't take place, living in a fishbowl and having to constantly watch your back is almost as soul-scarring as undergoing an actual attack.
I think SnB is being brave and realistic. The fact is that everyone is safe in KSA ... until one day they aren't. We never know when that day will come, and we all have to cope with our anxieties about security in different ways. Some cope better by denying that any threat exists at all, others cope by facing the threat head on to always feel prepared. There is nothing "alarmist" about the second approach, and no one should be condemned for taking it. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
007
Joined: 30 Oct 2006
Posts: 2684
Location: UK/Veteran of the Magic Kingdom
|
| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2010 6:48 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Well, it seems the security threat level is RED (severe) in Qassim, and it seems Shiekh Nano is using his analytical skills combined with preparedness skills (provided by Uncle Sam) to establish an emergency final exit in case his compound is attacked by Al-Qaida! 
Shiekh Nano, if the security threat level is RED, what the hell are your doing in Qassim?
The bravery is to escape with your skin before Abu Abbass catch you in Buraidah!
Last edited by 007 on Sun Aug 08, 2010 6:53 pm; edited 2 times in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Sheikh N Bake
Joined: 26 Apr 2007
Posts: 1307
Location: Dis ting of ours
|
| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2010 6:52 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| 007 wrote: |
Well, it seems the security threat level is RED (severe) in Qassim, and it seems Shiekh Nano is using his analytitcal skills combined with preparedness skills (provided by Uncle Sam) to establish an emergency final exit in case his compound is attacked by Al-Qaida!
Shiekh Nano, if the security threat level is RED, what the hell are your doing in Qassim? |
None of your business.
"analytitcal"? Freudian typo, no doubt. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
lazycomputerkids
Joined: 22 Sep 2009
Posts: 360
Location: Tabuk
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
lazycomputerkids
Joined: 22 Sep 2009
Posts: 360
Location: Tabuk
|
| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2010 7:06 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Mia Xanthi wrote: |
| ... is almost as soul-scarring as undergoing an actual attack. |
a mighty big almost
| Mia Xanthi wrote: |
| ... The fact is that everyone is safe in KSA ... until one day they aren't. We never know when that day will come, |
Never say never.
The OP might as well have been asking about San Fran
| FloridaTEFL wrote: |
| How dangerous is it really? I'm male, for the record. |
What about off the record? wink wink
Prove it. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Sheikh N Bake
Joined: 26 Apr 2007
Posts: 1307
Location: Dis ting of ours
|
| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2010 7:09 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Mia Xanthi wrote: |
Even though the case has been rested, I would like to applaud SnB for his apparently calm and rational approach to what must be at least a stressful and nerve-wracking situation right now. Even if he's not downright frightened over the warning, he deserves to at least be able to express some concern and anxiety over this very real threat to his safety. Even if the warnings are not accurate and attacks don't take place, living in a fishbowl and having to constantly watch your back is almost as soul-scarring as undergoing an actual attack.
I think SnB is being brave and realistic. The fact is that everyone is safe in KSA ... until one day they aren't. We never know when that day will come, and we all have to cope with our anxieties about security in different ways. Some cope better by denying that any threat exists at all, others cope by facing the threat head on to always feel prepared. There is nothing "alarmist" about the second approach, and no one should be condemned for taking it. |
Why, thank you, gracious ma'am. Now I think I'll go to the new Hyperpanda in Buraidah (formerly an inadequate Geant) wearing nothing but a sandwich board saying (in less polite terms) "I hate locals!" I'm sure I'll be met with kisses and flowers as a liberator. With apologies to Bruce Willis in the scene where the evil bomber forces him to walk the streets of Harlem decked out the same way but with the board saying "I HATE N******!" Yeah, and the drunks and idiots thought I cowered under my bed!
Now don't get excited, dear detractors. Actually I like the locals and my students. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
