It is now 9:30 in the morning and I am in Rosewood Foods enjoying a fantastic breakfast. I overlook this cafe from the condo I am staying in until Saturday morning. Then I shall be off to my apartment to begin my tenancy. The lease was signed yesterday, will pick up the keys today. You cannot possibly imagine how happy I am. I will now have an address, been without one since November 1, 2021. It is most troublesome not have an address, more than a little inconvenient. One cannot do anything, for instance order things from the Internet, have a billing address, send and receive mail. It has not been fun, let me tell you. But I did survive. Why did I not have an address? There is no postal service in the UAE – unbelievable but true. Anyway, all of that is behind me now, not going to look back, that is for sure. I am home now and going to stay here for awhile. No more travels for me. Mecca is going to have to wait and so is Oman and perhaps even Powell River, British Columbia. I have invitations in all these three places. I am most popular, have been called The Perfect Guest by a series of places including such disparate place as the Rixos Resort in Abu Dhabi and the Abu Dhabi Airport Premier Inn. Both of these places are in Abu Dhabi but the similarities end there. I remain in contact with four people met at the Rixos Resort, two by Instagram, one through What’s App and another by email.
By the way, the breakfast was a lox and egg sandwich, peach juice and a white Americano. All were delicious. Spoke to the young woman server:
Me: I left Edmonton 55 years ago and now I am coming back to live. I can tell you this – the restaurants have certainly improved over the years.
She: Thank you. I hope you come for breakfast every morning.
Me: I am temporarily in a condo across the street – moving to an apartment some distance away. But I will try to come. I am here until Saturday morning so I shall see you for the next few days anyway.
But not everything worked out yesterday. In fact it appeared that nothing did. Arrived in a timely fashion for my Apple appointment to transfer material from my USA phone to my Canadian phone. Appointment had been made days before.
Me: I am here for my 11:30 Genius Bar appointment
He: Well sit there and wait but other people are ahead of you.
Me: But is not an appointment, an appointment? I kept up my part of the bargain and arrived on time.
He: Well some people take longer.
Me: That is not how it works in the Apple Stores in London, England, in Abu Dhabi or in Marin County.
A man was impatiently waiting who had an 11:00 appointment, he was not at all happy. But not me, I left as I do not tolerate abuse. It is abusive to have no regard for a person’s time. The place must be understaffed but rather than take responsibility for this and hire more workers the haughty manager merely insults the customers. On my way out, I informed a woman that I was leaving. I have the ability to stay in touch with the wondrous Yas Mall, Abu Dhabi Apple store. They have a business section, to help coordinate your business with their programs. Could use it in the publication of my books and getting a podcast. I must tell the wonderful staff working in Abu Dhabi that they should come and work in this Apple store, Canadian citizenship a possibility if here if they have been legitimately in Canada for five years. Citizenship NEVER a possibility in the UAE, they just throw you out when you get too old, even though you worked there at subsistence wages for years.
Next on the agenda was an appointment at Restoration Hardware. Quite unbelievable the man I was to meet had been the decorator for a member of the Royal Family of Dubai. Almost fainted when I learned that. I had plans to purchase a Sheikha Fatimah bed for my new apartment as all my furniture is in storage in California. But it was not to be. The bed could not be delivered until July 15 (at the earliest). But I did go to try out mattresses. He was aided by a woman who specialized in mattresses.
She: Do you like a firm or a soft mattress?
Me: I prefer my men and my mattresses firm.
I went to lay on a mattress to test it out. About that moment LOG arrived.
He: How much does that mattress cost?
She: Nine thousand dollars.
LOG and I left Restoration Hardware.
He: Nine thousand dollars for a mattress. I know the manager at Leon. We will go there, they have a showroom and inventory.
Me: That is a brilliant idea.
This is now Thursday morning. On Wednesday we went to Leon. It was an amazing experience. Spoke to two Muslim women who were there shopping and we vowed to stay in touch. LOG’s friend had the day off but his partner provided able service and they had everything in stock.
So I now have a bed, a mattress (also firm) two sets of flannelette sheets, a duvet cover, a mirror (upright), a fascinating piece of furniture called an egg which will be an ‘instead of’ sofa.two pillows and a toaster. All of this will be delivered on Friday. A fake fireplace will arrive in three weeks – it matches the floor length mirror. All of this cost less than the nine thousand dollar mattress. The true miracle was that everything was in stock. Transportation costs have soared and so has availability, so things are on back order. It was absolutely shocking that everything I wanted was in stock and readily available.
He: That is absolutely amazing that we have everything in stock that you wanted, except for the fireplace which is in Calgary.
Me: It is not luck. It is Allah, Allah is telling me that He wants me to be safe in Canada, the land of my birth. I truly believe that. .
LOG and I dropped some items at the apartment, I have the keys, paid the security deposit and the first month’s rent in cash, opened a Canadian bank account and gave the Property Manager a draft for automatic withdrawal of the rent from a Canadian bank. The Canadian bank account achieved. The woman so helpful – the account is free, because of my age and because the transactions will be limited.
Back to Rosewood Foods for a late lunch. A young man, so helpful and official was wearing the most unbelievable T-shirt. A photo was taken and posted on Instagram and shall be attached to this blog.
Today another busy day. It will be off to Home Sense to get a duvet and other items for the apartment after beginning the move of the luggage to the new apartment. Need to arrange for Wi-fi and power to the apartment. Hopefully I shall get to the water aerobics. Been so busy, getting kicked out of the Chateau Lacombe then preforming all of the tasks to lease the new apartment, not had the time (or energy) to go. I think I shall today. All praise to Allah.
