Monday, November 17, 2014

November Rain

It rained cats and dogs yesterday here in Jeddah, the first ever rain of the year. Everybody get so excited every time it rains here. You will see most of their videos and photos in social networking sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Here's mine from Instagram.




And here is the full video I uploaded from You Tube.



Friday, November 7, 2014

Our Alto Goes on Vacation (UPDATE)


Picture: Our Alto getting its rear tires changed early this year.


It's been exactly a week today since our car broke down...again. Last year was the first time it broke down. Our daily routine changes significantly without our car, I mean, it's hard, especially when you get used to it. We have to take the taxi now to go to work, although we could reimburse our transportation expenses from our company (through invoices),  it's still not the same as having our own car, and that's no brainer.

Also it's been a week since we informed our company office of our predicament so that somebody would take it to the mechanic, but to no avail. We understand that there's no one available just yet but really, sometimes the desperation and the stress of haggling with a taxi driver who at least does not carry a familiar (undesirable) scent almost took its toll on us. Now we are thinking of getting our own car, not a big or expensive car, but just a tiny city car that can adequately ferry us around Jeddah.

We're thinking of getting a Kia - Picanto God willing, or something similar to its stature (cheap and tiny). But we still have to wait for few more days to plan this out. We want to know how the situation goes whether it bodes well to the company by giving us a decent car or they being satisfied with astronomical reimbursements. Who knows they might provide us a new car (which is good) or send our majestically decrepit car to the mechanic which is fine also. 

Our car is a Suzuki - Alto, I think it's the cheapest car around. We've been using it for more than six years now since August of 2008. Thank you Lord Jesus for blessing us with this small and humble car. But hey Alto, you should be resurrecting your rear for my sake otherwise it's all about agony in the streets and reluctantly getting immune to the stress, sun, carbon monoxide, dust and familiar scent that is!

UPDATE - January 27, 2015

Our Alto is back from the dead. My company decided not to buy a new car after all and instead, just fixed it. When I saw the car this afternoon, it was so filthy, I hardly recognized it. I've already washed and cleaned it and ready for tomorrow. I thank you Lord Jesus Christ for bringing back Alto. Hallelujah!