Here’s a quick slideshow I made from some of our favorite pictures from Dubai: Slideshow
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Filed under family | Comment (0)My family will be on their way back to Dubai in a few hours. They are always here just long enough to make me get used to having them around again and then they leave. I’m getting better at the goodbye part – I don’t cry (in front of them) anymore. I don’t know what my deal is… I’m an old married lady now and am busy with work and my life with Alex but I still get all upset when they leave.
I will miss my dad – especially when I need advice about something because it’s hard to get a hold of them when they’re in Dubai and talking over the phone or by email is never the same as in person (nonverbal communication is just so essential sometimes…). I’ll miss my Wham when I need to be talked off the ledge or when I feel the urge to just chat and gossip. I’ll miss my little brothers too (although not Greg’s constantly poking me in the arms – grrrrr) when I need to laugh – because we always seem to laugh and joke and have a good time when we’re together. The house felt so homey and warm and alive when they were home and I’ll miss just spending a lazy night hanging out in the kitchen watching a movie with my dad or lounging on the big comfy sofas in the great room while we all chat and laugh.
We’re trying to figure out when the best time to visit will be (Alex is thinking October-ish) and they will be home again in December. Then it’ll be just a few months until they come home for good. I should just focus on all of the positive changes that I can make in that time that they are away. I can lose weight (because omg I really, really need to!!!) and work on our debt (because omg our debt… ugh) and focus on work (because omg Tony just hired a new person that will be my boss and I’m sure there will be a lot of changes to come at the office over the next few months). I’ll be busy. Less than a year to go and this year flew by so the next thing I know they’ll be home for good. Right? Right. (I hope so, anyway…)
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Wham’s brother Billy died today. He just turned 66 years old last week. Uncle Billy lived in Texas and to me he always seemed to be the epitomy of Texas – he was larger than life. We’ll miss you Uncle Billy. 
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David turned 21 today! Amy made him spaghetti (at his request) and
baked him a cake. Alex and I came over for this early part of the
party. Right about now, they’re piling in a limo with a bunch of his
friends to go (legally!) drinking in Albany. Ah, the Wavid. Almost an
adult. 
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I can’t believe that the wedding has already come and gone! It was amazing – the happiest day of my life!! I was beaming from ear to ear all day long. AND I didn’t even cry during the ceremony! I was just SOOOO happy!!!!!
I’ve got pictures from me, Dodi, JJ, and Brenda posted so far in My Wedding Album. I’ll be adding to these as I get more pictures from friends (keep sending them my way!!!). Eric sent me a link to his album from my wedding and I’ll be adding those pictures to my collection after we return from the Honeymoon.
Speaking of the Honeymoon – it’s been fantastic so far! Our trip down to JFK got a little hairy with A LOT of traffic, but once we got on the plane it was smooth sailing. Or flying, as it were. Anyway, our room is fabulous and we got out a bit today to do some “pre-sightseeing”. We rode the London Eye and walked around and snapped a bunch of pictures. I’m now trying to figure out what we want to do tomorrow (well, I’m SUPPOSED) to be doing that now anyway…
We’re having a great time, but I know that this trip will be over too before we know it and then it’ll be back to reality. Life will be pretty busy the week we get back – we’ll want to go visit Beck and Kevin and meet their NEW DAUGHTER!!! Eleanor Patricia Fournier (Nora) was born the night of our wedding!! Alex’s mom gave us some pictures Saturday night – look how beautiful Nora is!!!
The day after we get back, the family moves to Dubai. I was pretty shocked when Dad told me the day that they were moving – I thought we’d have a few days after Alex and I return from the Honeymoon. I was really, really upset about it on Saturday night – I think that I’ve never really conceptualized what exactly was happening. I figured that I didn’t have to worry about all that until after the wedding – and now that it’s after the wedding (which, in itself, I can’t believe) reality has hit me hard. I’m going to miss them SO much. I know that it’s only 2 years but still, it’s two years! The boys will change so much during that time. I’m feeling better about it now – Dad told me to focus on the fact that we’ll see them every few months and it’s not forever and that helps. And I know that it’s a huge opportunity for them and they’re very excited. I just can’t wait for the next two years to be over and have them back! Although, in two years I will be turning 30 and that is absolutely insane. INSANE.
Anyway, enough about that. I’m on my Honeymoon! Since it’s now past midnight London time I’m going to try and throw together a quick outline of a plan for tomorrow and go to bed!
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Filed under family, wedding | Comments (2)Emirates Telecommunications Corporation
[edit] Blocking of Websites
Etisalat has blocked thousands of websites on the web due to various reasons; the statement on the “ban screen” states that websites may be banned due to their content contravening the political, religious, moral, social and economic values of the United Arab Emirates. These websites include:
- Pornography
- The entire Israel TLD (.il)
- Certain social-networking websites
- Certain media-sharing websites (such as flickr)
- Anti-Islamic websites
- Certain websites which cover aspects of the United Arab Emirates in a critical manner such as uaeprison.com, hetq.am and arabtimes.com
- Anonymous proxy sites
- “Some” File-sharing sites (torrents etc.)
Based upon the directions of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of the United Arab Emirates, Etisalat blocks some websites, such as VoIP. Skype is one such service blocked by Etisalat. Many see this action as a move to protect the profits of the telecommunications industry.
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Dad and I worked for about an hour tonight to get video conferencing working. We wanted to be able to easily communicate after the family moves to Dubai and it seemed like video conferencing over the web would be easy and more fun than a regular phone call! We tried a few different ways to connect, but settled on Skype because it proved to be the easiest.
I was psyched, but then decided to Google Skype and Dubai. I was shocked to discover that Etisalat, the only ISP in the USA, blocks access to Skype! We talk about the family moving and how it will be a big adjustment climatically and how it’ll be harder to communicate because of the time zone difference – but there’s so much more to it than that! There will be a huge social adjustment that will need to happen as well! I know that Dubai really caters to tourists and that it is much more free than many other Arab cities and nations, but there are still going to be some major differences. I was kind of freaked out by the unexpected restriction of freedom. I don’t know if it’s because it’s Independence day or what, but the limitations on accessing web pages just seems so wrong to me.
I know that they will be fine and it will be a great experience and will all work out well in the end, but it really hit me tonight about how big a deal this really is. Dad is traveling back there tomorrow and so we’ll have some time (hopefully) to test out some things – some workarounds I found for accessing Skype, testing to see if he can still access and post to Blogger, making sure that he can access our family photo album sites (I mean, even flickr is blocked over there!). It will be interesting to see what works and what doesn’t. Hopefully we can figure out an easy solution!
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Filed under family | Comment (0)I got some sad news last week – my PopPop died. He had emphysema and underwent a surgical procedure to try and improve his condition. Apparently the surgery was a success but he ended up in ICU for about 2 weeks and died last Tuesday. I hadn’t seen PopPop in a while, so I had no idea how bad off he was… and I felt terrible that it’d be so long since I last saw him and now he’s gone.
Alex and I went to the funeral in Pottsville this past weekend. We drove down on Thursday and stayed at the Quality Inn in downtown. Alex kept calling it the “non-quality inn”, but it wasn’t that bad. A little outdated and a little rough around the edges, but certainly not the worst I’ve ever seen. And they had free wireless, so that was a bonus – it was nice to be able to google directions etc.
The funeral was Friday morning at St Joe’s. Father Connelly did a very fire and brimstone homily. Very much “be Catholic or be prepared to suffer the consequences.” After the service we went to the cemetery and there was a short service there as well. We went to Christy Joy’s catering for a reception afterwards. We had something called City Chicken there which apparently is not made of chicken… Alex was quite disturbed. I think it’s pork and veal that’s on a stick and breaded. It wasn’t too bad – but it’s weird that you’d have “mock chicken”. I guess it’s a Pottsville thing.
We hung out with my family Friday and came home on Saturday. It was really great to see everyone again – my Nana, my Aunts and Uncles, my cousins, and my Mom and RJ – but it was a shame that it had to be for such a shitty reason.
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So the fireworks did not get rained out! The weather was pretty nice for the 4th (well, nicer than it’s been lately) and we had a great time. I hung out with my family for the day while Alex, unfortunately, worked. Went to the parade in Clifton Park in the morning, the neighbor’s house for a little party in the afternoon and then walked over to see fireworks at night. Good times. The fireworks were really great – but there were a few scary moments. One of the large, roundish fireworks exploded on the ground and many of them didn’t appear to fire high enough. We didn’t see any ambulances, though, so I think that no one got hurt.
I’m very much not into being back at work after the four day weekend, though. I’ve got so much to get done, but my motivation level is zero. Suck. Anyway, better get back to it…
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