The end of my Qatar episode, and other stuff
Well, it's been a long time I didn't write here, and it's time for an update.
2020: the end of the Qatar episode
It was supposed to happen in 2016, but back then the HR told me "I don't want to see your [resignation] letter. Let me find something else for you." And I got myself into a new role, in another Department, and got a raise. But now, nearly 4 years later, I feel I have finally exhausted the possibilities of this. I will go through the next round of annual bonus scheme in January, then some time in February or March planning to give my resignation, hopefully this time for good.
For you young reader wondering why the fuck a western guy like myself would go and work in the Gulf, the answer is simple. Take the salary you are earning, and multiply by two or three, plus no income tax, that's what you get for working in the Gulf in the same position. It is particularly interesting if you are mid to late career, which is my case. The reason for that is that these Gulf monarchies do not have enough national workforce, let alone
educated workforce, to run their countries by themselves. So they have been relying for decades on foreigners to operate their countries. Add to that that the newest generation of young nationals is already wasted with money without even working for it. They are not willing to work their ass off, like we are used to in the West. They would rather take daddy's Maserati and show off at the mall. LOL. I'm barely exaggerating. It is an actual societal problem that the Gulf monarchies are trying (quite powerlessly) to deal with.
I will miss this country though. I have been here since 2011, so going to 9 years. During this time, the main city Doha has changed a lot, for good. The country has massively invested into its infrastructures, ahead of the 2022 World Cup. Doha is now a city with world class infrastructure while at the same time keeping its Muslim roots, culture and identity, which make it feel more authentic than Dubai.
In spite of all my own fears and expectations, this city actually turned out to be a little dating paradise. It's the last country in the world where I would have thought becoming an advanced Seducer. But yeah! In fact, the local culture is quite tolerant and do not care what you do, as long as you are discreet and do not splash scandal. In that respect, getting involved with a Qatari lady (there are some very pretty ones to be fair!) would have been the dangerous and stupid thing to do, with many ways it could backfire. But it is probably 85% of foreigners in this country. So I tapped into the foreigner girls.
The single white girl segment here is extremely small, and chased after by every single red blooded male in the country. So I stayed away from it. That's how I got involved with so many Philippines, Chinese, and Kenyan girls here. There were also some large segments, such as Indian girls, or Ethiopian girls, for which I never found an entry point. Just got one Indian, one Ethiopian. Would have loved to explore these more. Oh well.
Now the question is what next.
Attempt at relationship with miss K
That has taken me a lot of time and energy. She's in Nairobi and me in Doha, separated by 6 hr flight. I went to see her five times since we got back together in April. Apart from that, a lot of the energy was deployed into keeping this alive and well across Long Distance. It was not easy, I must admit, but it went OK.
We were more or less having plans of moving in together in my post Qatar days.
However in the last four weeks a number of things have cast big doubts on that. Without getting into the little shitty details, let's state a few facts:
- At the last minute, she bailed out of our new year plans which would have involved her meeting my children
- I insisted, told her that I need to know now that she is going to accept my kids
- She bailed out again, went offline to dodge the conversation
I would have been OK with this sort of shit twenty years ago. But I needed to know that both my kids, and her, at least accept each other, before taking a decision like moving in together. I understand the apprehension of getting my children approval. But it she dodges now, she will dodge later even more. With time, this will turn into a big issue. I may be wrong, yeah, but the moment to know was
now. Later might be too late.
Also, her going offline in order to dodge the conversation, is a big red flag to me.
It is a pity. No one is supposed to be perfect. She has many good things going on for her. But my gut feelings tell me I will be more happy alone without worries of this kind. It is the last thing I need in my life. So well, I ended this.
Somehow, I expect her to be back and try to salvage this. Maybe tomorrow, or maybe in January. Will see.
The post Qatar plans
The way I see it today, I will seek to get the Special Retirement Residency Visa in the Philippines, like I intended to do in 2016. I have a small flat already paid for in Cebu. Rotating tons of Filipinas is something I'm good at, and it sounds like a very nice plan to me. Plenty of beaches and boobs forever after.
One thing is sure, I am not thinking of applying to a salary job again. Bye bye my CV, bye bye HRs and job interviews and "Why do you want to work for us?" non sense.
I have saved money to sustain myself and family for quite some time. However I don't intend to remain inactive. I will likely try to setup some sort of business that will give me some complementary revenues. But not in my first year. The first year will be about settling in and making myself a few girlfriends in the process
Strength training progress
I have seen some nice progress in all my lifts since my last update! Here is where I stand:
Deadlift: 145 kg for 5, or 160 kg for 1. I think I'm ready to attempt 165.
Squats: 120 kg for 3 sets of 5. Probably ready to attempt 123 x 5 or even 125 x 5.
Overhead Press: I've done 48 kg for 5 strict presses. My 1RM is 54 kg.
Bench Press. Still my weakest lift. I managed 73 kg for 5.
Pendlay Rows: I've rowed 90kg for 5.
Push Press. I have one tested rep at 60 kg. But I only started recently. I am probably already able to do more than that.
In terms of body composition, I'm 82 kg, probably about 17% body fat. Since I started training with weights in 2017, the changes on me are very visible and quite impressive. People around me give lots of compliments and "each time I see you you look younger" sort of comments. However when they see the sort of exercise I do to get these results, they disapprove
.
They also liked it when I lost 14 kg in 2011. But disapproved when they heard it involved eating tons of red meat and saturated fats. And I don't need to know what they would think if they knew about my rotations.
Oh well. Controversial stuff is what I do.
