no end to UAE ID card registration mess

The weather continues to cool off and dry out so night walking is more enjoyable now.  We have a hunch that either our apartment or the entire building's electrical outlets are defective.  We've had to buy a second portable vacuum cleaner, a third coffee grinder, and a second floor lamp because of electrical problems.  The motors and lamp simply shorted out and now our upright vacuum's motor was found to be defective.  Hopefully ADNOC's housing people can diagnose the problem.  Luckily our computers and stereo systems haven't been affected.  They've been plugged in using power bars although we've had those short out too. 

As usual the national ID card registration fiasco has continued with the media reporting more critical stories of the bureaucratic mess.  We're 99.99% sure that the first time that the new registration deadline for skilled expat workers was reported to the public in Arabic and English was in mid October.  The government says that it was July.  If the authorities follow through with their plans to suspend government services to over 300,000 people that logistically can't register before Dec. 31 then the UAE will be (to put it mildly) in big trouble.  See the first article below. 

So it's now been three weeks since we submitted our forms for phase one of the registration process.  We were assured that this no hassle process was to take less than one week - hence the 40 AED fee.  The good news is that the holidays are fast approaching so some of our time off from work, can be spent looking for a Plan B and Plan C. 

Otherwise life is okay - routine but never boring.  Work is hectic as usual due to juggling multiple projects because of continued staff shortages.  I will attend a two day conference in Sharjah next weekend.  We both hope to catch up more on reading our backlog of books and watching dvds during the long December break.  It's been fun downloading free iPod Touch apps including one for IMing.  We also downloaded Google's new VOIP chat and it surprisingly works for Macs (unlike Yahoo Messenger). 

At current rate, 350,000 will miss deadline

Telling it like it is.....or not

Over 75,000 ID forms distributed by UAE post offices in four weeks

Abu Dhabi to counter downturn with Western tourist

UAE takes stock of major projects

Ballooning US debt threat to Gulf economies

Price fall in prestigious developments

Surf the internet for free while you smell the roses in Abu Dhabi 


Parking free for all to be eliminated

Canadian supplier to import high end halal bison and elk

Dubai car park baffles drivers