The Pri$e of Life

Whew... how quickly you forget how expensive everything is here in the States. No wonder you work, and work, and work, and work, and can hardly save.... and then try to enjoy life to the fullest when the weekend comes or when you get a vacation. Because it isn't but a short two days (weekend) or two to four wks (four wks if you're a Manager or have been w/ a company for a long period of time) until you have to go back to the grind and start all over again. Reminds me of the days when I worked for Arthur Andersen. They worked you to death - no kidding - some days, depending on the case, I'd work 24 hr. days on some bankruptcy cases... and almost every weekend for 4 yrs. in a row! Yeah, the pay was great... but when do you have time to enjoy it and to enjoy life?? And it's not like you have a choice there. You either do it or you get fired. Everyone used to walk around like zombies at that company, and that's why. But management loved it... no wonder they went out of business.... bad company practices and when you overcharge the client and lie on billing - well, it catches to ya!! :)

Sometimes ppl don't understand Americans and their routines/lifestyles.... but I am once again reminded of life as it is here in the States. Ppl are constantly on the go.... no wonder I don't like to just sit around, shoot... I was raised w/ this stuff and it was pushed down my throat in school and while working.... pretty much brainwashing, I think - to be always on the go in one form or another. Not that it's a bad thing because I think it has given me some really good qualities to take forward in life but I also believe it's good to stop and smell the roses. And not a lot of ppl do that here.... you don't have a choice, and that's sad.

We visited Albertsons (local supermarket) the other day and I was shocked at the cost of items there. The stores are stocked, don't get me wrong, but the price of items are outrageous. I bought a bag of shredded cheese and it cost $5.49 or something around that.... I could hardly believe it - for a freakin bag of cheese! Nothing is cheap here.... unless you luck into a good sale, and even w/ the sales, they mark everything up prior to the sale so you wind up not being able to save a lot. It's ridiculous!

We also went to what was called a Mediterranean Supermarket which was actually owned by a Palestinian guy and it was the cheapest by far... some really good prices on items, especially fruit. These places seem to have better prices than the big chains. I noticed that three years ago when I was here and it hasn't changed, which is nice to see.

The fruit here is not good at all. I miss that about Bahrain already.... can you believe it!?

The pace of life here, where my sister lives, isn't bad... it is in some parts of LA, which we'll be visiting soon and getting a taste of, but.... I like that fast paced stream of life at times, so it'll be fun for a day or two.

It's been raining non-stop for the last two days. I think it has FINALLY stopped this morning... I hope. My sister lives right by the mountains so when the rains come, they stay for a while. It's beautiful though! This morning, the clouds are low and are hovering right above the houses near the moutains, and then there are some higher clouds that are moving fast and it's just really sooo beautiful. We're getting a shot of it, so maybe I'll be able to get it online so you guys can see.

We'll be going to Orange County next week - to Laguna Beach, Venice Beach and maybe Hollywood.... so it'll be nice to see the ocean and see life in the beach cities. I ADORE those!!

We celebrated Christmas yesterday - we waited to do it this year because we were coming here and I'm soooo glad we did. It was so much fun and it felt really nice to open presents w/ my family. It's been tooooo long since being able to experience that!

Peace to all of you... and have a really wonderful day!