Grocery shopping

Today the thing we all fear at the checkout happened.  My card didn't work. I have a spare, that didn't work either.  The network was done. 

The checkout guy said "you don't have cash M'am?" No I don't have cash, why don't you have a machine that works? "So you don't have cash?"

The security guard had packed my groceries for me and he said do you live here M'am?  I was at Choithrams in Green Community Dubai where I used to live.  I said no, we used to live here but now we live in Abu Dhabi.  Oh he said looking sad, I was going to suggest you take the groceries home and come back later to pay.  Where else on earth would a supermarket suggest that.

I went to the bank next door and withdrew cash with the assistance of the bank guy who stands in the foyer, they have no idea of privacy with banking here,  he was wanting to push the buttons on the ATM for me. 

So I got my money, paid for my groceries and lived to tell the tale.

Bert had a similar experience one day he got fuel.  The guy pumps the fuel into your car and Bert thought he could pay in the shop with a card, as he had no cash.  He couldn't.  They said oh its ok, just bring the cash in tomorrow on your way past.  

It's things like this that make the frustrating days more tolerable.

Sand storms

We have been hit by two very bad sand storms in the past few days. They are impossible to photograph, as it just looks like fog. This however is the aftermath of one. This coffee table sits on our patio and was cleaned about 7 hours before this photo was taken.