Thought Clouds
The Digital Bender

Always thought he was a brilliant driver. Behold.

So here I am back in Jordan, and I find my self immediately adapted to the moods of living here. Crazy is the new definition of oil prices in Jordan. But these prices lead me to believe that Jordanians are complaining more out of habit than anything else. I mean people are still driving their cars and scooters/bikes are no where to be seen. One positive side to this oil crisis is that my trusty old Toyota Tercel is now worth significantly more than it did 5 years ago. Thanks be to God, it seems I am making money on everything these days. Even by accident. I will start looking for work/job soon. Due to a long bumpy road from Doha to Amman, my furniture is in dire need of a good carpenter. Once that is sorted out I need to sit down and think about Wi-Tribe, UMAX, Zain DSL, Orange ADSL ...etc. Until then, I will try to keep these nuggets of blog posts coming through for my few loyal fans. (bas balash). PS: The problem with driving in Jordan is not that traffic laws are too lenient. It...

It's summer of 2000. June in fact. I am in Doha, and I am calling my manager at the time (Sadek) about an anomaly in the server software. But that's not the point. The point is, it was about 1:30pm, which is lunch/rush hour, and I am cruising on the D-Ring road taking one roundabout after the other effortlessly. Skip ahead 7 years a few months to today. I just drove my daughter to school, and spent 50 minutes is a traffic jam. The drive in normal traffic takes about 7 minutes. No body is happier than I am about the progress happening in Qatar. This side of the progress is depressing.

I arrived in a Jordan a couple of days back, and was immediately immersed in post election celebrations (btw, my father won). In any case, putting everything I love about Jordan aside now. Here are things that have deteriorated shockingly since last time I was here: NUMBER 1 problem: Driving. I do not know how neglectful and incompetent the new police chief is, but this is ridiculous. It doesn't seem like there are rules any more, except for the red traffic light, everything else is fair game. You get to do what every you want. Car prices: Cars cost an arm and a leg. It is beyond sad. Fuel prices: a C200 costing nearly 29 34 JDs a week is a crime. The number of people who are sick. I have found the diherea, vomit and feaver is running rampant in Amman and Al-Salt. Just visit any clinic or hospital and you will SEE what I am talking about. I blame you ma3roof il ba'7eet. You have failed us, and you have failed your King. I suggest you behave as responsibly as your ministers and...