Thought Clouds
The Digital Bender

The lot next door , originally uploaded by LotusGem . I took these shots this morning. The weather changed in 20 minutes from (I should go back, its probably a snow day) to (Clear blue spring day)

So I was wrong. I can see that now. In a previous post, I had declared that Wi-tribe which I was using at the time sucked a bit. Thought Clouds - The Digital Bender: Why Wi-Tribe may not be your best bet I can see now after nearly two months of using UMAX that Wi-Tribe, was BRILLIANT. And that it is UMAX that sucks. With the exception of a few good sales people, and one good engineer. I have had no pleasant experience with UMAX whatsoever. The connection was very unreliable, the signal often bad, speed never reached 1mbps except in one isolated moment, support is reluctant and rigid. Dear Wi-Tribe, I apologize, I made a mistake. I love you and I'm coming back to you.

Great looking rock buildings in Jordan Who knows what this is called

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...

So. I will most probably go off the DRADIS during the next few days, and will remain off until further notice. I will be disconnecting the comms in my HQ (house) tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Which means I will have no access to the net until I am in Jordan. I need all of your recommendations on the best ISP in Jordan. I need: Mobile number Wireless Internet Access (3G, Wifi or WiMax???) DSL or ADSL2 or faster connection Please let me know your opinions and recommendations on the ISPs and their performance in Jordan.

Image via Wikipedia After 5 years in Qatar, with career progress well below my market-aware expectations, and less the perfect living conditions. I've finally decided to go back to Jordan and end my 5 years of good-fortune-bringing presence in Qatar. I quit my job and should be in Jordan in time for the summer, which is perfect for my fig addiction. I had quite a few blog readers from Jordan and hope to finally link the emails and avatars to actual physical people. If you are reading this, and you are in Jordan, you have the following tasks: Start looking for a job for me Make your self available for a physical meeting under my patronage* * Ugly people and children are not welcome

I was torn between extreme happiness and utter sorrow as my son came into this life and my father in law left this life with no more than 7 days between them. This combo event put thing in perspective and I have hopefully taken the lesson learned and using it to better center my self in this life. A side effect of this is that blog about Jordan day dropped from a very important event to an insignificant and short lived blimp on my radar.

The Jordanian blogging community seems to be asleep. I am hoping that this is good news and that bloggers are seeing time spent on worship in Ramadan to be more useful than time spent blogging. PS: I hope it doesn't have much to do with the new printing laws in Jordan.

Wainakh 2007 , originally uploaded by LotusGem . I had the pleasure of attending the Wainakh performance in this years Jerash festival. Needless to say, the theater was packed, and it seemed like Sukhnah, Zarqa and Sweileh has migrated to Jerash. It was great watching the performers do their thing. I think they are some of the best performers in the world. And in a twist of good luck, I had the pleasure of going behind the stage and meet the performers. Enjoy the photos, and visit the full gallery.

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...

In a recent study published June 6th 2007, the Jordanian people were found to be among the happiest people in the world. Which contradicts the general stereo type Jordanians are filed under. For those of you who do not know, Jordanians (my self included) are considered to be frown-prone at all times with timid smiles appearing every once in a long while and in response occasions commanding extreme happiness (think winning the lottery). So for this reputable institution to publish its "Gross International Happiness Study" ranking Jordan right below Sweden and above all other regional and international countries is quite surprising, if not shocking. Apparently, the main drivers for happiness in Jordan are: Democracy and free speech: The "Blog without fear" initiative in Jordan "دون بلا خوف", which promises bloggers absolute freedom to speak their minds has clearly paid off and is considered a catalyst for driving uptake of "freedom of speech" in Jo...