Greetings All. I was teasing you in the last post with promises of big news. Well, I am now able to share it with you. The wannabe’s are coming home. 

In actual fact we are home, but more of that shortly.  Yes, it’s true, after buying the house, our home in Craigellachie in 2014,  we are finally going to be living in it, as opposed to watching it on CCTV in Dubai.

The New Job

Starting in the New Year, I am to become a rotator. Sounds painful, but it should be fun and very interesting.  I am to be in-Country Technical Manager. As such, I will be based here in Craigellachie, but spending time in Erbil, Kurdistan. 

After a dry spell, the last quarter of the year has proven to be rich in opportunities.  Up to a few weeks ago, we were looking at potential moves to London, or Doha, or Muscat. There was even an outside chance of a move to Istanbul.  In the end, I opted for Muscat. However, in the process of resigning, my incredibly generous employers offered me the opportunity to take on the rotational role. For a million reasons, but primarily, because it allowed us to move back home, I jumped at the chance.

Busy Few Days

We were due to fly home for Christmas leave on 14th December. The final decision was made around 4th December. This gave us just a few days to arrange the house clearance in Dubai. We also had to get Squeak the grumpy cat and Snuggles the wonder Dog organised and back home. Cut off the utilities, close bank accounts and get rid of cars. It was a busy few days.

The furniture we had in Dubai was always our ‘traveling’ furniture. That basically meant we had planned to dump it when we decided to come home. Even so, we managed to fill a 20ft container with stuff. It was all really essential stuff. Probably. I just have no idea where we are going to put it all when it arrives.

The rest of the stuff was sold, given away really but that turned out to be an interesting experience too. 

The House Sale

There is a Dubai classifieds website called Dubizzle. Bit like Gumtree, I suppose. Well, I stuck a lot of the stuff we wanted to get rid of onto Dubizzle.  It was remarkable effective. I put on a Samsung 60” Smart TV.  I was getting phone calls in less than 5 minutes after placing the ad.  

A Pakistani Gentleman was the first caller. He offered asking price and assured me he would be straight round to collect the TV.  He then proceeded to call every 5 mins to give me an update and implore me not to accept a higher offer.  And there were many higher offers. Another Pakistani   gentleman  had rang about 30 seconds after the first caller.  He wasn’t to be put off and offered several hundred AED over what the first guy had offered.  It’s a cut-throat business.

Junk Wars

The next hour was entertaining. The two guys arrived within a few minutes if each other. They then proceeded to wander around the house trying to outbid each other on all kinds of stuff. I don’t think they were friends. There was certainly no honor at stake. ‘What did he offer?  I’ll give you 100 more.’ It actually got rather uncomfortable. In the end,  we were desperate for them to leave. It’s a cultural thing, but the competitive scavenging got very  overpowering. 

We had a steady stream of people in the house for the next few days buying all kinds if stuff. Eventually we ended up with the local housemaids. Word had got around a family were leaving so they descended like locusts, literally clearing everything.  Cutlery, food stuff, crockery, pots and pans. “Can I have this?” Became an all too familiar phrase. By the time we were about to leave, there wasn’t much of value left.

There is an outfit called ‘Take My Junk’ . They were last in the house and took everything else. There’s is an excellent service and it’s free. So within a few days we went from full house to empty shell. The money mad from the sales, didn’t quite cover the cost of the 20ft container. But it was close. 

Utility Pains 

Possibly the most painful aspect of leaving was trying to close the utility accounts. How hard can they make it?

DEWA

In fairness, DEWA, the Dubai Electricity and Water Company was easy. One e-mail with my ID copy, a form to complete with bank details and job done. Sure enough, we were disconnected on the allocated day, final bill generated a few days later and deducted from security deposit with the balance refunded. Now that’s Service

EMICOOL

In comparison, EMICOOL was painful. These people provided our AC in the house.  Multiple phone calls and e-mails. Forms demanding ever more information and needing the Landlords counter signature. Documentation requests. Passport copies, ID copies, Tenancy Agreement copies; oh and the original security deposit receipt. Yes, right.  Some people might keep a receipt for years. I am not one of them.  A lost receipt meant more forms,  oh and fees. It never ends.

Literally it never ends. To date we have still not been disconnected. The landlord and his agent are now involved and they are are testy about the procrastination as am I.  EMICOOL you really need to improve the customer service. 

ETISALAT

Saved the best till last.  Etisalat, our tv, phone and internet suppliers have been a pain to deal with since day one. It took around 6 weeks to connect us up. Cancelling was just as problematic.  Won’t bore you with all the details. Suffice to say, it required daily phone calls, multiple e-mails and eventually, lost hours of my life sitting in an Etisalat  office desperately trying to give them money to cancel my account. Eventually I managed it. I think. Wouldn’t be at all surprised to get another bill next month.  

Farewell to Dubai

Once the house was devoid of furniture, particularly beds, we moved into a hotel for a few nights. 

Premier Inn DIP

The first night was spent in The Premier Inn at DIP. Home to Mr Toads Kitchen, which was handy. I managed a few beers and some delicious Marsala Fish and Chips. It was nicer than it sounds, trust me.  The beauty of The Premier Inn is that it is both inexpensive and very handy.  The room was perfectly adequate. Comfortable and clean. It was fine.  It’s located virtually opposite our old house. So we could work on cleaning the house until late and then 5 mins later were in the hotel. That was Tuesday night. Wednesday and Thursday I had us booked into the Jumeira Beach hotel.

The Jumeira Beach Hotel

I really do like the Jumeira Beach. We have stayed there lots. It’s a bit more expensive than the Premier Inn; could have spent a week at the Inn for the cost of a night in The Jumeira.  But as I was using my Sirius loyalty points for payment, that doesn’t matter.  I can’t think of a better place to stay for our last few nights. Sarah loves the kids club. The restaurants and bars are excellent. It was a nice way to bid farewell to Dubai.

Next

The flight home with KLM was uneventful.  It was chilly when we arrived in Aberdeen. But we didn’t care. It’s so nice being home, even to a cold gray Scottish Winter.  Sarah is praying for snow. Actually I am too.

Back at the house, we were greeted by the. Grandparents, a million Amazon deliveries and the animals.  They flew back a few days earlier with Snooty Pets, well they couldn’t stay in the hotels.  Both seemed very at home and settled, which bodes well.

Also waiting for us were a bunch of Christmas trees.  Our mission was to Christmasify the house before the weekend was over. I am happy to report job done. 

School

At the time of writing, Sarah is getting ready to go to her new school. Poor kid gets a week of it before Christmas. But it’s a great time to start a new school. Lots of fun things happening.  Wifey and I are off Christmas shopping and later in the week we will be inundated by house guests. 

I have a good feeling about all this. Need to consider how the new job is going to work, but more of that another day. In the short term, the wannabes are home and it feels great.

Speak to you all before Christmas, but just in case, wishing you all a very merry Christmas.

Graham