Thursday, March 09, 2006

The newest Executive Lounge reception staff member



Sorry we haven't posted in a while. Ellie has had a cold. She hasn't been feeling great and hasn't been sleeping much (thanks to a very stuffy nose)...meaning neither have we. The three of us are all exhausted. Thank goodness it is finally the weekend. We hope to recoup a bit.

The latest word on the housing front is that we won't get any more choices, although technically other homes are available. The company has made numerous exceptions to their housing policy to let other families into better compounds, leaving these two remaining compounds relatively unfilled because no one wants them. The homes in them aren't all that bad, if we're honest. In Palm Plaza, the houses are actually quite new and quite decent. It's the facilities and the locations that are so problematic. It's hard to be content with Palm Plaza, a little cul-de-sac in a not-so-nice neighborhood with a tiny outdoor pool for all 14 houses, when you know there are homes available (as in the company is paying for them to stand empty) in compounds that have trees and places to walk and play, with large indoor and outdoor pools, playgrounds, gyms, yoga rooms... You see our point. For some reason, the company has laid down the law in our case and outright refuses to make any exceptions to their policies that reserve these homes for larger families (at least two kids), although we are aware of at least five cases in which they've already made exceptions. We've even brought forth the point that we will be here for four years and are likely to have a second child in the time, but they won't budge. My guess is that they are angry about being stuck with these two compounds nobody wants and have decided to fill them, tough luck if you don't like it. In addition, they refuse to allow us to find our own house. We're very frustrated. In either compound we choose, there is nowhere to take Ellie on walks or out to play unless we pop her into the (steaming hot) car every single time and drive somewhere else. ARGH!

At least it's the weekend, and Markus, for the moment, doesn't have to work like he did last week. We're hoping to get out and explore a bit, trying to make the best of this extremely frustrating posting. We're sure it will get better. We just have to get settled into some kind of routine and find something we like to do here.
On the positive side, we did find a FABULOUS club yesterday. We liked it instantly and submitted our application straight away. Unfortunately, there is a waiting list as they are trying to keep the member list short, so keep your fingers crossed that we will get in!

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