1300+ entries in 0.009s
Mocky: "they have respect so much" damn, only 10 days and I'm already doing english like the indians/philipinos/nigerians/ethiopians/tanzanians/wakandans etc.
Mocky:
http://btcbase.org/log/2018-10-19#1864270 >> I don't have everything sorted in my mind. I don't know yet what they need or perceive that they need. or how to position myself with respect to the microsoft/cisco/cornell they have respect so much.
☝︎ Mocky: white man is on a pedestal here. americans the most
Mocky: it's weird because they way they look up to americans and western companies / universities, while also infidel
Mocky: hey, maybe if i actually was suave then could come up with how to explain the future to orcs, but i'll get more chances to try tomorrow in any case
Mocky: "hello sir, i'm a nigerian prince with excellent business opportunities"
Mocky: that's about how i feel honestly when walking up to people and talking to them about this stuff
Mocky: I talk to people about what I'm doing here and I'm not really all that good at talking to people and I only half know wtf i'm doing here. i mean in a way that I can explain to randos and have it make sense
Mocky: i'm meeting 25 more people tomorrow at some meetup thing at a mall with gondola rides thru an interior canal
Mocky: yeah, lots of money
Mocky: keeping an eye on their females
Mocky: I can find local males, there are tons walking around malls in bright white robes with their families.
☟︎ Mocky: one dude with one transaction
Mocky: localbitcoins shows one dude in country. and a couple nearby in SA, dubai etc.
Mocky: but the sun sets early without daylight savings time, and it cools quickly without the sun, so can walk outside after about 4:45
Mocky: here, civilized person can't walk more than 3 blocks outside during midday. would be drenched in sweat. likewise can't stand for 15 minutes waiting for bus. it's get into a car with AC or smell like the riff raff
Mocky: "now you are officially a limo driver also" "wtf!?"
Mocky: i'm sure the qataris in lambos would love that angle
Mocky: traffic is only bad here during rush hour, and even then not as bad as rush hour in us cities. so long as you avoid the "10 minute lights"
Mocky: the list of permitted would be longer
Mocky: fine grained sortage of foreigners
Mocky: fwiw, i quite like it. all comers don't need to look in my windows and knock on my door
Mocky: and also why so reasonably priced
Mocky: i get it now why ubers swarm like piranha, most need a taxi to get around
Mocky: ikr? that list is the old one too. the newer once is twice as long, includes "computer programmer"
Mocky: even in the grocery, a dozen security guards on duty at once. some walking some guarding
Mocky: i see a resemblance
Mocky: that reminds me how overstaffed everything is here. jewelry store in side a hypermarket, 7 dudes behind the counter. not enough room to all stretch arms out. 3 guards. zero customers. in the mall no matter where you go, will be in sight of 2 security guards
Mocky: right, paul grahamluator
Mocky: silicon valley emulator
Mocky: that seems to be the report from housekeepers. bored qataris with nothing to do but shisha, sex and kfc
Mocky: dozens of party boats that head out for afternoon / evening party / swimming in the bay. thumping music in harbor at night
Mocky: the big thing is the party boats in west bay, wooden boats you can seen in like half the public pics of Doha skyline.
Mocky: there are a bunch of beaches. some closes during turtle nesting season. spread around qatar. not sure how many close to Doha, but not like it's a big country
Mocky: gotta pass a medical exam that says if you'd survive. can keep shirt on. reportedly brusing not bleeding
Mocky: fewer lashes for theft etc. I know the corporal punishment sentences are handed down, but not always implemented. I don't know the ratio of commuting to jail time / deportation
Mocky: finger / hand / arm chopping ... not a thing anymore here
Mocky: it's still on the books, 40 lashes for sex outside marriage for a muslim. i think they did it as recently as a few years ago
Mocky: I don't know about public or not. as part of sharia law it applies only to muslims. they have secular law for non muslims.
Mocky: but not often employed
Mocky: flogging is still a thing here
Mocky: quite rigid structure, few if any cracks to fall into. Foreigner is tourist, sponsored worker, or businessman. plenty of idle locals, but idle rich in nature, if not substance
Mocky: also there's the angle of "good fences make good neighbors". but I'll ask
Mocky: then ... "trouble"
Mocky: evidently they no longer care unless you force them to care. like having a domestic dispute where police are called while living together unwed
Mocky: it's not so anymore. now it's more "don't ask dont' tell", though unwed sex is still illegal, and some "family" oriented hotels here will ask for marriage cert
Mocky: one thing i can say is that in the past there were guards hired at many villas to monitor the comings and goings. lover cannot be snuck into parents house easily, and expats had same problem here. "cannot bring girlfriend over... guard"
Mocky: no, but I mean to ask. 100% ubiquitous here
Mocky: well i guess more like DC or SF but with ~twice the popluation
Mocky: can't build a pittsburg out of the sand in 35 years without grunts
Mocky: actually i'm pretty sure everyone is getting a better deal than back home come to think of it
Mocky: but the upper class of foreign workers has a better deal than they'd get back home. comparable pay, dozen weeks of holiday per year, no taxes, housing provided
Mocky: engineers, techies, skilled jobs who are indian, malay etc.
Mocky: but also includes memebers of the next class up who are of the wrong race
Mocky: this class works 12 hour days, or shift work and still has no money left over to actually do anything in thier free time
Mocky: haha no, they can get license but not escape their 'station'
Mocky: but also drivers are in that class, lol
Mocky: ftr: the bottom class is outside laborers, housed in barracks, transported by busses
Mocky: not sure yet what the cost, or thier criteria
Mocky: one of them claims on their website that certain IT and consulting busniesses don't require a local sponsor. if they actually have experience with these things I expect it to be helpful
Mocky: i'm about to implement plan b, and talk to the local companies that advertise to help you get your business started and help find you a sponsor
Mocky: no sure who shows up, probably mandatory for those in-program
Mocky: they did have an event the day i arrived, but i missed it. no more events on the near calendar
Mocky: the events are: make your slide deck, public speaking workshops, have an app...
☟︎ Mocky: ie year one do this, year 2 do this...
☟︎ Mocky: you have to get approved, but there's no one actually at the place to approve you, only desk minders. and if approved you have to join the sv track
Mocky: no they have events and even people there, but i can't get in, lol
Mocky: so the startup incubator is not at all like what i expected
Mocky: but there's exactly no one here who would use a coworks. you either came here for a job, or your dad can get you a job
☟︎ Mocky: i went to both coworks. well, "coworks" one is 15th floor of a bank highrise that was empty and expensive. the other is trying to be a startup incubator run by the ministry of communications
Mocky: well not so 'guilded' for the bottom two classes, but at least they can leave now if they want
☟︎ Mocky: but Qataris don't mix with the help, except the partying 20 somethings that don't want to work (reportedly) and they don't seem to be in their parents wot
☟︎ Mocky: the class system is strong, i've met only bottom 3 classes: guilded cage workers
Mocky: week two has been wheel spinning so far like most of week 1. I've had in person conversations with 30+ people in the last week about business and finding a local business sponsor. None of these people are locals, none of them knows a local in business, or even an expat in business, or had any idea what they would do if needed to find.
☟︎ Mocky: some massive constructions sites with thousands of laborers
Mocky: actually the only sand is at construction sites. of which there are many. in the city that is. nicely paved streets with nice looking brick sidewalks ~everywhere
Mocky: so not at the edge of the city only, but almost everywhere
Mocky: for example, there are 12 malls in Doha. if you stood on top of one, could see others.
☟︎ Mocky: the downtown area wraps the bay and is maybe 10 blocks deep. I guess you could call this 'a ring'. the rest of the city is basically concentric circles of rings b - f (actual street names) between which are neighborhoods of predominantly residential villas but with huge retail areas interspersed.
Mocky: if they built like this in florida, hurricane season would be quite different. but then yeah hardly anyone would be able to afford to live there.
Mocky: not really right to call it 'burbs, it's still in the city just not downtown. Villa is also often commercially, dr office, restaurant, shops: just with extra windows and signage
Mocky: one result is that there isn't a single unsightly yard anywhere, from external pov. from inside pov, it seems like most have a junk pile their back 'yard'
Mocky: in the 'burbs there are sort of ticky tack housing communities where a couple dozen villas will share one big wall, with guard on duty at the gate.
☟︎ Mocky: except for skyscrapers and 'artistic buildings' everything is cinder block or brick fully covered in concrete facing.
Mocky: 8 foot walls for the cheap housing 20 foot for expensive. From what i can tell ~nobody lives outside of such 'fortress'
☟︎ Mocky: and no houses. commercial buildings and villas. every villa at least 3 stories, flat top, fully wrapped in concrete wall at least 8 feet high, with iron gate for car and iron door