I drowned blissfully in the violent oceans of Information Technology way back in 1992. The topic that got me hooked? Hacking and IT Security, I was compiling evil code, and I admit to testing it when I was but 13 years old. I’ve seen computing equipment that a lot of you have never seen. Ever since then my passion for IT has consumed me, every free minute was spent on IT related activities. Be it reading, trying out stuff, coding, in short I just lived and breathed IT for a very long time.

I was determined to work in the Private Sector as soon as I could, and luckily I landed a good job at my first attempt. The people I worked with were nothing short of exotically wonderful talented driven “Kuwaiti” IT pros. (And I admit, I lucked out on that one too.) No fabled Newspapers and Tea there… No sire, it was pure hardcore IT freaks, working away in some dark shunned corner in the most infamous hidden away room of some nameless ruthless corporation.

When I look back today at how I got started, and remember all those people that helped me get to where I am today, It brings tears to my heart. And often I wish to go back to that time, and perhaps do even better than before. But another important realization I made, is that IT has changed. My personal and professional attitude towards it has changed a lot too. I went through the phases of “I am the almighty powerful “ROOT”, and all you dumb ass users can go to hell” to the “Im sorry sir, whats your user name again? AHa … so its hgber eh? Um yeah” rm -rf /home/hgber/* “*cough* Um yeah sir, it seems the backup system failed yesterday and somehow your home directory has been deleted”

User: “Nooooooooooo…….”

Sysadmins.. you know what im talking about, and we’ve all been there…. or were tempted to be evil, common admit it at one point in time, maybe even till this very day you thought to yourself, Im a Domain Admin/Root user…. The admin-complex…. we all had the bug

In recent years It dawned upon me what IT really was, it was not a matter of personal preference. It was not a matter of what flavor of Linux/Unix you liked. And which you thought sucked. Or if your a Paladin of Microsoft or the Dark Knight of Open Source. It was not about how “you” would do it. It was not about you hating the sales manager, or the marketing manager cause he has no idea about what s/he is talking about.

No not at all. Information Technology is all about end user education, its about “helping” the corporate business get from point A to point B, smoothly, and efficiently, and last but not least cost effectively. How does IT do this you ask? They do this by effectively using the latest technology to enhance your business process.

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I was all excited about this weeks trip, cause I was going to drive to Bahrain using my car, following a convoy of 3 other cars. Havent you ever been in another country and thought to yourself; “Damn I wish I had my car on these roads”. This would be especially true for those that own sports cars, or HD Off Road Vehicles. However 3 days prior my trip I had to take care of a few things.

1. My sports car however had a flat tire, was extremely dirty, needed an oil change, all four tires changed, and a new battery. Since I’ve had my bike, I completely neglected my car.
   1. I got a Malaysian car battery, since no one including the dealer stocks my battery size
   2. 4 x Toyo wheels (sub KD 100)
   3. Most of the work was done by Express Group Int. when the garage handed me the keys, it looked brand spanking new.
2. Though I have a Garmin Nuvi 250, I needed the Middle East Map, picked this up for KD 45 from Seas Deserts Group. Their located in the vicinity of City Center, you can reach em at T: 82 22 88
3. Packed stuff I would need for the next 3 days.
   1. 3 x : pants, shirts, boxers, socks, under-shirts
   2. a light jacket
   3. bathroom stuff
   4. detol (heh, trust me on this one, if i could I would disinfect the entire”motel”)
   5. iPod
   6. Laptop
   7. 2 x Mobile Phones (always keep a spare on trips, you never know when you could use one)
   8. GPS Unit, car lighter charger, HUD suction cup type stand
   9. Passport

All set! …… Not!

I was under the impression that I have renewed my cars insurance and registration, but forgot that I did not complete the last step. Which is actually pick up my new Car Registration Card (Dafter). Its 5:15pm, and Im still at the Garage in Al Rai. What do i do?

I simply stepped into my car sped off to Jabriya Vehicle Testing (fa7s al-fanni), turns out the dept. that hands you the Registration was moved to Medan Hawalli. So get going, upon arrival, I was shocked and disappointed,  since it was wednesday, and the last working day this week, it was insanely crowded.  Simply being at any government building makes me nervous, cause you always run into complications. I was ready to give up and just go home.

An old man behind one of the counters, spotted me, and beckoned me to come to him. He knew I was lost dazed and confused. He took my papers, (ignoring the masses of angry trolls behind me), told me to pay a late fee of KD5, and come back to him. I did that, and came back, again he skipped the que, and took my paper work, he was about to print the Registration Cards, when he noticed that my Vehicle Inspection papers were no longer valid. The last vehicle Inspection I made was in 2007. Were in 2008, so he told me I had to redo the vehicle inspection, cause the computer wont accept it otherwise. I looked at my watch it was 6pm, I could still make it, I had hope.

I arrived at Jabriya Vehicle Inspection center at 6:15pm, it was closed. =( I was so disappointed, and shocked, while at the same time not knowing what to do, I involuntarily walked in circles in the parking lot, going through all my options again. When a guy in a uniform passed by, I asked him:

“When does the place close?”

Cop: “5:15pm at the very latest”

So I thought well it seems it was a lost cause right from the get go. I thanked the guy, and kept walking in circles. *Light bulb*

me: “Do you know anyone inside?”

cop: “I work here, of course I know people inside”

me: “Ok heres the deal, Ill tell you my situation, and Id appreciate your time no matter what the outcome”

cop: “ok… shoot”

me: “I have an entrance exam in Bahrain on Saturday, and really need my cars registration for that, all the paperwork stamps etc. is done, but its expired. think you can help me out?”

cop: “I’ll ask the guys, and let you know”

2 minutes later the cop calls me in. Turns out I was talking to the guy in charge, and to my luck all the people needed to help me with this were there too. (I have to get them something from Bahrain for their help)

The did all the paper work for me, I hastily thanked them, before I left the guy in charge pulled me aside, reminded me that I need to have the insurance date changed, (theres an insurance place right across the street).
I did that, and practically teleported myself and my vehicle back to Medan Hawally Traffic Dept.  Where the old man took my papers again, smiled, and said it was done.

The moral of this story is: There are some decent people in the Traffic Dept, even though by their looks you would think otherwise. You know the old saying “Dont judge a book by its cover”

End result, looks like Ill make the trip anyways =)

Updated: 100KD Insurance fees to open a folder (tameen al malaf)

If you plan to continue your education abroad you need to open a file with Ministry of Higher Eduction (MHE), so that when your done MHE can validate your achieved degree.

Here is what you need to open a file.

Copies of the following:

• Passport
• 2 x Civil Id
• Letter of Acceptance from the University
  • take the letter to the cultural attache get it approved and stamped ( in the country where you study)
• 2 x Photos
• Letter from Social Security that confirms that you are employed, noting your employers name (company)
  • If your not employed, you still need the letter, that it states your not employed and dont have an income
  • This is (tameenat)
• Certificate of which your acceptance is based on.
  • if your going for a bachelors degree you need to bring your highschool diploma
  • if your going for masters you need the bachelors diploma
• Birth Certificate
• Nationality (If kuwaiti, “Al-Ginsiah”
• 10KD stamp
• 100KD Insurance fees to open a folder (tameen al malaf)
• If you have a government job, you need an official statement from HR that grants you the permission to study.

There you go…

I find this extremely retarded, because most of the information is already present on your civil id card.

But nooooo the almighty MHE wants to send you all over the country and back again, give them stuff that they dont, will never look at, and top it all off, you get to pay them KD 10.

pft!! So do you still wanna go study? lol