Misadventures of an American in the Middle East

Let's get it started

Softball season is upon us.  Our first game is tonight.  I'm pretty juiced.  We play at 7:30 which is a bit late for my taste, but at least it's the weekend.  I plan on getting the house in order this weekend and do some serious catching up on my sleep.  I'm hoping it goes pretty smooth.  One of my biggest worries at coach is hurting people's feelings when it comes to play time.  It's hard to get everyone a chance to play when you're actually trying to win.  About midway through the last softball season I coached we pretty much decided that we wanted to just have fun, so getting people in to play was easy.  It helped that we didn't have an abundance of players so we didnt have to sit out too many people.  Anyway, i'm now seriously debating buying that new bat.  I know it's a little late since the season starts today, but i'll have it for at least 5 games, and then carry it on to the next league which is the one that counts for the military sports awards.  The only thing that bothers me is the price of the bat.  It's a whopping $320.  Yup, you heard that right.  That's just unreal.  In its defense, it makes a difference.  It's made many average hitters in this league good hitters.  Including me.  We'll see how it goes tonight.  If I swing the bat decently with my current bat, then i'll forego buying another one. 

Breaking news:  I'm still bitter about not being selected to travel to Dubai for the tournament.  Hell, one of the alternates already got asked if he could travel with them.  And I still haven't gotten any word.  Despite speaking to the coach and hearing his praises about my game and what an asset I am.  More like an ass for actually putting up with his bullshit.  I really hope they get their asses handed to them in Dubai.  Serves them right sending a low quality team because of the good old boy club they employed. 

30 more minutes before I head home and get ready.  Gotta drink me a Red Bull to get pumped up.  I want to get there early to scout the other teams and get warmed up.  I also want to take pictures of the other games to put up on the Bahrain Softball website that a co-worker of mine is running.  I do enjoy taking pictures and writing so i'm considering writing pieces on her website to go along with her pictures.  She'll be taking pictures of our team next season when her husband is forced to play with us because he actually works in our command.  That should be interesting.  We're going to pick up at least 6 players that play on other teams right now.  I wonder how i'm going to handle that nightmare coaching situation. 

Okay, I can't take it anymore.  I'm too pumped right now.  I need to walk this off.  I'm excited.  I miss the competitive nature of sports.  I can't wait to get back in it.

Frustration is setting in

Lot of things going on right now that i'm none too happy about.  I got a call yesterday afternoon from our brilliant base softball team coach.  Don't get me wrong.  Good guy.  Real good guy.  Thought he was even fair and just after speaking to him on a few occassions.  Then he lays it on me.  After the 2nd set of tryouts that were held a couple of weeks ago, a session he was not present for I might add, he informed me that I wasn't on the team.  Fanfuckingtastic.  Yes I know I bombed the tryouts but I have shown some damn good consistency prior to that day.  He's even seen it.  And hell, it's not like im worst than all of those guys.  Im not saying i'm great and all but damn.  I'm a better hitter than at least 4 of those guys on the team.  My fielding with at least 3 of them are even and possibly even better than a couple of the guys going.  But yet i'm not on the team.  Well, in his words, i'm on the team, but as an alternate in case the primary guys can't make it.  Then he re-iterated that ANYONE can be an alternate for the team which basically tells me if 30 other people were alternates or someone just walked on tomorrow he could be an alternate as well.  To top it all off, the guy they are taking at catcher has shown up to probably 2 practices and 1 game the last 3 months.  So screw the guys coming out there day in day out.  I'm getting pissed again just thinking about it.  Fucking bullshit.

On another softball note, our season starts tomorrow.  I'm hoping that with a new group of guys, they might actually listen to me this season.  I gave up on coaching last time because it became more of a headache than anything else.  Unfortunately if I didn't take the initiative, no one else would have, and i'd be sitting at home again this season and not playing softball.  So, what to do?  We've got a decent squad though.  We certainly won't be the worst out there.  But we've got some potential to shock some teams.  If only we could put it all together.  It's going to take some hurt feelings though because we have people playing in positions they just can't play.  That doesn't help.  If I put out the best lineup out there, a few people are going to be hurt they don't get any playing time.  I guess it's one way to see who's mature and who's not.  Tomorrow night is our first game.  Should be pretty interesting.  I'll try and post pictures if I get Pretty Girl to take some.  I know i'll be busy playing and coaching.  I'm even considering putting up a website so we can all keep track of the season.  I want to be able to write articles and things like that.  Put up scouting reports.  Just something to get me immersed in the sport.  I enjoy that kind of thing anyway.  And it's not like work is overwhelming right now.  In fact, i'm going to try and find a website hosting site right now.  See if I can swing something free. 

Just some random rants

There are a couple of things that are kind of bothering me right now.  One is softball.  We have a game tonight.  The base team that is.  Since i'm flying out tonight, I won't be able to make the game.  Not good on my part because our softball coach is back and is going to put out information regarding the Dubai tournament.  Something i'm still not in the loop on.  Apparently I was on the original roster that was sent up for approval, but since we had recent tryouts, i'm not sure if that's still applicable.  That means I could think that I was on the roster to go to Dubai, but NOT actually make it.  That sucks because I really want to go to that tournament, and I have a chance to jump on with my old team from Qatar.  They are sending up a team and the coach is willing to put me on the roster.  Albeit with no guarantee on playing time.  Still, it's an experience I have been waiting 7 years for.  Ever since I submitted the deposit for the 2001 tournament that got cancelled.  The year I left Qatar, my team finally went.  I've missed out on it year after year and it's getting pretty frustrating.  Now there is a possibility I can go as part of the base team in Bahrain, which would be the ideal scenario.  I've worked hard to try and make that team.  Sacrificed a lot of free time.  And although I am on the original roster, no spot has been guaranteed since we got a new coach.  Did I mention the tournament is in under 3 weeks? 

Who is this douche-bag Brandon Davis.  Okay, I remember reading about him in the past.  I think he was dating Lindsey Lohan and Mischa Barton.  At the same time or something like that.  Anyway, so he's an oil tycoon heir.  Meaning he hasn't earned jack shit.  But yet he's dating actresses and other heiresses.  So that's not my real problem.  My issue is with the fact that he's an asshole who's money is an allowance from his family, and he is an ugly fuck.  Excuse my french, but he isn't a good looking guy by most means.  I mean seriously.  It almost begs to question the sanity of some if not most celebrities.  Why hasn't anyone in the media ever brought this up?  I mean isn't this clearly a "money" thing that he actually gets laid?  Unless Lindsey, Mischa and whatever clueless celebrity just lacks taste, I see no other explanation.  I mean honestly.  What the fuck is going on here?  Did I mention he's a prick?  I've read like 3 articles on him the past 2 days and they make mention that he's been thrown out of around 2 or 3 hotels and a friends place in the past couple of weeks.  Umm, how does this guy still get laid or even get media attention?  Please people.  Move on. 

I forgot to add that he's the same guy who made a huge scene with Paris Hilton one night when he called Lindsey Lohan "firecrotch".  That was apparently so huge that it warranted all sorts of media coverage.  Umm, welcome to the real world people.  Americans have been using that term for as long as I can remember teasing girls.  Why is it newsworth when a spoiled little boy uses it.  Seriously, I know i'd go to jail and all, but i'd really like to give that guy a beatdown.  I mean just walk by him and cold clock him.  Not even give him a chance to respond.  Then i'd like to pee on him just to add insult to injury.  It may even be worth spending some jail time just to win one for us "common folk".

Dear Peter Macgowan of the S.F. Giants.  Please explain to us Giants fans how you could honestly justify paying Barry Zito over a hundred million dollars for basically throwing the ball equivalent to recreational softball speed.  The underhand type.  First off, his fastball was recently clocked at 84-85 mph.  Are you kidding me?  I know about 8 or so guys on our base softball team that could hit that bullshit.  And normal average guys aren't supposed to be able to hit a fastball from a major league pitcher.  Especially not one who happens to be the 2nd highest paid pitcher in the history of the game.  And you'd think if you threw the ball with the velocity of a cement block going through water you'd have some complimentary pitches.  Yeah, supposedly he has this nasty curveball.  A curveball I haven't seen since he became a S.F. Giant.  And he's still tinkering with his windup.  Trying different combinations.  If you are in your 2nd season with a team that signed you to a record contract, you don't tinker with your windup during spring training two freaking years in a row!  Someone in that clubhouse should be telling him he may need to start trying to win some games and lower his ERA instead of fucking with his pitch style.  He's got an unreal ERA right now.  I know its spring training, but when you get to figures that high, you've got to start raising some red flags. 

Ok, im done.  I just needed to let out some steam.  I'm just antsy at the pace of the day and I need to let out my frustration in other ways.  I know this weekend is going to be good.  Seeing family again.  Introducing Pretty Girl to my family.  Just being around my family makes me feel better.  It's just a different environment when i'm there.  I can let my guard down.  I can act a fool and know that i'm not being judged.  It'll be really nice to have Pretty Girl there to see that.  Plus, I get to drink soda this Sunday.  Lent will be over and I plan on getting blitzed on soda.  I'm pretty excited about that.  I have to keep my head straight though because I may forget to pay a stop to the grocery before we get to my cousins house.  They drink out of the tap, and I just don't want to risk getting sick while i'm there. 

Wait, I almost forgot.  How shitty is it that a good portion of my family will be out of town during my visit.  Yeah, I guess I can forgive them considering it's holy week and everyone leaves the city during that time.  It might even be a great time to drive around and not worry about popping a blood vessel because of the craziness on the roads.  You just have to experience it to believe it.  I wish I had a video camera so I could film it and post it.  I plan on using the video camera on my cell phone this trip.  I have two cousins that post family stuff on youtube and i'm a little jealous.  I wish there were things I could post up.  In all honest, i'd like to post myself on a webcam bitching about sports and movies.  I actually want to do a movie review and post it online but i'm a little behind on movies.  I may start thinking about doing a podcast.  See how that goes. 

15 minutes till quitting time.  Sweet!!!  Just gotta wrap up some things and get the hell out of dodge.  Not sure i'll be able to blog while in Manila, so don't expect anything until Tuesday when i'm sure i'll have lots to share.  If you don't see anything new from me by Thursday, i'd start worrying.  Ciao!

Slower than mollasses

That's how this day is going.  I new as soon as I started thinking about getting on that airplane tonight this day was going to drag ass.  It's almost unreal.  I've already gone to the bank and taken out money.  Money I don't know what I took out for.  I could easily use the wedding cash I took out 2 weeks ago.  Besides, I don't even know if I need the cash.  Outside of tips and cab fare, i'm pretty much going to card everything.  It's easier to track that way.  And I could seriously lay off withdrawing money from my account.  Too much of that going on.  I had a budget plan that I set out for myself 2 weeks ago to coincide with the wedding.  That whole budget has been thrown out of whack.  First off, i'm not taking money out for the wedding this week becuase I already took it out 2 weeks ago.  Second, I didn't take out money alloted for my miscellaneous expenses in Bahrain like food and gas.  So there was my account, sitting at a respectable number.  Then of course comes today.  The day of my flight to Manila.  I know i'll need cash.  I was trying to figure out how much exactly.  I'm still completely in the dark at how much i'm supposed to give our wedding planner for the work she's done for us.  It hasn't really been much, but I don't want to insult her either.  Then i'm trying to think of my other expenses.  Rent is coming up.  I just paid my internet bill.  Car bills are due.  It's pretty ridiculous.  In all actuality, i'd really like to leave the money I have for the wedding as is and not subtract.  Even if it is for the wedding planner.  Eh, I guess I can do what I always do.  Just roll with it and sort it all out when I get back from my trip.  Unfortunately in the past, all that's gotten me is more debt.

A lot on my plate

Wow i'm starting to feel overwhelmed.  I've got a million things going on right now and not enough time or energy to sort it out in my head.  I got a couple of things on the under that need my immediate and private attention.  I can't do one without the other, so it's a two step process.  To top it all off, I have a deadline.  Mid April is when I must have both done.  I'm quickly losing time too.  This is getting ridiculous. 

Then i've got work to contend with.  I gotta get this certification out of the way, and i'm not even halfway through the study guide yet.  I'm procrastinating too much.  I am shooting for an end of april exam date.  It's critical I get this certification done soon because my job may be moving to another department, which could cause problems due to my lack of certifications.  Not to mention my desire for a pay increase.

The of course I still have softball.  Something i've commited to.  I'm coaching the command team which is no easy task.  I run practices and have to pay close attention to make the necessary changes to make us competitive.  Then I still have the base team who I play for.  I'm already missing the next two practices due to me going to the Philippines tomorrow.  I'm not even sure on whether or not we're playing in the Dubai tournament which we were slated for originally.  With the new tryouts that were held and my subpar performance, i'm not sure if i'm even going to be an alternate in the game.  I do have the option to play for my old team, which would be nice other than the fact I only know 1 person on that team that I played with before.  Plus, they have a really good team, and i'd just be riding the bench.  I wouldn't want to let them down with my shoddy play.  That tournament is in 2 weeks.  Not exactly enough time to prepare.

Hopefully I get my head on straight in the next couple of weeks.  I have a lot to prepare for mentally and can't afford to slip up.  There's too much at stake. 

Weekend Recap

I've survived another weekend in Bahrain, and i've got the bruises to prove it.  Holy crap it was hellacious this weekend.  First with poker night dragging on and in a new place on Thursday night.  I ended up doubling my buy in which is good by all accounts.  I only played until around 12:30 in the morning and couldn't really sleep until late.  I got woken up at freaking 3 am by stupid people at work calling me for something that i'm not even responsible for.  I couldn't freaking believe it. 

The next day I had softball practice which was okay.  I found out I have a pretty decent squad.  Had a successful practice although we only had around 8 or 9 people.  Hitting was good, which i'm happy about.  Fielding is average, but we can work on that.  That afternoon, Pretty Girl and I ended up watching Vantage Point in the movie theatre.  Awesome movie I tell you.  I may even post a review about today if I don't feel like doing any work.  Anyway, after that, we at dinner at a french restaurant and headed home.  I was pretty beat that day.  I had another long day ahead of me the next day.  We ended up staying up until around 11:30.

The next day, I had my dentist appointment at 11 am.  I didnt get to see the damn dentist until around 11:30.  She basically told me some more bullshit and still didnt have a solid answer for my damn toothache outside of an educated guess on having a cracked tooth and perhaps a bad filling.  I told her I was going on vacation this week so I can't make an appointment today, but will make one when I get back.  In reality, I was stalling so I could find another dentist to take care of this problem because I just don't trust her.  I had softball practice after my dentist appointment and actually played a scrimmage game because the scheduling people screwed up and reserved the field for two teams.  We got our butts handed to us, and I took a ball in the side of my head and one on the inside of my left knee.  Now i've got a small purple welt on the side of my head and a very tender knee that is black and blue.  It's actually difficult to run on it and is pretty sore when I walk. 

Our softball team is starting to shape up.  Playing a scrimmage game did us some good.  It gave us a chance to see where we are and to see how each of us plays.  It also gives me a chance to see everyone's ability during gametime.  I now know where our holes are.  We're going to have to correct those if we want to compete during the league.  Hopefully with more practice we can stabilize ourselves or i'm going to have to make some tough decisions and move people around.  I have to remember to reserve the field this weekend for those guys to practice.  I won't be here though because I fly to Manila Wed night to secure a venue for the wedding.  More on that at a later post.

Gotta run now.  I've been bullshitting this morning and I need to get some work done before lunch. 

Poker Strategy

Let's talk poker strategy.  Our weekly poker game has had the same core group of players for nearly 2 years.  We've gotten accustomed to how we each play and people have started catching on.  I get flack for some moves I do, but I can't really be mad at myself.  Outside of 3 occassions in the past 3 months, i've come out ahead every other game.  I had to change things up drastically though and i'm not sure if people are setting me up for a big loss, or they just aren't catching on to my new tactics.  I'd like to think it's the latter since I changed my game after the last loss I suffered which was Superbowl night. 

For the past year or so, i've been playing textbook poker.  Raise 3 times the blind on a good starting hand.  Fold when I don't hit the flop.  Rarely bluff a pot.  It was pretty straightforward and simple to pick up on.  I was winning though.  So much so that my best friend was pretty much bankrolling me for 6 months and we would split the winnings.  But eventually the raise pre-flop was killing me.  I would catch a bad run of flops and people would pretty much know I was beat.  Not to mention everyone else making changes and playing a lot more average and crap cards thus having me beat when I raised pre-flop representing high cards.  Lately, i've decided to pretty much forgo raising altogether.  It's paid off a lot of the time because no one picks up on what cards I have.  The strategy of raising preflop and representing two over cards or a good pair was only keeping me afloat in games and not really winning me any money.  I was dragging a lot of small pots.  Now that i'm not raising, people don't know what i'm staying in with.  It's given me more flexibility on bluffing since I never really represent anything.  And when I do raise preflop, people automatically assume they are beat.  It's given me some good nights.  Of course i've also lost big some nights due to me not being able to let some hands go, and playing a little more conservatively.  What i'm doing wrong is not playing the people anymore, and relying solely on my moves and cards.  I'm forgetting the people who are playing with me tend to bluff a lot more in certain situations and they know they can bully me around a bit.  I guess it's time to switch it up again in order to keep people from figuring me out.  I'm still winning, but I would like to avoid taking a loss by all means necessary. 

Warning: Danger up ahead

That's what the sign that hangs above my life should read.  A major happening in my fiance's life could drastically change the next 12 months and could bring about some major changes to our upcoming wedding.  I won't say yet because it hasn't happened and there's still a good chance that it wont, but i'm trying to be realistic.  I have to start looking at the future and what steps I need to take to get our lives in order.  I'll be honest.  I'm a little nervous about it.  It could really affect our life.  Of course if it doesn't happen, then all is well.  We push on with our current plans.  If it does happen however, we have to go about things a lot differently in order to be successful in our future together.  Whatever it is, i'm sure we'll be fine.  There may be a few speed bumps along the way, but we'll get over them and we'll get through it together.  It'll probably bring us even more closer together and probably give her more faith in us and make her more secure.  Right now she's battling through a couple of internal issues that's making her life less than calm.  She's plugging along though and i'm proud of her.  I just want it all to pass already so that she can focus on the important things we've got planned in the near future.  Anyway, that's my input for right now.  Got a few things going on in my head that I need to take care of.  Funny how none of it is work related.  I've just found myself less than thrilled to be at work.  It's probably because i've got a cold right now and I feel like total crap.  I'll blog again later to keep myself awake. 

Breaking news: I'm coming out of retirement

No i'm not talking about Brett Favre.  I'm talking about me and softball.  Much like Michael Jordan, I left a sport for a brief period of time in order to try my hand in other things, to include basket weaving and croquet.  I didn't have much luck with either sport, again much like MJ so i've decided to go back to where the heart is.  I've been playing sparingly with the Navy Base Softball team because I originally made the team during tryouts last year but I passed on the current league being played.  I was just burned out.  We had been playing for nearly 9 months straight.  It was a bit taxing mentally.  Not to mention my love life was picking up and I was finding less and less free time to play sports.

We've been having meetings with the base team recently, preparing us for the upcoming Softball Tournament in Dubai.  One that I had been scheduled to participate in since my rookie season in 2001.  That tournament by the way was cancelled due to 9/11.  We never did get our initial $1,000 deposit.  The next 2 tournaments were skipped as well and by the time they started back up, I couldn't form a competitive enough team to enter.  3-4 years later, here I am, trying once again to make it to this tournament.  Oddly enough, i'll know quite a few people from other teams around the middle east due to my playing days in Qatar and Kuwait.  Although I don't count Kuwait since I never did make it to a practice due to my work schedule.  I worked with the coach though, so that should count for something right?

What really chaps my hide is the base team lost it's coach and now has a new guy who wants to hold new tryouts.  I do agree that only the best should be on.  But i'm a little peeved at the lack of opportunity for other players including myself to break in to the base team because of the good ol boy network they have.  About 80% of the current base team are players on another team that regularly slaughters every other team that plays on the recreational leagues throughout the year.  By my count, they haven't lost since I arrived on ground in Sep of 2006.  That was also the team that won the last Dubai Softball Tournament.  Most of those guys are gone with only 2 holdovers left.  One who happens to run the team that dominates.  Of course if you are on the base team, and you're buddies with the guy, you've got an open invitation to play for the dominant team in league play.  The rest have to play for other teams, or form another squad that they can whip on during the season.  The worst part about it is the lack of cameraderie they exhibit to the rest of the guys during base team practice and games.  There are a few of us outsiders who not only not get much playing time despite the skillset, but don't get included in the joking and jabbing that helps gel a team together.  Hell, most of them wouldn't know my name if I didnt constantly respond to all the softball emails. 

Granted i'll go through the motions.  The new coach has put out that the original members are already assured spots because we just went through tryouts recently but something just doesn't sit right in my stomach.  The last remaining member of the team 2 years ago was overheard at lunch one day saying "if you don't already know you have a spot on the team, you're probably not going to make it".  Kinda pompous if you ask me.  I could understand if he was a hell of a ballplayer, but he's average at best.  He originally played infield, but 4 other people were better than him at 3rd and SS so he moved to the outfield.  He's better suited there because he's got good speed and a good glove for fly balls.  Granted he's made his share of errors in the past few games we've played.  He's still just an average hitter.  Maybe he's on a hitting slump, but he hasn't shown good pop recently either.  The last doubleheader we played, he went 1 for 4 the first game and 2 for 4 the next.  Yet he's a mainstay in the starting lineup.  I'm not saying i'm better than he is.  I'm average at best too.  But i've got better batting stats than he does.  I've consistently shown that.  Granted that isn't much because i've been coming off the bench.  Despite making the team as the second string 2nd baseman, i've been relegated to catcher.  Backup to a guy that shows up half the time at best.  Granted the 2nd string SS is better than me so I understand that move.  He was sitting backlogged at SS because our starting SS is probably one of best players on the team so I understand the move.  However, he's not starting either.  They have a guy there who's actually in the softball hall of fame.  There is no way either of us can compete with him when it comes to batting.  No doubt about that.  But fielding is were we hold our own.  I definitely have him in mobility, although his glove is more solid than mine.  I don't mind sitting in favor of him because of those things, but it kills me to see balls go past him that I could have run down and watching him run the bases is equally painful. 

I'm just bitching really.  I'm just frustrated in having to run the gauntlet again tomorrow morning.  We were told we were going to be timed in running bases, hitting and fielding drills.  Then a new softball season is ready to pick up the end of the month and i've got no team.  I'm trying to put one together because odds are, there isn't enough room on the stacked team's roster for a mediocre 2nd baseman/catcher. 

This is a recent record

This is my third post in as many days.  Actually, this may be my 4th post in 3 days.  I've found myself very opinionated lately which is why i've found many things to blog about.  The wedding.  The maid.  Work.  Sports.  It's actually nice to be able to voice my opinion.  The past year or so i've been able to let it all out at work with a few friends of mine.  Unfortunately, in the last few weeks the group has grown pretty big and it's hard to get a word in.  Especially with strong willed guys who don't care much about anyone else's opinions.  But it's still nice to bullshit with them all. 

I posted a couple of days ago about NFL free agency.  It seems as if I got a little carried away with myself.  I think I was just really looking for a silver lining to the San Francisco 49er's dismal organization when I posted all the good things about their moves.  Well let me somewhat backup a bit.  I read an article that pointed something out inadvertently yesterday.  The past few years, San Francisco has made a lot of noise in free agency, but only netted a couple of marquee names.  Basically, from what I just realized, they spent a lot of money on backup caliber players.  I don't understand that logic.  I know Mike Nolan's philosophy is to bring in "quality" guys.  His type of guys.  But so far, i'm not sure he's noticed that those so called quality guys are nothing more than backups.  There are reasons they didnt start for other teams.  Why are the Niner's signing them?  Haven't they already realized that bringing in one quality starter a year (2007=Nate Clements/2008=Justin Smith) and about 4 or 5 backup caliber players isn't going to translate to wins?  I don't get the logic.  Where is the common sense?  Why sign a JT Osullivan?  To fill the 3rd string QB role?  If it ever comes to that point where you need a 3rd QB, you don't think you could sign one out of the free agent pool midseason?  Hell, that's where you might find JT if they didnt sign him.  Dontarrius Thomas.  Another backup.  What gives?  I don't even want to go any further.  At least Deshaun Foster has some starting potential because Frank Gore is likely to break into a million pieces on the field one of these days due to his fragile body.  And by fragile, I mean glass like.  I don't think i've ever heard of anyone as injury prone as him.  Seriously dude, drink some milk. 

On another note, I jinxed myself again yesterday by being all happy about my maid.  She didnt move in last night.  In fact, she and her aunt (negotiator) ended up pissing me off.  I can understand the aunt wanting to make sure that I was on the up and up and I would indeed fullfill my word and get her a visa.  After all, she's responsible for her niece.  So once she got the warm and fuzzy on who I was, that's when things started getting ugly.  I guess since my finace' is Filipina, she though she could work her little pity magic on her and me.  Little does she know that my baby is freaking ruthless.  We both already spoke to said maid and agreed on a salary that would offset me having to pay out of pocket for his visa.  It was a more than fair proposal.  She accepted.  Twice I might add.  Last night, her aunt played the pity card and then laid out some comparisons.  One even helped our case more than hurt it.  She then asked for more money and by that time I was so frustrated that I said i'd think about it just so they could leave my house already.  It didn't take me and Pretty Girl long to decide there was no way in hell we were going to pay more considering the circumstances. 

It was bad enough that she brought over her 2 friends along with her negotiating aunt.  Then she had the nerve to act like Filipino buddies and ask if she can come visit her niece every now and then.  Like we're friends or something.  Then looking around the house and complimenting us as if they were our guests.  Get the fuck out of here.  They're lucky i'm a nice guy.  Most people I know would tell them to just flat out leave.  We called her back and told her we don't want to deal with anyone else but her.  Then we told her that we were only going to pay the amount we proposed and that she could take it or leave it.  I'm actually hoping that she doesnt take it for the sake of starting off in this endeavor on a sour note.  I actually don't trust her aunt and hope that I never have to suck up the cost of her visa and have to fire her if it came to that.  I just think her aunt is going to meddle too much in our affairs and that's the last thing I need.  I'm seriously thinking about getting a maid from the Philippines and bringing her in myself.  That would save us a ton of headaches because my family back home have a lot of maids they trust.  I just have to iron out the specifics.