from a shield to a snowflake?

So it's official, tot ziens ABN AMRO. Today was the official launch of RBS in the UAE. The day was indundated with all things blue: balloon archways at entrances, full-length ads and interviews on the radio and newspapers, signage at all offices, blue carpet in the branches, and the country executive left voicemails on all staff mobile phones! I got to go to the press conference this morning at Emirates Towers.....although a bit depressing, it was pretty exciting nonetheless.

In other news, still no luck on the apartment search. Believe it or not, when you get advice that you should make an offer after a single day of househunting, it's actually true. Wait too long, i.e. 2 days, and the place you fancied last Thursday is gone by Sunday (or AED 40K more expensive). Funny, I thought patience was a virtue. So we've had to extend our temporary housing for another week at Chelsea Tower, which is unfortunate; it's been hard to get settled at the office without being settled at home. But good news (finally): I got my residence permit and labour card this morning, so I can now get a driver's license (in theory), a mobile phone contract and utilities at our (future) residence. Too bad Jon is in AmLo.

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Happy birthday, Anjali!