Liquor Permit, Banking Woes and Missing Parts
After a tremendous day/night out at the Spice Market in W for a Friday brunch, I had set today as the day to get my Liquor Permit. I had requested the letter from work whilst offshore and picked it up last week, but never got round to actually going and getting the permit.
So this morning, feeling surprisingly fresh, headed off out to do a spot of shopping at Villaggio, then head to the Qatar Distribution Centre to get the permit and some beer.
In Villaggio I had previously seen a relatively cheap Karcher jet wash as I wanted to get one for the villa to be able to jet wash the roof and clean it all up of pigeon nests and mess. In I went got the Karcher, a new garden hose, a extension hose and a mains extension lead. Perfect.
Finishes in Villaggio and heads of to QDC, arrived, handed over the letter, filled out the form, got my picture taken, paid the refundable deposit of 1000QAR and then headed downstairs to the actual liquor store. Place was mobbed, everyone stocking up on beers/spirits and port products. I just wanted to grab a case of beer as a starter, then would come back another day first thing when it is quieter and get a proper "shop", of course, limiting to my monthly limit set by the QDC based on basic salary.
Back to the villa, drops everything off and opens up the Karcher stuff to find that the Karcher gun, nozzle and hose were all missing from the box. Arghh!! Back in the car, and back to Villaggio. The place is now absolutely mobbed, with the endless sound of car horns in the car park as it was gridlocked.
Into the shop, over to the customer services and the woman "ding dongs" the relevant department supervisor to come and assist. Over he comes and I explain to him pointing to the box contents list and said they are all missing and it is only the pump unit that is in it. Off he wanders and returns 5 minutes later carrying the hose and the nozzle. I said to him he's forgotten the gun and it is also missing, He gives me a funny look and wanders off again. After another few minutes he comes back with the gun, now all is good and I head off home, again.
On the way back, I stopped at the HSBC on Salwa Road to get some money from the ATM machine. Putting in my card, entering my pin and how much I want, the machine display's "Processing request, please wait" or similar. 5 minutes, I'm still waiting, 10 minutes I'm still waiting. By now I'm thinking what do I do, who do I call etc. etc. Don't want to leave the machine in case it spits out my money and card and someone else grabs it. How long do I wait??? Clearly something wrong. I went out to the car and grabbed my phone and notice on it that there is the transaction notice from HSBC saying my money has been withdrawn! Back to the machine and it is still displaying the same message. After about another 5 to 10 minutes, the machine suddenly displays a fault message then promptly reboots. Yes, it is running Windows 7! After rebooting it just goes to the fault message and does nothing. No money issued and it has eaten my card! Arghh!!
Guess I'm going to the HSBC on Salwa Road at opening time tomorrow! Then it will be back to the villa for a spot of jet washing.......
So this morning, feeling surprisingly fresh, headed off out to do a spot of shopping at Villaggio, then head to the Qatar Distribution Centre to get the permit and some beer.
In Villaggio I had previously seen a relatively cheap Karcher jet wash as I wanted to get one for the villa to be able to jet wash the roof and clean it all up of pigeon nests and mess. In I went got the Karcher, a new garden hose, a extension hose and a mains extension lead. Perfect.
Finishes in Villaggio and heads of to QDC, arrived, handed over the letter, filled out the form, got my picture taken, paid the refundable deposit of 1000QAR and then headed downstairs to the actual liquor store. Place was mobbed, everyone stocking up on beers/spirits and port products. I just wanted to grab a case of beer as a starter, then would come back another day first thing when it is quieter and get a proper "shop", of course, limiting to my monthly limit set by the QDC based on basic salary.
Back to the villa, drops everything off and opens up the Karcher stuff to find that the Karcher gun, nozzle and hose were all missing from the box. Arghh!! Back in the car, and back to Villaggio. The place is now absolutely mobbed, with the endless sound of car horns in the car park as it was gridlocked.
Into the shop, over to the customer services and the woman "ding dongs" the relevant department supervisor to come and assist. Over he comes and I explain to him pointing to the box contents list and said they are all missing and it is only the pump unit that is in it. Off he wanders and returns 5 minutes later carrying the hose and the nozzle. I said to him he's forgotten the gun and it is also missing, He gives me a funny look and wanders off again. After another few minutes he comes back with the gun, now all is good and I head off home, again.
On the way back, I stopped at the HSBC on Salwa Road to get some money from the ATM machine. Putting in my card, entering my pin and how much I want, the machine display's "Processing request, please wait" or similar. 5 minutes, I'm still waiting, 10 minutes I'm still waiting. By now I'm thinking what do I do, who do I call etc. etc. Don't want to leave the machine in case it spits out my money and card and someone else grabs it. How long do I wait??? Clearly something wrong. I went out to the car and grabbed my phone and notice on it that there is the transaction notice from HSBC saying my money has been withdrawn! Back to the machine and it is still displaying the same message. After about another 5 to 10 minutes, the machine suddenly displays a fault message then promptly reboots. Yes, it is running Windows 7! After rebooting it just goes to the fault message and does nothing. No money issued and it has eaten my card! Arghh!!
Guess I'm going to the HSBC on Salwa Road at opening time tomorrow! Then it will be back to the villa for a spot of jet washing.......
Every day another adventure! Love hearing about them all. It really is another world, isn't it? Love, Anna & Quraish
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