A normal day in Paradise

Log for Tuesday, 5 March 2013

7.00: waking up by the sound of some incoming sms
7.50: Telephone call of a GM of an oil company calls me about the news that Austrian Airlines suspended flights to Tripoli
8.05: Call from a GM of an Austrian subsidiary in building materials, same subject
8.10: grabbing some breakfast while talking on the phone with more Austrian GMs about flight suspension
8.30: I finally manage to bind my shoes and jump into the car to drive to work, A lot of traffic again. With normal traffic I can be in the office in 20 minutes. Today it takes again a bit over an hour.
9.30: Answering many emails
10.30: The General Manager of the Libyan Union Chamber of Commerce calls to tell us that instead of him coming to our office, we should come to his office.
11.00: Driving to the center of town to the meeting
11.30: Mr.Idriss from the Chamber of Commere receives my colleague and me, tells us how good relationships between Austria and Libya are and how important the friendship and exchange of opinions between countries are. For a short time I think I am in the wrong year.
12.00: Short visit to the Libyan Textile and Fashion fair. 90% Turkish companies. Not so many visitors, maybe too early.
12.30: Driving back to the office where a libyan businessman waits already for me. He is looking for business opportunities. Tells me that if I need anything, he knows people up to the Prime Minister, he can help.
13.00: Trying to find another way of flying to Austria. Another Austrian General Manager sent one of his guys to Turkish office, tells me mayhem has broken out there. Hardly any places left, prices rocket high.

13.15: I open a tuna can, want to eat it with bread, while my assistant tells me the son of our neighbour goes wild about our car.

I get out of the office, he completely freaks out, tells me/us we are not allowed to park our car and kicks it strongly several times with his feet.
13.30: Ongoing (loud) discussion with the brother of the crazy guy who kicked our car (and after doing so ran away)
14.00: finishing the rest of my tuna. High on adrenaline. I can see my libyan colleague is boiling...
14.15: Continuous phone calls/e-mails, today mostly about security and our planned trade mission
14.45: We go again to our neighbour to see if the father of the delinquent is home (negative)
15.00: I hear an explosion somewhere in the background, I tell myself it´s too far away as to be a real threat.
15.15: The father of our neighbour comes to the office, apologises for his son. We explain him that the last time (a month ago) he wanted to attack one of our staff with a big knife.
The father (Haj) asks us not to do anything this time, he will take care of the issue (and pay our damage).
16.00: Trying to finish an e-mail to all Austrian subsidiaries and another one to the participants of our trade mission. Cancelling a meeting at the new Fourpoints Sheraton, because emails are priority.
17.45: It starts getting dark, I should get home.  Anyhow, since two months, every after 17.30 LTT  (Libyan Telekom) switches off Internet (strike measure). I still try to send the last few invoices for he year and balance to Vienna, but I am too late.
Luckily the dinner meeting at the Corinthia is cancelled because the Austrian businessmen did not arrive today (remember? flights cancelled...)
18.00: On the way home, talking to an Austrian company which is having a case at court with a Libyan company. The (prominent) Libyan lawyer keeps telling since two years that next week everything i settled. Charges in the meantime EUR 2.000 / day of work. What to do ?
18.30: It took only 45 minutes to get home. I find out my neighbour has not, as promised four times already, moved his truck which is blocking my entrance.
I shortly think of driving to the gym at Palm City but in the end feel too lazy for it.

Luckily electricity is quite stable recently, so I don´t freeze too much at home anymore and I can read / watch TV.

I hope tomorrow will become at least as interesting as today !