We didn’t. We had to get extensions. And the Saudis, this is built into the culture. This was the most, one of the most educational events of my life. One of them was taking over the animal welfare program in Oklahoma City that was very educational. And another was getting… Read More
You all are gonna pay for it.” They’d already agreed. I’ll pack up and they’ll close my classes. I was teaching two classes. I’d just come there for the weekend, and I’d already been there. And I said, my classes, I’d called them up, you know. So they said, “Oh,… Read More
And finally, the tailor comes out and he, he takes my measurements. And they say, “We’ll have it ready tomorrow.” I mean, that’s pretty quick. They probably sewed all night. When I go in there to get it, it’s not a suit, it’s a, the robe type that you wear,… Read More
You know, that isn’t done.” And I said, “Well, but I don’t even have anything to wear. I’ve got my summer stuff and it’s getting chilly here.” “Oh, Abdulaziv, you take him”. So he took me they call them souks, the shops, and there was tailor. And he, of course,… Read More
And we did sit down and we did negotiate a contract. And he was the most difficult person. You talk about a conman. I mean, he was, this is the one, he’d spent five years in Miami becoming an engineer, most of the semesters he spent in the bar there,… Read More
Complete, I mean, the climate difference, and all that. So anyway, and I said, “But look, you know, you haven’t hired me yet.” “Oh, well, we’ll take care of that.” There’s a favorite expression, (speaks foreign language) which means, you know, we’ll get to it tomorrow. And the other one,… Read More
If your visa expires too bad, then if the embassy picks you up, I mean, then you’re in deep trouble. So that was a great, that was a very interesting experience watching that happen. And they meant business. And then when the contractors left, (laughs) quickly go out to the… Read More
They talked to the contractor and they said, “Well, we’re not satisfied with the work you’ve done. And we’ve told you about it, and here are the letters.” In Saudi, every time they would send you a letter, or anybody a letter, they would have another copy, and they would… Read More
And we’re going to use some local labor. I’m sure of what we’ve done as well as you do, but here are your tickets.” Well, it was at midnight. “You mean we have to leave at midnight?” “Yeah, yeah, midnight. There’s your ticket.” “Well, what about our equipment?” “Well, maybe… Read More
First, we have to go have, you know, they eat at night. And this was very close to Ramadan, as I recall. So I was their guest. I mean, I had my summer suit on, from LSU, from Louisiana, and this was in October. What happened was, for a week,… Read More
And we’re gonna meet with the contractor.” They had a British contractor. And so, 6:00, 7:00, I said, “Well, what time is the meeting?” “Well, we told them about 6:00.” “Well, it’s 7:00 now.” Well, we’ve still have, they drink.” And the one, two of those three guys were alcoholics,… Read More
They had a company, they were a company. Read More
And then, you know, we’re that much closer.” “Well, I, it’s not convenient for me, and so I’d rather do this.” “Fine, I’m with you. I wanna make it easy on you, wherever we meet.” So I went to Los Angeles, we do all that stuff. We get on the… Read More
And they had a contract with the city to stock the zoo and to hire personnel in there, and then to run it, okay?… Read More
So I’m in Los Angeles, I’ll send you a ticket.” Okay, fine. So I went to Los Angeles. And this guy knew nothing (chuckles) about zoos. He knew all about Saudi Arabia. He was not a Saudi, but he was a, Syrian, he was a Syrian. And so he said,… Read More
They’ve hired him to stock the zoo, and they want a zoo director. And if you’re interested,” why he gave me the contacts. So I was very interested. I mean, here again, I’m so close on my dissertation, but I needed a job, and I didn’t wanna just get out… Read More
And I said, “Well, why don’t we meet in New York?… Read More
So I had had (laughs) a colostomy, no, not a colostomy. Where they insert a tube, which is vision. Colonoscopy. Colonoscopy, yeah. And I went to a, urologist, or no, a digestive disease specialist. And I said, I want to borrow your longest scope. It’s a fiber optic thing, and… Read More
And you can look through them. There’s a little water windshield wiper on the other end, fantastic. Nowadays they take pictures through them. But I didn’t have that out there. So I got that and I started going around, this was in the summer, in the late summer, going, looking… Read More
And the only thing that, well, I found out a lot of things, but one of them was that the breeding probably occurred much earlier, before they even went down into those deals. The breeding occurred in the pools. Anyway, that’s what my deal was. Then I got a call… Read More