OK, so four weeks from arriving in country until now........

Went back to blighty last weekend, needed a bacon butty and a hair cut (and get some legal papers notorised, have a beer, another bacon butty and see my wife) which also served as a visa renewal run.... cost £987 direct to LHR with BMI (Saudi school holidays have started and being sensible, the wealthy ones are heading for Europe to escape the 50 degree heat here) two weeks ago it would have been £450.

Quite a lot has changed and progresed, got promoted at work (even as a freelancer) and got a pay rise - wife happy - me not so as I now have some responsibility in my project which was never my plan..... should have just been average and not gone the extra mile.

Managed to blag my way into "Motel" style accomodation on a westerners complex and also bumped to the top of the villa waiting list as now a "resident"... The Motel accomodation is more than my last hotel so I will have to pay the difference but when a 2BR villa becomes available it will be a little less than the old hotel so break even in the end BUT be on a compound, a must for my wife.

The compounds not the greatest in Riyadh but clean, secure, friendly, shops, resturant, gym, coffee shop, hair / nail salon, big pool, games rooms, tennis, badminton, clubs etc....... so pretty cool compared to my hotel room.

It's a little way out of town to the East so I hired a car which was very handy as the motel room I am in is really a little apartment, bedroom, bathroom, dining room and kitchen. the kitchen is equiped with all the white goods so I needed to go to a supermarket and get stuff....... Food - Food - Kitchen roll, washing powder (cant live on dirty undies for more than a month) etc etc 

Time for another "Moussy" (Malted beer type drink without the booze part) and think about bed and the rush hour traffic to get from the compound to work in the morning. It's about ten miles and I know its going to be bad.... let you know tomorrow.