"How much of human life is lost in waiting!"

Yup it was that much-quoted American, Ralph Waldo Emerson who first said these words way back in the 19th century. And how right he was. But I'd like to add to that by saying that, "In the presence of the Unknown, Use what you Know".

However, what DO I know exactly? Well, I'm still waiting that eternal wait as RWE so frowned upon above. Yes yes OK OK so it's New Year (HAPPY NEW YEAR if I haven't wished it to you before!) and everyone's a bit slow in getting back to work and yes - that includes those who are slowly slowly processing my .... well whatever part of my application is on their desks right now.

I'm trying to think if there is anything I could have done to make this go any faster. Maybe just maybe I did delay things a little back in early December when I was worried that I might not be doing what I'm doing now - that is, being in London enjoying the Christmas and New Year period with my son (ohhhh! Many of you did not know THAT before!! Well you do NOW!). This period of December-January was looking like it was not going to happen at ALL as I thought I'd be whisked away ASAP into the Saudi sunset because of the apparent urgency of THAT email message that started all this off. Of course I did not know about the delays that come about in processing of contracts, visas and the like PLUS the holiday season on both sides of the .... well I mean in the UK and in Saudi Arabia itself. Perhaps in early December things COULD have moved faster, but I posted off my certificates and did what I was required to do quickly enough.

My "delay tactics" might have gone a bit wrong since I realised something important this evening.

In the initial telephone interview, they talked about the fact that they were full and that I should come back in January. THEN I had the "last-minute entries PLEASE!" email a few weeks after that and then the ball was rolling. BUT, going back to that phone interview, I now recall that they spoke of two semesters .... and the SECOND SEMESTER they said begins IN FEBRUARY!!

Now, I sincerely hope I am wrong about this. What I assumed was that they wanted to get me out there ASAP - hence the urgency of that email. But NOW I've had a horrible thought that they've decided to .... yes, you've guessed it .... to get me out there for the start of February.

This is really NOT good. Waiting till end January for some money is gonna stretch me enough, but if that is extended to end FEBRUARY then it really WILL push my minimal budget and patience to the absolute limit.

I don't know if I can wait that long but right now it makes sense that I might HAVE TO.

"C'mon C'mon David", you say, "Kick that pessimistic monkey off yer back this INSTANT!". Yes, OK, he is up there again talking to me. He had been away a while looking for his chance to get back on, and now maybe here it is!

I want to see more of Ollie the Optimist and less of Pete the Pessimist. I'm far too used to entertaining ol' Pete lately and really I wanna show him the door and NOT have him back. Ollie, where ARE you mate? You only went outside for a moment! C'mon - it's getting cold! GET BACK HERE!!!

Nah! Surely the upswing in my life IS going on and up, and that next time I sit to write this I will be chuckling at what the HELL I wrote here tonight. Yeah sure I will be (OLLIE! Where ARE YOU??).

The status of my application is this as I understand it: right now I have a "Provisional Job Offer" which will become a job offer "in full" once I have my visa, once I have satisfactorily completed my medical (check!) and once confirmation has been received that the university is happy to have me out there. Hmm ..... only ONE out of four do I know for sure HAS been completed and that's only because I did it myself (well ..... there was a doctor present too!). I'm assuming too that nothing came up in the medical which will surprise me and that there is no reason why I should not be accepted by the university in Riyadh.

One slight worry is my passport which may impact on the visa process AND may well delay things when I actually GET to Saudi. The thing is that the photo page of my passport does not have the machine-readable strip at the bottom (you know - all the digits and letters and stuff). It was the passport I got from the British Embassy back in 2002 and travelling in mainland Europe isn't a problem. BUT now we're talking about going further and about a country where delays at customs are expected and may be exacerbated by things such as this. And delays might turn into suspicion. Hah, you think me paranoid? When coming to London this Christmas the guys at the Polish end of my flight (at the departure gate) eyed my passport suspiciously, ran their fingers across the page, showed it to each other, asked me what my middl name was and asked me where I had got that passport. Another time a few years back, it was the immigration official at the London end who informed me that such a passport with no machine-readable strip would quite simply mean I would not get through if I wanted to go to the USA.

That has always bothered me. And NOW I'm going to a country's airport where bureaucracy and delays are commonplace and where there is no nice EU border to retreat behind if all goes belly-up.

Yeah - Pete is in now .... puttin' his feet up and gettin' comfy. Where HAS that guy Ollie got to??

When all I can do is wait, then it gives me time to think and time to worry. But yes - it IS fear of the unknown and fear when I myself am not in control of the process.

I hope I'm wrong and then I can give Pete the Pessimist a good KICK outta here for GOOD soon!