where my money is not as good as my husband's

After a lot of drama involving the electricity in our otherwise would-be apartment building, we got letters today to get our power turned on at the Abu Dhabi Distribution Center. The way it works here is that instead of running a credit check since so many people don't have any sort of history with credit cards or subscription services, we need our company to vouch for our stable employment.

Unless you're a married woman, in which case your own employment is not good enough no matter how glowing a recommendation of your earning potential. Brandon had to leave his shift at work to get a taxi during the busiest time of day to sign a piece of paper I filled out otherwise.

It's fairly rare to be reminded that we live in the Middle East, but this was a big one.