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Highs and Lows 2023
5 Plays1 year ago
Talking about the super highs and lows of 2023 and being proud of my bug zapper purchase.
Recommended
Transcript
The Mosquito Zapper Experience
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey everyone, it's Salman Qureshi.
00:00:02
Speaker
You're listening to the Expat Brad Podcast and I am so proud of myself because I've gone and finally got one of these home indoor mosquito zapping things.
00:00:16
Speaker
I...
00:00:17
Speaker
I don't know.
00:00:18
Speaker
At some point I read about how they're terrible for having around the house for a few reasons.
00:00:26
Speaker
Well, obviously, if you've got a kid, you don't want them zapping themselves because, you know, kids do that sort of stuff.
00:00:31
Speaker
And then I'm very kiddish in some way.
00:00:34
Speaker
So I was scared that I would just touch it out of curiosity as well.
00:00:39
Speaker
But more than that, there was one time I read about how when these mosquitoes are zapped, like they're dead bodies, that zapped stuff like floats into the air.
00:00:50
Speaker
I don't know.
00:00:51
Speaker
Is that supposed to be gross?
00:00:54
Speaker
It's like a burned body just kind of in your air where?
00:00:59
Speaker
Air where?
00:00:59
Speaker
Air waves?
00:01:01
Speaker
Just around you.
00:01:02
Speaker
And so...
00:01:04
Speaker
Do you inhale it by mistake?
00:01:06
Speaker
I don't know how this stuff works.
00:01:07
Speaker
Okay, I don't.
00:01:08
Speaker
But I've got one and it's really cool.
00:01:11
Speaker
And so far, it's not working.
00:01:14
Speaker
So I'm quite proud of buying it, but I think I'm not using it right.
00:01:20
Speaker
I need to figure this out.
00:01:21
Speaker
But it looks cool in like this little corner of my house all lit up and stuff like I'm some professional restaurant.
00:01:29
Speaker
I don't know.
00:01:29
Speaker
It's just we live the area I live in.
00:01:32
Speaker
If you if you leave the balcony door open for just like two minutes, there's like flies and mosquitoes all around.
Life in Dubai's Suburbs
00:01:38
Speaker
I don't know why that is.
00:01:39
Speaker
I think it's I'm in the wild, man.
00:01:41
Speaker
I'm in the I'm in the suburbs of Dubai.
00:01:44
Speaker
Like I am out in the desert, like literally in the desert.
00:01:48
Speaker
Like if you came over to my place.
00:01:50
Speaker
And you looked out my balcony, you would see nothing but desert.
00:01:53
Speaker
It's quite awesome in some ways, but not when these flies and mosquitoes are flying.
00:01:59
Speaker
I mean, when I think about the desert, I don't think about flies and mosquitoes as typical desert animals.
00:02:05
Speaker
Now, if a camel was like flying in through my balcony, I'd be like, that makes sense.
00:02:12
Speaker
That is fair.
00:02:13
Speaker
But these these little creatures, what are they doing here?
00:02:17
Speaker
I've never watched a movie or a cartoon where in the desert they were the problem.
00:02:21
Speaker
Right.
00:02:22
Speaker
Horses, camels, bad sheriffs, cactus.
00:02:27
Speaker
That's another thing I wonder about, like in Dubai, like I look out in the desert.
00:02:32
Speaker
And I realize how much Hollywood movies and cartoons have left a mark in my expectations because we don't have cactus here.
00:02:43
Speaker
Or is it cacti for plural?
00:02:44
Speaker
Cacti, right?
00:02:46
Speaker
Why don't we have...
00:02:48
Speaker
that growing out here, because it's supposed to be the best thing in the desert, right?
00:02:52
Speaker
Because the whole water and whatever, blah, blah, blah.
00:02:55
Speaker
There's none of that here.
00:02:56
Speaker
None of it.
00:02:57
Speaker
Instead, we've got these different trees and stuff.
00:03:01
Speaker
I wonder if I brought a cactus and just left it out here in the desert.
00:03:06
Speaker
Would they multiply and change the whole ecosystem?
00:03:10
Speaker
I don't know.
00:03:11
Speaker
Pretty soon, they'll be like Indians and cowboys.
00:03:18
Speaker
Indians and cowboys just hovering around as well because, well, you know, it just changed the whole thing up just from one cactus.
00:03:26
Speaker
I don't know, but it's not there.
00:03:28
Speaker
Dubai deserts are different.
00:03:31
Speaker
I should do some research on this stuff.
00:03:33
Speaker
As I talk about this, I kind of wonder about things I should rather be doing.
Humor and Reflections from 2023
00:03:39
Speaker
Yeah.
00:03:40
Speaker
Anyway, it was supposed to be a positive story of me buying the zapper and feeling like a grown up.
00:03:46
Speaker
So far, I had one of these, you know, you get these rackets that you kind of have to swing and hit and then they zap them midair.
00:03:55
Speaker
I love that stuff.
00:03:56
Speaker
But then I got a tennis elbow out of it.
00:04:01
Speaker
Not so much an actual tennis elbow, but honestly, I think my right hand, my shoulder has been a little off.
00:04:08
Speaker
And so I was zapping and it hurt.
00:04:13
Speaker
Funny stuff that happens with age.
00:04:14
Speaker
So I can't chase them around anymore.
00:04:17
Speaker
I got, I'm not going to lie.
00:04:18
Speaker
I got some like...
00:04:20
Speaker
weird satisfaction out of doing it.
00:04:23
Speaker
And now to have this nuclear bomb kind of just placed in a corner, waiting for them to come in, lure it in and zap themselves, in some ways makes me feel relaxed and cool.
00:04:36
Speaker
But in some ways, in other ways, you know, I kind of miss it.
00:04:40
Speaker
I miss the chase.
00:04:41
Speaker
I miss the hunt.
00:04:43
Speaker
I don't feel like a man anymore.
00:04:44
Speaker
You know, maybe I should get rid of this and go back to swatting it.
00:04:49
Speaker
I'll do it with my left hand.
00:04:51
Speaker
My left shoulder is still good.
00:04:52
Speaker
These stupid flies and mosquitoes.
00:04:56
Speaker
It's also every time I buy these flowers for my wife.
00:05:00
Speaker
It was her birthday recently, and I got these flowers.
00:05:03
Speaker
And thankfully, one of them has kept up and is still alive.
00:05:07
Speaker
The rest of the batch died pretty quickly.
00:05:09
Speaker
It was quite sad.
00:05:10
Speaker
The amount of money you buy, you spend on these flowers, and then they die.
00:05:13
Speaker
I don't mind the money.
00:05:14
Speaker
I just mind them dying quickly.
00:05:17
Speaker
So this was one big hydrangea.
00:05:21
Speaker
Shit, if only I could ever learn the name properly.
00:05:24
Speaker
Hydrangea.
00:05:27
Speaker
Look it up, man.
00:05:28
Speaker
So it's like this big flower.
00:05:29
Speaker
It's like sitting like very pretty.
00:05:31
Speaker
It has a nice smell.
00:05:33
Speaker
But it also these flowers also attract the mosquitoes.
00:05:37
Speaker
And that's a problem, you know.
00:05:41
Speaker
That's how my life is.
00:05:45
Speaker
What a weird podcast.
00:05:46
Speaker
Why are you still listening to this?
Global Issues and Personal Reflections
00:05:48
Speaker
All right, guys, listen.
00:05:51
Speaker
I've had a great year.
00:05:53
Speaker
2023, man.
00:05:54
Speaker
2023.
00:05:55
Speaker
It's December.
00:05:56
Speaker
It's December 11th when I'm recording this.
00:05:58
Speaker
I don't know when you're listening to this and when this gets put out.
00:06:00
Speaker
But...
00:06:02
Speaker
It's 20 days away from the end of 2023.
00:06:07
Speaker
And it's been a weird, good, bad year for me.
00:06:12
Speaker
Like there have been some real highs and there have been some real lows.
00:06:17
Speaker
It's like it's fluctuated like my Bitcoin.
00:06:19
Speaker
Yeah.
00:06:21
Speaker
the Bitcoin currency has.
00:06:25
Speaker
When it shoots up, it shoots up.
00:06:26
Speaker
When it fell, oh my God, it hurt.
00:06:29
Speaker
I think that's what this year has been.
00:06:31
Speaker
There have been some really great highs and awful, awful lows, which all just summed up with this war going on against the Palestinians.
00:06:45
Speaker
And that I'm not going to talk about that in this one because my my social media is full of it.
00:06:50
Speaker
And I think that requires a whole different episode.
00:06:54
Speaker
At some level, I feel like a complete moron to be even talking about it, because most I watch a lot of it.
00:07:01
Speaker
And there are enough people reporting it on the grounds, talking about the history, talking about it like really well done young people as well.
00:07:09
Speaker
And it just puts me to shame.
00:07:13
Speaker
All I do for my bit is just watch and reshare.
00:07:17
Speaker
You know, that's my job.
00:07:19
Speaker
I realize everyone has a job sometimes and you're not always the leader or the voice of every movement or something.
00:07:26
Speaker
And my job is to retweet, repost and reshare, you know, so.
00:07:32
Speaker
So that's what I'm doing.
00:07:34
Speaker
And it's awful.
00:07:36
Speaker
It's awful that I feel so hopeless about the situation right now.
00:07:40
Speaker
It's like 60 days in.
00:07:43
Speaker
And yesterday, the U.S. vetoed another attempt at ceasefire.
00:07:50
Speaker
I don't know what to say.
00:07:52
Speaker
You know, you kind of just go, why are we even acting about, why are we even kidding ourselves about this stuff?
00:07:58
Speaker
Why are we pretending that any of this matters?
00:08:00
Speaker
And I know more than most people from an earlier age, and not because I'm like some wise guy or something, but my dad, the kind of work my dad did is it's very similar to the United Nations stuff.
00:08:10
Speaker
And his friends, my uncles and stuff, they would joke about like, you know, all you guys do is hold meetings and discuss the next thing and condemn stuff.
00:08:20
Speaker
But what do you actually get done?
00:08:24
Speaker
To be fair to my dad and his work, one of the things he did say was that, you know, at the very least, we get these guys talking and to share a table from time to time so that they feel like we are linked up.
00:08:39
Speaker
And I get that.
00:08:41
Speaker
But in moments like these and on occasions like these, you can call this a freaking occasion,
00:08:47
Speaker
It feels hopeless.
00:08:49
Speaker
And the fact that power is so centered in to such small amounts of people or countries or whatever way you look at it, it really, you know, the whole the whole thing just just max of have we changed at all?
00:09:08
Speaker
We talk about the world having advanced and
00:09:10
Speaker
grown and whatnot.
00:09:11
Speaker
It probably has.
00:09:12
Speaker
It probably has.
00:09:13
Speaker
I usually defend it.
00:09:15
Speaker
I usually think, hey, I'm not living in the medieval ages where, I don't know, a cough might kill me, a flu might kill me.
00:09:23
Speaker
But now bombs can kill us.
00:09:27
Speaker
So is it really any different?
00:09:30
Speaker
Because throughout history, all I feel like is people, the people in power.
00:09:37
Speaker
It's just a cycle, isn't it?
00:09:38
Speaker
The people in power
00:09:41
Speaker
It's 1984.
00:09:41
Speaker
Maybe that's why I love that book.
00:09:42
Speaker
The Animal Farm.
00:09:43
Speaker
Sorry.
00:09:43
Speaker
Animal Farm.
00:09:45
Speaker
That's what it is.
00:09:45
Speaker
It's more like an animal circus.
00:09:49
Speaker
We get these people who get all the power.
00:09:52
Speaker
They get corrupted.
00:09:54
Speaker
They get corrupted.
00:09:55
Speaker
They were corrupt from the start.
00:09:56
Speaker
And then they start doing bad stuff until a point comes where people go, enough.
00:10:02
Speaker
And then they attack people.
00:10:05
Speaker
There's a rebellion and people attack back and they stand up and then they overthrow the evil bad stuff guys and whatever.
00:10:14
Speaker
And then the movie resets.
00:10:15
Speaker
There's a sequel where the bad guys, they turn into bad guys.
Family and Personal Growth
00:10:20
Speaker
or new bad guys show up.
00:10:22
Speaker
And the problem is it always comes back to all this power of money just centering into the hands of a few.
00:10:31
Speaker
And so while you have the illusion of freedom and betterment and whatnot, at the end of the day, they're in control.
00:10:43
Speaker
And if you're not part of that elite, then what do you do?
00:10:46
Speaker
And unfortunately, I'm not.
00:10:49
Speaker
So I went from mosquito zappers to, I don't know, is this conspiracy theory or just philosophy or just me being depressing?
00:10:59
Speaker
What a way to end the year.
00:11:04
Speaker
It's also hard to talk about the good stuff right now because I am happy about a few things.
00:11:08
Speaker
My kid, it's not easy sometimes parenting a child that's neurodivergent.
00:11:16
Speaker
And there are times when I really struggle because
00:11:22
Speaker
you had these conceptions of what parenting might be and what I'm supposed to do and how I would do it.
00:11:29
Speaker
And you read up on all the books and advice that people have and you're like, yeah, yeah, I'll apply this when it's my turn.
00:11:35
Speaker
And then my kid has made me throw out the playbook, you know, because every day I kind of have to learn how to work with him.
00:11:42
Speaker
And so there's some real lows with that, too, and real difficult stuff.
00:11:48
Speaker
But
00:11:49
Speaker
But when I look back, I'm so glad at the progress he's made and how well he's doing and what a great kid he is.
00:11:57
Speaker
He's really fun to be around most of the time, as much as any parent would love to be around their kids.
00:12:04
Speaker
I love being around him.
00:12:04
Speaker
I miss him when I'm away from him for too long.
00:12:07
Speaker
And he's so fun.
00:12:10
Speaker
He's just a fun, happy kid.
00:12:12
Speaker
He's happy.
00:12:14
Speaker
He just reminds me to just be happy.
00:12:17
Speaker
And anytime he's sad or upset or crying, it's just the simple things he wants.
00:12:22
Speaker
He just wants his toy really badly then.
00:12:24
Speaker
He wants to watch something.
00:12:26
Speaker
He wants to eat.
00:12:28
Speaker
He's sleepy.
00:12:29
Speaker
That's it.
00:12:29
Speaker
He keeps it simple, right?
00:12:34
Speaker
And it's lovely.
00:12:35
Speaker
And then he gives the best hugs and stuff.
00:12:37
Speaker
So I'm really proud of everything he's done.
00:12:41
Speaker
I'm proud of my wife, how much she has worked with him and to support him.
00:12:48
Speaker
And it really is great.
00:12:49
Speaker
So...
00:12:50
Speaker
That's a real nice high.
00:12:52
Speaker
I've been very lucky.
00:12:54
Speaker
I've lost family members, particularly the one that hurt most was my father-in-law.
00:13:02
Speaker
That was a big low.
00:13:03
Speaker
That was a big low because...
00:13:06
Speaker
I so much love and respect for that guy.
00:13:08
Speaker
And I haven't really talked about it on my socials and stuff because I just wanted this to be private.
00:13:15
Speaker
Some things that I just don't
Balancing Life and Ambition
00:13:18
Speaker
want to share.
00:13:18
Speaker
And that was a big low because he was a real good guy.
00:13:25
Speaker
person, real titan of a man, you know, looked up to him, not just because he was like six foot or whatever.
00:13:32
Speaker
And I feel bad because my kid loses his grandfather and couldn't spend more time.
00:13:38
Speaker
And obviously it hurts my wife and and her mom and sister siblings and sibling and stuff.
00:13:45
Speaker
So it's those are some bad lows.
00:13:48
Speaker
Gaza and losing my father in law were some bad lows.
00:13:53
Speaker
a lot personally though i've i've just been happy to kind of work but also cruise a little bit i i think you know i'm at that age now where i where i'm i'm like let go a little bit you know just let go and there are times when i want to get gung-ho and do things and stuff in it and i'm not taking telling you not to be ambitious and whatnot
00:14:15
Speaker
But sometimes it just feels nice that I'm letting things happen a little bit too.
00:14:22
Speaker
And if something is just being too difficult, I'm tired of these ideas of like, yeah, just make it happen.
00:14:33
Speaker
Just break through the wall and just do it.
00:14:35
Speaker
The whole thing.
00:14:36
Speaker
Dave, David Groggin, David Goggin.
00:14:39
Speaker
Is that his name?
00:14:40
Speaker
I love his book, by the way, but sometimes I'm like, man, it's too much.
00:14:43
Speaker
Just relax, buddy.
00:14:45
Speaker
Just take a break.
00:14:47
Speaker
Watch some TV.
00:14:48
Speaker
God, live a little, you know, just relax and stop.
00:14:51
Speaker
Stop making everyone think they want to be like you.
00:14:55
Speaker
So I don't know.
00:14:56
Speaker
There's like this fine balance.
00:14:59
Speaker
It's funny because, you know, when I teach people improv, work with people, just perform it myself.
00:15:05
Speaker
One of the biggest things is about improvisational theater and comedy is that.
00:15:11
Speaker
you kind of have to allow yourself to bend and flow, right?
00:15:19
Speaker
And kind of adjust and react to what is there and try to make the most of what is there.
00:15:24
Speaker
And so that's why sometimes I'm like, sometimes that's a better approach instead of this whole gung-ho, I'll break through walls and just make anything happen because it just frustrates me.
00:15:36
Speaker
And this bit just made me realize,
00:15:40
Speaker
I had to be more honest with myself.
00:15:42
Speaker
And so if there are things that are just not, you know, just not working out right now, then it is what it is, right?
00:15:50
Speaker
Because most of the time, I don't know if it's, again, it's a recent phenomenon with the media and the social media platforms and TV and whatever that...
00:16:00
Speaker
everything feels like you must do it now.
00:16:02
Speaker
It's getting too late.
00:16:03
Speaker
You're going to get old and it's not going to work out and blah, blah, blah.
00:16:07
Speaker
And maybe that it's a valid fear, right?
00:16:10
Speaker
To some extent.
00:16:11
Speaker
But at the same time, I'm also like, hey, you know, what about now?
00:16:15
Speaker
And just doing the best with what you have now.
00:16:19
Speaker
And I think MacGyver did very well by concentrating on that.
00:16:24
Speaker
If you got the reference, then you probably enjoy listening to my podcast.
00:16:29
Speaker
If you don't, oh dear, you might be too young.
00:16:31
Speaker
What are you doing on here?
00:16:34
Speaker
Listening this deep into the conversation.
00:16:40
Speaker
MacGyver.
00:16:43
Speaker
Yeah, that's what it is, though.
00:16:44
Speaker
You know, it's it's kind of letting go a little bit and seeing this is what's coming up.
00:16:49
Speaker
Realistically, this is what I'm able to
A Year in Stand-up Comedy
00:16:51
Speaker
do.
00:16:51
Speaker
And it has really helped me a lot.
00:16:53
Speaker
There's still times when I really want to get more done or, you know, I think that's just the way our brain will function forever.
00:17:00
Speaker
But on the opposite scale, I've kind of been able to do more things because I'm just like, this is what I have the capacity for.
00:17:08
Speaker
So let me just do this well.
00:17:10
Speaker
And I found myself enjoying a few things better as well.
00:17:13
Speaker
Like for some time, I had this...
00:17:16
Speaker
I've had a funny year.
00:17:18
Speaker
Same thing, up and down with stand-up comedy, with performing.
00:17:21
Speaker
I love it.
00:17:22
Speaker
I love it all the time.
00:17:24
Speaker
I love making an audience laugh.
00:17:26
Speaker
And there are times when I'm just too tired and it's been too busy or I've...
00:17:32
Speaker
had one of these lows that have happened in life.
00:17:35
Speaker
And it's made me go, it's been a struggle to perform.
00:17:41
Speaker
And other times where I'm like, I'm just loving it.
00:17:44
Speaker
I've had these flows where I did more of it.
00:17:46
Speaker
So even throughout that stuff, it's been quite an interesting career.
00:17:51
Speaker
Not career, sorry, year.
00:17:53
Speaker
And I want to do more of it, but I've gone back to just enjoying it, you know?
00:17:59
Speaker
and not making too much happen, like worrying about whether I can put out something, whether I put out enough, whether I've got enough fans and that stuff can become all consuming.
00:18:15
Speaker
And I get it.
00:18:16
Speaker
Why?
00:18:17
Speaker
Because, you know, when when it's your career, it means being able if you want to do it full time and stuff, then you really need to.
00:18:24
Speaker
You need to have those things.
00:18:26
Speaker
You need to be able to tour freely and make money and blah, blah.
00:18:29
Speaker
But to me, what I was missing out on was just coming up with this new joke and just trying it out and risking it.
00:18:37
Speaker
And I think it's been nice to have this kind of going back to just that and really just enjoying stand-up comedy and enjoying learning it again.
00:18:51
Speaker
And going back to learning it as opposed to not experimenting, not taking risks and being in this like bad place.
00:18:59
Speaker
I hit this ceiling performance wise and stuff and I just wasn't happy with it.
00:19:05
Speaker
And it just feels a lot better once I've gone back to kind of just having fun with it and trying to have a good time with it.
00:19:11
Speaker
And going back to why I like doing it as well, it has been a big, um, it's been a big, big change in terms of that.
00:19:20
Speaker
And I just hope to continue that, you know?
00:19:23
Speaker
So career wise, family wise, world politics wise.
00:19:28
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:29
Speaker
Real, real up and down of, uh, uh, very highs, very lows.
00:19:35
Speaker
It's been interesting.
00:19:37
Speaker
Um, I am really glad that, uh,
00:19:41
Speaker
as we're ending it, overall, the year feels a bit of a win.
00:19:47
Speaker
Only 20 days left, though.
00:19:50
Speaker
20 days left.
00:19:51
Speaker
Oh, no.
00:19:54
Speaker
This is around a half year time I gave up on some of my goals for the year.
00:20:00
Speaker
The stupid mosquito thing is still not working, by the way.
00:20:03
Speaker
I'm going to go back to switching it off because clearly the flies are not going to the light.
00:20:08
Speaker
Maybe that's deeper meaning for something.
00:20:11
Speaker
I don't know.
00:20:12
Speaker
Anyway, it's been that kind of year with this stuff.
00:20:17
Speaker
We've got 20 days left.
00:20:18
Speaker
I'm going to shoot in a few more episodes before the year ends.
00:20:23
Speaker
And my last episode, hopefully, I'll give you just for laughs.
00:20:27
Speaker
I'll give you a little reflection on everything I got better at and got worse at or just stayed the same.
00:20:35
Speaker
And let's see what 365 days did on my journey as well.
00:20:41
Speaker
Listen, thanks for listening.
00:20:43
Speaker
I really am bugged by this mosquito thing.
00:20:44
Speaker
I'm just going to go switch it off.
00:20:46
Speaker
It's 20 minutes later.
00:20:47
Speaker
The same flies are hovering closer to me than to that thing.
00:20:51
Speaker
So clearly we can see this is a proper failure.
00:20:56
Speaker
Anyway, have a good time, guys, and I will catch you in the next episode.
00:21:01
Speaker
Thank you for listening.