New Magazine

There is this new magazine in the Sandbox and it focuses solely on the financial and economical aspects of the Sandbox. It's surprisingly informative and, honestly, you can tell that it's either not written by locals or it's written by locals who have spent their entire lives out of the country. Either way, here are a few quotes that I found interesting from this month's issue:

'At the moment the minister (of labor) does not know exactly how many foreign workers there are in the Sandbox, but the ministry is conducting a survey and after 25 years this survey will determine the range of available skills and the composition of the workforce...'

'...workers often leave to attend social events during work hours. More than 80% of evening shift workers say their afternoon prayer in the factory after the working period has started. Then, after a short while they go out for a second prayer, then a third and fourth prayer - this causes a lot of disruption.'

'A borehole drilling team recently reported having to pay soldiers $50 per truck; a fine levied because the drivers were wearing open-toed sandals.'
Wow...that's a survey alright. Because things probably won't have changed by the time they get around to publishing their findings. And 'a lot of disruption'? I'd say. And it's a good thing I'm not a truck driver on a borehole drilling team because I only own open-toed sandals at the moment. It's too hot to be wearing anything else so I'd be paying a whole lot of fines!