And breathe

 After a hectic 10 days of travelling to Barcelona and then Qatar, I am looking forward to a couple of days that don’t involve the need for increasing levels of ingenuity for bag-packing, early morning taxi rides to airports and grappling with assorted plug adaptors. 

We now have a long weekend with two days of public holidays when I will hopefully be able to do some relaxing as well as catching a few World Cup football matches on TV and some rugby at the Dubai Rugby 7s.

My trip to Qatar was particularly interesting as I was able to watch, “live”,  England comprehensively dismantle Wales at the Al Rayyan Stadium (for such a small place, it did seem a very long way out of town) as well as spending a night of the MSC World Europa. 

This vessel was truly enormous - 27 decks and room for c.5000 passengers and around 2000 crew. Trying to find the exit this morning to catch my early morning flight was a truly existentialist nightmare - they had shifted the exit location from the previous day for some reason and the place is a rabbit warren with every turning and corridor looking exactly the same.

I found my way out eventually and will post a longer blog about life aboard.

Life on the ocean wave….

 I could certainly get used to this (evening if it only for one night)!

Packing my bags again

 This time only a brief stay in Qatar for some work and then World Cup football. 

Given the brevity of the stay and the fact that I am still coughing a bit after my last set of travels (and therefore am unlikely to need either swimmers or gym kit), I have managed to keep my clothes packing to a manageable level - I always feel he need to ensure I take full advantage of the space on my carry-o but this time am filling the gaps with some work material.

My colleagues in Doha have been complaining about the road closures and difficulties in getting into work so it may well be that I will be on my own in the office tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing what my hotel accommodation looks like.

Cool like Cary

 I watched North by North West on the flight home yesterday. 

I have seen it before many years ago so had a vague recollection about the more iconic scenes involving Mount Rushmore and our hero being dive bombed by a crop dusting aircraft. However, what struck me on re-watching it was the crisp dialogue and snappy dressing of the main players - Cary Grant somehow looked immaculate throughout notwithstanding the vicissitudes visited upon him by various hoodlums (and aircraft) and James Mason made a particularly suave villain. 

The traditional Hitchcock blonde leading lady was Eva Marie Saint who I don’t think I have really seen in much else but was really good in this film.

I am almost inspired to take a bit more interest in my tailoring the next time I buy a suit (although given how rarely I seem to need a suit these days, it may be a long while before I get a chance to put this into practice).

I also watched another movie afterwards which starred an actor sharing Mr Grant’s first name - this time Carrie (Fisher) who appeared alongside a young looking Tom Hanks in “The Burbs”. Very different kind of film with nowhere near the same levels of sartorial elegance!

Homeward Bound

 Brisk walk along the Barcelona promenade this morning to blow away a few cobwebs before heading to the airport. Slightly overcast day but plenty of people on the beach or taking their morning constitutional.

 The cycle track running parallel with the beach was also getting good use with a mixture of segway (sp?)  site-seeing  vehicles as well as bikes.

I have only brought a carry on suitcase with me so my packing skills (essentially the ability to lever in all my clothes without the bag bursting at the seams) came in handy this morning although I still need to wear almost as many clothes as I have managed to fit into the bag.

Looking forward to a relaxing day tomorrow before my travels continue.

Missing post

 Failed to post yesterday mainly because the whole day was choc-a-block full of meetings and presentations followed by a lengthy evening networking event that did not finish (for me) until gone midnight (and for others at silly o’clock this morning - I think I am probably getting too old for such late night shennanigans  although I have similar evening ahead tonight where I suspect many of my colleagues will be trying to work out how to attend the gala Dinner but also to see England -v USA in theWorld Cup which unfortunately directly clash).

It has been an interesting event with the opportunity to catch up with many old faces but also quite a number of new ones as well. A really interesting mix of speakers as well although as we move into our third and final day, the pace is starting to tell.

Heading back to Dubai tomorrow and will then need to start preparing for trip to Qatar next week.

Barcelona bound

 Up early doors this morning for my flight to Spain. Unlike my KSA trip I paid careful attention to the Gate from which my plane was due to depart (as it happened next door to my - nearly - nemesis on my last flight C9) and so. Choose a lounge much closer and was able to enjoy a breakfast and catch up with some colleagues who were travelling on  the same flight.

Relatively uneventful flight but I was sitting in front of a very despondent child who gave full voice to their anguish pretty much the whole 7 hour flight. Having been in a similar position myself over the years I was (just about) able to emphasise although this was considerably assisted by y noise cancelling headphones.

Barcelona was bathed in sunshine and we are staying at a lovely hotel overlooking the sea:

World Cup extravaganza

 For the first time ever, the World Cup is being held in the Middle East and Qatar has been pulling out all the stops over the last 5 years to get everything ready. The region generally has been gradually building up to the event with huge numbers of additional flights being put on for fans in Dubai, KSA and elsewhere and plenty of venues being opened to allow the games to be watched.

Arab football was given a huge further fillip today as Argentina were beaten 2:1 by Saudi Arabia - (the Government of which promptly announced a public holiday in celebration!). I am due to be heading to one of the games next week so will be able to give a first hand account as to how the arrangements have panned out but certainly the tournament has got off to a  lively start with England 6 - 2 victors over Iran in their opening game yesterday.

In the meantime, I am just about to embark on some further Autumn travel. Having already notched up two trips to KSA and a trip to Seoul (my first for 3 years), I am about to head off for a much postponed business meeting in Spain which will take me to the weekend before I head back here hopefully in time to catch my flight to Qatar early next week. Hopefully the internet connection will be sufficient to allow me to continue posting.

All about V.

 After the last few year’s trials and tribulations, this year was all about focussing on making up ground to get through her GCSE’s and with  huge help from E., V duly delivered a really good set of results including a 9 in her English. We were very proud of her although after the end of her exams, V was in no doubt that all would be well and so it transpired.

She is now fully immersed in 6th form doing English Language, Politics and Art and the high praise from her teachers at the recent parent/teachers (on line) evening was testament to how well she has settled in.

 Unfortunately she went down with Covid (mainly a heavy cold) a week or so ago so has just returned to school so has a bit of catching up to do but the fact so many of her classmates and teachers were saying how much they missed her suggests that she received a warm welcome back.

Standing a shade under 5 ft 11 inches she is the smallest of the kids (A is 6 ft 2) but more than makes up for a lack of height when compared to her Father and brother with a big personality which I suspect can be a bit overwhelming for some of her more timid classmates. 

She remains fascinated by linguistics and still spends a considerable amount of time drawing (which bodes well for her Art). It has also been a good time for studying politics with the  succession of British Prime Ministers and continuing Trump inspired convulsions in the USA  - so hopefully this will stand her in good stead for the next couple of years.

She has also re-joined debate club after a Covid inspired hiatus and seems to have lost  none of her appetite for an argument! She also enjoys badminton and of course hanging out with her friends who remain a very close knit circle (two of whom live within 5 minutes walk of us which is good). 

She is always keen to share the details of her day when I come in  from work and it is a fascinating insight to today’s 6th Form education - seems very different form the rather stricter regime when I was doing A levels.

Still all about A

 My last post was supposed to be about my eldest child. Given the trials and tribulations over the last 12 months it became more of a Covid affected travelogue (and E. has reminded me that she did make it back successfully to meet A at college during the February School half term in Dubai).

In fact A reached a significant milestone this year as he celebrated his 20th birthday in October - very hard to believe that it is so long since we welcomed him into the world (as recorded in past blog posts) I was in fact in Cyprus at the time of his rather unexpected arrival but ultimately made it back the same time even if a little late.

As noted previously, expat life for a teenager in Dubai is not really suitable preparation for student life in UK and some of the tales A came back with after his first year at college were somewhat hair raising. He has however remained very much true to himself - quiet, unassuming and a very pleasant person to be around. He still takes great pleasure in his on-line gaming but also in his role-playing activities and the models he had prepared for his D&D society were excellent.

He joined in all the activities for our Summer holiday - and was a great companion as we drove around Kefalonia during our trip and was more than happy to go snorkelling in the Yellow Submarine or explore the roman remans nearby. It was great to have him along.

All about A.

So Number 1 son went off to university last September in UK  - by coincidence, the same place that E. and I met so we were very much looking forward to re-visiting old haunts and I was lucky enough to be able to spend a few days with him when dropping him off at the start of term in September last year.

Sadly our subsequent efforts to visit were less successful. E had to stay home when A was starting as V was going back to school so the plan was for her to go back at Christmas last year to see her parents and then to travel up to pick up A before both of them would be flying back to Dubai for the Winter holidays.

This time last year all flights back to DXB required a negative PCR test and the day before E was due to meet A he announced his PCR test was positive. Cue rapid changes in plans. E flew back to Dubai as planned and A had to quarantine in his Hall of Residence with my Sister bringing him up some provisions and a Christmas tree as his quarantine lasted until Boxing Day.

Not a great start to the holiday (A was particularly unhappy as all his Dubai based mates  - some of whom he was at college with - were all fine to travel). 

Although we had a very lengthy zoom call with A (and the various other family members) on Christmas Day, it was perhaps not quite what we had in mind. E, V and I had a traditional Turkey Dinner  (and swim in the sea) - the  turkey was delivered to the house and revolutionised the whole preparing the meal arrangements so will definitely  look at doing that again. A finally made it back just after Christmas (and there was plenty of Turkey left for him to feast on after his sandwiches for Christmas dinner).

For Easter, the plan was for me to go back to UK and spend some time with my Father, pick up A and fly back to DXB for the Easter holiday. The first part of the plan was somewhat derailed by my Father having to go into hospital shortly before I was due to arrive  and as it transpired have a pacemaker fitted following a bout of ill-health. By the time I arrive he was on the road to recovery and after a few days visiting him in hospital, he was finally released and we spent a nice couple of days  driving  around the wilds of Kent to admire the countryside whilst I tries to persuade him that he might want to think about some home help.

He had a bit of a cough when he left hospital and so we both took covid tests which were negative. At the weekend I travelled up to pick up A  - we had tickets for a big football match and the plan was to fly back to DXB the day after. However, when I arrived at his hall of residence I had a message on  my phone to say Dad had tested positive for Covid. I briefly met A (at a suitable distance) so that he could give me one of his Covid testing kits left over from Christmas and of course I duly tested positive for Covid.

So yet further changes in plan. I had not been feeling great but assumed - having tested negative earlier in the week  - that it was just a cold. I moved back the flights to the following Sunday  - changing the airport to be nearer to by Father on the basis that it would make sense to quarantine with him and extended my hotel stay to try to shake off the worst of the symptoms (basically a very runny nose, lots of sneezing and generally feeling a bit run down). A stayed in halls and then travelled down to my Sister’s place.

As Dad did not really have any symptoms other than a bit of a cough I decided to stay away from the family and so travelled down to Kent half way through the week and stayed at another rather soul-less business hotel -formerly a Hilton - just outside of Maidstone which managed to have a power cut for most of the day just before I left. Nevertheless, the advantages of teams/zoom meant that I could continue to work in between sneezing fits and feeling a bit sorry for myself during the course of the week - the effects of Covid for me were much like a heavy cold. We eventually flew home the following weekend.

By the time we got to the academic year end, A had learnt his lesson so flew home on his own in mid-June to catch up with his mates. 

I realise most of this post has been about Covid related issues but A seems to have enjoyed his first year at University. I suspect it was quite a culture shock and certainly the non-stop partying life style of some of his fellow students took a little getting used to after the relatively sedate ex pat life style of teenagers in a Muslim country that he had been accustomed to. He enjoyed most of his course and  seems to have made some good friends and become very involved in the Dungeons and Dragons society and various  other role playing groups.

This year he has moved into a House with 2 friends - one -  R - from Dubai. E went back with him in September to help him move in but - needless to say - managed to pick up a very nasty cold (not Covid) so was once again unable to travel up to University with him so has still not managed to get back to her alma mater.

Moving out of halls is obviously a big step and with energy prices in UK through the roof at the moment, it promises to be a cold Winter but he seems to be enjoying the course and we are all - touch wood - due to be joining him in mid December for a few days so will be good to see him then.

And the Winner is…..

 Us! Very successful evening at the Awards last night. Pleasantly surprised to pick up two award categories with my team - one for a work area in which we specialise but which is very competitive and the other for best office in one of the GCC countries which was very good news. 

Rather unexpectedly I was asked to give a speech the first time we went up (it was right at the start of the evening so I had not really taken in what the winners of the other categories had been asked to do after receiving their gongs). I managed a (very) short impromptu  thanks to the organisers and the team but was running out of inspiration the second time so it was even shorter but hopefully hit all the right notes. 

Some of the other people on our table took a video so we have the moment immortalised!

As noted in yesterday’s post, we were not exactly brimming with confidence but I guess that made the success all the sweeter and a good evening was had by all.

Glittering Prizes

 Just trying to dig out my DJ and dress shirt for an Awards evening.  I normally steer clear of these events as it is usually full of lawyers! However, this is one we have not previously been involved with and so I have had my arm twisted (it is also a rare chance to wheel out the glad rags).

The venue is a very good hotel so I have high hopes of decent food (less high hopes of actually winning anything!).

Will report back.

Good news and less good news

The good news is that I received an invitation to the Rugby 7s  - I could of course buy my own ticket. However, the corporate hospitality is quite expensive and it is always nice being entertained! Back in the days when Dad was able to fly out here, it was always the highlight of the trip the corporate box at the rugby 7s - great food and great rugby (and the odd drink…). Very much looking forward to it.

The less good news - in fact quite disappointing - is that my long winning streak in the Wordle came to an unceremonious end this evening. after 57 consecutive guessing the word within 6 goes, I did not even get close - still two missing letters even on my 6th attempt. 

Even worse, my Mother in Law got it in 2 (truly astonishing although she is very good at these types of word games) and everyone else on our WhatsApp Wordle group managed to complete the word within the 6 attempts. Not good.

What’s in a word?

 During our time in Hong Kong I was always interested to spot words which were in fairly common use but were neither Chinese nor recognisable English. A good example of this was “Shroff “- a word which outside of HK probably would leave English speakers scratching their head but which we soon came to recognise as the place where one had to pay for a ticket eg when parking in a multi-story car park.

“Godown” was also a word I used to come across at work - it means a warehouse (usually close to a wharf or at a Port) and seemed to be the favoured destination for the storage of old documents or records - my heart always sank when I was directed to a Kowloon-side Godown if I wanted to see claim records as this almost certainly meant I would have to pick my way through files of mouldy paper (there was never any Aircon) which would almost certainly have  also been chewed on by cockroaches.

“Nullah” was another favoured word - usually a ditch or soak away draining water found by the side of a road.

There are fewer words/phrases that are peculiar to Dubai -  I suspect because Arabic is the language of the locals and English tends to be used by the Expats (unless particular nationalities are speaking to each other then they will use their native language) so there are no hybrid words. There is occasionally a particular cast of expression that is used - adverts on the radio will usually suggest that one “avails” oneself of a special offer.

I also recall being introduced to the “Jumeriah Janes” when I first arrived - being the ex pat ladies who shopped/dined at the various cafes in Jumeriah after the school drop off. Thinking about it there must be more of these types of phrases but I cannot think of them - will try to look out for other examples and report back.

Sweet smell of success

 I have previously commented that one of the best features of living in our desert community is the very strong almost honeysuckle smell given off my some of the trees in the Autumn.

I am still not sure what the name of the tree is but the smell comes from the bell shaped white buds that form at the ends of the branches.

When I am going around the highways and bye-ways during my morning bike ride it is particularly noticeable on clear windless mornings when the buds have fallen off and are lining the paths so that when I ride over them, the smell is especially intense. 

This year, it seems to have taken a little longer for the blooms to appear as usually I start noticing the smell at the beginning of November. However, better late than never and my weekend ride (my first since the crash) and afternoon relaxation in the garden with a book and a G&T was especially memorably perfumed!

Captain Corelli Part 2

 One of our key requirements for Summer holidays is the availability of air-conditioning. In previous years we have made the mistake of booking a Villa that ticked all the boxes location and price-wise but where we sadly failed to double check the all important presence of a means of cooling the Mediterranean heat.

This year proved to be a text book example of not looking closely enough at the small print. The Villa had the requisite number of rooms as well as a nice pool area, BBQ etc. However, whilst confirming there was a/c it then added a caveat (later in the description) that this was only for the lounge area. 

When we arrived in the early evening, all the windows were open  and there was a cooling breeze wafting through the apartment. However, it soon became clear that the close proximity to the main road into Lixouri precluded the windows being open through the night and the Aircon in the lounge area struggled to permeate the rest of the living area.

Sadly it later also became clear that the main reason why we were in Lixouri - for my Sister’s family to do the sailing course was also stymied when the yacht broke down. It did however mean we had plenty of time to explore what is the most sensationally beautiful island and I have downloaded some examples below - including a shot of V and I having a swim with the mountains across the water in the background. Whilst it was a lovely holiday, we will definitely  be checking the small print next time around!

Captain Correlli’s Holiday

 I promised something a little more interesting by way of a post for today and I thought that I would try to combine words and pictures to describe our Summer holiday to Kefalonia. 

We have visited the island on a number of previous occasions although only really staying in the little fishing village of Katelios at the Eastern end. This time we were heading for Lixouri which is further to the West on the promontory facing towards mainland Europe where my Sister M and her family were due to be doing a sailing course.

E. had already headed back to UK to catch up with her parents at the end of June and A. had arrived back in Dubai after completing his first year at college mid-June so V., A. and I headed to London to catch up with the rest of the family and we all set out for Greece on 30 July (V’s birthday and as she never tires of telling us, a seemingly favoured day for any flight plans we have over the Summer - my usual response is that at least she get’s to spend her birthday in two different countries!).

It was just the 8 of us this time as Dad’s mobility does not really allow him to fly these days. We had hired two (pretty small) cars to transport us from the airport and I had forgotten how much fun trying to drive a fully laden manual car up steep hills with my knees at the same level as my head in an unfamiliar town can be ……..

The shortest route was from the airport near Agostini by ferry to our Villa just outside of Lixouri but we decided to go the long way round rather by see and so enjoyed some amazing views along the road hugging the mountains as we skirted the waters of the bay before arriving at our Villa.

The Villa was a little too far outside Lixouri to walk so we shuttled in and out for our evening meals by taxi and some of the restaurants had spectacular views - the picture below from our final meal at Lixouri.

We made full use of our car so toured the island including a trip up to the various fishing villages in thhe North (which had its fair share of gin palaces).  Stand by for the next update from Greece.

The gift that keeps on giving

 Having struggled with a heavy cold for what seemed like ages, I thought that I had got rid of it until my bike crash (blogs passim) provoked a return to the sneezes and coughing (I am still not sure why that  should be the case  and of course it could just has been a coincidence and that it was an entirely new cold that I picked up).

In any event, I duly spent last week coughing and spluttering (and even took a day off work) and finally felt a little better only for E. to succumb last weekend and for her then to pass it on to V. and to our helper G. So as you can imagine I am somewhat persona non grata  amongst my nearest and dearest. 

To be fair to me, pretty much everyone in Dubai seems to have a cold of some description at the moment (and sometimes worse) no doubt due to the recent change in the seasons (such as we have them here - although again, not entirely certain why a drop in temperature should provoke an outbreak of flu) so it is possible that I was not the sole cause although the family do not seem to be particularly interested in my protestations.

I guess the only good thing to come out of it has been (a) the material for this blog post and (b) the fact that I was able to use a little of Latin in this post as well. 

Do not worry I hoping more interesting material is on the way over the weekend as I attempt a round up of our Summer travels.

Song sounds better on a stolen guitar

 Apologies for the missed post yesterday - I spent yesterday evening waiting to return to Dubai at KSA airport which limited my access to the internet so will do two posts today to make up. 

Today’s first topic is the phenomenon known as watching someone else’s TV screen while flying. 

I am not sure there is a word for it (may be tandem TV watching although the other viewer is generally unaware that they are sharing their televisual experience) but  I occasionally find myself doing it particularly where I cannot be bothered to find  something to watch on my own screen or my attention is caught when another film/show looks more interesting/engaging than the movie I have selected. 

It is quite odd in some ways because you do not have any sound and usually the screen is some distance away (with various heads/seat rests in the way) but I certainly found myself doing it during last night’s flight where the chap in the front and to the left of me was watching what looked like a fairly atmospheric thriller. 

Fortunately he had put the subtitles on so I was able to glean some of the dialogue and it soon became clear that it was genre that I would almost certainly not choose myself - a science fiction horror movie (although it was only after I became particularly engrossed in it that the horror elements became clear - I cannot remember the last time I knowingly watched a horror movie -  probably “An American Werewolf in London” when it first came out around 30 years ago and indeed thinking about it, I am not sure I have watched any other movies of that type) - so I was on unfamiliar ground.

Anyway, last night’s film was called “Nope” (deduced from the Subtitles) and even with the screen showing the dialogue, was a little difficult to follow - the main action concerned “mysterious goings on”at a remote - presumably American - ranch where the rather taciturn owner spent a lot of time staring moodily into the desert (this might simply be a function of the that I could not hear the sound track and the subtitles did not bother to show all sound/dialogue so it is possible he was quite talkative) while all the electrics fizzled out and then came back on. It also seemed to involve a sub-plot involving a failed stunt animal trainer and some kind of old style western horse show (at one stage a Gorilla started attacking everyone).

As is the way with these things, the plane landed before the film had finished and so I did not get to see whether they worked out what - if any - type of Alien was causing the problems. Accordingly, I did what any normal person would do in these circumstances and looked up the plot on Wikipedia. 

For those who have not yet seen the movie I do not propose to give too much of the game away but certainly it appears that things do not end well for all the protagonists.

Heavy Traffic

 One of the advantages (and I guess disadvantages) of living in different parts of the world is that you do get to see in close up the different driving styles of different cultures. 

I have posted previously about the very particular approach of Hong Kong cab drivers (essentially to take no prisoners when seeking the fastest route between points A and B). I believe I have also mentioned the astonishing incidence of traffic accidents encountered when driving around Beijing (I think on one occasion we saw three separate prangs in the space of 20 minutes).

The Sheik Zayad Road in Dubai was also a rich source of car related mayhem when I first arrived in 2009 (although. - touch wood - things seem to have calmed down in recent years). However, over the last few days we have been treated to a front seat to the chaos that is Riyadh rush hour.

Unless a gap is spotted in the traffic, there is no great speed (but of course if an opportunity arises to gain some small advancement if a space in a queue opens up, then full advantage is taken with much honking of horns and squealing of tyres). However, for the most part it is all about changing lanes and minute incremental gains as 5 lines of traffic converge on  what is - at best -  a three lane junction. 

Tonight’s drive was no exception as we battled our way up an incredibly congested main road with multiple vehicles trying to get across from the near side lane over 3 lanes to the far side in stationery traffic. Fascinating to watch and likely to become even more interesting as the driving population of KSA is set to double over the next 7 years!

Yes, Minister

 Heading off to an Embassy garden party in Saudi Arabia which I am quite looking forward too. Not a regular occurrence I hasten to add but every time I am asked if I would like to go to this kind of event, I am always reminded of the classic Yes  Minister episode where Paul Eddington as the hapless minister for administrative affairs hosts a party at the British Embassy in KSA and manages to get completely trollied due to frequent trips to the communications room to take urgent calls from “Mr Haig”, “Jonnie Walker” and various other suspiciously named correspondents in order to top up his orange juice with alcoholic beverages. Whilst I suspect there will be no need for such subterfuges as this particular event, nevertheless it remains a tantalising possibility.

Monday, Monday…

 So for various reasons my start of the week was fairly busy. At 8am I was due to join a on-line presentation in Asia Pacific. Sadly the web platform refused to recognise by dial-in details so with time ticking away I was forced to rely on my (limited) IT skills to dial in using telephone, so the presentation (from which I was trying to read) was extremely difficult to decipher on my mobile phone and I had no idea what the audience would be making of me as I could not see myself (although fortunately I had already made arrangements to ensure Barbie cat had been banished from the room - so no major interruptions from that direction.

Although joining 5 minutes late, I was able to make the presentation although still not quite sure why it had to be quite so challenging given how frequently we use WebEx.

Then into work and a number of quite challenging meetings before heading off to my second presentation of the day. this time it was in an auditorium where were surrounded by TV screens where we were joined by a speaker from Asia Pacific. It was like “Big Brother” - with a looming face every where one looked - on the TV screens surrounding the stage. Nevertheless, good fun and a lovely meal at the JBH  and a chance to catch up with some old acquaintances - off to KSA later in the week so will report on that soon.

Transitory

 Drove V. to MOE today which used to be a regular haunt for us when we lived in Al Safa. The occasion was the leaving bowling party for one of her friends. As I have commented elsewhere on this blog, the expat lifestyle unfortunately lends itself to leaving parties although the longer we have lived outside the UK (17 years and counting…..) the fewer leaving ‘dos” we seem to be invited to - either fewer of our friends are leaving or we have fewer friends!

In this case, V.’s friend had already departed a few years ago, only to unexpectedly re-appear some 12 months later after his parents had a change of heart about heading to the UK. This time, the move seems to be driven by the fact that it is much cheaper to live in recessionary UK rather than booming Dubai. 

It is certainly true that rentals have gone through the roof in Dubai in the last 2 years (as have property prices). Whilst there have been some warning signs - inflation does not really get reported here in any great detail - the signs are that it is climbing (currently around 7 or 8 %). 

Whilst there has been a tide of investment from Eastern Europe and other parts o the Middle East, there does seem to be a note of caution when one discusses finances with residents. The AED (pegged to the USD) is also very strong at the moment - particularly in comparison with the GBP - when I arrived  in May 2009 the GBP was worth just under 6AED. Today it is worth AED4.17. For those payed in GBP that is quite the change in income. Whilst we are seeing nothing like the level of departures prompted by the the Covid Pandemic in early 2020, I suspect this will not be the last of the leaving parties.

This Sporting Life

Due to the myriad bumps and bruises that I have inflicted on myself over the last couple of weeks (as well as a lingering cold) , the title today is focussed on a topic that has cropped up in my  blogs over a number of years namely the extraordinary breadth and depth of sporting activities one can view from one’s sofa (on TV). 

When I was growing up in 1970’s Maidstone, a highlights show of football on Match of the Day (BBC) and/or the Big Match (ITV) was the limit of  any football fans viewing pleasure - the main entertainment would be (in those days) to go to the old London Road ground (“Our Target is the Football League”) to watch Maidstone United play in the Southern Premier League (and in those days you were pretty match guaranteed at least 5 or 6 goals).

 My Father has always been a rugby fan but he was always happy to take me a long to stand in the terraces on a overcast Saturday afternoon to watch the “Stones”  and it stood me in good stead for my subsequent spectating career ( I guess I have always enjoyed actually participating  whether it is Football, Cricket or  - these days cycling - but the next best thing or indeed sometimes the best thing has been watching live sporting action).

From watching Kent play cricket at the Mote or England play test cricket at Lords or the Oval -  or T20 in Sharjah or Dubai, or England play rugby in Ireland, France or Scotland or any mainstream sport played well, I have always enjoyed the frisson of excitement of entering a sports stadium with 1000’s of like minded fans.  

I am currently watching Ireland play South Africa on TV and Ireland are currently winning 16 - 6 - whilst watching it on TV is great fun (and certainly not something I could have done in 1070’s UK), I am sure it would be better to be watching it in person.

Diary Management

 Having spent the last couple of posts speculating as to whether I would have enough blogworthy material to keep myself (and any stray readers) entertained for 30 days, I realised at work today that I had managed to double book myself for two external speaking slots on the same day towards the start of next week. One is on-line (and fortunately is scheduled for the beginning of the day) and the second is in person in the late afternoon. 

Whilst I will not be starting from scratch in terms of material, I will nevertheless have to come up with a vaguely interesting “angle” on two quite complex subjects so my weekend fretting over what to blog about will now vie with the more pressing need to think up something vaguely entertaining about topics which sadly do not really lend themselves to what might normally be considered entertainment. I guess I must have had something in mind when I agreed to speak although in both cases I will be sharing platforms with others who might well be regarded as more expert on the relevant topics so it will be fascinating to see what I can come up with over the weekend…..

This is the first time that I have managed to commit myself to two separate presentations on completely different topics to audiences in different parts of the world on the same day - it is possible that the very early start of the first session (due to the time difference with country in which the conference is actually being held) may have thrown me off the scent as my online diary presents itself in such a way that you do not see all the events for the day on the same page. A flaw that has a definitely caught me out this time as not only will I have to find some time to do my day job but I will also need to prepare for a trip to KSA later in  the week. Next week will therefore be busy although at least this particular  challenge has provided some material for today’s blog (every cloud etc.).

“Keep a diary and one day it’ll keep you” – Mae West

The start of November and the post a day challenge inevitably prompts me to consider whether the required battle to inspire some creativity in my writing is worth the effort. 

One of the advantages of only ever blogging during November (which now seems to have become a habit over the last few years as regular readers may have noticed….), is that in theory the events of the preceding 11 months should provide a fertile source of material for the 30 odd posts that tradition decrees should be written. 

It also - again in theory - allows the events of the previous year to be recorded and put into a proper context. However, in riffling through my memories of 2021, I have to say that whilst plenty has happened on the work and family life front, there is not a massive amount that is likely to be of much interest to the the wider public (if indeed the wider public are every inclined to make their way to this corner of the blogosphere). 

Of course, that has never stopped me blogging before although in previous years I was not keeping a separate diary recording the more mundane events of the day so there was I guess a little bit more scope to record everyday life without the risk of feeling that I was simply repeating myself.

What makes good blog content is quite the conundrum. I originally started this blog (in fact its predecessor  http://www.taitamtales.blogspot.com/) as a means of keeping our family back in the UK updated on developments in Hong Kong following the arrival of V just over 16 years ago. Needless to say, given my infrequent posting the preferred mode of communication of the progress of the Grandchildren became telephone and Skype so Tai Tam Tales and Al Safa Stories (both named for where we lived although our current location has yet to be reflected in the blog name) became more of an opportunity for me to memorialise matters that seemed worthy of record (or in any event, activities/incidents that I was more likely than not to forget).

In consequence it has become very hit and miss. It generally alludes to important events  but equally when I look back, it makes fleeting mention of significant changes (the fact that we had moved to UAE is only recorded some 18 months after the event when I finally got around to updating) whereas some seemingly more ephemeral matters (the Rugby 7s being one) are a regular feature in posts pretty much for the entirely of the 16 years I have been blogging - although I guess this in part might be explained by the fact that it takes place in November so neatly coincides with the one post per day (and never fails to provide decent content).

And when I re-read earlier posts, it does indeed prompt memories. I have no doubt that if Mae West  had kept a blog, it would certainly have been a rich source of publishing rights (and income). Whilst that is most unlikely to be the case with AlSafaStories (to put it mildly….), nevertheless the fact that I keep returning to it every Autumn probably means that I will continue to persevere with it.

And the word today is…

Like many people I have become somewhat obsessed by the New York Times daily Wordle competition. 

For those who are unfamiliar with this phenomenon the challenge is to guess a 5 letter word in a maximum of 6 attempts. Each attempt will show whether you have guessed a letter correctly (yellow) and/or have the letter in the correct place (green). 

I think it started off life in the UK but was bought by the NYT so we do occasionally get some rather dubious words. However, it is very much a group activity and since the Summer we have had a family WhatsApp group where the participants record the number of guesses they have taken (the word changes at Midnight - in your own time zone - daily).

Regular players include V. (who is continually pestering me to reveal the time it takes me to get the answer - her own responses being off the charts in terms of speed. I prefer to take an unhurried and considered approach and can definitely do without the added stress of time pressure!), A. from college in UK, my Father (who has made an exception to his antipathy to using his mobile phone for the sole purpose of using the WhatsApp function), my brother in law B and Mother in Law P (who appeared on Countdown and can therefore be counted as being pretty good at this type of thing).

As you can imagine, it can get quite competitive - particularly where someone manages to get it in 2 (which frankly involves significant amounts of luck) or 3 guesses. However, the real jeopardy comes if you get to guess number 4 or 5 without success and realise that there are potentially 3 or 4 different answers or only a couple of correct letters have been identified. It then becomes quite tricky as it is almost impossible to second guess a likely answer in the same way as you might be able with a crossword answer once you have got to know the style of the setter.

The group chat can also reverberate with complaints about whether the correct word is in fact a word (we had “piney” recently which proved to be a bit controversial). Still it has provided a great way to keep the extended family in daily contact. My only concern is that one day they will run out of 5 letter words (even American ones).

Thrills and spills - some bicycling adventures

So another post a day November dawns and I see that the last time I managed to post anything was last December. I guess if nothing else it forces me to engage with this corner of the internet and come up with some ideas for posts - although since I re-started keeping a diary last year, there are significant calls on my creative thought processes (such as they are) already. But we will see how it goes.

As the title indicates, I am still riding my bike although since my last foray onto Alsafastories, I have acquired a smart new Mountain Bike - currently the bathroom in the spare bedroom/office now houses my road bike and two mountain bikes (as well as the “new” cat’s litter tray and food bowl). So we are not wanting for bicycles (or indeed cats as Minnie still rules the roost in the rest of the house whereas Barbie has the office and the garden).

Whilst mountain biking at the new Mushriff Park MTB track has taken a front seat in my biking endeavours over the last 5/6 months I am still road biking and took part in the Spinneys 2nd Build Up Ride (45km) on Sunday. Sadly I managed to fall off! My first crash since a taxi driver decided to open his door just as I was riding past his (parked) car when I was a student back in Nottingham. The intervening years have not made me any more elegant in involuntary dismounting of bikes and on this occasion I was happily minding my own business in  the middle of a bunch towards the end of the ride when the chap in front of me caught the back wheel of the guy in front of him and went straight down in front of me leaving me no where to go at around 30kmh, so down I went landing on my shoulder/hip with the cyclist behind me crashing on top of me so I ended up pinned to the track with someone on top of me. Very painful indeed. Fortunately I eventually managed to get back up and with the help of one of the other fallers managed to get my front wheel straightened and limped to the finish (although my gears kept on slipping so will need to fix the derailleur I suspect).

I did have the presence of mind to stop the time on my Garmin and re-start when I eventually got going again so  - absent the crash - had managed a 29 kmh average which was pretty respectable given the complete lack of training I had managed since the previous ride in September. The bumps and bruises are gradually abating so hopefully I will be back on my bike by the end of the week although I suspect I will be a little more circumspect when riding in a group on my next road ride!