Sweet smell of success

 I have written about this topic before, but I also feel that I need to come back to it as it is one of the highlights of living in our community out here in the desert - the sweet scented blossoms which festoon some of the trees lining the roads and footpaths at this time of year. 

I still have not found out the name of the species despite extensive research but it is a lovely way to start the day when I go for a ride and the mixture of honeysuckle and jasmine wafts down from the trees as I cycle around the neighbourhood. 

Sadly in only really lasts around a month (sometimes shorter if we have a heavy rainfall which knocks the blossoms off). It is however not only sweet smelling but also very pretty while it lasts and we are lucky enough to have some in our back garden which also makes for a pleasant experience during my BBQs.

Sunday, Sunday

 On perusing some of my old blog posts (always a source of inspiration) I came across a post from shortly after our arrival in Dubai where I discuss how strange it felt working on a Sunday. When we first arrived, and in fact up to the beginning of last year, the formal weekend fell on Friday and Saturday. From 1st January 2022, the weekend moved to Saturday and Sunday in the UAE (although remained Friday/Saturday in other parts of the GCC including Qatar and KSA) - although in Sharjah the Government mandated a 4 day week with Friday to Sunday as the weekend (alright for some!).

Whilst it took some getting used to, I did enjoy a Friday/Saturday weekend as it meant that Sunday, while a working day, was relatively peaceful as the other offices in the network were still enjoying their weekend break so it was quite a gentle introduction to the working week allowing a focus on work rather than the wall to wall meetings that greets us first thing on a Monday now that we are on the same schedule as the rest of the World. Colleagues working on Qatar or KSA matters get the worst of both worlds as clients will insist on Sunday meetings but fortunately I have managed to avoid this fate so far.

The change in weekend has also meant that the traditional Friday afternoon “Brunch” has moved to Saturday (or indeed Friday evening) although this does not seem to have affected its popularity!

Ring a ring a roses……

 Hopefully I do not have the plague but I was talking to a colleague this morning who was coughing and spluttering  and by 5pm I was sneezing and sniffing, surrounded by tissues. I recall from my Seoul trip last year that I returned with he Mother and Father of colds (although not Covid) which lasted the best part of 2 months. 

Hopefully this is one of the shorter duration varieties as I have another Trial starting on Sunday which is going to severely curtail the amount of training I am going to be able to do before the 65km Build Up Ride scheduled for the end of next week so was hoping to get a few rides in before the weekend.

After last year’s experience, my hand sanitiser was my closest friend during my Korea trip and I also had the flu jab in early October. We shall see whether this will affect the severity of the symptoms although it seems from a straw poll of other colleagues that a number of people having been suffering following the changes in the season and the recent cooler weather and rain.

Planning for Christmas

 One of the challenges in being based in Dubai but having family in the UK is trying to coordinate everything for  the Christmas holidays. There are various moving parts including the end of the school term (V), the end of the University term (A), my remaining holiday entitlement (and how many days I need to ensure that I get to fit in with everyone’s holiday plans). 

This Christmas has been made more complicated by a desire to both spend time in UK with the family for Christmas Day/Boxing Day etc., spend a couple of nights in London and have some time in Paris. After much debate we have found away of accommodating everyone which involves flying into Paris from DXB and then getting the Eurostar to London before travelling down to Kent for Christmas before returning to DXB in Tim for New Year. It will not be cheap. I am however looking forward to seeing Paris again after around 20 years.

Clearing the air

 Whilst torrential rain in Dubai normally signals flooded roads, leaks through roofs that are unused to any kind of precipitation and the closure of schools and Government offices, one of the big advantages is that for days after a downpour you can see for miles as the dust and sand is removed from the air.

A case in point is the entrance to our community which is around 20km outside the main part of the city of Dubai. When exiting, the main view from the highway is across the desert towards the city but usually one can only see the new developments that are springing up in Falcon City. However, for the last few days, the Burj Khalifa has been shimmering in all its glory in the heat haze and, at night, the light show is clearly visible from the top of our villa.

The rain also meant that my cycle ride around Mushrif Park this morning was wreathed in an ethereal mist as the early morning sun dried out the soaked desert landscape - very atmospheric!

In the desert

 Having departed from a very wet Seoul, I arrived at absolutely soaking Dubai! We landed in the middle of a thunderstorm at around 5am with lightening flashes all around us and torrential rain.  The roads were like lakes as the car took me home - I was due to play golf later in the day at a course very near to home and it looked most unlikely that this would be going ahead. However, after a bit of sleep I woke up to clear blue skies and the news that we would be playing and what a lovely afternoon it was -  soft breezes, warm temperatures and despite the rain, virtually no puddles - unlike pretty much anywhere else in Dubai, it obviously had very good drainage!

Back to the desert

 A quick post while I wait to catch my flight home from Incheon. Unlike the first couple of days which were fine and clear, today has been both cold and wet - everyone wanted to take a taxi, so we ended up spending a lot of time underground on the Seoul metropolitan underground train system. At least we remained reasonably dry.

We also found time to take in what looked like a full size reproduction of the Trevi fountain!

Sadly the wet weather also highlighted a problem that I probably would not have noticed in Dubai - a hole in my work shoes. Looks like I will be investing in a new pair very soon.