On the way home yesterday another photo opportunity presented itself. Check out the "Chemicals Vehicle". Unfortunately I couldn't get a decent shot of the Hazchem sign , but I like their style - dangerous chemicals in cardboard boxes in an open truck. At least they have a single strand of nylon rope holding one row of boxes down. "Oh how easy it is to poke fun at these unsophisticated people with their goats on mopeds and kids hanging out of the sunroof," I was thinking, "I am so fucking glad I come from a country with centuries of civilisation, architectural history, [View Full Entry]

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In Germany they have the "Hitzefrei" - if the indoor temperature is over 32 degrees C then schools and offices close. In America they have "Snowdays", the same sort of deal only with a certain level of snow. In Dubai, if George Dubya Bush wants to drive through town, or if there is four inches of rain, you get the day off, even if you don't want it. On Monday, as the US President (and his entourage of 750 people) travelled from Abu Dhabi to Dubai, the Sheik Zayed Road, Garhoud Bridge and Maktoum Bridge were shut, as well as every [View Full Entry]

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I checked my stats on this blog yesterday and at that point I had got 99,999 hits. WTF? I know that is not much in the big scheme of things blog wise, but it means that is still 5000 hits per month. I don't know if it is the same people looking several times or if it actually gets read, but even if only 1 in 5 is a genuine read, that is still 1000 people. I reply to every message I get sent - admittedly, it's only usually 10 to 20 per month, but surprisingly I have not had one [View Full Entry]

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There are currently two road bridges connecting Abu Dhabi Island to the mainland UAE. Maqta Bridge is on the site if the original crossing point at the North of the channel where up until the early 60's you had to wait until low tide before taking your camel or Land Rover across. about two clicks to the South is the newer Musaffah Bridge (officially called the Al Ain Bridge but nobody calls it that). A third bridge just to the North of the Maqta Bridge is under construction but has been on hold for over two years now for reasons unknown [View Full Entry]

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It's official, on Friday I received my Z3 (Zombie Marksmanship - Level 3 Uprising) certification. The photo is of my exam target. Unfortunately the level 4 training is only available to military personnel or nationals here in the UAE as it involves a lot of fully automatic weapons and explosives, both of which expats aren't allowed to have. The regs say that for Z3 level, you must be able to "place 14 rounds of calibre .32 or larger within a seven and one half inch diameter disc at head height while it is moving towards you at 2 feet per second". [View Full Entry]

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After a couple of car bookings went missing I found myself in Doha airport sans wheels, and since I know my way round the the slums of Calcutta better than the average taxi driver knows his way round Doha, I resorted to Hassan Baghazal Trading Est. (Rent a Car Division). On the phone I spoke to someone who's name sounded like "Mr. Lovely", but I assumed that a combination of telephone and background noise, and English not being his first language, I had misheard somehow. Not the case. But the funny thing is, he is actually a really nice bloke. Well [View Full Entry]

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I'm just sitting in my office going through my email when "clonk". The power trips out. We were getting power cuts during the heat of the summer when all of the air conditioning units were working hard, but it's only about 32C today and low humidity. It was the smell of burnt fur/meat that alerted us to the cause of the trip. Luckily I was there to deal with the situation, and by "deal with" I mean "get somebody to clean the electrically exploded rat out of junction box". I'm just glad I can share some of the glamour of life [View Full Entry]

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Scores ill in Peru 'meteor crash' - BBC Peruvians get sick from apparent meteorite crater - Reuters The only way to defeat the attackers is by removing the head or destroying the brain - Sky News If you don't believe me, check out the BBC for yourself here This is it folks, I hate to say "I told you so", but I told you so. This is the beginning of the end, hell is full and dead are going to walk the earth. It's about time too if you ask me, there are already five and a half billion too many [View Full Entry]

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"I'm sorry sir, the only car we have left is a big one sir" said Maylene, the girl behind the Hertz desk at Doha International Airport. "How much for the day?" I asked. "300 Riyals sir" she told me. "I'll take it please" I said, handing over my credit card, passport and driving licence. I'm not really that interested in cars with less than one gearbox but I thought having a Chevy Caprice or a Dodge Charger for a day might be fun, especially as I had to go up to Ras Laffan on the North East side of the Peninsula. [View Full Entry]

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With the departure of my guests on Thursday morning and Shez still being in the UK, it's given me the opportunity to catch up on the latest crop of zombie/horror films. Shez doesn't like them, but I do, and Prakash down at "Mona Lisa Video Rentals" has always got a good stock of DVDs. At less than 40p a rental I am not too worried if the odd movie is a bit of a dud. When watching these films where people are in peril, I can't help thinking that most of the time it is their own fault that they are [View Full Entry]

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