Moves

So the Prophet, yeah, the big one, you know... google it. Well, his birthday is next week but on all calendars it's a 'tentative' date. This surprises me on a few different levels. Doesn't your birthday stay the same all the time? If you were born on the 29th February, then OK, I'd understand that you might have to move it but...

Plus, when planning anything, particularly training like I do, it's very difficult. My issue was that the birthday could be the 13th or it could be the 14th. One of those days would be a public holiday and with it no classes. But which day?! In the end I did not plan class on either just to be on the safe side. So far so good.

Confirmation of the actual date comes around 5 to 7 days in advance and guess what? The date was neither the 13th or 14th. It was the bloody 12th. A day that I scheduled class. Being the calm, considerate person I am, I didn't let it phase me. On the outside. On the inside, I wasn't pleased.

Can someone please decide when these holidays are going to be, well in advance. It would seriously help in all manner of ways.

So I need to work on a public holiday and take a day off later in the week. Not great, but not bad.

Happy Birthday.

Droplets

I arrived at work it it was all dry. Granted, it was dark, it always is because the suns not up until after I get to the office. Besides, I work 'underground'. I just thought the sun would come up like it usually does. Low and behold I get a text saying that it is pouring with rain. I went up stairs to ground level to find out what the fuss was about. And yes, rain. Lots of it. And it was dark as anything. It was like being home in Scotland.

The problem is, Dubai isn't exactly set up to deal with lots of rain. The roads do have drains etc but they aren't all that effective and generally there is a lot of standing water on the roads and pavements. When I left the office to drive home, it was still raining - I think it had stopped during the day, but I work underground so I wouldn't know! - and the street next to mine was under water; it always is. I'd love to drive through it and soak whoever is close to it.

Clearly, I didn't though, just in case!

By all accounts North America have it cold. A 'polar vortex' whatever that is. It sounds all very sci-fi. I bet it isn't much fun!

2nd.

Back to work.

No holiday at all over the Festive period. Working on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and on top of that, Hogmanay. It's a sad state of affairs and one that has made the past week feel mostly like any other week apart from the fact that the Christmas tree is up in the corner of the living room.

The in-laws flew out and back to Scotland, so I managed to meet them at the airport before they left. They seem to have enjoyed themselves so that's great. That's what's all about.

And that's the last of our visitors for now. In the previous couple of years, no one came and visited, then all of a sudden we had people every other week coming and staying. It's great people want to do that, but it can also be tiring. So far, no one has said they are coming over in 2014. I suspect that might change in time!

The weekend is here.

Lost

New Year, new habits. Right?

Thank you 2013. Hello 2014.

Can I aim for 1 post a week? Two posts?

On this day:

Woke up late, had a bit of a fry up for breakfast, watched Kevin Bridges - check him out, he's funny in a Scottish kind of way. Then headed out to Mango Tree in Souk al Bahar next to Dubai Mall for Thai. I had a yellow Thai curry which was excellent. Fairly knackered after all. And the best bit, back to work on the 2nd.

Did Dubai claim the firework world record? 10 months in the planning, something stupid like 800,000 fireworks planned, all for 6 minutes worth of entertainment. I'm sure it looked good. I'm sure all the traffic jams weren't. Could the money have been spent on anything better, I ask myself?

Happy New Year.

Morse

Sandstorm alert. Not pleasant. It's 'sunny' but extremely hazy out today. It was the same yesterday. And with it, the temperature goes up as does the humidity. Not only that, but everything gets covered in dust. No way I'm getting the car washed today. Or cleaning the balcony. That can wait until it passes.

No chance of even going for a swim upstairs. Little point given the amount of dust I'll suck up. I might invest in a breathing mask. I wonder if that would impede my swimming stroke?

Changed

April 1st.

Just another day. Kind of. I quite like that fact that a lot of newspapers and websites throw in a fake story. In fairness, it's often not limited to the 1st April but that another conversation!

Some of the fake story stories I liked were:

Virgin Atlantic saying that they were going to introduce a glass bottomed aircraft so that passengers could look down and see what's going on below. Working in the aviation field, I know that there is no way that could happen, I mean, your luggage is directly below so you could see out anyway, but the layman might get excited about it.

Also, the Guardian goggles. A definite dig at the Google goggles. The Guardian ones stream 'liberal' views and news straight to the wearers line of sight. It might actually happen in future but for now, it's a fake!

One story I did see, and I though was fake, was the one about a flea circus losing it's entire cast of fleas due to the cold weather. Apparently, it's real. Who knew there was a flea circus?

Alas, no April fools in this household.

Pixels

I've never been hip but at least I can say I have Hipstamatic. It's an app for the i-phone and it's adds that retro feel to photos. I love it. I did have a polariod camera and probably spent a bit too much on the film but I just like the way they looked. I preferred to the look a digital cameras. Strange but true.

So, in honour of being a Hipstamatic man, here are a few shots I've taken:

Mass

Good Friday. If you're a Christian, it's a very important day. If you're a lapsed one, it probably isn't as important. For me, it's Friday and that means the start of the weekend. A busy working week behind me.

For the past 5 months, I've made it my mission to hit the gym. I try for 4 times a week, immediately after work. On the whole I've been following that routine. Previously, I was coming home after work and basically just doing not very much until dinner time. I decided to do something instead. It's been hard to maintain the routine. There are days I just can't be bothered at all but I've forced myself to go, even if it is just long enough to break sweat.

Two days a week, I do upper body related 'stuff', the other 2 days I concentrate on lower body related 'stuff'. It's good. It helps me 'calm' down after work which given the politics at work is what I need.

Over this 5 month period, I've been weighing myself to track my progress otherwise I'd just lose interest and not bother. The results are as follows:

In early November I was 82.9kg, with a body fat estimation of fat index = 21.5% which equates to a fat mass of 17.8kg and a free fat mass of 65.1kg. My BMI was 25.6kg/m.

As of today, I am 82.2kg, with a body fat estimation of fat index = 20.2% which equates to a fat mass of 16.6kg and a free fat mass of 65.6kg. My BMI is 24.8kg/m.

What does that all mean?

I'm 700 grams lighter, have lowered my fat mass by 1.2kg and lowered my BMI by 0.8kg/m.

Perhaps it does look massively impressive but I'm not massively overweight and don't really have lots to lose. My whole aim was to get trimmer and toned and I can say that I have done that. I'm now within the 'normal' BMI range i.e. between 18.5 and 24.9kg/m.

What's next?

Next weigh in will be in about a month and I want to lower my BMI to 24.5kg/m. I'd be delighted if I can do that. I'll need to tweak my workouts in terms of the weight that I lift. Nothing major, but there are definitely areas I can increase the resistance. Let's see!

Ice Cream

Yes. Another post. Two in a week.

I bought a record player earlier this year. Actually, I got a Pro-ject Debut for my birthday (record player) which was great. I needed to get speakers and an amp to go with it. So I did. A Rotel RA-10 and B&W speakers. I don't much vinyl but the vinyl I do have sounds great. Until I bought Van Halen I. I put it on and I could only hear 'half' the sound. The guitar was distant which is awful because it's Eddie Van Halen. Since that first listen, I've been trying to play about with the speak connections. I have 4 lines of cable from each speaker which go directly to the amp. The problem is the cables don't say which is the positive one or the negative one. So it's been mostly trial and error to get this record played so that I can actually hear the album as it should be.

So, I've now got Van Halen I playing. Brilliant!

The next time I play another record, the sound will probably be 'off' and knowing my luck I'll need to switch the speaker cables again. Or perhaps I'll just keep VH I on loop forever?

It's possible.

Humming

What to do with this thing?

First post since September last year. It's now hurtling towards April 2013. A disappointing return. Life just gets in the way I suppose. Life is meant to get in the way though and what happened was meant to be recorded here for, well, the future. I can't do that if I don't write anything. It's a vicious circle. That, and I really don't have much to say.

Perhaps I'll start in the present, and if time allows, I'll fill in the past.

Still in Dubai, still in the same job. Still married, still living in the same house. Still driving the same car, still going to the gym.

Different mobile phone. Different Body Mass Index (BMI) as well, slightly down.

Not much has changed then - apart from the 'ravages of time', Christmas, New Year, trip to Bangkok and Scotland with a trip to the Seychelles planned for later in the year.

Met some interesting people in the intervening months. Bob Geldof and his band, David Haye (sort of) Bobby George, Ian Rankin, Kate Mosse, Tony Buzan. Perhaps not all interesting then.

What's happening at the moment?

Not all that much. The weekend has been a relaxing one I guess. The weather is very pleasant and I'm not long back from the swimming pool and 10 lengths. Up later is a trip to this place called 'Global Village'. It's not a village at all, instead it's a series of markets which are representative of a particular country, for example 'Turkey' has lots of Turkish 'stuff', China has a lot of knock off stuff, Pakistan has - rather surprisingly it could be said - lots of leather goods for sale. We'll be going to China for handbags I think. Not for me, clearly.

Then it'll be back to work on Sunday. Not particularly looking forward to it. In fact, I think that has been the case most of this year. I'm getting bored and can't say much is stimulating me. I go, do what I have to and get out. I'm professional enough but people and things annoy me more than they used to. Not a good sign I would say.

That'll do for the moment. Another post in 6 months? Let's hope not.

28th

Haven't been on this in absolutely ages.

I suppose it's partly due to time and not really having the time to sit and write something, anything. It's not that easy to sit for 30 minutes and witter on about this or that. Try it, it's hard. Inspiration is the name of that game and if you haven't got any, you haven't got any. It's not something that you can force. You could bit it would be more miss than hit.

It's the end of Summer which is a good thing here in Dubai. It means the temperature is only approx. 38C during the day. Still hot, but not as hot. Manageable is probably the word for it. The Summer really has flown past. I didn't really get a holiday as such. More like a long weekend. A long weekend to the Maldives though which was rather extravagant but it was our first wedding anniversary. I could hardly take the wife to McDonald's now could I?

It's a beautiful place and certainly a location that is ideal for relaxing. The place we stayed had the whitest beach I have ever seen. And I have seen some beaches. We stayed in a water bungalow. That was a first. Right over the water. The building moved at time which was a strange sensation. We had a balcony with steps leading down into the sea. We even had a big storm. Bliss. I'd recommend it.

Inbetween that, it's been work, staying in the air-conditioning and trying to save money.

Save money, because we want to buy a house back in the Motherland. Easier said than done but that's the plan. We may not actually live in it but at least its somewhere we can call our own, even if that means being able to put our 'stuff' up in a loft or attic for later. Ultimately buying a house is an investment. Better than having the money in the Bank. Right?

Let's see how often I get round to writing. Its a diary first and foremost and it would be a shame to let the year go by without reflecting on it.

Arch

...and yes, he did do well.

Danny Boyle, that is.

The opening ceremony was something to behold. Not the overblown faff of previous events. It was different and perhaps not what people were expecting. But surely that is a good thing. It did celebrate Britain for what it is. It had a bit of everything really. Tongue in cheek, particularly with the Queen and Bond but that what being British is. Not being totally serious all the time.

I wonder what the Prime Minister made of the NHS portion of the ceremony. Perhaps a bit too left wing for him. After all, the ceremony was celebrating the NHS and what a wonderful service it provides, yet the PM is intend on selling it off to private companies.

I liked the caldron as well. 200 and odd petals which raised in to one. That was well done and hats off to whoever came up with that one. No missed arrows when lighting it!

Surely a Knighthood is on the cards for Boyle and rightly so. A job well done, that's for sure.

Direct

The Olympics start today. I used to avidly watch them. These days, I'm less inclined to watch. I was in Australia for the Sydney edition but didn't really watch them. I did get to Sydney for the end of the Para Olympics. Does that count?

Athens and Beijing I really didn't bother with at all. I suspect the same thing will happen this time.

That said, I'm quite interested in seeing the opening ceremony. Danny Boyle is directing it which is quite a left field choice. I like his work - Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, Sunshine, 28 Days Later. Heck, I even quite liked A Life Less Ordinary!

I wonder what he has in store?

I can't see it being the contrived nonsense that we witness from Beijing in which the voice of the little girl wasn't even the voice of the little girl at the ceremony. Stage managed to the max. Pathetic.

Danny Boyle, over to you.

Triumph

I have had arguably the worst working week ever. It has just been a complete struggle from the first hour to the last hour.

At the start of the week I had to tell 3 of my students that they had failed. Never easy at the best of times and especially when I need to do it face-to-face. Two of them were close to tears. You don't want to see grown men cry. There is a time and a place and in my classroom isn't really the time. I can understand though. Passing means a shot at promotion. A big incentive.

I have been working on a project led by the Operations team. Essentially they want to 1 day training program for 250 staff. Lesson plans and all the support materials are areas that I quite enjoy getting involved in. I like trying to be creative and incorporate activities into my classes. A draft was sent over to Operations team. Feedback was positive. A subsequent meeting has seen them change the goalposts somewhat and ask that X, Y and Z are included. What they are asking for changes the focus of the program. It was meant to be an 'Introductory' session but its morphing away from that. I fear topics will be introduced and we'll skim over them rather than getting more involved. My Boss has now got involved which should complicate things further. Next week we'll see what's what but it's a distraction I don't really need or want.

Elsewhere, I'm getting stress about outsourced staff and their English levels. I'll have to get involved in that. Again. It's all a big mess really. Departments want to cut costs, so hire outsourced staff. Fair enough. But then they all complain because of the level of skills of the the outsourced staff. Well, if you pay a pittance what do they think will happen? All this rears it's ugly head from time to time. People moan and complain, a 'resolution' is found. Then some time down the line - it could be months or years - it all happens again. Same cycle.

And the Upper Intermediate level class I have at the moment are likely to fail the course. They really are not or close to the level they need to be at. It's like they have never heard of some of the areas we cover. When they talk, the tenses they use are all over the place. An example was using 'will' to describe a past experience. What the hell?! This is a student who wants to be cleared at Upper Intermediate level! Their final test is next week. Miracles might happen. But not on Monday's.

Oh and it's Ramadan.

Demote

Scottish football did the right thing. A minor miracle has occurred!

Common sense has prevailed and the new Rangers will start again in the 3rd Division. That was the only real outcome otherwise their would have been a riot with a lot of very unhappy football fans, me included. I hope that lays the subject to rest and that in 3 weeks time, the football itself can do the talking.

It will be interesting to see how many clubs survive due to Rangers going down. They will lose money because Rangers won't play them twice a season. I find it hard to fathom how 2 games a season and the revenue generated can have such a big impact. Perhaps these clubs should take a closer look at themselves and cut their cloth accordingly. The 'bubble' was always going to burst and they should have planned for it. What we may see now is the lack of foresight by them.

Or they can attract fans back. Simple really.

newco

I'm fed up.

I'm fed up of Scottish football.

I'm fed up with the self serving, small mindedness of clubs who do not think of the bigger picture or indeed the fans. Their customers!

The back story is this: Rangers went into liquidation. They no longer 'exist', but have now been bought over and are 'new' Rangers. The top division - the SPL - voted that they should not be allowed to play in the division. In Scotland below the top division are 3 other leagues under the umbrella of the SFL. These teams then had to vote to see which league the new Rangers play in. History suggests that a 'new' team must start in the bottom league. However Rangers were the biggest club in Scotland and TV contracts etc rely on them being in the top division. Or at worst, in the division below with a view to being promoted within a season.

Today saw the view by the SFL about which league they should go. The 1st or 3rd division. The fans want a clean slate, starting in the 3rd division. Sporting integrity in tact. The money men don't. They want Rangers in the 1st division and back in the top division within a year. The money men have been cracking the whip and using bullying and blackmail tactics to force the SFL to vote them into the 1st division.

Happily and rightly, the voted them into the 3rd division.

I'm delighted. It had to be. No question of it. This though will not be the end of it which is a total joke. The league starts in 3 weeks time yet no one knows what the hell is going on. You can be sure the money men will try some stunt to get their team back in the top division and that makes me sick. They should be strung up for treason or something equally damning. It's the national game and they are trying to bring it to it's knees.

There has been absolutely no leadership at all. Why, with 3 weeks to go until the start of the league, is this still not resolved? It's all become a farce. A laughing stock. Each of the major 'forces' behind the scenes are faffing about. Sort it out. And sort it out for good of the game in Scotland. The greater good. And soon.

Furthermore, why was the McLeish report on Scottish football not accepted when it was published in 2010. The recommendations haven't been headed. What was the purpose of it, if it was going to be ignored?

Well mister money men, resign. Go now. And here's what we should do. Each team plays each other twice. Maximum. Who wants to watch 4 meeting a season between 2 teams. No one. A winter break is a must. Who wants to sit and get frozen on a wet, windy Tuesday in deepest January. No one. Drop the price of a ticket. £10 for adults, £5 for under 18's. It's not rocket science. Drop the price, market the team and the 'game' as an event. Add a thousand people to the gate. Get schools involved. Kids go free with an adult. More people inside the stadium, more atmosphere and with it, more revenue. You don't just go to a game, sit and watch it and go home. You buy a program, you get a pie and a drink. Surely that's the way to make money? A pyramid system must be set up. I'm not saying that all Scottish football's ills will disappear overnight but goodness, get people interested and get people involved.

Otherwise, it's bye bye baby.

Statue

Whoosh.

That is the sound of time flying by at a rate of knots. It was May, and now all of a sudden it is July. I have no real idea how that happened at all. But, it's July and we get on with it.

July in Dubai is hot. Really hot. It's not much fun. I can 'cope' with it so long as I'm not outside for anything more than perhaps 30 minutes. And that's at night. Daytime, it's less. I'm sure I've written about all this before, so I'll not labour the point. What I will say is that we had rain. Yes, rain. In the desert. In July. It wasn't a massive downpour, more like 15 minutes worth of light rain but rain is rain. It was enough to get the roads and pavements wet. Do we need any further evidence of climate change?!

Since I go back from Scotland, it's been a bit hectic particularly work wise. There seems to be a bit of ill feeling between colleagues. It's mostly to do with everyone not having equal qualifications despite being at the same level. I'm pretty relaxed about it as I've done the studying and have qualifications to suit the job. Others don't. Let's just say, change is coming and some folk are not very comfortable with that.

We've had a few people over to Dubai as well.

The missus had her High School friend over with his new wife. In fact, they came over on honeymoon! Both of them seem very happy together and that's great news. Delighted for them. Also, one of my old mates for Korea stopped over on his way back to Britain. Always good to catch up over a beer or two!

What else?

Starting to get more 'adult'. By that I mean, the important stuff like house insurance, life insurance and turning thoughts towards buying property and setting up of a Will. Yes, very adult. The time has come. I can have no complaints about it and let's face it, people tend not to think about all that kind of stuff until it's too late. Better late than never. I'll be happier when I know everything is in place.

And that's about it for the moment. How long this 'creative' urge lasts, I do not know.

Mezza

Home sweet home. Scotland, that is. Or to be precise, Edinburgh.

It's been 9 months since the wife and me have been home. I've been away longer but this 9 months has seemed like a long time. It's just nice to be out of Dubai to be honest.

The flight back was decent. The plane was probably high full and with it, there was more space to move around and it was quicker to get breakfast and dinner served - always a bonus! Although it was an Airbus and the inflight entertainment isn't ideal. There are a number of audio and video channels which is great but it's not on demand like the B777. The entertainment is on by the hour so you have to refer to the listings to see what is on in 'hour 4' for example. Low and behold, there wasn't anything I wanted to watch.

The most striking thing about being home and driving up to Edinburgh from Newcastle was the colour. The colour of the light, the colour of the fields and the trees at the side of the road. It really is in stark contrast to the brown's and hazy sunshine of Dubai. The yellows, the blues and the greens are fantastic to see. I've said before that spring was my favourite season and that remains the case.

Even Edinburgh is bright and colourful. Must have been all that rain. Alas, the sun was shining. That's all you can ask for really.

Normal

The great blogging drought continues. I don't have an excuse for it. I guess it comes and goes with more emphasis on the goes.

All that carry on with my colleague mentioned previously. I don't know what is going on at the moment. I've not seen him and no one has even mentioned it. A very odd situation. I'm now his direct supervisor at work so I will be seeing more of him this year. I might get the chance to find out more in due course. How do you approach that though? 'Eh, yeah, what happened to your wife?' Don't think that's the best way to go!

So, today is Saturday.

Today see Hearts and Hibs play in the Scottish Cup final. A derby no less. Hearts last one it back in 2006 whilst Hibs haven't won it since 1902. A long time ago! I have really no clue who will win it. It's too close to call. There will be goals, but for who, pass.

Not long back from the Airport. The missus was in India over the weekend on a recruitment drive. She flew out on Thursday night to Cochin. She arrived back earlier on. Sounds like it was a decent trip, but the timing could have been better, after all, we're flying back to Scotland on Tuesday morning!

Speaking of which, I'm packed. Suitcase isn't full but it does seem heavier than usual. I'm sure that it won't be over the 30kg weight allocation. It better not be. A couple more days of work as well. I've got a bit of a list of things to do actually. Plus I have an English course finishing on Monday morning. That gives me the afternoon to mark the tests and send out the results. If I get out on time, I'll be delighted. Then it'll be bye bye work, hello Scotland. It's been 9 months since we were last back.

Looking forward to it.

Call

Haven't been on this for ages and ages and ages. I can't say I've been all that enthusiastic about posting or writing in general. E-mails for example have been sent at work and that's about it. I just haven't had much to report.

Until yesterday.

At the end of each month we have a 'monthly meeting'. The whole department comes together for a day which varies between 'interesting' to 'fairly dull'. On this occasion, there were a lot of activities. I wasn't particularly involved in them and I was kind of on hand to help things 'flow'. Just before lunchtime, myself and 2 others had to go to collect lunch. This was to be supplied by a restaurant and we had to drive to the edge of the airport to collect 60 lunches for everyone, then get them to our area.

We left the rest of the department to get on with it whilst the 3 of us jumped into a mini-bus. I was in the back with one other guy - He's a Pakistani guy, and joined the department 2 weeks ago. He got married 3 weeks ago to a young widow. The widow has a 4 month old new baby from the previous marriage.

We were driving along when he got a phone call from some relatives in Pakistan. Then another phone call. And another. He then said, "I think my wife has been killed".

I thought he was joking.

He and his relatives had been trying to get into touch with his wife (she's in Lahore at present).

He made some other calls and waited to hear back from whoever he had called.

He told me that his father-in-law had not been in favour of the marriage yet the other members of his wife's family were totally fine.

Then another call came in. His wife had been shot and killed. So had his mother-in-law. The whereabouts of his father-in-law were unknown. As for the baby, no news.

I was there totally in shock. What the heck can you say to someone who has just received that kind of phone call?

I did what I could but really, no words are any good. In the end, I rushed him to our manager who then basically said 'go, do what you need to'.

The last thing this poor bloke said to me what 'thanks for the help'. What help had I been?

I just really wanted to write that down because it was all so surreal and tragic and utterly mental.

Only in the movies, right?