I started badly this morning by panicking because I woke up and groped around for my watch and then made the mistake of looking at it with bleary dry eyes and no glasses – it said 0800hrs. This was followed by a 10 second period (that seemed like a lifetime) in which I panic looked for my glasses and re-enacted the opening scene from Four Weddings and a Funeral, closely followed by sinking back into the pillow with the flooded relief which comes with realising that you had your watch upside down, and it is, in fact, only 10 past 6.
We’ll skip nonchalantly forward in time to opening my cabin door an hour later and being hit by a wall of hot moisture. I suppose, to be realistic, you couldn’t call it fog, you could see through it to start with, and it wasn’t cold and clammy like proper English fog, but just humidity on a major scale. The last time we had “weather” here was a couple of weeks ago when we had some cloud which just burnt off within a couple of hours, but this stuff has hung around all day. Walking backwards and forwards to the canteen at lunchtime (about 15mins each way if you drag your heels……) was an experience, bathed in sweat by the time you get to each end and then dry out in an air-conditioned canteen or office in the same amount of time. They tell me that the weather in Dubai is like this all the time (and my limited experience of this bears this out – about 10 minutes outside air-conditioning) to the extent that drivers have their windscreen wipers on because the windows mist up on the outside !
We’ll skip nonchalantly forward in time to opening my cabin door an hour later and being hit by a wall of hot moisture. I suppose, to be realistic, you couldn’t call it fog, you could see through it to start with, and it wasn’t cold and clammy like proper English fog, but just humidity on a major scale. The last time we had “weather” here was a couple of weeks ago when we had some cloud which just burnt off within a couple of hours, but this stuff has hung around all day. Walking backwards and forwards to the canteen at lunchtime (about 15mins each way if you drag your heels……) was an experience, bathed in sweat by the time you get to each end and then dry out in an air-conditioned canteen or office in the same amount of time. They tell me that the weather in Dubai is like this all the time (and my limited experience of this bears this out – about 10 minutes outside air-conditioning) to the extent that drivers have their windscreen wipers on because the windows mist up on the outside !
Getting back to part 2 of Life On the COB. In an effort to become more modern and interactive, and to prove that even the most secret stuff is freely available on the internet, I thought you might like to see this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqTyafBaDYM
It’s Thumping Thursday with poor visibility…… never a great combination I’m told, so keep your fingers crossed that we don’t need the Phalinx ! (there are several dotted about all over the place)
It’s Thumping Thursday with poor visibility…… never a great combination I’m told, so keep your fingers crossed that we don’t need the Phalinx ! (there are several dotted about all over the place)
I think that’s enough for today. I’m off to site tomorrow so I think I will inflict you with some boring building site things (although it’s Friday so I suspect that not a lot will be happening !)
Today's quiz question, (it's multiple choice):
Was taking a picture of this sign a) brave, b) stupid, or c) taking the piss ?
Answers on the back of a £5 note - the judges decision is final and in the event of a tie I'll be in the Pictuerdrome drinking the prize fund. Lines close at 9, please continue to call after that because I need the money !
Today’s inventory:
4 cigars – cutting down was a good idea in theory……leaving me in a office with a smoker wasn’t !
0 units – again (boring !)
$0 Dollars – I did try and spend $2 on a coffee and a biscuit but someone else insisted on paying. I even gave them the money and they gave me it back – never let it be said I’m tight !
Weather – strangely misty for most of the day. The whole area was on Weather Code Red for most of the day as well. This means that the security companies find proper speeds and distances between vehicles a major problem with visibility down and communications a problem and therefore they can refuse to transport you unless you sign a waiver basically agreeing that if you all get killed then it’s your own fault. It wasn’t a problem for me as I haven’t moved from the COB all day. For the people who had got to site this morning and couldn’t get back however, it was a problem !
Food – nothing remarkable I’m afraid.
Gym – A good, steady sensible session (with plenty of water and electrolyte !)
Countdown – still too early to start thinking about it publicly. I can tell you though, in case I haven’t already, that I am proudly in possession of an e-ticket from Dubai to Birmingham – all I have to do now is track down the return portion of my Basra to Dubai flight and make sure it’s validated for the correct day and get my passport submitted for my exit visa (quite why you need to get a visa to get out is beyond me, maybe it’s the same as having to pay to get into Wales on the SSC ? which reminds me, my Welsh friends have to watch this if you haven’t already seen it……. I still haven’t decided yet if it’s ironic or funded by the tourist board)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNfbX6uvA6s
Night all - X
c) if you can convincingly say in french "What does the sign say?" hehor he hore
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