Spiders on the Wall

We arose Thursday morning to the sound of ropes slapping against the windows as they were being dropped from the top of our building...it was our day for window washing.  Put this one very near the top of the list of jobs I am glad I never had to do.  I've washed plenty of windows in my time, but never higher off the ground than a five-foot step ladder.  My pucker factor was higher than I like just from watching them from INSIDE THE APARTMENT.

Later in the day, Karen saw them waiting on their bus after their work was done, and sure enough, the backs of their shirts are emblazoned "Spiders." 

We're glad there are people willing to do this job, because the windows do get very dusty and then on the foggy days this time of year, the condensate runs down the glass in little rivulets of mud and pretty soon you can hardly see out.  We definitely have a clearer view of the world now.

Got Dust?

Is this Gotham City?

The main north-south highway in Dubai is Sheik Zayed Road (SZR to the cognocenti), named for the father of the county who pulled the six independent emirates together to form the UAE in 1971. (Prizes for the first who can name the seventh emirate which joined the union later.)  SZR originates just across Dubai Creek from our temporary residence and runs all the way to Abu Dhabi (150 km south).  It bisects the Dubai Financial Center, skirts to the west of Burj Khalifa and Dubai Mall, bounds Internet City, Telecom City, and Dubai Marina before passing through Jebel Ali on the way south.  At its widest through the DFC, it is five to seven lanes in each direction, yet the high-rises crowding each side impart a canyon feeling.  The architecture is so futuristic, we've both commented that it wouldn't surprise us to see the Batmobile, or perhaps Han Solo easing the Millenniuim Falcon into a 30th story landing dock.  There are plenty more similarly fantastic buildings in Internet City and the Marina.

These images were snapped on a recent Friday morning on our way to church (yes, those are permitted here), hence the sparse traffic.  Most times of the week it looks more like LBJ, except it's moving.  So far, we've discovered at least four groups of drivers.  Approximately 40% of the cars at any time will be cruising along right at the speed limit, which for the entire length of SZR within Dubai, is 100 km/hr (62 mph).  This is because there are radar cameras about every kilometer.  The police seldom if ever stop a speeder; they just compile the data from the cameras and then, when you go to get your license renewed or turn in your rent car, voila!, there's a little multi-thousand dirham bill for you.  It's a pretty effective "pay to speed" system. 

The speed limit-driving motorists would be very happy and all arrive at their destinations unruffled were it not for the 30% "working class" drivers who putter along (usually in a small truck) at 20 or 30 km below the limit in the lane of their choosing, having the exact same effect as large boulders in the middle of a swift mountain stream.  My theory for the consistent behavior of thes drivers is threefold: 1) they are all from third-world countries and have never seen nor had experience driving such magnificent highways; 2) on their wages, speeding tickets would render financial ruin; and 3) the jobs these poor saps have to look forward to when they arrive at their destination means that the journey is the best part of their day...why hasten its end?

The third group (at least 20%) is the taxis.  This town has as many as New York.  Taxi driver behavior is the same the world over.  Just watch out for the little cream-colored vermin; they'll cut you off in a heartbeat.

The fourth group is the 10% Bentley, Mercedes, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Maserati, Audi, Range Rover (have I left any out?) crowd.  These drivers can be divided into two sub-groups; the locals (a.k.a. Emiratis) and the Asian ex-pats who have gotten rich enough here to afford the same cars.  They drive like they own the road (which I guess in the case of the former, they technically do), especially the left lane, and all others are trespassers.  I have observed some truly impressive demonstrations of speed in obscenely expensive automobiles (do you catch a hint of envy?).  Both sub-groups have enough money that speeding fines don't even make a dent in petty cash.  The natives have the additional advantage of being able to call their well-connected father/uncle/brother/cousin and find out later that all those annoying and surely undeserved violations have mysteriously disappeared.  It is imperative to continuously keep a keen eye on the rearview mirror for this crowd, especially when you're in the left lane trying to get around a boulder.  Their disregard for fines also takes all the fun out of that time-honored practice in Texas of falling in behind a faster-moving "rabbit" and using him as a shield.  Here, the rabbit is getting pinged every half mile, he just doesn't care; and by the time you find out you got pinged every time he did, it can be a big bill. 

Run for the Border

Four Weeks of Whirlwind

Midnight Monday, June 27, will mark the end of four weeks since we arrived in Dubai.  It has been a whirlwind of learning our way around town, adjusting to local driving practices and courtesies (or lack thereof), gawking at the incredible architecture and scope of construction (not all of which has screeched to a halt), finding grocery stores, figuring currency and metric conversions, trying new foods, coping with technology challenges, acquiring local cell phones, actually figuring out how to use them, attempting to open a bank account, looking for a place to live, visiting churches, touring incredible hotels, and attending too many all-you-can eat and drink Arabic Friday brunch buffets. 

Friday brunch is a national sport (certainly among the ex-pats), exceeded in popularity only by shopping.  The one this week at the Jumeirah Al Qasr hotel was over the top.  The quantity and variety of food was amazing, but I've figured out it's the all-you-can drink aspect that draws the crowds.  We chose the coffee, tea, and soft drinks option, but for an extra 100 dirhams per person (US$27.23), one can have all the booze one wants.  At the Al Qasr, there were at least five tended bars strategically located between the tables and the buffets; one exclusively for gin drinks (Bombay Saphire only), one for vodka (labels in Russian), one for sake, one for Scotch, one for champaign, and one for Mojitos (that's six!!).  Perhaps that explains the behavior of some groups of what I assume to be very proper British ex-pats otherwise.

Regarding shopping, we have done some looking, especially when thought we were going to have to take an unfurnished apartment.  We've visited at least five malls within a 15 minute drive of our hotel, each of which would swallow up Northpark and have room left for a couple of Wal-Marts. 

The actual work aspect of my assignment is ramping up, but for the first three weeks, our top priority job was to find a place to live.  We finally accomplished that last week; only waiting now for the landlord's signature on the lease agreement.  It is a furnished apartment, so thankfully the furniture shopping was moot, and it is located in a very desirable part of town.  Pictures to follow in a future post.

Tickets bought to Dubai

Maybe you have been wondering "where are Jack and Karen" or perhaps "why are they still here?"  I spent the better part of three weeks in the Middle East in March-April (visiting Doha, Qatar; Abu Dhabi, UAE; and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) during which I did considerable due diligence on Doha as a possible home base location.  It is a livable city, but we think there's a better choice offering significant advantages. 

Having won the bid to host the FIFA (soccer) World Cup in 2022, Qatar is going to be even more of a construction zone than it is now, and that's going to be the case for the next 11 years.  The government has announced spending in excess of US$120 billion (with a "b") on the stadiums and other infrastructure needed to fulfill their commitment to FIFA.  We want to compete for our fair share of the consulting work that will be required to accomplish that spend, but not necessarily to live in the middle of it. 

Doha is not a big hub for air travel in the region.  There are three daily flights between Doha and Riyadh, where most of our current clients are located, if you include the one that departs at 1:00 a.m. and arrives at 2:30 a.m. (what am I going to do in Riyadh from 2:30 a.m. until the offices open??).  In contrast, there are six daily flights between Dubai and Riyadh, all at reasonable hours, and just an hour down the road is Abu Dhabi with three more.

For these and a variety of other business and personal reasons, my colleague and I simultaneously and independently arrived at the same conclusion that we should home-base in Dubai (the finanical center of the United Arab Emirates) and work out of our company's already-established office in Abu Dhabi (the political capital of the UAE). 

(On more than one occasion recently, I've offered cash awards to anyone who could name without reference to any outside source the other five emirates comprising the UAE. So far, no winners.  For the record, they are Ajman, Fujairah, Ras al Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm al Quwain.)

It has taken some time to get all the corporate T's crossed and I's dotted for this re-directed endeavor, but that is now essentially complete.  Karen and I are scheduled to depart on Sunday, 29 May, along with my colleague and his family, bound for Dubai.  We'll likely spend the first 30 days in an extended-stay hotel while we work on residential visas and hunt for long-term housing.  Once again, the adventure resumes.

Hello, Doha

As of this moment, I've been here a little over 72 hours and have managed about 12 hours of exploration outside my hotel.  Initial impressions are very favorable.  These two skyline shots are from the vantage of my hotel.  The first is the "old" city center, the second the "new" city center.  Driving around today (the Muslim holy day) was easy, not much traffic; we'll see what Sunday (first day of the work week) brings.

Living in Limbo

While my company's policy on travel to Bahrain has been relaxed from "mission-critical only" to "normal," we're still not sure that's the place to settle, so deployment to Bahrain continues on indefinite hold.  We're hopeful that the government and the opposition will come to a settlement soon that returns stability to the little kingdom and its economy.  In the meantime, we're advancing "Plan B" which is to check out Qatar as a home base.  I'm scheduled to leave 14 March for Doha (the capital city) for a client meeting and to spend a few days doing due diligence on housing options, general living conditions, and the cost of doing business.  My colleague Alan is preceding me by a week.  If our findings are positive, I'll likely stay there while he returns to fetch his family.  Karen will come with them early- to mid-April.  If either living options or budget impacts are not acceptable, I'll come home and we'll continue to wait and see about Bahrain.

Where in the world are Jack & Karen?

Maybe you heard that we were scheduled to begin our Bahrain adventure on 5 March.  Due to widely reported events in the little kingdom over the last week, that departure has been put on indefinite hold, so we're still in Murphy.  Plan A is now to wait and see how things settle out between the government and the opposition over the next few days/weeks and hope they settle out in a manner conducive to peaceful living and unhindered business.  Plans B, C, D... are under development.  Thanks for your interest.  Stay tuned.