Chris Saul's Blog

Thursday March 27, 2008

Do as I say

I was surprised to get an SMS today from our property company, encouraging me to switch my lights off for an hour on March 29 as part of Earth Day.

I think that installing some timer and motion sensitive light switches in our block might make more of a difference to global warming than me switching my lights off for an hour on Saturday evening, when we'll be out anyway. Currently most lights burn 24/7 and doors don't shut automatically, so cold air blows out and hot air blows in.

Bienvenue, M. le President

I've been enjoying President Sarkozy's state visit to Britain. It's good to see some positive messages coming from France - I'm liking what he's saying about working together, Britain's economic model, etc.

Watching the highlights on the BBC is hilarious. Sarkozy doesn't come across as particularly presidential in the clips. He looks more like an excited schoolboy, particularly when sitting next to the Queen at the state banquet.

I was impressed to see how many MPs were managing without a translator during his speech to parliament. I wonder how many of them were actually showing off, pretending they could speak French but not understanding a word?

Carla Bruni looks very elegant, but Sarkozy doesn't quite seem to know what to do with her - ushering her around, grabbing her arm, etc. I wonder what she and the Duke of Edinburgh spoke about when sitting together at dinner and in the state carriage?

'Bonjour Carla. Belle journee, n'est-ce pas?'

'Oui, monsieur le duc'.

'Hmm, c'est qui le petit Frog dans l'autre carriage avec Liz?'

'C'est mon mari, le president de la France.'

'Ah, bien sur! Il est un peu petit pour un president, isn't he?'

'Ooh la la!'

'Pardon, pas d'offense, ce n'est pas sa faute. Alors, dis-moi - ton autre petit-ami, Mick Jagger, est-ce qu'il parle le francais aussi bien que moi?'

Phones on flights

It'll be interesting to see how Emirates' new phones on flights service works out.

Personally I quite like the fact that you can legitimately be out of contact, but progress marches on.

I'm always amazed at how many people's phones ring when they're switched on after a plane's landed. I often get a beep, telling me a text message has arrived, but lots of other passengers immediately get a call coming through. Has the caller been redialling frantically for the last few hours, whilst the recipient's been flying around Iraq, down the side of Iran and down to Dubai? I expect these guys are the ones whose phones will be ringing constantly in the air now. I will have to revamp my range of stern looks.

No fuss please, I'm English

I think Roy Hattersley hits the nail on the head in this column.

I probably feel a bit more British than Mr Hattersley, particularly living outside of the UK, where we all get lumped together anyway and minor national differences become less apparent - unless it comes down to fellow Brits teasing me about my posh English accent. At least my dulcit tones are better understood by 'foreigners' when compared to the mumbled grunts of those compatriots of mine who come from regions North Of The Watford Gap. I may sound poncey, but at least I can communicate.

All this oath swearing nonsense baffles me. It's an effort to make people feel or be British, by making them do something that's totally alien to the entire nature of being British in the first place.

Here's an English example that I'm sure I've mentioned this in my blog before - a group of friends and I were discussing St George's day. St Patrick's Day was being celebrated in London, thanks to London's Mayor's bizarre policies, but St George's Day seemed to be being overlooked in England's (and Britain's) capital city. Did we care? Well, sorry, but yes. The conclusion was that we didn't really feel the need to celebrate St George's Day - but it would have been nice to have been asked.

Which I think sums things up nicely. Anyone for a cup of tea?

Wednesday March 26, 2008

AC's back

After several months without the constant rumble of fans, we've finally had to start switching on the AC, particularly at night. Shame - in our last place the AC was always on but we'd managed to do without out it in the new place over the winter.

I'm mildly peeved with the AC 'controllers' the developer's installed. Instead of the high-tech touchscreen devices on display in the showhome, which promised sophisticated temperature controls and the ability to order pizza, we have ended up with just a thermostat, three fan speeds and an on/off switch. A timer would have been perfect, but at the very least an 'auto' setting would have been nice. So, basically it's either on or off, with apparently little difference between the slow and fast fan speeds. Odd.

I have sneaky suspicion that as soon as the warranty's over, we'll be offered all sorts of upgrades, from only one authorised supplier...

Magic Onyx stone saga continues

This story is gettting better and better. Can't wait for the final installment!

Monday March 24, 2008

Brits in the Gulf

Obituaries are strange things - it's fascinating to read about people's lives, but sad that the person had to die for him or her to come to your attention. I'd loved to have met these three men and heard some of their stories from when they were in this part of the world.

"Sir Donald Hawley, soldier, lawyer, administrator and author but will be best remembered for his accomplishments as a diplomat."

"John Harris, who laid out the master plan which marked the emergence of Dubai as a modern city."

"Captain Robert Franks, Commando carrier captain who was on hand to forestall Iraq's attempt to seize Kuwait in 1961."

Kuwait Today

Kuwait for one night - my second visit and first time back for four years.

Where Dubai has a more European feel, Kuwait City, like Riyadh, has more of America in its styling. The arrivals hall offers every fast food known to man, with most Westerners I saw being US military or oil worker types. Short, army haircuts mix with long dreads - goatees are in abundance, doublechins common and blue jeans with ice-white trainers near ubiquitous.

Dubai has motorways, Kuwait has freeways - the kerplunk of road sections, the generous turns and the general sprawl of buildings reminds me of my journey from San Francisco airport down 101 to Sun's Menlo Park campus. But instead of a Somali, Sikh or Russian driver, I have an Egyptian at the wheel for whom the concepts of stopping distance and lane discipline are as alien as wearing a seatbelt.

Four years ago, the Chevrolet Caprice was everywhere, slightly sagging at both ends, bouncing through the beige like a mattress on wheels - but as in Saudi, smaller European and Japanese models now seem to be driving it away from its natural habitat. Larger American species are still out in force. Five child families are shipped around in Suburbans, Tahoes and Escalades, while smaller, nimbler Land Cruisers and Pathfinders edge their way around their heavy, lumbering competition.

The US influence, in terms of cars and appearances and in contrast to other Gulf states, interests me

Friday March 21, 2008

Monoglot nation

Cambridge is set to drop the requirement for applicants to have studied a foreign language to GCSE level.

I can understand why they have to do this and have no problem with their efforts to get more students from state schools applying. My problem is the way Britain, or rather its Labour government, are destroying language learning in this way. The requirement to take a language after the age of 14 was dropped in 2004. Now, four years on, we see the results - Britain's second best university forced to accept students who have not studied a foreign language even to basic levels.

Name one other country whose policies actively discourage language learning? This is sheer idiocy.

Wednesday March 19, 2008

Sweihan Trip

The Wrangler's new radiator seems to be doing its job...

Start in low range, third gear, then up to fourth and fifth, down into fourth and third coming back down to let the engine do the braking. When you're in the bowl it's quite hard to see where you are exactly - you're just surrounded by sand! The guys with Nissan Patrols and tiptronic gears found things a little easier. Spend too much time changing from third and up on the Wrangler and you lose power when you need it, spend too much time with the clutch depressed when coming down and you have a tonne and a half of Jeep with no power and control whizzing ever downwards.

An incredible trip, this one. Really pushed me in terms of understanding what the car can do. No major stucks all day, either. The bigger the dunes, the less often people seem to get wedged.

Here's the view over the edge of the bowl. We didn't drive down from there - this time at least...

What lies beneath...

Radiator explosion pics

Here are some pics of my broken radiator from the other week's trip to Area 53.

It went bang after some harder than usual pounding up a rather large dune - the garage said it was caused by a faulty radiator cap. Apparently the cap is more than just a simple lid, but also acts as a valve, releasing pressure when needed.

It's now fixed and seems to be working fine.

Gingerly approaching the still steaming Wrangler...

2,000DHs worth of broken plastic.

Duncan had a great stuck earlier on in the trip. As usual, the worse they look, the easier they often are. He just drove the Pathfinder down the dune, righting it in the process.

Helping Babu move the Wrangler onto the truck by the power of only one hand.

Why worry about getting stuck when this awesome team of desert geniuses is on hand... to get even more stuck than you.

Tuesday March 11, 2008

World's greatest columnist returns

If you happen to find yourself in an Emirates lounge, business or first class seat this month, you will enjoy reading an excellent column on page 24 of their excellent in-house magazine, Portfolio. Wit, style and general genius literally shine from the page.

Who could this potential Pulitzer Prize winning chap be?

The Poles are coming!

There's an interesting from the BBC about immigration to the UK, focusing on the area around Peterborough.

I like the comment from a certain Hema Patel, suggesting immigration should stop now. I can understand the sentiment, but I wonder how far she's looked back in terms of her own family's history?

Mrs Saul's mother works as a quality checker in a clothing company in Milton Keynes. Apparently most of their unqualified workforce is now Polish - they do a better job and are more reliable than the local British workforce.

I can't condone unemployed people getting paid benefits when they're surrounded by work - what I don't understand is why the local people interviewed in the article are still entitled to benefits when there is work to be done locally. I thought the rules were that you had to accept a job of some kind after a certain number of opportunities being offered, but maybe I'm wrong.

Immigration generally seems to be a good thing for Britain, but it's clear that little planning has been made with regards to with upgrading public services to cope - I have no idea how that can be handled. Tax revenue will be a long time coming in terms of allocating budgets to local government.

Hazard lights are not to be used in fog

I've been in Dubai for five and a half years. Five and a half years ago, whenever there was fog, people would drive along with their hazard lights on, seemingly oblivious to the fact that a mass of orange lights flashing around you, with no way of seeing whether a car is indicating to change lanes, would make the situation even more dangerous.

Drivers of the UAE - there's a reason that your hazard lights are called hazard lights and your fog lights are called fog lights. They serve two different purposes, hence their different names.

It seems that five and a half year later, most drivers still haven't cottoned on.

It is so blatantly obvious that driving in fog with your hazard lights on, as well as speeding in fog, is a stupid thing to do. All I ever read in the press is letters and comments from people reinforcing this message - I'd love to meet someone who actually thinks hazard lights in fog are a good idea and hear their explanation.

Ironically lots of drivers, particularly BMW drivers for some reason, seem to drive at night with their fog lights on, even when there isn't any fog. I get the impression that when there is fog they think they are switching their fog lights on, when they are actually switching them off.

I hope the current Dubai Police traffic education programmes are successful in eradicating this practice.

Monday March 10, 2008

Travelympics - definitely off the team

Despite a winning last minute sprint, I am definitely off Mike Belch's Travelympics Team.

My flight to Zagreb last week was cancelled and I was moved to another flight, losing my business class seat.

The flight to Bucharest went smoothly, but then disaster struck. After a couple of years using e-tickets, this trip was all on a paper ticket, which managed to get lost somewhere down the line despite my usual care and attention when it comes to these things. No problem, I thought, as I rocked up to catch my business class seated flight to Athens from Bucharest. Problems there were...

Although I was in the system, I couldn't get my seat without my slip of paper. Lots of 'discussions' later, it became clear the only way I'd get on the flight was if I bought a new ticket. I duly bought an economy seat, leaving my travel agent the task of getting a refund on the other seat. The comment from the airline rep was quite funny - 'don't worry sir, you can simply use that business class one again once you've found your ticket and need to fly from Bucharest to Athens again'. I can't see that happening in a long time.

In Athens I had to go to the Emirates office to get a new ticked issued. This was an e-ticket, which meant I could collect it at the airport - hooray! Paid E33 at the aiport as punishment for losing my ticket and was rewarded with a last minute sprint to the finish with an upgrade to business class.

How did people manage to navigate the world with paper tickets before? I dread to think how many people ended up stranded simply because a slip of paper got left behind in a hotel room or taken by mistake at the gate.

ps I have no idea why I had business class seats for two legs of this journey. Sun is resolutely economy only, unless you're lucky enough to get a free upgrade. We do get to keep our miles for our own use though.