Saturday, July 28, 2007

Finally figured it out!

I finally figured out how to add links to my posts again....It was simply a question of changing browsers...I was using Safari, and I've now switched to Firefox, and that seems to have solved the problem. Woohoo!

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Home...sick...

I'm at home...Took the day off today. I've been battling a stupid cold for the past couple of days now. It started over the weekend and just kept getting worse. And although I am not dying and could technically have gone to work today, I decided to take the day off and rest a bit.

I could so get used to this!

I'm still checking my work e-mail once in a while to make sure there are no major disasters, but I also have the TV on, I'm logged into Facebook and I am browsing some blogs...And I've just rented a movie which I plan to start very soon.

I don't usually take sick days. As a matter of fact, over the past 2 and a half years here in Dubai, I've only taken one other sick day. I always feel bad taking days off because that means dumping work on other people, and it also means that a lot of work gets put on hold because I'm not there to move things along...

But this morning, as I woke up feeling like crap, and feeling like I needed another 3 hours of sleep (which I ended up having by the way), I decided that it would not be the end of the world if I took the day off, and that I am not indispensable at work, and that companies have sick day policies for a reason, and that sick days are meant to be taken when someone is sick, and that I don't have to be dying in order to take advantage of a sick day, and that I really needed to rest in order to be able to get rid of this damn cold because I don't want to be stuck at home this weekend.

Okay...better go start that movie now...:)

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

OK...really, I'm still here...

Yeah it's been a while. It seems like every single one of my posts lately starts with "I know I've been gone for a while", or "I've neglected this blog" or "It's been too long since my last post". But I'm here....

And no, I don't have an excuse for not posting. I've just been...distracted lately. Work is busy as ever, but I just don't have the energy anymore...I feel like I'm kinda neglecting work lately. But I'll attribute that to some internal changes at the office, and to the fact that I am just drained. Right now, the only thing that's keeping me going is my holiday, which is happening exactly a month from now. Woohoo!

I've been reading a bit more, which is a good thing. Spending more time with friends, which is also a good thing.



I've watched a couple of interesting movies, one of which is Fast Food Nation, which, once you watch it, will turn you off fast food for good! (I still can't figure out how to add links to my posts using a Mac...!!!)

Anyway, I haven't had a burger since I watched that movie. Really. The movie is loosely based on a book by Eric Schlosser. It features Greg Kinnear, Wilmer Valderrama (Fez from That 70's show) and Bruce Willis among others, and follows the investigation of the marketing manager of a ficticious fast food chain, trying to pinpoint why traces of feces were recently found in their burgers. In parallel, we follow another story of Mexican immigrants entering the US illegally to work and make a better living...and how they get exploited by the managers of a meat packing company producing meat for the ficticious burger chain.

Directed by Richard Linklater who also directed Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, the movie was so graphic at some points that I simply could not watch...and I still wonder how he got the footage in the meat packing plant.


Otherwise, I've also been watching Planet Earth, a documentary narrated by Sir David Attenborough. It's one of the best documentaries I've ever seen in my life. The footage that was captured is simply breathtaking, and makes you discover places and species you would never even knew existed otherwise (an American version narrated by Sigourney Weaver also exists). Words can't really do justice to this one-of-a-kind documentary...its definitey a must-see for everyone and anyone, and it'll make you fall in love with our planet.

OK..I'll leave some stuff for the next post....:) I'll be back soon....

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Question

How does one add links to posts using a Mac? 

I've recently become the proud owner of a Mac after the sad demise of my old laptop. So far so good, but I can't figure out the link thing (CTRL+SHIFT+A doesn't work with Mac). So I'm asking for the help of other Mac users out there....Any tips?

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

My Salik day

I woke up this morning dreading the traffic on my way to work. I debated whether I should take an alternate route through the Lakes. It's a longer road but would probably take less time and cause less stress.

But as I got out of my underground parking, I quickly scanned the roads and noticed that there did not seem to be any unusual traffic activity. So I opted to take my usual route, and got to work in 10 minutes. Weird.

The drive home was not bad at all either. I left work at 7:30PM and got home around 15 minutes later. I decided to go buy my Salik tag since I have to cross the Barsha toll gate tomorrow for a client meeting...and it was about time I got it anyway. I can't ignore Salik much longer.

So I head to the Eppco station next to my house, and they tell me that they do not have any tags left. Apparently they've been asking for new tags for a few days now, but they haven't received any.

Fine. So I head to another Eppco station across the road, and they do not have any either. Great!

I decide to drive down the beach road, in search of the next petrol station. I find another small Eppco station, and I'm convinced that they do not have any Salik tags. But they do. Success! Or so I thought. They needed a copy of my car registration card, which I had (for once, I had done my homework!). But apparently they needed a photocopy of the front AND back. Crappola! They do not have a photocopy machine, so I decide to u-turn to try the station across the street.

There were two stations on the other side of the street. The first one had Salik tags but no photocopy machine. The second one has tags AND a photocopy machine. Five petrol stations later, my quest for Salik was finally succesful! And you know what? They did not need a copy of the back of my registration card...

Monday, July 02, 2007

I'm worried...

I've been out of the country for a few days and came back today to news of Salik disasters from many friends and colleagues.

Having driven straight from Abu Dhabi to work this morning, I did not really experience the wrath of Salik. But apparently, the past couple of days have been disastrous for people leaving the Greens to get to anywhere! Just as I had predicted, the Greens exit being the last free exit before the Barsha toll gate, it's now become the place where traffic chaos reigns. A colleague told me it took her 50 minutes to get to Media City from the Greens yesterday.

Apparently, al Sufouh road, which was a blessing (because it took me between 7-10 minutes to get to work) has now become a scene of bumper-to-bumper mess.

The way home is not any better, with al Sufouh jam-packed again. I got my own taste of the Salik medicine this evening. I left work at 7:20 from Media City, and got home around 25 minutes later. Not so bad, some of you may think...well, it used to take me 10 minutes pre-Salik, and I would never ever get stuck in traffic on al Sufouh past 7PM.

I would like to take a minute to thank Emirates News on Dubai One, for providing me with a good 10 minutes of comic relief this evening. According to them, life is rosy again in Dubai thanks to Salik. The only news they reported was that it took people half the time to get from Sharjah into Dubai, and that Sheikh Zayed road was clear most of the day today. They also interviewed a few people who did nothing but praise the arrival of Salik.

Hmm...is that really the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? I doubt.

Incidentally, Emirates News is now at 8:30PM instead of 7:30PM. Is it because they wanted to give people more time to get home from work now that Salik is in place?