Earth Hour

Earth Hour is happening all over the world on Saturday the 29th of March at 8PM. Cities across the world will turn off their lights for just one hour – Earth Hour – to show that it’s possible to take action on global warming. Switching off is a simple action that can make a difference and it sends a powerful message that the people of the world care about the future of the planet.

Dubai is the first Arab city to embrace Earth Hour, it joined 24 other major cities who are committing to this event.

It all started in Sydney last year, when the WWF, in partnership with the Sydney Herald, managed to get the whole city rallied around this symbolic event. Check out the video here, it's truly inspiring:





Next Saturday, anyone can make a difference by following a few simple steps:

1. Sign up to Earth Hour by visiting www.earthhour.org and commit to turning off your lights on March 29 from 8pm to 9pm. We will send you all the information you need to make Earth Hour happen at home and at work (and to cut your energy bills in the long term). It’s free to take part.

2. Take appliances off standby; unplug any appliances – mobile phone charger, TV, microwave, MP3 player, computer monitor, printer – that are not being used and are on standby. Appliances left on standby account for up to 10% of the average household’s electricity use.

3. Spread the word about Earth Hour and involve your friends, family and workmates. Get them to make the commitment at www.earthhour.org to turn off their lights at 8pm on Saturday March 29, 2008.

For more information, visit www.earthhour.org. Organizations who are willing to take part can also register their company and receive a free corporate communication pack with suggestions on how to get their employees involved.

Blogger blocked?

I haven't been able to access Blogger or any blogspot websites for the past few days. I live in the Greens and I heard that Blogger's been blocked in all free zone areas.

I am now in Abu Dhabi which is why I've been able to access it from here.

Does anyone know why that is?

Carnage

This scares the shit out of me because it could have been me...or one of my friends or family members.

I drive that road practically every Sunday morning as I head back from Abu Dhabi to Dubai, and this Sunday the fog was bad. As bad as I've ever seen it. The road was OK until I halfway between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, which is where what can only be described as a wall of fog appeared in front of me. Visibility was close to non-existent. Really bad.

Some drivers felt the need to put their hazard lights on, while others decided that no lights was a better option.

Today's accident is simply horrible. No other words to describe it. Pure carnage.

Leave our islands alone!

We've been going to the Abu Dhabi islands for as long as I can remember. Every since we were very young, we've been going to Bahrani island (or to Peanut Island, or some other small island around Abu Dhabi) to spend a day or fun in the sun, or for an overnight camping trip.

This weekend we spent an afternoon on Bahrani, but on the way there, I noticed that many islands had a "no trespassing allowed" sign on them...While others were littered with construction machinery. Some islands already have some private resorts built on them.

Is this going to be the trend from now on? Will there be no more islands for us to go to? Will the real estate sharks destroy the natural beauty of our islands?

I hope not! A day on one of these islands is simply breathtaking...The wind, the sun, the perfect white sands and beautiful blue beaches are simply priceless. I still want to be able to spend a fun day on our islands 5, 10 or 15 years from now.

Save our islands!

Horoscope recycling

7Days seems to have run out of material to write about in their horoscope section. The below pictures were forwarded by a friend of mine. December 9th and March 2nd are apparently the same when it comes to your Zodiac outlook...Well spotted!

Well, at least we now know for a fact that horoscopes are just a bunch of bull!

Tough measures

On March 1st, the UAE is implementing tougher laws when it comes to reckless driving.

According to this article:

On March 1, the new Unified Federal Traffic Law comes into effect putting in place hefty penalties for serious traffic offences as well as black points against the licence of the driver.

Basically, drivers will start earning "black points" whenever they break the law, with a maximum of 24 black points incurred in a year.

It's about time something like this was implemented, especially given the fact that 1,056 people died in 2007 alone due to wreckless driving. That's practically 3 deaths a day! Waaaaay too many lives lost!

Setting up rules and regulations is great, but the real question is, will these be enforced? I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Can I come back?

I know that back in September I had declared this blog defunct, but every once in a while, I experience something or do something that makes me think "hmm...this would have been a great story to blog about"...

And so, being the indecisive Sagittarian that I am, I've decided to get back to blogging. For several reasons:

1) I actually miss it
2) Writing about certain things is actually cathartic
3) I've realised that I do not necessarily need to post every day of the week....and that people who are interested in this blog will still come back and read it whether I write 4 times a day or 4 times a month.
4) I still get e-mails from people who have come across my older posts, asking me questions about anything from living in Dubai to how they can meet Sheikh Mo (this is not a lie...I promise!)
5) It's my blog, and I can do whatever I want with it :)

So, let's just call the past 5 months a blog sabbatical... I'm now ready to resume my blogging career once again. I am back!

The End.

I have thought long and hard about this. It was not a spur of the moment decision. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am the most indecisive person on earth, and that I tend to over-analyze things.

Which is why I am very confident about the decision I've taken to officially declare this as my last post on this blog.

I don't know when or how it happened, but I've simply lost all interest in blogging...A bit like falling out of love I guess. The frequency (or lack thereof) of my posts recently must have been indication that I was just not that into it anymore.

Over the past 2 years, 338 posts, and almost 50,000 visitors, I've met a lot of interesting people...some virtually, others in person... I've been able to vent my frustrations, share my surprises...and almost anything else I found to be interesting.

I'm still an avid reader of many blogs and I'll keep reading them...I may decide to come back to share a few tidbits here and there, but my posts definitely won't be regular.

So, this is it...

Thank your for reading me...thank you for commenting...thank you for bearing with my ranting and raving...I'll still be reading any comments that may come through on my previous posts, and I will keep checking my blog e-mail once in a while: dubaisunshine@hotmail.com



"When you part from your friend, you grieve not;
For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain."

The Prophet - Khalil Gibran

Occupation 101

This documentary is a must-see.

It discusses the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, starting with the rise of zionism, all the way up to the current situation in the Gaza strip and the West Bank. And it's definitely an eye-opener when it comes to the amount of money the US dedicates to the support of Israel.

Special thanks to my sis for sending me the link to this.

Random thoughts....

I know I've probably discussed this subject to death, but I still don't understand this whole public holidays system here.

Israa wal Mi3raj is today. Some of our clients had the day off yesterday. Some will have the day off on Sunday. The government sector will not have any days off apparently, so it's weird in this case that the private sector has been given some days off. My company has not given us any days off, which sucks! I could have really used a long weekend!

On another note, I keep getting this message on my cell phone from "HHIE Survey" which says the following:

Determining the minimum wage limit and securing a satisfactory standard of living are major goals of the Expenditure and Income Survey.

Okay.....Umm...3 things:
1) What does that mean?
2) What am I supposed to do with this message
and 3) Why have I received this SAME message over 5 times now?

And finally, my vacation is now 14 days away. I can't WAIT! I can't wait to be away from Dubai and Abu Dhabi, I can't wait to be away from the heat, and I can't wait to be away from work.