March Tidbits

I know there are women's rights issues in the Middle East, but from what I've seen so far, they seem to have it pretty good. Many local women cover their faces, but it's a personal choice for most of them--it's not a Muslim requirement. Many of the women from other Muslim countries will keep their head covered with a scarf called a hijab.

Many places, government buildings, grocery stores, etc. have seperate lines for ladies. The ladies get the front rows on the buses.

They do alot of window tinting here. Like the USA, it's supposed to be limited to 25-30% shading...unless you are a Lady, and then you can go up to 75%. Consequently, everyone says the car is for a lady when they get the tinting done.

The expatriate women here dress much like they do at home. I see lots of legs and cleavage. No one harasses them--or at least no more than if they were at home.

We seem to be getting alot of sandstorms this spring--folks that have been here claim it's a little unusual. Sometimes the wind is from the east carrying sand in from the desert; other times it is blowing in from the water carrying sand all the way from Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Driving here has not been too much of a problem. Like any major city, you learn that you don't try to get on the highways during certain times of the day and you learn a few backroads--though it helps if you have 4 wheel drive. You do alot of U-turns here to get where you are going. They don't like for you to be turning across multiple lanes of traffic to get where you are going. I came across an intersection where I had to do that the other day and it felt really weird (of course, the next day their was a traffic light there). I also don't think you are supposed to turn right on red, though I have done it a couple times--after checking to see if there were cameras at the intersection. Running a red light will get your car impounded for 15 days--first offense. Now to help you avoid running a red light, they do have flashing Greens before the light turns yellow--I find I like this.

I did get a charge on my American Express for a speeding violation when I had my rental Yaris...650 dhms (just under $200). So far I have kept the Beast (Tundra) under control...no violations.

The drains in the apartment lead into pipes that also drain the main floor areas, so every now and then you start to get some odors wafting up from the floor drains. I bought a liquid to poor down the drain to 'fix'the odor--and now my drain is clogged. Drano hasn't worked yet, so I may have to go see if Ace Hardware has a snake...or a pipewrench (I'm a little short on tools).

Air Arabia is offering DXB controllers 2 familiarization trips a year. They fly out of Sharjah and cover the Middle East, Northern Africa, and India. Emirates also allows one trip a year, but exclude the US, UK and Australia/NZ. Still leaves some nice places to go. I'm headed to the states next week; but after that I plan to get out of the UAE every 3-4 weeks for a long weekend.

I have noticed a cultural oddity about the Indians (it's mostly Indian folks who do this--maybe some Pakistani or Sri Lankans, too) who live here. More than a few of them have no concept of waiting in a line. There will be a line 5-6 people deep and they will just step up behind the person at the counter. Usually a look will make them step back out of line and fall into place. I think it's more interesting or amusing than annoying. And I'm more than a little bit curious about how they come about that kind of mindset.

I went to a movie last week. "Finding Amanda" opened and it looked like it would be fun. So I went and it was ok; not sure how you have a movie about prostitutes and strippers in Las Vegas and not have any flesh showing--but they managed to do it. Perhaps it was edited out by the UAE censors. I know they do some censoring, especially te internet (dating sites, some religious sites, and obviously porn). I have also been watching an episode of 'Friends' and an obvious kissing scene is suddenly skipped over. On the other hand, I was sitting in the food court at Festival City this week and on the big screen tv's they are showing some show where to gangs were shooting at each other with bullets, blood, and body parts flying everywhere--the kids were enthralled. I have also seen the unedited (not TBS) episodes of Sex in the City

Back to Findng Amanda. It was a new release in Dubai. I looked it up on IMDB when I got home. It went straight to DVD in 2007 in the USA; ok, not straight to DVD, it does show it made $52,000 at the box office. From now on, I will be checking before I go see something. I noticed in the paper today 'The Rocker'is starting--I saw that last year in Columbus.

On the flip side--Slumdog Millionaire opened here before it did in the USA and so did the last James Bond movie.

When I'm working, I get to clear aircraft to Cairo and Vienna...sometimes I use the Georgia pronunciation. ;)

Mike Mike would wet himself

I finally completed my training at Dubai Tower last week. Mandatory 40 days (4 hrs per day training). Add to the 40 days, other training courses, somedays where you only get 1-2 hours of training, and all the time off we get on our days off and between shifts and it takes awhile to get thru this training program.

My old Supervisor (Iron Mike) used to give legendary check rides that would last multiple shifts, included lots of questions and what if's, and was very thorough. If Mike Mike certified you, you knew your stuff and you were ready. His newly certified controllers almost never got themselves in trouble. Well, he has nothing on these guys when it comes to checking out.

First of all there is 2 days of check rides (4 hrs a day). The grading document includes phaseology (or R/T -- radio/telephony), adherence to procedures and ICAO/Dubai Tower rules, coordination, and of course safe, expeditious movement of aircraft. You are allowed 4 minor errors and Zero major errors; and major errors do not have to have anything to do with actually separating planes--it can be having a strip in the wrong bay. If you leave clear someone to land and there is a strip still in your runway bay for an airplane that is already clear of your runway--it's still a Major error. There is also a thorough equipment demonstration exam. There is an Oral exam dealing with many unusual situations--about 20 questions. And there is a 50 question written exam.

Finally there is one more Validation day, with another instructor--usually a training staff specialist. Another 4 hours on position; more Oral questions...and then you are thru. And you get a nice certificate suitable for framing.

Dubai is an interesting place to work and you have to stay on your toes. There are so many pilots who speak English as a second language or barely at all. It takes a few months to develope an ear and catch the key information. You have the same problem with alot of the vehicles on the airport--many heavy accents that are hard to pick up. And there is such a variety of vehicles...Fire, Electrical, Works, Honeywell, Airside, Ops, Safety, and Control (that's ATC...yes, I can go drive around the airport). And even after 4 months working here, I still see new callsigns everyday. I won't even go into all the destinations.

I have seen aircraft do some crazy stuff and you wonder what instructions they think they heard? Of course, we also have many controllers who are not native English speakers...Danes, Swiss, Norwegian, plus the local Emaratis. Even some of the English speakers are hard to understand when their accents get heavy.

I see room for improvement and change, but it will be a slow process. It would be nice to de-complicate things (Eg., At ATL we had two levels of alert for Fire and Rescue services...Standby Alerts and Crash Alerts. In Dubai, we have about 7). Unlike the USA where the FAA is the end all as employer, regulator, and enforcer; Dubai has Gulf Communities Aviation Administration (GCAA), Dubai Air Navigation Services, and Serco, so getting anything done is a cumbersome process. Things are also done in a reactionary mode also, and are difficult to undo once in place for the same reasons.

(As a little side note, I do get the impression that there are alot of people (ICAO) who look at the FAA with a jaundiced eye due to it's dual role as providor and regulator. They see it as a conflict of interest--and it probably is, though in actual practice it is departmentalized and doesn't really work that way. Still, we are kind of looked at as ATC Cowboys...lol).

If you don't pay attention, this place will bite you. But so far, I like it alot. And yes, I had to throw a check-out party...I'm still in recovery.

Dubai Thunderstorm

It's been a couple months, but we finally got some rain last night. In fact, we downright got hammered by a good ol thunderstorm. I was at a restaurant, sitting on the terrace when the plough winds hit and sent menus flying and plates crashing. Papers say they had 60+ knot gusts at the airport. Lots of rain, street flooding (since there are virtually no sewers), and traffic accidents. I wasn't driving, but I'm sure the roads were slick after no rain in such a long time. I guess, as a matter of full disclosure, I should mention that I also washed my truck 2 days ago...I take full responsibility for the rain.

Now, the day after, the temps have dropped to near 70F and apparently I'm getting Dubaified since I'm wearing jeans and a long sleeve T-shirt to stay warm.

Dubai Bike Week

Dubai has beaches, acres of desert, a few large parks, so naturally when this year's Dubai Bike Week came around--they held it a mall. Actually, in the contruction parking lot of Festival City Mall. They had 2 stages set up (Deep Purple was the feature act Friday night), 3 exhibition buildings (tents), and a stunt area. There were also food, beverages,sheisha pipes, and lots of bikes. Next year, I hope to attend on my own bike.

Art Dubai

This past weekend I took in Art Dubai at the Mindanet Jumeirah (a shopping, dining, hotel, convention center complex). I was very impressed. They filled 2 large halls and part of a parking garage with exhibits.

There were artists represented from all over Asia, Europe, and Africa. Many of the Middle Eastern artists liked to incorporate Arabic writings and script into their works. It is a very aesthetic font.

The other medium that seems to be coming into vogue is using computer and video projection on canvas to enhance a story or experience. It was interesting to see an abstract canvas, which could stand alone as a work of art, become a burning forest or simple raindrops falling in a puddle.

Most of the art was for sale...and well-clear of my price range.

My Neighborhood was on TV

Almost Free Passport Photos

Don't pay an arm and a leg for passport photos. Just go to www.ePassportPhoto.com and get free, compliant passport photos for over 60 countries
Thought I would put in a plug for a product that really works. If you need passport photos and you have a digital photo of yourself (or can take one), this site will save you a few bucks. I did mine on here for my passport last year and for all the photos I needed for moving to Dubai. I downloaded the finished product from www.epassportphoto.com (FREE!) and had them printed at Walmart ($1.50). Voila! 30 passport quality photos...and I looked good, too!

Stole this from my brother's blog...enjoy

Some of this is still true in Dubai...but still an amazing place

HSBC Update

I mentioned in an earlier blog that my Dubai bank, HSBC, continues to confound me. I was just trying to set up a monthly wire transfer to my US bank--15k aed per month. Well, it didn't process in December and in January 30k was wired. I was hoping they just had both months combined together and it would all sort itself out in February.

This week I got a text from HSBC saying that 15k had been transferred! Woohoo! Victory!!!

Two days later, I got another text saying 30k had been transferred. AHHHHHHGGGGHHH!!!

So, I made a trip into Deira to the HSBC main branch and sat down with my banker, Zania, and explained what was going on. She stared at my account on the computer for a few mins. I think she was a bit embarrassed that things had gotten so screwed up. But she said she would get it fixed. She asked me if I wanted to reverse the 30k wire and I told her 'no''; which she said was good, because she didn't think it could be done...smile :)

She called me yesterday and said that it is fixed...so stay tuned til the end of March to see. If they ship another 45k (or who knows, 60k, 75k?) I will be broke on this side of the planet and probably in jail for transferring more than I have in my account.

As a side note, there is a Super14s rugby team called the New South Wales Wartahs, based in Sydney (photo above). They are now 4-0 and I despise them because they have HSBC emblazoned on their chests! They play my Brumbies (2-1) next Friday....boooo Wartahs! booo HSBC!