Apocalypto

This is one of the better movies I've seen in a while. It's a great adventure that brings your emotions along for a ride while you sit on the edge of your seat. It's not a family movie because of the violence but it is still very good. Two thumbs up.

Glad to be Home

To Skate or Not to Skate

Happy Birthday Grandma

The Scourge of Dubai: Traffic

It's estimated that 15-25% of the worlds cranes are in Dubai. It's a city of traffic and construction.

Al Ain, UAE

Yesterday we visited some old friends who live in Al Ain and hit the links. Unfortunately for me, I hit two more links than my friend did.

I Jumped the Fence and Yelled to the House; 'Hey, What Gives you the Right?'

I love looking at the signs in this place, they are very... interesting.

Contrasts

You have all the extremes here and no one seems to be bothered by the other.


Male Emirati National -->






The European --->
^Female Emiratis Nationals

Burj al-Arab

The Burj al-Arab hotel in Dubai is the tallest hotel in the world. The hotel has been given a 7-star rating and all rooms come with a personal butler... There is a $50 charge just to walk in the door... To secure the foundation, the builders drove 230 40-meter long concrete piles into the sand. The foundation is held in place not by bedrock, but by the friction of the sand and silt along the length of the piles. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burj_al_arab



We also beached on the Persian Gulf today.

New Federal Appointments

The Arabian Desert

The haze you see in the photos is not smog, it's sand. It was just like snow as it drifted across the road.

The Palm Jumeirah

We saw the world famous Jumeirah Palm today. They dropped rocks and sand and dirt in the form of a palm tree just of the coast here. We drove out on the "trunk" but we had to turn around since the thing is still in construction. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_Jumeirah

Skiing in the Desert

Dubai has built an indoor ski slope that has good snow and is not bad... for the desert. You can see what the top of the hill looks like as it sticks out the top of the mall in the photo. I spent two hours skiing and snowboarding today that was quite fun. The rest of the Normals also went sledding and played in the snow together. We haven't experienced these temperatures in years.


The temperature inside is 23° F, and outside normal temperatures in the summer are 104° F.
3,500 barrels of oil are consumed every day by power generators to maintain the low temperatures according to its website.

Christmas in the Middle East

Everyone loves Christmas.

Dasher, Prancer, Donner and Ramses

I love the contrasts in this place.

Go Around Mary!

It's Time for Teletubbies

Casper the Friendliest Ghost in the Middle East

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Smog and humidity hovered over the Emirates Towers, Sheikh Zayeed Road and Dubai Creek as we flew in on our magic carpet.

http://www.escapeartist.com/efam/47/City_of_Dubai.html

December Temperatures

Finally it's become pleasant.
At 2:02 AM this morning it was
81 degrees outside,
83 degrees inside,
81 % humidity (it has been raining lately)

City Views

We live on a peninsula.

The Stockings were Hung by the Air Conditioner with Care...