The world is right again, for the time being!
Jack is out of Sharja Central Jail and he and Betty probably back in UK by now! The newspaper 7Days collected nearly 30,000 dirhams and two private business men as well as a large security firm, donated the rest, to pay the debts still outstanding for the older couple. It's amazing what people can do in collaboration and by standing together to help others.
Also checked out, of her 5-star accommodation, is the large whale shark in Atlantis Aquarium. Under cover of darkness, the 4.5 meter shark was lured into a large bag - like a goldfish - and lifted by crane out of the ceiling - out over the roof and then trucked over to the east end of the Palm where she was released at dawn. It's either a happy ending or a conspiracy, with some people thinking she actually died in captivity. The marine sciences VP, Steve Kaiser, said they have pictures and video, of the whole release operation - but "he doesn't release photos, he releases animals"!! Well paid for that comment I'm sure!
Apparently she is tagged with a tracking device and for 90 days they will follow her passage to freedom. We all hope the truth prevails and that she really is safe and free. WHile captive since 2008 when fishermen found her sick of a "heat stroke" off Jebel Ali, she has fared well in captivity and grew 60 cm while in the tank. Now hopefully she can join her sister whale sharks and roam the Earth's oceans.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
What a day for daybreak!
It is always such a treat when we can manage to get on the boat, and the boat actually starts, and the weather is accommodating! The last two weekends offered just that. Out with friends Steve, Katie, Ian and Claire - and family....for an active, sun and fun filled morning of aqua exercises!
Aidan's girlfriend, Courtney - and her family, joined us the 3rd weekend, so it really has been an active and social agenda! Lots of wakeboarding, wake surfing, swimming and lounging! As cynical as we are getting here due to the crazy local rules and illogical system - this is really a good life and we are truly fortunate to be able to enjoy our weekends like this. Aidan is off soon and then we won't be able to hang like this with him for a while (sniff)!
Friday, March 19, 2010
A Day at the ......
A day at the..... Tennis Match
How Dubai manages to attract so many sports names and events is beyond me, but usually in the "winter months" we get busy with days out at concerts, sports, races, exhibitions etc. This winter has been no exception. Wake Stock was probably the highlight for Aric and the boys, when they went to Abu Dhabi to see the world's top wake board performers do 360 tricks. I've managed to clear the wake without wiping out and now practising my "jumps" (think I got 3 inches above the wake last weekend)!!
It's fantastic when your friends give you tickets to the Tennis Finals and you expect to see Venus, Andrew Murray, Roger Federer - only when you finally get to the day of the playoffs, everyone famous has lost out and you have to watch people you don't know. We went with our colleague Vince and his wife Sarah, and ended up seeing some Serbian and Russian players....got rained out and never watched the final set. The highlight was the blowdrying and sweeping of the courts - and the Royal gazing, Sheikh Hamdan and his entourage in dish-dash sitting under a huge cover!
A day at the....Races and Sting
Five times the size of Ascot; huge hotel, lighting that can be seen from space and yet no betting! It was probably the most we have ever spent on race entry/concert ticket combo, at $275 each we expected the red carpet, a spot in front of the stage and decent food/drinks. Of course in Dubai, the more you pay, the further away from the stage you get to sit! Meydan race course has missed the trick. In a shape of a falcon, the giant structure somehow just doesn't impress.
Everyone got an arm-band coded according to ticket price paid, and pink didn't seem to get you in anywhere but the toilet...Aric and I wandered around and thought we could take in the over-the-top place. Can we see the hotel? "NO". Restaurants? "No, not unless you belong to the Dubai race club". Hmmnn, the winner's circle? "Are you kidding me, you infidels !- you cannot get close to the Sheikh's race horses!!" -- Can we see Sting? "Yas, from 1200 feet away, you may stand in the small sectioned off area but no lewd dancing or swaying of the hips!!"
Thank God for good friends....we did our own secret betting among the group and I won 35 dirhams when my stunning long-legged number 13 came in first - from behind the field in 750 meters he glided right up to the front. Amazing! That bought me a glass of red wine at the make shift kabab and hot dog stand we were allowed to walk to! To think I had to hussle my way to a drink! Sting came on after the last race, plus another hour of waiting, and the people who only paid 150 dirhams for their ticket ($70) got to stand right in front of the stage. Yes there is such logic to Dubai! On March 27th the race season closes with Elton John, Santana, lots of women in hats, and we have spoken to several people who say "no way, it's just a sterile corporate place built to impress....don't know who!"
A Day at..... Paulo
Our crazy Scottish friends, Fiona and Angus, had tickets for us well in advance. This concert was in Irish Village (the only place in Dubai who actually employs waiters from the country represented, i.e. Ireland in this case). Normally the place rocks with Guiness, big screen TVs and football games. As it is outside, the duck-pond is especially a serene sight while Irish drunks stumble around (no disrespect to any Irish reading this ;-). This particular evening, the organizers covered the pond and we stood on top of the boards. I do hope the ducks got out before they covered it. What a concert.....a third of the price and 50 feet from the stage, we had such a blast. The music was fantastic!
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
You have the right to remain ... in jail!
The 7am wake-up call never came! Hazy from a bad night sleep, I stumbled out of bed and realized I had 20 minutes to get ready, before my driver was picking me up. My skin still had the bed sheet imprints, a very creative pattern in fact, across arms, shoulders and chest. Back in Nigeria once more – this time I did get the Yellow Fever vaccine, because I just didn't have the stamina to argue with the "health officials". The vaccine is hard to come by in Dubai. Only very few hospitals have stock…better hope a Yellow Fever epidemic won’t break out there!
But this story is not about me, nor Nigeria, much as I want to complain again about the dysfunctional and inefficient immigration process in Lagos!
This story is about Jack and Betty. It could have been about the babies who have recently been left, abandoned, in various places around the Emirates – babies probably born out of wedlock or as a result of rape – but there is not much to tell about them. The mothers are terrified of risking jail, as it is illegal to have sex when unmarried, so they cannot keep their babies out of fear of being arrested. It is, sadly, just one of many untold stories from a Muslim region which cannot deal with reality of a warped set of rules. There will be a blog about this some other day.
No, this story is about an elderly British couple in their late 70’s, who, after 20 years can no longer legally work in Dubai (max age is 74); who now wants to return to England to live out their remaining years with their children and grand kids. A lifetime of personal memories and material things would turn out to be too expensive to ship; the rate for a container too much for Jack and Betty. The container was packed but the quote came in at nearly $8000. So Betty decided to review their items and sort through the furniture to keep or sell, so the quote would be less. But before she could do this, the container was erroneously shipped and now on its way towards England; the bill payable for the full amount. The couple tried to settle the bill in instalments. Apparently that didn’t work out.
Unfortunately, debt is the worst thing to have in this sandbox. Once a company is owed money and they try to collect, a chain of events is set into motion and very quickly a situation that appears manageable, can spiral out of control. That’s how Jack found himself in jail for a month. Once you have unpaid debts, your bank accounts and assets are frozen, (which makes no sense as you’re trying to pay your bills), so unable to get immediate help from their children back in the UK, Jack and Betty desperately tried to rectify the problem. But in the Emirates, you are guilty until proven innocent and it doesn’t matter what the nature of the crime or problem. Often, as we learned when Hunter’s bicycle was stolen, it is the victim who quickly becomes the perpetrator, in a set of circumstances where logic is turned up side down.
Unfortunately for Jack, the process of collection had begun, not with warning calls or letters, but with the worst outcome first – jail for 30 days, which quickly was increased to 90 days when he couldn’t pay their rent, because….their bank account is frozen!
So when Jack is done serving his sentence March 17, for “non-payment” of shipping charges, in the notorious Central Jail; he can start his next sentence for the rent non-payment, and so forth and so on. There is also an un-paid rental car bill which can’t be settled as the bank account is frozen.
We first heard about Jack and Betty in our radical “push the envelope” daily newspaper called 7Days. We love 7Days – they go straight to the edge of censorship and while they remain factual, they really question and highlight the idiotic system here, just barely avoiding getting their reporters in trouble. Kind of like me and blog….
As you might expect, hundreds of letters poured in, in support of the couple, from people including myself, with offers to help Betty with housing, shopping, legal help etc. Because their bank accounts were frozen, she could not shop for food, and has been forced to stay in a small apartment until this is sorted. The lead reporter responded to each of us, that the Newspaper staff was also looking into helping and were in contact with Betty here and the children in the UK.
Always a curious soul, in my letter to the Editor, I questioned why the couple’s 3 children weren’t assisting, let alone flying to Dubai immediately after Jack was jailed. I mean, there is no way Aric and I would ever leave Tom in jail….well maybe one night, but that would only be because Tom wouldn’t bail Aric out of jail in college!! We certainly wouldn’t leave him in there for more than 2, max 3 days ;-)
The reporter told me the kids don’t have enough money to pay for the shipping container charges. They could only manage to pool money for two airline tickets for Jack and Betty’s return. Well it’s none of our business, but your mom and dad are stuck, with dad in a hot, humid – no A/C - jail normally frequented by …let’s say a high concentration of Arab’s, Indians, Bangladeshi and Pakistanis….all charged with a variety of crimes from theft, rape, fraud, unpaid tolls, people trafficking, murder and illegal consumption of alcohol. Just where you want to place a 78 year old, British, grandpa. No prison break here!
To make matters worse, Jack fell from the van on his way to prison and seriously injured his back. It took guards 10 days to get a doctor. Despite this he has only just been given a bed in his crowded, filthy cell.
With the newspaper’s help, a bank account has been set up in Betty’s name for donations; last we checked, they now have 25,000 Dirhams (nearly enough to settle the shipping charges). This is not the end of the problem though. The government has to realize that changes to the law and procedures must happen, in order for growth and prosperity to happen. Is it any wonder that people who leave Dubai, sneak away and leave their cars and belongings behind, rather than risking jail for months?
But this story is not about me, nor Nigeria, much as I want to complain again about the dysfunctional and inefficient immigration process in Lagos!
This story is about Jack and Betty. It could have been about the babies who have recently been left, abandoned, in various places around the Emirates – babies probably born out of wedlock or as a result of rape – but there is not much to tell about them. The mothers are terrified of risking jail, as it is illegal to have sex when unmarried, so they cannot keep their babies out of fear of being arrested. It is, sadly, just one of many untold stories from a Muslim region which cannot deal with reality of a warped set of rules. There will be a blog about this some other day.
No, this story is about an elderly British couple in their late 70’s, who, after 20 years can no longer legally work in Dubai (max age is 74); who now wants to return to England to live out their remaining years with their children and grand kids. A lifetime of personal memories and material things would turn out to be too expensive to ship; the rate for a container too much for Jack and Betty. The container was packed but the quote came in at nearly $8000. So Betty decided to review their items and sort through the furniture to keep or sell, so the quote would be less. But before she could do this, the container was erroneously shipped and now on its way towards England; the bill payable for the full amount. The couple tried to settle the bill in instalments. Apparently that didn’t work out.
Unfortunately, debt is the worst thing to have in this sandbox. Once a company is owed money and they try to collect, a chain of events is set into motion and very quickly a situation that appears manageable, can spiral out of control. That’s how Jack found himself in jail for a month. Once you have unpaid debts, your bank accounts and assets are frozen, (which makes no sense as you’re trying to pay your bills), so unable to get immediate help from their children back in the UK, Jack and Betty desperately tried to rectify the problem. But in the Emirates, you are guilty until proven innocent and it doesn’t matter what the nature of the crime or problem. Often, as we learned when Hunter’s bicycle was stolen, it is the victim who quickly becomes the perpetrator, in a set of circumstances where logic is turned up side down.
Unfortunately for Jack, the process of collection had begun, not with warning calls or letters, but with the worst outcome first – jail for 30 days, which quickly was increased to 90 days when he couldn’t pay their rent, because….their bank account is frozen!
So when Jack is done serving his sentence March 17, for “non-payment” of shipping charges, in the notorious Central Jail; he can start his next sentence for the rent non-payment, and so forth and so on. There is also an un-paid rental car bill which can’t be settled as the bank account is frozen.
We first heard about Jack and Betty in our radical “push the envelope” daily newspaper called 7Days. We love 7Days – they go straight to the edge of censorship and while they remain factual, they really question and highlight the idiotic system here, just barely avoiding getting their reporters in trouble. Kind of like me and blog….
As you might expect, hundreds of letters poured in, in support of the couple, from people including myself, with offers to help Betty with housing, shopping, legal help etc. Because their bank accounts were frozen, she could not shop for food, and has been forced to stay in a small apartment until this is sorted. The lead reporter responded to each of us, that the Newspaper staff was also looking into helping and were in contact with Betty here and the children in the UK.
Always a curious soul, in my letter to the Editor, I questioned why the couple’s 3 children weren’t assisting, let alone flying to Dubai immediately after Jack was jailed. I mean, there is no way Aric and I would ever leave Tom in jail….well maybe one night, but that would only be because Tom wouldn’t bail Aric out of jail in college!! We certainly wouldn’t leave him in there for more than 2, max 3 days ;-)
The reporter told me the kids don’t have enough money to pay for the shipping container charges. They could only manage to pool money for two airline tickets for Jack and Betty’s return. Well it’s none of our business, but your mom and dad are stuck, with dad in a hot, humid – no A/C - jail normally frequented by …let’s say a high concentration of Arab’s, Indians, Bangladeshi and Pakistanis….all charged with a variety of crimes from theft, rape, fraud, unpaid tolls, people trafficking, murder and illegal consumption of alcohol. Just where you want to place a 78 year old, British, grandpa. No prison break here!
To make matters worse, Jack fell from the van on his way to prison and seriously injured his back. It took guards 10 days to get a doctor. Despite this he has only just been given a bed in his crowded, filthy cell.
With the newspaper’s help, a bank account has been set up in Betty’s name for donations; last we checked, they now have 25,000 Dirhams (nearly enough to settle the shipping charges). This is not the end of the problem though. The government has to realize that changes to the law and procedures must happen, in order for growth and prosperity to happen. Is it any wonder that people who leave Dubai, sneak away and leave their cars and belongings behind, rather than risking jail for months?
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Our first harvest
On the way to self sustainability, we harvested our first Radish last week and today 3 more were added to the batch of Ault vegies. All completely ORGANIC we're proud to say!
The Mint is taking over, so I must apply some crop control measures -- will probably start giving small packages away to the neighbors and friends soon.
There is some lettuce (and I can't remember which one....a Filipino friend gave me some seeds - could be the Bok Choi) which also is going gangbusters and we can't have the Asian herbs take over the developed mainstream crops! My Eggplant is slow to show signs of maturity, but the cherry tomatoes are 40cm tall now, so soon to bloom I'm certain! Sadly only 2 out of the 10 sunflowers I planted have made it above surface. I think the birds are getting the seeds so I'm contemplating building a mini scarecrow.
There are also clear signs of slugs, sliming their white trails all over the leaves of everything, so I have now spread coffee grounds (an old wives tale....) hoping they will choke on the Jamaican Blue Mountain brew! At the rate things are coming up, I estimate we will be able to rotate crops and have several harvests throughout the year!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Fire Sale??
‘Small break’ in aquarium at Dubai’s biggest mall
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — [Witnesses say a large part of the Middle East’s biggest shopping mall has been shut as maintenance crews scramble to contain a leak at the massive, shark-filled aquarium there.
An official at Dubai’s civil defense department says “there has been a small break in the glass.” He says rescue crews are on the scene. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the operation was ongoing.
Witnesses say a large part of the area around the aquarium have been cordoned off. Three mall security employees were seen entering the area wearing orange life vests. Mall owner Emaar did not respond to a request for comment. An employee at the ticket office says the aquarium has been shut for the day as maintenance crews work. ]
This probably means it is a MAJOR leak; everything in Dubai is censored and the officials always try to cover up "bad things" - must not let the facade crack under any circumstance! Well the facade cracked, I'll say.
I'm OK though....was not shoe shopping or having a facial there at the time! We can now look forward to a water sale I presume....so should be able to score a bargain on Shark-skin bags ;-) We will probably see specials on 'Fish n' Chips' at several fine restaurants! Getting into the mall in long traffic queues will seem like 'swimming up stream'.
OK I'll stop now and go back to my day job!
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — [Witnesses say a large part of the Middle East’s biggest shopping mall has been shut as maintenance crews scramble to contain a leak at the massive, shark-filled aquarium there.
An official at Dubai’s civil defense department says “there has been a small break in the glass.” He says rescue crews are on the scene. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the operation was ongoing.
Witnesses say a large part of the area around the aquarium have been cordoned off. Three mall security employees were seen entering the area wearing orange life vests. Mall owner Emaar did not respond to a request for comment. An employee at the ticket office says the aquarium has been shut for the day as maintenance crews work. ]
This probably means it is a MAJOR leak; everything in Dubai is censored and the officials always try to cover up "bad things" - must not let the facade crack under any circumstance! Well the facade cracked, I'll say.
I'm OK though....was not shoe shopping or having a facial there at the time! We can now look forward to a water sale I presume....so should be able to score a bargain on Shark-skin bags ;-) We will probably see specials on 'Fish n' Chips' at several fine restaurants! Getting into the mall in long traffic queues will seem like 'swimming up stream'.
OK I'll stop now and go back to my day job!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
It's the Green thang....
Hours spent cleaning and washing out used glass, plastic and metal containers - carefully sorting paper and other recycleables.....even employeed Slim to help in the jar cleaning (only a dog tongue can reach the bottom of a Skippy PB jar!!) Just to find out that one truck actually collects it all, throws it all into one large container and then "it all gets sorted in Jebel Ali" !?! Yeah, that's a good one. Sorted mate! Let's be brutally honest here - Dubai has no recycling programs that are worth mentioning. Everyone feels good for sorting and being green but when it all ends in a land-fill anyway, you start to sheikh your head.
We have been filtering water with charcoal, re-using water bottles, but it doesn't seem to make a dent here. Of course we aren't complaining....the nasty land fills aren't here in sparkling Dubai - we just dump our garbage in Ajman, another Emirate. Let them worry about it....Like if Chicago dumped all its garbage in Indiana (maybe they do??) Out of sight, out of mind. I must write a letter to my congress...uhm sheikh...man and protest. After all we pay way too much in tax to see our recycling and garbage problems build up....oh wait, we don't pay taxes!! Well, maybe that's the real problem. Maybe Dubai should start introducing a service tax to have a better recycling program. After all, it's not like they have enough oil money to fund such endeavors!
All sarcasm aside - this beduin family is doing theirs to reduce waste water, shampoo usage, and cut pollution from wax and other hair products - both boys are now sporting the "PRISON BREAK" look, and while I personally find it so "2000 and late", I must admit there is something about Michael Scofield and Lincoln Burrows....that raw look....well, you get the drift!
Aidan has had this cut for a while now and he was thrilled when Hunter asked him to buzz his off.
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