In the Midst of Editing...

I will be visiting your houses, taking advantage of your hospitality and all the finer trimmings of life.

But over here, alas, the electricity will be off for a while, as I wordsmith some words, hoping to live up to the McChallenge of the Koala.
:-)

(Updated to include the graphic. I'm living up to the McChallenge, so I should have a cute koala over there with a low threat level, but I just LOVE this particular pic!)

Rabbit Hole Chronicle

I'm going to call my Dubai Chronicles "Rabbit Hole Chronicles" so I won't be googled for Dubai, but rather for rabbits.

Dubai Chronicle 17: Where are the Keys?

The airport parking lot is more crowded than ever these days. Seems expats looking for a quick way out leave their cars, with keys inside, at the airport parking lots.

They leave the keys in their houses as well.

It's like this. If somebody wants to purchase a house or car, then he has to write three years worth of postdated checks for the mortgage/note.

If the checks bounce because you don't have cash, you get thrown into prison.

Hey, even though this is Dubai, the prisons are still Middle Eastern style. Yanno.

Most of the prisoners are expats who have lost jobs and can't pay their mortgages.

These people are good reasons why anyone who loses their job in Dubai packs their suitcases and goes on vacation. Yeah! That's it. Vacation.

But, nobody is really saying that Dubai is in a recession.

Banks aren't giving loans anymore. You have to buy your houses in cash up front. Who has that kind of money? Well, aside from the Russian mafia. (The Russian mafia was referenced in an 'Oldie but Goodie' chronicle from last year.)

Dubai is just about broke.

But Abu Dhabi isn't.

That's all I know about cars being left at the airport.

As always, I'm a fiction writer, so I take gossip and second-hand news very seriously.

Have a great day.

Rabbit Hole Day

I've been cruising around different Rabbit Holes, and wanted to join the celebration if it's not too late.

Thanks FairyHedgeHog for starting this!

I was organizing my email folders a few days ago, getting ready to send out a new batch of Dubai Chronicles, when I accidentally deleted just about all of letters M through Z in my email list. Shite, I'm a very stupid person. Also lazy. I'm not looking these up again.

So, in honor of Rabbit Hole Day, I'd like to post my first Dubai Chronicle of 2009:

Hi Everyone,

There was a new ride at the children's park today. Painted across the bottom pole, a bit of its history: Property of U.A.E. military.

Imagine a gigantic trampoline with bungie appartus attached. Did the desert sun and hot, salty air corrode the elastic bands? Maybe. Maybe not.

Were the wobbly metal poles meant to wobble? Maybe. Maybe not.

Did the attendant holding a white cloth over his nose and mouth (which smelled like a chemical unknown to me), and with one reddish eye and one yellowish eye know how to do safety checks? Maybe. Maybe not. But Things 1 and 2 thought it was absolutely safe because it looked so damned cool. I told them no, at first. But after two hours of whining, I strapped them both into the harness and borrowed the attendant's happy towel.

NOTE: The photo above isn't the ride. But just imagine converting the above into a sling shot of sorts and having your children want to get in...this is what I'm talking about.