Fireworks

The other night while we were having dinner at Johnny Rockets, there was an impromtu fireworks display. I managed to snap a few photo's. Here are a couple:

Look mommy at all the cranes in the sky!

I'm still not over fact that everywhere we look buildings are mushrooming out of the desert, and the cranes, tons of cranes. I've been reading on what to visit in Dubai so that when my sweetie gets time off next week, we can visit more of Dubai together. I don't think he's explored it all that much. It doesn't help that no map of Dubai is accurate for more then a day or two. Even the roads keep changing. Just getting around is somewhat of a challenge, even for the locals I sense. I especially want to see the Persian Gulf coast. This might prove to be challenging as buildings are now lining the coast, and making it far less accessible.

I've had the pleasure of meeting my sweetie's sister, one of his co-workers and one of his friends. All women of course. I get the sense that they are all checking me out to make sure I'm good to him :) I like that, they are all protective of him, and not in a bad way. They've all been nice to me and made me feel welcome.

I like the way both the locals, the ex-pats working in Dubai and the visitors can blend in together at the Dubai Marina walk. You see everything from the somewhat conservative locals in their long robes [men in long white robes, women in long black robes and head cover], to the scantilly clad tourists. My sweetie wasn't kidding when he said this place is almost like a walking contradiction. I still feel more comfortable dressing somewhat more conservatively then at home, if nothing else not to stick out like a sore thumb. However with my flaming red hair and pasty white skin with freckles, I definitely do not look local, and they are far more tolerant over non-locals.

Today I will get the courage to venture out on my own, to go grab lunch at the Dubai Marina, probably at the Rupee room. It's an Indian restaurant that has been particularly good to me so far. Everything I've tried has been delicious and very friendly to my internal organs. The first time we went, the waiter warned me that the dish was 'spicy'. I found it bland for a spicy dish. The second time, I chose a curry, and got no warning. It was far spicier, which is what I wanted.

Big Erections

They sure love their big erections in Dubai. Everywhere you look, all you see is these sky-scrapers being built. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that there are more cranes in Dubai then in any other city in the world.

Here's an example of what I mean. This picture was taken at the Dubai Marina walk.

Or the Burj Dubai still under construction, which claims it will be the tallest building once built.

Just another example.. I took 4 pictures out the window of my sweetie's appartment window, in the Dubai Marina Diamond I building.. which I hoped to paste together as a panoramic view later.

Some people get vegetarians, others get Camels.

So I survived my flight fears and made it all the way to Dubai. I stressed out for days, because I only had a 1 hour stop-over at Hearthrow and was afraid I'd miss my connecting flight. I was lucky that the flight to Dubai left a bit late, so though I stressed and ran through Heathrow, I did not miss my flight. In fact I had to wait about 30 minutes... was good, got me to de-stress.

One thing you can say about the Brits is they sure are anally retentive. I had just come out of a flight from Canada, where I was searched before I left, and was not carrying any offensive liquids, had just one carry-on of regulation size, but before I could board my plane to Dubai, I had to rego through the whole security process. Including removing my shoes. Thankfully I didn't carry any water, because we all know how incredibly dangerous water is.

The vegeterian meals on the Air Canada flight left a lot to be desired. The breakfast was a crappy refined flour bun, with jam and margerine, some heavily syruped fruit and a cup of orange juice. The veggie meals on the Emerates flight where so much better. Their breakfast consisted of 2 whole wheat buns, with jam & margerine [yellow too I might add], along with a bowl of fresh fruit [including mango.. Yum], and some apple juice. The other meal was absolutely kick ass. There was a hot main dish which seemed to be some indian veggie dish sitting on a bed of rice and some cooked carrots, that was awesome, and 2 salads. One just of greens, with cucumber and tomato, and one with some greens and lots of chickpeas and beans. This was accompanied by a whole wheat bun and some fresh fruit [with mango again]. Air Canada has a lot to learn about vegan/vegetarian meals. Most vegetarians go to that diet for health reasons. They don't want refined flours and overly sugared meals.

Overall while the service on the Air Canada flight was decent, the service on Emirates airlines was top notch. I also enjoyed fact they have screens in back of every seat, so basically you get your own TV, and they have camera's outside the plane you can watch your plane leave and arrive and they also have a channel that tells you where you are at all times, and the speed plane is going and the altitude. I found that pretty cool. Gives you an idea of what you're looking at when you're looking out the window.

I think my stress levels went down once I spotted my sweetie when I finally made it out of Dubai airport. The corridors seemed endless. I felt nervous, not knowing what to expect. But it was fairly stress free. Once I showed my canadian passport, it got stamped with a 60 days Visa, and all I had to do was pick up my bag, which convieniently just happened to be passing by when I reached the right carousel.

It was so incredibly cute, he was waiting for me with this pink stuffed Camel. He spotted me before I did, by a few seconds.. but it was such a relief. Though we were both a bit shy, fact that I only managed to sleep tops 1 hour in 15 minute segments over the two 6 1/2 hour flights, had me talking his ear off all the way back to his place. I suppose this is better then sitting there quietly and nervously.

Camels, llamas, dromadaries, Oh My!

I'm leaving for Dubai today. Going to the airport in less then 1 hour. I'm nervous, and hyper and bouncing off ceilings. I was awake at the crack of dawn [5am] today due to noise but I'm guessing due also to just excitement.

I guess I'll be writing from there, the next 2 weeks..

My sweetie will be waiting for me with his pink Camel at the airport... because of course everyone in the middle east has a camel :P

Another Monday night...

Another one liner. Tonight David Caruso said " They won't be secrets for long" before The Who started to scream. I saw the most disgusting picture today. Someone had too much time on theirhands and photoshop and made a nude buff Caruso. *Shudders* Somethings are best left unknown.

Two days before I leave for Dubai. I'm trying not to think about it so I dont' stress myself out. The hardest part is packing. I have such a hard time deciding what to bring and what to wear.

I feel like a child again

I went to my doctor yesterday, to see what vaccinations if any I should get before traveling to Dubai. Well I ended up with 3 vaccinations yesterday. One against polio, one called adacel, against diphteria, tetanus and whopping cough, and lastly one against hepatitis A. She also suggested hepetitis B, typhoid and one called dukoral against cholera and travelers diarreah.

I refused one against the flu, I stopped taking the flu shot 7-8 years ago after a bad reaction, and to be honest I have not seen much difference between the years I had the flu shot and those I didnt' for the number of viral infections I catch and that can potentially set off my asthma. I also refused the mumps/measles/rubella one. I've had the mumps and measles already. Rubella, if I was still of child bearing capabilities, I'd have taken it, but since I'm not.. seems a waste. She also suggested the HPV generically but I chose to take that one later on, since I wasn't sure if my insurance would cover it. I called up the hotline for our insurance and they tell me they do to 85% which is great. I will be getting it after my trip... I think I'm getting enough vaccinations before my trip.

This morning, both of the arms that had vaccinations have muscle fatigue and one of the vaccinations gave me a bruise the size of a quarter.

I should get ready for work..

I'm starting to feel the excitement

I'm started to really feel excited over the fact that on February 21st, I'm flying to Dubai. When I booked the flight I was wrought over with panic and fear. I do dislike flying and am somewhat claustrophobic. The idea of flying twice 6 1/2 hour flights is daunting. But at the end of the day, in this case the ends justify the means.

My sweetie was refused a Visa to enter Canada, so he cannot visit me as planned in April. Instead of being completely devastated, I figured if he can't come to me, I can go to him. Besides I've been wanting to meet him in person for about 10 years. [but who's counting?] I had hoped that by now he'd be in Canada much like his ex-wife.

Admittedly Dubai would not have been a destination I would have considered visiting if I didn't have the incentive of having a friend there, but on the other hand, I've only traveled within North America the past 20 years, and before I was 18, I'd been to Europe 3 times. So if nothing else this will be a very different experience. I mean my last 3 flights were to Denver, Colorado, San Francisco, California, and Tampa, Florida.

So I'm totally excited this morning, and on that note, I need to get ready for work...

It's so a Monday

For some unexplained reason my router hung today and I had to reset and reconfigure. I wasn't particularly swift and it took me forever to remember that the software is buggy and I had to put in MAC addresses manually.

It was a Monday for several other reasons, and I will leave it at that.

Ah those blue Eyes

I always have a hard time lecturing my youngest daughter. She has a way with those big blue eyes of hers of wooing anyone. She's got her dad wrapped around her little finger, and it would seem me too at times. She was like "But but I MSNed my sister to turn off my alarm..." But she did it after her sister went to bed..

I still told her, that it wasn't much harder to disarm the alarm then it was to turn it off in the morning, to please, please disarm it. I mean she only sleeps here 4 nights a month.. I shouldn't have to always be woken up by her alarm when she's not here.

******

I'm getting excited. In 11 days I will be in Dubai, in the UAE. That's like half-way across the world.

*****

No More Fucking VAN HALEN!!! Why some groups have to get back together? Lord only knows. I never want to hear poundcake ever again.

I'm going to Kill her...

My youngest set her alarm clock for Saturday morning 6:00am so she would make her lifeguard job on time. Of course she forgot to turn it off, so at 6:00am Sunday morning, who does it wake up? Mom. She slept at a friends house.

Did it wake up her sister? No. I had to get up at 6:15 to shut off the "BEEP BEEP BEEP" that was making my heart double beat, because it would not have shut itself off ever. I actually didn't turn off the alarm. I unplugged the alarm clock.

I've been doing that for 7 years now. Whenever she forgets her alarm clock, I unplug it. You'd think it would be annoying enough to have to reset the time each time she forgets it, that she would learn to turn it off....

I mean I'm particularly upset this morning cause I've been sick since Tuesday, been trying to get all the sleep I can manage to get rid of this flu/cold whatever it is as soon as possible. I was sleeping peacefully at 6am. I've been angry and annoyed and unable to sleep since 6am. I'm still not well enough to do anything constructive around my place. so sleep would have been good.

She will get a lecture today about turning off her alarm clock. I mean she does it at least once a month. And of course she's NEVER around to turn it off, and it's always set for hours that I never have to get up at, and more often then not, it wakes me up after I've been struggling to fall asleep.

Taco Bell Part II

Debbie wanted to try out Taco Bell after we'd gone on Monday, so we went back on Thursday. We arrived a bit later and the line-up was almost to the door. I cringed expecting the slow service and the clueless zombies from Monday's visit, however we were pleasantly surprised. Both cashes were opened and the cashiers at least seemed alive. One was even well versed enough in vegetarian lifestyle to point out that while the first item Debbie ordered was veggie, the second was not and was that fine? I left there a little bit more impressed then the first time with the service. The Burrito 7 was still as good, and would make me return, probably within the next month.

Heartless Bitch

One of my favorite places to visit on the internet is the Heartless Bitches site. I love the brutal honesty. Over the years reading this site has encouraged me to grow as a woman, and become more independent. I have a much better idea of what a healthy relationship should be, and am prepared to stay alone rather then be in an unhealthy relationship.

The bitchtorial had me giggling. I've been known back in the BBS days to go on similar rants when men would post outlandish penis sizes. I just love her visual comparisons too.

Wired aux maximum

I am so incredibly wired right now. Been wired since late afternoon. It's the kinda wired where I am talking 1000 words a minute. SomethingthatwouldlooklikethisI'mtalkingsofast.

I've talked on the phone tonight with my buddy in Ottawa, and I've spent the better part of the night, analyzing, overanalyzing, looking, relooking, and making sure this was the plane tickets I wanted to book. In between I remembered I might have had a carry on I bought a couple years back, an air Canada model. Found it and felt compelled to measure to make sure it fit the standards for carry-on luggage on both sides of the pond. I've gotten headaches looking at the various rules and regulations one must follow to fly.

I suspect I'm going to end up being a hungry hypoglycemic. I used to travel with peanut butter sandwiches. I'm sure that's a crime in itself. sigh. So no more flying with peanuts. I can see it the wave of the future.. naked travel. Everything goes outside passenger cabin, everything gets scanned.

so it's getting really late and I;m still obsessing. I might need a doctors note to carry my asthma meds. Sigh.

and I started my day by leaving home at 8:30 AM. It was bumper to bumper on the 40 going between 30-50km from Sources all the way to Decarie. The decarie service road was quicker the then 40 this morning . I made it to the dentist at 9:45 AM . Not only did I get the final cement on my crown, but I also got a teeth cleaning. There was a free hygienist. At least it was worth the trip. I left dentist at 11:00AM was at work at 11:30. Amazing how little time it took to get back

Ok.. need to get sleep...

Quebec's First Taco Bell

I REALLY enjoyed my vegetarian burrito and risolle potatoes with cheese and sour cream at Taco Bell today. However I wasn't sure if the employees in the kitchen were actually alive. I mean I remember how animated they were in the Taco Bell in Plattsburg last time I went. Here I was wondering if they were zombies. This old man in front of us asked twice for sweet & sour sauce before he took off with his food and came back again to ask for sweet & sour sauce, in French, Sauce aigre douce. The kid working at putting little containers of cole slaw into a drawer, asked him to repeat the sauce 3 times. The third time, both my co-worker and the guy next to me also told him "Sweet and sour". Like.. was he deaf? Stupid? One of the female employees gave him his sweet and sour sauce, and about 5 minutes later the kid finally comes back with sweet and sour sauce and saying "Where did he go?" Like he got his sauce and had time to eat his meal by the time you came back. Thankfully we arrived at 11:45, just because the lunch rush. And just as well. When we left the line-up was all the way to the door.

Caruso's line for tonight "Priority #1". He already had the tacky sunglasses on and he was in motion. Was almost a let down.

The best laid plans.....

I knew what I was doing today. I was spending time with my sweetie and later my friend was coming over to help me with paperwork. At least that's what I thought this morning. I was mentally prepared and even eager to get rid of the damn paperwork..

but alas.. things did not work as expected with my sweetie, and my friend is too tired to come over. I'm not impressed. I've been feeling like nothing goes my way all week. And then I feel guilty for whining about it.

Ever notice that if already the time zone differences and circumstances make it difficult to spend time together 'live' that everything and then some with happen within that small window of opportunity where you can get to spend time together, making that window infinitely small.

I even managed to burn my micro-waveable pop-corn today. In my microwave. I usually burnt it at work cause I don't know those microwaves, but at home? What's my excuse.

I'll stop kvetching otherwise I will be no better then my daughter's whiny cat :P

Gone daddy gone, gone gone gone....

The bad student was removed from my team. Dunno if he'll survive in the other team. So far so good.. but in essence he's got 2 weeks to prove himself. Dunno if he'll be able to manage that.

I interviewed today a 19year old for a QA position, he's got more skills both technical and people then most I've interviewed for the past year. He seemed to have every skill we could possibly want. I told him he left me speechless, and I'm hard to impress. Now we'll have to see if he's willing to accept the salary we offer him. He can't start with a base salary higher then what my guys make especially those who have been there.. like several years.


We went to Subways for lunch twice this week. I mean I do fine with a vegetarian 6" on whole wheat sandwich. I've got to say that the Subways on des Sources & Pierrefonds blvd is the best Subways in the area. The staff is friendly and their food is fresh. I've not been sick from eating at that Subways. At other Subways it's a hit or miss and the staff at the one at Fairview sucks. The other one on des Sources, it's always so incredibly crowded, and the staff is surly.

Now as I said, I went to the Subways twice this week, but I did not notice that in that same strip mall there was a Taco Bell. It seems in the past month or so the KFC became a KFC/Taco Bell. I drive past the KFC to and from work daily. I've been gripping about that fact since it gives me cravings for eating KFC chicken. Except that I've been a vegetarian for about 13 years now and the only flesh I'll occasionally eat is salmon or shrimp. And by occasionally I mean about once or twice a year. I stopped eating animal flesh because I had a real hard time digesting it. So eating chicken at this point would make me sick. However I still get chicken cravings every couple of weeks when I drive past the KFC. Apparently now I can stop at the taco bell's and get a veggie burrito instead... wonder how often it's the chicken craving that leads me to buy a veggie burrito?