Archive | December, 2005

Now in Frankfurt

I’m trying to set a world record for blogging. Well not really but who knows.

I’m now in Frankfurt, the last post was from Bahrain and if I post when I get to Calgary that is three continents in less than 24 hours.

The flights were Kuwait to Bahrain then Bahrain to Frankfurt on Gulf Air. Bahrain airport looks like it has good duty free and prices but not time or money. It is of course, Gulf Air’s home. Gulf Air has a nice lounge there, good free wireless. I am paying for this one in the Lufthansa Lounge.

The flight to Frankfurt had very little overhead storage. No central section which made the plan feel larger but no space for bags! I wouldn’t say Gulf Air is the best airline, but it wasn’t bad.

Frankfurt Weather
As you see below cloudy. Coming in for landing at 7:30 a.m. you couldn’t see the ground. Of course I don’t plan on going outside, not worth it in the time I have.

Well the next flight is at 2:00 p.m. so 6 1/2 hours to kill in the lounge.

I put my name on the list for a shower and as I have so much time I actually got my shower two hours after being on the list! Of course this was a busy morning here.

Now while I went to the shower I shutdown the computer and the stupid Vodaphone Internet that I paid for kept counting time. So only a few minutes left.

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bookofjoe: ‘Bound for Glory: America in Color 1939–43′

bookofjoe: ‘Bound for Glory: America in Color 1939–43′

Some nice old photographs.

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Don’t insult the Scots


From Book of Joe, one of my regular reads.
This blog post is done from Bahrain. Sing along,
Blogging in Bahrain
I’ve got Blogging on my brain

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On Leave

Well, tonight I’m outta here. Back to Calgary to pack up house and family and all return to Kuwait together in January.

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Dig to the other side of the world

Use this site to see where you end up! Though it seems to jam up for Calgary and seems to end up in Antartica.

And it this wasn’t fun try this optical illusion.

Check this out too, it shakes windows.

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Daryl Hanna to expose human trafficing

Daryl Hannah the star of the movie Roxanne, which was filmed in Nelson in 1987, shows commitment for what she’s cares about! Interesting. The Scotland Daily Record seems to be the source of the information.
Continue Reading →

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Roomboter

Well, at dinner a couple of nights ago in the company restaurant I noteiced that the little packets of butter are from Campina Buttergold B.V. from Tilburg, NL.

I always thought it was funny here in the Middle East that the butter comes from so far away. Though I recall places like New Zealand not Holland. But I guess if it comes in air freight, refrigerated?

And it says on the bottom of the little packet that it is best before about one year from manufacture date.

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Vitamin W – Don’t go to the Middle East Without It

Vitamin W, the W being Wasta.

What is it?

It is, as the Kuwait Times says, having the right man in the right place. Connections. Basically the paper is saying that there are unqualified officials in their positions due to their connections not due to merit.

Isam Bayazidi’s Blog says it well:

To start with, there is a special type of corruption, that is Wasta (English: a mean, mechanism, medium), and sometimes we even give it a nickname Vitamin Wow ( as it gives power and so). Wasta for those who are unfamiliar with the term is about having someone in a power position do something (legal or illegal) for you (a favor) that couldn’t be done without a wasta. The funny thing is that we don’t usually hide our acts when we use Wasta, but we brag about it, and offer providing the same wasta to people around us to help them out

dancersHe also mentions in his blog the World Culture Forum which just took place in Jordan. Interesting. I think Jordan is on the vacation list. It is cheap to get to from here and there is even SCUBA.

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Diving today

Updated for Friday.

Nope. Too windy today. Yesterday fog today the wind. Oh well, gives me more time to work as I have too much work to finish before I leave for Canada in five days.

Thursday: Nope.

It was very foggy in the morning, meaning you couldn’t see more than 20 meters at times, so our planned departure of 10:00 a.m. was not done, and the dives for today were cancelled. Well, the fog didn’t burn off until about 1:00 p.m.

The thing is you can dive in the fog of course as it doesn’t get foggy underwater, except inside my mask ;-)

But, if you come up and don’t come up next to the boat, how will they find you, out there waving your marker tube and blowing your little whistle?

Maybe tomorrow

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The Proof is In, Mona Lisa was happy

Mona LisaThey used a computer to analyze the face comparing it to a database of young women’t facial expressions and the verdict is:
It concluded that the subject was 83% happy, 9% disgusted, 6% fearful and 2% angry, journal New Scientist was told.

They go on to say that this type of software could lead to computers that know the user’s mood.

Here’s the full article.

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