January 23, 2010: you typical american, you

Tonight, I failed. After two weeks, I sunk to being an American on holiday. My offense? At Scott's suggestion, I asked the hotel front desk if there were any additional English channels. Let's face it. There are three (2.5, really) English channels at the hotel: BBC World, CNN World, and some Middle Eastern channel that plays Grade D movies that are too unworthy of Arabic dubs. Sometimes this channel will play a home shopping program; however, I guess in the minds of the locals it is worthy of being dubbed. (Can't you just picture the 50-60 year old women sitting at home watching an Arab version of QVC? Who says that the Middle East is different from the US?)

In other news, work has dulled to a low roar in what is surely the calm before the storm. Haida is (may*) come up for docking this week on Thursday. As I have learned in the last two weeks, a confirmed and contracted lift date means nothing. Scott doesn't expect to see her out until the weekend. In actuality, it may be better for the project if Haida doesn't dock until Saturday. If she does come up on Thursday, it would undoubtedly be late in the day (again, nothing's ever on time.) Friday is the holy day, so she would just sit there instead of being scraped, blasted, and surveyed. In the mean time, I'm spinning between schematics for the heating system (hot water sent through convectors) and the sewage system. Scott has also asked me to look into a ship stores program. I'm dusting off the VBA skills and working up some code.

Scott held a barbeque at his villa on Friday. It was a nice time with great food and music. He's been educating me during the drives to and from work with music (hmm... everyone always wants to educate me about music.) Friday night he put on DVDs of Whitesnake, Steve Vai, and Joe Satriani. We also watched some kitesurfing and paragliding videos. Watch out world! If the Sharjah shores catch any wind, I might try some kitesurfing.

In the mean time, here's a picture of the only kite that would fly in the light, weekend winds.

I want to get back to my Sharjah Museums Department tour later this week. My next adventure will take me to the Sharjah Natural History Museum and Botanical Gardens. I also want to check out the Maritime Museum, a short walk from the aquarium.

One final note. It seems that special guests are a staple in any of my blog series. Some of you may recall Adventures in Salisbury from my freshman winter work in Salisbury, Maryland. My winter work mate Katie and I put together five video blog episodes during our two-month internship at the shipyard. In one episode, Katie and I were sent to Jacksonville to deliver a roll of carpet and some windows for a cruise ship. While we were carpet bagging, I surprised Mother at her school. In February, Making Waves will feature her yet again as she treks out to the UAE for a week-long holiday. I can't wait to blog about that.

Posted in: haida,leisure photos