Hail! Hail!

Tonight it poured rain. Then it started to hail. Pretty big chunks of ice fell for a couple of minutes. It was quite amazing - especially because it has been getting warmer and warmer here. The daytime temperatures are around 30C.

Harry Belafonte

I was watching a great interview between Riz Khan and Harry Belafonte on Al Jazeera this evening.  I've always admired Harry Belafonte, but I hadn't realized what a huge influence he had on the political and the music scene in the U.S.





Then, I wandered off to a video with Harry Belafonte and Nat King Cole.



And, then wandered off again to just Nat King Cole. Nat King Cole is so cool. I love this version of Unforgettable.

Wadi Hayl

With a couple of colleagues, I went to Wadi Hayl near Fujairah last weekend.  It was the first road trip in my new car.  It's a smooth ride in the nicest, safest car I've ever owned.

The wadi had quite a bit of farming going on.  It's in some really harsh, rocky mountains, but there's obviously water.

At the wadi, there is an old fort/house ("palace") that belonged to Sheikh Abdullah Bin Hamdan. It was built in 1932.  When I went there 8 years ago, little had been done to it.  It was quite rundown.  However, the main building and the watch tower have been restored.  For much of the year, it must have been quite comfortable.  There were a number of rooms and roof tops that would have been nice covered in carpets and cushions.  It was easy to imagine a bunch of guys lounging around, drinking coffee and smoking.

After our trip to the wadi, we drove in to Fujairah and had lunch at the Hilton.  Although the service was less than four star, we sat outside, looking out over a nice beach on the Gulf of Oman.  That was really enjoyable.  The weather was nice and a cool fresh breeze blew while we were there.

Update

It has been a tiring semester.  I have three writing classes.  There seems to be endless amounts of marking, preparation, and student meetings.

In addition, I was on a committee that met a lot.  We finally finished our report and sent it out to the faculty.  Just as I was taking a deep breath, I was asked to serve on another committee - one that will be powerful and involve a lot of work and meetings - sigh!

We have only three more days until our spring break (one week).  I am so looking forward to it.  Unfortunately, I have a lot of work to do.  I need to try to get quizzes and material ready for the last half of the semester so that I can get all the marking done.  I'll be working a lot, but it will be more relaxing not having the students around.  I'll probably sit in the Caribou Coffee shop at Festival Center most of the time.

Lately, the office has been kind of nutty.  There's been a lot of backstabbing and fighting.  I've tried to keep out of it, but I've had a lot of people on both sides asking for support - yuck.  I has made me a little sad.  My normally open office door has been closed.

Because I wasn't really busy enough, I am now a university senator.  I was really hoping to be able to wear a toga, but, after our first meeting, I realized that I'd be out of place.  Drat!

I've been renting a car for the last six months, but I decided that I needed a car of my own.  Initially, I was just going to buy some old clunker (anyone who knows me knows that that's not going to happen).  There are lots of stories of thousands of cars being abandoned at the airport in Dubai.  When I drove out to the Dubai Used Car area, I saw a sea of cars.  Tens of thousands of cars parked everywhere.  It was hard to find a spot to park.  The used car dealers had full lots and cars parked on the street.  The days that I was there, there were very few buyers.  The only people out and about were the guys with hoses, washing the dust off the cars.  I was looking for a Honda CRV.  ALL of the car dealers were selling two year-old cars for about DH80,000 - oddly enough exactly what they sold for two years ago brand new.  Not one car dealer would budge on the price.  When I finally asked one guy why they weren't slashing prices to clear their stock, he said that they had bought the cars when they were worth more and they couldn't sell them at a loss - even though no one was buying.  Those cars are just going to sit there losing value, and they won't price them to sell.  I finally bought a brand new 2009 Honda CRV for Dh105,000 (they threw in 13 months of insurance for free, three year unlimited mileage warranty, 3 years roadside assistance, rustproofing, registration fee of Dh500, Honda mats, two fire extinguishers, a first aid kit, and a better financing rate than the used car dealers).  I told the used car dealers what was on offer at the new car dealers, and they just shrugged.  This is sometimes a bizarre place.  I was a little hesitant to buy a new car, but I plan to stay here until they throw me out.  My plan is to do ten years and retire.  That makes the car a reasonable value at about $3,000 a year.

The picture is not MY car, but it is the same model and the same color.  I plan to go out for a drive next week to Wadi Hayl when we have our break.  I'll update it with pictures soon.