30 August in the Year of our Lord 2007

Yo bloggees! Yes - If I, the purveyor of the blog am the blogger, then you, the consumer thereof are surely the blogee!

Great joy hath befallen me for my spouse and anklebiters returneth today. Indeed, they land in Abu Dhabi this evening, hop the free coach laid on by the airline and arrive at the airline's offices at approximately 23h30, whence they shall be joyfully collected by me, loaded into the car and ceremoniously carted home. By this time, I shall be tired and worn out and shall in all likelihood proceed to peaceful slumbers regardless of what they want to do and shall only surface tomorrow morning to receive the gifts that I expect the weary travellers have brought to lay before the feet of the D*A*D. Seriously though, I'm excited about their return, gifts notwithstanding. Although there had flippin' well better be gifts 'cos I reached the ripe old age of 45 whilst they were swanning around darkest Africa.

The temperature here is still routinely in the mid-40's during the day, dropping to the late 30's at night. The humidity has started to ratchet up now, which can make the going quite tough but, as they say, that's when the tough get going - into somewhere air-conditioned mostly.

I have finally got involved in the worship team at church and played for the first time last Friday. I thoroughly enjoyed it. And the Martin sounds amazing with the imix (muso speak for the guitar sounds good with the new pickup).

Still no change on the job front, with the exception that it looks like we will be moving to offices about 3 times as far from home, with nightmarish, hellacious traffic. I am praying that somehow this will not happen - please join me in this prayer. (If we do move, I'll know its your fault for not praying.) (No pressure).

The knee is still stiff and sometimes sore but does appear to be improving very slowly. It's 8 months since the surgery, so another 10 months to go to full recovery. It doesn't really slow me down much and the only thing I haven't been able to do which I was hoping to try is snowboarding. Guess I'll just have to be patient.

I have now found the source of the best coffee on earth - Gloria Jean's. Yes - they are in Dubai too - who make a nectar of the gods called a "very vanilla latte" to which I became addicted at Gateway in Umhlanga. They sell their remarkable beans so I can make it at home too. This is the coolest thing. I can smell those beans as I write - guess its straight home for a latte, doll! Skinny decaf in my case. Perhaps even a full caf tonight 'cos I have to stay awake to collect my family.

Many thanks to all who looked after J & the kids while they were on holiday - you know who you are.

Ah well - onward to the daily skirmish with the people in cars out there on Dubai's roads who could never justify the sobriquet of driver.

Tally ho and cheerio.

Quick Thursday (your Friday) Update 16 Aug 07

I'm finally making progress with my coffee machine. We bought one of those fancy things that grinds, froths, steams and generally dances the can-can while making a cup of good espresso based coffee. I've been learning about beans, regions, roast strengths, grinds, water hardness and all those good things.

At first, the coffee wasn't so good. Now its getting really good and I've been involved in mucho experimentation. I've also discovered the joys of latte. Ahh...latte! I can now make a great skinny decaf latte (I never thought words such as those would be uttered from my mouth) and am drinking far too many of them. I was drinking full-caf before and wound up with palpitations! I've even bought some great sugar-free syrups and can now make vanilla & hazelnut lattes - I've become a coffeeholic!

Unfortunately, Janene doesn't like the coffee. She's sticking to Nescafe. What an insult! She has been away for about 2 weeks now though and she might appreciate the strides I have bade as a barista since she left.

Sounds like J & the kids are still having a good time in SA - ladies nights out, ice-skating, fun, fun, fun! J's preaching at our old homecell in Durbs tonight - I'm sure it'll go nicely. They're gonna be blessed.

I look forward to another boring weekend here alone in Dubai. Its got so bad that I even know the prices in the shops in the mall - nah, only joking. It's a good excuse to relax and unwind.

All for now, more soon.

Be jealous for my weekend has begun!

9 August

Lonely, I am so loneleeee...man I hate that song. But I understand the sentiment. Not only are the kids in SA but Janene has joined them. So I am a bachelor for a month. Na that's not bachelor of science or arts but bachelor of boredom. And what do I do when I'm bored? Well nothing, silly. If I had something to do, I wouldn't be bored now would I?

Work isn't boring. It's just not very enjoyable. In the evenings though I tend to read, watch TV and wander around the malls but you know what they say: "When you've seen a shopping centre, you've seen a mall". So likely I will find a couple of new shirts, a CD or 3 and a couple of additional kilos (like I really need them).

Sounds like J & Co are having fun though, so at least 75% of the family is having a good time and that means on average that the family is having a good time. (Trying hard but the maths just isn't working for me here.)

Weather report. This morning I woke up and found that there was weather. There is never a question of whether there will be weather, just whether the weather will be hot and this, too, is a no brainer. 47 deg & around 75% humidity.

However, a wonderful weekend of relaxation and quiet contemplation awaits and my goal is to spend some quality time with the Lord.

Blessings to all and more news soon.

'Bye