Well, I've been in country for a few weeks, and I thought I might put some of my experiences thus far to paper blog.

I've been doing a lot of driving around Abub Dhabi the past few weeks, and i am just finally starting to get a feel for the layout of the city. 

The hardest thing overall is that the street names don't really register with me. Sure, they are all in english (or at least captioned as much), but they don't make an impression. The only ones I seem to be able to remember are "Corniche" and "Zayed The First". There is also a "Zayed The 19th", but that isn't really "Zayed The 19th". You see, there are roads that have street signs, but they are called something different entirely, and sometimes the street changes mid-block. Getting directions is impossible for this reason.

Of course, the car I drive (an '07 Honda Civic, nicely equipped) is the only one of our cars that doesn't have freakin' GPS, but that may be a blessing in disguise. I will say this about the GPS systems in the other cars, they kick ass. They have the Garmin "Nuvi", and while the directions can be a bit annoying at time (especially when you are trying to talk), it's insanely accurate, and the recalculation time when you get off course is super fast. 

Driving however is not for the faint of heart. Turn signals seem to be completely optional, especially on the highways, and you are likely to have someone come flying up from behind you at speeds well over 190km/h honking their horns and flashing their lights. In the right lane, when you are already doing 20km over the speed limit. Which is another problem, there are a ton of speed/red light cameras. And the penalties (on red lights especially) are very, very steep. As in you go to jail for 60 days if you get caught running three red lights. And for a foreign national, like myself, this is not a good idea. It would also mean deportation, assuming I made it through the prison alive.

DWI is a zero tolerance law, basically if you have any alcohol (or other) in your system and you are pulled, enjoy jail. Fortunately, this really isn't an issue, as there is only one place (outside of hotels) to drink, and that's at this fancy Italian joint the Prince owns.

Speaking of drinking, yours truly is losing his touch. Turns out that since we are all staying in the executive rooms, there is a lounge that offers snacks and free booze from 6:30 to 11:30, every night. I just found out this week. Hote life has it's draw, I suppose.

Fortunately though (or unfortunately, if you are a drunk), we will be moving out of the hotel in short order. We just went to check out the villas today, and let me say, BLING.

We have an entire block of villas, surrounded by a privacy fence with a gated driveway. Each villa has five bedrooms, each with a private bath. The villas are just finishing construction (which is part of the delay), but they look amazing inside. Tile, marble and granite everything, palacial is a great descriptor.

I've set my eyes on the (only) room on the third floor, but that battle hasn't really begun. It's the smallest of the rooms, on the third floor, and next to the laundry area (which is ass retarded in my opinion). But it's also the most private. Which isn't to say that the other rooms aren't private, but the top floor is the most private. My reasoning is simple, I tend to spend a lot of time in my room doing my own thing, so this will cut down on the traffic. And, to be blunt, I hope that Madeline will be here to join me soon. I hope. 

Work wise, there isn't much to say. It's a big task, of that there is no doubt. And I am with a lot of people that have a very different background, so I stick out like a sore thumb at times. But all is well.

Regarding my stay in the country, it's beautiful. But then again, it's not summer. I have 130º weather to look forward to in a few months, and Christian doesn't handle the heat so well. That said, if Madeline can make it over here, I don't feel any big rush to return to the States. Sure, there are a lot of cultural obstacles I am learning my way around (like don't cross your legs, especially while talking to someone. It's a huge insult to show someone the sole of your foot).

On the geekier side, my 770 tablet has been giving me nothing but grief since the last firmware update, and thankfully Nokia has released an update to the Maemo Tablet 2006 software. Everything seems to be honky dory, or at least not broken the way it was before. Maemo Mapper also received an update to support a different map server, which was quite welcome by me. You see, Google Maps has absolutely jack shit on this area. There is some satellite imagery with visible roads, but that's it. For navigation it's worthless. 

I've caught my powerbook locked up and doing a click of death twice now, but according to everything I've run, my drive SMART status is five-by-five. Which is of course utter bullshit. But it doesn't really matter, this poor thing has lived a reasonably hard life, and it's finally reaching the end of it's life.

I don't plan to retire it just yet, but hopefully in a few paychecks I will be able to ease up on it a bit. My plans? Mac Pro, baby. I am a bit curious to know what I can do about a Mac here. There is a "Macstore" in the Abu Dhabi mall (which I've yet to locate), but I can't seem to find an phone number or anything else on them. I would really prefer to avoid buying one stateside and having it shipped, and Madeline will hopefully be here too soon to bring it with her..so I don't know. As it stands I am opting for the 3ghz model with 4gb RAM, 2× 500gb HDD, Bluetooth + WiFi and the ATI video card. Oh, and two 23" Cinema displays. Balls out? Yes, but then again my machine upgrade cycle has slowed significantly, so I want something to hang on to for a few years. (Toaster, my current desktop, will be three next month).  I can almost hear Chuck now, telling me how it's a waste of money. 

The other thing that has me concerned is localization. I don't want an arabic setup, and UK is no better. (Trust me on this, the arabic keyboards suck ass hard). I realize of course that a new keyboard can be purchased for a paltry sum, but nonetheless. I figure beyond MINI payments, the Mac is going to me my only real expense while I am here.

In short, life overall is good. It may sound contrary to say, but I am miserable without Madeline, but there is hope on the horizon. If that gets quashed, well, we shall see.  Beyond that, I am doing and learning new things every day, I can count in Arabic (I am attempting to learn it, slowly but surely), I've seen a lot of amazing shit, I have a job that was a once in a lifetime offer, and I have the woman of my dreams. Even if she can't be here right now, I don't know how you could ask for a more perfect life.