AOB May and June 2007
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Robert Scott lives and works in Asia; born in England I have since lived in Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok. I am now spending most of my time in Dubai; job hunting and personally very happy.
If you want to know more you only need to ask! ask.
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30 June 2007 Life on an executive jet! This is the Dassault Falcon. I preferred the Gulfstream. Bigger windows!
End of the month today - and half way through the year. So much has changed. Mostly for the better but I do miss Bangkok. It has been a nice weekend - have not done much but it has been a very sociable and relaxed weekend. Ten years ago I was in HKG watching the British hand back Hong Kong to the Chinese. It was a wet, gloomy and uncertain day. The fireworks all got lost in the clouds and rain that had enveloped the city. It is a vivid memory. As a child growing up it was one of the few future events that I was curious about - where I would be and how it would be. The Millennium was one, the HKG handover another and my xxth birthday another. For so long I thought of HKG as somewhere that I would stay. It is a great city and I was fortunate to have been able to live there for as long as I did. My memories of it are now very mixed. But Alex is still there and part of me will always be with him. But this year was the year that I moved on; that I made a real commitment and made promises that I know I will keep. Dubai may not be the greatest place to live; but my heart is here and there is no where else I would rather be. 28 June 2007 Anyone looking for their millionaire date might want to try this event: The second Emirates Millionaire Show (EMS 2007), the exclusive event for the region's super rich, will take place at the Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai at the end of November, it was announced yesterday. 26 June 2007 I am off to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia tonight. For one night. Work. And rather bizarrely we are flying by private jet. Will tell you more about that later. The bad news is that I wont get my Skywards Miles! This is a map so you can find me. Jeddah is on the Red Sea some 2 and 1/2 hours flying time from Dubai.
25 June 2007 For Tai and others: Thai tongue twisters - follow this link! http://www.uebersetzung.at/twister/th.htm ********************* It was strange to spend the night in Falcon Tower - it is so quiet there - and I have failed to get the TV working which is frustrating. Did cook some spicy tuna pasta which will serve for lunch today as well. It is a little strange when Tai is back in BKK - it is our home; somewhere that we share - and I miss being there with her. She went to the Erawan Shrine last night. I must go there when I am back in BKK. There is much to be thankful for. ********************** Nearly got killed driving to work this morning - some guy decides to swerve across two lanes at speed into my lane and does not see me. Hit the brakes and horn simultaneously. You really do have to have 360 degree vision on Sheik Zayed Rd - it is a twelve lane highway where most people think they are the only car on the road. 24 June 2007 Tai, the lucky girl, is on her way to BKK for four nights - there is an HKG turnaround in the middle of the trip but she has time to go home and shop as well ! We drove to the Crew Briefing Center for the first time this morning - fifteen minutes from Millennium. That is a huge improvement on the school bus! Meanwhile I have plenty to do....but none of it inspirational. 23 June 2007 It was a good and busy weekend ! Got a lot done and had a bit of a drive as well. Made the third payment on our Executive Towers property. The beginning of one of the more expensive weekends. Spend Friday in the Deira City Center mall and at Ikea and Festival City. Bought a new rug for the tiled floor at Falcon Tower. It will look good. Lots of colour And on Sunday we drove out to Hatta, about one hour's drive, for a late lunch at the Hatta Fort Hotel. The one piece of green surrounded by desert and barren mountain. It was hot. It is hot every day now. At night it is still around 35C. There is a heritage village at Hatta. It was opened in 2001 to showcase rural life in the UAE. It is already a ghost town. There was no one else there; and the place is derelict. Shame really - nice idea; but the malls of Dubai must be more of an attraction. Still is was good to get out of town. There are some pictures from Hatta here. 22 June 2007 Dubai Summer Surprises is the rather optimistic name given to the next two months of hibernation in air conditioned shopping malls. It is basically one very large summer sale - which started yesterday and continues until the end of August. I can confirm that the mall of the emirates was busy last night - and doing good business in the women's clothing stores! 20 June 2007 Sorry about the lack of updates this week, We were making presentations to the good bankers of the GCC on Monday and it has been a frenetic few days. ************************* Tai came back from Tunis - there are some lovely pictures of her sunny visit. ************************* Driving in Dubai has been fun - if only I had 360 degree vision. There are no useful maps here as they are all immediately out of date with new roads and buildings opening on a daily basis. 16 June 2007 So I go to collect my shirts from the dry cleaner and they are not ready yet. I go to get my new suit which has been altered for me - and yep, it wont be ready until tomorrow. Welcome to Dubai. On the positive side; the maintenance guy in Falcon Tower came by in the afternoon and drilled some holes for me so I can hang paintings and pictures. I was up until 4am last night making IKEA furniture - I must qualify for the Ikea diploma by now. Bought a nice cd player - now all my music is here - and as I cant get the tv working it is good to have some music in the background. Tai is in Tunis. She left on Thursday morning - that was not our greatest moment - all a bit too much of a rush. But EK only flies there 3 days a week so she gets a nice 3 night stopover and some sightseeing - a little bit of a holiday. They were in ancient Carthage today. 13 June 2007 One of the pleasures of this web site is the occasional very unusual request - this is one such example received today: Hi Robert Sadly I know no one who can help. But if you do then let me know and I will pass on your message! ************************* What else to tell you. We went out for dinner at Metzo last night at Wafi City. What is meant to be one of Dubai's nicer and more romantic Italian restaurants served up food that was dull and not fresh. We wont be back. ************************** Should have picked up a rental car for a month this morning. But the rules appear to be changing about using a UK license for a short term rental (pending residency visa); so tomorrow I have to go to the road traffic authority, fill in forms, get an eye test, and get a 6 month temporary UAE license. All this while I am up to my ears in work. **************************** My shipment arrived from Bangkok today. In some ways it is rather sad how few possessions I have after xx years (you know how many) on the planet. As I was living in a serviced apartment in Bangkok for years there are no big items like beds or sofas. There was not even a cutlery set. Lots of books, cds, pictures and my golf clubs. There are of course some bits (more books?) still in Hong Kong; but after over 4 years in storage they may not be in great condition. **************************** Tai is away in Tunis for the weekend. Leave tomorrow and back on Sunday night. I hope she knows how much she will be missed. By me ! 10 June 2007 Rough day in the office - I guess 8 days work in a row is starting to take its toll! Tai is coming home tonight - yippee. She does keep me sane. She has been shopping in Bangkok...good job I am leaving some space in the wardrobe ! And this is what happens to the web sites of old potash companies: Rather sad. We put a lot of work into that. 9 June 2007 Back from a 2 day management retreat (always a strange word - sounds like we are running away from trouble) in Abu Dhabi. I can confirm I am working with talented and hugely articulate people; with talented educators who are committed to giving the next generation of leaders the skills and knowledge to succeed in a complex world. The potential for this organisation is huge. The vision is dramatic. Here is our group's artistic interpretation of the past, present and future !
However, I can also confirm that there is a great deal of work to do. One thing I would not do its stay at the Beach Rotana in Abu Dhabi again; firstly there is no evidence of a beach, secondly the chair and carpet in the bedroom had more stains that your average Bangkok beer bar and thirdly there was a late night school discotheque underneath my room which was loud! Apparently there were many complains. Sadly they did nothing about it. Though they did tell me I could pack and move to another room. The classic solution. Inconvenience and irritate those who are already irritated. Don't deal with the problem. Tai meanwhile is on her BKK-HKG turnaround today and has a shopping day tomorrow ! Hopefully I can have a little time off next weekend. It will have been 12 days then without a break. Though Tai will be in Tunis then. Wish I could go. 7 June 2007 Five days at work finished. Tiring, interesting, challenging. There is a lot to do. Tai is on her way to BKK for the weekend. She will have a fun time seeing her friends and can spend Sunday trawling the markets without me! I have a company weekend retreat in Abu Dhabi to attend. It should be fun and quite hard work as well. It has been good having Tai at home this week. I like telling he about my day and some of the people that I am meeting. And at the end of the day when I am tired there is no better place to be. 6 June 2007 Sorry to be quiet. It is amazing how much time work consumes and how little time is left for other things - like blog writing ! If you want to know where I am follow this link. I am now CFO at this company. Did not finish until 8pm last night - then a mad rush to the mall to buy a new TV for Falcon Tower - our first flat screen TV - and then back to Millennium for a nice dinner with some of Tai's colleagues. And a late night! 3 June 2007 10 hours is a long time to spend in an office each day - with a short break for lunch. I have always worked long hours but I have always preferred working late into the evenings when I have needed to work. Everyone tells me I will get used to the 7.30 starts.......it may take a while! Meanwhile Tai sounds like she had a fun night in Rome and got to fly the first leg today deadheading to Nice in Business Class - she has a long trip back through Rome again and onto Dubai. This is the start of the next stage of our time in Dubai - where we are both working - and the adjustments could be quite challenging. My weekends will not always coincide with her days off and she will often have to leave or arrive in the middle of the night; and then I will be getting up at 6.30am and trying not to cause too much disturbance. Still this is more a far more real situation than me not working and being able to spend so much more time together when she is in Dubai. We will just have to make sure that we make the best of the evenings and days that we do have together ! Work looks full of challenges! And some interesting people as well. Wont write more than that for now. Lets see how things develop over the next week or so. 2 June 2007 So tomorrow is the big day when I start a real job in Dubai! I went in toady to check out the IT system and make sure I am up and running. My office is huge. But it may be less fun than Chateau Potash. There I had Edward for company and I liked sharing the office. There was always someone to share ideas with or get a quick agreement on something. Then there was the big boss or someone always coming by just to chat. I suspect this office is all much more formal – and that appointments are made through secretaries, coffee is delivered by the pantry boy etc etc ! No more walks to Au Bon Pain to clear the brain. But then who would want to walk to an Au Bon Pain when the temperature is in the 40c (celcius!). *********************** Still a bit jet lagged after getting back from New York....trouble getting to sleep; this was not good for Tai who had to get up at 4.30am for her morning flight to Rome, lucky girl. Wish I could go with her. A night out in Rome would be very pleasant. Back in Ikea yesterday shopping for the Falcon Tower apartment. By next weekend when things get delivered and assembled the place will start to look like a real home. It needs a tv, telephone and internet. It also needs Tai and I to feel at home there. Then it will be ready! 30 May 2007 Good old Thailand - first they ban Youtube for carrying inappropriate videos of the Thai King. And then an almost replica Thai site is launched called SiamTube. This cannot be a coincidence. It really is just another example of IP piracy. ********************* Back in Dubai - a 12 hour haul from NYC and my superstar fiancee then had 4 hours sleep and went to do a turnaround to Beirut. She will be tired. ********************* I have am offer letter to start work on 3 June. A real job; hard; challenging and so much to do. I need to start thinking about what to do first and how to make an early and useful impact. ********************* We had a great holiday in the USA. It was not the leisurely romantic trip to Provence and Paris that I had hoped for; but New York is a fun city to visit. So much to see and do. The jet lag took its toll in the evenings but we saw plenty of the city; explores; shopped; had some nice lunches; went to the theatre and took a weekend side trip to sleepy Washington. I am already looking forward to our next trip; it is good to spend time together away from work and schedules and distractions. Just us. 28 May 2007 On the way back to New York city. For some reason the Acela express trains are a ar bumpier ride than the regional Amtrak trains. Maybe because they are faster. Maybe the carriages are lighter- but they take every bump along the way. Overturned our coffee as well - fortunately it was a) cold and b) missed the laptop. Fortunately Tai is my neighbour - and is used to clumsy me ! A stranger would have been unimpressed. Mind you - it was hard to balance the laptop and drinks on the same table. ************************ I would tell my gentle reader about my birthday....if there was anything to tell. It was just another day on vacation. And another night without enough sleep ! We spent most of the day in gentrified Georgetown; very pleasant. And had a good late lunch at Bangkok Joe's at Washington Harbour. Yes, we were speaking Thai and eating Thai food for my birthday ! ************************* Did not want a big dinner - so went to the Sky Lounge at the Washington Hotel. This is a terrace that looks out over the White House and the Mall - so you can see Washington lit up at night. It could be a much nicer place than the plastic tables and chairs allow it to be. And that was about it. A few nice messages from people. Thank you! . |
27 May 1957
(oops - I meant 2007!)
This day 50 years ago I arrived on this planet; delivered at Marston Green Maternity Hospital; the first child of Brian and Brenda Scott. 50 is a big day; I am not sure quite what to expect. I had big parties for the other notable birthdays. At 21 I was still at University and we had a party that ended after dawn. My 30th was at my home in West Acton, London, with a big weekend BBQ on a lovely sunny day. My 40th was at TOTS restaurant in Hong Kong; shortly after Alex was born. Not a late night but Peter Trengrove (whatever happened to him?) drank enough wine to keep us all entertained. I don't feel 50; I don't think I look like 50 (or how I imagine 50 to look !). But I am 50. And by this age I should really be comfortably settled, have a loving family around me; financially secure; a car or two in the garage; and friends and neighbours that are part of my day to day life. But.....I do not fit into that mould. All I do know is that I am with the person that I want to be with and that the love I have for her is strong and deep. I want to be happy with myself; happy with Tai; happy with family and happy with work. 26 May 2007 We arrived in Washington DC at about 2.45pm today. It is hot and muggy here. Must be all the political hot air. Had a lunch lunch at Dupont Circle; the to the Lincoln Memorial and past the Vietnam War Memorial up to the Washington Monument and onto the White House. I like Washington; there is a lot to see and do here; it is the political capital of the world; if something happens anywhere on the planet it will be talked about and analysed here; yet it always feels like a very easy city to live in. *********************** Oops - sorry about the lack of updates from NYC. The most important news of the morning is that I have run out of clean socks and have to wear the same pair that I wore yesterday. Given that it was over 35C yesterday I feel that as a public service I should be warning the people of New York about potentially smelly socks. **************************** We were at Southside Seaport yesterday; a few shops, bars and restaurants. Busy. Great views of Brooklyn Bridge. Went to East Village and Greenwich Village. Lunch, washed down by Sangria in a really nice little restaurant in East Village, Paella. Then back to the hotel by 5pm; someone neeeded to sleep. **************************** On Thursday we were at Century 21 - avoid this dump of a store if you can. Bloomingdales is at the other extreme but was similarly disappointing; Siam Paragon is more enjoyable to shop in. Walked into Central Park on a lovely sunny warm afternoon and to the boating lake. The boathouse restaurant was busy - too busy - there was a one hour queue. So we had a light lunch (expensive) at the bar next door and went for a paddle on the pond! Saw Chicago in the evening - the theatre is right opposite our hotel. Great energy and enthusiasm. Well choreographed. But really only one memorable song. Nice evening out. 23 May 2007 We spent today at the site of the World Trade Centre - ground zero from 1 Spetember 2001. Then to the Statue of Liberty. And back to Little Italy, Chinatown and Soho. Tai was asleep by 6.30pm so I guess we are not going anywhere tonight. It is hard being in the hotel when she is sleeping. I cannot watch TV or have the lights up high. I dont want to go to sleep too early - I would like to try and sleep through the night if I can. ********************* Earlier in the day - after being out of the hotel at 6am ! Breakfast in America: No not Supertramp!
I had forgotten how bad jet lag can be. We arrived in Manhattan about 8.30 am yesterday but could not check in to the hotel until 3pm. So we walked around - went to the viewing tower on the Rockefeller Center and then back to the hotel to rest in the lobby until a room was available - and then both fell asleep until 8pm. Dinner - I had also forgotten how much food the locals eat - it is truly a land of giants....back to the hotel - and a short sleep until 2.15am and I have been awake since. 22 May 2007 It is about 13 hours flying time from Dubai to New York - leaving the baking dessert we head NorthWest over the Ukraine and Scandinavia and as I type this are somewhere over Greenland. Tai has a large pillow (generously provided from the crew rest area) and 2 seats and has slept most of the flight. I wish I could do that - though I do feel tired now. Emirates seems to have cornered the market for the India - USA run - routing from Indian connections through Dubai. Honestly - if we weren't heading West I would think we were heading to Dubai. We have been in this overcrowded cramped tin tube for 8 hours already - and still have 4 and 1/2 to go. It is a long haul. How the crew can do this sort of trip regularly (Sydney to DXB was a full 15 hours) beats me. I guess a crew rest area and a few hours flat out in a real bed must help..... *********************** I have the draft of an offer letter for a great job in Dubai. More on that when I have the real thing and the ink is dry. It will be hard work. It will be challenging. It is also 6 days a week. It worries me a little that I will have less chance to be with Tai and that our days off may not always co-incide. We will need to work on that and work on making sure that we make the best of the time that we do have together. It is hard to even get away for weekends with only one ay off a week. ************************** There will be quite a lot of admin and paperwork to do for my work visa and residence permit. There is also a medical to do. 21 May 2007 We left BKK on the 3.15am EK 387 for Dubai. The flight was full but a quiet flight -most people eat and then sleep. Tried to sleep for a few hours before the flight. But that did not work. Tai was crew on the flight - it is a pleasure to watch her enjoy her work and too see how at ease she is with her duties and her passengers. **************************** Not the greatest of last days in Bangkok. Not feeling well did not help. Although my nurse was right. Take some medicine she said. Trouble is you have to go out and but the medicine first. Two immodium tablets did the trick. **************************** I checked out of Centrepoint Saladaeng. I was their first even tenant at its soft opening almost 3 and 1/2 years ago and I have been there ever since. I must have spent some Baht 4.0 million with them (US$1115,000) with them in that time. So at least a goodbye from the management would have been a nice gesture. Or even a come back and see us again. Or a voucher for a few free nights on a return visit. Nothing, nada. **************************** I may have a job......should know for sure later today. Fingers are still crossed. 19 May 2007 Not feeling good today - really upset stomach! May have started yesterday when I felt really faint walking around a very crowded, hot Saladaeng market. ********************* The movers were in today. Clearing me out of Centrepoint Saladaeng after over three years here. I was the first tenant in the building. I bet they don't even mention it when I check out tomorrow. The movers cleared up my belongings in less than an hour. It is an easy move. *********************** Interviewer: How are you going to beat Manchester United today? Jose Mourinho: By scoring one more goal than them ! Great response. Pity about the football - first 45 minutes were dreadful. ************************ I do need more sleep; Tai came back at 3am last night after her HKG turnaround and then I had to be up at 8am so that I could meet the moving team. 17 May 2007 Just arrived in Bangkok - the trouble with an early morning arrival is that you go straight into rush hour traffic and I am typing this in the taxi - I think I will be here a long time. Flew over on Etihad from Abu Dhabi - all of 70 people in Economy on a 777-300. Even with three seats to lie on I did not sleep. Tired now. ********************* Tai and I will spend my birthday and a week's holiday in the USA. The French have made getting a visa (necessary for Thai citizens) almost impossible. So, a round of applause for the Turkish consul in Dubai who made getting a visa almost a pleasure. They certainly made it easy and were very efficient. Apparently the Egyptian consulate in Dubai is fast as well. The French frankly could not care - their promise to return my call came predictably to nothing. ********************** Was interviewing again on the 15th. It was a full morning and a lunch as well. I hope it went well. I certainly enjoyed the meetings and am impressed at the business that they have built. Cross your fingers for me. I came home from the interview to find Tai watching Snakes on a Plane. Predictably I dreamed of snakes that night - slithering all over our bed.... ********************** Will be busy this weekend in BKK - the main activity being to pack up my Centrepoint apartment and move the few belongings that I have to Dubai....I was their first tenant when Centrepoint Saladaeng opened at the start of 2004.I have outlasted almost all (maybe all !!) of the original staff. They should really have some sort of going away party for me....I have been a good contributor to their profitablity. 13 May 2007 An early birthday present for myself - I bought my first ever Nikon - the D80 with a 18-135mm lens. Early indications are that this is leaps and bounds ahead of my old Canon 300D. We will be very happy together. Expect even more pictures of my favourite model. *************************** Latest on Reuters - other than Mr. Glocer's egregious wealth (see
Today) is that The Independent on Sunday reports that the Reuters Founders
Share Company, the trust that acts as guardian to the editorial
independence of Reuters Group Plc, is set to back a proposed takeover of
the media group by Canada's Thomson Corp. ***************************** I don't dislike Glocer although his blog is very very dull and far from original ok - if you must www.tomglocer.com - I just think that after people have sweated 16 years at a senior level and put company before personal well being someone might have said thank you - as well as writing a large cheque!! 12 May 2007 A bomb in Izmir today that injured 15 people at a market in Bornova. SO much for that friendly, tranquil, welcoming city that we went to last week. Though to be fair we never went into the city centre. And it is Turkey's third largest city with 4 million people. There is a big demonstration expected there tomorrow - part of the ongoing political soul searching in Turkey right now between secularists and pro Islam groups. Maybe there will now be fewer people at the demonstration. **************************** 11 May 2007 A strange day today - but we had a nice evening - Korean food - I do like kimchi soup and a good few hours of sleep before the 00.30 wake up call for Tai's Johannesberg flight. This is the last of the late night long hauls. Most of the Asia and Europe flights leave before 3am - this is a tough time of night to be flying. Especially after a Delhi turnaround last night. The new apartment that I am renting in Falcon Tower is slowly being furnished. Actually the bedroom looks OK. The living room is spartan. The apartment is only one bedroom but it is large, new, comfortable and about 300 yards from Millennium Tower. 9 May 2007 This should have been a good day - a step forward on our lives in Dubai. We have signed the lease on an apartment for me; we now have electricity and water; and have started to buy some furnishing and necessities for the apartment. But..... **************************** The latest on the Thomson bid for Reuters: Reuters shares closed at 630p, up 2.3 per cent but below the day’s peak of 660p, as analysts said they expected competition and tax issues, as well as the need to secure approval from shareholders and the Reuters Founders Share Company, could delay completion of a deal until early next year. Tom Glocer, Reuters CEO and CEO elect of the merged company, is also in for a hefty windfall if the deal with Thomson goes through. According to an SEC filing on April 3, Glocer owns some 721,802 shares in Reuters, meaning that he stands to make just over £5 million ($9.9 million) from the sale, while his 7.2 million share options could be worth tens of millions more. No comment. He has never been my favorite person - never will be. Paul Richards, an analyst at Numis Securities, said: "From a Reuters perspective it looks a very attractive deal. Shareholders get a stake in an enlarged group which also has Thomson's excellent legal business. It is a more attractive investment than a stand-alone Reuters." 8 May 2007 We had a fun time in Izmir and Istanbul and are now back in the grim realities of setting up an apartment and job hunting in Dubai. Izmir was all about colours - from the markets to the rose bushes to the fruit to the ocean to the colour of the sky. Such vibrant colours. It feels very Mediterranean. To be honest I am a bit down to be back in Dubai. Will have to move into my solitary apartment; still no work and still not mobile. And not a lot in the pipeline. Izmir was great because for three days I forgot about everything except relaxing, being with family, being with Tai, and simply enjoying life. ***************************** The big news today is the proposed bid by Thomson for the "evil empire" - also known as Reuters - the bid price is gbp 7.05. Reuters’ share price is still 10 per cent below the implied offer price, having rallied a mere 2.4 per cent on Tuesday morning when the latest details emerged. That followed a 25 per cent jump on Friday. The companies duly warned that there could be “no assurance” of an agreement. But the companies have agreed the name, structure and management of the new company. There is a generous 43 per cent premium to Thursday’s close on offer. It appears that any stumbling blocks are more likely to be external than internal. Beware the US competition regulator. Hedge fund ValueAct Capital, the second largest shareholder in Reuters
Group Plc, said on Tuesday that the price Canadian publisher Thomson Corp.
appears ready to pay to buy Reuters seems "fair." 4 May 2007 We are now in Izmir. It has taken me some 20 years to get here. But I am glad I am here now, and it feels right to be here with Tai. We had a good flight here on EK; and connected to THY to Izmir. More over the next few days; with some pictures as well. 3 May 2007 Tai and I are flying to Izmir today where we will stay with my sister and her family - my first visit in the twenty or so years that she has lived there. My mother is there on holiday as well so it should be a happy family reunion. ******************** The big news from yesterday's Gatwick flight is that Tai was given her first business card by a passenger - I am surprised that it took over five months ! Pushy Texans !!! ********************* Then again - maybe we are not flying until tomorrow. Tai was on a standby ticket - there were plenty of seats left on the airplane but for some reason the flight was payload restricted....ie it could not take a full load of passengers. Yet even this morning the flight was showing as having standby seats available. So instead the afternoon was spent at Deira City Centre - not quite as exotic as being by the Mediterranean.... We will fly tomorrow - Tai has a confirmed ticket. But this was the day that I wanted to get away from Dubai for a few days. Some family time and some quiet time together with Tai. The trip is now going to be a bit of a rush. Lesson learned. Standby tickets are a bad idea when there is something important to do. ******************** And to add to a very average day there are no elevators today in Tai's building so I had to carry two suitcases down 29 flights of stairs at lunchtime so that we could get our taxi to the airport for the flight that never was..... One of those days. ********************* And if that was not bad enough I left a small suitcase in the back of the taxi that we took back from Deira to Tai's apartment. Our main bag was left at the airport for tomorrow's flight. The second bag we had stored at Deira City Centre while we ate and shopped. Then we took a limousine taxi from the Sofitel back home. The bag went in the trunk. We were too busy thinking about defective elevators and what was for dinner and forgot the case. The driver did not open the trunk; and it was two hours later that we thought about it. Everything is replaceable- but it includes my camera and accessories and both washbags. So there will not be many pictures from Izmir. One of those really bad days. 1 May 2007 I just finished William Boyd's novel,"Restless" - an intelligent historical spy thriller set in and after the second world. Believable characters and a moral reckoning at the end. Very enjoyable. ********************* The UK press are reporting that April's hot weather gave Britain's retailers their best month for almost three years - I thought it was the result of Tai's two visits to London Gatwick - and Primark ! ********************* I hate automated telephone answering systems. They never do what they are supposed to do and make a company sound utterly impersonal. HSBC in Hong Kong are the worst by some distance. Press 2 for English. To assist us further please enter your account number followed by the has sign. You do that - and the message then says - you have entered an invalid phone banking number three times. Do this once more and your phone banking will be suspended. But they had not asked for my phone banking number; only for my account number. Of course you cannot do anything about this so just have to end the call. It is also the perfect excuse for no one at HSBC ever to answer their telephone. It annoys me sooooooooo much. I only try to call them if I have something important that needs to be done. And I cannot contact anyone there for help. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. ************************ Mind you - as I eat large amounts of humble pie !! It is a public holiday in Hong Kong - so all I will get is an automated voice !! Oops - did not realise that !
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