As you can see from the title, today was just another day at the office, marked only buy the astonishing fact that I managed to stay awake during some software training this afternoon against all the odds.
For some reason, perhaps because I’m not sleeping very well, or that the air-conditioning wasn’t set correctly……..or because it was boring (even if it is essential), I couldn’t keep my eyes open. My Arabic speaking assistant must have noticed because I had a bottle of water shoved under my nose at one point – which did seem to do the trick for a while.
When I got back to the hotel, which, whilst we are on the subject, you all seem to have this idyllic impression of. It’s true, inside its wonderful, the food is good and the garden and pool are lovely, the staff are friendly and the gym is very good compared to some of the others I have been to out here – but get this…….
It’s a little on the remote side ! The building you can see on the right is the staff accommodation and I’m fairly confident that the next building that doesn’t involve camels in some way, is probably 3 miles away. After that the next civilisation (i.e. shops and cafes) is another 10 minutes drive away. Proper civilisation (Abu Dhabi
Today I went running down the road you can see, around a roundabout (which you can’t see because it’s behind me), to the first speed bump past the roundabout and back again. I’m assured by our resident racing snake that it’s exactly a mile to the speed bump so I know I did two miles. Generally that’s not a problem but I stupidly offered to go with one of the expat girls from the hotel (who’s working in a school with about 20 other expats all staying at our hotel). She ran a 9 minute mile pace whilst chatting to me all the way along, and then turned around and did it all again. I did go in the gym afterwards to get my breath back and did a couple of sets of weights because although I could barely walk or breath, I felt that I was cheating by only doing 18 minutes !
By the time I had finally showered and stopped sweating I popped out of my room onto the terrace to see who was churning up and down the pool…………no prizes for guessing ! Apparently she’s a triathlete, and I was stupid enough to tell her that there were bikes to borrow from reception !
Changing the subject to Ad Revenue, and then I promise I’ll stop harping on about it, I thought you would like some statistics, other than how much is in the pot today. Obviously stop me if you’re not interested…………
I have 14 followers (as you can all see) but I have had 526 page views (so unless the 14 are truly addicted then I have others who are watching without following – if you see what I mean…….. During those 526 page views there have been 141 “clicks” on adverts raising a total of £57.02 (that’s a ratio of 26.81% for those of you with an analytical mind). So I thank those of you who are clicking and closing, and urge you to carry on with gusto (perhaps more than 1 a page…….), and I implore those of you that forget to try and remember – there’s a really good party depending on you ! I would do it myself but I’m banned and will get a smacked botty if I try (and they’ll take away my toys !). Begging over – for now at least. It’s as much about an exercise in statistics as anything else, and I’m curious to see if the ads get better/ different as the total rises and the blog becomes more “valuable”.
Today’s inventory:
Cigars: 3 (we seem to have stabilised now)
Alcohol: none – I have resisted the temptation to have another small brandy…..for the moment anyway !
Money: AED 3 for my falafel but my washing is going to cost me 36 to get it out of hock tomorrow, which, if you think about it, isn’t bad for a weeks washing (about £6).
Gym: 2 hard miles on the road (with hills, sand and wind !) and half an hour in the gym with some weights to recover !
Food: the usual.
Weather: It’s been a funny day, misty to start with, then blisteringly hot with a breeze and cool this evening (I’ve got my door open but a sweater on – definitely need a sweater at the moment but the fleece jacket is all packed away for the duration I suspect !)
That’s all folks. You may have to read the blog in the morning from now on because uploading in the hotel is taking an age because the internet connection is so pants so I might have to put it on a stick and take it to the office to do in the mornings – time will tell !
Adios !
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