Monday, November 30, 2009
Holiday remainders - picture edition
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Locals are less than 1% of the private workforce
"Although nationals comprise a fifth of the UAE population, they account for less than one percent of the private sector workforce."
Dubai financial crisis
Rip Van Winkle
Saturday, November 28, 2009
A year for farmers to be thankful?
Friday, November 27, 2009
If it's no problem, we'd like to stop paying our bills for six months, OK?
Thursday, November 26, 2009
What I'm thankful for...
Over 60 comments for one blog post?
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
A nice dog treated as a zoo animal
Why did I check?
Alexander Hamilton
I saw this a week ago and I’ve played it a dozen times since. Think learning history can’t be interesting? Take five minutes and watch this.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
From the classroom
When I arrived in this country I had a hard time finding a shampoo I liked. Most are way too scented. After trying several I finally found one that had a little coconut scent and I liked it.
Now - obviously - I don't need much shampoo. Even though I wash my hair every day one bottle lasted me six months. When I went to buy more I saw that the shampoo I like was sold out. For the past two weeks I've been using tiny, tiny portions hoping not to run out. On Saturday I had no choice... my shampoo bottle was empty. When I went to Carrefoure... SURPRISE! Not only did they have my shampoo but they had an entire display of it.
One bottle lasts me six months. Given that I don't know when I'll ever be able to buy it again I bought 3 sets of bottles. I now have enough shampoo to last me 2 years.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Photography tip: Natural light
Mary is one of my favorite of Ann's friends. She's got a warm personality that - as you can see - radiates. She teaches writing in a country where students want to learn writing even less than American students. By all accounts she's a great teacher and I'm glad Mike was able to capture her personality.
Thanksgiving prep
Thanksgiving 2009
What made the event a success was the friendly, relaxed atmosphere. Some of the food was great. Some was OK. Some was a mystery. Lesson for the day? A good gravy masks many mistakes. My mashed potatoes and broccoli cheese were less than stellar but put some great gravy on it and it became scrumptulicious.
For the first time I had an excuse to use my ridiculously large hallway. Always thinking in terms of workflow, I created a beverage line, a main course table and a desert table. I credit the Coke machine for making the party better; nobody felt obligated to ask if it was OK to get something more to drink when they saw a large, fully stocked Coke refrigerator!
A good neighbor
Al Ain Raceway
Although the track is large with a lot turns, with 19 people racing there was a lot of passing getting bunched up.
This is me after I spun out trying to take a turn too fast. The jump suits were supposed to cover the entire body. Mine kept riding up my leg. It was very distracting.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Kidney beans in a green bean casserole?
Thanksgiving 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Thanksgiving preperation
Byzantine
"...characterized by elaborate scheming and intrigue, esp. for gaining political power or favor..."
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
MMMVELOPES!
Disturbing fact of the day
If you click on the second link you'll see that compared to previous years, 142 is tragic, but thankfully lower than in previous years.
Blog update
- Pageloads - which is simply the number of times a browser opens the blog. It's meaningless because I could sit here all day and click refresh and the number would go up.
- Unique visitors - This counts all the visitors to the blog.
- Returning visitors - All who come to the blog more than once.
Here are the unique visitors per week. For reasons I don't understand the blog became much more popular four weeks ago and set a record of 660 visitors last week.
The number of returning visitors is more predictable. Last week I had 336 returning visitors. That doesn't mean I have 336 regular readers because someone who checks the blog every day would count 7 times. Since I know some check once or twice a week and others only at work, it's hard to know how many actual regular readers there are.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Twitter: Path to stardom?
Student quote of the day
Student: This is your first time advising, isn't it?
Me: Yes.
Student: It shows.
I laughed so hard I nearly fell out of my chair. Literally. It's a first to have a student with near perfect English also able to make such a cutting comment. I almost felt like I was back home dealing with students in the US.
My advisee realized she had insulted me and started to apologize. I interrupted her:
Me: It's OK... I know I'm new. I'm trying not to screw this up. What made it so obvious to you?
Student: You are asking questions. Our previous advisors sign our papers and we leave.
Oh.
Journalism, Fox style
Just when you think Fox can’t top itself…
What happens when Fox’s biggest blowhard interviews CNN’s former biggest blowhard? You get the question: “Do you think Obama is the devil?”
Seriously.
This is the fair and balanced we’ve come to expect from Fox.
It’s worth repeating: Obama’s best friends are his enemies.
Vanity plates, Emirates style
Update: Check comments for a correction of this post...
Monday, November 16, 2009
Harkin flexes his muscles
Dealing with Du - a customer service saga
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Could you use this toilet?
You can see everyone passing by you but they can't see you. Could you use this toilet? My first reaction was, "That would be great!" Then I had to admit I'd get stage fright.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Clash of the Titans
Dealing with Du
NYU Prof says "Going Muslim" should replace "Going Postal"
And we don't want to be like you, either!
Friday, November 13, 2009
Wishing Levi would bare his soul
"She's being smart. She knows what I got on her. It's a smart move on her part."
Massaman curry
In search of the truth - A Cedar Rapidian's Odyssey
- Sex voyeurism
- A dinosaur-like creature in Africa
- $40,000 spent to travel the world in search of the truth
- Cover-ups and conspiracies
- Forged documents
- and a comment about Starbucks that caused a united team to break up
"My name is Lucas Daniel Smith. I am 29 years old (DOB 01.04.1980). I was born in the state of Iowa. My hometown is Cedar Rapids, Iowa."
Not so lucky
Or maybe a little lucky
Thursday, November 12, 2009
The dangers of Thai food
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Iowa’s next senator?
I’m a Democrat and a realist. The odds of any Democrat beating Chuck Grassley are 10:1 at best.
I have a special affinity for Roxanne Conlin – one of the nation’s first US attorneys and the first woman to be nominated to run for governor of Iowa in 1982. She lost, largely due to a bogus issue… her farming husband lost money and didn’t pay income tax. Never mind that many farmers lost money in 1982 and didn’t pay income tax.
This ad is excellent:
If Chuck had seriously negotiated on healthcare and worked for a compromise I’d have probably supported him in 2010. Instead he got spooked by the tea-baggers at his town hall meetings in August and chose to quit. So I’ll support whichever Don Quixote my party nominates next June.
Who knows? Maybe she’ll knock this Grassley windmill over.
Creepy wedding photos
Using abortion to kill healthcare reform
"The Democrats will never go for it. But above all else, we must remember the strategy must be to kill the bill, not improve it."