I'd say months with 8 days off are as common as months with 15 days off. It depends much on which bid month you are in. I tend to bid for Europe trips whenever I can get them as they are reasonably efficient trips. You fly 6-7 hrs, have 24 hrs off, and then fly 6-7 hrs back. It doesn't take many of these to fill up a month so its a good deal if you can get it. A bad month ( 8 days off) will have you going off on a long trip to Australia and lots of turns. You end up working lots of days without a lot of flight time to show for it.
I've received several personal messages asking if commuting is possible at Emirates. As far as the American definition of commuting goes I'd have to emphatically say no. A typical month doesn't allow enough blocks of days off in a row to go much of anywhere for long enough to be worth it. Additionally, Emirates doesn't have any jumpseat provisions so personal travel would be done buying space available CAT A or CAT C (kind of like an ID90 or ID 50) tickets on your own money. There are, however, quite a few guys who live 'dual' lives and go home fairly regularly, but it isn't quite long enough to be considered 'commuting'. Living somewhere near an Emirates destination obviously aids the possibility of going home more easily but all travel would be space available in the main cabin and therefore dependent on loads.
-Buford