Well, it's hot here, but the Summer weather has just broken. Sitting up front is now only marginally less like being in a fan-assisted oven. It's not worth opening the vents as the incoming airflow only moves the dust around.
Luckily, the trip is short - the rigs for our main contract are only 45 nm off the coast and we go out with a tailwind, arrive just in time for a curry lunch, and come back in late afternoon with another tailwind (thank you, sea breezes!). Now winter is coming, though, we can expect some windier days, too much for the boats so we shall get some field moves to break up the day. There is also some longlining to be done on one or two seismic jobs.
The 212s we fly are like driving concourse classic cars - we're very lucky with the maintenance.
As for the locale - well, Dubai is the sort of place where you have to travel 2-3 miles just to move 100 yards - you can never directly go to your destination but invariably have to drive past, make a U-turn and come back on yourself. The drivers are no worse than on the M25, but these guys here will drive directly acrosss three lanes in front of you with no hint of a signal. If you think that's bad, don't even think of driving in Sharjah unless you own a Sherman tank.
Otherwise, it's relatively crime and insect free, and if you wanted to speak another language, you would be better learning Urdu rather than Arabic.
Phil
Last edited by paco; 31st August 2006 at 13:08.