Frustrating Fun Day

Last day in Dubai before heading back to Pittsburgh for a week. Trying to entertain Janet and Hack while picking up some furniture turns out to be impossible. My company is anything but entertaining as Janet and Hack endure a hugely frustrating trip to the Arabian Ranches to pick up a table, which I stupidly thought would take only an hour. Three hours later, we are stuck in traffic going the wrong way (as is usual here). The table wasn't even that nice and I am seething at the owner who refused to email a picture--"come see it for yourself at Arabian Ranches", he said, with glowing description--and who also refused to come down on his price, which is too easy when you are on the phone and let your wife be the bad guy. And the directionally challenged wife's bad directions were how we got going the wrong way home.I'm beginning to suspect that one reason for the seemingly inexplicable accidents in Dubai may be the attempts of drivers to correct their mistakes in getting on the wrong road, which often involves a huge unexpected detour and proves very hard to correct. The U-Turn is quite acceptable in almost any circumstance but this maneuver does require a cut in the road, which may not be there when you need it so some drivers seem to be inspired to make their own cuts.

In a weird way it reminds me of Pittsburgh with its sometimes hideous roads and hard to follow directions, often involving landmarks that are incomprehensible to non-natives. I find myself trying to keep a compass in my head and just make sure I'm heading north, south, east or west, as the situation dictates, using a few notable landmarks as guides, such as the Burj Al Arab, the building that sticks out over the Gulf and looks like a sail, which is a short way north of the Palm, which is eastward on the Gulf and north of all the big buildings in the area known as the Marina. There are, of course, quite a few marinas in Dubai, including at least two on the Palm, but not to get confused, this one is really big.

Janet and Hack were also nice enough to wait for my practically new used bed to be delivered, which I was anxious to get so Neal would not have to come home to an empty apartment. Again, not quite as pictured on the dubizzle website--this bed is massive and the delivery guys earned their money. Turns out it is brand new with price tag still on and in its original packaging (with "big bad ass" marked on the outside!).

Then it's off to the airport and a nice flight back with Captain Janet flying the first half. We later found out she got sick while trying to get some rest in the crew cabin the second half of the trip, hopefully not caused by the disruptions I put them through during the day. I slept well while trying to avoid talking to my seatmate who was very drunk and cursing the whole lot of Arabs in Afghanistan where he had been working. I finally mastered the United seat controls, which had me stumped on prior trips, and timed my bathroom breaks perfectly for a change. Hack had more upscale company in the first-class cabin, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Pakistan and Sen. Dan Inouye from Hawaii. Flying standby has its perks and drawbacks--I couldn't get on the early flight from Dulles to Pittsburgh and had to wait four hours for the next flight. How I occupied those hours is a mystery to me, but it was nice to get home finally. I even found a SuperShuttle now operating in Pittsburgh, who drove me all the way to Fox Chapel for $39, a trip that by cab would be closer to $80 or more with tip.