Rain, Rain Go Away (And Take Me Too!)

I was supposed to fly back to Pittsburgh leaving at 1:00 a.m. on February 28, but we went scuba diving the day before, and after our dive our instructor told us we should wait 24 hours before flying. We had almost 14 hours to go before our scheduled flight, and I was prepared to ignore the 24-hour advice as overly conservative, but our scuba instructor was adamant. So I had to endure the wrath of Neal, who had asked about this very point and been told by yours truly that there was no problem. I pointed out that he had taken the same e-learning course as me on scuba diving and therefore should not have relied solely on my off-hand response (which was supported in the course materials had we taken only one dive, but technically we took two dives, which I had not anticipated). So we decided to delay our departure to March 1, which was no problem for Neal as he was able to change his business class ticket. But I try to fly on a companion pass on a space available basis to save money, and it did not look good that night. In fact, no one flying space available (SA) got seats that night, so I said goodbye to Neal at the airport and went back to the apartment. It looked better for the next day so I headed out to the airport again (where there was a nice sign welcoming my husband, valued full fare customer, who of course, had already arrived home), and greeted many of the same people trying to fly space available from the night before. This time they took a few, but not me (it's based on seniority and all current and retired employees get priority over companions), so I repeated the drill heading home in a taxi once again in the middle of the night.

I have a new plan tonight. I bought a ticket to fly to Kuwait and will fly space available from Kuwait to Dulles, where there are lots of open seats and a good chance I will get business class. Just to prove that good things happen to people who wait, it turns out that coincidentally my twin sister Janet is in Kuwait at this very moment preparing to fly the plane I will soon be taking back to the good old USA. So I will be assured of one friendly face in the friendly skies of United!

Since we finished our scuba dive in the sandstorm, it has been raining off and on in Dubai. The worst rains are at night with lots of thunder and lightning. The rain was so bad the first night we went to the airport that a lot of roads flooded and it took us 2 hours to make the 30 minute trip. But this was nothing compared to the 6+ hours that people spent stranded in traffic in the neighboring emirate of Sharjah where the roads are much narrower with no drainage. Three people were electrocuted due to fallen wires and one person was hit by a truck and killed. Six other people died in Dubai in a 13-hour span when an SUV hit a truck that had run out of gas and been left on the road with no flashers, and another truck overturned as the driver was trying to avoid a hazard in the road. I myself saw many road hazards coming home last night from the airport, as signs and temporary barriers had blown into the road. You definitely don't want to be on the roads here in the middle of a storm, and the aftermath can be deadly, too, if you're not extremely careful!

Add to the rain-related woes the recent news that the observation deck on the 124th floor of the Burj Khalifa remains closed due to mechanical issues; the massive new aquarium at the Dubai Mall sprang a leak; one person was killed and 13 others injured when a pavilion at the Global Village collapsed; fire broke out on the track of the Dubai Metro, disrupting service; and it seems that cracks are spreading everywhere you look across Dubai's glossy veneer. Maintenance personnel seem to be handling these crises as they arise, but will they be able to repair the damage so things look as good as new, and how long will residents and visitors put up with this? I'm hoping it stops raining soon (me who came here thinking that it never rained!) and that I can finally get out of here tonight!