I wrote about this a week or two ago, about the guy who semi-shouts, “Hello, friend!” as I make the 20-minute walk home after work. He is one of the men from the subcontinent who sits on the benches along the inner road/parking lot … on the backside of the stadium where the Al Jazira […]

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Earlier this week, maybe after another close call, I asked our taxi driver, Benjamin, how many accidents he has been involved in since he began working here, in 2008. “Eight, sir. And none were my fault.” Make that nine. Granted, Benjamin spends nearly all his waking hours behind the wheel of his silver Camry, and […]

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I wrote something really lame, about five months ago. (Yes, I know. “Can you be a little more specific, please?”) It had to do with insects. And my observation that … Abu Dhabi didn’t seem to have many insects. I’ve written some poorly thought out posts in my time … but suggesting that any corner […]

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Old guys and their memories. Why don’t they just give it a rest? Because we think our memories are interesting. That’s why. So we just throw some stuff out there, see if anyone cares, and if they don’t, well, go find something else to do, young Mr. Whippersnapper. Thinking, tonight, about two events only a […]

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Give me another six months, and I’ll come up with 10 more. 10. Indian food. India has 1.1 billion people. It has all sorts of cuisine. I do believe we have ’em all here, somewhere in town. Indian has replaced Mexican, in my universe. 9. Trash removal. Garbage. Rubbish, as the Brits would say. Every […]

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I could feel the vibe around me today, here in the Hadbat al Zafranah neighborhood. The guys building the villa next door … pretty subdued. I’m not even sure they started hammering nails much before 8 a.m. The old guy behind the counter at the mini-mart next to the mosque … his smile had vanished. […]

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What’s hot in sports, right now, on the shores of the Arabian Gulf? I knew you were dying to know. And that is where this list comes in. This is a purely subjective list … based on following media coverage here in the United Arab Emirates, and on conversations with local residents (as well as […]

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Yes. Let’s buy the Dodgers. You, me … and a few million other fans. What, you don’t have a credit line of several hundred million dollars? Don’t worry. Just hear me out. This absolutely is not the stupidest idea I’ve ever had. Promise.

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I was a Dodgers fan for nearly half a century. One of my earliest memories is lying on the floor in the living room of the family home in Long Beach and listening to Vin Scully call a game, through those enormous speakers my father rigged up. I was, maybe, 7. I have been a […]

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Arabic,  like Hebrew, is written right to left. I don’t get this. Never have. What it means for right-handers, who are most of the human race, is the risk of dragging your hand over wet ink as you move it left, left, left — over an area you’ve just written on. The other day I […]

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