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Hmm… its been quite some time since the last post. And as expected, so many things happen here in short periods. Those developments on the work front aside, I just got hold of a new toy. A Sony Ericsson P1i phone. It’s packed with features, more or less everything that I want (which incidentally my HP iPaq 6965 also has, but in a much sleeker package, and with a better camera and phone).

With free data plan, WLAN, push mail synchronisation, and other bundled applications like Opera browser, it seems fun! Not that UIQ3 interface doesn’t have its inherent glitches, but it still seems a neat little package.

Update 1:

The handset was hanging every half hour or so, initially I thought it was something to do with the network, but in the end realised it was something wrong with the phone itself. Thankfully, Jumbo (where I bought this from) immediately replaced the handset with a new one. From then on, no issues!

Update 2:

When was the last time you were genuinely impressed by a phone feature? (Ok, all those iPhone owners are exempted). The P1i has truckloads of features, one of them is a free service called TrackID. You have a tune playing on radio or TV, but have no way to figure out which song… What would you do? With TrackID, the phone samples 5 seconds from any part of the tune, sends that sample over to a server, and in a few seconds shows you which song!

It scored 5 out of the 5 songs I tried, including one Hindi song! I’m impressed!

I can’t imagine how unbearable it would have been.

Many had warned me that Dubai may not match up to my expectations, that working here is not going to be as the PR machines claim. Having spent one month here, am glad to say that it has matched and exceeded my expectations. Maybe I was realistic, or maybe this place is not bad after all.

That being said, I also understand what they originally meant. Of the many cogs that run the system, the most visible one is the enormous amount of construction that happens 24/7. And the life of an average construction worker is, to put it mildly, appalling. The general working conditions are horrible, and when you consider the unbearable heat of summer, sometimes you wonder why they even bother to come here to work. But of course, the answer is obvious… money.

It is this exploitative environment that is rubbed off on other fields, other industries, and that in turn leads to people having awful experiences. If you are lucky, your story would be different.

Arne asked me if I have any regrets so far. Fortunately, my answer came fast - No!

(You might have guessed this was written a month back, the heat is pretty bearable these days, mid-30’s, and still coming down… Good!).