Traffic Flow

I've been driving here now for a couple of months and whether it's driving in a big city (1.75 million people) or simply driving in an environment that appears to be well thought out and planned I'm simply amazed at what I see.
The way the roads have been planned and built is incredible. There's a lot of traffic and despite having drivers from all over the world and the normal poor drivers traffic flows so well. At every intersection the far left lane is for those that want to go left or do a complete U-Turn. The next lane to it's right is for people that want to go straight or make a left hand turn. Then there's a lane or two that simply has the option to go straight. On the right there is a lane that expands into a turn lane so people going right can do it without impeding any traffic behind them.
At the intersections only one side has the green light. So I don't go through the intersection while traffic going the other way comes through also. It simply rotates around and all four sides get their turn to move through. So a light turns green and a car either does a u-turn, goes left, goes straight or goes right and nothing coming from any other direction slows the traffic down. Pedestrians follow the signals to cross streets (more out of fear for their life) so they don't impede anyone. It really is a great system. The only glitch is the bad drivers.
Cabs, of which there are thousands, have certain areas (cut-outs) they can pull into to pick up fares and bus stops are also cut-outs so when they pick up passengers they are not stopped in a traffic lane. Any time you merge onto a street, for example if you make a right turn, there is a merge lane to help you so you don't turn right into traffic.
So engineering wise and infrastructure wise it's interesting to see what can be done when you take your time to develop a plan and learn from other large cities. There are also rotaries/roundabouts here to help with traffic flow. Another interesting aspect of the design is the pedestrian walkways that go under the streets. So you don't have to go to a street corner to cross the street you can simply walk down steps or a ramp and cross underneath in a well lit and large tunnel. Those are usually available in the middle of a block if it's a main street.
I went to my first Polo Match yesterday. It's a sport for the wealthy since along with having a ball to hit you also need a horse to ride.
QOB - "There are only two distinct classes of people on this earth: those who espouse enthusiasm and those who despise it." Author Germaine de Stael
It's cooling off here, down to about 90 or so during the day.

Wayne

My Neighborhood

Took a walk around my neighborhood tonight. A number of little restaurants, plumbing and electrical shops, work clothes stores and even a candy shop or two along with the ubiquitous corner grocery store. I had been getting back into the habit of going grocery shopping at the big chain stores like in the US and kind of forgot I can simply walk down to the neighborhood place and get what I need close by.

I've never lived in a big city, in the the true center of a city, in a neighborhood like I do now. I've always wanted to experience this and I'm getting the chance. I can become a resident of a city neighborhood and enjoy all that city living has to offer. I even stopped in the bakery and grabbed half a loaf of fresh baked whole wheat bread.

Once the weather cools off a little more I'll probably be walking back and forth to work on the days I don't need a vehicle. I can stop and get breakfast on the way and enjoy life in a world class city. There is so much to do outside the city that living in it is has a double benefit. The opportunity to live in the city and the opportunity to get away to others things.

The Abu Dhabi Film Festival starts this weekend too. They will be showing movies from all over the world, some with big stars like Sean Penn, Diane Lane, Adrian Brody and Naomi Watts. And others that are low budget or medium budget with reknowned directors and producers. So since I am a movie buff I'll be going to a lot of viewings between the 14th and 22nd.

QOB - "However good or bad a situation is, it will change."
Regina Brett

Stay Cool, I'm starting to.
Wayne

The Rest of the Weekend.....

The girls made it to Abu Dhabi (at least their picture did)

If you want to see the Camel races you better get up early. It was a 6:30am meeting time and three carloads of us were off to the races. We got there about 7:30am and the races had already begun. The area was a beehive of activity. There was a big corral area for the camels to be in before the start. A large race track that is about 60 feet (18.2 meters)wide and about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) long and a finish area where the camels are grabbed by the camel boys.

The corral area is busy with hundreds of camels and for lack of a better term "camel boys" who tend the camels and walk them everywhere. The camel boys walk them from there into a holding area right before their race where the "jockey" is placed on top of them. The jockeys used to be real boys, but now they are a weighted thing that is strapped onto them that has a remote controlled whip that the owners can control as they race around the track in their SUV's.

This is the final stage of the start area. The camels are lined up behind the mesh screen, in a minute or so it will be raised up and a bell sounds and they are off, riderless except for the colored silks and the little system that houses the motor and receiver to control the whip (which is small).

The camel boys wearing helmets and flak jackets. The camels are lined up behind the mesh screen while the boys are holding onto their leashes and keeping them in line. If you think it looks a little crazy because the boys are in front of where the camels are going to run, you're right. They are standing right where the camels will run so when that screen goes up the boys better be running off to the side or some of them line up where those corral barriers are and let the camels bolt by. Thus helmets and vests because sometimes they don't get out of the way fast enough. I did see one kid go down and get slightly trampled but he got right back up and seemed okay.

These races are televised throughout Abu Dhabi and they go on for about 3 hrs every morning 5 days a week. I told you the camels race, but at the same time the owners or trainers are lined up in SUV's ready to go at the same time. They are jockeying (pun intended) for position the whole way around the track so they can be close to their camel to encourage him/her electronically to run faster. That's an event in itself that I got involved in when I grabbed my Nissan X Trail small SUV and took a few NYUAD employees for the trip around the track. There are about 60 or so camels in each race so probably as many SUV's all going about 25 mph (40 kph) to keep up with the camels. This picture shows them lining up at the start.

So the camels take off, the SUV's take off and about 6 minutes later everyone ( and thing) is back. Some camels are foaming at the mouth, none seem winded, some have lost interest and simply trot down the track at their own pace well behind their camel buddies. The two trucks with vidoe cameramen mounted on the top loop around back to the start area and about 2 minutes later everyone is off again. The camels that just raced are gathered up by their camels boys and I'm assuming get some water or food and then go into a holding pen. I couldn't tell if any of the camels raced more than once because honestly they all kind of look the same to me, tall, 4 long legs, a hump or two, big heads. During one race one camel even escaped the track and came running back right down the middle of the road. Actually it was a pretty funny sight.

By 9:00am we were leaving the camel races as were most of the camels and their handlers. Some were heading out to get loaded up on trucks others were just heading off into the desert to whatever pen or farm (yes, it's camel farms not ranches) they lived on.

So if you come to visit and want to get to the camel races (who wouldn't) I can get you there.
Stay Cool, it's still hot and muggy here although I did get out around my neighborhood tonight and didn't sweat. I grabbed a chicken dinner and a fresh 1/2 loaf of whole wheat bread at the bakery.

QOB - "Never expect a thank you and never do things for a thank you, that is very liberating"

I don't know the author, but it's someone famous.

Early Weekend

Today is Thursday, 7 October. I was reading a local sports newspaper and as I'm going through it there's a picture of John William Henry II, the owner of the Boston Red Sox standing alongside Johnny Pesky a longtime Red Sox legend. Evidently Henry is trying to buy a futbol (soccer) team from Liverpool, England. Futbol is big here and they even cover teams from England. So that was a nice little touchstone to home just reading the article.

About 15 minutes after that I left to go on a kayaking adventure with some other staff members. We were checking out the adventure company to determine if we wanted to start a sailing/kayaking program or if we simply wanted to make it one of our recreational sports offerings. We spend about 2 1/2 hours on the water among the mangrove trees paddling around. It was nice to get out on the water. We played some fun games and learned about the eco-system while paddling around. A real treat and great way to end the official work week. The water was warm we had great guides and it's a very easy sport. We'll definitely get the kids out on the water soon.

I am heading out tomorrow morning with another group of staff to go to the Camel Races. Yes, they race camels. Evidently it's very entertaining and none of the animals are hurt in the races. Can't wait to report back on what it's like. All I've heard is small robots, little whips and owners driving around in SUV's with a remote control controlling the whipping robots....Sounds like fun or at least entertaining. That's just the beginning of the weekend. The rest is going to be busy too.

QOB - "Our lives begin to end the moment we become silent about the things that matter." Martin Luther King Jr.

A story from my world

Here is a link to a story about where I'm working.
www.thenational.ae/news/worldwide/nyu-abu-dhabi-a-class-apart?=1

This was in an English language newspaper that's available here. It tells a little about NYU Abu Dhabi. Right now I'm just working and it's sports related so I'll tell you what's on the calendar for this week.

Tuesday it's tours and orientation for faculty, staff and families in the Fitness Center so they know they are welcome to use it and how to use the machines.
Wednesday it's lunch with the Captain of a 42' sailboat and then a tour of the boat to determine how we can use it for our students for sailing lessons or team building activities.

Thursday afternoon we go on a Kayak trip through the mangrove area with an adventure company to determine if that kind of activity will be suitable for the students.

Friday morning (the first day of the weekend) I'm heading out to the camel races on opening day. Evidently they do not carry jockey's, but the owners have some kind of robot and a mechanical whip that he operates from his 4 wheel drive SUV that he rides beside the track to get the camel to go faster. I'm passing up golf Friday morning to see the races. Friday afternoon will be the Dragon Boat races the 20 member student team have been training for so I'll go down and watch that.

Saturday is attendance at a trade show for adrenaline sports activities that I'll go to to see if there are any good ideas on other things we can offer the students here in Abu Dhabi.

Not a bad week from my perspective.

QOB - "If we did all the things we are capable of we would literally astound ourselves". Thomas Edison

Stay Cool,

Wayne

Emergency Rooms and Cars

I was driving by the entrance to the Emergency Room for the hospital that shares a parking lot with our building, Sama Tower. Parked at the entrance was a Rolls Royce. That's something I've never seen before. A Rolls at an emergency room? I bet no one reading this blog has ever seen that. And this isn't even one of the nicer hospitals in Abu Dhabi.

I figured people with Rolls Royces have their own doctors or have their driver drop them off at the ER, but to leave the Rolls parked out front hmm? That's another interesting aspect of life here. There is valet parking almost anywhere you go. Hotels, hospitals, malls, just pull up and give them your car. It's usually free too and you just tip the guys. This is a society that prides itself on customer service and they do it by importing a bunch of very low paid workers from the Phillipines, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and other places in the far east.

Speaking of cars, you should see all the nice cars here. It's like the BMW's, Mercedes, Lexus and Porsche dealers have a sale going on year round. About the only time my head turns now is if I see a Maserati or a Rolls, which I still do on occasion. I walk by 4 Porsches on my way from my parking space in the garage to the elevator, which would be 20% of the cars I walk by.

It's crazy, especially given the way drivers are here.

QOB - "If we all threw our problems into a pile and saw everyone else's we'd grab ours back."
Regina Brett

Stay cool,
Wayne

Nothing cultural today

Burje Khalifa - the tallest building in the world in Dubai.
And I didn't get all of it in the picture.

Hi,
I don't have any cultural news this week so I thought I'd share my week with you. The first thing I wanted to mention is I actually walked outside on Tuesday at about 2:00pm over to the ATM and I didn't sweat.
My normal work day is from about 9:00am and finishes when sports are over for the day. The only reason I start so late is because I finish so late the night before. I spend time in the office planning some of the things we do each day and what we're going to do long term. I spend time in the fitness center monitoring activities, sometimes working out on my own if it's at night and I'm done for the day.
I've shared with some folks what my work week was like this week. We have 4 full time staff in the Athletics office and two were out of town. So that left two of us to cover almost everything going on all week. We have one part-time staff member who is also a writing instructor so she's only able to teach tennis and help out when she can.
So Stan and I were tasked with covering fitness center hours from 6am - 9pm everyday and also the intramural program which runs at night and is just our involvement in recreational leagues around the city. NYUAD teams are made up of students, staff, faculty and anyone else from the NYU community that wants to participate.
We're participating in American Flag Football, Soccer (3 teams), Men's Basketball, Co-Ed Volleyball, Mixed Tennis, Table Tennis, Women's Beach Soccer and Men's Beach Soccer. So Sunday night after work I went out with the Flag Football team and played with the kids against a team of guys in their mid 30's to mid 40's. We finished about 9:00pm. I help my own and was easily the oldest one on the field. As a team we took a beating, but had fun running around and playing football. Mind you even at night it's still in the high 80's low 90's temperature wise.
Monday night I was out monitoring and watching the three soccer teams until 10:15. One student hurt his arm blocking a hard shot, so I ended up taking him to the hospital. Kun Lao is from China and I just didn't feel right having him sit in an ER alone. We were there until 1:30 am, it was a fracture of his forearm/wrist area and they ended up putting a cast on it.
Back to work Tuesday morning and up working out until about 8:00pm in the Fitness Center. Wednesday night it was out to the soccer field to monitor practice, then off to basketball for a 9:00pm game with a bunch of 18 yr olds on our team and another opponent in their late 20's and 30's. We took another beating, but I had fun running up and down the court. One of our opponents said to me after the game "you're quick, you can run" I looked at him and said "yeh, but I can't play basketball". Mind you I'm eating when I can all week long as I travel between sporting venues and work and home. So dinner Wednesday was at 10:25 and it was three chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk.
Thursday morning when I got out of bed I had a slight groin pull and an old achilles tendon injury was acting up so I was limping in two different directions. After monitoring swim class until 7:00pm I headed out for golf with two guys under the lights at the Abu Dhabi Golf and Equestrian Club. The 9 hole course is inside the horse race track and is pretty well lit so it's fun to play at night. One of the guys I was playing with moved here from Grand Rapids where he worked at Grand Valley State and lived in East Grand Rapids. Finally home at 11:00pm.

Friday morning started the weekend so it was an easy morning and then I had to accompany 19 students out to Dragon Boat practice at the Shangri La Hotel in the afternoon. That was tough duty.

I can tell you that as a 51 yr old weekend and now weekly warrior, I love my job and I'm having a blast.

This was my view of their practice on the canal. The mosque in the background is the Grand Mosque and I believe it is the 2nd largest in the world. I'll get some better pictures of that in the future.

QOB - "If you don't move forward your life can be taken over by what's behind you."

So are you standing still or moving forward?

Wayne