Tired of your job? Sitting on a (really big) pile of cash? Got at year and a half to spare? Then this is for you! Emirates Aviation College launched a new course taking you from riding coach to sitting behind the controls.
At the discounted price of AED 600,000 (that’s EUR 115,000), the Ab Initio Pilot Training Programme squeezes into 17 months what is normally done gradually over the span of years. Granted I’m not immediately aware what the cost runs into usually, but this 600k includes:
8 months theory in Dubai
2 exams
9 months practice in Lisbon
Full course accommodation in Lisbon
Final exams
From the literature:
Emirates Aviation College, in collaboration with Jeppesen, is pleased to announce the launch of a JAA Licensed Ab Initio Pilot Training Programme to assist in meeting the future demand for highly skilled professional airline pilots.
Minimum requirements are 17 years of age, high school certificate, medical exam, and a pre-selection process. Rich parents highly encouraged. Don’t go burning any bridges though, in the accompanying email the College makes an emphasis that, at the end of the course, job placement is not guaranteed.
People might think that upon taking photography more seriously one should stay away from the tourist hot spots. Quite the opposite, they are the perfect setting for shooting people rather than the attractions themselves. Nobody questions why there’s a guy with a camera in their general direction, everybody’s doing it right?
These are some of the pictures I took at the Dubai Fountain, just outside the Dubai Mall, in the shadow of the Burj Khalifa:
While there I liked how the fading sunlight was bouncing off one of the Emaar buildings and that other building to the side of the Burj. I also like how their contours grace the frame:
Today I’ve been up since 5am. Doing chores, laundry, breakfast, battling the cat litter (I won). But first I took these:
It only involved 90 minutes driving around Dubai’s back roads towards Lahbab, trying to get rid of electricity poles, fences, occasional ugly buildings, the wrong side of the road, and so on.
On the way back home I looked up and saw the below frame. So I had to stop and snap it too.
No prize winning photos yet, just experimenting with a sample of what the camera can do. I’ve booked a course in a couple of weekends time, hopefully it will not be money down the drain.
Look ma, no cats.
Of course many more pictures were taken (including of cats), this is just a Least-Worst-Of. In addition to the shooting I’m also trying my hand at some very basic post processing. Very. Basic. One tries to keep oneself busy when one’s wife goes away for weeks.
The biggest problem I’m facing is lugging the camera with me all the time. Last week I drove past what in my opinion was a very promising shot. By the time I got home, grabbed the camera and rushed back on the scene (a minute drive), the moment had passed. So now I have to take it to work with me, dump it on the desk (cannot leave it in the car as it gets too hot), then carry it back out. People would understandably think I’m nuts.
Not as such, but I think it’s related to this letter I wrote them.
I receive a call, have an automated system tell me I’m on hold waiting to be put through (even though they called in the first place), then they hang up. This happened on multiple occasions. I suspect that the telemarketing agent places the call without checking the details first, then they see that I opted not to be contacted and quickly hang up.
Dear Friendly Telephone Sales Agents Who Keep Calling Me Every Week
While I appreciate the attention that you bestow upon me, it would be appreciated further still if you could stop Calling Me Every Week. I am not in need of the various credit card facilities you offer. To explain further, this is how I use my credit card:
1 Shop or pay bills
2 Accumulate card benefits
3 Top up card in full by month end
4 Repeat
There. As you can see I do not need any instant cash advance, slow cash advance, easy repayment scheme, difficult repayment scheme, shop-till-you-drop-pay-till-you-may or other attention grabbing promotion.
Do you see that check box, hidden at the bottom of my record, labeled “Do Not Contact”? That one. Check it please, now. I have already advised you, your other Friendly colleague, and the other Not So Friendly colleague before that. I know for a fact that other people just hang up, or shout back, but I’m not like that. I’m writing this letter instead. I did not wish to resort to such unorthodox and drastic measures, but you leave me with no option.
Japan’s people, economy and reputation are still reeling from the effects of the massive earthquakes, tsunamis and nuclear reactor damage. One would think that there would be some sensitivity when it comes to choice of headlines for the occasion of Dubai ruler’s visit to Japan. Headlines which, before these events, would have been perfectly acceptable. Right?
Wrong.
It baffles the mind. The picture is of the front page of Gulf News May 30th edition. The only justification I can think of, apart from crass stupidity, is that some one was trying to be too smart in the choice of words. But come on, where’s the common sense?
I’m guessing that somebody did get a rap on the head, because the online version of the article had its headline changed. It’s funny how both phrases are attributed to Sheikh Mohammad.
Yesterday evening we picked up our second feline dependent. It is just under two months old, and if the first night is any indication we will not be getting much sleep in the days to come. After the naming ceremony (it’s Pebble), we settled him in the bathroom, but between him whining to come out, and the resident cat meowing to get to him, we couldn’t string together a whole two hours of sleep.
Today after work we decided to let them mingle, and the above video is the result. One of them anyway.
Warning: for the foreseeable future this blog will have a higher cat content.
A man walks into a bank. I need to update my contact information. Sure fill in this form. Man fills form and leaves bank.
A man is eating lunch, and receives a call. It’s from the bank, can you come? We have a problem with your signature.
A man walks into a bank, again. Because sir the signature we have for one account is good but for the other account it doesn’t match we need both to match in order to update your contact details for this other account if you want we can update them for the first account but leave the old ones for the second account ok?
A man scratches his head.
The above account is a true story as witnessed inside Emirates NBD. I did see him scratch his head.
The issue was eventually sorted out when the supervisor assured the lady that since the accounts share the same (insert acronym here), one record can be updated and would be valid for both accounts.
Would the updated records also cover the credit cards? No sir for credit cards please go upstairs.
Today I finally met with award winning British author China Miéville. He was invited to come to the 2011 Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, and due to the scheduling requirements of the more renowned and mainstream authors, was allotted a 10 a.m. slot. Which was regrettably not so very well attended.
Image courtesy Ceridwen on Wikimedia
We arrived ten minutes late and found him already in conversation with Paul Blezard, covering the usual topics: his background and how he had started writing, his PhD and political interest, when he first got published, where he got his inspiration from. The answer to this last question was that, in rare occasions, stories actually do come from dreams. He went on to say that the title short story of the collection Looking for Jake was a word-for-word recounting of a dream he had woken up from. Excluding the sex parts. This drew a laugh, and he candidly challenged the audience on the matter – don’t you dream about that?
He touched on the subject of genres. As a writer of “weird fiction” he is often asked to distinguish whether his writing falls under science fiction or fantasy, and he claims that there shouldn’t be a boundary between the two. Having said that, he also had stated in a previous interview that he wanted to write in each of the major genres. So The Scar is a sea tale, The Iron Council is a western, The City & The City is a crime novel, nevertheless all falling under the categorization of Miéville’s weird fiction. Before taking questions he went on to read the opening pages from his new yet unpublished book, Embassy Town, an alien themed science fiction novel. The prose was signature Miéville, displays of unrestrained creativity which are unusual yet intellectually stimulating and engaging.
When the microphone was handed to the floor one of the questions came from an early-teen girl: what would you recommend for an aspiring writer? She was obviously referring to herself. He looked her squarely as he replied. It was quite a sight – this tall, black clad, muscular man, prominently tattooed and multiple pierced, more biker than author, focusing on giving a heartfelt reply to this young fan: two things, he said. Firstly, don’t ever let anyone tell you that what you’re doing is silly. Secondly, writing a novel can seem like a daunting task. The important thing is to plan it ahead and break it down into more manageable pieces. So when you start writing you only have to concentrate on finishing the chapter, rather than the whole book.
I have read most of China’s books, some borrowed, others owned. Two are at home in Malta, and another one here in Dubai. Before going for my annual holiday I had bought his latest book Kraken, but left it on the aircraft as I disembarked. At the festival I had to buy it again, together with a young adult yet highly recommended for adults novel called Un Lun Dun, but the added advantage was that I have them both signed by the author.
With all its real and implied benefits, that’s still one thing that can never be done on my Kindle.
Tired of your job? Sitting on a (really big) pile of cash? Got at year and a half to spare? Then this is for you! Emirates Aviation College launched a new course taking you from riding coach to sitting behind the controls.
