Not to be a downer or anything...

...and you just know when someone says that they are about to be a downer. But yesterday was one of the weirdest days I can remember. I got some really great news about the health of a friend, 'big exhale' kind of news and went out to celebrate, because that is worth a school night out as far as I am concerned. As I got in the cab to head home, literally just seconds after it accelerated and I'd done another 'phew' with my going-to-be okay pal in the back seat, smiling widely, I got a panicked call from a friend at home. The polar opposite of the news I'd just been celebrating. Stunned, I am, then and today.

Pardon me for asking the unanswerable, but how can this be possible?

So while I appreciate everyone's comments, and I do, you will pardon me if I leave you to discuss who got what bonus or who is making more money or who is a bitter betty and probably found lots to complain about at the last, non-UAE place they worked too, if I could hazard a guess. Those of us who are lucky enough are making a good salary here, we had the opportunity to use Google on the internet machine to get a feel for what it would be like in the UAE before we were lured by the tax free dollars, we all have brains to realise this is not the culture we willingly left behind, we all could have made the sacrifices necessary to hit the honcho track way back when with an eye to making the big bucks and running the show, if we'd really wanted to, if we actually had the guts or thought we were good enough.

We also all get frustrated, and of course, because there is a lot to get frustrated about. Let's just try to remember what's important, k?

Annoying lecture over.